Biorhythm

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

Biorhythm mostly runs on 'charms, but this will serve as an archive of sorts and a seed for the reclamation of the thread in case 'charms 'splodes again.


Stel:

OOC: Alrighty then, peoples. I never believed I'd end up doing this considering recent events in my life, but my RPing urges were stronger than I was. So here we go.

So here's how it's going to be. This is an RP set in the Sinnoh region for no good reason other than flashy DS-style graphics and the upcoming release of Platinum. So essentially this is PokéMon Iridium - Not quite Platinum yet but getting there.
We (and by 'We', so far, I mean me and Dwayna. XD) don't really have anything set in stone right now - we're just going to let this develop. While we would appreciate more people in this - please. Only join this thread if you have the time, dedication and skills to deal with it. Get yourself approved via PM before posting, and we won't have to remove your head from your neck with a Rabid Shiny Toxicroak. Mmk?

Edit: We now have five members and a potential sixth - so... Easy on the requests. I'll let any of you know if and when we'll be accepting more people.

BIC:

Rowan PokéMon Research Facility, Sandgem City, Sinnoh Region.
WAY Too Early In The Morning To Be Healthy.

"I'm telling you again, I have no clue -what- is going on, Jim. It's like the entire system is flipping us off."

"And I'm telling you again, Steve, that we fixed it! I just got back from running over the primary circuitry with a whole bloody -array- of scanners and we found NOTHING. The system should be as clean as a whistle. So I'm asking you, what are you going on about the system 'flipping us off'?"

Both Jim and Steve - technicians of the Research Lab's internal computer system - have been on this case since midnight of the night before, and they were both exhausted and cranky. And furthermore they had no clue what was going on, which was more than a cause for worry.

For, you see, Professor Rowan's lab - a massive, wind-turbine powered facility on the outskirts of Sandgem Town, a blend of old and new architecture that resembled a cross of an ancient castle and a futuristic robotic fortress - was almost fully automated from the inside. Intricate microcircuitry was embedded in the very walls and floors, endlessly transmitting electricity and digital data throughout the facility like a system of veins. The system had a hand in anything - from monitoring the grounds and the creatures living within, to processing important research data, to supporting PokéDex servers, to controlling the automatic doors. When something went wrong in the system, it could have lead to disastrous results. 

Something was VERY wrong. And they couldn't tell just what the hell it was. It drove them crazy.

"How is that possible? we had the system singing the regional anthem of Johto backwards right before you walked in, and just as you did it mysteriously stopped!"
"Really mysterious. Are you sure you're not imagining things?"

Suddenly the lights flickered on and off, and through their headsets, the two technicians could hear the voice of a third, with some oddly musical disruptions in the background.

"Uh, Guys? *static* This is Al in sector *static* reporting. The *static* servers just started sampling PokéMon cries into a really *static* up riff. I'll keep you posted."

A pause.

"See? It's almost like this glitch is alive and taunting us!"
"Oh, so now we have gremlins. I ought to have you fired, Steve..."

He paused in the middle of his statement. From the nearby corridor, he could hear the sound of boots. A slow, purposeful stride, one that could only belong to one man. The heated argument between the two technicians abruptly came to a screeching halt, as suddenly both pretended to be very busy. The door opened - slowly, as it had to be manually forced open - and in stepped the tall and rather menacing figure of Professor Rowan.

The professor was a tall man who appeared to be in his fifties or in his sixties and was nearly always dressed in a blue suit and a long brown trenchcoat. He had a rather intimidating figure and the sort of stern personality that tended to make people slightly nervous even when he was in the same room with them.

"I take it that the system is still under repairs?" he approached one of the technicians.
"Yes, sir. We're not sure what's causing it, but I suspect some kind of PokéMon interference. Maybe someone is trying to hack their way into the system with a Porygon or something, sir. We'll see to it that the system is repaired as soon as possible, sir." replied the technician.
"Very well." replied the Professor "But please, I'd appreciate it if you sped things up a bit. We have new trainers supposed to come in today. I'd rather make sure the beginning of their journey is as smooth as possible.
"Yes sir." said both technicians in unison, Jim started barking orders into his headset, while Steve proceeded to scan the circuitry further using an array of intricate probes. Somehow they'd have to find out what it was.

Hopefully before the trainers arrive...

~*~

He started out late.
Most people started their journey when they were ten. He wasn't in a particular hurry to get out there and travel the world. He always appreciated PokéMon - he grew up among quite a few of them over the years - but his true passion was music. Even now, as he was walking along the path that would lead him to the beginning of his new quest as a PokéMon Trainer - six years later than most kids did - he was carrying his electric guitar on his back.

He had light brown and somewhat spiky hair, with a single, thin braid that fell along the left side of his face and was tipped with two intricately carved and colored wooden beads, grey-blue eyes and a mild olive tone to his complexion - a hint to his father's origin from the Orange Archipelago. He was dressed casually - blue jeans, dark-colored hiking boots and a sleeveless, dusty-brown leather vest over a black t-shirt which sported a white Giratina outline with somewhat of a metallic texture to it.

As he found himself approaching the gates of the Research Facility Grounds, he noticed that something looked... off. The amount of activity on the other side did not look perfectly normal - something was going on.

The would-be-trainer stepped through the gate and proceeded on the path to the main lab. Strange noises came from inside - vaguely musical, but sounding almost as if they were various animal noises that were badly sampled and mixed by some kind of deranged electronic composer. He approached the door and knocked on it.

The door opened silently, and a research assistant walked out.

"Yes, how may we help you? the assistant said.
"My name is Glenn Hendrix. I'm here for my starter PokéMon." the boy replied, nodding "I was told to come here today."
"Oh, of course. New trainer day. I'm sorry, but could you please wait a while? We're kind of in the middle of a crisis here - there's some kind of a malfunction in the system, it's making everything around here go crazy. If you could follow me..."

~*~

Glenn followed the assistant to a side-room with several red leather couches - which was apparently set up as a sitting corner and/or waiting room. It had a fresh, clean, bright feeling - several well-groomed potted plants decorated several corners of the room. Light shined in from large windows - and good thing it did too, as all throughout the lab, the lights were flashing on and off to some kind of vaguely recognizable rhythm. The floors - which were made of either tinted glass or some extremely polished material, almost seemed to be on fire from within as faint circuitry patterns within them suddenly burst into light, blue sparks jumping from point to point within them.

"The Professor will be with you as soon as we can get this crisis under control." the assistant nodded apologetically "I apologize for the bother."
"No worries." Glenn replied with a smile, and nodded at the assistant, who exited hurriedly.

Left to his own devices, Glenn proceeded to set his guitar case on the floor and sit down on one of the couches. He opened the case and produced the guitar from it. It seemed like a perfectly normal electric guitar, fading from black along the edges to deep electric blue along the center. An intricate lightning pattern ran along its side. It also posessed some kind of internal amplification, similar to an acoustic guitar - not really powerful, but good enough for what it was needed for.

He had time to kill.
Might as well kill it with music.


Dwayna:

With her mom it was always wait just one more year. Frankly, she had had enough of waiting.

She was slightly older than most new trainers because of this. She had a love for PokéMon since she saw her first one as a little kid. From that point forward she had always wanted one of her own, to call her friend. But of course, her mother was a worrywart, and didn't let her start until now, 5 years after she was supposed to.

Among most people, she would stick out like a sore thumb. Coincidentally, it seemed her favourite colour was red - in fact, you could say this was blatantly obvious. Her pale white skin made her hair stand out more, as it was was dyed the crimson color of blood. Her eyes were a very light brown, enough to say that they looked to be amber in colour. She wore a bright-red sleeveless top that had a black stripe going diagonally down the front, from her top right to the bottom left corners. Her pants were black to match the stripe, and she wore black boots to finish off the look. She saw it as casual, though others might disagree.

