The Alto Mare Super Contest

[Stinky]

OOC: I still need finished sign-ups from the following people: Draconic Espeon, lonewolf, and woopjohuunq. Keep in mind that I need your sign-ups complete before you can post!

The boat began to pull in to the majestic city. The green water was very soothing, and slowly moved around the city. On the boat were at least 20 coordinators, aiming to win. Hidden among them were assorted Cipher members, ready to take Pokemon.

High above the boat, the clouds broke for a second, the formed back in place. Latias flew above, unseen to the eyes. The captain of the boat, who was going to be participating, smiled. His assorted Cipher agents were going to pick him the best of the bunch of the Pokemon. They would be strong, and people would still continue to fear Cipher.

Joseph gazed out over the waters, with Suki on his shoulder. "Suka?" she asked him, pawing at his glasses. Jumping off his shoulders, she landed on the boat.

"Suki, please don't hit my glasses like that, they could fall off," Joseph said, reaching down to pet Suki. She let loose a small puff of smoke, than sat down and relaxed. Joseph wanted to win the contest, and bring home the beautiful cup. Shifting from one foot to another, he thought.

What would Cassie think of him if he lost? He loved her very much, and his bond with her was close. Cassie was his sister, 2 years older than him. Feeling in his pockets, he pulled out a small flip phone. Taking it out, he bent down and took a picture of Suki. Gazing up at the phone, she gave a little Stunky smile. Her cuteness was very appealing, and her skunk-like body was very adorable. Getting up, Joseph took pictures of Alto Mare, then sent them to his sister's camera-phone. Looking around at the other passengers, he smiled. It was going to be a great vacation.

Ringing a bell, the captain cried out. "Fifteen minutes 'til landing!" Everyone glanced up, than began to collect their things and put Pokemon into Pokeballs. Joseph looked at Suki, and got out her Pokeball.

"Time to get back in your Pokeball, Suki," he said. Suki looked at him, and giving a grunt of dismay, got into the Pokeball.

OOC: Keep in mind that your characters do not know about who their partners are yet, and will find out a little later.

[Fire Away]

They were making great time, all things considered. Missing the ferry in Cherrygrove had initially upset Addison quite a bit, but Milotic was a strong swimmer, and they had already come a pretty long way. The ferry in the distance was their guide, and it seemed to be slowing down.

“Look!” she said, stroking Milotic on her ear. “We must be getting close. Good job, Milly.” As Alto Mare became closer, a familiar feeling settled in her stomach, as it always did before a contest. It was equal parts excitement, nervousness and the burning ambition she felt to arrive and make a lasting mark with her impressive pokemon.

…Except Muk. Muk never even approached a contest. Not that he minded. As long as he was fed he was happy.

Pushing those thoughts aside, she began the ritualized pep talk she always had with Milotic. “We’re going to do great. You’ll see. Tell me another pokemon who could match your looks.”

“Milotic,” came the reply from the pokemon below her.

Considering this for a moment, Addison nodded. “I guess you’re right. Another Milotic could hurt our chances some. …But I bet none would be quite so finely groomed as you.”

This was the usual business for the two. Even if they didn’t always win contests, Addison insisted on telling both her pokemon and herself that they were shoo ins for the victory. Without confidence she wouldn’t have any shot at all.

Pulling her bag up from her side to her chest, she opened it up and spoke to the pokemon inside. “We’re going to have a great time you guys. Alto Mare supposedly really beautiful. We’ll ride a gondola, and we’ll eat the best food around.” She could practically hear Muk jumping with joy from his Pokeball. She grinned and slung her bag back around her side, giving Milotic another pat on the head.

“You’ll see, guys. This’ll be our best trip yet.”

[Realityxxx]

OOC: From now on, in Rp's where i can't remember my charry name, i'll do 'I'.
"This is amazing!" I said happily as the boat floated on the shining green water. It was on it's way to Altomare, and it was very close indeed. Many co-ordenators waited impatiently for the boat to arrive.

"(Sigh), How lovely this sunrise is..." I exclaimed. The sun was rising, and they had been on the ferry all night.

