before the market [MOD]

[Celia Silkwood]

January, week one
Early morning

Celia was still in Port City. She hoped to find herself trudging down the dirty path leading to New Pallet before the sun set yesterday but there was a change in plans. A brief chat led her to realize leaving right away wasn't needed or really expected, for that matter. So, rather than rush into things, Celia pitched a tent in her parent's living room. She may be too old for such a thing but it made saying 'goodbye' that much easier.

She woke before the sun breeched the horizon's edge, barely beating her parents as they began their morning rituals only minutes later. She squeezed in the goodbye before both went about their chores, leaving the house to her for the time being. It was a perfect time to enjoy the peaceful quiet but sitting around like a lump on a log didn't sit well with her. Celia was so used to being on the go with hands full of odds and ends and mind constantly focused on tasks. There wasn't anything set out for her to do, however, which left the woman rather listless. That was when her eyes alighted on her purple backpack.

It took a few seconds of rummaging to find te occupied pokeball and longer to figure out how to work it. She flinched back when her finger found the button, activating the release of the budew in a plasma-like red flare. It looked stronger bow than it had when the ambassador used it but the pokemon standing in front of her was as tiny as it was then, possibly even tinier.

Bubudew...? the bud pokemon seemed to ask though it fell of deaf ears. Celia barely knew anything when it came to pokemon, even less so when dealing with communication.

"You're...really small," the gardener commented with a sigh of despair. Coming from a background dealing the woes ad joys of cultivation, Celia wasn't too happy at the sight thought it did jumpstart her determination. "Sun and fresh air would do you good," she added as she scooped up her budew with careful arms to whisk him away to the yard.

Well, it was less than a yard and more like a square of dirt. Seeing as only bare sprigs of vegetation decorating the garden, she figured her father left to get an early start on selling whatever was late to ripen. Her mother likely followed him which left the garden still and lifeless. "Here you go," Celia said after placing the budew on a little pile of dirt. He wiggled around for a moment before letting out a soft crisp squeal. She took it as a sign of contentment and gently sprinkled a handful of dirt over the tiny plant.

"You should know how to do things, right" she asked but only received a confused look from the bud. Wiping her hands off on her pants, Celia tried to explain without feeling too embarrassed by talking to the animal. "Look, plants absorb the nutrients in the soil so you should be able to do the same." Whether it was te gesture she made by running her fingers under the dirt in a root-like manner or by using a certain word, the budew understood something. He dug his little feet deeper into the soil until his bottom half was neatly nestled in the ground. A soft purring sound rumbled from his belly and Celia figured it was another sign of his happiness. "See? Good job!" the woman said brightly and awarded the pokemon with a pat on the head.
This was much easier than she thought.

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Budew
LV. 1
Used Absorb
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Looking for:
Anything from pokemon encounters to random events.
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ooc/ possible connection points and happiness point for interaction?

[Olive]

The tiny area adjacent to Budew dried up just a bit as the Pokemon fed on the nutrients in the soil and the consumption seemed to flush the tiny plant with a healthy green glow. Budew's purr strengthened and it began to lull into a respite. Above Celia a few Wingull flew past the yard with some slightly annoying squawks. From behind Celia heard the pit pat of tin steps approaching, as well as a slight pant.

A cute Lillipup sat behind the woman with its tongue out and head tilted. The curious little Pokemon probably just wanted to know what was going on. At this stage of evolution, Lillipup were not aggressive creatures, especially after living so close to humans for the past few years. Without any hesitation, the puppy trotted up to Celia and licked her arm. Its eyes were huge with wonder as it stared into the lady's face.

While Celia was distracted with the pup, a rather quiet Pokemon wobbled up to Budew. The fat creature leaned in closer to the now snoozing plant and nodded its head. It scooped its hands in the dirt and plucked the Budew from the soil. With a quiet hum, the Pokemon began to stroll away with the bud Pokemon.

---

Feral-Non-aggressive Lillipup appeared!
Feral Munchlax appeared!... and stole/borrowed Budew?

((*+1 Happiness per post when he's out* || +1 Happiness for feeding || +.5 Connection for Celia))

[Celia Silkwood]

Celia watched with pure enjoyment as her pokemon's color brightened right before her eyes. Her eyes narrowed out of curiosity rather than disapproval. The saying that stated talking to plants helped them grow and while it meant nonsentient plants, she pondered whether the first person to utter the words simply confused a pokemon with regular, ol' flowers. Maybe scientists could splice genes or whatever it is they do but the thought trailed off as soon as it came to her.

