When Jake finally found the Dozing Munchlax, he saw Seymour already waiting inside. And the hostess confirmed that they are a buffet. It took all of Jake's patience to reach the table before raiding the Take Down steaks and Hoenn ramen.

Looking at Jake, Seymour can tell he spent a lot of time on the bike trails... more than he expected, actually. It seems you both had a busy day.

It did not even take looking at Jake to tell Jake had been pretty much all day at the bike trails, the mix of dirt and sweat scent gently wafted from Jake's body. It was not oppressive, but it definitely signaled that Jake was overdue for a shower. Jake's rudimentary table manners did not give a positive impression to those around either. It was a tour-de-force of sight, smell and sound as the dirty, smelly Jake loudly slurped and smacked his way through the meal. Between bites he was able to strike up a conversation,
"What have you been up to? Oh man, my day was so busy. Before I could do proper biking, I had to clear out the mountain of some 'dudes who crept in. I caught a bunch for the lady in charge and kept one for myself. After that, she released them all at once and they ran everywhere again! So I had to go bop them all on the head to make it all better. I also caught some kids stealing snacks from the place.  For all my hard work, they let me run the paths for the rest of the day! I'm so pooped, my legs are killing me, but boy was it fun.  I have a discount for tomorrow if you wanted to try out an easy trail before we leave town for cheap! I was thinking maybe I could see if she had a beater bike that is too busted for running the trails that I could use for the journey ahead."

Jake wished he had thought of asking Rebecca for a bike right after helping her with everything, but sometimes the best ideas come later.

Seymour listened to Jakey's story with genuine interest. "And here I thought for sure my day was going to be the more exciting one. Now I'm not so sure." The trainer launched into a summary of his own day's-worth of adventure.

"Remember those burning tires yesterday? I ran into a guy that asked me to show some humility to the delinquents who did that. I challenged their group leader to a battle in a quarry and completely decimated him. A bunch of people from the community watched the battle and were super nice and gave me a bunch of supplies afterward. Oh, and after that I went for a climb and relaxed on the mountain for a while. My pokemon and I followed some tracks we found and they led us to a Roggenrola! We battled, Glumpy belly-bounced him of the side of the mountain, then I caught the ornery little guy! Named him Basher."

Seymour was grinning widely. As they ate, he asked Jakey for more details about his day, and gladly shared further details about his own as well.

Jake also was not sure which person's day was more exciting. While Jake had an adventure catching pokemon and biking, Seymour battled and caught pokemon. As Jake did not truly consider himself a professional trainer, he didn't feel bad that Seymour did two trainer-y things and Jake only did one.

He was able to follow most of Seymour's story, but didn't really know what decimate or ornery meant,
"Wow, you beat him that bad? That's awesome! And it sounds like you got some proper winnings. That is a real trainer experience! I hope some time I will be able to make some money that way, that is the mark of a true trainer! Well, apart from training and catching. Trainers sure got a lot they need to do."

Jake chuckled as he pulled out his pokedex and tried to look up Roggenrola, but he was unable to get the spelling even remotely close to correct, but he nevertheless oozed enthusiasm,
"Wow, you made the Reganroller roll off the side of the mountain! Such a fitting name then! Want to show off our new Pokemon when we get back to the hotel? Your Basher versus my Duder? Or if you are pooped out from the adventures, we could just stroll around and look for some fun night life."

Jake was a bit curious to see what the city looked like at night, but also was a bit interested in battling. Despite his legs aching, he was still feeling ready for anything, especially now that he was refilling his stomach.

"Rock vs. rock?" Seymour said, refering to the battle. "I could probably be talked into it. As long as Basher feels up to it. I haven't really gotten to know his likes and dislikes yet." He shrugged. "At the very least, I'm sure we could do some sort of training."

Seymour ate a few more bites, then continued the conversation. "You know, before coming to this region, it was just me and Lotad for so long that I thought I would only ever catch a handful of pokemon at most. But I have discovered that I really like bringing new buddies under my wing. I don't foresee myself stopping at the six I have now. Maybe I should see if I can set it up so that my "extra" pokemon are sent back home where my family lives, near the Hoenn Safari Zone. I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind letting my pals stretch their legs/wings/fins on their land."

