Bulbasaur> Obvious exits:
Bulbasaur> North <N> leads to Saffron Road - Route 6: Saffron Approach.
Bulbasaur> South <S> leads to Saffron Road - Route 6: Rest Area.

Bulbasaur> The sky is grey and cloudy, and nothing casts a shadow. It's hot, humid, and still. High overhead, a pair of Butterfree can be seen flying in the direction of the ocean.

Bulbasaur> Wesley arrives from Saffron Highway - Route 6: Rest Area.
Bulbasaur> Wesley has arrived. Bulbasaur> "All right...erm, Minnaloush?" "Meow. Owth." "..Could you please come over here, Minnaloush? We need to start some training." "Meee." Wesley's beginning to think his Meowth's name has too many syllables. Something short like "Cat" would've been better - this cat just doesn't seem to be listening to him; she seems to be staring suspiciously up at the sky as the human and his pokemon troop idle about in the grassy field near the road. But what other pokemon are out in the area? A flying Farfetch'd, and four Ekanses; three are bright purple babies, the other is a cobalt blue adult who's resting on her coils as she watches her children test the air with their tongues. The only one of the group that's more than a few feet from their trainer is the suspicious Meowth, who glares from her trainer to the sky.

Bulbasaur> Good ol' Route 6, land of Pokemon Galore. During the daytime, at least - right now, the darkened route seems almost empty as pokemon retire to their dens or trees to sleep until morning. It's not that it's completely quiet. A car or two roars in the background, Oddish peep in the night - and a very, very loud Bulbasaur is croaking away at the stars, pouring her heart out into song. <Like omigoooooooooood!> she chants, closing her eyes and stretching her vines out to the sky, making a giant heart out of them. <You're really hooooooooooooot, and I think that you are so fi-ee-yi-ee-yine! Yeah, yeah, baby, yeah!> She's got a very nice singing voice - keeping in mind the fact that Bulbasaurs have croaking voices not quite made for singing.

Bulbasaur> Wesley shifts his weight and coughs. "Uh, Minna--" he begins again, until he just...falls silent as the loud caterwaulings of a Bulbasaur. He blinks once, twice, three times as he tries to make sense of just what's happening, who it's happening to, what he should do about it. He doesn't get an answer to any of these questions just by asking questions in his brain, so he starts asking questions of his pokemon. "...Skysnake? Is there some sort of fight going on here?" he asks, only now beginning to look around. <No..but the creature mussst be..talking a mate. She keeps referring to a pokemon that...looks attractive,> the snake says slowly, pondering her words. "I, uh, oh," is Wesley's response. <Actually, I think the Bulbasaur is..singing,> says the Farfetch'd, landing on the ground as he does so. <Singing?> inquires one of the baby snakes. No one gets a chance to respond to the question: Minnaloush the Meowth begins to try her hand at singing as well. Or in her case, yowling at the top of her lungs with no real words, only varying chords. ...If we could understand how cats thought, I'm sure humans would rule the world by now.

A Meowth kitten starts to chew on the database -- better save, quick! (Saving)

Bulbasaur> The large heart the Bulbasaur has made in the sky with her vines now starts to rock back and forth slowly as she moves deeper into the song, pouring her heart into the cheesy lyrics and the awful tone. At least her singing's decent. <And theeeeen! And theeeeen, I re-a-ly-y-y-y-y-y-iiiiiiiize!> she sings, before dropping much lower and adding, <I-i-iiize...> She's harmonizing with herself, apparently. <That you, oh you, yeeeeees yoooooou!> The vines snap apart and gently fall to the ground, little twinkles of Sleep Powder (not enough to be potent, however) floating down with them. She must have had the vines take the powder before outstretching them to make the heart. The rhythm slows greatly. <Are... the ooone... fooor...> Pause. Pause. Pause. <Meeeeeeeeeeeeee.........>

Bulbasaur> The soft light dims at dusk.

