Swimming (OPEN)

[Azreal Sinbad]

Azreal could feel the water rushing past him. Swimming in the ocean...how refreshing it felt. Heartsbane was giving him a curious look, as though asking the swimmer if he was done for the day. "Bane, you're carrying my luggage. Don't give me that look: I can handle it." Bane gave him a little growl before looking forward. The Samurott was, no doubt, a bit sore since their adventure. Azreal was given an acceptance letter to a nearby academy under the condition that he do any and all odd jobs given to him. He wouldn't mind: he could use the extra work. Having to carry Fins around a lot made him used to the Pokemon's weight, so he was pretty good at heavy lifting. He had seen from a map of the school that there was an aquarium. No doubt, Bane and Fins would probably love the Aquarium: but he had to get to the school first. The closet way to get there was by traveling the sea. So, he had been swimming for a few hours now, with his Samurott and Mantyke. Bane made a barking sound, and Azreal could now see that they had reached a shore. he swam up to the shore, laying down on the sand as soon as he reached it. "Oh boy...That was hard..." He was panting a bit from the shortness of breath; having swim for so long, he was undoubtedly tired. 

Bane jumped out of the water, barking at Azreal. The luggage began to topple on his back, and Band put it down on the sand. Bane then began to look around, trying to see any dangers that could attack his master while his guard was down.

Fins was so excited! he had wanted to get to land, but now he had all this...this sand! He flopped out of the water, going towards his trainer. His master would always carry him, and he wanted to be carried now!

[Ylva Mandara]

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    Ylva snickered uncontrollably while walking alongside her steel behemoth. Her Aggron was making some jokes with her as they walked to the beach, and although the laughter of the Aggron was loud enough to scare off nearby wild Pokemon, it didn't bother Ylva. With a pat, she looked up at him and chuckled out a response. "Tell me the one about the Magnemite and the Digglet again. Plus, I'd love to know where you're getting these jokes from."
       Lariat stretched his shoulders and laughed more. He enjoyed the fact that his master got such a kick out of him, also at the fact that she asked where he got these jokes from. "I don't know, I got them from. I'm just telling jokes out of past experiences. You know, from those times I wandered off."
        Ylva frowned some and turned her head. "Hmm.. yea.. that does make a lot of sense." Stopping, she saw a trainer come out of the water and nearly flipped out, jumping behind Lariat. "Oh.. wait.. that's a human... let's just stand here awkwardly." The short miner girl climbed onto the Aggron's back, sitting there, over looking the majority of the beach.
    Lariat frowned at his master and shook his head. She always did this when confronted with another trainer. Her shy nature made her skittish in public, and high-strung as well. Ylva would lash out at anyone or anything that seemed like it was going to do some kind of harm to her or Lariat when she was like that to.

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Word Count: 258

[Azreal Sinbad]

Bane was quick to notice someone...or someone's Pokemon. Once on the sandy shore, he noticed a huge steel-like Pokemon and began to give a low growl and bark at the Pokemon. He didn't know what the Pokemon was, or the trainer for the matter, but he didn't trust it. He stood between it and his trainer, barking at his trainer to see if he realized someone was there or not.

Azreal just needed to catch his breath, and the sand was already sticking to his body. He got up, sand all over his back, swim trunks, and back of his legs as well. He looked through his luggage, pulling out a towel. He ran it through his hair to dry it off real quick, then try to dry off his body and get some of the sand off that clung to his body. He then noticed that Bane was barking. "Whatcha barking at, Bane?" He noticed another trainer and their Pokemon, but he couldn't see much of the trainer. "Oh. Hello there. Don't worry about Bane, he's a bit...weird." He let the towel cover his shoulders, and proceed to put up Fins and hold him. "Hey, this wouldn't happen to be the Academy, would it?"

Fins was so excited! He was getting picked up by Azzie! As he was picked up, he began to flail his fine in an excited manner. Yay! He liked people! He started to blow bubbles happily.

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Word Count: 254
Tags: Ylva, Fins, Azreal and Bane
Notes: Bane used Bark! Azreal used Pick up! Fins used Bubbles!

