~Chapter one: The desert's mysteries~, Marmaron's Journey. (PG-13, to be safe)

Dry and desolate-forbidding and so far, devoid of any signs of life whatsoever. Most sane trainers would have turned back as soon as they saw this place-for to them, there was nothing there but death-because of the obvious enough lack of any kind of water, or shade whatsoever. But despite the forbidding conditions- there was a person here. The red-capped trainer surveyed the sudden change of conditions with a grin on his face. This place was a real testing ground-and he'd heard a lot of stories about ancient tombs in deserts too. He could maybe actually FIND someone who would take his riddle challange on! Was this person a little un-sane to not turn back under such conditions? No, this was not the case (although people sometimes bitterly commentated that the trainer in question had a few screws loose after being yelled at by him.) The reason that this figure was willing to go through this desert? A person he held dear-and the only logcial place this person could be was in this 'place', this 'Oracle time' somewhere. Marmaron was determined to find Ruiji's wherabouts-even if it took him a long time to do so. Marmaron adjusted his red hat as he finished his quick look around the area, turning to the robotic Masquerain that the odd lady had given him.


The pok'emon-like robot floated around in a circle, the reddish light on it's horn slightly reflecting onto the ground below. Marmaron reached a hand out and experimentally waved in front of the odd thing, but it seemed to give no response- simply floating as before. Marmaron stared at the Masquerain with a blank expression, saying, "You certainly are a weird piece of work, Masquer-robot...honestly, whoever thought you up must either have a vivid imagination-or be a complete fruit-loop. Ha...and why am I talking to you? It's not like you can understand me or anythin' like that.." The trainer chuckled for a moment, before shrugging slightly, saying, "Ah well. Time to see what kind of pok'emon that lady gave me to navigate aroun' this place.." Marmaron unclipped the single filled pok'eball from his belt, tossing it to the ground in front of him in a rather impaitent manner-but he immeiedtly regretted being so hasty. As the red light from the ball faded- the pok'emon inside was a bulldog-like creature-a PINK bulldog-like creature. Marmaron stared at the pok'emon, backing away slightly in disbelief, saying,". . .This is some kinda sick joke, right?" The bulldog- or to be more correct-the Snubull- barked at Marmaron in a cheerful manner-before running up to him and attempting to lick his face. Marmaron flung his arms around, trying-and failing to get the dog off, saying, "NO! G-Get down! Stop it~ Sit, SIT, Dang it!" The dog only got off Marmaron once he got his last sentance out of his mouth though, sitting down with a happy expression.


Marmaron wiped his face off angrily, thinking to himself, "That bl***y woman! I explictly said that pink pok'emon freak me out and what does she do?! She gives me a PINK pok'emon for a starter...ugh. But-mehh...once it evolves, I guess it won't BE pink anymore-so thankfully, I won't have to put up with that...freaky colour for too long- and maybe I can get it re-coloured. But still..IT'S THE PRINCIPLE, D**IT! I swear, if I see her again- I'm going to have a few words to say to her..." After this complaining, he eyed the pok'emon off, who was staring at him with an innocent expression. The dog seemed to have no idea that Marmaron didn't like her too much-not yet, anyway. Marnaron said, "Okay...so I guess you'll need a nickname." "Whoopdee-friggen-dooo." He thought to himself after this sentance. He thought for a split second, then said, "Morgan Le Fay. That fits you to a T. Now that we've got that boring stuff all sorted out, let's juts go already.." and after saying this, Marmaron turned to get ready to start walking again. He was being as hasty as always. Morgan had been the name of a famous fairy someplace- and since Snubbul was a 'fairy dog', it seemed to suit well enough. He didn't want to spend too much time thinking about the nickname-not when he had to start looking for Ruiji, anyways.