Bulbasaur> Wesley is now beset by the singing of both a Bulbasaur and a cat. "Skysnake...let's go find this pokemon," he says, after a pause for much needed thought (though some time was also used to block out the pain in his ears). It's apparent which kind of music he prefers! "Kids, come along. Lieutenant, stay here and deal with Minnaloush." Lieutenant must be the name of the Farfetch'd, for said bird makes a short flight over to where the Meowth sits in the grass, howling out her strange feline song. Wesley then sets out, a large Ekans and three younger Ekanses trailing after him. Wait..was that a twinkle of..some sort of powder? Skysnake adjusts her course, and Wesley takes a few steps forwards before realizing his Ekanses are moving in a different direction and following suit. He's not trying to be quiet; either he doesn't know how to be, or he assumes the Bulbasaur's making so much noise she won't hear him. His Ekanses try to move a bit more stealthily - but it's quite hard for them, with so much grass around.

Bulbasaur> The Bulbasaur collapses to the ground in a fit of giggles and praise for herself, her vines falling limply to the ground. <Oh my goooooood,> she gasps, glancing up at the pale moon with a look of pure exhilaration on her face. <I am, like, suuuuch a totally rad singer! Omigod! I, like, can't wait for the next annual Pokemon Pop Power tournament! I will, like, so totally blow that Gloom out of the water! Omigood! Eee!> The plant type is completely unaware of the presense of Wesley and his pokemon - not exactly a good thing when she's as loud as a Rhydon.

Bulbasaur> Wesley, Skysnake and her brood come upon the giggling and happily chatting Bulbasaur. As Wesley can't understand what's said, he's more concerned about who she's chatting to. He tries to peer through the grasses near by the pokemon. "Who's she talking to?" he asks of Skysnake. The snake doesn't respond for a minute, though she eventually answers <her...self?>, as if she's not quite sure. <Pokemon...Pop Power?> asks one baby Ekans, a male. "...What?" Wesley mutters. He then decides to make his presence known (hah, as if the Bulbasaur hasn't noticed them talking about her like she's not here! Even a pop singer obsessed Bulbasaur can't be that dim...right?). The pale boy says a short but audible "hello," in a rather curious tone. The Meowth, meanwhile, has stopped her own singing. Does that mean she's going back to her trainer? No. And, as she's not, the Farfetch'd isn't going anywhere either; right now he's busy staring the cat down, though she seems more concerned with grooming her fur at the moment.

Bulbasaur> The Bulbasaur simply shakes her head at herself, a small smile dotting her face as she mutters even further, <Omigod, I feel soooo... cool. Like, omigod.> Though she's a little slow to realizing it, the Bulbasaur does perk up a little as Wesley and his posse of pokemon approach, though she sees it as little more than an audience. <Oh, c'mon, you guuuuuuuuys!> she shouts out to the grasses, stifling a giggle. <Like, you can hear my siiiiinging if you wanna! It's okay, don't be shy or, like, anything, because I can, like, so totally sing!> ... Eugh.

Bulbasaur> A featureless blanket of grey cloud covers the evening sky.

Bulbasaur> The blue Ekans just curls up, resting on her coils as she tries to figure out what to translate. She's not used to talking as much as this Bulbasaur does, so she goes for a quick summary. <She wants use to hear her sing.> "Ohhh," Wesley says slowly, and not too enthusiastically. It's as if he's still trying to comprehend that Bulbasaur can actually sing. <Pop Power Pokemon...tour-na-men-t?> repeats the male, still seeking clarification, only this time getting the words mixed up. Welsey also repeats a "What?", only this time it's a tad more annoyed. It's so hard when he can't understand what a pokemon is saying...though his real problem stems from the fact he just doesn't understand why the pokemon is doing what they're doing. As for the Farfetch'd and Meowth? The bird's now gotten the cat's attention, and they're having a proper staredown, with eyes narrowed and fur and feathers ruffled.