[Ylva Mandara]

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    Ylva furrowed her brow at the Samurott from over Lariat's shoulders and barked back at him. After sticking her tongue out and climbing onto the Aggron's shoulders to sit there, she put her elbows on his head and spoke in louder tones, still a little shy. "It's OK. He's just doing what a Pokemon would do. Lariat would do the same thing." Sitting back a little on her Aggron's shoulders she nodded and held onto his neck. "Yep, you're on the beach, so the academy's main campus is right that way." Ylva pointed in a direction and shouted a little when Lariat suddenly shook her off of his shoulders, making her land on her butt in the sand.
    "Oh, you're just being a fucking prick now." The girl grabbed some sand and lobbed it in his face earning a angry grumble from her Pokemon, followed by an angry sit.
    Lariat bristled at the Samurott and gave him a vicious roar, symbolizing that it would be wise to stay where he was. "If your trainer didn't hear us, there might be water in his ears" Holding his arms out, he looked down some, trying to point out the fact that he was heavy. "I'm not exactly the lightest creature here."
    Jumping a bit, he looked at the Mantyke and turned his head at it. With another soft roar, he turned his head back and stood up straight. "What are you?"
    Ylva narrowed her eyes again and shook her head. "You're not exactly the easiest thing to figure out yourself. Are you a Steel-plated dinosaur? Are you a Giant Steel lizard? Nobody knows, no one ever will." Her intense sarcasm earned a swat from her Pokemon and a blinding headache. "OK! DAMN! FINE! BUT I'M NOT TAKING IT BACK."

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Word Count: 300

[Azreal Sinbad]

The Samurott was oddly confused when the girl barked back at him. Why did she bark back, he wondered. He was in quite a stupor for a few moments there, looking at the girl curiously. The Samurott was not intimidated by such a roar, almost giving a chuckle from his barking. "Look, I don't like people or Pokemon I don't know around Azreal. And Azreal always listens, you dope." The Samurott let out a little growl again before trying to stand between Azreal and the trainer, still a bit cautious around the female.

Azreal looked at Bane. "Bane, cool it. Everything's alright." He pats the Samurott, Bane giving him a bit of a huff before calming down. He looked up at her, being on the Aggron. It seemed to be and interesting interation between the girl and her Pokemon. "Hmm, alright, thanks for the help." He finished drying himself off, then put on a shirt to cover his exposed chest. Was it possible that she could talk to the Aggron? It seemed like she could; at least, in her tone of voice. "Sorry to interrupt, but I forgot to introduce ourselves. I'm Azreal, this Samurott is Heartsbane or Bane for short, and the little Mantyke here is Fins." He continued to hold up the Mantyke, seeing that the little one wanted to be held. For some reason, the Mantyke really loved to be out of water...and in water. Azreal found it odd, but paid no heed to it.

Fins looked this big Pokemon! He flailed in his trainer's arms, loving being held. He looked back up at the Aggron. "I'm a Mantyke! Water-flier of the sea! Just call me Fins." He giggles and starts blowing bubbles

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Word Count: 295
Tags: Ylva, Fins, Bane, Azreal
Notes: Fins, why are you so cute?

[Ylva Mandara]

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    Ylva and Lariat bickered back and forth for a while, several angry slurs coming from both of them all while Lariat had his tail curled around his master in a protective stance. The two were at each others throats until everything fell silent for what felt like a full 5 minutes but was only a tense split second. Ylva started snickering and Lariat laughed in his own, Aggrony way. A couple more words were exchanged and Ylva turned back towards the boy, going back to a closed off and serious face. "No problem. I'm Ylva Mandara and this is Lariat.. uh.. I also have a Weedle.. who is in his ball.. his name is Spike." She gave the Pokeball on her side a pat, which made it rock some. "Oops..."

    Lariat bit back a sarcastic remark and shrugged. "Well, I'm sorry that I don't know everything about your master on first sight." The sarcastic and angered remark came out of nowhere anyways and Lariat made frustrated face, deciding to ignore the Samurott and turn back towards the Mantyke.

