Tagging Time

As the sun was shining brightly in the clear skies above Cadencia City, David was walking into the city along with his Misdreavus, Yukari, and his Absol, Midnight, being right beside him. As the trio walked in, David and Yukari began to take in the beauty of the area they had just entered. The sparkle of the nearby waters due to the sun's shine looked absolutely magnificent, living up to what David had heard about the city's beauty. Having lived in a grassland area all of his life, David had never seen such beautiful waters before except on television, so it was a real treat to see this pure eye candy of a sight. Yukari in particular was floating all around as her curiosity took over, looking at everything and anything that she could while Midnight kept an eye on her, not caring about the beautiful location.

"You seem to really like this place Yukari." David said towards his Misdreavous friend as she nodded and continued to float around. Her eyes seemed to sparkle as much as the waters were whenever she got to see something new. David loved to see her like this, in complete bliss caused by curiosity. He continued to walk on, wondering what was in store for the trio as the walked on.

Having just arrived back in the city after spending a few hours on the beach, Chase walked barefoot through the nearly empty side street, carrying her shoes in one hand and clinging to strap of her bag with the other. She didn't seem to mind the warmth of the narrow pavement, heated by the sun's midday glare and cooled slightly during the afternoon as the sun began to fall behind some of the taller buildings. The young female seemed to enjoy the beautiful city as much as her Butterfree did, the Pokémon fluttering around cheerfully in the fresh, Cadencia City air.

As she walked, Chase realised that she hadn't eaten all that much whilst she was out and dug through her bag with one hand to find what she was looking for; an apple and a few berries. With a smile, she shrugged the bag's strap back up so it was securely on her shoulder again and clamped her jaws down on the apple to hold it in her mouth before offering the berries to the Butterfree with a smile that could not entirely be seen behind the apple. Ditrysia trilled cheerfully in her unique voice and accepted the berries from Chase's hand. Once the berries were gone she proceeded to gently pet Ditri on the head with another smile before removing the apple from her mouth and taking a bite of the crisp fruit.
"Sorry Ditri," she apologised with a small chuckle, "I guess I completely forgot about food whilst we were on the beach."

The sound of formal shoes clacking on the pavement was echoing through the busy streets of Cadencia City.
A middle-aged man was slowly making his way through the area, watching the housefronts, people and the beautiful, blue sky up ahead.
It was a beautiful city for certain and a popular tourist destination, but Robert was not planning on staying here for long. Only recently he had left his job behind, going on a journey across the country instead. And it had been worth it.
While his job had been full of stress and emergencies, this little trip allowed him to relax for once and enjoy life as it was. However, despite all the wonders this town held, it definitely was getting tiring to just keep walking around aimlessly. Finding a bench on the side of the crowded plaza, the man headed towards it, sitting down in order to take a look at a map of the area. Where should he go next?
As he lowered himself onto the bench, the piece of furniture let out a small creak, indicating that it had not been replaced for quite some time now. Almost at the same time Robert let out a sigh, the exhaustion of traveling in the summer heat in a suit getting to him.
But he was not going to take it off.
A true gentleman should not be seen in public without a suit after all.
Piercing blue eyes gazed across the plaza, trying to spot something of interest.

As the trio continued moving through the beautiful city of Cadencia, David noticed a Butterfree off in the distance with what looked like another trainer. He had seen a Butterfree before at his grandparent's daycare, and it looked just as cute as any other he'd seen. Upon seeing the butterfly pokemon, Yukari began flying towards the pokemon to get a better look at it, with Midnight dashing after her to make sure she would be safe.

"Hey you two, wait up." David said before giving chase to his two pokemon companions. This kind of situation had happened several in the past. Yukari would see a pokemon that was new to her and go look at it, with Midnight following her to make sure that she wouldn't do anything dangerous. This became like a routine at time, but it still lead to interesting moments at time, at least that's what David thought.

Chase took another bite from the apple in her hand, once again shrugging her bag strap back up onto her shoulder. She'd stopped leaving wet footprints in her wake due to the sun evaporating the seawater from her feet, but the shoes themselves still hand sandy particles in them, so she opted to continue walking barefoot for the time being, to engrossed in the beautiful sights of the city to be bothered with emptying the sand from them just yet.