[Poring]

OOC: KittenGirl, you might want to think twice before doing that, because if you're used to third-person it might be hard to switch the first-person. They are significantly different from each other. You could just check your character's name on the SU thread anyway.

IC:
"Half an hour until we reach our destination!" the captain shouted. Isaac sighed. He always hated boats. The noisy passengers, the sound of the motor, getting to it on time, everything.

Isaac nearly missed the ferry at Olivine City, and it had been a pain getting there from Ecruteak. He preferred Maelstrom when travelling by water, but he wanted to give his Pokemon a rest before the contest. After all, Isaac had been training with them nonstop for the past few days.

Isaac saw Ninetales's Pokeball shake. He let her out of her Pokeball. "Ninetales..." she purred, anticipatedly. "We're almost there," Isaac told her, as he stroked her fur. Ninetales was always eager to participate in a contest, and couldn't wait to get to Alto Mare.

As the boat drew nearer, Isaac could see the whole city of Alto Mare. The many buildings and the beautiful canals were truly a wondrous site. His awe was soon interrupted by the captain's gruff voice. "At this point, please gather all of your things and put your Pokemon back in their Pokeballs." Reluctanty, Ninetales nodded and went back into her Pokeball.

The boat was about a half a mile away from Alto Mare now. All the coordinators were anxious to reach Alto Mare, and many of them were standing at the edge of the deck. Isaac, too, was a little anxious, but he was still calmly lying on the deck. "Here we are!" the captain shouted, "The city of Alto Mare!"

[Deathspector]

IC:

The wind blew across the vast ocean, bringing with it the scent of something great to come...

Josh let the wind caress his hair as he stood on the deck of the boat bound for Alto Mare. The young man was leaning against the bridge of the boat, looking out at the emerald shade of the water that they were sailing through. He knew he was about to take part in the biggest contest of his career, and the thought daunted him slightly. It wasn't that he didn't have confidence that his Pokémon wouldn't do well, and put in their all, but that there were so many great Co-ordinators also participating in this contest. Living in Johto, Josh had never been given quite the challenge that a competent contest goer should have. He had gone to one contest in Hoenn, and had come at a miserable 13th place. Second from last.

Josh took his eyes away from the vast expanse of water, and looked around at his fellow Co-ordinators. There were a good twenty odd coming from all around the world. Josh was proud just to have made it this far. If he didn't win, it would be fine, because he had been able to be among such great people, and such great Pokémon. He knew that his own Pokémon would be very interested in meeting other Pokémon; possibly more than he himself was interested in meeting other Co-ordinators. But Josh knew he'd have to at least get friendly with one of them, as this was a partner contest.

His thoughts began to stray over to the very fabric upon what the contest was built upon. How could two people together who had never met each other come up with an effective appeal? The battling wouldn't be too tough, because double-battling was pretty common around the world, and people wouldn't have that much trouble figuring out the strengths of their partner's Pokémon battle-wise, but how was a complete stranger supposed to know how far Scorcher could send his Flamethrower? But Josh suppose it was all a part of the challenge. Maybe one or two sleepless nights and the problem should be solved.

"Fifteen minutes 'til landing," the captain called out from behind Josh.

Josh sighed, and stood up straight. He might as well make his way up to the gangplank if they only had fifteen minutes. As he walked, people were recalling their Pokémon from all around them. Josh, personally was against releasing his Pokémon for company in public places. Mostly because the sight of Scorcher, Tectonic and Storm was enough to send the bravest man off to the toilet, but also because he thought that time spent with your Pokémon should be strictly private. Almost like the relationship between a boyfriend and girlfriend. You wouldn't make out in public, as it was morally wrong. But Josh didn't judge people because they didn't follow the same principles as he did, and instead he walked right up to the gangplank.

"Here we are!" the captain shouted, "The city of Alto Mare!"

