Route 101-The Social Experiment (open for anyone)

Tanner chuckled. "From what I know, all contests are set in stone. A performance contest, where you show off your Pokemon's beauty, and a battle contest, where you show off your Pokemon's performance in battle. Costumes aren't required to get a good score. You just have to have confidence. And you shouldn't be so stiff. You have to, y'know, flow. Relax."

"I can relax, just everything has happen so fast for me. I want to make my parents proud of me and being class valedictorian, certain pressures were mounted on top of me. It was so much easier when I could sit back and observe but I also understand first hand knowledge is also needed in my studies."

Merriam sits back down and pulls her electronic notepad back out. She checks over the moves her three Pokemon have.

"By the looks of it, Strong Claw has ancient power and bubble which I can see being useful. I'm not really sure how harden, vice grip, or leer will come into play. The only thing is if I could get Strong Claw in front of a large light display and at the right moment do harden and hope it shines brightly. Sprucia doesn't look much better with maybe bullet seed being of use but clueless how. Raltsy really doesn't have much options either unless double team can be made into something. The only other thing I would like to know is if the coordinator could use outside items like hoops or balls or something like that to help out."

"It's not really the moves that matter, so much as how you use them. I'm sure certain outside items can be used to help out the performance." Tanner held his chin and thought, trying to put some things together that could help. "Some moves that Pokemon have work better in conjunction with another move a different Pokemon has.

Tanner nodded. "I'd love to help out. I'm not exactly an expert on contests, but I know that a lot of contests allow for multiple Pokemon. I could help you out with execution. Can't be any harder than dealing with Gnash." He chuckled. "And I'd be willing to loan you my Pokemon to help out in any way possible."

Tanner nodded and thought. "Hm." He scratched his chin. "Well, although no strategies come to mind, I'm sure that something could be figured out." Then he wondered where they could find a stage. "We could find a beach or some kind of flat land area to practice on. Maybe we could ask someone if they know a good place for practice like that." He shrugged, as that was all he had at the moment.

"Hmm." He thought. "I could have Brick and Blink clear away grass and stuff with Shadow Claw and X Scissor, and that could reveal some nice flat land." Tanner looked at Brick and Blink, who seemed enthusiastic enough. "Well, that's typically the best course of action for combining abilities. To observe them one by one, or observe them in battle. Because you do have to battle, if I remember, in contests. But those battles are different, seeing as they're gauged on who looks best."

"Creating our own open field? Sounds like a good idea. It will be nice to see your Pokemon in action so I can learn what they can do and how well they interact with you."

Merri looks over and sees the chatter between chansey, Sprucia, and Raltsy still going strong. Times like these makes Merri wish she understood the language of Pokemon but as far as she knew, no one has yet to come up with a translation.

"Sprucia and Raltsy, I know you two are enjoying the company of the chansey but we need to get going. There is training to do and work to be done."

Sprucia and Raltsy looks up at Merri with slight disappointed faces but with a slight stern look from Merri, they waved bye to the chansey as they hop up to their respective shoulders once Merri bends down low enough.

"Alright, I think we are ready. I think there should be enough of a clearing closer to Oldale. Shall we get going?"

Tanner picked up Blink and nodded at Brick and Gnash who nodded back. "This's a fearsome group here." He grinned a bit then nodded. "I think we shall get moving." He started walking.

As they walk back towards Oldale, a question popped into Merri's head.

"I know Pokemon can understand each other and they can understand us but has anyone tried to come up with a translation? I've heard of trainers who have traveled enough with their Pokemon where the communication barrier is almost non-existent because they basically know how each other thinks but even they have yet to have a conversation like we are. The closest thing I know is having someone like Raltsy here who apparently has some sort of sense which allows her to pick up emotions, almost like empathy."

"Well, there are a specific breed of trainers that can speak to their Pokemon. Aura Trainers. They can only speak to Legendaries, aura Pokemon like Riolu and Lucario, and Pokemon really close to them. They're able to easily speak between each other, and they can get translations of what other Pokemon are saying. I don't know any, but there has to be at least 1 or two of them in this region." Tanner explained best he could.

Chansey waves to Sprucia and Raltsy sadly before, skipping off into the forest once more in search of more trainers/breeders/coordinators to help.