The rather unnervingly unresponsive Masquerain began to drift forth towards the midst of the barren landscape, its wings swayed by the wind but no muscles twitching in movement. It either didn’t take notice of you or was aware of only where it was going—needless to say, the Guide probably expected you to follow it. The vermillion-hued light its horn gave off served to lighten the area around you, which was still somewhat dark in the time between when the sun would rise, and when all around you was shadowy and eerie. There was a silence laid over the place, but not a reassuring one, but the ever-cheery Morgan managed to ignore this.

The pink-furred Snubbull chased after the monochromatic Masquerain, which was allowing itself to drift further, sloping towards the ground almost absentmindedly. As if feeling—but not feeling, really, for it was a being devoid of such things or senses—it’s descent, it slanted upwards and Morgan peered up at it inquisitively. “Snub!” she called to you, as if excited and proud that she has just discovered this odd creature that looks like a Pokémon but isn’t.

An empty wind stirred the dirt for a moment as a ray of light crept from where the sun was beginning to breach the horizon. The wind was rather dry; alluding to a hot day to come—not too long from now, this empty wasteland would be a desert.

Morgan is not put down by the imminence of hot weather and trots in front of you, occasionally circling back to nuzzle at your legs—oblivious to the fact you may not favor such insistent attentions—as if urging you onwards. Light is beginning to creep up your feet to your ankles as the sun rises.

As Marmaron started to walk forwards again, the metal Masqerain drifted past him in a slow manner-wings being tussled like wind-chimes slightly from the small amount of wind that was breezing by the area. Marmaron turned his head to the left where the creature floated-eyeing it in a bored manner. The Masquerain remained as unresponsive as ever to his presence-simply floating forwards to who-knew-where. Marmaron stared at the creature for a moment-a sly grin creeping up on his face. All of a sudden-Marmaron jumped erraticly to the side-right in front of the robot's path-way. But the Masquerain simply just moved around him-still floating forth with no readable expression what-so-ever. Marmaron yawned, saying, "Man, Masquer-robot..you have no idea what fun is, do you? Talk about boring...you probably have a little compass inside you that tells you where to go. Real adventure if finding your way without any guidance-if you ask me..there's no excitement in it other-wise." But despite the fact the Masquerain was boring-because it was a robot- Marmaron didn't mind it's company. The light from the 'horn' on it's head lit up the area slightly-adding a bit of colour to the drab shades of the desert. There wasn't much colour now because the sun had yet to rise-giving the place a sense of shady mystery.


Marmaron lived for adventure-he enjoyed going to new places and discovering new things, and the silence that had crept up again with the fact Marmaron was taking in the surroundings and not speaking-this silence alone seemed to suggest the fact that there were indeed mystries here. Maybe not ones that were re-assuring, but adventures with a hint of danger to them were all the more exciting. Hence the reason Marmaron was now wlaking along-side the robotic Masquerain with a slight grin on his face-eyes seeming to shine with excitment. Suddenly-the silence was broken by a series of excited barks- Marmaron turning to see Morgan running towards the Masquerain, chasing it like a thrown stick. The red-capped trainer shook his head slightly at this-Morgan was definetly a bit too excitable. Yes, he was excited to be here too-but you didn't see him running about like a kid. As he watched- The robot that Morgan was currently chasing was slowly dirfting closer and closer to the ground, almost like it wasn't even thinking to watch what it was doing in this regard. It got so close that Morgan was able to stand on her hind legs and touch it with her nose- but it got no closer-slowly floating back up again, Morgan looking up at it with a curious eye. The Snubbull called out to Marmaron all of a sudden, as if excited and proud that she'd discovered the odd robot.


Marmaron didn't know wether to shake his head again or sadly smile- Morgan's naivety reminded him of Ruiji-although it did get on his nerves a little. They both took in the world with such wide-eyed wonder, simple in what impressed them and simple-minded-wheras Marmaron himself-it took bigger things to impress him. He wondered how his little brother was doing in a place like this- had the lady given him a pok'emon as well, too? He hoped so- he couldn't imagine Ruiji going off all by himself, for several reasons. As Marmaron watched Morgan prance excitably in front of him- the wind from before perked up again-sirring up a wisp of dirt for a moment as the first signs of the sun began to beam every so slightly over the horizon. Marmaron watched the small ray-a sense of awe washing over him. The sun might not look too threatning now- but the dryness of the wind alluded to the fact that it would be a hot day. Although now it seemed so weak and small-it had more power and strength than it's now modest size suggested. Kind of like some Pok'emon in life~the ones that looked harmless were often the more dangerous. Despite the warnings that the trek would be rough, Morgan appeared to ignore them-ocassionly circling back to nuzzle Marmaron's legs fervently as if to urge the trainer onwards.