He knew he hadn't really given Jakey much to respond to, so he followed up with a question. "So how about you? How many pokemon do you think you will end up catching? Do you have anywhere you would like to send them if you catch more than six?"

In reply to Seymour Mons (msg # 71):

Jake thought a bit about what he would do with his extra pokemon,
"Hmm, I'll probably get some more. We only beat one gym, and I hope to catch at least one pokemon for every gym I face... so that would be more pokemon. I have four now, so... how many more gyms are there? Anyway, it will be more than six. That's for sure!"

"I don't really know what I will do with the spares. I'm kinda on my own here. All my family don't really have a way to contact me, and I can't contact them either. I hope when I get back, I can pair up all of my friends with a pokemon that they connect with so I have a bunch of trainers to hang out with! Until then, I don't really know. Don't people do weird stuff with electronics to store the pokemon?"

Jake was also curious what other training Seymour may have in mind. Jake did some speed training with his pokemon the night before, but maybe Seymour had something more sophisticated in mind,
"What kind of other training is there besides battling? I did a bit of sprints with my pokemon yesterday and they seem to have gotten a bit quicker on the draw. Do you got anything in mind?"

"I know many people keep their pokemon in the pokemon center computers if they catch more than six. And I guess pokemon are perfectly happy in there. But I don't know," he made sour face, "it just never really sounded like the best option to me."

"As for the training, I didn't have anything specific in mind. I was thinking maybe something similar to the speed training you were doing before though. Maybe we could try some target practice to improve range and accuracy? Or come up with some teamwork exercises? You know, like combing Locke's ice with Lotad's bubbles or something. Or maybe some of our pokemon could work of strengthening defenses while the others work of breaking through defenses. The possibilities really are endless."

Jack shrugged and sighed having his pokemon stuck in a computer did seem weird, but he didn't really know what else to do with the spares. He still had a bit of room, so he didn't get too discouraged. Maybe he could contact the professor from the on the border and transfer extras to him.

Jake thought a bit more about the training,
"Team-work training can be tricky, I think I can start that after trying some doubles battles so I get the hang of it better. I think accuracy training could be cool though. Improving Skipper's water gun aim would be swell, and I think Duder needs to practice how to deal with water. He almost drowned in a puddle before I rescued him! I'm sure Lackey and Fetcher could work on stuff too. Or maybe we could have a mirror battle. We both have a Lacconey and a Fetcher. We can do that as the rest of our pokemon do some accuracy and defense training. That way we can see how teamwork could be useful in a doubles fight!"

"Oh, that could be a lot of fun. I've never done a mirror battle before. Let's try that!" Seymour's mind was already trying to figure out how the battle might play out and was coming up with strategies for different scenarios.

He patted his stomach and pushed his plate away. "Although you might have to wheel me back in a wheelbarrow. I feel like that Munchlax on the sign." Despite his words, Seymour was ready to leave at any time.

Jake's mind wasn't thinking about the mirror battle, it was preoccupied with how to most quickly polish off the last four plates of food. After polishing off the food, he flashed a thumbs up to the wait staff. Any food tasted good on an empty stomach. He also felt like he could barely walk back. Not only was his stomach bulging, but also he was on his last legs for the day. Maybe in the future he would catch a ride pokemon for moments like this.

Nevertheless, Jake decided he would power through the pain and march back to the hotel, he commiserated with Seymour succinctly,
"Word"

With that, Jake got up, scanned the room and prepared to head back to the hotel. He had to freshen his pokemon up at the pokecenter, but if they made it back to the hotel without occasion, it would not be long until he would be in the battling room, waiting for their turn to go at it.

As you reach the hotel, the familiar sound of an explosion comes from the arena, soon followed by a boy's complaint. "You can't just blow up your voltorb in every fight!"

"Can too! A win is a win!" replies another boy.

It seems the two young trainers are done with their fight, and no one is waiting to take their place.

OOC: If you want to face off, just tell me who you use, and what strategy you want to use. Feel free to get creative, we're not bound by the limits of a video game after all.

