Pokemon Amethyst Version [RESET]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iioj2kbCBr8​

Upon the topmost tier of a high tower, four figures stood amid the ancient ramparts, silhouetted against a rising sun upon the Eastern horizon. Above them, perched upon the roof of the tower's chamber, sat a fifth figure.

Asserting their role as the dominant presence, the seated figure spoke to the others. "Word from Cypress came in just now. He's recruited his agents."

"Took him long enough," quipped a scathing voice from below. "How many rounds of interviews did he need? Like twenty?"

"Hey, don't blame the Professor," argued a third voice. "If it was that hard to make a decision, that just bodes well for us."

"Indeed," a fourth voice contributed, calmer and more agreeable in tone. "The more worthy candidates, the better our chances are. IF one of the ones he picked out fails--"

"But we can't think that way. No, no, no." The fifth and final voice chimed in with cheer. "They'll all do well."

"Even if they have what it takes," spoke the first voice again, "they're working against the clock now. We're running out of time. If we're going to make our move, it has to be now."

The other four voices all mumbled in agreement, and together, the five silhouettes retreated into the castle...​

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWrVTR_IuWo&index=40&list=PLF40312D88AA3D0F1​

Dear Pokemon Trainer,

If you are receiving this message, then it means that you have been hand-picked by me, Professor Oliver Cypress, to participate in a research project that I have been arranging. I have been studying this region of Acirema for some time, trying to find the root of the phenomenon that allows for so many of the species of Pokemon to exist within a single region; something unheard of in other regions.

I believe that you, as new trainers, minds fresh from a proper education in the care and development of Pokemon, are the most suitable to assist me with this project. So, how can you help me, you ask? It's very simple: I at 9AM this coming Monday, you will all report to my laboratory in Yaksha Town. There, you will receive a Pokemon of your choice, and venture out into the Acirema Region on your very own Pokemon Journey. On this journey, you will face off against the top Trainers of the Acirema Pokemon League, the Gym Leaders.

If my theory holds any weight, the towns within which Pokemon Gyms have been established hold the keys to explaining the peculiar phenomenon. Certainly, the Gym Leaders and perhaps even the Pokemon League itself, hold the key to understanding this, and are more than willing to explain such information to anyone who can prove themselves. In fact, they've told me that they are more than willing to assist me with this... they're actually the ones that put me up to the idea of sending out trainers!

Be weary, however. Word on the road is that I'm not the only one seeking out the answer to this riddle; others may not be so benevolent as me in their pursuit of this knowledge, or its application for that matter. ​

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0GcCq4IFsE&list=PL56CD54FCAC831BEB&index=14​

"Finally!" Darrick's voice chimed loudly through the waking household as he tightened the last straps of his backpack, which had been filled to its capacity to accommodate the needs of the journey ahead. He had spent the entire week prior preparing for the traveling and roughing-it necessities and a few small items of want. Having checked, double-checked and triple-checked his items, he was certain that he had accounted for everything he needed, plus a bit extra. "Yeah, that's it," he mused, stepping back from his expert packing work. With a sense of satisfaction, he pulled the backpack up onto his shoulders, tightening the shoulder straps to comfort and fastening the supports at the waist and chest.

He only spared a few extra seconds there, standing before his mirror, posing in modestly heroic stances as though he had scaled to the top of the peaks at Dragnor.

"So, this is goodbye then, isn't," spoke a voice from behind him.

Darrick stepped aside from the mirror, gazing upon his mother's reflection as she leaned at her arm against his door frame. He turned around, face turning a brilliant scarlet as he bowed and scratched his head. "Aw mom!" he said with a childish whine, "you're not gonna embarrass me all the way to the lab, are you?" He chuckled out loud, stopping only when he realized his mother wasn't chuckling along with him. He stared into her stern, yet caring and somehow saddened face, and quickly retraced his comments in a more serious tone. "It won't be forever," he assured her. "I won't disap-- I mean, you know I'll come back. I promise!"

"I want to believe you honey," his mother said, stepping into the room and hugging him with her arms wrapping around his head. "It's just... such a dangerous place out there these days."

"Oh for Arceus' sake stop coddling the boy Diane!" Another voice harassed from down the hallway, followed closely by the thud of a hardwood cane against the floor. Not seconds later, an elderly gentleman, deeply resembling Darrick with sixty extra years on him entered the room. "He's not a child anymore. And this one's got his father's blood in him that's for sure I can tell you!"

"Yeah ma," Darrick chimed in. "I'll be fine!"

"Oh Grandpa Kuhn," Diane said, throwing a disapproving look at the man while letting go of Darrick. "As old as Darrick gets, he's still my son, still my child. It's only right for a mother to worry about their child. As should a father, AND a GRANDFATHER for that matter."

"Oh I worry about the boy alright," Grandpa Kuhn retorted. "But I also trust that he's got good enough a head on his shoulders to handle the tough times as they come. I taught him as best as that; his father more so than me, or so I'd say."

"He's right! I can handle myself out there! Just like Dad!" Darrick gently wrested from his mother’s embrace and resumed the proud, achieving pose from the mirror.