As she found herself approaching the lab, she heard strange noises coming from the inside, people bustling about more than she would've suspected... She could almost sense the tension in the air as she drew closer to her goal. Something was going on, and she had a feeling it wasn't entirely pleasant, what with what sounded like some warped version of the Glameow mix. She came to the door and it silently opened, one of the research assistants greeting her.

"Hello there. Are you one of the new trainers?"
"Yes, that's correct. My name is Aria Terra."
"Welcome. We seem to be having some technical difficulties with the system right now. It's gone bonkers and we don't know why. If you could follow me, there's a place where you can wait..."

***

The assistant lead Aria to what seemed to be a side room with leather couches themed her favourite colour. This was obviously supposed to be some sort of waiting room, as it seemed warm and inviting. The lights flickered on and off as if they were synchronized to some sort of musical beat, and some of the circuitry in the floor sparked slightly with blue patterns. She could also hear the faint strumming of an electric guitar, coming from what looked to be another would-be trainer, once this mess was fixed.

"Professor Rowan will see you after this is all sorted out." said the assistant "Again, we're sorry for the inconvenience."
"It's all right. I don't mind waiting a little longer for my PokéMon." Aria flashed a grin that didn't look to be too honest. The assistant seemed to notice as they rushed back off in the opposite direction they came.

Aria sat on the opposite side of the guitar-wielder after that. She listened to his strumming, and soon came to be humming along. Though it wasn't very noticeable, a small genuine smile appeared on her face.

"Hi. I'm Aria." She smiled wider as she addressed the person beside her. "Nice guitar. You play it very well."

Hey, she might as well make friends.


Stel:

<Glameow Mix, indeed... XD

This is going to be a short post as lol interaction scenes. -_->

As Glenn's mind slowly drifted out of the music and back into the real world for the brief duration it took for him to decide what to play next, he didn't notice the red-haired girl entering the room until she actually talked to him. He turned his eyes to the girl, and smiled back.

"Thank you, Aria. A pleasure to meet you - my name is Glenn. So... are you here to start a PokéMon journey as well?"


Dwayna:

((Yeah, interaction usually equals short posts. But hey, what can you do?))

"You're welcome." Aria nodded slightly, still smiling.
"Nice to meet you, too Glenn." She took the question and seemed to mull over whether or not to answer it. She reminded herself that she wanted to try to make friends early on so when her true self came out, they would be more understanding.
"Yes, I'm going to start a PokéMon journey. I'm a little bit older than the normal crowd because my mom wanted me to wait a while." She looked Glenn over slightly.
"You seem about my age, too. What's your story?" She seemed interested to know, apt at learning about Glenn, it seemed.

She wanted to know if he was friend material or not.


Stel:

He could help but notice a mild hesitation in the time it took Aria to answer his question. He brushed it off as the sort of typical awkwardness generated by meeting a person for the first time - he knew that feeling all too well. Small-talk was never exactly his speciality.

"I don't have that much of a story, really." he smiled slightly, with a nod. "I grew up around a lot of PokéMon, so I didn't feel particularly rushed to go off on a journey... I preferred to focus on my music, at least for a while. I guess I decided it's about time I went off and travelled a bit. Meet some new people, see some new things... Maybe even find some new sources of inspiration. Who knows, really?"


Dwayna:

Very musically minded person it seems. Aria thought this to herself as she listened to Glenn. Her small genuine smile etched itself back onto her face as he finished his 'story'. I like him.

"You say it's not much, but I think it's impressive that you would put so much dedication into your music. You have a point there... who knows what the strange world of Pokemon has in store for us?" She seemed to think about it, different scenarios flashing through her mind... The strangely musical beat of the flashing lights was getting to her.

"How about when all this is over, we travel together? That way we can see what's in store for the both of us." She smiled brightly again at Glenn, a hint of hope in her eyes. Perhaps some small part of her didn't want to be alone in this.

Or perhaps she was just plain bonkers. Either one.


Stel:

(OOC: About time we moved the plot a bit. Extremely minor auto of Aria exists, which was approved by her RPer. Also, this post has been brought to you by obscure cameos. Brownie points for anyone who recognizes the origin. >>; )

Elsewhere...

"So. Has there been any progress?"

The systems specialist - the head honcho of all systems technician teams swiveled in her chair to face the Professor. She was an attractive woman in her mid-thirties, dark-haired, bespectacled and clad in a lab coat (which seemed to have a mild pink tinge to it, oddly enough) over a dark green dress. She wore a headset with a head-mounted display and a microphone, which was connected to a small laptop-style keyboard that rested in her lap via a thin cable. She nodded briefly at the professor.

"Surprisingly yes, sir. We've been able to access the central core - my teams had to pull some crack bypasses to do so, but we did. And guess what?"

"I am rife with anticipation. But do get on with it." the Professor replied.

"It's perfectly fine." the system specialist replied, matter-of-factly.

there was a brief moment of silence.

"I apologize if I don't quite see what about the current situation is 'perfectly fine', Doctor Hetfield."

She winced slightly - she worked with the professor for a few years now, and so she knew that under his stern personality he was a very kind individual. But she couldn't help but feel somewhat nervous when he addressed her this formally.

"I know it's hard to believe, Professor Rowan, sir, but... that's how it is. The central core and processors haven't been touched. The monitors are still registering anything that happens. The problem is, commands don't get where they're supposed to. It's like there's a communication shortage."

"Do you suppose it may be some kind of a computer virus?"

"Unlikely. It's true that it's all coming from -inside- the system rather than some form of an external source, but... it seems that data is being accessed, but it's not being deleted or corrupted. I doubt that anyone would create a virus that is harmless to data and only exists to confuse the system. Plus, there's... something else that doesn't quite fit."

"Enlighten me, please, Doctor."

"... Have you noticed something about these interruptions? Systematic repetition. A beat, or a pulse of sorts. Slightly different on each system that gets attacked, but every system seems to compliment some kind of pattern. It's almost like a lot of different channels that form one complete image."

"So whatever it is... it's basically playing the computers like musical instruments? It could still be a virus."

"If it is, it sure as hell is an advanced one. The patterns -change- every once in a while and there is no repetition to THAT. It ranges between subtle changes to completely chaotic alterations. The variations are too complex to be machine-generated, even with a randomizing algorithm. Also, have you noticed something else? Whenever we try to fix one system, the disruption leaps elsewhere. It's got a sense of self-preservation... And it's TOYING with us. Mocking us openly. So either we're dealing with a GENIUS level of programming that we've never seen before... Or we've got something alive in there. Something sentient."

"Hackers?"

"I don't think so, professor. I've been analyzing the code for the access logs... And it seems that they were completely ignored. A hacker would try to cover their tracks by editing the system logs. Thing is, only the system core's automated program has modify-level access to these files and their timestamps, and you can't edit them without damaging them in a very specific area of code that will immediately trigger a resistance impulse."

"Resistance impulse?" the professor raised an eyebrow. Dr. Hetfield chuckled nervously.

"Think of it as an immune reaction." she said "There are three ways to hack a system - using software, hardware or a PokéMon. When we designed the system for you, we created a failsafe against hackers - once unauthorized access is detected, the system instantaneously locks down, disconnects all integrated semi-autonomous systems except the source of the unauthorized access, and releases an energy pulse that runs through the entire system. It's perfectly harmless to data, but it completely scrambles logic circuitry. Hardware would be instantly fried. PokéMon have a strong sense of preservation, and if they would feel something like this coming, they will instantly escape out of the system. Any traces of malicious software are then handled via a complex anti-virus program. It's perfectly flawless. Or at least we thought so... Whatever it is, it doesn't show on the log files at all. It just appeared. Like a ghost, almost..."

