Route 101-The Social Experiment (open for anyone)

Merri heads back the way she came but this time with much better weather. Sprucia is still in her back pack but is propped up on her right shoulder while Raltsy is sitting on her left shoulder with some of Merri's hair wrapped around her.

"With you two riding like you are, you will give me a nice workout eventually. I'm glad you two are on the small side though. You two are so nice to cuddle with but I do believe I'll need another bag for supplies if you insist on staying in my back pack, Spucia."

"Tree, treecko, cko cko."

"Oh don't worry about it, I'm fine. I wasn't expecting to get another bag, that is all. Mom and Dad did say I needed a little more exercise since I spent so much time studying. They were glad I graduated top of my class which is why they helped finance this adventure. I should have talked to Professor Birch about things but he seemed to be wanting to send me off. It would be nice to talk to other Pokemon professors and the only other one I know about is Professor Oak. Before I head to Kanto though, it might prove useful to train you two up and take on a gym or do a ribbon competition in order to prove to him I'm serious about being a researcher. As Mom and Dad put it, sometimes the best lesson is first hand experience. From what I understand, the ribbon matches and gym battles are different with the ribbons being quite a bit more complicated. If I could find maybe a trainer who specializes in one of each, then I can learn from the two trainers."

Raltsy keeps quiet as she leans in and lays her head on top of Merri's head.

Tanner was quietly walking along the route, his Pokemon recently revived from a battle that had happened a short period of time ago. He whistled and smiled as he walked along, in high spirits. His 3 Pokemon, Brick, Blink, and Gnash, were out of their Pokeballs and with him. Tanner carried Blink in his arms, to speed things up slightly. Gnash and Brick were happily chatting and Blink was cooing, enjoying being carried. As Tanner walked, he paid no attention to other people on the route.

Merri continues her leisurely walk back to Oldale. She spots a trainer with three Pokemon out of their balls. Most trainers usually only have one out of their balls while walking.

"Hey you, the one with three Pokemon. It isn't everyday you see someone with more then one Pokemon out on a stroll. May I ask you why you have them out? I know many prefer keeping all of their Pokemon in their balls or maybe have their special one out with them. My name is Merriam but family and friends call me Merri."

Tanner was surprised when the sudden barrage of questions came, but quickly regained his composure and smiled. "I see, well, to counter, I am Tanner, pretty much everyone calls me Tanner, except a few who call me Tan. I have all three of my Pokemon out, because, well, I prefer it. I'm really close to these three, and I like for them to all have their exercise at the same time, so yeah. And what about you and your Pokemon?"

"For me, I didn't start out like a normal trainer. I picked up Raltsy here one morning when I found her in my tent a few nights ago during a big storm. Since I didn't have any Pokeballs at the time, I let her ride on my shoulder or in my arms. The Treecko on my right side is Sprucia who I found severally injured not too long ago along this route. Professor Birch said it was abused by its last owner which broke my heart. Again I didn't have any balls with me when I first found her so I put her in my back pack. I'm guessing Sprucia thinks it is her new home even though Professor Birch gave me a replacement pokeball for her as well as five other balls. I really don't mind them being out but they are giving my legs a nice work out. My biggest interest in Pokemon is how they interact with each other in the wild, with trainers, and how trainers interact with each other. In my short walk from home down to Professor Birch, I was able to observe many things, some good while others not so good. You could say I'm training to be a researcher more then anything else. I'm not sure if I'll go the traditional gym battle route for training or try the coordinating side since my home town has a location for such competitions. What is your particular path with your Pokemon?"

Both Sprucia and Raltsy get down and walk over and start chatting with Tanner's pokemon.

"It seems Raltsy trusts you or at least your pokemon. She can sense the connection between Pokemon and their trainer or at least the trainer's emotions. Often she hides in my hair while on my shoulder if she is uneasy with a near by trainer."

"Ah." Tanner nodded. He put down Blink down to socialize with others and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Well, I, uh, found Gnash in Sinnoh, where I'm from. He was severely harmed, so I raised him back to full health. I caught him after a while, but he still doesn't completely listen to me. I found Blink here in Hoenn, with Brick. They were living in a little cave, all alone, so I decided to take care of them. Blink is the only female Pokemon I have, and I kind of spoil her." Tanner explained, motioning to each Pokemon when he was talking about them.