Taking a third bite from her apple, another trill from Ditrysia alerted her to a duo of Pokemon coming their way. A teen, probably their trainer, chased after the both of them. She wondered why on earth they were running after each other like something from a comedy movie, and watched with her curious green gaze as they drew closer, biting into the apple a fourth time as she did so.

All of a sudden a chirp emanated from below the man's plain, yet serviceable hat.Chuckling to himself, the man took off his piece of headwear, allowing for the Zubat that had been sleeping under it to rise into the air again, sleepily flapping its wings before coming to rest on the man's shoulder again.
"Good day, Kenny. I hope you slept well.", the journeyman addressed his companion who responded with another still rather tired chirp.
Putting his headgear back on, the man slowly rose from the bench again, having rested a bit.
Now the duo would be able to continue their stroll, the Zubat being carried by his trainer through the streets of town and towards the beach. Surprisingly far fewer people seemed to frequent this part of the area; only a few individuals were visible. The most striking of them probably was a young girl and the Butterfree next to her.

Yukari flew over to the Butterfree and began circling the pokemon, analyzing it as her eyes started to sparkle from curiosity. Midnight caught up with her and gave the trainer next to the Butterfree an intimidating look as a warning just in case the trainer was thinking of doing anything dangerous. David eventually caught up with his pokemon companions and went towards Yukari, hoping to move her away from the Butterfree, hoping that she wasn't annoying it.

"Come on Yukari, stop bothering this Butterfree. Sorry if she annoyed you, little butterfly pokemon." Brian said to the Butterfree, not paying attention to the trainer next to him. He tended to do this from time to time. He would pay more attention to pokemon more than actual people, due to spending most of his time around them.

Chase blinked and watched the Misdreavus for a moment whilst she swallowed the bite she had taken from the apple. She recognised the Pokémon, she assumed as one of the Pokémon that her mother had once looked after at her daycare, but could not quite place the species's name.

Ditrysia meanwhile was rather confused as to why the Misdreavus was circling her, and though she made no attempt to stop Yukari from doing so, became quite unnerved at it as a result. Recognising Ditri's discomfort, Chase turned her attention to the Pokémon's trainer.
"You should probably keep a better eye on your Pokémon," she commented, apple still in hand as she took a smaller bite from it. Though her words came across as sounding quite cold, Chase didn't mean them in such a way. She was just concerned for Ditrysia, and this trainer was someone she'd never met before and so was not all that comfortable being around.

The Butterfree finally opted to break free of the Misdreavus's circling and landed on Chase's head with a short trill, positioning herself as if to peer over the girl's head to watch the ghost Pokémon. It really wasn't her day today; after all she'd nearly been hit by a leaping Lillipup earlier and now this.

Another trainer was approaching the lady with the Butterfree, a Misdreavus next to him.
As there was no other way to go than in their direction, the sharply-dressed gentleman decided to travel towards the small group. Maybe there was something they were in need of assistance with.
Even though the sun was blazing down from above mercilessly the doctor's headdress prevented the heat from becoming too much.
After a while the group was reached.
Robert tipped his head to the two youngsters, addressing them:
"A good day to you. May I help you with anything?"
The Zubat meanwhile was just sitting on the doctor's shoulder, the sun's rays discouraging him from moving too much.

"I'm sorry about that. Yukari just let's her curiosity get the best of her sometimes. Say sorry, Yukari." David said in his usual monotone like voice, with Midnight beside him growling at Yukari to make sure she got the message.

"Dre,  Misdreavous." Yukari said in her Pokemon speech as a form of apology,  with Midnight stopping her growling afterward. Most people would think that the Absol was threatening the Misdreavous by growling like that, but David knew that Midnight just wanted the best for Yukari, so there was no need to worry. David then noticed an old man walk towards him and the other trainer.

"A good day to you too sir, but I don't really need anything at the moment." David said to the old looking man. While he said this, Midnight's gaze moved from the younger trainer to the old man, being cautious as usual. Meanwhile, Yukari was staring at the Zubat on the shoulder of the old man, having not seen one before and having her curiosity rise again because of that fact. This time however, she just stayed where she was besides David so that Midnight wouldn't growl at her again.

