1x1 Contest Coordination RP (StOwl x Bunny Hop!)

Caelan wrapped his arms around his stomach, staring forlornly at the line of graduates in front of him. The hall was eerily quiet, only interrupted by names and scattered applause echoing through the silence as the line moved forward at a snail pace. Caelan wished he had something with him to occupy him; all three of his Pokémon companions, which were a constant presence in his life, were locked up in their Pokeballs inside a bag in Caelan’s dorm.

He sighed thinking of it. Before he’d packed up, the place had been messy and in need of a thorough cleaning. His Skitty, a wild little creature, was infamous for stepping in plates and tracking food across the house, or knocking items off shelves, and in general making a mess. Ironically, it was a bit of a neat freak, and did its best to clean anything it broke. Still, the nature of any Skitty ruined it; a simple twitch of the tail would mean that Skitty forgot all about what it was doing in pursuit of this new, strange thing. Caelan’s other Pokémon would just adapt to the mess, often making little nests in the strayed bedclothes.

Still, the last day at the Academy meant a thorough cleaning (locking Skitty in the closet as he did so). The bedclothes were stripped, the counters dusted, everything properly arranged and packed. A suitcase and a backpack was all that was left of Caelan’s home for the numerous years he’d been there.

He wanted a Pokémon to hug.

The line was rapidly shortening, and suddenly Caelan was in the front. His hands went crazy: tapping, twiddling, rearranging strands of his hair. He wondered if his ponytail was formal enough for a graduation ceremony.

“Caelan Hisakawa,” the president intoned. Caelan went up the steps and took his contest pass.

Once he stepped off the stage, he breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, now the fun begins.”

It was a quick walk back up to his room to grab his belongings and release his Pokémon. The academy had always been very formal, but in the end, they’d let anyone skip the closing statements. There was no time to waste; Caelan’s parents would be there soon, and if he wasn’t careful he’d be whisked back home to pressures about Team Aqua and gender.

Aunt Ena goes somewhere on that team and suddenly I have to join it, he thought bitterly. Never mind contest coordination and all the money you spent on me to go to this academy - it’s battle time!
Not if Caelan could help it. He swung his bag over his shoulder. Pokémon Centers offered free rooms to trainers, and considering he had three Pokémon, Caelan certainly qualified as a trainer.

He stepped out onto the street outside the academy, ready to meet his destiny.

((Calling Caelan a he for now, pronouns may bounce around a bit. @Bunny Hop! here's the thread.)

 

Oh goodness! I'm sorry! It's been longer than I thought it was. I really am sorry, the end of NaNoWriMo and the start of December brought a lot more assignments and things to write. I really thought you'd posted this sooner, otherwise I would have started my response already.

 

It's fine, it's just my bad sense of time, haha. Sorry, I didn't expect this would become an absence. I should be able to start working on this tonight, so I don't think a tag is necessary.

 

Cars sped through the street as busy commuters shoved past Caelan, too fixated on where they were trying to get to bother with simple courtesy. He scowled at them, fixing the strap of his bag to make it more comfortable on his shoulder. The Pokémon center was near the center of town, so it would be easy for him to get there and stay for the night.


His plans were interrupted by the arrival of a classmate. "Hey Caelan, what town are you heading to first? I'm going to Rustoboro first for the Coolness contest. My dad's finally allowed me to go on a journey.”


Caelan glanced to his side and smiled at Kaori. He didn’t know her too well, but they had a few classes together. She was plenty friendly, and seemed especially happy after graduation. Caelan was surprised; he knew he’d loved his years in the academy, and wasn’t happy to leave.


“Hi Kaori!” he replied brightly. “I honestly hadn’t thought of that. I was going to stay at the Pokémon Center overnight and think up a game plan then. But Rustboro isn’t far, I could probably get there by tonight and stay at their Pokémon Center. That’s a really good idea, actually. Do you mind if I come with you?”

 

Caelan tried to listen attentively to Kaori as she was talking, but he was being distracted by a frequent buzzing in his back pocket. He nodded along to what she was saying, vaguely registering something about gangsters and Petalburg Woods.