"... A ghost, you say? A ghost may be..." the Professor looked thoughtful "Can your technicians trigger a resistance impulse in the system?"

"Why? Whatever this is might not be affected."

"Just do it, please. If it's what I think it is, the sudden change to the system may have just the effect we need..."

"I hope you're right, Professor." Dr. Hetfield replied, then proceeded to adjust her microphone and tap her keyboard furiously - she was known to be somewhat of a slave driver to her teams, but they always got the job done perfectly.

"Alright, people, this... Lunacy... has gone on far enough! I want a full, system-wide resistance impulse going, and I want it FIVE MINUTES AGO! STEP on it, people!"

~*~

The Waiting Room

"Sounds good to me, Aria." Glenn smiled "It's settled, then. As far as I'm concerned, anyway."

And suddenly the lights faded out, and the floor panels started glowing red. A synthesized computer voice echoed through the chamber.

"Warning. Resistance Impulse Triggered. Temporary system shutdown in 30 seconds. Tech teams, scramble. Staff and guests are asked to remain calm. System will resume functionality soon."

Glenn gazed at Aria for a moment "That does not sound good." he muttered as one by one, the floor panels seemed to turn off, their light fading.

Then he saw it - a massive flash of blue energy fleeing the trail of fading lights as if the ground behind it was collapsing. It moved fast - he couldn't trace it... And suddenly it jumped - launching itself out of the floor in a flash of lightning.

In Glenn's direction.

There was a moment of confusion when the flash of light cleared up. Glenn looked around and surveyed his surroundings. After instinctively checking himself for continued existence (and realizing that he was indeed alive, breathing, solid and aside from his hair standing slightly on end, he was fine) He breathed a sigh of relief. The floor panels softly started glowing a warm purplish-blue again as data and electricity started flowing through them again as it was meant to. The lights switched on and this time, stayed on. There was no sign of the mysterious energy signature that 'attacked' him.

Everything was eerily normal.

Everything aside from his guitar that is - it felt a tiny bit heavier than it used to be, though he thought it was just himself - a shock reaction, nothing more. He replaced the guitar in the case and closed it. Then he turned his eyes to Aria.

"Are you alright? Damn. Nothing like THIS ever happened to me before..." he asked, when a research assistant walked into the room.

"The professor will see you now. Both of you."

~*~

"Welcome, trainers."

Those were the first words the professor said to the two trainers - they were probably the first of many to come later. He's seen many new trainers come and go through the years - and he was all too used to this speech.

"So. Today you start your PokéMon Journey." he said "Few things in this world match the thrill of travelling around with PokéMon - at least, that is what I think. Well. First thing's first."

A lab assistant wheeled in a table, upon which were set ten PokéBalls - five on each side, each set sorted in a semi-circle around a handheld device - it was folded up at the moment, but there was no mistaking what it was - a PokéDex.

"These are the trainer's basic-most tools - the PokéDex and PokéBalls. You've probably seen their likes before, but knowledge is half the battle, so to speak. The PokéDex is a high-tech encyclopedia of sorts which holds data about PokéMon - it has a low-frequency scanner which can identify a PokéMon by its DNA signature, and use that to search its data index for a match. You can navigate through various entries using the trackball along the side on the device. I'm sure you'll find it most informative. The common PokéBall is perhaps the second-most useful utility in a trainer's career. It is through the use of these devices that a wild PokéMon may be captured. In most cases, you will have to battle to weaken the wild PokéMon before you can capture it."

He gestured towards the table "There are five PokéBalls and a PokéDex for each of you. PokéBalls may also be bought at PokéMarts worldwide - but these five will be a start. Consider it my gift to the next generation of trainers."

Glenn glanced at the devices. One of the PokéDexes was largely crimson-colored, with black highlights. The other was a steely blue-grey color, with light silver highlights. he hummed to himself, gathering his newly-acquired PokéBalls, and then picked up the steel-blue unit. Somehow he had the feeling that Aria would like the crimson one. It was just a hunch of his.

He looked the device over, flipping it open, revealing its dual screens. He smiled at this... And then he blinked when he realized he wasn't the only person who heard a small electric guitar fanfare that could have only meant "POKÉDEX GET!".

"... Whatever it was, I didn't do it." he blushed when he noticed the professor's look - it was either a glare or a fascinated, thoughtful expression - with Rowan, it was really hard to tell.

And suddenly the guitar sounded again -  playing scales at random. And Glenn realized the impossible - it WAS coming from the guitar case on his back. "Excuse me a moment..." he said, placing the case on the ground and opening it.

Sure enough, the guitar was playing itself. An aura of electricity bathed the device, making its color look even more vividly blue and the lightning pattern upon it looking almost -alive-.

Without even thinking, Glenn pointed the PokéDex at the guitar. The device beeped, and within minutes, displayed a picture on its top screen, and many bits and pieces of information on its bottom screen. The picture it displayed was unlike anything he has seen before - it was a small orange creature which seemed to be composed of pure electricity and be surrounded by an aura of blue lightning. Its body shape was roughly spherical, with a spike growing out of its 'head' and another, smaller sphere at the bottom of it. It seemed to have sharp white teeth and strange glowing eyes.

"Rotom." said the PokéDex in a gentle female voice (he halfway expected it to sound more like some kind of a schizophrenic robot and was pleasantly surprised it didn't) "The Plasma PokéMon. Rotom's body is similar in its composition to electricity. This unique property of its composition allows it to possess machines and electrical appliances of various sorts and create mischief."

"So, it seems I was right after all." the Professor nodded "It seems that this Rotom was our gremlin in the gears, after all. But to think it would take refuge in an electric guitar... Truly interesting. It was displaying an unusual affinity to music..."

Glenn glared at the errant instrument, as its ghostly occupant ceased its practice of scales, and seemed to be confused as to what to do next.

"Of course," he muttered softly, as he picked up the guitar - the electricity tingled against his skin, but did not hurt "You realize that this means war."

And then he struck a chord - a C to be exact.

As he expected, the guitar responded with a comeback chord of its own. Within a matter of moments, he countered with a more complex sequence of chords, which the ghostly creature countered. The theme only got more and more complicated as Glenn and the Rotom got into a higher drive. Soon they were switching so fast that it was near impossible to tell where one started and the other finished. The resulting tune had an intense, eerie, almost dischordant nature - and it got faster and faster until finally, Glenn struck a final chord - an E Flat, to be exact... and something poured out of the guitar's amplifier plug - a cackling stream of orange and blue energy, mouth open in an electronically-synthesized sounding scream. It pulsated briefly, stretching up, down and sideways, before collapsing unto the ground lifelessly, its blue aura faded and its orange 'mass' solidifying. The creature was so drained of energy that it could not remain bonded to the guitar.

Quickly, Glenn set the Guitar down and drew a PokéBall, casting it onto the fainted Rotom. The small plastic-and-metal sphere burst open and engulfed the inert creature in a stream of red energy, absorbing it into itself, and closing tightly. It wobbled once, twice, thrice... and then it moved no more.

At that moment, Glenn realized that he has just captured his first PokéMon. And also that playing THIS intensely was sheerly exhausting. He dropped to his knees, taking the now-occupied PokéBall into his hand, gazing at it with a grin that could almost be described as manic.

"I think this means I won this battle, partner. But you put up one hell of a fight. I think I'm going to like working with you."

~*~

"I apologize for this... scene, Professor. I completely forgot myself..."
"You have no need to apologize. There is more than one way to capture a PokéMon, and this may yet be the most... interesting way I've seen so far." the professor nodded "Rather... unorthodox... melody, I must say, but I guess that is to be expected when a Rotom is involved..." he looked wistful for a moment.

