Route 101-The Social Experiment (open for anyone)

The corphish's vice grip grabs painfully onto Sprucia's arm. The pain made Sprucia scream loudly and quit using bullet seed.

"Treecko!!!!"

"Sprucia, no. Alright, use pound now. I would like to catch this one if at all possible. The corphish is already weaken from your bullet seed."

Sprucia tries to position the weaken corphish with its arm as she bends and swings her tail into a pound on top of the corphish. Merri is so focused on her battle she doesn't notice the growlithe at all.

"Ah!" Tanner grasped his ankle, feeling sharp pain from it and noticed some slight burn marks. While Tanner had not noticed what did this, as he was watching the battle, his Pokemon Blink and Gnash had. They silently agreed to show him who it was. Gnash poked his leg. He looked up at the Gible. "Yeah Gnash?" Gnash pointed to a rock nearby, then started walking over to it. Tanner followed and, to his surprise, there was a Growlithe rolling around and laughing. Tanner looked at his ankle again and noticed bite marks. "So it was you, little one?"

Corphish knew the move was impossible to dodge as it was stuck by the Pound from Sprucia instead tightening the grip on her arm. Corphish was in a large amount of pain from the damage it had took but it then, suddenly released Sprucia and let loose a Bubble attack on her at point-blank range in an attempt to go down fighting if it had to go down.

Growlithe looked up at Tanner being startled by his appearance and by him having found him so, easily. Instinctively unleashing an Ember attack on Tanner from his gaping jaws then laughing uncontrollably again.

Tanner calmly moved out of the way of the Ember. He smiled a little at the Pokemon laughing. "You're just playing around, aren't you?" Tanner asked the Pokemon, even though he knew that he wouldn't be able to understand the Growlithe.

The bubble attack landed in Sprucia's face. After shaking it off, she was getting very close to corphish. Sprucia's face is red and not just from the bubble in the face.

"Tree, reec, reec!"

Merri could pick up the agitation in Sprucia's voice. The pain must be getting to her.

"Calm down and focus, Sprucia. We want this one captured if at all possible. It surprises me it isn't weak enough. Use quick attack and hope it will finish the job."

Raltsy been sitting on Merri's left shoulder watching the fight. It notices the reluctance of the corphish to be caught and how much Sprucia wants to knock it out.

Sprucia does what is told and uses quick attack on the corphish.

Corphish tried to dodge the Quick Attack but, he couldn't as Sprucia was just too fast so, instead he prepared his right and clamped down on Sprucia as she hit him. Of course Corphish didn't want to admit it but, this battle was seriously draining in fact he wouldn't be able to keep up much longer due, to the already large amount of damage he had taken, this making it the perfect time for Merri to catch it.

Growlithe meanwhile, composed himself before, hearing the friendly tone in Tanner's simply nodded before looking disheartened and sad as it thought Tanner was mad at it. Although it was rather old for a pokemon many could say it was like a child stuck in an adults body and those people would definitely be right.

Tanner petted the Growlithe's head. "Aw, don't look so sad. You're just doin' it up the way you know how. Joking around is fun, but you should try not to hurt people when you are joking around." Tanner smiled at the puppy Pokemon.

Sprucia's face regained some red as the right claw clamped back down onto her arm. Merri couldn't quite tell if Sprucia was getting mad again or just in so much pain. The corphish had to be getting very weak. Merri has two options, throw a pokeball in hopes of catching the corphish or try one more hit. Absorb popped into her mind but had a strong feeling the move would finish off the corphish and probably won't gain Sprucia much energy or strength.

"All right, Sprucia, time to stand back and attempt to catch the corphish. We'll definitely have to stop by the Pokemon center back home to give you and hopefully this cophish a good solid rest."

Sprucia struggles to get out of the right claw as Merriam throws one of her new pokeballs at the corphish. The ball hits the corphish and opens up. Corphish turns into red energy and goes into the ball with it rocking on the ground. Merri holds her breath as Sprucia walks back over towards Merri rubbing her arms a little bit.

"You did very well, Sprucia. You had type advantage but held back when I told you to. I'm very proud of you even if this doesn't work out."

Sprucia looks up at Merri and smiles great big and then walks onto Merri's left leg and gives it a hug.

Corphish was stunned as the pokeball absorbed it in as, a form of red energy. The pokeball then wobbling once... twice... three times.... and *Ping* Corphish was caught being too weak to resist plus, the fact that Merri had proven herself in battle alongside Sprucia this was undeniable that Merri would be the perfect trainer to raise Corphish to his full potential.

Growlithe was pleased at Tanner's forgiveness licking the back of Tanner's hand understanding just what Tanner was saying he then rubbed up against Tanner's right leg and sat down at his side happily panting and looking around; surveying the local area.