    "A Mantyke huh? I'm an Aggron, a steel type Pokemon, and you can call me Lariat." He waggled his tail some and moved it to the other side looking at the water type curiously.

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Word Count: 214

[Azreal Sinbad]

Bane seemed to huff, after getting a pat from Azreal. He stayed by Azreal's side, finding this particular duo to be...unusual. But he was fascinated slightly, though he would never express some opinions. As long as Azreal was safe, the girl and her Pokemon would be alright...for now.

Azreal watched the trainer and Pokemon seemingly argue with one another. Interesting, how a girl could argue with something so much bigger than her. He let out a chuckle. "Well, thanks for the directions, and it's a pleasure to meet you, Ylva Mandara. I suppose I should probably go, since I have a few jobs I need to do at the Academy...I'm sure I have the map somewhere. Bane, look for the map for me, will you?" Bane huffed and started going through the luggage.

Fins giggled and flailed in Azreal's grip, clearly excited. "Lariat? Yay! A new friend!" Fins blew his bubbles towards Lariat, clearly happy. "Hey, do you like water? I love water! We should go swimming together!"

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Word Count: 180
Tags: Ylva, Lariat, Fins, Bane and Azreal
Notes: Fins and his bubbles.

[Ylva Mandara]

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    Ylva would have loved to reply instantly, but something distracted her in the waters. A Sharpedo, it was swimming close to the shore and the simple sight of it's fin caused her to become a kid again. Playing in the beach, like nothing was wrong, until a Sharpedo came up and grabbed a hold of her leg. Of course, Ylva was notorious for being attacked by Pokemon at this point, but still, it didn't stop several strangers, just swimmers, from coming to her rescue and knocking the shark off of her. Shuddering some, she was brought back to earth by the noises of the Mantyke and Lariat's voice. "I... may have an extra map.. if you want it." Ylva stood up slowly and petting her Aggron, watching him walk over to the Mantyke.
 
    Lariat's tail curled some and he laid down to sniff at the Mantyke in the boy's arms, standing and letting out a welcoming grumble. "I like you, we can definitely be friends." Lariat continued to ignore the other Pokemon rustling through the bag. The Samurott didn't interest the Aggron as much as the Mantyke.

    Ylva sighed when Lariat moved to sniff the Mantyke. Shuffling to the side, she came back to where she could see the boy so she could properly talk to him.

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Word Count: 219

[Azreal Sinbad]

Azreal looked a Bane, who had stopped shuffling through the bag. In Bane's mouth was a map and it was dropped in Azreal's hands. "Thanks, Bane. Knew I had one in there." Surpringly, the map didn't seem to suffer from any water damage, but he knew a few things in his bag would probably receive water damage. He noticed she seemed to be...dozing out? He looked towards the water, noticing a Sharpedo fin. "Huh...a Sharpedo. Rare to see them so close." He just shrugged it off, not paying any attention to it. She finally responded that she might have an extra, making him curious but he didn't feel like prying. Most people liked their privacy.

Fins flailed around, a bubble hitting the Lariat when it went down to sniff the Mantyke. The Mantyke make a noise akin to laughing "Yay! Friends forever!" Fins flails in Azreal's grasp, blowing more bubbles out of excitement.

"Okay, Okay Fins. Go and play." He puts down Fins, who begins roll on the sand towards the Aggron. Fins keeps rolling until he gets stuck on his back. Bane saw this and flipped the Mantyke over, who was finally able to reach the Aggron, and he flailed around excitedly.

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Word Count: 220
Tags: Ylva, Lariat, Fins, Bane and Azreal
Notes: Fins does a barrell roll!

[Ylva Mandara]

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    Ylva sighed deeply and looked at Azreal, not really sure what to think. She had to shake off those deeper and darker thoughts and bring out the other side of her. Still an introvert though, her mood change would appear unnoticeable to anyone who could not read her... and she could be hard to read to most. "Well... It appears that you have everything in order. I really don't know where to go from here." Ylva gave a nervous chuckle and was honest with him. She didn't know what to do from there. She had never gotten this far in talking to anybody but the people she grew up with, and that was rare.