Bulbasaur> The Bulbasaur rolls her eyes good-naturedly, her mouth simply bursting at the seams with a gigantic smile. <Oh, I get it, you guuuuuys,> she squeaks, giggling softly and clearing her throat. <You want to hear me sing before you come out and listen! Oh boy oh boy oh boy, here goes.> "Bulba bulba bulb, bulba bulba bulba bulb." Her head rocks to the rhythm, and it's obvious she's setting up the beat. <Ohh... baby! .... .... Yeah.... baby! .... Ooooooooooh, baby, yeah! I love you! .... Yeah! .... Oooooooo, I love you I love you I love you, babyyyyy.... yeah!> Thought-provoking and intellectual, no?

Bulbasaur> Erm, not quite intellectual or thought-provoking, no. But then again, is love itself not a very profound statement? Anyway, Skysnake begins to interrupt with a <listen to wha--> before the Bulbasaur begins to sing again. Wesley gives a despairing glance to his blue Ekans, but she returns his gaze with an inscrutable look. <Is..this singing?> the male Ekans asks. Wesley's response is a grunt in the affirmative. <Does it bother you?> asks a formerly quiet female baby-snake. She looks tense; quite ready to attack if the answer is a yes. "Uh..." the boy begins, but trails off. He tries to remember how he got Leochardo to join his team; should he use something similar now? Will the Bulbasaur even stop singing to allow him the time to speak? His thoughts are interrupted by the sound of a hisshowling cat a yard or two away and a grimly laughing Farfetch'd taking flight. Guess the bird won that fight. The young boy looks behind him, the musical Bulbasaur out of his view for the moment.

A Meowth kitten starts to chew on the database -- better save, quick! (Saving)

Bulbasaur> The grey of the clouds begins to darken, and the temperature drops slightly. It's warm and still. A few brightly colored butterfrees can be seen in the distance, heading for the coast.

Bulbasaur> Completely ignorant to the worries of the Ekanses, the Meowth, the Farfetch'd, and the boy, the Bulbasaur continues on croaking her shallow little pop song, pouring her very soul into the music. Whenever possible, she even sings the background vocals. Makes one wonder - did she make these songs up herself? The fact that she's quite openly asking predators to come and take a bite out of her suggests that she might not be used to being wild. Perhaps her last trainer was a teenage teenybopper? Or perhaps she's just special. <Baby baby baaaaaaaaaaaaby, I love you so muuuuuuuuch!>

Bulbasaur> The night is moonless and starless.

Bulbasaur> Wesley certainly doesn't have the answer to these questions - though he does have a way to get the singing 'Saur on his team to be able to ask them! It's such a cunning, ingenious plan! It's as cunning as a fox that just became Professor of Cunning at Oxford University! He turns away from his two fighting pokemon - they same to be doing fine enough, even if his Farfetch'd just got hit with a Swift attack. He trusts that the tough old bird will make it out all right....At least, one hopes he thinks that. It's either that or he just doesn't care. "Ahem...ah, excuse me, ma'am!" the boy says, trying to raise his voice over the Bulbasaur's singing and failing until he gets to the "ma'am", which is a bit more forceful than the rest of his words. Skysnake the Ekans is beginning to cringe at the words coming from the frog-like pokemon's mouth, though it's barely noticeable. The young ones just stare on in awe and confusion..though one seems to be curled up and determined to try to sleep. Guess she's more a fan of grunge.

Bulbasaur> The Bulbasaur blinks open an eye as she sings, giving Wesley the slightest of grins while she chants her annoying little song. All of a sudden, the song quadruples in speed, no longer becoming very beautiful, but sort of high-pitched and fast. <Oh-baby-baby-yeah-baby-oooh-yeah-Iloveyou-yeeeeeah! The end!> The Bulbasaur declines her head first to Wesley, then to the moon, then to a nearby tree. Maybe she didn't want to take autographs until her song was finished. <Like, thank you so much, guuys! Like, what's up, Mr. Human dude?>