"Awesome! Looks like we can hop right in and take a turn to battle. Still want to do a tw on two battle? Farfetch'd and Laconney vs. Farfetch'd and Laconney?" Assuming the answer was yes, Seymour released all six of his pokemon. "Farrah and Locke, we're going to have a friendly battle with Jakey. Lotad, Glumpy, Doom, and Basher, I want the four of you to practice your tackles. See if you can give each other pointers for improvement. Who knows, maybe the practice could even inspire some new moves! I'll come help out when the match is finished. Try not to hurt yourselves."

---

Lotad, Shroomish, Dunsparce, and Roggenrola are going to practice Tackles nearby while Farfetch'd and Laconney battle Jakey.

Jake took a moment to release all of his pokemon and instruct Skipper to practice aiming its water gun on a moving target and Duder to be that moving target. To make things easier for Duder, he made the rule that only attacks that hit Duder's hands count as a point for Skipper, and every shot that misses is a point for Duder. He hoped Duder would get creative, but so long as they didn't knock each other out, he would consider the training a success.

More of his attention was focused on the mirror battle that was starting to heat up.
"Alright, mirror mode it is! Don't take it easy on me, and I won't take it easy on you! We don't want to get in the habit of battling at less than full power!"

Jake then prepared by directing Lackey to be slightly more forward than Fetcher so that Lackey is lightly screening the view of Fetcher.
"Alright, let's go! Lackey, use ember on Locke. Fetcher, stay back and use sand attack on Farrah!"

With the starting play out of the way, Jake would have Lackey try to keep Locke locked-down with persistent embers until the next break in the fighting. The goal was to prevent Locke from having a good line on the duck. Meanwhile he would direct Fetcher to land a decisive cut on Farrah.

With the range advantage, though a bit hesitantly, Lackey fires an Ember at Farrah. The bird is engulfed in flames, but struggles through non-the-less. Locke replies with Powder Snow, but the heated air deviate the attack, causing it to miss both his opponents.

Fetcher moves in under the ice attack to Peck Locke, but the snow blinded him just long enough to miss the rabbit. Farrah replies with a Cut on her former companion, only to miss from the mirage Lackey created.

OOC: A few very unlucky attack rolls this round. Let's see if your next round's strategy will work better.

Jake grit his teeth in thought as the conflict didn't yield any progress for either participant. It seemed the mirror matchup may be influenced by each pair of pokemon being well acquainted with each other and not wanting to directly harm the other. In response to this concern, Jake waved his hands at Seymour,
"I call a time out! We should see if our pokemon want to continue. I think they are hesitating a bit because they don't want to hurt each other. I don't want to be forcing our pokemon to hurt their friends."

Jake then called his pokemon back for a moment to see if they were eager to spar or if their hearts were too soft for this kind of training.

Seymour was about to issue new orders based on how the battle was going, but he paused when Jakey spoke up. He was right. If even one of their pokemon was uncomfortable with this battle, they should stop. The battle was supposed to be just for fun, but fun for all of them. Not just fun for some.

"Farrah, Locke, let's paise for a bit." He waved them over, similar to what Jakey was doing. "Should we call the battle a draw and go join in the Tackle practice instead?"

As you both question your companions, Farrah and Fetcher seems to have no issue battling each other, as they point their leek at one another with a quacked challenge.

Your Laconney, on the other hand, seems more hesitant to face each other. Lackey especially. You assume it may have to how they got separated, and only recently reunited.

In response to the Laconneys being less into a fight, Jake shrugged and asked Seymour,
"Maybe lets just let the Laconneys catch up and just keep to a quack attack dual. Looks like they are both feeling into it."

If Seymour agrees, Jake would direct Fetcher to use Peck when they battle resumes, then switch into a cut if two turns pass.

Seymour nodded in agreement. "That sounds like a great plan. Locke, go ahead and hang out with Lackey for a while. Farrah, let's see if we can win this friendly competition one on one."

Once the battle recommenced, Seymour said, "Farrah, use a Leer attack. Then whack Fetcher with your stick. Show 'em what a great Cut attack looks like. Get into their blind spot if you can!"