(Pokémon: Corphish
Nickname:Sprucia
Gender: Male
Level: 15
Moves: AncientPower, Bubble, Harden, ViceGrip, Leer
Ability: Shell Armor
Personality: Overly territorial and protective of Merriam and Sprucia; as Sprucia was the one to prove herself to when catching him in battle. Strives to be the best he can be and is determined to be the strongest pokemon/water type/Corphish in all of the Hoenn Region.
Exp: 0)

Tanner chuckled. "Hey, how'd you like to come with me and my friends on an adventure? I promise you'll have tons of fun while we explore." He smiled and motioned to Gnash, Brick, and Blink, who were happy to see a new Pokemon warming up to their trainer.

Merri slowly walks over to her pokeball. She picks it and looks at it. From what she remembered from her General Pokemon Studies class, the ball acted like it should if the capture was successful. The next thing would be to name the newly captured Corphish. He was strong willed and very capable in a fight. Merri had enough troubles coming up with a name for Sprucia and Raltsy. Then she remembered how strong the grip was with the claws. She threw the ball up in the air and called out.

"Strong Claw, come out and meet your other new friend and team member, Raltsy."

The newly caught Corphish, Strong Claw, came out of his Pokeball and blinked his eyes. Merri rose her left should slightly giving Raltsy a gentle shove indicating to get down. Raltsy climbs down Merri's left arm and then drops onto the ground. She walks over to Strong Claw and holds out her hand. Strong Claw is hesitant at first but then lifts up one of his claws for Raltsy to grab. She grabs a hold of it with both hands and gently shakes it which causes Strong Claw to bring his other claw into the mix as they shake together. Corphish then looks up at Merri with questioning eyes.

"Corphish?"

"It is ok, Strong Claw, Raltsy is imitating what us humans do when they greet a new friend. She is welcoming you into the group."

A smile comes across Raltsy as she slowly nods. Then the smile jumps over to Strong Claw's face as well and the shaking becomes stronger.

"Now return, Strong Claw. You had a very hard battle and need to rest."

Merri is about to share the news with Tanner until she realizes he isn't around. She walks around until she spots him bending over talking to something. Realizing it could be another Pokemon, she very slowly walks over to where she could see what it was.

"Tanner, Sprucia won and I caught the Corphish. I named him Strong Claw. It looks like you might have a new friend too."

She flips open her Pokedex and it brings up the data on the Growlithe. Then she finds a soft spot of grass while she waits on Tanner to get done talking to the Growlithe and takes out her electronic pad. She starts taking notes on the battle with Corphish and how he interacted with Raltsy.

Growlithe looked to Tanner being surprised at his request but, grateful all the same happily nodding and calling out
"Grow.. Lithe!"
bouncing around at his feet over-excitedly without a care in the world.

"Great!" He smiled and pulled a Pokeball from his bag and threw it near Growlithe, sucking it into the Pokeball with a flash of red energy.

As Merri was writing in her journal, she heard what she thought was a familiar and recent sound of a pokeball closing around a new Pokemon. She puts her electronic pad away and gets up to see if her suspension is correct.

"Hey Tanner, looks like you caught Growlithe, or hopefully you have. I think adding new friends, would it be Pokemon or human is one of the best parts on this journey so far. This does make me wonder if there are other ways of getting Pokemon onto your team beyond talking or battling though. There is the stealing aspect but I wouldn't want to that route. Then there is trading which if I understood my classes right, some Pokemon need to be traded but don't remember which ones right off hand. I was able to catch my corphish who I named Strong Claw."

Tanner nodded and waited to see if Growlithe would come out the ball. "Trading is a simple process, you just need to have a machine. There are a number of pokemon that only evolve when traded. There's also breeding to add Pokemon to your team. And yes, I saw you catch him out of the corner of my eye. Good job." He smiled.

"I completely forgot about breeding for adding to a trainer's team. It is a little embarrassing since we were talking about it right before the wild pokemon. I am a little curious as to why we would need a machine to trade though. Wouldn't it be simpler to switch pokeballs with the respective pokemon? Don't get me wrong since I like the team I have so far but the machine seems to make things more complicated."

After considering the pokemon she and Tanner has, it dawns on her they have a variety of types so far.

"Do you favor any one type over another? I've only started so not sure if I have any one type or special quality I'm looking for in the Pokemon I raise. I'm also still debating of the gym vs coordinator so I guess that would play a part in which Pokemon I focus on as well. All I know is I want to figure out the interaction."