"Yes, speaking of his father," Diane continued. "Where is he? I thought he'd be in town to see his son off on his journey."

"Oh that son of mine is sure to be around before the boy hits the road," Grandpa chuckled. "Fashionably late; that's his style. ’A Pokémon Master doesn't dawdle, not in the least. But he also doesn't rush himself either.' At least that's what he told me... after I spent twenty years telling him. Now, we'd best be sending the boy off. It's about quarter after eight already. Don't want him getting hung up on our account." Grandpa Kuhn proceeded into the room himself, waving his cane lightly, ushering Diane and Darrick out the door, down the hallway and out the door, all the way humming "May the Road Rise to Meet You."


At last, Darrick took his first steps out the door and into the mid-morning sunlight washing over the small valley town. His rear end was a bit sore from a few stray whacks from his grandfather's cane (for which he had received a soft spoken "sorry, meant for her, not you" apology). Chuckling, though uncomfortably at the love taps, he set off down the path from his house.

He turned back only once to wave to his two family members as they waved back from the door. Setting himself on the road ahead, the young Pokémon trainer-to-be made pace down the hill from his house, connecting with the main road through town. The path was a straight shot to the lab, bringing him past the Pokémon Daycare and the Trainer School. At the very end of that same stretch stood the sleek, super-modern Pokémon Research lab, the home to the studies of the renowned Professor Cypress.

"Almost there!" His pace quickened, taking a slight hop to his stride as he got closer to the lab. Checking the time he saw that there was still about fifteen minutes before the scheduled meeting time. Still, his speed increased. He reached the double doors in mere moments, nearly at sprint, and burst zealously into the lab. “Professor Cypress?” he called, catching his breath after grinding to a halt. “Hello? Anyone home?”

 

While the notion of good manners told Darrick to stay put in the lab's foyer, his impatience overpowered him. Weeks of anticipation had built up to the moment he stepped through those doors, and he wasn't ready to wait around anymore than he already had. On the will of this impatience, he set about the laboratory, peeking around every far off corner and the tiniest of nooks as though even a crack in the wall might yield the elusive Pokemon Professor. His voice chimed like clockwork throughout his search. Always, it was the same words: "Prof? Professor Cypress?" The process continued until he had scoped out the entire main floor of the laboratory.

Finally accepting that the Professor wasn't in, he kicked his sole across the polished tile and made a somber procession back to the foyer. His return was well-timed. As he entered from the back rooms, so too did another person enter from outside. The solemn demeanor broke like glass. Darrick beamed at the other boy. Equally as cheerful, he approached his the new company. "Hey there!" he said, extending his hand. "Darrick Lee Kuhn III. You wouldn't happen to know where Professor Cypress is, would you?"

 

Darrick's joyous expression multiplied, radiating over the entirety of his face. "YUP!" he exclaimed, in more of a cheer. "Name's Darrick. Darrick Lee Kuhn." He bowed his head and extended his hand in greeting. "The Third," he added on in haste. "It is kind of strange that the Prof isn't in. He seemed way more --."

A loud crash jumped Darrick's exhilarated nerves, and his feet followed suit, separating cleanly from the floor a split second. Breaking his eyes to the lab's entrance, he found that the double doors had been flung wide open with an impressive force. Imprinted against the brief outdoor backdrop, the person responsible seemed the least likely to have generated such force: a petite kind of girl, not even as old as Darrick was. The shock emanating from the girl didn't stop with slamming open the door; in the presence of her boisterous bravado, Darrick himself admittedly felt a bit uncomfortable.

After a slight withdraw and a recovery, Darrick set his attention fully on the girl. "You're kinda yelling to the wind there kid," he said. "The Professor isn't in just yet. And I'd hate to burst your bubble, but by the sound of it, you're gonna have a lot to learn before becoming a Pokemon Master."

 

Darrick couldn't contain his amusement so easily with Sara-Kate's show of attitude. Undisguised chuckling accounted for most of his sentiments, a hearty laugh even escaping as she 'snapped' at Krimson. Though he still reeled back slightly against her awkwardly point-blank scold, he retained a hesitant smile. Once she was finished, his amusement was back in abundance.

He heaved a second laugh of amusement. A rush of chuckles quickly brought him back under control. "Well, you've got enough heart and soul for all of us, that's for sure." More pointedly, he postured himself after the teachers at the Pokemon Academy. "But you've gotta slow down, hear? Brawn and spirit can only do so much for you out there." He shot a pointed index finger to the sky as he recited and old quote from his father. "A true Pokemon Master is one whose vigor is tempered by their knowledge and experience."

 

In spite of his best efforts, Darrick found himself once more on the recoil. The scoffing of the girl preambled what might have been another icy, verbal lashing. Now growing genuinely nervous of Sara-Kate, he threw full glances to Krimson, as though expecting the other boy to back him. This was to no avail, however; Darrick found his then only partner silent, evidently as unnerved by Sara-Kate as he was.