---

Starting with Leer, then moving into Cut attacks as well. Sword fight!

Edit: fixed speech color
This message was last edited by the player at 17:58, Tue 19 May 2020.

Fletcher gets the first blow, charging Farrah directly. That earns him a nasty glare, before Farrah does an impressive imitation of an Iaijutsu draw, earning a blow of her own.

With both birds wounded, they stare at each other for a moment, weapons drawn. In a scene reminiscent of old samurai movies, they charge at each other, striking as they pass one another. Both stand there an instant... before Fletcher falls, unconscious.

When he say Fletcher fall, Seymour couldn't help but jump excitedly into the air with his fist raised in triumph. "Way to go Farrah!" He rushed over to give his pokemon a congratulatory hug, careful not to put pressure on her wounds. "Great job Farrah. That was quite an impressive match." The pokemon seemed fairly pleased with herself.

Still kneeling next to his pokemon, Seymour turned to face Jakey and Fetcher. "That battle was fast, but one of the cooler ones I have witnessed. Much less participated in. You guys put up a great challenge." He stood up. "What do you say we heal up our buddies and join in with the training our other pokemon are doing?"

---

Seymour plans to heal Farrah at the inn's pokemon center, then have all his pokemon continue their tackle training. He will even join in himself. Although Farrah doesn't have to join in unless she feels like it. She has earned a break.

Jake cheered on Fetcher throughout the fight, interspersed with words of encouragement and orders. When Fetcher fell, Jake didn't hesitate the call it back into the pokeball,
"Oi, Seymour, that was epic! Mirror matchups are cool because we get to see who does it better. Yeah, let's go heal them up and get them to give each other a high five."

Jake then trotted up to Seymour to offer a high five before heading to heal up Fetcher, release him and congratulate them on a battle well fought, then get back to seeing how the training between Duder and Skipper is going. While he was too tired to jump into training with them, he wasn't too tired to visit where the lacconeys were catching up and give them some pets while they socialized. He let his Fetcher do whatever, but hoped that it would congratulate Farrah on a battle well fought.

Reuniting Farrah and Fetcher after his revival leads to a short talk, ending with what seems to be a future challenge. The training though...

Doom-sparce didn't feel like training it seems, just curling into a ball for a nap. Basher just seems angry at everything, not helped by Skipper apparently teasing him any time he could. At least Lotad and Duder are showing some effort, though the Geodude seems to be holding back and taking hits rather than hitting back as hard as he can.

OOC: In the end, only Lotad shows improvement, increasing his Att to Low.

Seymour rolled his eyes when he saw Doom resting instead of training. But instead of berating the pokemon, he merely returned Doom to his pokeball. Perhaps this was an area Seymour needed to work on as a trainer.

Unsurprisingly, Lotad was doing exactly what Seymour hoped he would be doing, and doing it well. He gave the pokemon some nice scratches under the leaf, and let him continue on as he pleased.

Seymour then turned his attention to Basher, his newest pokemon. He had hoped that some tackle training would have helped to focus the disgruntled pokemon's frustrations constructively, but it seemed it had been wishful thinking. "Come here Basher. Sit with me." Once the pokemon came over, Seymour didn't criticize him or give Basher a lecture. He merely sat with him, calmly, ocasionally patting his rocky hide in a kind fashion. The two watched the rest continue training as they simply spent time next to eachother.

---

I'm ready to move to the next scene at any time. Did Glumpy do anything noteworthy?

You spend a bit longer training, then head to your rooms to rest.

Glumpy tries his best, but being so low to the ground, his tackles tend to end up short.

The next morning, after a light breakfast, you head back to the biking trails for a bit, before continuing your journey toward Windzaal.

The first leg of that trip, Route 116, passes without issue. Only a few pokémon crosses your sight, but they remain a healthy distance from you. Soon the mountain give way to a damp marsh, and the road leads you to a split. To the north, Route 216 leads to Chairluire. And to the south east, heading toward your destination, Route 115.

OOC: And that's where the story will continue!