    Lariat shook his head when the bubble hit his face and laughed some. "Yea, friends forever Fins." Entertained, the beast watched the water type baby roll in the sand and struggle to get to him, laughing more when he reached him and started flailing. "You're awfully excited." Leaning down, he nudged him into the small of the tide, keeping the Mantyke wet on the back and belly a little. Now Lariat didn't know much, but he guessed that this was one of those water types that probably didn't like to be out of water for to long. Unsure of what to do, he laid down and looked over at fins, grumbling at some of the water that washed under him and pooled in the sand.
   
    Ylva was the same as Lariat, she didn't really know much about water type Pokemon. Curious though, she turned her head some and wondered at the interaction between the two. They were complete opposites, but her Aggron was oddly compliant with children, despite their aggressive and loud nature.

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Word Count: 289

[Azreal Sinbad]

It seems that she sighed deeply. Azreal didn't really think too much of it, considering she didn't seem tired, nor sad or angry. "It appears that way. But, if it doesn't bother you, I'd enjoy your company a bit longer. I don't really care what we converse about, but I suppose we could start with hobbies, or things we like to do. There is nothing wrong with small talk, is there?" He smiles at Ylva, wondering how she would react. "What do you like to do in your free time?" He would start off, think that he would be the one to lead the conversation, since she had seemed for a loss for words.

Fins smiled when Lariat laughed. "Yay! I'm happy!" The Aggron noticed that he was awfully excited. "Hey, you would be excited to if you became friends with some, right? I'm happy cause we're friends now!" The little Mantyke allowed the Aggron to nudge him into the small of the tide. Feeling the water near him, Fins splashes the water onto himself, as though to clean himself. "Yay! Water! Oh! Oh! We should play a game of hide and go seek! We better hurry, though, before out masters decide to leave!" The mantyke began to flail around again.

Azreal watched the two Pokemon, laughing abit at the interaction. "It's nice to Fins happy. Looks like he really gets along with your Aggron."

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Word Count: 235
Tags: Ylva, Fins, Azreal, Lariat, and Bane
Notes: Fins wants to play hide and seek? Challenge accepted?

[Ylva Mandara]

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    Ylva gave Azreal a shocked look, shaking her head and gathering herself. "He wants to hold a conversation with me? He must be broken." Her thought run rampant and she blurted out her free-time activities, blinking a few times in silence. "I like to draw, rock climb, mine and battle along side Lariat." All of her words ran together and she kept a straight face, occasionally glancing back to Azreal from watching her Aggron and his Mantyke play in the water.

    Lariat shook his head at his master and turned back to the Mantyke. "Sure, we can play hide and seek... I just can't dive very well in the water. I can just Growlithe paddle and duck my head in the water." With a joking tone, he imitated the paddling motion with his arms. This Pokemon was giving Lariat a good laugh, he was free and child-like, which was refreshing after dealing with mature and defensive Pokemon.

    Ylva grumbled to herself some and lost something to stay distracted in. Looking around then back at Azreal's nose, she hoped that she could get him talking, so she could be less awkward. "What... about you? What do you do?" Scratching the back of her head, she played with her hood some, flipping it with her hand and using her other one to readjust her sunglasses on her head.

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Word Count: 228
Notes: Challenge accepted

[Azreal Sinbad]

When he wanted to talk to her, he wasn't expecting a shocked look from her. But her found himself unable to judge her, as he did with most people. If he judged others, it would lead to many misconceptions and misunderstanding. That usually never helped one or the other, in more ways than one. So, he asked a simply question: What did she do in her free time? And the answers he got were interesting, to say the least. Drawing, Rock-Climbing, Mining, and of course, Battling along-side Lariat. It seemed like she would look at him, then their Pokemon. He took it into notice, but he didn't say anything about it. "Well, I understand liking battling along-side your Pokemon and Rock-climbing: I enjoy those as well. But Mining and Drawing are things I've never explored, really." He smiles, looking at her. She was interesting, that was for sure.

