Starting the Newest Journey. [OPEN]

[Maxwell Smith.]

Okay, so it was chilly. Chilly and cold.

He didn't know that going to a new region would be up north. Well, not all the way up north. Just enough to make it colder than usual in this time of the year. It was still warm out, warm enough for fire types to still be active and yet cold enough for Ice Types to just love it outside. Oh, how he simply loathed them for taking the cold better than he could. He would rather stay in the warmth of his homeland than in a place like this. He always thought he was going to freeze when cold weather hit in, especially like when he ventured around Mt. Silver back in the good ol' days. Yeah, those were pretty darn great if you asked him. Too bad he couldn't of gone back and explored the region. Oh wait, he could have! Why couldn't he have just stayed home rather than go out and explore a new region that let you choose a name for if you won and gave you a chance at being champion of the region? Oh yeah, that's right.

He couldn't refuse a challenge. That was just like him, wasn't it?

So here Maxwell Smith was, standing on a slightly busy dock filled with a lot of sailors and very few other trainers, a backpack with too much weight in it while he stood there and froze, with a black figure awing at all of the not so pretty sites around this port. Really, it was getting annoying. Another cold blast of wind thrust it self through the area, making the boy shiver as he took his jacket together much tighter with one arm, using the other hand to keep his hat on his head. When the wind subdued, the black haired boy shivered slightly before drooping his hands after the coldness had gone away. It was kind of crowded, really. Not too bad, but not too good either. Some Machoke and Machamp walked around with crates and large luggage in their arms, a few Houndoom and Mightyena seeming to watch guard for any thieves in the mess. How nice, right? Well, if he was gonna get going, he'd better start looking for his other bag.

Yes, other bag.

"C'mon, Duskull," the boy had barely muttered to the now wandering Pokemon who had been watching the other Pokemon work tirelessly with all of their jobs out in the cold.

Then again, if you were a newly hatched Pokemon who hadn't seen much of the world, you'd be a bit curious, too. Max had received the Pokemon as an egg a few weeks after he had dropped his Pokemon off at Elm's lab, wanting them to get used to the place before he left, and not wanting to have his parents be stuck with the task of taking care of his Pokemon, Dusk especially. Elm had said that he had saw Dusk holding the egg and looking at it curiously when the man had went out to check on the Pokemon a day before Max came to say that he was going to leave, and thought it might have been Dusk's, but when he had confronted and asked the Ghost Type about it, the Pokemon merely shrugged and jestered the egg forward for the man to have. Funny how some Pokemon could be so forgetful, right? Yeah, well, that was Dusk for ya.

Max's plan was to leave the egg at the lab here, and come back for the hatched Pokemon later. But then it hatched while on the ship ride over to the region, and out came a Duskull. And how could he honestly resist one of his favorite Pokemon's first forum, right? All Max knew was that he was in for a ride, because if this Duskull was related to Dusk, and it was like it's father, then Max was in for a bumpy ride, to say the least. He didn't feel like giving the youngster up, and he knew he needed a starter for this region anyways. So why not a ghost-type? It sounded good to him, really.

"Dusk?" the floating Pokemon asked when he realized that his trainer had spoken to him, and looked to see his trainer walking away to begin looking in crate for his other bag. "D-dusk? Dusk!" the youngling called frighteningly as it tried to catch up with it's trainer.

When it caught up with the boy, it gave a call of both happiness and relief as it threw it's arms around the boy's neck best he could without passing through him. Max merely rolled his eyes and gave a small groan as the Pokemon did so, speeding up his steps only to stop at a crate which looked like one of the ones that the loaders back in Johto. Then again, most of the crates looked the same here. As Max was able to open the top up - most of the crates went unsealed when they arrived at a new place - to peer inside, Duskull moving away to watch his trainer do so silently, both probably hoping that they weren't caught snooping around the crates for their bag so they could hurry up to the Lab. Then again, who wouldn't?

[inkspills]

Stepping down the boat ramp, a young woman pulled her wool coat around her tighter as a blast of cold air hit her. Thank goodness she brought a coat and boots along with her, because it was just at she expected the north to be; cold. She wasn't a fan of the cold.. at all.. but she would just have to tolerate it. She wasn't going to let some icy wind keep her from following her dream, no sir! She lightly patted the head of her trust Spinda, Patch, who was peeking out of the opening in the top of her coat. "Alright, Patch. This is a the start of a brand new adventure, yeah? Let's do this!"