"So what sort of trainer would know how to nurse a Pokemon from severe abuse to full health? I thought Nurse Joy or maybe one of the Professors like Birch could do that. Professor Birch did cheat a little and used a potion on Sprucia but again he seemed a bit rushed. Would you be one of the rancher type? Your nice suit might work for a coordinator though if you add just a little more color to go along with your tie. From what I can tell, your Pokemon do look in excellent condition though."

Merri remembers her new Pokedex and flips it out. The two Hoenn Pokemon come up without too much trouble. The Sinnoh Pokemon takes a long while to come up and when it does, an error message happens.

"Hmm, this new Pokedex doesn't seem to recognize your Pokemon from Sinnoh. Most of my schooling was in the general education courses like math, science, reading, history, and English. I took up sociology and psychology along with a couple of Pokemon courses. We focuses mostly on the general stuff and paid high attention to the Hoenn region. I know of the other regions and their respective professors but little of the Pokemon. Would you mind if we travel together so I can learn of your homeland and its Pokemon?"

Tanner nodded a little. "Well, uh, actually, I want to be a breeder. But a lot of people say I could make it as a coordinator. Oh, and here." He pulled out a Unova Pokedex from his back pocket. "My mom got it from a friend in Unova. Try this." He handed it to her. Tanner nodded while hearing about her studies. "Sure, I wouldn't mind it." Brick and Gnash were carrying a conversation while Blink was being rather shy about it, actually.

Merriam reaches out for the Unova region Pokedex. She flips it open and scans the Sinnoh Pokedex. It reads the Gible and gives her the information. Merri quickly puts the Pokedex on the ground lightly and reaches for her electronic pad. She writes down the information and description.

"Before I got to Professor Birch, I was using this. It was a gift from my parents."

Merri shows him a thin electronic device the size of a regular text book.

"My only major complaint is it has no camera so have issues capturing a picture of the Pokemon. I'm also a horrible artist and this thing has no drawing application. It is a good journal though. From what little I've learned from my Pokedex, it is a walking encyclopedia of the region's Pokemon. I do wonder why this Unova one works on a Sinnoh Pokemon though. Was it upgraded somehow?"

She reaches back down and hands the Unova Pokedex back to Tanner.

"A breeder sounds like a good job to where you'll have to learn about Pokemon but possibly not much battling. Would you be one of those dieticians for Pokemon as well or another variety? One thing I'm lacking but hope to correct is I don't have any real good food for my two Pokemon. So far we've been scavenging off the land and picking berries. I've got my own food but know human food and Pokemon rarely go well together for any length of time."

To show what she meant, she took off her back pack and dumped it. What food she had left was trampled by small feet. The pokeballs rolled around a little on the ground. Sprucia heard the commotion and walks over to Merri and looks into the bag as well was what was on the ground. The attached tent laid next to the back pack.

"It is ok, Sprucia, I'm show our new friend what little supplies we have. You can still ride in the back pack once I put everything back in it. I've yet to select a ball for Raltsy but little hurry to do it as long as you two stay balanced on top of me. Go back and continue chatting with your new friends. It looks like we have a shy one but be very careful. Sometimes shy people and I'm betting shy Pokemon take time to trust others so often they say very little."

Sprucia walks closer to the nincada and stops a few steps from her.

"Tree? Recko rec eko treck ko ko."

Sprucia points to where the others were at as she holds out a hand to Blink.

"I want to be prepared for anything but it is hard to prepare for everything. There is only so much stuff a person or Pokemon can carry. I do not ever intend to make mine carry anything unless they want to. As you can tell, Ralsy isn't exactly strong looking and Sprucia prefers being light on her feet for the tree climbing. So which way do you want to go? Due to how Hoenn is set up, as you might now, we have to go back up to my hometown and either catch a ferry south or head north."