"Anyway," he suddenly said, in the sort of tone that would snap anyone to attention. "All's well that ends well. But now that you have your first PokéMon - albeit not quite a usual one - I believe it is time for Aria to choose her own."'

He turned his attention to the second trainer, the female "'Here in the Sinnoh region, new trainers are often given a choice between one of three PokéMon - each has their own elemental type and their own particular strengths and weaknesses... Allow me to introduce you to them."

Another assistant rolled in another table - upon which three PokéBalls were placed - these ones were obviously occupied and each was labeled with a small sticker.

"They are Turtwig, the Tiny Leaf PokéMon, a Grass-type..." the leaf-marked PokéBall burst open, revealing a small reptillian-looking PokéMon. It resembled a green-and-yellow snapping turtle with a half-shell and a small sapling growing out of it head.

"Chimchar, the Chimp PokéMon, a Fire-type..." the flame-marked ball burst open as well, revealing a small orange primate, a steady flame burning slightly where a tail should have been.

"And Piplup, the Penguin PokéMon, a Water-type.". The final PokéBall, marked with a droplet, burst open last, revealing a small, blue birdlike creature whose feathers appeared to have some form of a protective hood along its back.

"Now, which shall it be?" the professor shot her a look.


Dwayna:

((For the latter part of this post, I've copied some of what Stel posted earlier, just to make things go quicker.))

"Awesome!" She smiled broadly at his acceptance of journeying with her.

Then the lights flickered out, the floor glowing her favourite colour in indication that something was going on.

"Warning. Resistance Impulse Triggered. Temporary system shutdown in 30 seconds..."

"Lovely." She met Glenn's gaze afterwards.
"No, it doesn't sound good at all." She said this as she noticed the floor tiles fade to their regular color...

Then, almost as if it were in slow motion, a spark of blue light jumped out towards Glenn. Aria covered her eyes in reaction, not wanting to see what would happen...

Then she heard the rustling of a still live body next to her. She peered between her fingers to see that Glenn was still alive and breathing, miraculously. She checked her own pulse afterwards, finding that it was indeed there, but racing from that close call with the electric shock. Her sigh of relief echoed Glenn's as the floor turned back to it's normal color. They hadn't even started out yet and already things were getting interesting.

Aria looked at Glenn after he asked the question. "Yeah. I'm alright. I'm glad to see you are too." Indeed, nothing like that has ever happened to her before either. It wasn't something that happened everyday.

The assistant came into the room again. "The professor will see you now. Both of you."

***

"Welcome, trainers."

This came from the Professor himself. Aria wasn't too keen on listening to long speeches, so she barely listened to his 'new trainer speech' that she was all too sure he had gone through too many times to count. Not too long after he had started, an assistant wheeled in a table of ten Pokéballs and what looked to be two different Pokédex'.

"These are the trainer's basic-most tools..." Blah Blah Blah. Instantly Aria was drawn to the crimson and black themed one, and Glenn seemed to pick up on the fact that red was her favourite color, because he took the other one, which seemed to be themed a Steel blue-gray with silver highlights. She picked up her five Pokéballs and the crimson and black Pokédex.

It was then that she heard the music fanfare of "POKÉDEX GET!".

Instantly, she turned to face Glenn with a questioning gaze. He explained that it wasn't him, but more chords sounded from the direction of his guitar. Impossible. Aria thought this, her eyes wide with astonishment and curiosity as Glenn pulled the guitar back out of it's case... Only to reveal that it was glowing. Glowing. Truly, today was a new height of weird. Glenn seemed to have some idea to scan the guitar, and Aria listened aptly in wonder and amazement.

"Rotom," cooed the PokéDex in a gentle female voice, "The Plasma PokéMon. Rotom's body is similar in its composition to electricity. This unique property of its composition allows it to possess machines and electrical appliances of various sorts and create mischief."

Interesting. Aria thought, acknowledging that the PokéMon was very musically minded. She smiled at this. A lot like Glenn.

She watched in awe as they battled it out, the tunes become more and more complex... until finally, a cackling stream of orange and blue energy came out from the guitar. The blue aura faded and the solidified orange mass of Rotom collapsed tiredly to the floor. She watched with a broad smile on her face as Glenn threw the Pokéball and caught the Rotom. She applauded him on his victory. Truly, the two would be great companions with their combined love for music.

***

After Glenn apologized to the Professor (to which an exaggerated 'no worries' was given), the Professor turned his attention to Aria. This time, she decided she would listen, in anticipation of getting her own first PokéMon.

"Here in the Sinnoh region, new trainers are often given a choice between one of three PokéMon - each has their own elemental type and their own particular strengths and weaknesses... Allow me to introduce you to them."

Another assistant rolled in another table - upon which three PokéBalls were placed - these ones were obviously occupied and each was labeled with a small sticker.

"They are Turtwig, the Tiny Leaf PokéMon, a Grass-type..." the leaf-marked PokéBall burst open, revealing a small reptilian-looking PokéMon. It resembled a green-and-yellow snapping turtle with a half-shell and a small sapling growing out of it head.

"Chimchar, the Chimp PokéMon, a Fire-type..." the flame-marked ball burst open as well, revealing a small orange primate, a steady flame burning slightly where a tail should have been.

"And Piplup, the Penguin PokéMon, a Water-type." The final PokéBall, marked with a droplet, burst open last, revealing a small, blue birdlike creature whose feathers appeared to have some form of a protective hood along its back.

"Now, which shall it be?" the professor shot her a look.

She looked them over one by one. Piplup the Water Penguin was exceeding cute, to the point that Aria found it disgusting. Turtwig, though tough looking, didn't seem to quite click with Aria. Finally, Chimchar. Though it too, was cute, it wasn't exceedingly so, and it was a Fire type to boot. Aria's favourite.

"I think I'm going to pick the Chimchar." She said this with a confident smile on her lips. Rowan seemed to mull this choice over in his head, as if he was processing information.

"Interesting choice." He nodded then, and all the PokéMon were recalled to their PokéBalls. Rowan picked up the one with the flame symbol afterwards and handed it to Aria. "Here you are. Your Chimchar."

She took the PokéBall with a broad grin. "Thank-you, Professor." She smoothed the PokéBall over in her hands. This was her first PokéMon, a friend for life. She looked towards Glenn and smiled at him also. Already, she was going to have a couple of friends to travel with. She had already had a strange adventure with Glenn.

Now there were many more in store for them.


Stel:

Several moments later...

A cool breeze washed over Sandgem Town from the sea. People were going about their daily lives. Flocks of Wingull occasionally landed on the ground, squabbling noisily over scraps of food. It was a nice little place - a peaceful, somewhat sleepy town, which has somehow managed to remain so in spite of its closeness to a semi-major port.

On the north end of town, where the buildings became sparser and one of the main roads converges with a greater path - Route 202 - two trainers stood, preparing to set off towards adventure.

Mere moments ago, Glenn and Aria left Professor Rowan's lab. After the professor graciously had Glenn's Rotom healed and provided him with an extra PokéBall to replace the one he used to capture it, he sent them off with wishes of good luck and a general suggestion to take Route 202 to Jubilife City - where their journey will truly begin. They were now standing on the very beginning of that path.

"I don't know about you, Aria, but I think that it's time we got acquainted with our partners." Glenn smiled lightly, gazing for a moment at the occupied PokéBall he was holding. "Alright, Rotom, Let's get to know you better..."

The PokéBall snapped open, releasing a stream of red light which formed into the floating orange form of the Rotom. A field of blue electricity instantaneously developed around it, and its eyes started glowing again. The creature gazed in Glenn's general direction for a few minutes, before extending a pair of vaguely bolt-shaped energy tendrils from its sides and spinning rapidly for a little while. Then it paused, turning its eyes towards Glenn again, emitting a questioning synthesized-sounding tone.