She gently prodded the soil closer to form a little mound around the budew and clapped with delight as its purr grew louder and louder, its color greener and greener. It was a remarkable sight but the woman's pleasure was broken by the screeching wingulls. Her eyes shot to the gulls with lowered brows, lips spread thin against her pale skin. This was definitely not the background noise needed to grow a healthy, plump anything. It was a small wonder how her father always ended up with less than desirable produce.

Celia lifted her hand to shoo them off a bit too late. They were already too far away to hear her irritated call. Placing her hand back down, the woman started to resume her watch over the budew but an unfamiliar feeling jolted her back with a yelp. She quickly covered the drool-covered spot with her free hand, thinking the worst as her fingers blindly felt around, but the lack of pain brought her to investigate. Celia was surprised by the absence of blood once she stole a glance at her arm though the culprit behind it was as big a surprise as anything.

"Oh..." was all she could say at first as she picked over the tan dog's body with scrutinizing brown eyes. It didn't look dangerous or feral, for that matter. If she had to guess Celia would say it was someone's pet given how readily it approached her. She could only deduce from there that the pokemon licked her from something so tiny and cute couldn't have an ounce of bad blood in its veins. Her mouth opened with silent words until her mind found a way to work past the startled flurry of thoughts to finally form something legible.

"Where did you come from?" So it wasn't exactly something to ask an animal but at least the slight fluctuation of her voice added a nicer tone than what she normally used. She began to reach her hand out to let it sniff her but something felt off. It was so...quiet. A quick look behind her made her heart sink. The budew was no longer resting there and a nice dip where he sat held his place. Footprints unlike any humans he knew trailed away from it which made finding the thief much easier.

If only she knew what the thief was.

The hefty thing toting her pokemon trudged along headed to who-knows-where. There was no hesitation as Celia sprang to her feet with two heavy steps pulling her after it. My bag. She paused with a pained expression to peek at the house. The little dog caught her attention midway. She couldn't just leave it there; what if it didn't belong to anyone at all? "You stay, please?" she asked it with a gesture to the house, "you can go in there but no messes." With that, the gardener quickly made her way out of the bare garden to plant herself in front of the strange pokemon. Her bag could wait.

The urge to pluck the budew from its hands was strong but she wouldn't risk the chance of it crushing the tiny plant. "No!" Celia said firmly, wagging a finger at its face, "not yours." She pointed between it and her budew, repeating her words for emphasis. "Not. Yours." Though the gesture was dramatic, she felt like it was getting the point across. It had worked earlier, after all.

[Olive]

A quiet whimper escaped from the puppy as Celia gave it the command. It didn't actually understand her, but her tone seemed convincing enough. When she pointed to the house, the Lillipup's ears perked. The door was still cracked so the Pokemon could get in there easily enough. It watched as Celia ran off to rescue her tiny little plant from the Munchlax, then just sort of waddled off inside the house. Lillipup searched around from something that it would find interesting, but nothing really caught its attention, except for a purple rucksack. Tongue out and tail wagging in excitement, the Pokemon could smell the scent of its new friend on the object. Not giving a second thought, the puppy grabbed one of the straps with its teeth and started dragging it out to Celia.

Back out in the yard, the trainer's attempt at commanding the Pokemon fell on deaf ears. Munchlax tilted its head in confusion when Celia started to talk to it. What was this woman even saying? Whatever it was, the large Pokemon took it as a compliment. It opened it mouth in a wide smiled and closed its eyes. "Munchlax!" it expressed with gratitude. Then it was like it completely forgot that the human existed, it pushed between her legs and kept walking.

By this time, Lillipup had just pulled the sack out of the house. With a little wag of its tail, it barked at Celia to call her attention, then proceeded in dragging the bag back to her.

[Celia Silkwood]

All she could do was blink with bewilderment as the biped pushed past her legs. Celia had to rush to avoid getting knocked down by it although it led to a very uncomfortable dance to lift her leg up and over with barely any balance. She wobbled just a bit once both feet were planted safely on the ground but threw her arms out to catch herself out of reflex. "No! Nonono," she cried out with a stamp of her foot. "Stupid animal!" By now, she was past the point of annoyed and spilling over into anger.

Her face twisted into a mean glare and when the tiny bark of the dog caught her attention, it was almosy red with fury. "WH-" Celia started to yell though quickly changed her demeanor as she saw the reason behind it's yipping. The gardener met the puppy pokemon halfway, quickly kneeling to retrieve her bag from its mouth.