Although Marmaron didn't favour such insiccent attentions-he appreicated the thought of the pok'emon to keep him striving on for Ruiji's sake, and said, "Thanks Morgan. Heh..it may be a harsh travel through here-but it's important that we keep focused and hopeful. No being pessimistic...if ya act like you're doomed...your journey's search is over before you even take the first step!" He nodded somewhat at his own optomistic idea-before continuing onward. If the sun was going to rise soon-then they should cover as much of the ground as possible before then-as the hot desert would be harder to navigate.

Morgan barked happily at the thank you she received, her head bobbing up and down wildly before she hastened ahead. She paused interestedly as the Guide did, lazy wings carrying it downwards for a moment before it sloped back up. It was as if it were purposefully moving in that lazy, wave-like form, but that couldn’t be right—it couldn’t think, or feel, or anything… Morgan pauses suddenly, eyes brightening like a dog who’s just found something to play with, and stares intently ahead, at where a form is moving, not quite blended in with the landscape.

It’s tough, sandy-colored body is an immediate clue to tell you what exactly this thing is. It is snuffling amongst the ground, as if looking for something to eat, small claws scratching every now and then, tail held stiff behind it’s form. A head lifts and black eyes turn two and fro restlessly before the Sandshrew resumes its steady movement, ever so often moving forward.

Your Snubbull begins to bounce excitedly, a dog-like instinct to play and chase welling up in her. And this poor, unsuspecting ground type seems to be her target right now. Slowly, she begins to edge towards it, and Oracle Guide still drifting languidly just above her head. It makes her more conspicuous, certainly, but the Sandshrew is enamored in what it’s doing, perhaps smelling for prey, or already having prey it’s hunting for.

As Marmaron continued on through the desolate area, he was so foucsed on traversing the dusty desert of a place that he didn't even hear-let alone notice Morgan's thank-you. He liked the pok'emon's spirit somewhat-but he still didn't like pink pok'emon in general and it would take the poor innocent puppy a LOT more to get Marmaron to stop turning a blind eye to the majority of her antics-just because he was slightly freaked out by most pink pok'emon in general. Unknowing of this-the Snubbull moved on as innocently as ever after happily recieving the small thanks from the red-capped trainer. As Marmaron continued to walk forth-his attention was diverted for a split second at seeing the Masquerain was still moving in that weird loop-like wave it had been doing so before-sloping down-then back up again. The trainer stared at the pok'emon with a raised eyebrow, before focusing back on the surroundings ahead of him. Didn't moving the same way over and over again get too easy to do-and thus get whoever did so in a routine? Routine was never something Marmaron had liked; sure Ruiji liked it-but he'd never been one for following the crowd and doing EXACTLY what the person in charge told him to. He perferred to take his own path in things-go about his own way and show individuality! If you just followed routine day in and day out-well where was the fun-the bit of challange that all life needed- in THAT?!? Seriously, the person who made those Masquerain robot-thinges should have been a bit more creative when handing out 'personas' to them.


