Obvious exits:
Way around City <WAC> leads to Pokemon Route 3: Pewter City.
North <N> leads to Pewter City: Southern Pewter.
South <S> leads to Viridian Forest - Route 2: Almost Out.

Wesley arrives from Pewter City: Southern Pewter.
Wesley has arrived.

Wesley walks down the path, not wearing the raincoat he was last seen with in this area. He's still wearing the galoshes, however, and by his side still walk ThoughtThief the evil Drowzee and Fistfight the kind Machop. There are some differences, though. There are two other Pokemon out. One, a happy, yapping, bounding Growlithe named Playright. The other a little Charmander, who happily peers about the area, a piece of..wallpaper? clutches in between his claws. <Wow..ooo, I can draw that!> he'll sometimes exclaim. Playright is busy sniffing everything as well as living her simple happy life, so she doesn't say much. Wesley appears to be watching the two happy fire types intently, while TT and FF talk amongst themselves.

It's a lovely day outside, and Melissa, everybody's favorite 16-year old shy writer from Pewter City with a last name of 'Barlette', is casually sitting back on her rock. Today, she is not writing - rather, she is reading. And it's a book about loooove, too. No, not 'Hints on Love!' or 'How to make your man more passionate - the magazine!'. It's just a simple little romance story named 'Passion'. And Melissa looks hooked. Probably not up Wesley's alley. "Ooo..." Melissa says quietly, holding the book up to her chest. "That's so beautiful!" <What is?> Her Nidoran asks, setting his chin down upon his trainer's thigh. Melissa, now used to hearing this question enough, has finally figured out what it means. "They finally got together." Melissa grins happily, patting her Nidoran. "Ingrid and Chris... they... it's a touching book, Puff, you should read i... umm..." The poison type just grins up at her, ignoring the silly remark.

Fair weather clouds sail across the blue sky, propelled by light breezes from the west. It's warm in the sun, cool in the shade, and the air is clear and dry.

Yes, it is a lovely day. A perfect day for deciding which fire type he wants. If life were simple for Wesley, he could choose this by attack strengths and evolution difficulty alone. But, someone had to give Pokemon /personalities/ which makes things so much harder. <So, it's settled, then - I've got one Pokecookie riding on the flametail, and you're going for the hound,> ThoughtThief clarifies, and Fistfight the Machop nods, chuckling. <Just remember, I like the peanut kind!> ThoughtThief snorts. Wesley admonishes "Don't trivialize this." Maybe they need another opinion. One which could be found soon. Playright recognizes Melissa's scent, and runs yipyapping towards the girl!

The girl goes back to reading, now unconciously biting her fingernails as she reads the cheesy paragraphs. If you're curious, the book has nothing perverted in it - a few mentionings of things you wouldn't find on Nick Jr, of course, but Melissa quadruple checked with the librarian to make sure that the book didn't have vivid... descriptions. The teenager doesn't get too far, however, before a loud Growlithe interrupts her. "Did you hear something?" Melissa asks softly, glancing first at her Nidoran (who has fainted by now), then at the rushing Growlithe. "Whoa! Eep!" And, without thinking, Melissa immediatly pops up... onto the rock. Not standing on it, but sitting upon it, clutching her knees and trying to stay as far as possible away from Playright. "N... nice dog... good boy..." Like she can tell Playright's a girl. And that she's Wesley's.

Wesley sighs, then quickly starts after Playright. This isn't the first time she's done something like this. "Girl! Come back, now!" he calls out, but to no avail. ThoughtThief waddles after him, as does Fistfight, at a more brisk pace. The Charmander, however, keeps wandering down the road, and ThoughtThief needs to go back and redirect the absent-minded one. Playright, meanwhile, doesn't appear threatening. She looks up at the funny human, woofing and wagging her tail. She then sniffs at the fainted Nidoran body. It no play. Not fun. Girl play? She turns her attention to Melissa. "Grow! Lithe!"