"Oh, well, y'see, the Unova Pokedex has all of the information from the Hoenn, Sinnoh, Kanto, and Johto Pokedexes, along with it's own data." He observed everything she put before him, informational-wise. "Well, yes, actually, I do make my own Pokemon food and I'm a rather good human cook as well, if I say so myself." Tanner explained, looking at her materials. "Hm. You seem kinda limited on food. Maybe I could help you out." Blink shyly shook Sprucia's hand with one of her limbs. "Cada. Nin, nin cada ca nin." She said, which basically translated to "Hi, nice to meet you, I'm Blink.." Tanner went into his backpack and pulled out a little electronic book, which he opened to reveal it to be a map of the region. "What you just said was pretty much what I was thinking." He looked through the map.

Sprucia pulls a little on Blink's arm as she takes a couple of steps towards the three other Pokemon. Merri gathers her stuff back up into her bag and swings it back on.

"My parents told me to head down to Professor Birch's lab and then the rest of the journey would be up to me. I am willing to buy supplies for us to share including your ingredients for the Pokemon food. The Unova Pokedex is rather unique in its vast database. I am not sure on the ferry's schedule at home so depending on timing, we might have to head north. Rarely did my family take too many trips out on the ferry or north of us. We sort of stayed home partly due to my intense study habits. You could say I'm a bit of a book worm but do get along with most people I run across. Would you mind teaching me a few things about breeding along the way? I'm a little lost in how to tell which gender Pokemon are and I know some don't have a gender for whatever the reason. Professor Birch had to tell me the gender of Raltsy."

Blink allowed herself to be pulled, not resisting.

"No, I couldn't possibly sit there and let you pay for it all. At least let me pay for half." Tanner said, smiling a little. "Ah, yes, the Unova Pokedex is amazing. Hm. Well, if you have somewhere to go then let's go there first. And of course I could teach you about breeding. It's a complicated process that would be much easier to show than to explain, to be honest, though." He said, putting his map away. Tanner brought out an actual book, leather-bound, and opened it. "There are few Pokemon without a gender. The Pokemon without a Gender would be most Legendary Pokemon, and several Steel types, like Magnamite. And a few others. Now, where would you like for me to start?"

"This is a little embarrassing but can you show me an easy way to identify gender? It will help greatly in naming my next Pokemon. I didn't even know what Raltsy was until she told me. My formal education was so broad and general where we couldn't cover every single Pokemon in great detail and there are well over 100 Pokemon here in Hoenn. I graduated top of my class but this journey is quickly teaching me I can't learn everything from a book. Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty and involved. As for my next destination back to Oldale and most likely head north of Petalburg. We'll pick up supplies in Petalburg since they know me quite well. Shall we get going before it gets too late?"

Merri looks over to Raltsy and Spucia chatting with their new friends. She bends down so it would be easy for Raltsy

"Alright you two, time to get going."

Raltsy and Spucia look at Merri and they come walking up to Merri climbing into their respective locations.

"Sure, I wouldn't mind helping you with that at all. And I see what you mean." Tanner picked up Blink and brought Brick and Gnash to his side. "Yes, that plan sounds about right." He said, smiling gently. "As a matter of fact, the Unova Pokedex can help you out with that. Just pick the Pokemon, go to Gender Differences, and then switch between Male and Female to see the differences. Like, for example, female Pikachu have a Cupid's Bow at the end of their tails, and male Pikachu tails are detail-less, normally."

Tanner smiled. "I couldn't've worded it better myself. Yes, breeders do work on the relationships between Pokemon, as well as the egg production. As far as it's concerned, we're pretty much the experts on Pokemon biology, and on occasion, psychology. Blink, while slightly spoiled by me, still gets along well with everyone, despite being shy. Something a lot of people don't think about is that Pokemon have personalities, just like you and me. And they all express themselves in their own ways. Pokemon can only breed if their within the same Egg Group, but the personality also has something to do with it too. Pokemon that do not like each other will not breed, no chance. This would be so much easier to explain with some specific Pokemon for reference."

"Does the Pokemon need to look similar? It makes perfect sense opposite genders of same Pokemon to be able to breed depending on personality but can my Spucia breed with any of yours? Would type play a role or could a fire type breed with a grass type? From what I remember, fire is usually good against grass types. I can understand if two Pokemon can't get along, there is a very low chance of any breeding. I know once I get to the dating time in my life, I would want to marry someone who I love and get along with. This does bring up a question though, do Pokemon mate for life?"

