The Melody of Life [Tanya]

[Cal Emerson]

Cal tapped his foot on the floor as loud music blasted through his headphones. He was off in one of the alcoves of the living area, not wanting to be out in the main area as his music would most likely annoy those trying to talk or watch tv. A notebook rested on his lap as he lazily scrawled lyrics onto the white pages. He wasn't really writing a song, and the lyrics were pretty random but it was something he liked to do. He was by no means a good singer, but music was one of his passions and when he was in the mood he felt like just writing down his feelings. He tapped the pencil against the page in sync with the music and let his eyes close. He wasn't tired but it felt good to rest his eyes and just go with the melody of the music. He let his mind drift, daydreaming of the beaches and surfing. A smile stretched across his face as he relaxed.

[Tanya Christianson]

"Gaaaah! I'm so bored!" Tanya exclaimed in frustration to Natalie, who responded with a blank look. Having not had a lot to do today, Tanya suffered from the thing she normally suffered in these situations, inexcusable boredom. She decided to do the thing that she normally did, meet new people. After all, she heard that there was a new kid in Wave Dorm and she wanted to meet him.

Her first port of call, Wave Dorm living area. Bursting into the area, Tanya began searching the area, Natalie walking in behind her, looking exasperated at her trainer's behavior. Searching around the area, she saw an unfamiliar kid listening to music on his headphones. Assuming that this was the new kid, Tanya moved in front of him. At first, she tried to wave, her movements becoming even more exaggerated as she tried to get his attention.

It took her a while to realize that the kid had his eyes closed, Natalie shaking her head behind her throughout the entire procedure. Thinking for a moment about what to do, Tanya realized that shouting probably wasn't going to get his attention alone. That's why she instead elected to lift the side of one of the boy's headphones before shouting.

"Hey! Are you the new kid?"

[Cal Emerson]

The music for once changed to a slower song, unlike most of his booming loud playlist. He hadn't been tired before, but the soothing melody seemed to down him like a strong sleeping pill. He could feel his mind melting to black and he welcomed it. It was pretty boring anyway so why not take a nap? He didn't know anyone in the dorm and was pretty sure no one would bother him. With a contented sigh he let the sleep overtake him, and just as his mind was about to turn off he felt one of his headphones lifting up.

Before his mind could even register what was happening a loud voice shouted into his ear. Jolting him from his slumber he jumped up, his headphones flying off his head yet thankfully landing on the soft cushion with a thud. His heart beat hard in his chest as his wide eyes looked around. When he noticed a girl standing there and not some giant monster he felt his cheeks warm slightly with embarrassment. Ever since he had awoken as a kid with his home on fire...he always tended to overreact when suddenly awoken. Taking a deep breath he ran a hand through his long hair and let out a sigh.

Clearing his throat he looked down at the shorter Wave student with a slight smile. "Sorry about that...what did you say?"

[Tanya Christianson]

Maybe she was a bit too loud. She assumed it was her speaking loudly into the boy's ear. Whatever it was though, it caused the other kid to promptly freak and jump out of his seat. Tanya laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her head while Natalie watched on, her face unassuming but a small sigh escaping her lips.

"It's fine, that was probably my fault." She started, looking up to the sky and rearranging her face into a smile before addressing the kid again. "Oh, I was just asking if you were the new kid, cause I heard that there was a new kid coming to the academy and joining Wave Dorm, so I got curious. Plus, I was bored and I wanted to find a way to sate my boredom and so I thought I'd catch you here. Well, presuming you are the new kid of course." She shrugged at the end of the sentence, casually talking to the kid who she just scared the hell out of and the words she spoke were filled with so much energy that they bursted out of her lips at a rapid pace.

"Oh yeah, introductions. My name's Tanya. I'm a Wave Dormer as well. It's nice to meet you!"