Riley quickly made her way down the ramp, nearly crashing into a Machoke at the bottom. She apologized to the Pokemon, who gave her an unimpressed look before walking off. Patch giggled, which earned him a flick on the ear from his embarrassed trainer. With a huff, she adjusted her bag on her shoulder, which was weighted down with various gear. The weight was tolerable, though. Being the tomboy that she was, Riley traveled lighter than most people would expect a girl to. She only brought what she absolutely needed.

Well, what she absolutely needed, and a few items she couldn't leave home with out. Her favorite cookbook, non-perishable food items of both human and Pokemon variety, bags of her own special Pokemon food, and things like that. She even had her favorite stuffed animal, a Drifloon Plushie, tucked away in a special compartment in the bag. So what if she was fifteen, she could still like plushies, right? Darn right she could! Not that she would tell anyone it was there, though. It would hurt her reputation.

Taking a moment to wait for a group of men hauling around crates to pass by, Riley began to make her way through the throng of people. Patch let out a few cries of protest whenever Riley bumped into someone, since he got the worst of it. "Look, I'm sorry, I can't help it! This place is pretty crowded!" This time it was Patch's turn to huff. "Spinda spin!" The way he said it sounded rather smart-alecky, so it earned him another flick to the ear.

As more Manchokes and people passed by, Riley decided that it would be better to stay in a less-populated area for a bit, until the docks cleared up some. She moved towards a group of crates brought down off of the boat. Not a lot of people were around here, since they had already been unloaded. Thank goodness. Patch seemed happier too, as he wiggled around in Riley's jacket, a smile on his face as he got more comfortable. "You're so spoiled.." She sighed then smiled, scratching the panda-like Pokemon behind his ear.

As she made her way through the maze of crates, she spotted someone bent over a crate, searching through it. A boy. He didn't look like a dock worker.. so she was of course curious of way he was looking through the crates. Way he trying to steal something from the crates? He didn't really look like a bad person.. so he must not be. Still, she wanted to know what she was up to. Walking up behind the boy, she peered over his shoulder for a moment before speaking. "Whatcha lookin' for?"

[Maxwell Smith.]

How many crates had he gone through again? A dozen? Max gave a frustrated sigh as he dropped the lid to yet another crate, moving on to the next one with Dusk close behind. Though the Ghost Pokemon seemed more interested in the nearby working Pokemon and humans rather than his trainer looking for his duffel bag with his other items in it. What he was going to do with it exactly when he didn't need it anymore, he didn't know exactly. Maybe leave it at the lab until he wanted it again, or perhaps just come and pick it up later when the training contest was over. Thinking when it was too cold - though it was probably only forty degrees at the most, but still chilly enough so said Max - wasn't one of the best in the boy's abilities, to say the least, without much help from his partner Pokemon.

Max stuck his head into yet another crate to see if his bag was inside, using only one hand for this one like he had a few others as a small gust of wind went through, using his free hand to hold down his hat as his currently blue jacket whipped slightly around his body. Wasn't it supposed to be summer or something? Oh, wait. Maybe that was somewhere else. Maybe it was supposed to be fall or something. Ah, he couldn't remember. Behind him, Duskull made a noise of which sounded similar to Dusk's greeting to a human that was just approaching. Max was going to ignore it and keep his head stuck in the crate with a loose grip on the top, when an unexpected voice was heard.

"Whatcha lookin' for?"

Max made a startled sound as the the voice was heard, Max not seeing it coming, really. The boy literally jumped at voice, his grip accidently losing the crate's top and contacting with his head in a painful way, also giving a loud smacking sound in the process.

"Ouch," the boy muttered, stepping away from the crate in time to let the lid make contact with the crate it self, not hurting him self anymore. Max began to rub the back of his head now as he slowly turned towards the girl behind him that had asked him the question. "Ugh, um...," the boy tried to think for a minute as he rubbed the back of his head. His eyes averted for the small creature in her jacket for a moment, Max realizing it as a Spinda he had once seen with a female trainer he had battled back in Johto. She wasn't from the region, though. "I'm actually trying to searching for my bag," Max finally explained, pausing his hand on the back of his head. "It has the rest of my stuff in it, and I don't feel like waiting for someone to give it to me so I can leave."