Just because they were robots didn't mean they had to be as un-responsive as Voltorb, for crying out loud. Suddenly-the blank vast landscape is broken up in it's emptiness, for ahead there is a small form moving-easily enough spotted because it did not blend in with the landscape. Marmaron looked at the form for a moment, before on impulse getting the red pok'edex that the wacked-out old lady gave him-pointing it at the figure. He did not do this because he had no knowledge of what the pok'emon actually was-he'd seen enough pictures of Sandshrew to know one when he saw it-plus he'd once gotten into a fight with a kid who owned one-and come out of said fight quite scratched and worn-so he knew what kind of pok'emon the desert mouse was-he was simply attempting to check it's stats. If it was stong~he might be able to get a bit of good training for Morgan in-but wether the creature was interested or not in a battle was a different matter. Not all pok'emon liked fighting-as he'd seen his younger brother make a few pok'emon friends of more timid personas when he and Ruiji still could spend time together and what not- and if this was the case, he wans't going to bother the mouse. He may like fighting and training sure-but he had MORALS. And he wasn't going to change them for anybody, thank you. After quickly scanning the information that had come up on the screen- Marmaron put the pok'edex away, before looking up at the Sandshrew again~but just as he is about to act on what to do concerning the mouse- he spotted Morgan making a slow creep towards the pok'emon.


Marmaron smacked his fore-head in fustration at seeing this. Just WHAT does the Snubbull think she is doing?! With her pink colouring-not to mention the Masquer-robot hanging over her head, she stands out like a sore thumb-and could easily startle the Sand mouse into running. But oddly-the Sandshrew hasn't seemed to have noticed the pink dog-still sniffing the ground in a determined fashion. Marmaron thought to himself- as he started to run, attempting to catch up with Morgan and stop her doing something potentially stupid- "Either that Sandshrew is a really Calm natured pok'emon...or it's just too busy with it's own stuff to see what's goin' on around it..."

[ Luigi, hope you don't mind the use of half-serious language. So forgive the informalities in writing. Tell me if you prefer a formal one. ]

Its little nose was sniffing the air high and low, soon coming face to face with a pink-colored dog. The white eyes blinked at Morgan's playful pair of eyes. With a bark, she greeted the wild Pokèmon. To think it was even a Calm Pokèmon was a complete mistake.

"Saaanshrew!" It hissed with a tone filled with abhorrence. If it had fur, it would stand on its end. Its eyes slit and its tail pointed high to the air, now clawing at Morgan with its claws. Morgan yelped and ran back to you. The Sandshrew was acting like an enraged cat, the perfect rival for Morgan, a pink Snubbull. However, the positions have changed and the dog became the underdog.

Going back to your Pokedex, the Pokedex registered the information and revealed the Pokèmon's stats earlier on. Aside from reading aloud the species information, it also said:

It didn't say anything about its Nature, but it looked like it would be something Morgan can fight against...-- You can feel the dog clinging closely to your leg while the Sandshrew continues to hiss -- ...scratch that, bravery is one thing. Morgan can barely stand and face against the Sandshrew.

((That's okay. ^^ It suits Marmaron's personality more, this style, I think. ))

As Marmaron ran towards his Snubbul-he managed to get within a few feet of the pink fairy dog and the small dusty mouse, but to not much avail-for the Snubbull was now right in front of the pok'emon, and as the mouse came face-to-face with Morgan, Marmaron stopped where he was, sighing slightly as he tried to catch his breath from the run. Morgan-for a pok'emon that seemed to have no legs-sure did run fast. But now that Morgan was only a mere few centimeteres away from actually touching the mouse, Marmaron knew he couldn't do much to prevent Morgan from doing something stupid now-not with Morgan so close to the Sandshrew and all. He hoped the Ground-type didn't make a runner for it-heck, it'd be really boring if every pok'emon he met ended up running because of Morgan's annoying tendacy to want to go and make 'friends' with them-because of a Snubbul's natural ability-Indimidate-Morgan's attempts to make friends may not go as planned most the time, Marmaron guessed..which would be not too helpful to him, really.