"Not exactly a psionic link. Rather, it's using aura to connect with their Pokemon on an emotional level. Once that happens, they can speak to their Pokemon, if I'm correct. They would be our most likely to translate Pokemon language. And I have no doubt that a Pokemon could learn to speak. Especially a Pokemon like Alakazam, for example." Tanner flipped through his notebook, and showed Merriam the page on Aura Trainers. "There are also Dark Aura Trainers, which are kind of like the opposite of Aura Trainers. And Dragon Tamers, who can pretty much speak to Dragon-types."

Tanner nodded. "There are many types of Trainers in the world, perhaps a few that haven't even been discovered yet. I, for one, don't favor any type over another. I find Pokemon that are willing to go with me, then I catch them. And yeah, I'd say that coordinators would have all different types of Pokemon. Each Pokemon has something they can offer."

As they continue to walk, Merri sees an open area with a couple of hills but no close trees. The hills are maybe 20-30 feet tall so they could be used to get a bird's eye view of thing if needed to be.

"Hey Tanner, what about the area to our left with those small hills? I don't see any trees and doubt we'll be interrupting any Pokemon unless they are underground."

"Tree, co co, treecko."

"I know, Sprucia, you like your trees but they will be in the way with what we need to do. We'll find some where you can go climbing soon."

Tanner looked at the area and nodded. "Yeah, that looks like a good area for practice. Out of the way, not too many obstructions." He scanned it carefully.

Merri instinctively grabs Tanner hand as she runs towards the area. When she realizes her action, she quickly drops his hand as she continues running.

That was a little embarrassing but I guess I'm in a hurry to get training. Tanner isn't the cutest guy but maybe it is the color of his suit. He has been rather helpful with information and been fun to hang out with so far. Hopefully things continue down a good path for us while we travel. Having good friends is part of this journey.

Once she reaches the top of the first hill, she lets Sprucia and Raltsy down and Strong Claw out of his Pokeball. Then she looks around and sees a nice view. One look at Tanner and picturing him in a darker suit, maybe gray or silver, makes Merri smile a little bit.

"I'm queen of the hill! Come and see if you can knock me off, Tanner."

Tanner let Blink down and motioned for Rex, Blink, and Brick to follow. He ran up the hill toward Merriam, and, at the last moment, slid under her and jumped up on the other side. "Heh. Didn't need to." He laughed. Rex started to run around everyone, barking. Blink used her tiny wings to Fly around the area. Tanner looked around from the top of the hill, enjoying the view.

"Nice moves, Tanner, I do have to wonder if your Pokemon can match those moves though. You said something about doing some trimming? I'm not sure what moves you have for something like that. I wouldn't want to scorch this area since it is nice and green still."

Merri watches as her Pokemon start chasing Tanner's Pokemon. They hadn't had much of a chance to really interact on the road since it was a bit crowded. Out here in the open area they can really stretch their legs. Raltsy is having the most difficult time because of her size and Strong Claw seems to be looking for something but not sure what yet. Sprucia starts chasing Rex a little bit trying to jump up on the growlithe. Merri sits on top of the hill and looks down at the Pokemon. She then gives Tanner a gentle shove in the leg below the knee seeing if she can knock him down.

"Now this is what I like to see. Pokemon getting along and enjoying the day by running around and chasing each other."

Rex slowed to a halt to allow Sprucia to climb onto his back. Blink flew down and picked up Raltsy slightly off the ground, making Raltsy hover along with her. Brick and Gnash walked over to Strong Claw and tagged him. Gnash started running, and Brick rolled away like a pro. Tanner laughed and allowed himself to be pushed, dropping down onto his butt. He smiled. "Mhm. It's a great sight to see, especially on a good day like this."

Strong Claw looks around and sees Brick rolling around and Gnash running away from him. Strong Claw starts chasing Gnash since Brick would be near impossible to catch. Sprucia jumps up on Rex and position herself in the middle of his back. Sprucia wraps her legs around the ribs of Rex and places her hands on the shoulders. Sprucia then gives a very gentle shove on the shoulders indicating she is ready for Rex to move. Raltsy looks up at Blink and smiles up at the nincada.

"Ralts, raltsy!" (Thanks).

"Ecko, Ecko!" (Go, Go!)

"Cor, corphish, phish!" (I'll get you!)

Merri breaths deeply as she leans back and puts her hands and arms behind her propping her up some. Her hair flows down behind her as a gentle breeze comes towards them and a big smile appears.

"This beats being in any classroom. I enjoyed school and very rarely missed a day but days like this was very tempting to skip. It pleases me to see our Pokemon interact as well as they do."