The ship slowed to a halt, and the gentle up and down movements became less vigorous. Josh looked over the rails and noticed that the water had become steadily greener as they had been making their way over to Alto Mare, and was now almost opaque. he supposed that it was because this was a city with canals, and rubbish would inevitable fall into the water, no matter how strict laws were. Besides, law-breakers weren't christened so for no reason. As soon as the gangplank was lowered, Josh walked down the plank and onto a harbour of sorts. It was hardly a harbour, though, as it was merely a slab of rock surrounded by water.

"Oh well, here goes," sighed Josh as he took his first step into Alto Mare...

Deathspector

[Neo Emolga]

Kane Bishop
Alto Mare Contest Hall

Right now, no one knew we were from Cipher, everyone in technical was disguised to be security officers and technicians from Rodriguez Security Services. It was common for Alto Mare’s Recreation Department to employ this company’s services, but this year, we took the call for them…

…by tapping into the lines.

Most of the staff that was overlooking the event would be in a remote office location. Meanwhile, they needed visual down here. The technology we had was good, but we needed the plants to be done.

This was a matter of placing Cipher technology in places where no one would suspect. Here, I was changing from security officer to participant. It was the first time I was using four differs aliases, but I didn’t have a problem with it. Right now, I was doing the security officer role who only had the morning shift of preparing the contest hall for the contest later today. We needed to be quick with this, and not get caught.

The first batch of cameras were placed on the speakers, appearing to look like technical enhancements. If anyone saw them, they wouldn’t know what the heck they were used for. Not to mention the area where they would be was going to be squared off anyway.

Second target was to rig the security office in the contest hall. Rodriguez Services would be coming around eventually, and we didn’t want them interfering with our plan. The visual feed from the security cameras would be replaced with the feed that was coming in from Cipher, and it would make it look like the empty halls that Cipher had of replicas of the event were actually the empty halls of the contest hall. The third was to target the audio feed, which would have been recorded on a standard tape, but it was swapped for a Cipher created tape. Basically, they’d have a tape that would look and behave like a security tape, but instead, the recording would be sent to Cipher instead, and the tape would be completely useless if anyone attempted to listen to it again. Basically, they’d have nothing to prove that a theft took place at all.

To actually obtain the Pokémon, a security checking office was in place to make sure all participants had their Pokémon examined before and after the contests actually happened. Before, checking them would be nothing. All that we would be doing was making a query of the Pokémon we were going to get. It was after the event was over that everyone turning Pokémon in would be getting nothing but empty Pokéballs in return.

The excuse for checking them would be to make sure no illegal performance boosters were applied to Pokémon both before and after the contest. None of the people there would even think about it…

[Lord Fedora]

OOC: Hey Neo, since when are you a G-Mod?

IC: Amelia leaned against the railing on the deck. Starlight squirmed in her arms, try to get free so she could run and play, but Amelia held on to her.
"No little one. It's too dangerous up here on deck." But Starlight wouldn't give up, so Amelia had to recall her into the pokeball. Then she sighed. It was going to be a long Contest, and with the canals Starlight would need to be constantly watched. Finally the boat pulled into the dock, and Amelia hopped down onto land, trying to catch her balance once more after the rocking of the boat. She took a few steps into the city, and gasped. She had heard Alto Mare was beautiful, but this was beyond that.

[Realityxxx]

OOC: Since i joined, King Of Eevees.
'He he...' Giggled Laura. They were finally in Altomare, and the city was lovely.

Laura was holding her bag of clothes, and everyone was lead into a small hotel.

[Draconic_Espeon]

(@ Nate: Neo has been a G-Mod for as long as I can remember...)

Reeah was one of the few Cipher members aboard the ship. True, most of the others were first faking as security guards already at the contest hall, helping to set things up, but Reeah was the Commander. Such tasks were better left to her subordinates. Plus, technology and labor wasn't exactly her forte. And so, she'd taken the cruise, making sure that none of the other passengers suspected a thing.

She looked out over the side, mildly cross. Yes, disguises were necessary, but did hers have to be so dang girly? And to think, she'd have to actually be nice to someone... Just the thought almost made her shudder. Sitting not far from Reeah was Kit, the feline's bubblegum pink tail wrapped around her dainty paws. Kit was looking forward to this mission far more than her trainer. She would be Reeah's primary Contest Pokemon. Battling was all fine and good, but she'd been itching to try something new, to do something different. This was her chance. She could dazzle judges while Reeah stole Pokemon.

