Feeling Stuck [Mod/Open]

[Deleted]

_{Tags: Mod Kris or Mod Kurt for experience points, @aeranautics if you'd like because we were talking, and open to everyone and anyone!
Happiness: Aster - 0 (1/5), Leif - 0 (1/5)}

"Alright, Aster, use Pound on this stake. Leif, help me keep it steady."

Bryar, kneeling, held onto a stake at the edge of his berry patch and his little Wurmple used String Shot to grab hold of it as well, pulling back to keep the string of sticky web tight as Aster did as she was told. The Chansey smacked the stake a couple of times until it was several inches into the ground.

"There we go," Bryar said, stopping both of his Pokemon. He gave the stake an experimental wiggle, finding that it held fast, and gave his Pokemon a grin. "You guys did great! Thanks for the help."

"Chan! Chansey!" Aster gave her trainer a little bow while Leif nuzzled against Bryar's side.

Mindful of the Wurmple's poisonous stingers, Bryar gave Leif a pet on the head as the rancher glanced around the berry patch. Bryar's plan was to hopefully have enough room to grow an apricorn tree or two with the stakes as supporters for the trees. All he needed to do next, besides prepping the soil, would be to find apricorns to plant.

That part had Bryar feeling stuck.

Considering apricorns were generally found in the area of the island that Poison-types loved to roam, Bryar wasn't quite sure what he'd do. Poison-types (and their closely-related Bug-type cousins) wouldn't be kind to Bryar's Grass- and Fairy-types. Sure, he had Aster and Lilac, but both were young and definitely not invulnerable to Poison or Dark attacks (although, the immunity to any Ghost moves they may encounter was a plus).

Maybe Bryar could convince another rancher -- one with Ground, Rock, or Steel Pokemon -- to join him...

[Mod Kurt]

Aster gained 5 experience points! Aster grew to level 6!

Leif gained 5 experience points!

[Deleted]

_{Tags: Mod Kurt, open!
Happiness: Aster - 0 (2/5), Leif - 0 (2/5)}

"What do you guys think?" Bryar asked, standing up and stretching. "What kind of apricorn trees should we grow? Perhaps red or green?" He did his best to remember what kind of pokeballs the apricorns could be turned into.

He went over and toed the soil that the tree would be planted in, and Bryar figured he may as well continue working. He got a shovel for himself and directed his Pokemon to help churn the dirt in their own sections.

"Aster, mind using Pound and Tail Whip over there?" The Chansey happily obliged, and dirt was soon showering down in the corner of the patch. "Leif, how about Tackling some of the stronger clods that I dig up?"

With a happy chirp, the Wurmple did just that, smashing whatever Bryar pointed out.

[Mod Kurt]

Aster gained 5 experience points!

Leif gained 5 experience points! Leif grew to level 7!

What's this? Looks like Leif is evolving! (If you choose for Leif to evolve into Silcoon or Cascoon, he will automatically learn Harden.)

[Deleted]

_{Tags: Mod Kurt, finally he's evolving! Thank you!
Happiness: Aster - 0 (3/5), Leif - 0 (3/5)}

At one such point, Leif smashed into a dirt clod and began to shine brightly. Bryar blinked and looked away, understanding what was going on with a soft smile. Aster gasped from somewhere behind Leif, but Bryar was sure his Chansey would understand soon enough.

After the light subsided, Bryar looked back at Leif to see that his little Wurmple was currently trying to stay steady as a round Cascoon. "Congrats, Leif," Bryar said, earning a muffled chirp in response. Considering all but Leif's eyes were encased in hardened silk, Bryar made a mental note to find a safe and comfortable spot for Leif to wait out his evolution when they weren't together. "How do you feel?"

Leif seemed to try to nod, but would have nearly rolled over if Aster didn't catch him. The Chansey seemed to giggle before righting her teammate. Once Aster released Leif, the Cascoon aimed and Tackled at the next dirt clod, apparently ready to get right back to work.

"Don't overexert yourself," Bryar chided lightly. Another muffled chirp responded, but Leif didn't slow. Soon enough, Aster went back to her corner of the patch as well, using Pound and Tail Whip as before.

[Mod Kurt]

Aster gained 5 experience points! Aster grew to level 7!

Leif gained 5 experience points! Leif grew to level 8!

[Deleted]

"Hey, Bryar," called Nitrine as he strolled up to the berry patch. Ginger scampered alongside him, her long Sentret tail seeming to bounce with each step. Clinging to the shoulder of Nitrine's ever-present hoodie was his new Shellos, Penelope, holding fast with her sticky purple mucus. Taking care not to step too close to Bryar's work area lest they disturb it, Nitrine said, "I saw a bright glow as I was coming up. Did one of your Pokemon evolve?"

He glanced down at Leif first, then over at Aster. Ginger sat by Nitrine's feet, tail curled around herself, and waved to both of Bryar's Pokemon in greeting. Penelope peeked over his left shoulder and gave a friendly squeak to both. Nitrine asked, "Was it this Cascoon here? Or, uh, Silcooon? I can't remember the difference, ha!"

Bryar Glasse finally popping in because I figured Leif evolving would be the perfect conversation starter, haha.
Happiness: Ginger, Penelope - 0 (1/5)

[Deleted]

_{Tags: @aeranautics, sounds good to me! Still open, too.
Happiness: Aster - 0 (3/5), Leif - 0 (3/5)}

Bryar glanced up as he heard a familiar call and smiled over at Nitrine as the other rancher came closer. A Sentret was dashing alongside him, while a Shellos was clinging to Nitrine's shoulder.