Growlithe was happily absorbed into the pokeball which didn't even wobble once due to the fact Growlithe didn't want to put up a fight; it was happy to go along with Tanner as, he knew Tanner would be the perfect person to raise him and help him achieve his maximum potential. *Ping* the pokeball then indicated the capture for Tanner.

(Pokémon: Growlithe
Nickname: ???
Gender: Male
Level: 21
Moves: Learned Moves: Bite, Roar, Ember, Leer, Odor Sleuth, Helping Hand, Flame Wheel, Reversal, Fire Fang. Egg Move: Iron Tail.
Ability: Intimidate
Personality: Growlithe is a fun-loving prankster of a pokemon who has yet to learn to act his age. Though his loyalty to Tanner shines through.
Exp: 0)

Tanner smiled and picked up the Pokeball and threw it up, summoning Growlithe out. "I think I'll name you Rex." He petted the Growlithe's head. "I dunno why you need a machine, but it is require for some reason." Tanner thought for a moment. "No, I'm impartial to Pokemon types, as long as the Pokemon is willing, I'll catch it. I've heard that Gyms require much more offensive training, while coordination would require more innovation that aggression." As Tanner said that, he looked down at his burnt, and slightly bruised, ankle.

Merri looks down to where Tanner was looking at. Then she sees the bruised ankle. She gasps a little and looks over at the Growlithe.

"Are you okay? Did the Growlithe do that to you? I never heard of a Pokemon hurting a human unless the human was threatening it or in its territory. I don't have anything for the burn but I'm certain my parents do. Will you be able to walk on it? Sadly I don't have any ice for it nor does Raltsy have psyche to help keep the weight off. The only thing Strong Claw has which might help is bubble but that I doubt would be much help. Maybe we can find a stream or something."

Merri then shuts up once she notices her rambling on about the injury. It bothers her to see anyone hurt no matter what sort of injury she would be. Pokemon battles is one thing since they are almost bred to do it in some degree but still injuries should be avoided if at all possible. She never considered herself the most creative type but maybe the coordinator would be better then straight gym battles. The ones who show up in her home town for the ribbon competition seem to enjoy it and the outfits were sometimes cute.

"You know, the more I think about it, I might not quite have the stomach for the gym style of battling. I understand Pokemon are sort of bred for battling but still want to keep from injuries as much as possible. The only problem I have is I never considered myself the most creative one. Do you think you can help me once your ankle feels better?"

Soon a Chansey (Female - lvl 16) came strolling through the bushes past the group, then looking across and noticing them running over, she noticed Tanner's burn and used Softboiled her egg glowing yellow before rising up and moving over to Tanner sinking into him, it was then that he became outlined in yellow his burn disappearing and Chansey clapping happily. She then got her egg back and placed it back in her pouch looking between the two.

Tanner smiled at the Chansey and patted her head. "Thank you." He nodded to Merriam. "I get what you're saying. Sure, I can help you out. Right now, actually, thanks to this Chansey."

Chansey started excitedly jumping up and down and clapping as she repeatedly called out
"Chansey.. Chansey.. Chansey!"
dancing around them happily.

The appearance of chansey surprised Merriam. She looked around to see if there was a trainer with the chansey but couldn't spot one in the immediate area. She also knew usually a chansey would be in a Pokemon center so maybe a Nurse Joy was around.

"I wonder if this is a wild chansey or if it belongs to a trainer like Nurse Joy? I know they are helpful but never heard of one healing an injury like this to a random trainer. So what move did chansey just use on your ankle?"

While Merri was chatting with Tanner, Sprucia walked over and started talking to the chansey. Raltsy decided to do the same and the three of them started a nice conversation.

"The problem I have is the performance side of the competition. I understand the coordinator and pokemon are supposed to make the moves pretty or somehow appealing but not sure what would seem appealing to anyone."

"I assume it's wild, and based on my studies, that was Softboiled." Tanner nodded. "Well, you have to reach out to the general. Don't do what you think other people would find pretty or appealing. Do what you think would be appealing. As someone who has met countless coordinators, it's a sort of confidence you have to have to believe that what you do is appealing. Each set of trainer has it's own mindset that works best with it."

"I guess the first thing to do is figure out what moves my Pokemon have and then the set up for the contests. Are each contest different or is there a general flow for them? Gym battles usually is a set number of Pokemon and often the trainer is the only one allowed to substitute Pokemon. The funny costumes can wait especially since I'm more of a simple girl. I prefer sticking with the basics and this is why being a coordinator will be little challenging for me. Both of my parents are in the science field and the most creative they get is when mom is mixing a couple of chemicals in a bottle."

She looks around to see where her Pokemon went and noticed them talking to the Chansey.

"Seems like my social personality is starting to rub off onto my Pokemon."