"Yes! Yes, yes, good!" she praised though struggled to keep her tone even and pleasant despite the anger that continued to brew. Flinging the top of it open, she started to pull out the contents in a sloppy manner until she felt a familiar shape. The texure was off, however, and it took her to pull the berry bag ot to realize it wasn't a pokeball as she had hoped. The lumps of fruit inside it wouldn't let her pull the budew out of the feral's arms but they did spark an idea.

"Good job...whatever you are," she added with a pat on its head. Plucking a berry from the rest, Celia hurried over to block the biped's path once more. With a firm grip on the large berry, the woman held it out like she would an offering. "Food? Do you like these?" she asked coyly. There was a hint of doubt in her mind that it would understand but it was worth the try. As she continued to wave it just beyond it's grasp, Celia's eyes were trained on her sleeping budew. She just needed one little opening and her plant pokmon could be free.i

[Olive]

A few hops of excitement and a lick on the hand was the Lillipup's reply to Celia's thanks. After she had fished around, found the berry, and ran back to the Munchlax, the tint puppy ran up being the larger Pokemon.

"Muuun?" the Pokemon gurgled when presented with the berry. It leaned forward to sniff at the food source then nodded. Holding the still sleeping Budew in its left hand, the hungry Pokemon took the berry from Celia and swallowed it whole. It didn't even chew. A satisfied grin stetched across its face and it replied with a cheerful, "Lax Lax!" Before it pushed between Celia's legs as it had done previously, its eyes shot open and it twisted its body to see an angry pup biting its rear.

Immediately, the creatures face turned red. It raised its paw and slapped Lillipup across the face. This motion sent it flying right back to Celia's yard. Wouch. With its one-track mind, it again turned to look right past Celia and pushed through her legs, this time knocking her down.

Hm.. What was that thing planning on doing with her Budew anyways?

[Celia Silkwood]

A grin spread across her lips. The look in its eyes...it had to be understanding. She carefully watched how it shifted its hold on her budew. That's it, take the bait. Her heart skipped a beat as she let her right hand drop away from the berry and slowly reached forward to pluck the plant. Nothing goes as planned, however.

The fat feral nabbed the berry before Celia could react, quickly gulping it down. No thought process went into place; it just popped it in its mouth and swallowed it whole. A look of disgust crossed her face, shifting into worry soon after. She barely had time to remark on how greedy the pokemon was before the flash of anger stunned her.

Next came the yelp.

She watched in helpless anguish as the puppy was sent flying across the yard. Seconds later she met the ground in a less-than-graceful manner. The woman stared with wide eyes as the thieving pokemon continued on its merry way. She was down a berry, without her budew, and completely out of ideas.

Maybe.

Celia slowly came to her feet, eyes never leaving the blue pokemon for a second. If it wanted to harm the budew, surely it wouldn't take it away to do harm somewhere hidden. If...and pray Arcaeus didn't have this demise in mind...the feral wanted to eat it, it could have easily devoured it as it had done with the berry. Her eyes narrowed as a hesitant idea came to mind. Maybe following it might shine some light on the situation, as much as she hated to leave the budew's fate in the hands of some feral. Of course, she wasn't about to leave the litte dog behind. It had helped her even though her plan wasn't a success.

"Come here," Celia said with a pat on her leg, though she didn't necessarily wait for it to approach. She reached for one of the scattered pokeballs and toon no time to throw it at the puppy. This was how the mercenaries caught the pokemon, right?

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+1 HP (happiness) for budew [as I should start keeping track]
Celia used 1 pokeball to attempt a capture of the feral Lillipup

[Olive]

Lillipup gave another little yelp as it was absorbed into the ball. The capsule hit the ground. 1... 2... 3... Ding. Well at least now Celia had something to work with.

Munchlax continued its waddle out towards the eastern boundary... Away from the market. The round Pokemon hummed a cute cadence as it strolled away from Celia. "Mun munch lax, Mun munch lax." Really, it sounded more like a lullaby. Which was ironic because, ya know, Budew was still asleep in the Pokemon's hands. It formed a yawn before snuggling back into the Munchlax.

Finally, on the outskirts of town, the blue creature found a puddle. It tilted its head as the body of water before plopping down beside it. Munchlax then returned its gaze to the plant. Still humming, the Pokemon began to pet Budew who only cooed in response. "Munchlax!" it called in excitement. Then, without any warning, it tossed the poor Pokemon into the puddle.

"Deew-" he trailed off as his body suddenly sank beneath the waters. Clapping and shouting, the Munchlax continued its excited calls. Who knew a Pokemon could be such a sadist?

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Lillipup was caught! 25 TP required to tame. -remove 1 Pokeball.
Munchlax tossed Budew into a puddle!