"Hello." Glenn waved at the Rotom and then extended his hand in greeting, "Name's Glenn. I suppose you could say we're partners now."

The creature floated there without a sound, surveying the scene around it. And then it slowly, cautiously approached Glenn, reaching out with one of its energy tendrils and lightly touching Glenn's hand. The creature's blue aura seemed to be drawn to Glenn's fingers, like the sphere of lightning in a plasma lamp, and the feeling was somewhat tingly. A spark of realization flew through the creature's eyes.

"Yes, that's right." he said "That was me with the guitar earlier. That was quite a performance."

The Rotom's expression had 'Tell me about it!' written all over it. It emitted a series of electric crackles and synthesized digital tones, then seemed to gaze forlornly at the trainer. It took Glenn a few seconds to realize that it was actually looking through him, to the guitar case on his back.

"You want to go back in there?" Glenn asked the Rotom, gesturing in the direction of the guitar case - and the creature bobbed up and down slightly in an emulation of a nod.
"Yeah, I had a thought you'd enjoy a guitar moreso than a PokéBall... Okay. Just don't overexert yourself or damage the circuitry, alright?"
The Rotom seemed to crackle happily, nodded again - and then proceeded to *change*. Its orange form seemed to fuzz out, losing its apparent solidity and glowing radiantly - as if it became energy of its own accord. The creature flowed - a almost helix-patterned stream of orange and blue electricity - into the guitar case and into the guitar itself through its amp port. There was a small musical cue from within the case as the Rotom settled in. Glenn couldn't help but chuckle. He proceeded to minimize the Rotom's PokéBall and place it on his belt.

"Well, then. The Professor said that taking this route will eventually take us to Jubilife City... And that from there, we'll probably be able to get an idea as for what to do next." Glenn nodded "Shall we?"


Dwayna:

Route 202. According to Rowan, this was still sort of a prequel to the beginning of their journey. Frankly, Aria was just glad to finally be on her way, with some friends in tow. Jubilife City was their destination now. Aria had a feeling they would meet new friends and possibly new enemies along the way.

"Yeah, I think it's about time that I got to know my partner, too." She smiled back at Glenn, before taking out the PokéBall with the flame insignia again. "Alright. Time to meet Chimchar!"

The PokéBall snapped open, releasing a stream of red light which soon formed into the small, orange and peach form of the Chimchar. The tuft atop it's orange head, swirl-like symbol on it's peach chest, and it's insufferable dark blue eyes upon it's peach face are what made it look somewhat cute. However, the small orange body had some reddish eyelids and insides of it's ears, what looked to be tiny fangs, and a flaming tail for cripes sake. This more than made up for the cute demeanor of the PokéMon on its own.

"Chimchar!" It said, it's voice matching the not-so-cute looks of the small creature. A grin appeared on Aria's face, betraying her supposed sanity for a moment, before she slipped back under her mask.

"Hey there." She followed Glenn's example and held out her hand, smiling sanely again. "I'm Aria. We're going to be partners now, if that's alright."

The Chimchar looked curiously at her, then her hand, and put it's own hand into hers, grasping it lightly. She shook it, and they smiled at each other.

"So, little guy. I don't entirely want to carry you, for fear of you setting me on fire." Aria put on a face that would be candid in anime situations with a huge sweat drop running down the side of her face. "But you're welcome to walk beside me, or if you prefer, stay in your PokéBall." She held it out in offering to the small monkey, just in case.
The Chimchar seemed to think it over for a little bit. Finally, it reached out to press the central button on the PokéBall, the red light calling it back to it's home. It clicked shut afterwards, sitting lifelessly in Aria's hand. "Very well..." Aria muttered, to no one in particular.

She looked at Glenn after shrinking the PokéBall back down to put it on her belt. "We shall." She said, nodding her head with a neutral expression.

With that, she walked on with her new friends by her side, down the path to the true beginning of their journey.


Sem:

“He’s still acting strange…” a young blonde haired girl said.  She looked to be about nine, though she was smarter and more mature than the typical nine-year old.  She had a small and slender frame that was covered by a pair of dark blue jeans and a violet-colored shirt with black vine print.  While Sandgem town sounded like a warm place, anywhere in Sinnoh was rather chilly, and so she also wore a deep lavender hoodie, and dark purple scarf that was whipped up by the occasional passing of the wind, as was the single pony-tail that she had tied her silvery-blonde hair in that morning.  An ultra ball hung from a silver chain around her neck.

She was looking at a rather bizarre thing, stormy gray eyes staring intently at the ‘creature’ before her.  It was a floating, steel orb that had a single large, robotic eye.  Three screws went into the sphere, two smaller ones under the eye and a larger one coming out of the top.  Two magnets were connected to either side.

“Sem and his parents did say it was the weirdest of the bunch.” Fida commented as she placed a finger to her chin in thought.  The magnemite hovered around randomly with its eye half closed, seeming only half-interested in the world around it.

They were in Sandgem currently, outside the Pokémon Center.  Fida had been in Sinnoh for a few months already and decided to start fresh in the region by going to the starting place of most trainers, even though the addition of this magnemite was the fifth pokémon in her arsenal.  She was still relatively new, and she could definitely still learn plenty of things, especially from the Hearthome trainer she had heard about from Morty.

She looked at her purple PokéGear for the time.  The device, she found, was not the typical trainer gear for the region, the other being a ‘stylish’ watch of sorts, though she wondered if it actually did tell the time.  She pulled up the map function, using her newly acquired map chip for the Sinnoh region.  She found that her next stop would be Jubilife City, which she would get to by traveling through Route 202.

“Well… here goes, Elvia.” She said to thin air, or so it would appear to anyone watching the girl.  She was in-fact speaking to her ever-present mismagius, who was currently invisible, as always when the girl was in a public place.

After mere minutes the girl found herself looking at a sign that signaled that the beginning of Route 202 was just up ahead.  The magnemite who was hovering behind her looked left and right apathetically, making it seem like the thing was bored.

Fida was glad that Magnemite wasn’t one to stray, for it always stayed near her.  It was its personality or, lack of one rather that bothered Fida.  Sure it was an artificial pokémon, but all the other magnemite at the Aquais lab seemed to have their own special traits.  The only one this one seemed to have was an attraction to Fida for some reason unknown to her.

As they walked the number of houses lessened as green began to take over, and the asphalt gave way to dirt and gravel, the smell of fresh and brisk country air was even more pungent in her nose.  She walked a few more steps before noticing a couple of trainers up ahead.

“They must be starting out too…” Fida commented as she continued walking.  She probably would not have even talked to them or approached them; she had passed many trainers on routes without so much as a second glance.  This time would’ve been no different had Magnemite hadn’t chosen that exact moment to go berserk and speed off towards the two trainers as fast as it could.

“W-wait!” Fida called after her steel-type.  By the time she had reached the trainers Magnemite was already wildly making a buzz-type sound as it orbited a trainer with a guitar case.

“Sorry!” Fida apologized with flushed cheeks and a quick bow.  She pulled out a white pokéball, which had a black circle on the top and three red dial-like protrusions on the sides and top.  She aimed the timer ball at the young man and Magnemite stopped completely at the same time the ball was raised, faintly surrounded by a blue aura; not typical of a timer ball, or any pokéball for that matter.  A red beam flowed out from the center of the device and made contact with the magnet pokémon, converting it into that same red energy and recalling it back into the sphere. 

The girl put the ball away inside her jacket and nodded to both trainers again, still embarrassed.  “Sorry again.”  She eyed them both for a bit, taking in each trainer’s unique characteristics.  They were both older than her by at least six years.  She bit her lip for a moment, thinking to herself as her foot dug into the dirt nervously.  “My name’s Fida,” she said, extending her hand.  “Are you starting out too?”


