Dreams of Sand [Lenny/Cain/Jesen]

"God-DAMMIT, Lenny!" Cain plonked himself upon a convenient nearby fallen log, running hands through paled hair and sighing. Total waddled up to him, panting a touch, pushing aside the motionless, fainted bodies of dozens of Caterpie, still looking as dumbfounded and oblivious as he had ten minutes ago. Or an hour ago. Or yesterday, when Cain and Lenny had met at the train station.

The pair of them had gotten the train to Garnet City, but by the time it had arrived, courtesy of delays, it was already darkening, and Chiten Forest was a hell of a walk away. So, Cain grudgingly agreed to Lenny's logic, and the pair of them found a hotel, and spent the night within the city's limits, splitting off and exploring. Surprisingly enough, rather differently to the attitude towards battling that Citrine Town had, Garnet City's residents appeared to be far too busy to warrant even a momentary clash - and the few trainers Cain had seen were in possession of bulky and obviously-powerful Pokemon, most of them hardened veterans. In the young man's eyes, at least.

"There's nothing here, just..." Gesturing haphazardly with despair off to his right, then his left, then in front of him, then behind him, each time to a veritable pile of fallen Caterpie which were just now only recovering. "Bug Pokemon that Total and Jared can sweep through," Another sigh, as he drew the Totodile back into the first Pokeball at his belt, and slipped him back alongside Jared lethargically, diving into his satchel to draw out a can of energy drink. They said that due to the caffeine content, it was advised that only large Pokemon drank these before league matches, but considering Cain's caffeine addiction, they suited him just fine.

"Hell," Cain cracked the can open with a fizz, sipping the froth from the makeshift basin at the top and sighing. "Even... Bonnie and Clyde," The boxer took some time remembering the duo's name, off-handedly gesturing towards Lenny's Pokemon. "Can take these little bastards no problem..." The trainer sipped at the drink enthusiastically, shrugging, as if the taste was of no concern to him. He was used to the taste of protein shakes and caffeine drinks after being around this long... it came with being a sportsman.

Cain took a long slug of the drink, setting it back down, pulling in all the air into his lungs that he could, before finally thrusting his fists out to either side, knocking his head back, and screaming rhetorically into the few inches of sky this miniature copse allowed them. "WHY IS NO-ONE STRONG ENOUGH!?" The irony laid in one Jesen Titim, too lurking amidst the same forests looking for a worthwhile challenge upon which to train up his Pokemon...

"Cyyyyynda... QUIL!"

Clyde let loose a huge fiery jet from his mouth, a blazing red tunnel of flame bursting into the nearest tree. His head had to be held steady by Bonnie, making sure that he actually knocked down all the Caterpies and Weedles that dropped one by one, scattering across the floor. Finally, the jet came to a halt as Lenny peeked his head up from his own handiwork of making a elaborate and, admittedly, quite flimsy snare trap, built more for quantity of catch than quality of trap.

"God-DAMMIT, Lenny!" Cain shouted in frustration. "There's nothing here, just... bug Pokemon that Total and Jared can sweep through."

"Well, Chiten Forest is bug heaven." He explained, feeding leaves into the trap to disguise it, before laying it down by the end of a tree and backing away a little. "We might find a few grass pokemon, though; it'd be cool if I caught a Bulbasaur, or a Roserade, or even a..."

SNAP!

Lenny looked back to the snare, and sighed.

"... another Caterpie." He moaned dejectedly. Bonnie cut the Pokemon down, before bone-clubbing it into submission. "Well, it's good practise, at least. Dunno what Blake has though, he's only ever had a televised fight once or twice and those were years ago. I remember he uses normal types, so your Jared should do alright, but I don't know which ones." He sat down next to Cain, looking in his own backpack.

"Huh. I don't remember making sandwiches." He said, not noticing a very loud, unappreciative huff from the bone weilding pokemon who actually DID make the sandwiches. He took a large bite from one, offering another to Cain. "Well, a good fight will come up at some point, Cain. There's got to be something good around here."

A teenage boy, red hair fluffing out into his face from the eerie winds of the forest, looked down at his compass before pocketing it and giving a sigh. It was no use. He'd gotten himself lost in here, and at this point all he wanted was something to eat. Sure, he had a few berries in his pack, but those were for his Pokemon. Another sigh, and he dropped to the ground, leaning his back against one of the thousands of trees.

Jesen Titim had arrived in this forest just a few days after embarking on his journey. He had come here to train his Pokemon, hoping not to see many other trainers around, and luckily he hadn't seen anyone yet. Well, now it wasn't so lucky, being lost and all, but things would surely get better soon! Hopefully.

"Ugh... A-alright, guys, c'mon out." As he said this, streams of light erupted from the pokeballs on his belt. Smugleaf and Uda yawned as they were released, before getting a good grasp of their surroundings. The Buizel looked up at her master, concerned, and eventually the snake-like Snivy followed suit.

"Yeah, doesn't look too good, I know." Jesen said, rubbing the back of his head and looking down nervously. "I haven't even seen a river to try and fish for food in, this sucks."

Suddenly a rustling noise came from overhead, causing the boy to quickly look up. At first nothing could be seen, but slowly a Nincada arose from its nest. This forest was full of bugs, but Jesen was used to seeing them now. Slowly but surely the Pokemon hopped down from the tree, and shook its legs out to stretch.

"W-wait! Yeah, we can do this!" Jesen shouted, quickly pulling himself up and leaping away from the wild bug. Grabbing for one of the Pokeballs on his belt, Jesen quickly called Smugleaf back and looked to the orange otter. "Alright, Uda! Hit it with your Aqua Tail before it can get away!"

"Bui, bui!"She cried, leaping at her target before doing a partial flip mid-air. Her tail began to glow a light blue just as she managed to slap the bug with it.