However, when Morgan barked to the pok'emon in greeting- the mouse did something that the Snubbul really didn't expect- hissing to the pink dog in a cat-like way-the Sandshrew set on Morgan like a wild Meowth or Glameow might do-eyes slit and tail pointed high to the air as it scratched wildly in Morgan's direction, the pink pok'emon on the recieving end of this agression whimpering and high-tailing it back to Marmaron. It would have been funny if it hadn't been HIS pok'emon acting so cowardly-turning to Morgan, he said, "You're not just gonna sit here and take that, are you? Go on, show that Sandshrew what-for!" But desipte Marmaron's words, Morgan did not budge an inch from her current location, sticking to Marmaron's side like a particularly annoying piece of fly-paper. Marmaron groaned. Just great. He'd spotted a pok'emon that-judging by appareance- was more than willing for a fight, and Morgan wouldn't go and accept the challange..?! "Crap! This sucks big-time! Huh...? Wait a minute- my pok'edex is rattling off the Sandshrew's stats now-I wonder what it has to say about this here desert mouse?" As Marmaron go out his pok'edex again- he noticed that like Morgan-this pok'emon was female. "Why does it seem like almost every pok'emon I meet is a girl? Seriously.." Marmaron thought dryly to himself-before scanning the pok'emon's stats quickly.


"Hmmm...this pok'emon's got a real high Defence-but in comparision, it's special defense ain't the best- so the best attacks to use here would be special ones! As long as we don't have to be on the defensive-which does nothin' for ya and is boring-we should be fine." Marmaron thought to himself, before shoving the pok'edex back in his pocket. Eyeing the mouse off with a grin, he said, "You wanna play? Alright-let's 'play'! Morgan-let's g~Wha?" Marmaron's sudden change of what he was saying was due to the fact Morgan was now clinging to his left leg, cringing in fear from the Sandshrew. Marmaron sighed. If you wanted something done properly...you did it yourself. Marmaron said, "Morgan-forget it. I'll deal with this- but I can't fight all your battles for you! If you tick off another pok'emon after this...i'm going to make you battle it." Harsh words, maybe-but he was right. Unclipping Morgan's pok'eball form his belt, Marmaron attempted to recall the Snubbull before facing the Sandshrew. If Morgan did not return, he'd try to pry her off before doing so. Anyways-regardless of wether Marmaron got his pok'emon off his leg or not, he would stand in a battle-ready pose, grinning. He said to the Sandshrew, "Come on! Show me wat'ya got!" He was hoping that the pok'emon's anger would drive it to try and leap at him to get the first hit- then once the Sandshrew hit him, he'd try to return it's blow with double force. ((Counter)).

The Snubbull probably didn't even notice the red light pulling her back to the Pokeball. Putting inside the Pokeball that contained the dog that could not stand up against this Sandshrew that isn't even a cat to begin with, you then prepared to battle the hissing Sandshrew. The Sandshrew looked surprise when the pink Pokèmon disappeared right in front of its eyes. When you were in battle position, you saw the Sandshrew starring at you with wide eyes.

Oh yea, she have seen it! Pulling out a small item and then pointing it to the Snubbull, you were able to kill the Snubbull. With a red laser beam, the ball made the Snubbull disappear--vaporized into thin air and the Sandshrew did not even hear the pathetic Pokèmon cry in pain! Not a minute or a second could the Snubbull cry. Perhaps it was killed without even realizing it. It was killed without feeling pain.

Sandshrew here have heard of Trainers and he heard of mean Trainers. This human here didn't like his Snubbull and decided to...

HOLY ARCEUS.

"SHREEW!" It screeched hysterically, sweats pouring profusely like rain. The Sandshrew jumped, diving as if the ground was a pool of water and digging, hiding from this mad Trainer that was now going to vaporize her! No way is she fighting something against you!

Yep, you scared it away somehow. The Sandshrew was now using Dig, retreating hastily. Uh. Yea. Maybe it's your face or breath or something.

As Marmaron got out Morgan's pok'eball-we was glad that at the very least, the coward of a dog let itself be recalled since she obviously stood not a chance in heck against this desert mouse-the Snubbull had been to frightened to even FACE the ground-type, let alone think about battling it, sadly. Marmaron was willing to help the pink fairy out this once-but as he had scolded to the pok'emon-he couldn't fight HER battles all the time-and he was ticked off that he should even HAVE to intervene. A starter pok'emon should not let fear affect them-they should stand up for themselves and others even if they were scared. The serious expression on his face was evidence enough that poor unsuspecting Morgan would have to do something pretty big in order to gain Marmaron's respect again-because right now the red-capped one's view of the pok'emon was very low, even though he wasn't nasty enough to mistreat the pok'emon physically...but what happened next was not something that Marmaron expected at all.

