Down by the bay

[Jack Springs]

Jack was kind of gutted. It was the day after the big dragon battle and he'd gone back up to the Lab for an interview with Professor Verity just to find it empty. Maybe she'd forgotten that they were meeting, or had urgent business to attend to. Either way, Jack was left without a story to write.

After a phone call with the Silverfern Sentinel he felt a weight lifted. They didn't need the article straight away, and could wait till she returned. In the mean time he could do as he pleased. That's how he ended up at the bay, sitting with Chase, his Poliwhirl, on a low wall that looked across the ocean.

Maybe a little story would walk his way?

[Soren Forberg]

((Seems like a good oppourtunity to introduce Soren :3 ))

Soren Forberg was not a particulary happy man.

The Master of the Speed stat sighed as he walked along the road that overlooked the sea, a low stone wall seperating him form the beach. Yes, being a Roaming Gym Leader did have its advantages - he did have more leisure time than most leaders from other regions, but it also meant a great deal of boredom when no real challengers could track him down. He fished the pocketwatch from out of the pocket of his frock coat and frowned. He paused for a moment and glanced out at the ocean, the wind toying with a few stray locks of his silver hair. At least he had Sarra's visit to look forward to at the end of the month.

He looked up the road and was surprised to see a young man sitting on the low wall, pensively staring out at the sea with a Poliwhirl by his side. 'Now, now what have we here...?'

The gentleman gym leader, as he was so often referred to continued his walk down the road at a leisurely pace. If the young man proved to be a weakling, or someone not looking for a fright he'd move on - that's what he did after all, and there was a little cafe in Silverfern he was anxious to visit again, it was so hard to find a decent cup of tea whilst on the road.

[Jack Springs]

Hopefully a story would walk his way. And as if by magic-

Jack could barely believe it. The man was unmistakable. Jack had seen his picture plastered all over Kansai, along with four other faces in a bid to push the new tournaments. The guy just striding down the street was none other than a Roaming bloody Leader. Soren Forberg to be specific. Kansai was a fantastic place.

"Hey!" Jack yelled, instantly regretting his tone. He sounded like a rabid fan boy. "Mr Forberg, sir! Could you spare a moment of your time?"

[Soren Forberg]

Soren was more than a little surprised when the young man sitting on the seaside wall leapt down with an excited hello.

"Mr. Forberg, Sir! Could you spare a moment of your time?"

Well - that was unexpected. The normal reaction was either a hushed hello before said timid trainer fled (it was always so amusing when it was a blushing young lady) or a brazen greeting followed by a cocky challenge - not a, well he wasn't quite sure what to make of it really. He stopped and turned, arching a slender silver eyebrow in surprise. The gym leader's hand hovered over the first buttons of his frock coat, ready for a battle at any moment. "Beg pardon? Are you looking for a battle or no? State your business boy."

He felt the slighest twinge of guilt for his brusque reply, but made no motion to apologize. He was far too prideful - something his daughter constantly chided him on.

[Jack Springs]

Jack didn't even attempt to with hold his smile. Mr Forberg was incredible. Even the way he stood had power, as though he owned the very ground that Jack was standing on.

"Are you looking for a battle or no? State your business boy."

The no-nonsense retort threw Jack slightly, but surely a man of this caliber was incredibly busy.

"Yes, I'm not! Wait, I mean no, no, I'm not." He stuttered out. That sounded ridiculous. What was he thinking? Jack took a moment to rebuild his brain-mouth filter before speaking properly. "I'm Jack Springs, a reporter for the Silverfern Sentinel. I was wondering if maybe I could ask you a few questions to help raise awareness of the Kansai Challenge, and then, if you're not too busy, I might try for your badge?"

[Soren Forberg]

Soren's eyebrows shot up in a very uncharacteristic expression of surprise. A reporter - and a challenger?

Oh this might be fun.