“Yeah, I - that sounds great. Just a sec, Kaori.”


Caelan turned around and pulled out his phone, hunching over it.

Caelan, where are you? Is the ceremony over?

We’re waiting out front.

Are you getting these?

Caelan, respond please.

Caelan, if you’re ignoring me, I’m going to be very upset when I pick you up.


As he scrolled through the texts, the phone began to vibrate. Caelan swore under his breath as his mother’s contact came up. “Hello?”


“Caelan! And here I was thinking you might have been ignoring me! Where are you?”


“I’m, um, with a friend. In the back - ” Caelan’s eyes widened as a black car turned toward the street where he was standing. He flipped up his hood. “Where even are you? Hurry up, I want to get home!”


“Right, yes. In the back, you said? We’ll be there in a minute.”


“All right, see you then.” Caelan hung up and turned around in time to see the black car swerve in a dramatic U-turn. He laughed. “She never was a good driver. Can we hurry and get out of here? When she sees I’m not there she’ll come back and start looking for me. You said something about Petalburg Woods - that’ll get us to Rustboro, right?”

 

((sorry for the delay! I'm slowly but surely catching up with everything, and I think my workload may be lessened soon.))

Caelan smiled as he walked with Kaori through the grass. Both his Skitty and his Chikorita had already hurried ahead, following her Torchic’s lead. Thankfully, his loyal Mawile was still by his side. Trees started to thicken around them, and Mawile moved even closer to Caelan until it was literally bumping his ankles. “Oh, c’mon,” he muttered, scooping it up.


Petalburg Woods seemed pretty friendly for a forest, though. They were infamous for being unwelcoming, with looming trees and eerie noises, but this one was filled with chirping insects and light dustings of leaves. Caelan felt a little talkative, so he ventured a question. “How did you like the Academy, Kaori?”

 

Caelan smiled in appreciation. “It was fun to make Pokeblocks - and your Torchic is adorable. They really did teach us a lot about connecting with our Pokémon, didn’t they? I know I had no idea how to control my Skitty before I went to the Academy. It wasn’t even allowed in the house, it made such a mess.”


He looked further ahead, to where his Chikorita was waiting for them. When the Pokémon caught sight of Caelan, it bounded up and started speaking rapidly. He waited until it was finished, then - “Torchic was right, there are some people up ahead. They think my Skitty is wild. Chikorita seems pretty nervous, but it’s also a little skittish. I’m sure everything’s fine - we should go look, though.”

 

Caelan tapped a Pokéball to his Chikorita, Returning it. He kept Mawile in his arms, as his strongest Pokémon, even though it was practically shaking as it clutched his shoulders. "Calm down," he muttered. "If worst comes to worst, you can beat any mean Pokémon in your path, can't you darling?"

He looked back at Kaori. "A Houndoom would be really cool. They're powerful Pokémon. How does your dad have so many that he can just 'give' one to you?"

 

"Forty Houndours! That's, well, a lot of effort." Caelan cracked a smile. "I can't imagine doing something like that. It must take a lot of patience. Your dad's really nice to try and get you a good contest Pokémon, too. Do you - "

He paused, and glanced up ahead. They had rounded a corner and could see the people that had started attacking his Skitty. Caelan had assumed they were just normal trainers, but the bandanas on their heads said otherwise. Mawile's head swiveled towards them, and an appearance of calm settled over the Pokémon as it hopped out of Caelan's arms.

"Team Magma," he said, with something close to a snarl.

((sorrysorrysorry about the wait. I do not have a good sense of time, I thought I'd replied more recently than this. Speeding up the plot a little here.))

 

"That's a good idea," Caelan replied with a nod. He didn't want to deal with any members of Team Magma, and he didn't quite trust his Mawile to not chicken out halfway through a battle with strangers. It would be a pain to have to go back to town, but at least they'd be staying safe.

Caelan turned into the forest and glanced around through the trees. They weren't laid out thickly, and it would be easy to travel through them, while still making the two hard to track. "Want to go through here, Kaori?"