The Sandshrew-as he got into battle pisiton-was looking at him as if he was a ghost or something. Marmaron was bewildered-if the Sandshrew had jumped on Morgan just for getting close to it-surely it would do the same thing to him as well? A sharp cry emenated from the pok'emon's mouth all of a sudden-Marmaron's attention's snapping back to the Gorund-type and not his thought-tensing as he awaited the pok'emon's first strike..but said strike never came. Rather, the desert mouse was not letting out a battle cry-but a high-pitched screech of sorts that indicated it was QUITE perturbed. About WHAT exactly, Marmaron hadn't the foggiest idea. But whatever had scared a pok'emon that moments ago-had been seeming like a real warrior-Marmaron guessed it must have been pretty drastic. Of course, he had no idea he was the cause of this-he expected that he probably wasn't the only one to have taken on this mission and so-logically-other trainers must have passed by here-in his logic, at least. So as the Sandshrew suddenly dove into the ground-digging away as easily as one would swim through water, the red-capped one said out loud at these events , " What in the f**k just happened there? Ah well-at least the problem of the erratic Sandshrew has been solved-well-I guess. It was too easy though-I would'a expected more of a challange from a Ground-type element." The short trainer sighed in dissapointment before shrugging, saying, "Ah wells-I'm sure another challange will come up. Come on-Masqer-robot.."


And with this, Marmaron set off once again, the robotic Masquerain floating alongside him in it's boring fashion as usual. Suddenly-something intterupted this walk-Morgan came out of her pok'eball. She had probably heard Marmaron say the danger was past and so found it safe to come out-but when she tried to jump and get some attention from Marmaron-the red-capped one simply ignored her. The dog whimpered somewhat-was this because she'd been too scared to fight? As if answering the Snubbull, Marmaron said bitterly-not once looking towards Morgan's direction, "Cowardice is a despcbile action from a pok'emon I SHOULD be able to count on." He was being as rash as always-saying what he thought right out. Morgan whimpered again-trying again to get the red-capped one's attention-but he still ignored her. This might cause problems if the Snubbull saw danger-but who knew what this palce held in store next?

Morgan didn't like being ignored. Later on, she quited whimpering, thinking that it was the best way to get your attention but it didn't work out. Just like a child, Morgan changed tactics. She didn't really want the cold ice between the two of you so she barked, using now her cute woman fetish look. The Snubbull walked on four legs, trying to outdo you in walking to get ahead. She had to be seen after all.

Morgan dramatically made her ears wave in the air and her little tail wagged cutely. She was turning her head, trying to see if you were really looking. Morgan started walking backwards so she can look at you directly and act cute. The Jolly Pokèmon hopped backward like a Kangaskhan and don't be surprised if it started rolling over or playing dead....

Playing dead might be nice. Nicer if she actually does it....or not, but Morgan wasn't exactly fitted to survive in this place. Sure, the Sandshrew was...eccentric. Nah, she was mad, but mad is bad and dangerous. That rabid-like Sandshrew was still dangerous and Morgan, if you just tossed her in this place will surely be killed.

Morgan continued her attempts to please you until she tripped backward and sort of just rolled. She came to a halt when she hit a suspicious looking rock with arm-like structures. The rock remained motionless though and Morgan didn't seem to notice the strangeness on its appearance. Morgan looked like she laughed instead at what happened to her than whimpering like a baby.

Aside from Morgan though, nothing new have caught your eyes in the environment.