[Cal Emerson]

He still felt like an idiot for freaking out like that, hoping this girl wouldn't think he was a wuss or something. He tried to look casual as she talked, perhaps she'd forget this incident...hopefully. His eyebrow raised slightly as the girl burst out what almost seemed like a speech, talking with so much energy that he almost could feel the force of it. With a chuckle he smiled widely, "You found me, unless there is another new kid here, but I believe I'm the newest one." He paused for a moment then continued. "I'm bored too, so perhaps we can cure that together?"

He gave out a smirk when she introduced herself. "Nice to meet you Tanya, I'm Cal," he held out a hand for a friendly shake. "I assumed you were a Wave Dormer, since well, we're in the Wave Dorm after all." He finished speaking with one of his goofy smiles that made his eyes almost completely close. Still holding his hand out he glanced around the girl and at an Absol. He'd always been fond of that Pokemon and nodded towards it. "And who is this, if I may ask?"

[Tanya Christianson]

Ok, step one was successful. She didn't get some other unsuspecting Wave Dormer. That would've been really awkward. And bonus, he was bored as well! Those two factors added up to a positive social interaction! Success! Now comes to the actual socializing part. Her happiness was visible to see in the dumb grin she had on her face as she went to shake the Wave Dormer's hand. Meanwhile, Natalie looked pensively on, trying to get a judgment of the other kid.

"You never know. I could be borrowing someone else's uniform for all you know." Tanya retorted playfully, thinking back to the situation of Oleg and Kyrie. She briefly wondered how the two of them were doing, before refocusing on the conversation. At the mention of her, Natalie looked up at the boy, her face betraying nothing as she scrutinized him carefully.

"That's one of the most recent additions to my little squad, Natalie." Tanya introduced. Tanya briefly rubbed the top of the Absol's head, causing her to let out a satisfied purr but not changing her face at all. Shrugging at how her pokemon was acting, she turned her attention to Cal. "Since you're new here, you must have your starting pokemon, right?"

Once she asked the question, Tanya looked expectantly at the boy. One of the things that stood out was how blue he was. It was like someone dipped him in a series of blue paints with regards to his hair and the light blue uniform didn't help that too much. In any case, Tanya told herself that shouldn't be making judgments like that.

"Mind if I meet them?"

[Cal Emerson]

"That's true, but I highly doubted it," Cal said grinning as he shook her hand back. His hand pretty much dwarfed hers, as he did in terms of height as well. He had to be at least almost a foot taller than her, he hoped her neck wouldn't hurt too much looking up at him. He hadn't really met anyone taller than him, so this was pretty much the norm. Tanya introduced her Absol as Natalie, and the dark-type seemed to almost be judging Cal, if that was the look he picked up from her calm eyes. "Hello there Natalie," he said with a laugh. "She looks like a bundle of fun," he said in a joking tone, as he scratched the back of his head. Hopefully the Absol could take a joke, if not she'd probably judge him even worse.

As the conversation took a pause he studied the shorter girl without making it obvious. She seemed sweet, and someone who could have a good time. That was definitely the type of people he liked hanging around, and perhaps they'd be friends after this. Since he was definitely lacking in that field. Cal nodded as the conversation started again. "Yup, I sure do. They haven't been out in awhile so I guess they'd be up to meeting someone new." He turned, leaning down and rummaging though his bag. He grabbed out two Pokeballs, hopefully the correct ones, and released the Pokemon that were inside. After a flash of light a Buizel and Venipede stood at his side.

"This is Ren," he pointed at the water type. "And this is Ivy," he then pointed at the bug type. Ivy being her usual self crawled up onto the chair, her lazy eyes blinking a few times before curling in a ball and going to sleep. Cal shook his head with a sigh. "Don't mind her...she isn't very social." On the other hand his Buizel was the complete opposite. He stepped forward sniffing Tanya and looked up at her curiously. Though when he saw Natalie, Ren totally forgot about either of the students and approached the Absol. Interested he inspected the other Pokemon, sniffing at it slightly and even reached to touch it's horn. "Ren, stop invading her personal space," Cal said as he let out a chuckle. "As you can see, Ren and Ivy are quite different in terms of personality." He glanced at the sleeping Venipede and back at the curious and pushy Buizel. He sure had his hands full with these two.