Both Ditrysia and Chase seemed to be appeased by the Misdreavus's apology, though a faint look of realisation developed in Chase's eyes as the Pokémon's cry identified it's species.
"Misdreavus can learn a select few psychic type moves, right?" she asked him all of a sudden, before the older man reached their slowly growing group and asked if he could help with anything.
With a small shrug, Chase smiled hesitantly as she politely replied to the doctor's query, "I can't think of anything either." As she answered, she couldn't help but wonder why he had come over though, had he assumed something was wrong?

Ditrysia watched the Zubat from her position on Chase's head. Now that the Misdreavus had apologised and stopped circling her, the Butterfree took to the air again, hovering nearby to Chase rather than clinging to her hair.

"Very well then. If you'll excuse me...", the gentleman spoke as he was beginning to make his exit.
Kenny however seemed to have found a liking to the young lady's hair, taking off of the doctor's shoulders and landing on her head.
Surprised Robert turned around, shocked to see what his Pokémon was doing.
"Kenny, please come back right NOW.", he said sternly.
"Such behaviour is unacceptable, so please act a bit more refined."
Turning towards the young girl he responded apologetically:
"I am terribly sorry. I do not know, what has gotten into him all of a sudden. Hopefully you can forgive the two of us."

"Oh,  well Yukari does know Psywave, and that's a Psychic move." David said, wondering why the trainer would ask him that kind of question. He then saw the old man's Zubat land in top if the trainer's head. David smiled at seeing this, knowing that the Pokemon was probably being playful in some way. Yukari kept looking at the Zubat in curiosity, seeming to be liking it's personality. He then heard the old man call the Zubat back to him and turned in his direction.

"Hehe, that's a funny Zubat. Heacts kinda like Yukari." David said, still smiling from the Zubat's actions.

As the Zubat took up a position on Chase's head, Ditrysia fluttered closer protectively.
"It's fine," replied Chase with a small smile, "Ditri lands on my head all the time. It's not a problem, really." Her smile was a genuine one, amused at the playful Zubat. She had always kept her hair short because Pokémon like Ditrysia, as well as some from her mother's daycare, had often taken up a perch on her head and, well, keeping long hair tidy when your head was a Pokémon magnet wasn't the easiest thing to do. Ditrysia seemed to hang back again once she knew Chase didn't mind the Zubat being on her head.
Taking a final few bites from her apple, Chase dropped the core into a nearby litter bin and turned back to the younger male. Her cold attitude seemed to have thawed slightly at the Zubat's playfulness and the revelation that she might be able to learn something from this boy's Misdreavus.
"This is going to sound a little strange, but do you think you could show me how your Pokémon's Psywave move works?" she asked after swallowing the last of her apple.

"Psywave...interesting.", the man chuckled.
"I must compliment you, young man. Only the most well-trained Pokémon can wield Psychic type moves without posing a threat to themselves and the environment. You truly did a remarkable job raising this Pokémon of yours."
Hearing about the Misdreavus' move warmed the doctor's heart a little.
It was rare to see young trainers who already shared this strong a bond with their Pokémon.
Hopefully these two would have a wonderful future awaiting them.

"Well, thank you I guess. I'm wouldn't call myself that great of a trainer, since most Misdreavous from what I know have Psywave from birth, but thanks for the complement anyways." David said, somewhat doubting himself when he heard the old man say that he had trained Yukari well. After all, Yukari technically wasn't his and he hadn't really trained her. David let out a slight sigh, as it was probably better to not think about his pokemon's interesting circumstances. Then, in the corner of his eye, David saw a girl near the group and turned toward her..

"Oh, there's a girl over there." David said, still speaking in his usual monotone voice, not really seeming to greet the girl, but just acknowledge her existence. It was a habit more due to his small amount of human interaction when he was younger.

The girl had wandered over to the group after spotting them from a short distance away. She assumed they were friends as they all seemed to be standing around in the middle of this narrow street and so approached them with her request.
"You three fancy joining me for a tag battle?" she asked with a small smile. An interesting battle being partnered with someone she'd only just met would definitely be the distraction she needed from her current disaster of a day.