Bulbasaur> Wesley takes a deep, slow, steadying breath. Bulbasaurs are his favourite pokemon - if he even manages to get one on this team, he'll turn her into a fully-fledged battling machine! ..And, the realization dawns that she might even go well with Leochardo - what better to make the Warrior-Bard battle than the promise of a song upon his victory? Wesley's face is vaguely surprised as that thought strikes him. He can be clever when he puts his mind to it. ..Or at least when he needs an excuse to cruelly uproot a pokemon from her home environment and force it to beat other pokemon into submission. "How would you like to come with me? There are probably very many humans that would just love your talents. And you could learn a lot of new songs and sing them. Or make up even more ones," he adds slowly, realizing she might not be singing a song that was on the Top Forty Countdown on the radio last week. "It'll be, um, a big opportunity," he finishes. Wesley doesn't quite sound eager...but he's making at least and effort to sound convincing. The Meowth and Farfetch'd are still having their *yawn* ultimate death battle in the background, nevermind them.

Bulbasaur> Ding! The Bulbasaur's eyes disappear, and in their place pop two shining stars, twinkling with absolute love and astonishment. <Re... reeeally?> she squeaks, shifting left, shifting right, and then whining, <Omiiiigoood!> Images of performing in front of a live studio audience filled with screaming female Bulbasaurs and hunky hot male ones is simply too much for the Bulbasaur, and, shouting even louder than she can sing, the Bulbasaur's bulb bounces with life, the Bulbasaur emits. <Omigod! Omigod, omigod, this is like, so totally, like, awesome n' junk, n' omigod, all those people! Eeeeee!>

Bulbasaur> This knocks Wesley for a loop. "What?" he repeats for the third time that night. Maybe Bulbasaurs have some sort of high-pitched scream that they make before they attack and rend humans from limb to limb? The boy takes a step back, before Skysnake comes to the rescue and says <she appears to be..quite fond of the idea,> with the barest hint of amusement in her tone. <Hello,> says the young male Ekans. <My name's Suave.> "Uh..thanks, Skysnake," Wesley says slowly, still a bit concerned about his enthusiastic reaction. "But, you need to get into this thing, okay?" the boy says, unzipping his backpack with a practiced hand a pulling out a pokeball. He must keep them in the top of his bag. The grasses are beginning to rustle as a battered Meowth and a triumphant Farfetch'd make their way towards their trainer, the Meowth using her nose to sniff the way.

Bulbasaur> Wesley throws a pokeball...
Bulbasaur> ...and it fails.

Bulbasaur> The Bulbasaur practically jumps into the air, and plods a few steps back. <Omigod,> she says, climbing to the top of the highest mound in the area (about three feet away, it's a good... two inches higher than the ground Wesley is on). <We, like, gotta wait for Chrissy!> Chrissy? <Chrissy!> Who is Chrissy? The Bulbasaur's imaginary friend? Her boyfriend? A pokemon? The Bulbasaur, a bright smile still flourishing on her face as she glances down the path, barely able to keep still.

Bulbasaur> Wesley shoots an exasperated glance down to Skysnake, who is quick to translate. <She has a friend. Named Chrissy. She wants us to wait for her.> Wesley rolls his eyes and gives a big sigh. <Who's Chrissy?> asks the still talkative male Ekans-kid, who doesn't seem to mind that his sister has fallen asleep and his other sister is still eyeing the Bulbasaur with a bit of hostility. "But are you sure you want to wait for her?" Wesley asks, a bit desperate. Even if this Bulbasaur is annoying him before he's even caught it, it's still a /Bulbasaur/. Wesley's fighting a war between his awe of Bulbasaur and his dislike for preppy singing pokemon that probably can't fight. "Because she..really might not be in the area at all. You might be wasting valuable time." The pokeball is still held in his hand, and he glances at it uncertainly. The Meowth and Farfetch'd duo continue to approach the group.

A Meowth kitten starts to chew on the database -- better save, quick! (Saving)

Bulbasaur> Wesley throws a pokeball...
Bulbasaur> ...and it fails.

