[attr="class","header"]Wha- WHAT??

[attr="class","setting"]

Masha watched the lampent from afar until it lost interest and disappeared in the shadows beyond the tree. She leaned forward, one elbow on her knee and her head in her hand as she stared out at the field. Tabitha was still sound asleep, oblivious to everything that was going on in her trainers head.
[break][break]
It happened slowly, but also suddenly. Was that possible? For the two things to coexist in the same moment? A second passed, and then there was a soft sort of sound. Masha stared at the ground, refusing to look up, thinking it was just the breeze moving through the branches or shifting the grass beneath her feet. But then...
[break][break]
You look so sad.
[break][break]
It wasn't her own thought, but the words most definitely had sounded within her mind. Masha perked up, lifting her head. She almost screamed as she came face to face with a gardevoir. The large, pink tinged eyes stared into her own and Masha automatically shifted back, startled by the pokemon's sudden appearance. She parted her lips, willing herself to stammer out a response. Was it just her imagination, or did the gardevoir tilt its head?
[break][break]
"TABITHA!"
[break][break]
Masha shouted out into the night and her eevee woke up immediately, jolting upright and almost falling off the edge of the short cliff. The eevee looked briefly confused, but then noticed the gardevoir which had taken several steps back from her trainer in the aftermath of her yelling.
[break][break]
"TABITHA! USE QUICK ATTACK!"
[break][break]
Tabitha bolted forward immediately, following her trainers orders and barreling into the gardevoir with incredible speed. The grass and psychic type pokemon stumbled back, but seemed relatively unharmed. Masha was breathing heavily now as she stood up and jumped down from the cliff with shocking agility. "Tabitha! Again!"
[break][break]
With a second strike, Masha was reaching into her pack for an empty pokeball. She threw it at the gardevoir as quickly as she could. A flash of light, and the pokemon disappeared, the ball falling into the grass. Masha could hear it twitching back and forth, slight sounds coming from the object as the gardevoir fought to break free.

[attr="class","oocnotes"] + none

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","header"]Wha- WHAT??

[attr="class","setting"]

Masha sat at the front of the classroom, waiting with all the other students for the ghost type trainer to arrive. They would be receiving a lesson from a guest instructor that day, none other than the Elise Calcifet. One of the most infamous ghost pokemon trainers in Hoenn and Masha's idol. Of course she had other people she looked up to as well. But this was different. As an aspiring ghost type trainer herself, she couldn't help but be almost vibrating in her seat as she awaited the arrival of the woman herself. This was going to be something she would remember for the rest of her life. If she was lucky, maybe she would even get to talk to Elise. She had already planned it out. She would wait for the lecture to end and go up to her, stark and courageous, she would ask a unique and intelligent question to get her attention. 
[break][break]
It was a fantasy, yes. But it was important to Masha, so she didn't try to be too realistic about it. She let her imagination run wild with abandon, knowing that the scene in her head would never come to pass. She was realistic enough to understand that the odds of her being able to talk to Elise were slim to none.
[break][break]
The door to the classroom opened and every body leaned forward in anticipation. None more so that Masha, however. She was practically falling out of her seat and crawling over the table as one of the most beautiful women she'd ever seen entered the room. She had long, red hair and large eyes framed by thick, dark lashes. She was followed by her pokemon, each one a ghost type that Masha knew by appearance alone. Many things could be said about her, but she was a good student. She always studied harder than anyone else, especially when it came to ghost type pokemon.
[break][break]
The woman introduced herself and told them why she was there. Masha's eyes were wide as she listened, hanging on Elise's every word. She wasn't just interested or entertained. She was enthralled.

[attr="class","oocnotes"] + Elise Calcifet

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","header"]Wha- WHAT??

[attr="class","setting"]

Masha couldn't help but watch as Josh stroked the flank of his zangoose. He showed such kindness and patience for someone so young. But she knew he was experienced. People talked about him like he was one of the best trainers out there. Seeing him in person, Masha both could, and couldn't, believe it. She could because he was older and taller than herself. That, and he exuded a sense of extraverted confidence she herself lacked. But she couldn't because...well, wasn't a trainer who was talked about like that supposed to be...she couldn't be sure what she was thinking. All she knew was that just being near him made her feel a bit better about something she couldn't describe properly.
[break][break]
The man turned to her and she felt her cheeks grow red with embarrassment. She nodded. "R-right..." She swallowed. "Josh...then...I uh..." She was struggling to come up with words, looking up at him with her hands clasped in front of her. Her pokemon were all in their pokeballs in her bag except for Tabitha who remained on her shoulder, looking between her trainer and the gym leader curiously.
[break][break]
"I need...well..." She clenched her eyes shut, her hair standing on end all of a sudden and her fingers tightening into fists. "I need your guidance!"
[break][break]
She bowed, as if that might erase the fact she had just shouted at him.

[attr="class","oocnotes"] + Josh Devlin

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","header"]Wha- WHAT??

