[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Dragonstrike]

Nathan watches the battle as it proceeds.  Did Larry seriously just almost send out a shiny Nincada against an ice type?  And that Oshawott was using nothing but tackle the entire time as well...if he'd captured that Nincada before the battle, then the Oshawott could have maybe had at least known Water Gun at some point in the battle...Nathan's faith in Larry's abilities as a trainer diminishes further.  It seems the stories were wrong after all.  Trainer for a year or not, that kid was still almost a complete novice.  How he managed to pull off winning that battle and all the ones before were a complete mystery to Nathan.  

He walks over when it's over to collect his prize, leaving Ralts to watch Swiftfire.  When he reaches the ice climber, he says, "Thanks for the battle.  I might be disappointed in my performance as well as my pokemon's, but I can't deny that you are a very good trainer.  That cubchoo of yours..." Nathan looks over at 'Cubchoo.'  "Er, Beartic, was something we definitely weren't prepared for.  Oh, and I'll take some green gloves if you have some on you."

Nathan doesn't say a word to Larry other than, "Nice Nincada you got there.  Take good care of it."  He walks back to Swiftfire and Ralts, still sullen and angry.

WILL DO THE BERRY HUNTING

Larry shakes the ice climbers hand and says "good match." Larry then looked at Nathan showing a mad look in his eyes "I wonder whats wrong?" Larry asked himself. Larry then told the ice climber "i'll take some black ones, and thank you very much I could use some" Larry then heard what Nathan said in a tone Larry has heard before many times "uh Thanks I guess?" Larry replied. "well I need a nap" Larry said and went and took a nap in the RV

Later Larry woke up "Ah! Arceus save me!" Larry shouted, Larry looked around "gosh I can feel the anger in here, I should have went with May when she offered me a chance to travel with her over these people." Larry said to himself. "its so hot why did Nathan bring that stupid horse with him out of its pokeball!" Larry wasn't so happy with the ponyta "ok Larry its not that bad just calm down" Larry said as he took deep breaths. Larry looks out the window to see Nathan "I sould come clean with him" Larry says not so happy "no I should come clean with ALL of them" Larry said

Larry then walks out not so happy "Nathan I I n-need to tell you something" Larry says a bit scared "I not a trainer!" Larry said as tears come out of his eyes "im a fraud! A lie! I never did training other than what I could on a route! I was a breeder! I know nothing about type matchups and evolution!" Larry said "im sorry for the lies I just wanted to show I am my father. father. DADDY I MISS YOU!" Larry continues to cry only louder to the point that everyone else could hear him "I have been put under so much pressure by my uncle Norman and my cousin May. My mom wants me to be a great trainer like May but she is way better than what I could do and uncle Norman is 10 times that!" Larry said. "I just wanna stop hearing "why cant you be more like May" do you know what its like being related to someone who is the best coordinator in all of Hoenn, Johnto, and soon Unova!" Larry shouted. "im sorry for being so emotional I just have been under so much pressure from everyone." Larry stated

As he's walking away from the RV, Nathan's suddenly assaulted by a stream of words from a wild Larry he hadn't been expecting!  As Larry gushes out the truth, Nathan just looks on in a rather cold silence.  Or at least appears to be.  Internally, he's trying to process all this new information...

'Wait...this kid's related to May and Norman?!  Wait, he said uncle and cousin...not a direct relation...and what was that he said about his dad?  Hmmm...and it seems I WAS right to not trust the stories.  He is a complete noob after all.  Well, maybe not completely...he did somehow bumble his way through so far...and if he was a breeder, he at least knows a few things about pokemon...'

Nathan sighs...he's been doing that a lot lately.  As angry as he is at himself and Ventus right now, this kid has somehow broken him down.  He can understand the pressure Larry must be feeling.  Trying to live in someone else's shadow is not easy, particularly if everyone expects you to do the same great things as the one casting that shadow...

In the case of May, she's one of the champions of the Hoenn region, and an incredible contest coordinator at that.  After having mastered the contests of Hoenn (outdoing even Wallace's niece, Lisia. That family is known for their contest skills, and Wallace is even the reigning Champion of Hoenn on top of that), she managed to bring the contest craze over to Kanto and Johto.  She'd dominated there too, and was now in Unova doing the same thing with an added flair for their Musicals...definitely a battle AND contest legend.  Her feats are rather impressive, as is her signature pokemon, Blaziken.

As for her father, Norman...well, he and his family had moved from Johto to Hoenn because he'd been accepted at a gym leader position in Petalburg City.  Being a gym leader, everyone already knew he was super tough.  Those not versed in his battle techniques though often find themselves staring at the wrong end of an ultra powerful Slaking.  Or two, depending on how difficult he makes the battle.  He even uses a few techniques in double battles to make his two Slaking even more powerful, primarily by getting rid of their Truant abilities.  Outside of battle achievements, there's also rumors going around that he knows something about the legendary pokemon Latias and Latios...a rumor which seems to have some credence since May can call upon the services of one of the duo for battle, contests, and transportation.  Hmmm...which one was it again, though?  Nathan was having trouble remembering...

Anyways, Nathan turns back around to pick up the item he was now right next to.  "Larry, if you want to improve, then you'll need practice.  You can't become a battle or contest legend overnight."  Nathan could empathize with this situation, so he considered something he wouldn't have even thought about doing before..."sigh...I don't know why I'm offering but, if you want, you can come and train with me...I may even answer a few questions for you if you have any...nothing super specific and special, mind you, but I do know a lot of general information about training pokemon."  His expression and tone are rather flat, but the anger and frustration is beginning to melt away.  Ralts looks a little less sullen too.  Swiftfire just wants to get on with things and is pacing back and forth.