"From the Silverfern Setinel are you?" Soren mused quietly. He pulled out his pocketwatch again and this time flipped open the catch. He took note of the time and spared the picture he'd slipped into the cover a glance before shutting it with a crisp snap. "And a trainer - I suppose I can make time for you."

With that the gym leader pocketed his time piece and deftly unbuttoned his frock coat exposing the fine brocade waistcoat beneath - and the six pokeballs hanging on a fine silver chain. He methodically adjusted his cravat and selected one, pressing the centre button and enlarging it. "Alright Master Springs you shall have your interview - but first, let me take your measure."

He tossed the pokeball skyward and an elegant Absol appeared in a brilliant flash of white light. While Absols were generally known for Attack rather than Speed Soren had carefully trained his to compensate for that, the element of surprise was always so...amusing. Soren smiled and bowed his head politely to Jack, waiting for the younger man's response.

[Jack Springs]

Take his measure? Jack had absolutely no idea what Mr Forberg was talking about, but he hadn't sent Jack packing, so that was a start. A Pokeball arced through the air and a surge of energy released the first Absol that Jack had ever seen. It was damn cool.

"So what, is this like a general battle or a race or what?" Jack asked tentatively. Mr Forberg would destroy him in a battle, but in a race or a swim Jack might just clinch it. He glanced back to his Poliwhirl that stood behind him and smiled. "Come on Chase, do you reckon you could take it?"

[Soren Forberg]

((Hope this is alright!))

Again Soren arched a silver brow at this young man. "Generally speaking if one wants to win my badge it constitutes a battle - but a race...that's an interesting idea."

As the Kensai master of Speed the very mention of a race had Soren very intrigued indeed. He eyed Jack carefully and smiled. There was something about this young man he quite liked. Soren stroked his jaw thoughtfully. If he wanted a race then it was a safe bet that the journalist wasn't fond of battling, or at the very least he wasn't prepared for one.

The gym leader knealt down and stroked his Absol's head, the white and black disaster pokemon cooing happily at his touch. "What do you think my beauty - should we go along with it?"

Absol bared her teeth in what she considered a smile and bobbe d her head, black horn gleaming in the sunlight. Soren chuckled and drew back up to his full height. "Alright then Master Springs, a race it is - beat me and you'll get the Fleet Badge and an interveiw for your efforts but, let's make it interesting. Absol will run on land, your Poliwhirl can swim in the sea running alongside the road. There's an old road-marker a little over half a kilometer down from here where the beach and the road meet, first one there wins...and of course you may use 'delaying' tactics if you wish, we have to have some sort of battling on the go."

Soren winked at Jacks and Absol purred as she stretched her limbs. The gym leader plucked two pokeballs from the silver chain on his waistcoat and with twin flashes of light a haughty looking Fearow and a large, growling Aerodactyl stood flanking Soren. "Just so we can keep an eye on things - you may ride my Fearow if you do not have any flying pokemon of your own. So Jack Springs, what say you?"

[Jack Springs]

"So Jack Springs, what say you?"

Oh, he is SO on. Jack had to stop himself from running to the Fearow, he had to show composure. In a straight land sprint Jack would surely lose to this Absol. It looked like it could really move. But if Chase was allowed to swim? Chase was bloody quick in water, and Jack had some tricks up his sleeve that could give him an advantage.

"It sounds like an excellent idea! Where's the start line?" Jack asked, striding forwards and gripping onto the back feathers of the Fearow. They were surprisingly easy to cling to, and any fears Jack had of hurting the huge bird disappeared as it helped Jack up by crouching lower. It had been a long time since Jack had flown on a Pokemon, and it was the first time he'd done it alone.

Let's get this show on the road.

[Seth Galloway]

(just had to pipe in that this is such a fun RP to read so far! )

[Soren Forberg]

Soren's lips twitched in a small smile as Jack climbed onto Fearow's back with a confident grin. The gym leader elegently swung onto Aerodactyl's back, the purple dragon flapping his wings excitedly. Absol quietly took her place in the middle of the road, flexing her claws. "Here should be just fine for the start. Come on let's get in the air and then we can start."