[attr="class","setting"]

Masha couldn't help but smile at Josh when he greeted her. She was glad he was so nice. If he'd been mean, that would have made things more difficult for her. This was one of her first battles and she wasn't sure she was confident enough to hold her own against someone who was mean spirited. Of course, that wasn't to say Josh wasn't experienced enough to make her a bit nervous.
[break][break]
Masha eyed Josh's Pyroar, a pokemon that was over six feet tall with a glowing fiery mane and an incredibly muscular build. Once Masha had taken her position and so had the gym leader, those marked positions suddenly rose up from the ground to a height of about ten feet. Masha had been expecting it, having watched a few battles in this same arena in preparation for her challenge, but she still couldn't help but emit a squeak and drop to her knees so she could be sure she wouldn't fall. Once the platforms stopped moving, she rose to standing and summoned Matty.
[break][break]
Josh went through the motions, telling her how things would go and explaining the process. She was grateful for that. She had known what to expect coming in, but it was easy to forget in the stress of the moment. She nodded to him, her lips and eyebrows pulling into a more serious expression. She watched as Josh responded to the cheers of the crowd, pointing out at the middle of the arena. The Pyroar responded immediately, as if she'd been waiting for the signal. The sight of it moving around, the flames on its body arcing and sizzling in the open air, brought Masha some sense of unease. She looked down at Matty, her banette, who was even then cocking her head at the pyroar curiously.
[break][break]
Masha wasn't very good at thinking of things in the moment, but she had a studious nature. She knew that Pyroar was a normal type pokemon. Her Banette only had one move that wasn't ghost type, and that was will-o-wisp, a move that was fire type in nature and would have very little effect on her opponents Pyroar.
[break][break]
"Matty! Use screech!"

[attr="class","oocnotes"] + Josh Devlin

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","header"]Wha- WHAT??

[attr="class","setting"]

Masha had met the gym leader of Mauville city before. That helped some with her nerves as she took her position on one end of the giant, sprawling field of grass that would serve as their battle arena. She was nervous. Maybe more than she'd ever been in her life. But she also knew that this was an important step in learning, in becoming what she'd always dreamed of. She wanted more than anything to be a good pokemon trainer. But more than that, she wanted to grow as a person, to become someone worthy of that title. 
[break][break]
Masha swallowed thickly. She'd chosen her Banette, Matty, to battle with. She was by far her most powerful and most experienced pokemon. But that said...Matty also didn't seem to like Masha all that much. She still wasn't sure why. The banette didn't communicate with her all that often, and though she'd asked what was wrong, she'd never received an answer. But still, Masha knew Matty was her best chance at winning this battle. 
[break][break]
Not that she expected to win. No, she wasn't doing this for that reason. She was doing this because it was important that she have her first battle, win or lose, this was an experience she needed.
[break][break]
Masha took her pokeball out from her bag, setting the pack down on the ground by her feet. She frowned nervously, but then threw the pokeball in the air with a practiced twirl. There was a flash of light and Matty appeared on the grass several yards forward. 

[attr="class","oocnotes"] + Josh Devlin

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","header"]Wha- WHAT??

[attr="class","setting"]

Masha stepped around the outskirts of the arena. It was a large grassy area, big enough for all the speed and agility that the gym leader there was known for. Masha had only heard stories, of course. She was hoping to spectate soon, but she was...nervous. Nervous enough that it had kept her from actually doing what she'd come to Mauville city for. 
[break][break]
With Matty safely in her pokeball and Tabitha riding on her shoulder, Masha crept slowly towards the gym leader who was busy doing something off to the side of the arena. His name was Josh Devlin. Masha, tragically, didn't know much more than that. Of course, moving closer, she realized too just how tall he was. Masha lingered a few yards behind him, biting her lip. She shifted from one foot to the other awkwardly, hoping he might notice her and she wouldn't have to get his attention.
[break][break]
After a few moments though, she realized that this hope was probably in vain. 
[break][break]
"Um...." She spoke softly, tilting her head down and letting her brown eyes dwell on the grass at his feet. "Mr. Devlin?"

[attr="class","oocnotes"] + Josh Devlin

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","header"]Wha- WHAT??

[attr="class","setting"]

It was late, just after sunset. But that was for the best, right? In Masha's limited experience, ghost types preferred the dark anyway. So really, it wasn't so bad that she was out in route 121 at night, right? And so long as her aunts never knew, it would be fine. It was amazing really that she was still afraid of them being angry with her when she'd left home several months before. She was on her own now, out in the world. There was no reason to feel scared.
[break][break]
But she was. She was scared of what came next, of where this adventure would take her. She was scared of failure too.
[break][break]
Masha sat on a short cliff overlooking a field. Matty sat near her, but not too close. She didn't like being too close to Masha most of the time for some reason. Tabitha was asleep next to her thigh, near the hem of her dress. Masha's pack sat in the grass on her other side, open and revealing a bundle of clothes, some bandaids, and a small clothbound journal that she often referred to her in her head as her trainer log.
[break][break]
She sighed. She'd been out for a while, but had yet to see much of anything. It was a quiet night it seemed. Even for pokemon.

[attr="class","oocnotes"] + none

[attr="class","pokeclass"]