Stel:

OOC: Welcome aboard, Sem, Always good to see you.

BIC:

Suddenly, two sharp notes played - almost like an alarm. The trainer made a quick 180 to notice something rushing his way - something which he instantly recognized as a Magnemite. The thing was chirping and beeping wildly as it settled into orbit around him - or his guitar case, for that matter.

"Well, I seem to be a magnet for Electric-Types today..." he muttered "Although it's probably my partner it's interested in..."

His thoughts were interrupted by a girl - she seemed almost too young for a trainer, although she could have simply been small for her age, he had no clue really - who was apparently the trainer of the Magnemite. She ran towards them, apologizing, then returned the creature to what looked like a timer ball - although the way the creature froze before it was recalled, that blue nimbus... He's seen something like this before.

That looked like a Psychic impulse of some sort. he thought From a PokéBall? Either this ball was modified by special technology... or there is something else.

The ominous little tune the Rotom added did not help matters either. It was the sort of tune that seemed to suggest something was lurking in the shadows, present but not choosing to make its presence known.

Then the girl spoke, introducing herself. She seemed nervous.

"Glenn. Glenn Hendrix. Yes, as the matter of fact we are." he replied, with a slight chuckle "Er, does that Magnemite of yours do that often? Randomly start orbiting people, that is."


Dwayna:

((OOC: Bit of a short post, but meh.))

Aria heard noises coming from the guitar and turned soon after Glenn did. She watched as what she recognized as a Magnemite start to orbit Glenn curiously. It senses the Rotom. She raised her eyebrows slightly, wondering if all PokéMon were this perceptive to others.

The girl came rushing after it, indicating that she was it's trainer. She muttered her apologies and recalled the Magnemite, though something curious happened before it was recalled... What was that strange, blue aura that surrounded it? It was nothing she had seen a PokéBall do before...

Then the ominous music came. The Rotom knows something... What with the Magnemite earlier orbiting around Glenn, Aria's immediate suspicions came to ponder perhaps another PokéMon nearby.

"Aria. Aria Terra." She smiled and reached to take the girl's hand, shaking it in greeting.
"Pleased to meet you, Fida. We are indeed just starting out." Aria took this time to look around at their surroundings. In the distance, she could spot perhaps another trainer, and what looked to be one of the lab's assistants. She pushed back a strand of crimson hair, looking back to Glenn.

"Looks like we might have more company soon."


Sem:

Fida nodded, shaking Glenn and Aria's hands in turn.  "Yeah, me too sort of." she repeated.  "And no, he doesn't, that's the first time he's done that... he's usually very... bored..." Fida admitted.

There was an awkward silence for the moment, speaking-wise anyway; there was an ominous strumming come from Glenn's guitar case.

"W-well, if we're going the same way, mind if I tag along?" She asked finally.  She might as well go with them, it's not like they wouldn't be right in front of or behind her if they went separately anyway.  Plus company was always nice; she had been in her own since leaving Snowpoint.

"This is Elvia by the way," the girl said, introducing her invisible friend and guardian.  The air seemed to blur as it did when viewed through smoke, and the mismagius appeared, long purple body flowing out behind her and large hat-like brim covering her eyes.  The sun-light twinkled as it reflected off red gems in the ghost's neck.  Elvia gave a quick nod before vanishing once more, as if the wind had blown her away like a mound of dust.

"You only really see her if she's really comfortable or if she's in a battle," Fida explained.  "But she's nice, so don't be afraid or anything."  The girl felt the need to say that whenever she met new people, since not all people were particularly fond of ghost-type pokémon, and she didn't want people to be scared when Elvia did decide to show herself.


Stel:

"A Mismagius!"' Glenn said, eyes widening, clearly impressed "I've always found them strangely beautiful, but this is the first time I actually see one from this up close... Wow."

He was interrupted by a  small, cheerful series of chords - the Rotom's idea of a greeting probably.

"Actually, my own companion is also a ghost-type... Although he.. she... it... I'm not sure myself... doesn't have a name yet... It's a Rotom. And that is why my guitar plays itself." he chuckled.

A small, almost-indignant sounding solo.

"Well, that's what it sounds like to an outsider, you know!" he said "I mean no disrespect to your musical skills, partner."

The following two or three notes just dripped with "Hmph. That's better." Glenn chuckled nervously.

"I didn't realize he'd be this touchy. It's an artist thing, I guess."


Dwayna:

Aria opened and closed her mouth several times, but no sound came out. A Mismagius. So my hunch was correct. She smiled slightly at this. Pokemon are strange creatures indeed.

"Of course you can come with us, Fida." Aria said this smiling, but she closed her eyes, for she knew they would betray her sanity in this moment. I wish to learn more about this girl and her ghost.

She looked back into the distance. The lab assistant seemed to have gone off in the opposite direction that she had come. Guess we're not having as much company as we thought. She shrugged slightly to herself. Oh well.

"I have a Chimchar, myself. I believe that he's male. I think I'm going to name him Ferny." Aria smiled more at this statement. She knew what the Fire Monkey would eventually evolve into... The thought of it's final form glimpsed through Aria's mind, and she turned her face away from them for a mere few seconds, to hide the wicked grin that had spread across her face.

Didn't want to scare the children.


Sem:

Fida giggled to herself at the little exchange between Glenn and his rotom.  She could tell that those two would be a decent source of laughs and good humor.

"Of course you can come with us, Fida." she heard Aria say.

"Thank you." Fida smiled.  She felt Elvia's presence tremble slightly.

"Oh, a chimchar?" Fida responded.  "I don't think I've actually seen one, though I've seen pictures...  They're kinda cute in their own way I guess..." she shrugged. 

Another gust a wind blew by; Fida zipped up her jacket.  After another moment of silence Fida piped up, asking, "W-well, should we get going?"


Stel:

OOC: Alright, folks, we've run into a bit of a snag. Now that the interaction scene between Glenn, Aria and Fida is over, we technically should be ready to move on. However, there is still the matter of Belle's character (which we need to interact with) and whether or not anyone has plans for things in route 202. Y'know, like catching a random pointy bird. >>; For now, I just finished off the interaction scene and started getting us going... Dway, Sem, Belle, we need to discuss what the hell next. XD

Also, I have a name for Rotom: Siegfried. It's a bit of a double reference - Both a reference to an opera by Wagner (I totally need to have him fight a dragon-type someday >>; ) and an excuse for me to call him Ziggy. Y'know, like Ziggy Stardust. He took it all too far, but boy, could he play guitar. >>

... Now all I need is Ariados from Mars. >>;

BIC:

"Sure thing, Fida." Glenn smiled at the girl. There was a cheerful musical cue from the guitar - which, in the right setting, would probably be accompanied by a message of "Fida and Elvia joined the party!"

Glenn rolled his eyes "You have a flair for dramatics, don't you..." he muttered, but he couldn't hide the small grin on his face. "Maybe I should call you Siegfried..."

The Rotom replied with a slow crescendo, building up as it was pondering the name... Then, it emitted a satisfied cue.

"Glad you agree. Well, then. Let's get going."

~*~

Route 202 was relatively peaceful - a path that winded through grassy fields and connected the peaceful town of Sandgem to the south to Jubilife City in the north. From what he heard, Jubilife was the largest city of the Western Sinnoh area, if not the Sinnoh region as a whole. Supposedly, the entire city was built on land carved out of a mountain with the help of the neighboring Oreburgh City, though why was anybody's guess. Maybe the local ground was too unstable or plagued by killer Onix attracted to rhythmic vibrations, or something. He also heard that it was -the- place to obtain gear for prolonged travel, and that it served as a central junction between several of the region's more major cities. Either way, it would be a good place to find out where should they go next.

But first thing's first. he thought Getting there is half the fun...