As they continue walking and coming close to Oldale, Merri decides to change topics.

"Out of the Pokemon professors, which one do you want to meet the most? I don't remember which one would help a breeder the most. Is there any famous gym leader who could give you tips?"

"It's not really a matter of type, but rather, egg groups. Egg groups are specific groups of certain Pokemon that can breed together. Typically, yes, an entire evolutionary line of Pokemon can breed with each other, but there are some exceptions." Tanner flipped some pages of the little book. "Sprucia falls into the Monster and Dragon egg groups. She could actually breed with both Gnash, AND Brick, seeing as they're both in the Monster Egg Group, with Gnash being in the Dragon Group as well. Taking account for gender, as well. Although it's more likely that she'd want to breed with Brick, seeing as Gnash is kinda...rude." He chuckled. "Types typically won't play a role, although they may play a role in grouping. If Pokemon breed for life is a situation that changes depending on the variables that are put into that situation." He said. "If I wanted to meet any Professor, it would probably be Elm or Oak. Any Gym Leader that could give me tips? Probably Brock."

"So would it help if the Pokemon share both egg groups if each one has two? Would it change the hatching time for the egg? I would be surprised if region plays any role in breeding. The only thing I can think of is maybe a certain Pokemon would learn certain moves in one region versus another region. Is there any explanation why the Pokemon will always look like its mother?"

Sprucia pulls gently on Merri's hair and points up in a tree on the right side of the road.

"Treecko, tree tree."

"What do you see? Are you wanting to go into the trees?"

Merri looks over and spots a wild Pokemon.

(insert random pokemon please, mod)

The member 'Antonius Selnar' has done the following action : Dices roll

'Dice Roll' : 1

"No, and no. Region doesn't really play a role in breeding, and it's still being studied." Tanner looked where she did and spotted the Pokemon as well.

The Pokemon they'd spotted was a Corphish (Male - lvl 15) which had emerged from a set of nearby bushes and was looking around, until it locked eyes with Sprucia, it's eyes arching; Corphish took aim at Sprucia, maneuvering his claw and unleashing a Bubble attack on it, the bubbles flying from his open left claw straight at Merriam and Sprucia.

Merriam saw the bubble beam coming at them as did Sprucia. Before Merri could react, Sprucia jumped off her shoulder and took the bubble beams straight on. The hits knocked Sprucia down onto the ground with her staggering a little as she got back to her feet. Sprucia then charged the Corphish. Everything happen so fast for Merri where she almost forgot Sprucia's moves.

"Sprucia, thanks for the save. Now use bullet seed on the attacker."

Sprucia responds by spitting out brown looking seeds at the Corphish. While Sprucia is attacking, Merri flips open her Pokedex and scanned the Corphish. Then she feels a little guilty of attacking the Corphish and not letting Tanner get a shot at it. She blushes a little.

"Sorry, Tanner, I guess I should have asked if you wanted to battle the wild Cophish but it did attack me first."

Tanner was surprised at the sudden attack from the Corphish, instantly noting it as territorial and/or violent. He smiled a bit when she apologized. "No need to apologize, I don't mind at all. It attacked first, so therefore, it is your fight." He said. "Go on ahead, I'll be right here if I'm needed." He stepped from her way and motioned for her to go ahead.

Corphish then crossed his claws to block the Bullet Seed attack still taking some major damage but considerably less than that of a direct attack. He then clenched his claws as he pushed his way forwards through the Bullet Seed attack, before attempting to clamp down on Sprucia with a powerful ViceGrip attack.

In the meantime a Growlithe (Male - lvl 21) strolled out noticing the battle and then Tanner who was engaged in watching it playfully laughing as it thought now was the perfect time to play a practical joke on the unknowing breeder, sneaking up quietly and opening his mouth; his canines starting to combust and Growlithe sinking his teeth into Tanner's ankle with Fire Fang. Almost as soon as he'd bit down on Tanner's ankle he let go, and hid behind a nearby rock rolling around on the floor and laughing happily.