With that Aerodactyl pushed off the ground, flapping his powerful wings until they were a good fifty feet up. Soren waited patiently for Jack to join him. Once the journalist was in the air he'd give the signal and the race would start. Soren grinned. This challenge was the first he'd looked forward to in a long time and he couldn't help but think that this boy might actually be able to give him a run for his money.

[Jack Springs]

As the Fearow's huge wings powered against the floor Jack watched as the world below shrunk underneath him. He was not a fan of flying, that was for sure. It was certain that the Fearow wouldn't let him fall, but Jack was terrified by the idea that his very life was in the hands of something that, well, didn't have hands. Mr Forberg had a point though. From up here you could see the whole course. The sign that marked the finishing line was barely a pinprick against the road, but it was there. It was pretty far. Hopefully Chase could fight fatigue.

The Fearow continued to gain height until it was level with the Leader. Jack expected a jerk as it stopped gaining altitude, but the bird managed to level out smoothly and began circling gently.

Jack glanced down at Chase, who had taken his position next to the Absol. He eyed the creature carefully. "Chase, you ready?" he called down, and a confident "Whirl." was his reply. With that he turned to Mr Forberg, who looked infinitely more comfortable flying than Jack was. "Ok, Sir, count them in."

[Soren Forberg]

Soren smiled when Fearow and his rider finally joined him at the same altitude. He sat upright and called down to Absol who responded with a fierce bark. He looked over at Jack and winked.

"On my mark, 3 - 2 - 1 - GO!"

Aerodactyl roared to signal the start and the two pokemon below took off at blinding speed. Absol stretched her body to the limit with every lunge of her lithe body, moving with blinding speed over the dirt road. The two flying pokemon above took off in hot pursuit, keeping right up with the racers below. Soren watched the pokemon and the young man flying next to him carefully. He was ready to bark out commands at the drop of a hat but for now he'd let his girl run.

[Jack Springs]

"On my mark, 3 - 2 - 1 - GO!"

The sudden roar from the Aerodactyl made Jack jump. From above he could see that the Absol was leaving Chase in her dust. That was not why he was called Chase. There was nothing for it, Jack needed to mix it up.

He poked his head out over the huge brown wing and called down, hoping that the Pokemon could hear over the roaring wind. "Chase, use Hypnosis!" At first it seemed like nothing happened. Then he saw it.

The spiral on Chase's chest had begun to spin, and from a few meters behind Absol he shot a beam towards her. If he could put her to sleep and then get into the water then he could take some serious ground.

Jack gritted his teeth as the beam closed in. Please hit. Please.

[Soren Forberg]

((Hey remember if I do somethin' you don't agree with just tell me and I'll edit ))

Soren casually leaned against the boney hump on Aerodactyl's back, watching the scene below like a hawk. Absol seemed to have gained a headstart on Chase - Jack's Poliwhirl, but the water-type was quick to respond with a Hypnosis attack.

"Absol behind you!" he barked. Absol twisted and leapt gracefully in the air, avoiding the majority of the rippling attack - but not completely.

The black and white dark-type staggered, stopping dead in her tracks as she stumbled around trying to shake off the sudden drowsiness. Soren swore, that would cost them time as Jack's pokemon finally made it to the water. Absol finally shook off her sleepiness with a piercing cry of dismay when she realized she no longer had the jump on her opponent - quite the contrary she was being left in the dust. Digging in her ebony claws she shot forward, desperately trying to make up lost time and take the lead again. She wrinkled her snout in a snarl as she jumped onto the low stone wall and fixed her opponent with a steely glare. "That's my girl! Give him something in return - use Razor Wind!"

Absol's horn glowed as she sent a powerful scythe-like projection of energy whipping towards Poliwhirl at a blinding speed, conjuring a small vortex of dust and brine as it streaked towards the bulky water-type.