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

Dwayna:

Aria smiled as the group was finally on their way down Route 202. She trudged through the tall grass, looking from side to side to see if any wild PokéMon were about. She knew that sometimes, they would leap out when she least expected it.

"Starly!"

She turned, bewildered thoroughly by the sudden sound that came from her right. A small bird was at her right, different shades of gray as it's colors. The dark gray eyes upon it's white face stared up at Aria curiously. She took out her PokéDex and scanned the PokéMon, to learn more about it.

"Starly. The Starling PokéMon. Usually with a large flock, it is barely noticeable when alone. Though small, they flap their wings with great power."

Well, I think I know it's final evolution... Aria envisioned the larger bird in her mind, smirking widely. I must add this bird to my team. She grabbed the ball at her belt and enlarged it, the familiar flame symbol greeting her eyes before she threw it. "Go, Chimchar!"

The familiar orange monkey burst out of the ball, to face the Starly. Aria looked towards the bird with a confident smile. "I challenge you to a battle."
The bird seemed to accept, as a fierce look of determination crossed it's face. "Starly!"

Aria smirked yet again. Curious yet determined... Perfect. "Me first. Chimchar, use Leer!"
The Chimchar gave the Starly an intimidating leer with sharp eyes. The bird shivered slightly under the glare of the Leer attack, countering with an endearing Growl. "Another Leer, Chimchar!"
The monkey glared at the small bird yet again, at which the Starly looked somewhat deterred. In it's panic, it decided to leap at Chimchar with a Tackle attack. It crashed into the small monkey, but this was the advantage that Aria was looking for. "Now, use Scratch!"

Hard, pointed, and sharp claws raked at the Starly, and it looked somewhat wounded afterwards. It desperately tried another Tackle attack, only to have the Chimchar dodge and use another Scratch at Aria's command. The Starly was badly wounded now, and this was obviously evident to Aria as she pulled out an empty PokéBall. She pulled her arm back and threw the ball towards the bird.

The small sphere hit the bird dead on, enveloping it in a white light to retract it into the ball. The PokéBall wobbled a few times, and Aria watched in anticipation. Finally, the ball made a clicking sound and the red light appeared at it's center to indicate a successful capture. Aria smiled and clapped her hands together with glee, picking up the PokéBall triumphantly.

"Good job, Chimchar." She patted the small monkey on it's head out of appreciation. She then looked like she was pondering something, as she had been for a while.

"I think I have a name for you. Will Ferny suffice?" She looked at the Chimchar in wonderment, seeing it's opinion. The small monkey seemed to think it over, before smiling in approval.
"I'm glad you like it. Therefore. Ferny, return!" The small monkey was sucked into it's ball yet again. Aria then opened the PokéBall of the bird she just caught.

"Hello again, Starly. You seem like the type to want to be flying around instead of inside a PokéBall. To satiate your curious nature, I'll let you fly ahead of us or if you like, you may perch on my shoulder." Aria explained all of this calmly to the small bird. She genuinely cared about her PokéMon, even if she was a bit on the crazy side.

The Starly spread it's wings gleefully, and it's eyes sparkled with joy. "Starly!"
Aria smiled pleasantly at the small bird, as if she understood the sentiment. "You're welcome."

The small bird perched atop her shoulder, and she smiled at at in a welcoming manner. She then looked towards her group of friends, with another smile intact, before turning back around to move towards their goal.

"I'm thinking Seamus. What do you think?"
"Starly, Star!"
"I thought it might suit you. I'm glad you agree."


Stel:

OOC: And so the plot is given another kick in the teeth to wake it up.

BIC:

Afternoon was approaching when the small group made it, at last, to the outskirts of Jubilife city. The grassy countryside seemed to give way to smaller, and then progressively taller buildings as the path widened and became more of a road - and suddenly the land ROSE in an impressive formation of reddish-brown stone - different enough from the native ground to distinguish it. The outlines of the platform were fenced to prevent the unwary from tumbling over the edge, roads rising onto it via a system of small bridges. The raised platform was exquisitely paved with mosaic-like patterns of marble-like rock, complementing the tall buildings that seemed to be a dominant feature - some older looking, majestic brick structures with intricate carvings on their walls, others large glass-decked office buildings. Trees were planted in rows along the sidewalks, and occasional junctions were decorated with large water fountains or larger, old trees that were seemingly transplanted from the ground underneath the platform. Intricate streetlights were already lit - and people were already everywhere, to-ing and fro-ing busily.

It was a large and busy city - it seemed almost alien in comparison to the relative peacefulness of Sandgem.

"And here we are... Jubilife. The 'City of Joy' or somesuch." Glenn said, taking note of the large sign that hung by the side of the small pedestrian bridge that connected Route 202 to Jubilife City. "According to this thing here, the PokeMon Center and the Trainer's Mart are just ahead, along the main road. I think that we should get ourselves rooms in the 'Center and see to our PokeMon before checking the place out... It's getting rather late and we still don't really know where to go next. What do you guys think?"


Dwayna:

Aria pushed her crimson locks out of her eyes to have a better look around. The large city before them was bustling with life, and to most new trainers it would seem intimidating. However, not being most trainers, Aria looked around the small group gleefully. The sights here were breathtaking in comparison to Sandgem. The Starly on her shoulder apparently agreed with her sentiments, it's eyes glowing with joy.

"City of Joy indeed." She mused, looking to Glenn, the insane gleefulness still raw in her eyes, as if she could care less about what he thought of her sanity by now.
"You're quite right, my good friend. We should rest for the night. Both of my Pokemon need to visit the good Nurse." She chuckled softly to herself, looking towards the building with a red top. Some small part of her wondered if Glenn would stay with her after he had seen beneath the mask. If she had to travel alone... so be it.

She would be insane either way.


Sem:

The walk was calming and took up the whole day.  The only notable event was Aria's catching of her starly.  By the end of the day the could see Jubilife's tall skyscrapers looming in the distance, telling them that they had arrived.

Fida gazed silently upon the city, which she had only seen from a distance before now.  It was huge, perhaps bigger than Goldenrod or Saffron.  People were like ants, crawling all over the city as they went about their business.

"Sounds good to me," Fida responded to Glenn's suggestion, noting the orange light that washed over the city, casting long shadows, she would love to explore the city at night.


Stel:

OOC: LIFE I SAYS, LIFE! Sorry for taking this long to reply. Been busy with real life and with At the End of the Wilderness stuff (prologue 2 is taking way too long to write x-x)

Also, cue nameless cameos of old characters!

BIC:

"It's settled then. Let's go."

As the group proceeded down the road, it wasn't difficult at all for them to recognize the PokéMon Center - A large building with a red roof, the traditional PokéBall emblem emblazoned on it. Both inside and outside the structure, PokéMon and their trainers were omnipresent. As they approached the door, it automatically swung open and out burst a red-haired girl in a black and blue outfit, muttering a stream of vaguely Celtic obscenities under her breath while her PokéDex - an older Kanto model - was beeping madly. The girl was so wrapped up in her frustration that she almost bumped into Glenn.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that." she paused for a moment and apologized in a low-register mildly-accented voice "This city, I'm telling you. If it's not the reporters, it's the schoolkids. If it's not the schoolkids it's those mascot clowns... Bloody 'ell, with this and my PokéDex flipping out, I don't know what is worse... Can't wait to get to Sandgem."

In response, the girl's PokéDex proceeded to beep sharply and emit several static noises, and in a strained, synthesized voice, chirped that the last Tentacruel was in captivity and the galaxy was at peace.

The girl sighed and shook her head "Technology. Gotta love it. Sorry again."

And with that she was gone as randomly as she appeared. A small musical cue emitted from Glenn's guitar which made him wonder why does he have a strange sense of deja vu. He shook his head at this as he walked into the center, disregarding the incident.