Melissa just wails quietly. "D... d... do you want the book?" Melissa asks quietly. She holds the book out, although not easily within Playright's grasp - if the Growlithe happens to take it and chew it apart, who *knows* what the librarian would think. Especially on a romance novel. Can you imagine? 'Looks like someone was 'passionate' about reading this book...' The librarian would grumble. 'A dog ate it - I swear.' Melissa would reply. 'Suuure, dear. That'll be ten bucks.' Or whatever. Fortunately, her brief daydream is broken by the sound of... "Wesley!" She blinks, bunching up even more. She steals a glance at Playright. Is that... his Growlithe? ... hm...

Wesley runs up to the boulder. Surprisingly for the pale little lad, he's not out of breath, which shows how good he's become at physical extertion. Traveling in the wilderness does that to you. He manages to grab Playright just as she bounds up and tries to grab the book with her teeth, fortunately saving Melissa from that embarassing fantasy. "How many times do I have to tell you? No!" he snaps at the dog, in frusteration, missing Melissa's exclaimation of his name. Fistfight, ThoughtThief, and Charmander come up to him, in that order. <Hey, s'okay now, kid..> Fistfight comforts. ThoughtThief takes a more direct approach, and puts the pup to sleep with Hypnosis. "Thank you...oh!" he looks over to Melissa, his face lighting up in puzzled surprise. "...Hello," he eventually finds the words to say.

Glancing down at the now asleep Growlithe, Melissa wipes her brow. "Th... thanks." She mutters quietly, hopping off of the rock and landing on the ground. Puff is still unconscious on the rock - he remembered what that last Growlithe threatened to do to him. "She jus... just shocked me a bit." Hey, she remembered the Growlithe's gender. Not bad. She now noticed the little wallpaper wielder, and scratches her head. "That's funny..." She mumbles quietly. She glances up at Wesley. "I... I just caught a Ch... Charmander the other day." She seems sort of puzzled. Last week, didn't they both catch a Fighting type? And this week, they both got a Charmander? That's kind of freaky. She grins slightly, before happening to look upon her book. "Oh!" She gasps, and quickly hides the book behind her back. No sense in letting the younger boy learn about this book - in truth, she doesn't usually read romance novels. This one just caught her eye. She doesn't want Wesley getting the wrong impression.

Wesley takes a few minutes to snap out of the shock of seeing her here. He's always meeting her, on this same rock, almost everytime he comes to Pewter...it's almost as freaky as their Pokemon catching connection! However, his face soon slips into one of those sweet smiles he seems only to reserve for her (since she's his friend, of course!) "I'm sorry about that too...she's just a bit hard to control." He frowns slightly, since this reflects on his ability to train Pokemon. However, subject change! "You caught a Charmander? So did I, over at Cinnabar. I came here because this is a good training ground." So that's his reasoning. Not to see Melissa, of course. He uncrouches, then recalls Playright. "Good book?" he asks in some puzzlement. Dear, he noticed! Not like Melissa to hide a book from him.

A Magneton floats precariously close to the hard drive, better save! (Saving)

"Beautiful book!" Melissa quickly blurts out the moment Wesley asks. If that's not suspicious, I don't know what is. She quickly decides to chance the subject. "Th... this is a good training ground?" Melissa blinks quietly, then, realizing she should probably know that, quickly adds, "Oh, yes. I... I know." The only Pokemon she has that are really battle hardy are her Dugtrio and Bulbasaur... perhaps her Mankey on a good day. She's yet to see her Charmander's strength, though... oh, right, back to the real world. "I... I kinda know what you mean." Melissa grins. "About your Growlithe. Re... the Mankey I have. She's also... Slip's very hyper, too. Not bad, she just... like... to run alot." She scratches her head quietly. "Do you... know... what an Abra is?" She did a little research on them since she saw Might.

Wesley just blinks at Melissa's reaction to the book. "Well..that's good, then. Enjoy it." He tries to take it at face value, but he detects her unease. "I train my Pokemon with hide and seek in this area. It's also good for races, too." Wasn't that some helpful advice? He nods with sympathy as she mentions Slip; Fistfight and ThoughtThief do as well, while Charmander continues to draw. "So..uh, if I may ask..I mean, I probably shouldn't, I should find out on my own, never mind, then," he subsides into a mutter. He'll control Playright somewhow - he doesn't need anyone else's help. "Abra? I mostly know about their evolved forms, Alakazam. My father has one at home," he says, quite proudly. Fistfight looks /annoyed/ at that fact, while ThoughtThief smirks and begins to mock the Machop.