[Tanya Christianson]

"Don't worry about her, she's normally like that." Tanya assured Cal, looking apologetically at him while Natalie continued to look at Cal. Natalie finally got her impression of the boy. At that point, Natalie went back to looking around the area, Tanya wondering what her pokemon was looking for. At this rate, Tanya had no clue. So she instead decided to focus on Cal again.

Seeing the two pokemon, Tanya let out a little giggle. "Oh, I don't mind at all Cal." Tanya said, her eyes looking cheerfully on at the two pokemon. They were adorable in their own little ways. With the bug pokemon just sleeping about while the water pokemon started sniffing about. While Tanya didn't mind the Buizel acting the way he did, Natalie became confused as the water pokemon sniffed her out. When the tiny pokemon made a move to try to grasp her horn, Natalie decided to bow her head, more out of curiosity than anything else.

"My two starting pokemon were the same. Heck, they're still totally different now. It's funny how things work out like that." Tanya commented, looking wistfully into the air as she thought back to her pokemon when they were not evolved. They were both adorable in their own ways. It was funny watching them grow and seeing them act the way they do now. It sort of gave her a sense of fulfillment like that.

"I'm going to be honest, with all that's going on on the island, I'm surprised people are still sending their kids here." Tanya remarked, deciding to change the tone of the conversation. "I mean, you have heard about what happened on the island and everything with Team Origin, right?"

[Cal Emerson]

"Ah, that's fine. Like I said Pokemon have their personalities. I'm sure she's like that for some reason or another." He grinned scratching his head again in that nervous habit of his. He'd have to stop that, or his poor hair would fall out. In the next few moments the Absol seemed to figure out whatever she was thinking about him and looked away. That was until Ren approached her and started grabbing at her horn. Cal had expected Natalie to back up or even hiss at him. Yet to his surprise she bowed her head down and seemed quite friendly towards the Buizel. Ren seemed a bit surprised himself, his bright eyes widening with curiosity as he lightly touched the horn. He seemed happy with the feel of it and tapped it a few times, then after he had his fill just plopped down in front of the Absol. "Well looks like he found a friend maybe," Cal said pointing at the two.

"Yeah, I can only imagine how different these two will be when they are fully evolved. Ren could lose his curiosity, and Ivy might actually give people the time of day instead of sleeping," he laughed as he finished the sentance, nudging the bug Pokemon with his hand only to get a grunt.

Suddenly the conversation took a different turn and he let the smile fade from his face. "Of course I heard about it, I'm pretty sure everyone has." He took his seat, scooting next to Ivy and then motioning for Tanya to sit as well. This could be a long conversation, well a more serious one at that. "My Father didn't really send me here, I pretty much asked him and he allowed it. He didn't even do much research into the place so I doubt he knows anything about it. I wouldn't want to worry him anyway, with what happened..." He paused as a flash of painful memories showed in his eyes. Though it only lasted for a second before he blinked and returned to his casual stare. "Anyway on my boat ride here I heard people talking about it. The info was a bit fuzzy, but I know Team Origin attacked the city and the Academy defended against them." Cal tilted his head slightly as he observed Tanya for a moment. She seemed to have been at that Academy for awhile so he asked. "Were you at the battle? What happened?"

[Tanya Christianson]

Tanya went and sat next to Cal, taking the hint about what was coming up next. She probably shouldn't talk about it, but she felt like it was a question that needed to be asked, considering the implications that the event had on the academy and the island in general.

Tanya stayed quiet, letting Cal talk. Tanya snatchedthe change in emotions within his eyes, realizing that something was up. It was a tactic she liked to use a lot as well. Before she could jump on the opportunity though, the topic changed and Tanya was left with catching up on the change.