"Hello, Nitrine," he greeted his friend warmly. "Yes, Leif here just evolved into a Cascoon. Silcoon are more white in color. This is Aster, as well. Not sure if you've met my Chansey."

Aster gave Nitrine and his Pokemon a grin and a wave. Bryar turned his smile to the Sentret and Shellos, and said, "And who are these two?"

[Deleted]

"Cascoon, of course," Nitrine echoed. "Some of the novice trainers in my town had Wurmple, and it was kind of a grab bag seeing which cocoon they evolved into." He grinned at Aster when she waved at him and his two. "No, I've not met her yet. She's very cute," he said. "Where are Chansey from? I've never seen one before."

Crouching down, Nitrine eased one hand underneath Penelope's sticky underside to unpeel her from his hoodie and set her down on the ground beside Ginger. "These are my two newest Pokemon," he explained to Bryar, "both from the Adoption Center. My Sentret is Ginger, and my Shellos is Penelope." He almost patted each of them as he introduced them before realizing Penelope's purple mucus was still stuck to his hand. He rubbed his hands together vigorously as he talked on without skipping a beat.

"I like how you've set up your berry patch. Have any particular berries you were going to grow here in mind?"

Ginger giggled at her trainer, trying vainly to scrub the goo from his hand, and gave his leg a gentle pat with her tail. Penelope, trying to be helpful, gave him a little squirt of water on his hands. Nitrine chuckled. "Thanks for that."

tags: Bryar Glasse, open.
Happiness: Ginger, Penelope - 0 (2/5)

[Deleted]

_{Tags: @aeranautics, Mod Kurt for experience points, open to anyone else who would like to join
Happiness: Aster - 0 (4/5), Leif - 0 (4/5)}

"A grab bag is a good way to put it," Bryar agreed. "There have been studies to see if there was a way to determine which cocoon Pokemon Wurmple would evolve into... Many speculated that it depended on the time of day, like a few other species, and cited that the many Cascoon around Eterna Forest helped to prove it. I personally believe it's just random." He scrutinized Leif a little closer. "Unless the Pokemon themselves can determine what they evolve into..."

Leif gave no indication if that was the case, as it gave the visitors a little chirp of a greeting before continuing to Tackle away dirt clods.

"I believe Chansey were first discovered in the Kanto region," Bryar said. "They're not very prominent, though. I had received Aster as a gift.

"Ginger and Penelope." Bryar gave the two Pokemon a nod and smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you both. I'm Bryar, and I'm sure you've heard the names of my two Pokemon here."

He chuckled at Nitrine trying to rid his hands of the Shellos's goo and, after Penelope tried to help with a small squirt of water, Bryar tossed Nitrine a towel that Bryar had been using to free his hands of dirt. "Here. I'm sure there's still a couple of clean spots on it.

"Thank you," Bryar said, glancing at his berry patch. "I'm preparing it for an apricorn tree or two at the moment. I've mostly grown Sitrus and Lum berries, but I'm giving the soil a break for now. How's your ranch coming along?"

[Mod Kurt]

Penelope gained 5 experience points!

Leif gained 5 experience points!

[Deleted]

Nitrine watched Leif go back to tackling dirt clods, muttering, "Pokemon are mysterious creatures. Maybe it is random, or maybe they just want to keep it a secret." He emphasized with jazz-hands and chuckled. "I'm sure it's still exciting all the same for the Pokemon themselves, and their trainers, too.

"Meaning, rare?" he asked about Chansey. "Wow. You must be lucky to have gotten one as a gift, then!" Nitrine paused in thought. "Come to think of it, I guess I have a couple of rare Pokemon too -- Clefairy was first discovered in Kanto, and it's considered rare there, but I think there are bigger populations in other parts of the world. Zorua, too. I think I read that you can't even find them in the wild anywhere?" He shrugged.

Both Penelope and Ginger chirped in their own way in greeting at Bryar. As Nitrine used the towel to scrub the mucus from his hands, Ginger wandered along the edge of the garden to the side where Aster was working, watching her shift the dirt with interest.

Nitrine said, "Growing Apricorns is a pretty good idea! Then you can make your own balls to catch Pokemon with, or sell them. Some of the balls that can be made with Apricorns are pretty neat. I recently set up my own berry plots and grew a bunch of random berries, but then I realized I had way more berries than I knew what to do with so I put some in my shop and feed some to my Pokemon as treats every now and then. By the way, do you need any help with your plots? My Pokemon could help move the dirt around, if you want."

When Bryar asked him about his ranch, Nitrine answered, "It's sure going! I finally got around to training Cole a bit. It's funny, he seems so much more independent now that he's a little stronger. He acts like he's too cool to play with Ginger or DJ now, the little punk." He laughed, and then went on, "I'm also thinking about getting ready for my first egg, or my first clutch of eggs; bought a new acre for more space and everything. I actually met Raphael for the first time not too long ago, 'cause I was hoping he'd let me use his Jolteon as a stud for an Eevee egg. Buuut as it turns out, Eevee DNA is unstable, so if I bred Oxana to his Jolteon, she might end up with a bunch of Snubbull eggs, and... well, long story short, I'm still deciding on who to breed, and where the eggs will go when I do." He rubbed the back of his head with his now-clean hand. "Breeding Pokemon requires more planning than I thought."

tags: Bryar Glasse
Happiness: Ginger, Penelope - 0 (3/5)