Poké Earth

Maxwell just nodded, making note of the Zangoose's apparent desire to battle, while her trainer seemed quite reluctant. "My name's Maxwell. I just passed the test too. I'm going out to Endhaven to help out a family friend and develop some skills while I'm there.", He said quietly, not once looking up from his pokedex.

The zangoose's response made Riley chuckle. "Well I don't see what's wrong with that," she stated. "I don't know if I'm ever gonna battle. My sister grooms pokemon for contest competitors. I was thinking maybe I'd start a ranch, raise pokemon."

Riley paused, then laughed. "Here I am telling you my life's story and about to ask you yours, when I don't even know your name."

"im kiril, this is kira, my pokemon."
"zan"

Riley smiled again. "Hello Kiril. And hello to you, Kira." She looked at the zangoose, tracing the blue stripes across her body. She looked back to Kiril. "I'm sorry, you don't have to tell me about you if you don't want to. I get chatty when I'm excited."

Maxwell rose from his seat, picking up his bag with him.
"I'm going to check out the other cars, Riles.", He said, running off quickly, hurrying to the end of the corridor and pulling open the door to the next car. He pulled off his jacket and stuffed it into his backpack, entering the battle car of the train. This train was known as the Trainer Express, because it was used mainly by pokemon trainers as a quick way to access the more battle and contest oriented areas of the U.S., including Washington D.C., Baltimore, and Endhaven.
As he pulled open the car, he saw that it was just big enough for one self-contained battle at a time, but as a map on the wall revealed, there were a total of four cars on the train dedicated exclusively to battling. This battle was nearing a close, it seemed. On one end of the rocking platform stood a young man in red, whose seviper was quickly getting its clock cleaned by his opponent's monferno.
"Move your ass you stupid snake!". The teen shouted, red in the face as his pokemon attempted to dodge the incoming Fire Spin, only to be hit dead-on and sent spiraling in a blaze of pain into the wall of the coach. Maxwell cringed as the poor creature fell to the ground, defeated. The boy's opponent, a young lady of blonde hair and average size returned her monferno to his pokeball, looking scoldingly at the boy.
"If you don't learn to treat your pokemon well, they'll eventually turn on you.", She warned, turning to walk past Maxwell.
Maxwell was more interested, however, in the case of the boy who was approaching the snake angrily, holding a switch in shaking hand.
"You're the most pathetic excuse for a pokemon I've ever seen!"
Maxwell reached into his bag.

Riley looked at Maxwell, slightly puzzled. "Um... okay. Stay safe."

(Bzzbzbzbzt)

(Herpherpderpydee)

The time was 1 AM. Maxwell tossed and turned in his seat, trying to stay asleep but finding the rocky ride quite unaccommodating. The loud screeching of the train coming to a halt came as beautiful music to the trainer who had returned shortly after the incident in the battle car. He settled his face back into the pillow pressed against the window and shut his eyes.

"...I wonder if that one would be a threat, Korinku. What do you think?" The boy whispered to his shinx from his seat directly across from Maxwell.
The shinx shrugged, before curling up in his lap as he began to stroke her fur.

Riley turned and flopped as the train squealed into the next stop, still soundly asleep after the day's excitement. She moaned slightly in her sleep, a dream playing across her eyes. She curled up tighter around the pillow in her arms, disturbing Lyrel, who ruffled her feathers and fluttered up to the luggage racks.

Maxwell opened an eye at the awkward sound of his friend's moaning.
"Riles? You, um... alrig- GAH!", He yelped suddenly noticing the new passenger across from him, pushing his bag behind him protectively.
"Um... Hello..."

"...Hey. No need to freak out so much, I'm not going to steal your stuff." The boy said, rolling his eyes slightly, still petting his shinx.

"Eh... sorry. I got mugged a few months back and I'm still a bit jumpy.", Maxwell replied to the boy. "Are you another new trainer going off to Endhaven?" Maxwell wanted to redirect the boy's attention from his bag. It wasn't his aim to prevent the contents from being stolen, but from being discovered.

"Really? My house burned down recently, and my family died in the fire. I was away when it happened, getting my liscence. Yes, I'm a new trainer. Is it that obvious?" He said as Korinku began to purr.

"Oh geez, I'm... I'm sorry to hear that...", Maxwell said.
<He certainly seems distraught>, he thought sarcastically, resolving to keep an eye on him.
"Are you alright? I mean, do you have a place to go?"

<I'll have to keep an eye on this one... He's smarter than he's letting on...> He thought.
"Yes, in fact. I signed up for a job at a gym in the town over the internet before I boarded the train." He said, with a slight grin.

"Oh really? We may be seeing a lot of each other, then. I'm signed up to work for a pokemon shelter. Quite a few of their adoptions come from gym leaders, and since gyms tend to get a lot of abandoned pokemon left on their doorsteps...", He trailed off.

"We just might, then." he said as his shinx stretched out and meowed for him to scratch behind her ears. The boy smiled and complied. "My name is Will, by the way. What's yours?"

"I go by Maxwell. Maxwell Casey.", He said, idly fingering Nemo's pokeball in his pocket.
"Maybe I should let him out for a bit..."

"Nice to meet you, Maxwell." He said, before raising an eyebrow. "You keep your pokemon in it's pokeball most of the time?"

Maxwell raised an eyebrow. "Well, our neighbors aren't big fans of elemental pokemon. They think they're all destructive, and they'd call Pokemon Control if they so much as saw them digging a hole. So whenever we take them out, we'd have to keep em in their pokeballs to keep the facists happy."
He pointed the ball by the floor and squeezed, releasing a small houndour from inside in a burst of red light. The pokemon looked around a bit, but wagged its tail happily when it saw Maxwell sitting behind it, hopping onto his lap and licking his face.
"Hehehe, hi there Nemo."

"Ah. Perfectly understandable, then." He said as Korinku rubbed her head against his chest.

Riley stirred in her sleep, and finally awoke to see Maxwell and another young trainer sitting across from each other. Her face burned bright red and she quickly grabbed her bag and darted out of the compartment without a word, Lyrel looking around in a daze from her once more disturbed sleep.

"Morning, Riley.", Maxwell said as she rushed out the door, then redirecting his attention back to his pup.