One, two, three, four!

[tisari]

"You know, you remind me of an old buddy John I had, back in slateport," James mused as him and the Pichu walked along the sand. The tide was still in the process of moving out, so James was barefoot with his pants rolled up a little bit so they wouldn't get wet from being splashed. The little pokemon was walking along next to him, the water just going up his paws a little bit. Still, he was a wet little mouse, after slipping a few times on the unstable sand.
The Pichu shrugged.
<How so?> he asked, though James only heard it as a small "Pi?".
"Yeah," he responded. "I don't know. You're a trouble-maker, jus' like he was. He was always gettin' people pissed at him. Not that you piss me off, or anythin'." he reassured the Pichu, who just kept walking. It seemed to be a bit frustrated that it couldn't come up with any sort of prank to play while they were walking in the middle of the ocean.
"At any rate, I'm glad I got ya. You're great. Mind if I name ya John?"
"Chu." John replied, not really caring either way. He was too focused on not falling again.
"Great." James ruffled his hair a bit, before flipping his head sideways to make it fall back into place, just like how it was before. He'd emptied his starter pack into his bag, where his shoes and jacket were. The sky was mostly blue, with a few cirrus clouds floating here and there, big and fluffy. They created shadows that speckled across the ocean as they floated in front of the sun every now and then, and the salty smell from the sea was one that James enjoyed breathing in. It was familiar for him. This seems like it's going to be good, he thought to himself.

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[winter]

The beach was a silent, peacefull place as ever. A very nice day for a stroll. or swim. Seeing a trainer and his pokemon taking advantage of such a lovely afternoon wasn't surprising. Aparently, a few other pokemon were doing the same thing.

High overhead a pair of Wingul wheeled in the sky, calling out to each other, their shrill cries carried out over the sea. Down in the water a little Mantyke splashed about, chasing a group of remoraid happily. Only a little ways away from James and John, a cluster of rocks jutted out over the shallow water. And on top of that was a pokemon. But it didn't look very happy.

"Sheeell-osss! <Why don't you two knock it off! You're as noisy as a damn foghorn!> The little pink, yellow, and white pokemon had his neck craned up to the sky, scowling at the two birds. They, in turn, merely laughed lightheartedly and continued to careen through the clouds.

Grumbling, the little Shellos slipped off the rock, into the water. His crest bobbed above the ripples, moving closer and closer to the shore.

When he finally emerged again, he was just a few feet in front of the two travelers. He stared at them with an irritated look.

Nearby, the Mantyke had chased off the school of fish, but continued to flip and splash about the water, clearly high on life.

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[tisari]

James was taking everything in- it was such a cheery place. There were never that many pokemon around the beaches in Slateport, mostly because the currents there were so strong. Pokemon like Mantykes or Shellos would get swept away.
He watched the birds with a bit of a smile. They were a familiar sight, that was for sure. His eyes blinked a few times as he saw the Shellos snapping at the wingulls. As it slipped off of the rocks, he kept moving; that is, until the little pink pokemon resurfaced in front of them.
He stopped, and John paused as well, straightening up a bit to fix the Shellos with a curious stare.
"Hey there," James offered, noting the irritated look on it's face but deciding to ignore it. "Those Wingull aren't so bad, you know." he jerked a thumb towards the birds up in the sky, and smiled, wondering how the Shellos would respond.

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[winter]

The Shellos scowled. This guy had pokemon, didn't he? It was kind of hoping he would teach those gulls a lesson for ruining a perfectly good afternoon.

"Looos, sheeeell." <You say that now, but if you had to live with them every hour of every day, you'd start to agree with me.>

Of course, the pokemon knew he was exaggerating. But Today wasn't really one of his better days. In fact, he was kind of getting bored. His glanced shifted away from the trainer, and landed on the Mantyke, who was now watching them with interest. "Loooo! Shell?" <And what're you looking at, hm?>

The kite pokemon merely smiled, and splashed closer, waving it's wings happily. "Mann! Mann!"

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[tisari]

James let his shoulders relax a bit, letting out a breath.
"I did live with 'em, every day of my life. Back in Slateport. Not that you'd know where that is." he stated, raising an eyebrow as he realized the Shellos probably wouldn't understand what he was saying.
John looked up at him.
"Chuu." he said, but what he'd meant was "This isn't helping."
James simply cast the Pichu a look, and the little mouse replied by blinking his eyes a few times. He returned his look to the Shellos, and followed it's gaze to the Mantyke.
"Every other pokemon 'ere seems to be happy," he observed. "Why don't ya go splash around in the water or something? Do you have any friends to hang out with?" he asked, raising his eyebrows as his dark brown eyes fell on the little pink pokemon, expectant.
Can't say I was expecting to have a conversation with a pokemon right off the bat... But I guess it's better that he's not real violent an' all.

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