As Marmaron walked onwards-now paying no attention to his starter at all, simply keeping his eye on the surroundings-the desert remained as vast and dusty as always, with no sign of the background chnaging anythime too soon. Marmaron yawned slightly. Walking along like this with no excitement whatsoever was boring-but he felt that these dusty plains probably held a few secrets or two~most starting locations did, if you kept your eye out and kept on your guard. What kind of serets they were and how they would affect his search for Ruiji was yet to be known however-it would only be revealed later through exploration. He'd only just began his trek through this place-and it was a pretty big area-so logically, there had to be something out here just waiting to be ventured through. The red-capped one was only made more dertemined to keep going by these thoughts, and so continued on with a quicker stride than before-that is-until a certain pink thing ran in front of him.


Marmaron turned his face away from Morgan, focusing instead on the landscape in front of him~flat-out ingoring her as before. She KNEW why he was angry-why on earth did she insist on trying to get his attention? And so-because he wasn't even looking in Morgan's direction-let alone noticing her, he failed to see that Morgan tripped over an oddly-shaped rock in his attempt to get his attention-one that would look suspicous to any traveller...But Marmaron was looking at the surroundings-and as of yet-there was nothing new. Just sand, sand and even more sand. The red-capped one said to himself, "It's way too quiet here-somethin's up...or it's just not too active in this place before the sun rises."

It wasn't best to underestimate the persistence of a Snubbull. Since you were the only company around, one hundred percent of Morgan's jolly nature focused on you. Morgan continued to try getting your attention, walking ahead of you and trying to get you to look at her. Later on, Morgan started to sing something out. The lyrics were repeated (Snuuu-snubbull-bulls-snuuu~) and the singsong voice of hers, obviously out of tune, could strike either as weird, funny, or incredibly annoying. For a little pink dog, she has quite a loud voice (too bad it's not so loud in front of wild Pokèmon).

You were right at the thought there weren't a lot of wild Pokèmon before the sun rises. The sun had already risen though but there were still no Pokèmon in sight, unless you decide to look for them. They could be hiding behind those group of rocks (and more rocks around here and there) or dug underneath the very ground you were standing on (it would be unpleasant if a Pokèmon like Onix suddenly jumped out from the ground). But even the gray sky was empty. Not even a single flying Pokèmon in sight.

You've been walking on a straight path. Maybe if you stray a little, you might find wild Pokèmon activity. Or you can just continue walking until something jumped in front of you and randomly attacked you, then again, you were already under attack but Snubbull singing that could even scare some baby Pokèmon away (maybe that's why it's so quiet).

Despite the fact that nothing of interest had come up quite yet-Marmaron tilted his hat forwards in a determined fashion before continuing on. The pink think hopped in front of him yet again~but the red-capped trainer's response was the same as before. He simply turned his face away-and focused on the surroundings. Morgan was a fool if she though he was just going to forget such despicble actions straight away-if she wanted his attention again, she'd have to earn it back through proving that she wasn't a coward to him~if she kept on going the way she was, then Mramaron would just simply keep paying as much atention to her as one would pay attention to a bland brick wall-which was none at all. He was stubborn, like that~and he didn't seem to care what Morgan was doing at this point of time. To put it short-he was being as unresponsive as some Steel-types could be-with their somethimes blank expressions and all. This wasn't going to change any time soon until Morgan could prove to him that she could be better than a despicble coward. Thus-he simply continued travelling as if she wasn't there.


Even when the Snubbull started to sing, Marmaron just plain ignored her, although he thought to himself upon hearing the Normal-type's voice, "Geez...now I know WHY Snubbull REALLY can't use Sing. Who in their right mind would go to sleep with THAT atrocious voice disturbin' them?!" Although Marmaron wished he had a pair of earplugs right now, he still ignored Morgan in that stubborn way of his. Once Marmaron had made up his mind on something-it was almost impossible for anyone to get him to change it. It was a drastic change from Ruiji-who liked to keep his options open so much that he could often be indesicive at times...it may have been harsh for Marmaron to so obviously ignore the enthusiastic pok'emon, but he wasn't going to put up with cowardice from his own sarter, thank you. As Marmaron continued-he noticed the sun had rose already, yet there was still no sign of pok'emon anywhere. Not even a single flying-type; who were the second most common of all-could be seen in the blank expanses of sky. The trainer paused, before realizing something. He'd just been going on a straight path so far-so if he went off the track a bit, he might find one of the mysteries he was searching so keenly for. Since the rising sun would mean that it would get hotter-odds were, most pok'emon would seek shade or water in conditions such as there~and there were a group of rocks nearby.