Bulbasaur> The Bulbasaur shakes her head softly at Wesley, quite cheerfully saying, <No, I'm sure she's around here!> With a small nod, she adds, <She dropped me off here, after all.> .... Dropped... off? Is Chrissy a Dragonite? Soon enough, it comes all too clear - a girl, perhaps not too much older than Wesley, emerges from the darkness, shouting loudly, "Like... Bubble Gum? Bubble Gum? Like, girl, where are ya?" Not for the first time tonight, she sighs and mutters under her breath, "Like...omigod, where is she?" ... Like pokemon, like trainer,.

Bulbasaur> Wesley tilts his head slightly at the translation that comes from Skysnake. He doesn't need the translation for the words the human speaks. Instead, he freezes. And blinks. Quite a few times, actually, as if the rapid moistening of his eyeballs will translate into thoughts of how to leave gracefully and without giving off the impression that he was trying to catch an owned Bulbasaur. Well, putting away the pokeball would be a good start - though Wesley doesn't do that yet. Instead...he gives a strangled, almost coughing chortle. <Huh?> asks Suave the male Ekans. "It figures," the boy says, once he's calmed down (which doesn't take long at all), "the one Bulbasaur I ever manage to meet throughout a whole year of being a trainer...is a trained pokemon. I'm beginning to hate the things," he muses. As he does so, a pecked and battered Meowth announces her presence with an annoyed hiss, and a Farfetch'd walks proudly along side her. <Reporting for duty, sir,> he says to Wesley, with a certain amount of smugness. "Uh..oh, there you are," Wesley says to his pokemon, having almost forgotten he had them out. "Uh, if you have a Bulbasaur, she's over here!" the boy calls out, this time to the fellow human. ...Great, call her over. Stupid kid. Maybe he needs ThoughtThief around to tell him he's dumb, so he won't keep doing dumb things.

Bulbasaur> The girl perks up, her sparkling blue eyes directing her attention first to Wesley - then... to her Bulbasaur. Time just sort of stops for a moment. "Oh." Her heart lifts. "My." She jump. "Gaaaaaawd!" And with that, the girl bursts into an incredible sprint, practically flying at the speed of light toward Wesley. Once she approaches him, she'll shake his hand, thank him profusely, pat him on the back, squeal in glee - basically do everything short of kissing him, which is the silver lining in the grey cloud. The Bulbasaur, sharing her trainer's joy, wiggles and jumps at Chrissy as well.

Bulbasaur> If Wesley was knocked for a loop before, he's crashed now - because he's completely floored. But the young girl manages to have her nasty way with him - she shakes his (limp and unresisting) hand, pats him on his (slightly slumped in defeat) back, and squeals in his (slack and shocked) face. One of the female snakes manages to get out of her sleepy state to hiss in rage and snap at the girl who dares to touch her trainer, but by that time Chrissy has moved on to her Bulbasaur. Wesley twitches slightly, as if it all happened so fast that he never even realized his personal space was invaded. Once that thought comes, the boy straightens up and takes two big, deliberate steps back. "We're leaving, now," he snaps at his team. "Keep up and...Skysnake, get everyone awake!" he mutters to his Ekans, who nudges her other daughter into wakefulness. Without even a goodbye, though probably a mental "good riddance to bad rubbish!" the boy turns on his heel and marches quickly away from the scene, four Ekanses following directly behind, a cat following them and a bird bringing up the rear of the group.

Bulbasaur> The sky is grey-black, moonless and starless. It's hard for human eyes to see anything in the deep shadows round about, without a light of their own. It's warm, still, and humid.

Bulbasaur> The girl simply peers after Wesley, hearts in her eyes, completely ignorant to the fact that he seems to take absolutely no interest in her. "That boy... he found you. For, like, for me. That's... like... omigod, that's so sweet!" The Bulbasaur simply nods her head slowly, nuzzling against her trainer's ankles with affection - but, sadly, the girl appears almost unresponsive. "... I can, like, name so many pop songs I'd, like, so want to sing to him." She glances at her Bulbasaur, and grins gently. "One... two... three... four... Oooooh, baby! Baaaby!" And with a giggle, the Bulbasaur harmonizes perfect with her trainer as the two march off in the opposite direction, singing into the night.