"Of course I was there. It's a hard thing to avoid." Tanya admitted, shrugging her shoulders and recounting her memories. "Team Origin attacked Marvo City, causing untold damage everywhere they went. The student volunteers were split into three teams and from there, each group encountered members of the organization."

At that point, Tanya paused, recalling her time fighting against them and trying to protect the town. After a moment, she continued to talk, a bit more of a heavy tone in her voice. "The battles were no-holds barred and a lot of rules had to be tossed out. It was hard, but we managed to make it through. Others didn't do as well. One of my friends was taken down to her last pokemon. Others had scars. It was tough."

Taking some time, Tanya took a deep breath. The conversation was getting heavy. "I had to send multiple letters to my family to ensure that they were ok. You had any battle experience?" Tanya asked, trying to shift it onto something else.

[Cal Emerson]

Cal silently listened as Tanya recalled her memories of the attack. His usual laid-back eyes were hard and serious, knowing this conversation wasn't a joke by any means. As she spoke he observed her, and to his eyes she seem like quite the sweet girl. Yet he knew it wasn't good to judge a book by it's cover. Most people when battling changed and toughened up. He was sure she was no different. He tilted his head slightly wondering what she was like in a battle, but he couldn't exactly imagine it. Perhaps he would see one day. When she finished speaking he stayed quiet for awhile, leaning his head back and just looking up at nothing.

He stayed this way for a few minutes, just letting his mind race with everything she told him. It felt weird being with all these students who had experienced that, and he knew there was an invisible bond between all of them now. Though being new, and not being there for it he knew he'd never be a part of that. Unless of course Team Origin attacked again, not that he wanted that. A few minutes later he finally came back to reality, shaking his head to focus again. He tended to daydream and drift off at times and when he looked back at Tanya he frowned slightly. "Sorry about that, I sometimes think a bit...too deeply." He cleared his throat slightly and returned to the conversation.

"I'm amazed that happened in such a nice city like this. What were they after? Why did they attack? I guess no on really knows do they?" He squinted his eyes slightly, trying to think of a reason they would, but not coming up with anything he decided to put that aside. "You were brave to battle like that, and even though it was a bad experience it was still an experience you learned from right?" He wasn't sure if Team Origin would ever attack again, but if they did he knew he'd gladly help out. Though thinking of actually battling them put a heavy pit in his stomach and he grimaced. Finally answering her last question he shook his head. "I haven't had the chance to have any real battles yet. Aside from having Ren and Ivy spar a bit, that's about all." He glanced at his two Pokemon, wondering how they would fair in a true battle. "Believe me, once I get the chance I'd love to get some experience. I hope I will be able to soon."

[Tanya Christianson]

Tanya gazed at Cal, watching him as he daydreamed about things she wasn't sure she would ever know. The boy was peculiar, not that that was a bad thing to her. In fact, it just served to highlight how interesting he was and how she wanted to find out more about him. The academy had such a wide variety of people that Tanya was making the most of the opportunities presented to her to bond with them. After all, what chance was she going to get to hang out with people like these again?

"Well they did hijack a broadcast. Said their name and also their intention. Wanted people to evacuate the island. I dunno why they like want that though." If they knew, that would make life so much easier. Of course they didn't though. After all, attacking the city like that was pretty desperate. Hearing Cal's next comment though, Tanya sheepishly looked to the floor, looking abashed at the compliments.

"It was a good learning experience, yeah." Tanya mumbled out, trying not to look more embarrased than she already did. She wasn't used to compliments. She didn't really know how to feel about them, especially when given by people she didn't know too well. Hearing the change in conversation, Tanya quickly jumped on it as she looked up at Cal and smiled, talking in a matter-of-factly tone.

