Antismurf9001

Jacques passed by what looked like a very disappointed trainer who was leaving the town's gym. Clearly, this was not Unova's latest gym victor. When he made it to the room with the gym leader, he saw that there were already two other trainers, one who looked about to ready to fight and the other waiting patiently on the sidelines. He vaguely recognized them as some of the other trainers who had just obtained their pokedexes. Perfect! he thought as he smiled to himself. This way, I'll really get to study this guy's strategy. The battle was already underway when he took a seat on the sidelines. Then he pulled out Mara's poke ball and released her. "Figured that you'd want to watch," Jacques said to her. "We'll be taking this guy on pretty soon, maybe even tomorrow." Emotions of approval were projected to Jacques before Mara began to concentrate intensely on the battle. He would have wanted Karel to watch too, but there was no chance of getting the Mienfoo to stay still long enough. Every time Cheren's Lillipup bit the opposing pokemon, Mara would flinch as though she were on the receiving end. Don't worry, Jacques thought, knowing that the Kadabra would be able to sense his thoughts, I wouldn't have you going up against that unless I had to. That was a great relief to Mara, and she visibly relaxed. The battle was certainly heating up. It appeared that the trainer had the advantage at the moment, but he wasn't sure what else Cheren might have up his sleeve...

Jacques was annoyed with himself. Why hadn't he come up with a plan during what ended up being nearly a week of travel between Kalos and Unova? Options flooded Jacques' head, nearly overwhelming him. Should he see what was available at the local Poke Mart? Should he find a place to stay for the night? Should he try to meet people? Catch pokemon? Train his pokemon? He groaned, then looked down to Karel. "Any ideas?" he asked. With an excited squeak of, "Foo!" Karel jumped and climbed up Jacques' body to perch on his shoulder, balancing on one leg as he always did. Jacques shook his head and sighed, and began thinking of what sort of supplies he might need to pick up at the Poke Mart. That was when the realization hit him. In Kalos, trainers weren't allowed to purchase certain items without first proving that they had obtained a particular gym badge. He foresaw himself potentially being away from civilization for weeks at a time in his travels, so having a stock of good supplies was important. He didn't know whether or not the same rules applied in Unova, but even if they didn't, obtaining gym badges was a good way to make money and earn respect from others. He would at least need to get himself a few before anyone took him seriously. With that in mind, he came up with a plan. He would head over to the gym now, and watch a few battles to gauge the leader's difficulty (there had to be at least a few new trainers ambitious enough to try taking them on right off the bat). If he thought he could take them on, he would rest up and challenge them tomorrow. Otherwise, he would train with his team until they were ready. Karel's weight was beginning hurt his shoulder, so Jacques shooed him off. "Come on," he said to the little pokemon, "let's go see what we're going to be up against." With that, he went off in search of the gym.

It wasn't long before it was Jacques' turn to take up a pokedex. In truth, he didn't really care to have one, but it was apparently a formality that had to be met before becoming a 'registered' trainer. Taking the pokedex offered, he nodded to the girl, and managed a quick, "Er, thanks," before moving off to the side. He stood, somewhat expecting for some sort of send-off speech, but realized after watching several trainers leave that that probably wasn't happening, so he, too, left the Seeker's building. Upon reaching the outside, he was hit with a sudden realization: now that he had a pokedex and could truly be considered a trainer, he had no idea what to do.

Jacques sat in the shuttle, reading the book on Unovan lore for what seemed like the hundredth time. The war, the four swordsmen, and the dragon that split to end it all; it all fascinated him. And now he had the chance to see it for himself! He looked up to see his Mienfoo, Karel, balancing on one leg atop the headrest of the seat in front of him. The pokemon had a determined look on its face as it focused, constantly shifting its weight to accommodate for vehicle's movement. Jacques had to give the little guy credit, it couldn't be easy. However, Karel was not prepared when the shuttle finally stopped. A look of surprise flooded his face as he began to wobble, pinwheeling his arms in an attempt to right himself. These attempts were in vain though, and with a squeak he tumbled down into Jacques' lap. Jacques chuckled as Karel squirmed, finally managing to make it to his feet again. The little pokemon then flashed Jacques a face that he had come to think of as the equivalent of a smile, reassuring his trainer that everything was fine. Soon enough Jacques left the shuttle behind, and fished in his pockets for a specific poke ball. Once he grabbed it, he released the pokemon within. "I figured that you'd want to see where we were," he told the Kadabra, Mara. Mara looked around for a few moments, then turned back to her trainer. She telekinetically projected an emotion that was a combination of appreciation and annoyance, which told Jacques that she wanted to return to the solitude of her poke ball. Jacques complied, and headed for the Seeker's building. The building itself was impressive, but it was the statues of Reshiram within that Jacques could not take his eyes from. There was a line for the pokedexes forming, so he figured that he could take some time to appreciate the statues. Reshiram, the symbol of truth, he thought as he looked up from the base of one of the statues. I wonder if this is an accurate depiction... This dragon was a creature of legends, so he wasn't sure if anyone alive had even seen the pokemon (sure, there were rumors that it had taken part in the Plasma incident, but was there any true confirmation?). Still, it was stunning. He could only imagine the majesty and raw power of the real thing. Maybe one day I will be able to see it for myself. Smiling at the thought, he finally left the statue and added himself to the line.

It ended last year on this date too. Several times actually, as mods locked/unlocked the thread. In fact, if you check it now, Artemis is the winner.

Foo

- At the end of several difficult programming assignments; most notably when I figured out how to get that damn Tetris game to work - The finale of Final Fantasy VI - Being in a concert hall where Dancing Mad was being performed live, complete with choir and pipe organ - My sister and I finally finishing our Pokemon card collection - Several intense conclusions to games of Magic the Gathering that I've played - Last summer when I was offered an internship that was actually relevant to my major, which allowed me to avoid yet another summer of scanning. Nothing has yet to top this on my list of "Hell yeah"s.

Haha, yup, I started as a Tiger what seems like forever ago and I left Troop 57 as an Eagle three years ago. Once I'm out of college, I hope to return to the troop as an assistant scoutmaster. Good luck!

Discriminated against? No, but people like to joke about how ridiculously skinny I am. It doesn't really bother me, and I'll even join in on occasion. I've seen other people get discriminated against though...

Oh hey, I think that I remember you! Or, at least I know that I've seen that username, avatar, and signature before (they're quite memorable to anyone who is familiar with Ace Attorney). Welcome back! It's good to see you again.