The girl's curiosity is now taking over. "If... if you should what? If you... um, if you don't want to tell me... that's... fine..." She *doesn't* adjust her glasses this time - rather, she runs her free hand through her silky long hair. Mmm. "Well... my... my Slip... challenged one to a race." She scratches the side of her head now. After a little scritch, she motions to adjust her glasses... but decides against it. Maybe she's trying to look cool? Or maybe, she'll put in contacts, and wants to get used to not adjusting her glasses? Hm. "I just kind of thought... it was funny. You should have been there." Her eyes twinkle behind her glasses.

Purple, gold, and vermillion clouds grace the western sky as the sun descends toward the west.

Wesley looks down at his boots. "I was going to ask how you control Slip, but I shouldn't. My father taught me a lot about Training Pokemon, all I have to do is remember what he told me and I'll be fine. I just..wish his advice worked for all my Pokemon all the time," he adds wistfully. He coughs, realizing he just sounded /so/ stupid. Really, she must think he's a little greenhorn now! "An Abra..oh, who won the race? Wait, that's silly..of course the Abra won, they can teleport." Now she thinks he's even dumber! Argh! <Yeah, the Abra wooon! Psychic beats fightiiiing!> singsongs ThoughtThief, while Fistfight shoots him a Leer attack. <Couldja tell us about it, lady? Maybe I could draw it!> says Leochardo, AKA Charmander. Now that's a weird name...

Melissa didn't think Wesley sounded stupid at all. "You... came..." Her heart practically doubles its beating rate. "You came to me... to ask about... to ask me about... Pokemon training?" See, Melissa considers no better Pokemon trainer than Wesley, since he's almost always training and the like. "How... I..." Uh oh. "Well, I let her run around... around a lot. And I also try to... sorta..." Her face scrunches up slightly. "Sorta treat her like a child. Kindly... but... but a little sternly. Not too stern - otherwise, she'd... she'd know she was annoying you, and..." Here comes the confusing part. "And, since she knew she was annoying you, she'd try to do something completely different that's even more annoying." Melissa blushes fiercely as she adjusts her glasses. "Did... did you get that?" In her own mind, it makes sense. It does. "And... and... and the Abra didn't teleport." Melissa comments quietly, although her voice makes it sound as if that's only *slightly* out of the usual.

Wesley scrunches up his face, trying to put that into terms he'd understand. He's reasonably intelligent, but it takes a while for new concepts to sink in. "I've never had a kid before, so I don't think I'd know how to treat one," he admits. <And Melissa has had a kid?> ThoughtThief asks, taking time out of his busy Fistfight insulting schedule to comment. Wesley blinks, then turns pink. "Uh, no, wait, I mean..not like you have one..but, it's harder for me--I'm younger, and, you're older...you probably pull it off better," he finishes lamely. "And..Abra usually teleport, it's what they do..are you sure it didn't?" The boy scuffs his feet into the ground, still embarassed. Fistfight sighs, and pats her boy's arm. The kid gets worked up over the littlest things...

Now, Melissa is not usually one to think that she can do something better than someone else just because she's a girl. However, as chauvinist as it may seem, she does think that it's more a girl thing that anything else. Of course, she refrains from saying that - how would Wesley react to that? She certainly wouldn't react to something like 'it's a boy thing' very well. Anyway. "I... don't have any... younger siblings. But I have read a few books about... childcare, so I know a bit about younger children." Then she blinks. And her jaw drops. She wasn't casually hinting that she wants to have children anytime soon. "Oh! Um, um, only because my... mom said... that dad and she would... would like to possibly have another child." What a sorry excuse. "Okay. To... to sum it up... I'd let Slip run around a lot. If she got bothersome, I'd repri... reprimand her slightly, but not too hard." Sounds so easy, doesn't it? "Y... yes." Melissa nods slightly. "I'm... sure it didn't teleport. M... maybe it was working on its leg muscles?" She's helpless, as she didn't put an awful lot of thought into it.