Reeah heard the announcement to return all Pokemon, but ignored it completely. Kit was well behaved and unlikely to wander off or fall into the waterways that snaked through Alto Mare. She'd often heard that the place was beautiful, but the site hardly phased her. A sucessful catch of Pokemon at the end of all this mess... Now that would be a pretty sight.

[Stinky]

OOC: Kittengirl, could you please lengthen your posts from now on?

BIC: As everyone got off the boat, a tour guide waved her hand. "Helllooo?" she shouted, jumping up and down. Successfully grabbing everyone's attention, she proceeded to speak "Thanks. I will now be guiding you to the hotel where you will be staying for the contest. Everyone, stay with the group, and don't wander off!" she said, then began to walk along a canal. Eventually reaching an old looking hotel, she opened the doors, and led everyone into a surprisingly modern lobby. Leading the group into a side door, the found themselves in a cafe.

"Welcome, welcome!" Vivian greeted from the front of the room. "Thank you all for coming out here! Now, I have some information about the contest. "The first round will be a contest appeal, being held in 3 days, enought tiem for you and your partner to get acquainted and come up with an appeal. After that will be a contest battle, later followed by another appeal. The dates are currently tentative for the contest battle and beyond, and will be revealed at the close of the first contest appeal,"

Sighing, she turned around. "Well, I guess you want to know who your partners are, right?" she said, stepping out of the way. "Well here they are!" she exclaimed, then ran out into the lobby, as the mass of people rushed to see the list. The list read as follows:

Linzee Maraqwee---Kane Bishop
Ty Sugimori---Addison Lutrell
Isaac Garamond---Amelia Reiken
Katsumi Monotori--- _______ (lonewolf)
Josiah Mandrake---Joseph Regulus
Laura 'Sky' Lucas---Jennifer "Reeah" McCallahan

Managing to read the list, Joseph ducked out of the crowd. Looking around, he found a chair and sat down. People looked around, as Vivian never said how they would know who their partner was. Getting an idea, Joseph stood up. "Hello, is Josiah in here?" he asked.

OOC: I have tweaked the partners a bit, as woop and lonewolf haven't responded to my PM yet.

[Fire Away]

A worried whine escaped Addison’s lips as she saw the ferry come to a halt. This was bad. No good. Nuh uh. They were still a good five minutes behind the boat, and Addison was sure she was missing something by remaining so far behind. “Milly, we need to pick this up,” she whispered worriedly. “I’ll hold on.”

Tightening the grip around her pokemon’s neck, Addison shut her eyes as Milotic picked up the pace considerably, wincing as water splashed onto her face. Great. Now she was getting soaked, moreso than she had already. If there was something she had learned in her limited contest experience, it was that first impressions meant quite a lot. Not only was she now tardy, she was going to show up looking as if she had just gone through a carwash.

When Milotic finally pulled to a halt, Addison opened her eyes and saw they were at the dock. Jumping onto the solid ground, her legs briefly wobbling dangerously from misuse. She regained her balance and quickly withdrew Milotic and tossed the poke ball into her bag, pulling out her shoes as she did so in one fell movement.

“Excuse me!” she shouted as she ran, hopping on each foot while she slipped on her flip flops. “Um, does anyone know where the Alto Mare Super Contest people are?” The small crowd of tourists from the ferry pointed her in the direction of a rustic looking hotel. The name matched the one she had been given. She dashed towards it as irrational fears of disqualification began surfacing.

Bursting through the doors of the hotel, she looked around and spotted a receptionist. “Contest?” Addison asked. The woman at the desk pointed her in the direction of a door to the side. Struggling to regain her breath, she took a moment to try and regain her composure and make herself look at least presentable. However, as a hand reached up and touched her frizzy, fried hair, she decided appearance was the least of her worries.