Chase watched the woman as she drew nearer, suddenly becoming quite conscious of the fact that she seemed to have attracted three people within the past few minutes or so. She could feel herself growing more anxious as other people scooted past the now gathered group of four to move on with their day. They say three's company and four's a crowd, and Chase knew that if this group got much bigger she'd be out of here quicker than a Pidgeot at mach speed.

Surprised to see yet another individual approach them, Robert tipped his respect to greet the young lady.
"Hello there. miss. I do not know about the other two, but as a true gentleman never refuses a favour to a lady, I will gladly accept your challenge. Are you ready, Kenny?"
An enthusiastic chirp emanated from the flying Pokémon, who rose up from the girl's hair again, now fluttering next to the doctor.
Robert was not exactly the kind of trainer to do battle with his Pokémon - in fact he had been without any Pokémon until recently. But if someone else requested politely, then common courtesy commanded for him to oblige the request.

"Oh, a tag battle. That sounds interesting." David said, becoming interested in his current situation. David had read about tag battles and seen some on TV. From what he knew, they were battles where two trainer partnered up against two other trainers and battled each other. It was just like a double battle, but since you were partners with another trainer, the complexity of the battles increased dramatically. This would be the first time that David would be in a tag battle, and that thought kinda excited him. Maybe through this, he can begin to develop his battling skills.

"Okay, I'll participate, but how will we decide who battles who?" David said, wondering how the team ups would be decided and who he would be partnered with.

Chase took a small step back as if to distance herself from the growing group, shaking her head a little and grasping her arm with her free hand as if the gesture would quell her nervousness. She didn't like crowds; hadn't done since she was little. A battle in a public area would more than likely attract multiple people.
"I didn't agree to take part in any tag battle. I don't have much experience with actual battles, let alone tag battles with people I've only just met," she replied with a small frown.

Ditrysia hovered closely to Chase, her more protective nature once again taking over. She and her trainer both watched the other three, Chase hoping that she wasn't disappointing them too much by opting out of the battle.

"Very well, it is her choice. Can't do much about that I guess. So, is there anything you would like to do instead?"
Robert himself didn't really mind whether they would be doing battle or not, but it was a bit disheartening to see this dilemma of one young lady wanting to battle, the other one being opposed to doing so unfold.
Still there was nothing he could do about it. Maybe the two ladies could find some sort of compromise?
Kenny meanwhile let out a disheartened chirp, returning to the doctor's shoulder.
The duo would just be waiting until an agreement could be reached.
The gentleman's code required it.

David could see that the trainer didn't want to participate in the tag battle much at all, but could also see that she didn't want the rest of the others around him to be dissapointed. David didn't want anyone to feel awkward of dissapointed, so he decided to get the trainer to participate in the battle, but of her own free will so that no one would feel those feelings.

"Well, you don't have to if you don't want to, but lack of experience isn't a reason to not battle. I have practically no experience , but that's why I'm battling. If I battle, then maybe I'll learn something about battling and my own abilities. So, maybe you could reconsider?" David said, his voice becoming less monotone and filled with more emotion as he tried to convince the trainer to participate in the battle.

The young female's green gaze averted the boy's own as he spoke. His words were true, and she knew it. But she also knew that it wasn't entirely just the prospect of battling alongside a stranger and with no prior experience that was stopping her from joining in on their fun. The woman who had suggested the battle in the first place looked on expectantly as if awaiting Chase's answer.
"I-," she began, pausing for a short moment before continuing, "It's not just that..." her gaze switched  from the warm pavement beneath her feet to the faces of the other three, "I don't do too well in crowds," she finally admitted, voicing the true reason for being hesitant to participate.

Hearing how the young woman seemed to have trouble being the center of attention, Robert decided to direct a few words of kindness at her in order to make her feel better.
Walking over to her he addressed her by saying:
"There truly is no reason to be afraid in public for a beautiful young lady such as you are. But if you truly do not wish to participate, then that is your choice."
There was not much the doctor could do in a situation like this one.
The girl's choice was hers to make.
What would she choose?