Rocks could provide adequete shelter for pok'emon who had burrowed underground-Marmaron guessed-so that seemed like a good place to start. Veering from his straight course, he began to head for the group of boulders at a excited pace. Wether or not there was anything of interest over there remained to be seen.

As you change your direction, Snubbull adjusts her path as well- her voice on a rampage. If there really was a Pokèmon around, it would most likely get spooked. The normal-type begins to notice the cold shoulder routine, and sings even louder as if to spite you. Yep, anything around is probably running for the hills right now.

Looking around at the boulders carefully, you see nothing even resembling a Pokèmon. More wasted effort. Ugh. The air is getting warmer as an upside to this already cruddy day. Perhaps if you looked harder, or even took a break for a while, you may see something of interest? Snubbull seems to have taken to the morning rays now, she is laying on one of the large rocks. She is still pretending to be a singer unfortunately though, even more disturbing as before.

As Marmaron headed for the boulders with a determined stride in his step, he compltley ignored the fact that Morgan was now singing worse than ever~he was'nt called 'stubborn as a Tarous' for nothing, and because Morgan had acted like a complete coward when that wild Sandshrew appeared-he was going to keep on ingoring her until she actually proved to him that she wasn't a coward~for he didn't want to have anything to do with a shaking pitiful-looking pok'emon who didn't even have the courage to stand up for itself and it's own beliefs; let alone one that was too much of a fraidy-Skitty to think about helping others! He wanted to help those in trouble-he'd been through enough bad situations and seen too much evils in the world to just sit by and let it continue, and if his starter continued to be the coward that she was-how was she or Marmaron supposed to help anybody at all? So even though the pok'emon sang more atrociously and louder than ever in an attempt to get a response from Marmaron-the red-capped one acted as if the Snubbul didn't even exist. And he would continue to repeat this until Morgan could show him she had courage~so, in other words- the Snubbull could sing until she lost her voice, but it would do nothing to re-gain Marmaron's respect in her...


It took a short walk to get to the boulders, but as Marmaron got there, the stones hid nothing on first glances...no signs of any life, be it pok'emon or otherwise, anywhere. Marmaron folded his arms crossly. What a bummer...but he was thankful for the fact the weather wais getting a bit warmer. It always payed to find something good in a situation if everything was going wrong-optomisim was a great help to Marmaron's sheer stubbornness and determination to keep looking until he actually found something of interest. Marmaron looked at the rocks for a moment-before deciding that since there was nobody here as of yet-he might as well put this to use. There was not point in standing around doing nothing-and a bit of training sounded good. Paying no attention to Morgan as usual-laying on a rock close by, Marmaron walked in front of one of the larger boulders and started to practise his punches on it. The surface was hard-and it did hurt his hands quite a bit~but Marmaron wasn't going to pass up such an oppourtinity for training. If he got into some fights later on-if he didn't practise his assualt moves well with opportunities like this, he wouldn't be practised enough with his moves to actually DO anything in the form of attack. And since Marmaron was more an offensive than defensive person-the thought of having to rely on defenses sounded just plain boring to him-he'd rather all-out attack to protect others then protect himself!


Who knows, maybe another wild pok'emon might come along while he was training? Maybe then Morgan might learn to be more courageous...what with a second chance of dealing with a pok'emon bravely and all. Marmaron started punching the rock slow at first-one hand first-then another. After a while, he would switch to a faster speed~all the while ignoring both the aching in his hands and Morgan's singing-which was so bad it probably would crack glass, if there was any about at that point of time.