"Duskull!" the Ghost Type Pokemon greeted happily, fading in behind Max in a sideways angle, it's eyes closed with it's arms wide open, a happy expression on it's face. Max dropped his hand frustratingly, blinking a blank expression yet slightly angered and annoyed look onto his face because of the small yet silly Pokemon that was now shattering on quietly towards the new girl, though now his pose from behind Max had faded to a normal floating over the boy's shoulder look with both of it's "hands" in front of it.

"Duskull says hi," he said plainly and in a rather dull and annoyed tone, trying to "translate" what the Pokemon had said to the girl.

[inkspills]

Unable to hold back her giggles, Riley tried to stifle them with the back of her hand. She didn't mean to scare him that badly. She hadn't just startled him.. she'd made him jump. The way he hit the top of the crate was almost like something you would see in a cartoon. "I'm very sorry about scaring you just then." She had calmed back down at this point, an amused smile on her face, but the laughing ceased. Her Pokemon wasn't nearly as tactful, though, and was still snickering softly. This earned him a third flick to the ear, which made him stop laughing and look up at his trainer, irritated.

"Your bag, huh? I'll be happy to help you look for it, if you tell me what it looks like. It's the least I can do after making you hurt yourself." She went ahead and starting open the tops of crates without waiting for his answer. Even if he said he was fine and didn't need her help, she would've helped him anyway. She felt bad for making him get hurt, so she felt she needed to help him out.

She stopped, though, when she heard the Ghost-type Pokemon the boy had with him greet her. She smiled fondly at the Pokemon, raising a hand to give a little wave. "Hello to you too, Duskull. My name is Riley. It's very nice to meet you. Both of you." She looked at Max, smiling as him as well. "This little guy here is my Spinda, Patch. Say 'hi'." She looked down at the panda Pokemon, giving him a little scratch on the head.

Patch looked over the boy and his Duskull, somehow managing to give them a disapproving look with his swirly eyes. ".. Spin." No matter how you sliced it, his 'greeting' sounded rude and like he'd much rather them go away. Riley frowned down at him and let out a sigh. "Be nice, Patch." She took the Pokemon out of her coat and set him on the ground, zipping up her coat a bit afterword. Patch gave a little huff, staying close to Riley, leaning up against her leg.

[Maxwell Smith.]

"I'm very sorry about scaring you just then."

"Nah, it's okay," Max managed to mutter, though even thinking about what happened just a few seconds ago made him start rubbing his head again.

Duskull, thinking as if his trainer needed help, reached his ghastly arms out towards his trainer, as if asking if the boy wanted a hug from the Pokemon to see if it actually would make it all better for the boy. Peh, as if. He'd probably make it worse for him, really. As if thinking this as well, Max leaned a bit away from the Pokemon that offered up the hug, Duskull making a confused look with his eyes as he pulled back both arms slightly, though didn't trying anything else further. Max gave a slightly irritated grunt, and leaned back straight up and was about to speak something else to the girl offered to help Max find his bag because he had hurt him self. He did open to tell his name, since after Dusk greeted him self she did speak of her name and her Spinda's name.

"Uh, the name's Max," the boy said in an almost small voice. He had tipped up the front of his hat by grabbing the bill and lifting the front up slightly, though pulled it back down when he thought that a gust of wind was going to come and sweep it away. Not like Duskull wasn't going to go and chase after it if it did. But then again, it was his favorite hat. Actually, it was probably his only hat.

"Duskull!" the Requiem Pokémon said happily, again taking it's pose of greeting that it had not to of a little bit ago, making Max's eye brows crease in frustration. He gave a slightly frustrated sigh at his Pokemon, wanting to offer it up to the girl in exchange for a better one. But then again, that would be unlikely.

"Well, my other bag as a duffel bag," Max managed to say, keeping on track and away from the fact that his Pokemon, although newborn, needed to mature a bit more quickly. Then again, that might have taken the fun out of everything. "It's a dark green with marking on both long sides that look as the same as the one on my hat." When he said so, Max bent his head forward a little to show the girl what he meant by the symbol.