Just as he readied for the worst, his attention, following Sara-Kate's, was pulled towards the doorway. Two new trainers had rushed in through the open entrance; Darrick had been invested in the girls onslaught, and hadn't noticed the two until they were well within the foyer. Hastily seizing his opportunity, he withdrew from the annoyed hopeful and took his place at Krimson's side. He watched the other two boys assert their place int he room only to be shoved at as Sara made her way to the outside. Seconds later, he was covering his ears with the palms of his hands; small as she was, the girl had lungs and a voice that could have cut through the air of Dragnor's peaks.

"Professor Cypress. YOU'RE LATE!!!"

In answer to Sara-Kate's call came jump-worthy clattering and shattering of assorted lab materials crashing to the floor from somewhere in the back of the building. "Leaping Magikarp! What's the ruckus all about!" shouted a startled voice. Footsteps followed down the hallway and into the foyer where the trainers all stood.

When they all were to look towards the hall, they would find a most unique of fellows standing in the archway. The man stood with impressive height, perhaps six and a half feet. Yet his was a build of chiefly thin, wiry lank; if there were any shred of muscle to the physique, it was difficult to distinguish it from the bones beneath. Everything about the man's build gave the impression of a much shorter man that had been stretched to almost ridiculous proportions.

He was visibly disheveled, an effect only worsened by his stature. His posture seemed lopsided, struggling with the sizable metal box he carried under his rope-like arm. His glasses slightly askew and the white lab coat that was about a size too short for him was crookedly buttoned. At first crowning this awkward appearance was the wild bush of hair, which puffed out at the back of his head as though he hadn't taken the time to comb it when he had woken. If he looked like anything to the kids, it probably would have been a made scientist from a movie.

Everything, however, about the man's appearance was overshadowed from the moment he set eyes upon the gathering in the foyer. Dumbfounded, the man gazed around, meeting each child's eyes as he passed over them. With an abashed 'ugh' he smeared his free hand down his face. "Oh dear! Is it that day already??? I'm so sorry. So so sorry. I could have sworn I had another two or three days..."

"It's OK, Professor," Darrick was first to step towards the man, who he was certain was Professor Cypress...

"... No no no..." the professor continued on in a lamenting tone. "... And the lab is a mess... Really should start using my day planner more often... The Kangashkan are all ornery! Oh how could have been so distracted to forget about the lab tour day!?" The professor's last words came as though directed at Darrick.

"Umm... Actually... Professor," he said, strangely enough, he felt more nervous around the Professor than he did being yelled at by Sara-Kate. "We're the trainers you recruited from the Trainer School. We're here to get our Pokemon."

"Uh?" the Professor cocked his head to the side as he searched his mind. "Doi!" he said, slapping himself on the forehead. "Yes! Yes, yes, yes. Today is THAT day. I'm getting all jumblesd up these past few days. My Monday was like a Thursday, My Wednesday like a Friday. I think I might have skipped Saturday and Sunday... Just so busy; I'm the Professor you know!" Gaining some posture and looking less awkward, Professor Cypress placed the box down, stood up straight and cleared his throat. "IF, you hadn't been already aware, I am Professor Cypress, assigned Pokemon Authority of the Acirema Region, with a particular focus on Pokemon anomalies. But that's enough about me. I'd like to know all of you first. Let's say, ladies first." He ushered for Sara-Kate to come in closer. "How about, your name, where you're from, and... favorite ice cream flavor."

((I do hope everyone likes my Professor Cypress)).

 

"Ah YES!" Professor Cypress exclaimed at the top his voice, craning his neck upward as he shouted to the ceiling. With his stilt-like legs, he paced in massive strides in a circle around the lab's foyer. "Vanilla! Plain, indeed. So very simple, yet at the same time bold and ever-enduring against the coming and going of time. A mainstay, perhaps overlooked on the account of chocolate, but a classic nonetheless."

The professor halted precisely on the spot he had begun his pacing from. Without much forewarning, he lowered himself to one knee, bringing himself just a head over Darrick's height; the decision to speak to Darrick next seemed more on the impulse of boy being where he was, rather than on the genuine desire to hear him next. "You, young man," he said, rushing his words in a comical tone. "Same questions."

"Well..." Darrick began, feeling a bit set back at first. "Darrick Lee Kuhn... the Third," he started, shaking off the shock of the professor's aloofness. "I'm from right here in Yaksha Town as well. I've wanted to be a Pokemon trainer for... pretty much my whole life as far as I can remember. And my favorite flavor of ice cream would have to be mint chocolate chip."

"Mhmmm." The professor, now calmer than before. "A strong yet sweet flavor. One pleasing to the taste, albeit a bit abrasive to some. In any case it leaves a noticeable after taste that carries on well after the treat has been consumed... EXCELLENT!"

Leaving Darrick to stumble back in surprise at the last bellowing word, Professor Cypress resumed his full height. His gaze then fell to the two that remained near the entrance. After a quick juggling between the two, his index finger fell upon a boy who looked like he had taken a tumble coming through the door. "How about you? Come now, this no tie to be shy."