Wesley looks even more embarassed as she gets embarassed. If he were a dog, his tail would be tucked between his legs and his ears pulled back. However, a thought makes him pause. "Your mother and your father...uh, in the same house..live together?" he asks, haltingly, like he's forcing the words past a block in his chest. Fistfight perks up at this, the first time Wesley's mentioned the word 'mother' (even if it is someone elses!) ThoughtThief doesn't get it, but pays attention, while Leochardo just doodles a stick figure racing against another stick figure. "Oh..so, I'll remember how you treat Slip and, maybe it'll work for me.." Wesley mutters. "They don't usually, uh, psychics I mean, exercise their bodies. More like their..minds. It's odd..that it didn't teleport." <Maybe even psychics can get screwed up,> Fistfight notes maliciously, causing ThoughtThief to mutter something back.

Melissa nods slightly. "Yes, my... my mother and my father... they... live together." She would, of course, not usually be afraid to admit this, but, *obviously*, Wesley's parents don't. He's mentioned his father before, so that must mean... his mother's either gone or dead. Melissa is not *about* to ask... at least, not at this point in time. "They're... very patient. You should, um, you should meet them sometime." Subject change. Quick. "Y... yes, that's what I would have thought." She steals a glance down at ThoughtThief's chubby self, as if his blubber belly enunciates what Wesley just said. "Perhaps... he..." Now she's using he instead of it? "Perhaps he just got... tired... of stretching his mind." Hmm...

The orange-red sun sinks below the western horizon, leaving a darkening tapestry of purple and red-gold clouds behind it.

Wesley blinks, not yet realizing the stupidity of his question. In a world of Trainers, 'parents' are only a distant haze on the horizon. It's never actually occured to him that there are different family units other than his own kind; single parent. He looks down at Fistfight, who has turned her attention back to him, waiting for his response. He gives one, but to Fistfight herself. "Don't read anything into it," he says, coldly, angry at his own weakness. He looks over to Melissa, blinking slightly, looking like a normal, not-angry kid again. "Meet your..parents? Uh..maybe..I'll be hanging around Pewter for a bit.." He scuffs his feet some more. "I don't think Abra really get tired of stretching their mind...they sleep a lot, so it's weird to see one just..running. If you see that creature again, tell me where you saw it." <Might make a good Alakazam,> ThoughtThief notes smugly. <So we can replace you!> Fistfight replies. ThoughtThief glares. Ouch. Leochardo dooodles. Everything all right in his world!

With a shy little smile, Melissa adjusts her glasses. Her trademark move. "I... it's a little too late now... but perhaps if you... if you want to meet my parents, you can see them tomorrow?" She suggest. "M... maybe we can have dinner. If you'd... you'd rather Pokemon train or something, that would be... that would be fun, too." Ooo! La la. "M... maybe we can... mix our teams together, and..." She blushes a bit. She's planning too far ahead. "If... I see the Abra... before I see you, I'll be sure to... tell you." She grins softly, no longer clutching the book behind her back. If Wesley looks, he can see the book's title. Mm. "I... should head back now. Back home, I mean. It's...it's kind of getting late."

A Magneton floats precariously close to the hard drive, better save! (Saving)

Oranges, reds, and golds light the fair weather clouds, shadowed in purple, around the setting sun. A soft breeze blows from the west.

Wesley blinks. An..invitation for dinner? This'll be the first time he's been asked! He's completely floored, and shows it by the way he just stares at Melissa with his eyes bulging out of his head. Fistfight is too, but she eventually manages to grin. She and ThoughtThief nudge Wesley, (the Drowzee leering in Melissa's general direction) bringing the kid back to the real world. "I haven't had a good dinner since..this winter, I-I think, back at my..dinner would be nice..!" He swallows, and clears his throat. "I really, was planning to train, though.." he says, sounding like he now regrets that. Training is..much safer than dinner, in his mind. "Thanks..I'll tell you if I see that Abra, too. Huh? Late..oh, I-I guess it is. Maybe..I can walk with you into town?" he suggests, seeing nothing wrong with that suggestion. Hey, they're /going/ the same way.