[inkspills]

Riley gave him an apologetic smile when he went to rub at his head again, obviously re-living where he had hit his head on the crate. She'd really have to be more tactful when greeting someone next time.

She watched as the Duskull attempted to give his trainer a hug, causing her to giggle softly. "You have one of the most affectionate Duskulls I've ever seen. I love newborn Pokemon. He's adorable." She smiled at both him and the Pokemon. She didn't know if he would take calling his Pokemon 'adorable' as a compliment.. since he was a Trainer and it was a Ghost-type Pokemon.. but oh well. What's done is done. And it was true, this Duskull was one of the most adorable she'd ever seen. Probably the only adorable one she'd ever seen, to be honest.

"It's nice to meet you, Max." She held out her hand to shake, her other arm wrapped around herself as the gust of wind blew through. "Would've been better if they discovered this new region on a tropical island, huh?" Her Spot Panda Pokemon nodded in agreement, clinging tighter to her leg. She looked down at the Pokemon with a sigh. "You see? Spoiled. I guess It's my fault though, huh?" She scooped the Pokemon up with one arm, holding him close. her other arm still stretched out in greeting. Patch nuzzled her check, wiggling his stumpy tail. "Spinda spiiiiiin!"

That Duskull really was a sweetie. Full of an unexpected amount of energy for a Ghost-type. True, he was a newborn, but she even noticed that newborn Duskull were less energetic than this one. It was a excellent new discovery, and it's energy was infectious. She was already fond of the Pokemon. Of the boy, though.. she was still unsure. He seemed nice enough, though a bit too short-tempered with his Pokemon. Then again, she flicked her Spinda's ear whenever he did something wrong, so perhaps she was being a bit hypocritical.

She listened as he described his beg, looking at the symbol on his hat. It looked a bit like the top half of the symbol on her head-bandanna and apron. Both of which were currently stored in her bag, though. "Alright, I'm on it." She put her Spinda back snugly in the front of her coat, then walked a bit away from the area the Max had been searching in, and started to open the tops of crates.

[Maxwell Smith.]

"You have one of the most affectionate Duskulls I've ever seen. I love newborn Pokemon. He's adorable."

"Hm? Oh, uh, thanks," he blinked as Duskull gave a sound of happines at what the girl had said about him - though the trainer doubted that the Pokemon even understood what she had said - making Max blink slightly, Yeah, if you knew who is father might be, you'd think it to make sense, really." Max gave a nervous chuckle at the mention of his now currently Dusknoir, knowing it could have been worse if Max had brought that Pokemon along on his journey. The big Pokemon thought that it was a small child, it seemed to be.

"Duskull!" the small Ghost-Type Pokemon said happily, throwing it's "arms" up in the air yet again, making Max's nose twitch slightly. Though the Pokemon ignored that seemingly - though could have just not noticed that at all - when he decided to try to say hello to the Spinda at the girl's leg, floating down to greet it as Riley spoke about how the new region should have been placed on some tropical island instead of a place like this, making Max give a chuckle of agreement.

"Yeah, if only...," the boy agreed, though just standing there, he was feeling a little bit warmer.

But only by a little bit. Man, he was still wishing that he had brought Flame with him. Or Nine. That would work either way, really. They were both Fire-Types, and would warm him up easily. He was really thinking about trading Duskull in for a fire type, but then again, and with his luck, Duskull would find a way to escape the lab and follow the young trainer on his journey. Couldn't Ghost-Types go through walls or something? Yeah, that would be just one of the reasons why it wouldn't work just leaving the Pokemon behind. Only one of the reasons. Life was totally unfair to him on purpose on him, was it not? Ehn, who cared? He was used to it, anyway.

"Alright, I'm on it."

"Hm, oh, well, thanks again," he said to the girl, his head lowering down into his jacket as he held his jacket closer together to try and keep him warmer.

Duskull only watched as the girl and her Pokemon before realizing that his own trainer was walking off towards another crate, the hovering Pokemon floating instantly to follow close behind to search for his bag. Maybe it was lost. Peh, like that hasn't happened before, really. Max once lost two bags on one ship because they couldn't keep track of their items. Sure, he got both of them back. It was worth the wait of, what, six months? Oh yeah, that wait was the best.

Not.