"Why wait?" Grinning expectantly at Cal, she looked over towards Natalie, who was busy looking at the Buizel, tilting her head as she observed the other pokemon. "I've got a bunch of pokemon like Natalie that I've been wanting to battle with. We could have one pretty soon, if not now. Would you be up for it?"

[Cal Emerson]

"Hmm...." Cal said in a low tone as he tapped his chin. "I didn't know about that. Why would they want to evacuate?" He let his eyes focus in the distance as he thought hard about it. "Maybe they want the island for something?" It could be a number of different things, but he couldn't even think of what they'd want this island for. Letting out a sigh he shrugged and decided to contemplate it another time, not wanting to start drifting off again in front of Tanya.

He noticed she seemed a bit embarrassed by his compliments and he finally let his smile come out again. Grinning he chuckled softly. "You're much braver than I would be. I'm kind of the type that goes with the flow, conflict really isn't my cup of tea." He shrugged. "I plan on being a Breeder one day, so I don't find myself battling much in the future." He thought for a moment. "Well I mean I'd have to battle to evolve my Pokemon and such of course, though if I do ever become a Breeder it wouldn't be the most important thing like for trainers."

His eyes lit up as Tanya offered to battle with him. Even though he planned to be a Breeder one day, since he was a student now that didn't really matter. He wanted battle experience either way, and wanted to be a good owner to his Pokemon for however many years he studied at this academy. Plus it never hurt getting battle experience, especially with what was happening lately. He didn't want to be helpless if Team Origin attacked again. He smiled brightly, his white teeth flashing at the fellow Wave Dormer. "You're on. I've been itching to have my first battle." He looked around and laughed. "I don't think this would be the best place to have it though, don't want to get in trouble for destroying school property would we?"

[Tanya Christianson]

Hearing about what people wanted to do was really different for Tanya. She never considered Breeding before, mostly because she didn't really know what it was until recently. It was nice to see people who were here for not just battling. It made her also feel a little disappointed that contests weren't recognized as much in the academy, but she was hoping to change that with time.

"Well of course not, that would be silly." Tanya chided playfully, getting out of her seat and turning playfully towards Cal, beginning to rattle with words as ideas came to her. "We could battle in the academy dome. Then again, we could also battle out on the beach if you don't want to walk too far. It's sorta a shame they don't have any battle areas in the dorms. It could prevent us from getting sandy, but then again, the beach is a pretty awesome place to be."

Natalie, noticing that Tanya had gotten up, moved towards her side, looking blankly at Cal. Looking towards the Buizel and Venipede, she elected to stay silent, pawing the floor a little and looking up at her trainer.

[Cal Emerson]

Cal let out a laugh as he stood up along with Tanya. He knew they wouldn't battle in the dorms, but he tended to always state the obvious, kind of a charm of his. When she mentioned battling on the beach his eyes lit up happily. Being near water and sand always made him feel at ease, and in fact it was his favorite place to be. He'd just have to refrain from wanting to get out in the water and surf. Stretching his arms high over his head he let out a yawn and smiled. "I'd say the beach would make it a very interesting battle." Ren perked up at hearing the word 'beach' and excitedly began circling around Cal, surely not knowing that they would be battling and not playing.

Ivy on the other hand was still sleeping and he nudged her. "Time to wake up, we've got a battle to win." The Venipede's always sleepy eyes opened and she glared at her owner for even daring to wake her up. "You're coming even if you don't like it," he said crossing his arms and giving her a playful look.

The bug let out a sigh, knowing she wasn't going to get out of this one and unrolled herself. Lazily, she crawled off the chair and landed with a soft thud on the floor. Still looking rather bored she just sat there and waited. "So, does the beach sound good to you?" He grabbed his headphones, stuffing them in his bag and slung it over his shoulder. He started feeling nerves to be having his first battle, but he also felt rather excited. This should be fun.

(Should we make a new thread for this, or battle in this one? If you want to make a new one in the beach section go ahead. If you want to keep it in here then reply ^^)