"We... we can," Melissa grins shyly. "I mean, you can. Walk me into town, I mean." She's stumbling and stuttering even more than usual, since... wow. Something's actually happening. "Your..." She glances at Fistfight, ThoughtThief, Leochardo, and the sleeping Playright. "Your Pokemon won't mind?" Pokemon, Pokemon... that reminds her. Snatching the Pokeball off her belt, in one quick movement, she recalls her still-unconscious Nidoran into his Pokeball, and attached it back onto the belt. Wow. Nice move. "They're not..." She reddens slightly. "Bored of me? They'd... they're not rowdy?" Whatever she said. She takes a few small steps north, heading closer to her home, though she glances at Wesley as she does so.

Wesley blinks, cocking his head and regarding her curiously as he begins to walk after her. "Why..why would they be bored of you? They love it when I hang around you. You're my friend," he adds, as if this clarifies matters for her. "And, no I don't think they're too rowdy. Fistfight and ThoughtThief fight a bit, but usually verbally, and Leochardo--" he pauses, remembering the 'Mander's still out, and recalls him, grabbing the paper formerly clutched in his claws. (Playright was already recalled, you see.) With that, Wesley trails to Melissa's side, escorting the fair maiden into town, with ThoughtThief the Drowzee and Fistfight the Machop following after and betting on how long the 'love affair' will last.

Wesley heads for Pewter City: Southern Pewter.
Wesley has left.

Pewter City: Southern Pewter

Making sure to keep her romance novel hidden from Wesley, Melissa, escorted by her 10-year old... escort... glances west at one point. "My house... i... it's around here." Here is where she stops, adjusts her glasses, and grins a little bit. "I... um, I think I can... I can get myself home from here." What? Is she embarrassed that her parents might see Wesley? Or shamed? Or is there a different reason? "To... tomorrow..." Melissa mumbles quietly. "Should I meet you at the... the rock?" She really needs to give it a name. "Whether you... um, stay for dinner, or we train, or just talk... I'd like to see you tomorrow." Quickly, she adds, "But if you can't make it, I totally understand!" The last thing the poor teenager wants to do is get in the way of someone's personal life.

Brindled clouds conceal a few patches of starlit sky.

Wesley looks over at Melissa, smiling slightly, though it's too dark to see. "I'll meet you by the rock." He chuckles. "One would almost think that was your home, I've seen you on it so many times." See, he can be funny! He doesn't particularly mind not being invited to see her home - after all, he only specified 'town'. Seeing her home would be a bit wierd for him, too. That's why he's most likely opting to train with her tomorrow. Maybe he can see first hand that girly voodoo she does with Slip? Besides, even Fistfight knows the value of patience, romance-starved though she is. "I don't think I have too much to do..I'd like to see you tomorrow as well." This is just..so cute. Oh why didn't this player make Wesley just a few years older?! Why?!

Melissa grins even deeper, her foot shyly scraping the floor. Aww. "So I'll... I'll see you around, okay?" She doesn't wait for a reply before she starts taking a few timid steps towards her home, curiously glancing over her shoulder back at Wesley to see his reactions. If only Melissa were a few years younger... oy!

Well, the list of regrets could just keep getting longer and longer. We should probably break this off now, before it gets too painful, and we end up with a hangover in a gutter down Mexico lane with a pinacolada..Oh, right, poses should probably do something with actual IC action, shouldn't they? Wesley's reaction? A slight smile, a soft "great," and a wave. Then, he's walking back to the Pokemon Center. Fistfight, however, looks back at Melissa, smiling a grandmotherly smile, while ThoughtThief gives her another suggestive leer, no doubt thinking upon a matter which should be illegal worldwide. They soon turn to follow Wesley, however, and the trio disappears into the night.