She headed for the door of the café and entered tentatively, apparently at the end of a speech. It was bad timing, as most everyone rushed past her to see what was apparently the partner list. “It’s there?” she asked. She struggled to catch a glimpse of her name and who she’d be paired with.

“Ty, Sugi…what’s that…” she frowned as her view became blocked before she could finish reading. “Um…Ty S.?” she called, hoping he’d show his self so they could start talking.

[Draconic_Espeon]

(The list would not actually have 'Reeah' on it. Just Jennifer McCallahan. No one is to know Reeah's Cipher name... *shifty eyes*)

The boat came to a halt and the passengers quickly left. No one wanted to get left behind. Reeah tagged along at the end, unwilling to get into the throng of excited co-ordinators. She smiled amiably with Kit snuggled in her arms, not acting in the least bit as bored and impatient as she felt. She followed the over-eager tour guide, briefly wondering when this would end.

They entered an old-looking inn, and Reeah quickly surveyed the inside. She was willing to bet that Cipher camera's were hidden here as well. At least, there had better be. She wasn't about to let this mission go wrong due to inadiquate surveilance. She quickly glanced at the list of partners. Her's was apparently a Laura Lucas, and most definitely not a Cipher member. Well, she'd have to get to know them sometime...

Reeah looked around at all the girls assembled. Much as she tried, she could have no idea who her partner was. She doubted anyone truly knew their partner. So, she waited. If the person was impatient, they'd come to her.

[Deathspector]

As the rest of the passengers aboard the ship began their descent down the gangplank, a jumping lady, caught Josh's attention, evidently what she had been attempting to do. Her arms were waving high above her head, and she was shouting hoarsely, "Helllooo?" over and over again. After everyone had gathered around this seemingly problematic lady, she calmed down.

"Thanks. I will now be guiding you to the hotel where you will be staying for the contest. Everyone, stay with the group, and don't wander off!"

How childish did she think they were? Did she think they were all going to jump into the canals the moment they were given the chance? But Josh decided not to worry too much about how the organisers were treating him. So, he, like the rest of the Co-ordinators, followed the lady along a rather long canal. They entered a hotel that looked like it would fall if Storm was set on it. But inside the vintage building was an extremely modern lobby.

Another lady took the hyper-one's place, and explained that the first appeal would take place three days form now. That was enough...

"Hello, is Josiah in here?"

Josh turned, and said "Yeah...I'm Josiah..."

[Realityxxx]

OOC: Ok. If i mispell some words with 'L', it's because the 'L' key is'nt working properly.
"(Sigh) Will somebody tell me who this Reeah is!?" Laura whined. She had been searching for ten minutes now, and could'nt find her.

"Go! Bell!" Laura yelled, throwing the pokeball. In a flash of red light, soon the light cleared up and a Bellossom came out.

"Bellossom!" Bell said.

"Ok, Bell, find this 'Reeah' for me!" Laura ordered. Bellossom did what it's master ordered, and soon found Reeah.

What a loser... Thought Laura. But if i have to be paired up with her, then i will. Will make her cry, anyway.

[patchfur]

Linzee was shoved about as she got off the ferry with the other coordinators. A guide lady, who seemed like she had eaten a tad too much sugar that day, showed them to their hotel, where they were then shown the list with their partners on it. Linzee smiled, Kane Bishop, huh? Alright, then. She thought quickly, then began looking about. She wasn't quite sure who was who, but she figured she'd eventually find her partner. After all, if everyone else found their partners first, Kane would be easier to spot.

One of the pokeballs on her belt started to wiggle, and a large creature appeared on the floor, her eyes narrowed. "Sol." The Absol growled, turning her gaze onto Linzee.

"Hey, Amour," Linzee smiled, placing a hand on her Absol's shoulder. Now, standing on the ground, the girl couldn't really see any of the other people, and it was nearly impossible to discern who was her partner, especially without any information aside from his name. She clicked her tongue against her teeth, and Amour lowered her head, getting into a bowing position. Linzee climbed on, and raised herself slightly so she could be even higher.

"Kane?" She questioned, "You here?"