"A-alright!" Jesen exclaimed shakily, but then his look of confidence left him as the Nincada came back for more. The bug began to slash at Uda with its claws, dealing a bit of damage in the process, but nothing too serious. "Uda! Sonicboom!"

"Well, a good fight will come up at some point, Cain. There's got to be something good around here." Cain shrugged, and sighed once more, finishing up the can of energy drink and tossing it aside carelessly. Initially, he had been of the same mindset as his would-be comrade, but, with each moment, his faith in the forest as a training ground was dwindling even more. The can landed upon the dirt with a soft clattering sound, and Cain pulled Jared's Pokeball from his belt. Total had wiped the floor with enough Bug Pokemon today.

"I guess so," The boxer mumbled, tapping the button on the front of the Pokeball, the Larvitar appearing with a less-than-spectacular flash of light. As would be expected of Jared, the moment the luminescence cleared, he was standing there, eyes closed, with that perfect ready-battle stance of his already set upon his frame, as if he were expecting a fight every single time he came out of the ball. The usually-emotionless Pokemon could even be seen to wear a slight expression of disappointment when he realised he wasn't fighting yet. "But... still, it'd pay to find something a little more... powerful,"

Jared walked slowly over towards the crumpled can, and picked it up, cradling it in its miniature hands before stalking silently back over towards Cain's bag and slipping it back in, before dusting off his fingers with a defiant smile. The Larvitar was eager to ensure that Chiten Forest remained all-natural, it seemed, before sitting itself down alongside its trainer on the log-


A noise ruffled the trees and sent flock upon flock of Pidgey and Starly fluttering into the bluest of skies, squawking noisily. Cain and Jared immediately threw themselves upwards, a look of surprise cracking the bored expression on the boxer's face, and one of stubborn readiness hitting the Pokemon's as he growled. "LAR!" Came the exclamation, and as the sonic boom faded in their eardrums, blissfully unaware of the source, Cain looked to Lenny and held his hands out at his sides with vigour lighting up his tanned pallor.

"What's the bet that was a Pokemon attack?" Cain's logic was this: a lot of noise usually meant something rare, powerful, or distressed. In the first two cases, it was paydirt for a Trainer either way; in the third, it was call for them to come running just as much. Of course, every single time, Cain hoped it was a rival Trainer or some uncommon wild Pokemon that had come crawling out of the woodwork... and it seemed today, he was in luck. "C'mon, Lenny," The Larvitar gestured off to the thick brush to the left of the copse, a windy path leading off into the distance through the undergrowth. Cain grabbed his bag, and slung it over his shoulder. "Let's find out what made that noise,"

With that, the Trainer and the Larvitar immediately bolted into the forests, heading straight for the source of the commotion. And it wouldn't be long before they found it, either.


It was a red-haired boy; with Lenny somewhere eating his dust, Cain happened upon the little makeshift arena where a fainted Nincada and a panting Buizel stood, the aftermath of a battle, it seemed. On the sidelines stood a Snivy, smugly looking into the air, pointing its nose towards the sky. A grin and something explosive flashed on Cain's face, and he shrugged off his bag, dropping it onto the ground with a soft thud. "You're a trainer, too, eh, kid?" He couldn't have been more than eighteen, and looked far younger than that, either way. Apparently a greenhorn, too, not quite so different from them. Cain glanced at the Nincada. "Huh... haven't seen any of them yet, today," The boxer commented idly, before looking back up to what would hopefully be his new acquaintance.

"I guess so. But... still, it'd pay to find something a little more... powerful," Cain replied while Lenny took another bite from his sandwich. Bonnie and Clyde carried on as they were, for the most part, attacking any pokemon that moved and knocking them out pretty much immediately. Lenny observed them with a smile on their face; he was glad that Bonnie was helping Clyde with his aiming. Partially because Clyde did need the help, his eyes firmly together, but it was the fact that Bonnie was helping that made Lenny smile a little; she was not trying to hold herself above her master and fellow pokemon for once. Just getting on with helping.


The noise tore through the air like a bandsaw, all manner of bird pokemon rushing to the air in a panic and the grass rustling as smaller pokemon crawled through to avoid the source. Clyde pulled his head forward, the flares on his back shooting up in panic. Bonnie slipped her two legs apart, readying a battle stance with her deadly club raised. Lenny stood up as Cain did.

"Let's find out what made that noise," Cain said, before him and Jared disappeared into the undergrowth. Lenny nodded, before looking to Bonnie.

"I'll get Clyde, you go with Cain and Jared." He said, running over to the shaking fire mouse as the Cubone ran into the thick grass with a roll of her eyes. Lenny scooped Clyde up carefully. "Don't worry, Clyde, it's nothing near us. Just hang on to me and we'll get there quickly." The Cyndaquil complied, its paws coiled into his shirt. Lenny ran after Cain, Jared and Bonnie.


Bonnie was quick in her movement, having come from the Malachite Forest herself. She wasn't surprised, then, that despite being slower than both Cain and Jared she was able to keep pace, the terrain more familiar to herself than them. She pulled to a stop as they got to the clearing, seeing a young boy with hair as red as the flames on Clyde's back. Speaking of which, Lenny slid right behind her, Clyde hanging onto his arm. Lenny looked from Cain to the boy; if he was older than Lenny, he didn't look it. Cain spoke to him.

"You're a trainer, too, eh, kid?" He asked, before glancing to an unconscious Nincada at the feet of a panting Buizel. "Huh... haven't seen any of them yet, today."

"They prefer to stick to being further into the center of the forest, Cain." Lenny explained as he approached the two. "We're quite far out, and Nincada don't like the sun." He then looked to the red haired boy and extended an arm. "Lenny O'Hara."