Fins had a sparkle in his eyes when the giant Aggron agreed to play with him. He flailed around in the water happily. Lariat said that he wasn't good at swimming, though, and that he could only Growlithe paddle. Fins laughed at the Lariat by show of clapping with his fins and using bubbles. "How about we hide on land? I don't mind being out of water, as long as I meet new people! And I can roll anywhere!" The baby Pokemon rolled along the shore. "I'm gonna close my eyes, and you hide first! Okay?" The baby Pokemon looked up at the other, blowing bubbles.

Azreal noticed Ylva grumble, then look at Azreal's nose. She asked him what he liked to do. "Well...I love swimming. I plan to be a professional swimmer, alongside Fins and Bane. But I'm pretty crafty when it comes to making things. I was in an orphanage before I came here, so I'm good at making necklaces and charms; things like that."

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Word Count: 316
Tags: Ylva, Bane, Fins, Lariat, Azreal
Notes: A game of hide and seek

[Ylva Mandara]

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    Ylva gave a weird sort of smile and coughed suddenly. "Mining is the bomb.... no pun intended... and drawing is just something I do before I go to bed.." Scratching her arm some, she turned to Azreal and snickered some under her breath. "You love swimming? I couldn't tell..." She was jokingly sarcastic but froze when she ran his words through her head again. "There's a such thing as professional swimming?! Why isn't there a professional mining thing? .... I should make it..... that would be awesome.... but dangerous.. oh.. but that's only half the fun..." Her eyes wandered to the sand at her feet as she began rambling off, her voice only becoming incoherent murmurs of what she was thinking.

    Lariat bounded off on all four legs when the Mantyke began to count, jumping behind some rocks, he curled up and waited in silence, for the little Pokemon to find him. He heard his master and the other human conversing among each other and also heard the tiny Pokemon counting. In silence, he stayed where he was.

    Ylva grumbled at her Aggron running so close to Azreal. He was heavy and anyone not used to a steel type could have been easily nailed by his heavy tail and severely wounded by it. "Orphanage? What's an orphanage? And making necklaces is too hard." She wasn't sure what an orphanage was. Ylva and her twin brother, Bradley, grew up in a small mining town, located far away from civilization and planted deep in the mountain ranges. So a lot of things that belonged in common day society were not even heard of where she came from.

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Word Count: 276

[Azreal Sinbad]

There was an usual smile on her face, and she made a pun, in which he let out a small chuckle. She told him that she drew before she went to bed. He could have asked if he could see some of her drawings, but it felt like neither the time nor place to ask a question that might be personal to her. He chuckled again when she did her little sarcastic comment. He pretended to ask surprised. "No! Really?" He laughed a bit, when she seemed surprised that there was professional swimming. "Yep! I don't know about mining, but you could start a mining club, or something if you're that passionate about it." He smiles a bit, wondering how she would take the idea of creating a mining club. She seemed to be in her own world, but she seemed like good company, even if Bane didn't like her so much. Bane poked Azreal, and it seemed that Bane had calmed down a bit now. Bane had stood up, and Azreal gave him a scratch on the head when Bane went towards him. "Do you like water type Pokemon?"

Fins had used his fins to cover up his eyes, so he couldn't see where his friend would hide. He heard his friend move, but he didn't know where his friend was going. "7...8...9...10! Ready or Not, here I come!" Fins moved the fins from his eyes and looked around. He began to roll anywhere he could, occasionally getting stuck on his back. Fins moved towards a tree, but didn't see his friend. He rolled towards some shrubs, but didn't find his friend. He kept rolling around until he found some rocks. He rolled behind the rock, seeing his friend. "I found yo--oomph!" Fins rolled on his back and was stuck again. "Where'd you go?" His eyes were now faced the opposite way as he flailed and tried to get back up.

Azreal was watching the two Pokemon, smiling a bit. Fins was always full of energy everyday: it was probably nice to hang out with other Pokemon. "An orphanage is where all the kids who either don't have parents, were given up by their parents, or have no other caretakers to care for them. It's filled with homeless children, pretty much. And I could teach you to make necklaces, but I think I would prefer to go rock-climbing with you."

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Word Count: 408
Tags: Bane, Fins, Azreal, Lariat, Ylva
Notes: Oh, Fins XD