The center was rather standard, even for such a huge city - the only difference that Glenn could notice was its size - it was clearly built to accommodate more people and PokéMon. The main hall had even more seats than normal - many of which were already occupied with assorted trainer types and their PokéMon.

Glenn walked up to the main counter, where one of several virtually-identical, smiling, pink-haired Nurse Joys turned to him.

"Welcome to the Jubilife City PokéMon Center!" the nurse piped in in a bubbly voice, almost unnaturally so. "How may I assist you?"

"Er, yes." Glenn replied "Two things actually. First, I require a room for the night. Second, I... Kinda need directions. I've only just started out my journey, and I don't have much of a travel plan."

"Well, have you considered taking the league challenge?" the nurse chirped. "It's an effective way to travel all over the Sinnoh region, improve yourself and your PokéMon companions..."

"Sure, why not." Glenn interrupted her "What exactly does it involve?"

"It's quite simple, really. Travel around the region, challenging PokéMon gym leaders, defeating them and collecting their badges. Once you've collected eight, you become eligible for participating in the Sinnoh League Tournament." The nurse replied.

"Sounds good to me, really. Does this league thing come with a handbook?" Glenn chuckled.

"As the matter of fact it does." the nurse replied. "If you'll just hand me your PokéDex, I can register you."

"Alright." Glenn replied, handing the nurse his newly-acquired PokéDex. She nodded, sliding the device into a reader slot on a computer behind her. Several lights turned on, and then, there was a beep.

"Done." the Nurse said, picking up the PokéDex from the slot as well as a small booket and a case from a drawer under the desk counter, and handing them over to Glenn. "Welcome to the Sinnoh League Challenge. This is the official League guidebook - hang on to it, it contains, aside from the official rules of the PokéMon league, much information about the Sinnoh region that would prove to be very valuable for a trainer. The other thing is a badge case - specially designed to accomodate the eight badges of the Sinnoh League. On behalf of the PokéMon League, we wish you success in your challenge. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Well, Siegfried might need a checkup... What do you say?"

There was a sharp bass from the guitar, clearly a negative answer.

"I guess not." Glenn nodded "So. About that room?"

"Oh, of course!" the Nurse piped in, handing Glenn a key "Here you go. Second floor, Room 13."

"Thank you." Glenn said, taking the key, nodding.

"Have a nice day!" The nurse chirped again. Her voice was so full of happiness, it seemed completely devoid of any other emotion. Or any personality, for that matter. As he walked away from the counter, Glenn found himself wondering, vaguely, if the good nurse wasn't in fact a robot.

"Well, then. Now to wait for Aria and Fida to finish their business with these... nice people in the white robes and pink dresses." he muttered silently.


Sem:

Fida waited in line patiently as Glenn talked with the nurse about the league and a room.  She had out Tara's PokéDex and was sifting through a list of pokémon native to Sinnoh.  The black and blue PokéDex clashed against the young girl's purple-theme and seemed like it didn't belong at all.

Fida stepped forward as soon as Glenn walked away.  She was barely tall enough to look over the counter.

"Hello, there!  Did you just start on your journey?" Nurse Joy asked with a cocked head and a smile.

"Uhm, hi, and well, not exactly..." Fida uttered.  "I would like a room, please," she asked as she dug into her jacket for her I.D. 

"Did you know your PokéDex is also your I.D.?" the nurse asked as she eyed the device Fida still clutched. 

"Yes I did, but I like to use this," the pony-tailed girl explained as she handed the nurse the card while slipping the electronic encyclopedia into a pocket.

The nurse shrugged and took the card, running it through a scanner, smile ever-present on her face.  "Fida Valens?" she asked as she handed the card back.

"Yes, ma'am," the girl nodded her head.

"You're all set, it's room 14 for you; here's your key."  The pink-haired nursed handed Fida the key.

"Thank you," Fida took hold of the key and stepped away from the counter.  She met  Glenn's gaze and motioned over to the video-phones, letting him know she was making a call.  She walked past a duo of people and their pokémon and sat before on of the blue plastic-clad machines.  Taking hold of the receiver she punched in a number on the large touch-screen.  In only moments the phone began to ring and an image of a ringing green phone popped up on screen .

After only the third ring the green phone vanished and the screen flickered, revealing the interior of a labratory.  A woman's face stared directly at her.  The woman looked to be in her twenties, though Fida knew the woman was actually nearing forty.  She had a smooth yet strong face, with dark brown eyes.  She had a fine head of straight black hair with highlights of red and light brown.  Fida saw her wearing a red top under her white lab coat.

"Oh, hello, Fida." the woman greeted with a smile.  "You too, Elvia, wherever you are."

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Aquais," Fida said politely.

"Where are you?"

"I'm in Jubilife right now.  We met some nice people in Sandgem this morning and we traveled together," Fida explained.

"Oh, that sounds nice.  How did you meet them?" Mrs. Aquais smiled.

"Well, that's the thing...  Magnemite kinda freaked out and started spinning around one of them.  It was kinda embarrassing..." Fida looked away from the screen.

"Your magnemite?  That's strange, that one is always really mellow..."

"Yeah," Fida nodded.  "I'm afraid to let him out again."

"I could send over that one's companion," the woman suggested.

"That could work," the girl agreed.

"All right, just a minute."  Mrs. Aquais got up from the chair she sat in and went off-screen.

Indeed, after just a minute the transfer device that was connected to the phone sparked to life, shining bright with white energy.  After the beam had gone a simple pokéball was left.  Fida smiled a bit and grabbed the ball, keeping it in her hand.

"Got it?" the woman asked as she leaned over the chair.

"Yes, thank you," Fida bowed her head.  "I'll call again soon; tell Sem and Mr. Aquais I said hi."

"Alright, be safe."  With that the screen blanked out and returned to the menu.

Fida stood up and pulled out the timer ball as she approached Glenn once more.  She released both pokémon at the same time and watched as the energies formed into identical shapes.  Two magnemite now hovered before her.  They turned and blinked at one another in a robotic fashion, exchanging some for of speech that was a mixture of beeps and buzzes and syllables of their own species name.  To Fida's relief, her magnemite seemed disinterested in Glenn and instead more interested in its companion.

"There," Fida stated to Glenn.  "Now I can still get used to him and he won't bother you," she smiled softly. 


Dwayna:

OOC: Blargh, sorry for taking so long. Just been a bit uninspired lately. Hope that this is sufficient. ^^;

BIC:

Aria was the last one to approach the counter and stare up at the smiling face of Nurse Joy. Aria gazed at her curiously, after overhearing her strange voice. She wondered to herself if this one was even human...

"Hello there!" The Nurse chirped cheerily, bringing Aria out of her stupor. "How may I assist you?"

"I'm with those two, so I'll need a room for the night, and I'd like for my PokeMon to be healed." Aria said all of this very quickly and matter of factly.

"I'd be happy to assist you with that." The Nurse smiled then, and it seemed fake somehow... mechanical. Shivers went down Aria's spine, and she reluctantly handed over her PokeBall with Ferny in it, and returned Seamus to his own PokeBall to do the same. She also handed Aria a key with the number 15 etched onto it. Aria simply nodded as if to say thanks, then seemingly forced her mouth open to ask a question, as if not really wanting to.

"I also overheard something about the Sinnoh League?" Aria was never very good at paying attention to long explantion speeches. She found them quite boring usually... But this one, she thought, might be interesting.

"The Sinnoh League is an effective way to travel all over the Sinnoh region, improve yourself and your PokéMon companions... It's quite simple, really. Travel around the region, challenging PokéMon gym leaders, defeating them and collecting their badges." The Nurse relayed this infromation back to Aria in slow-but-still-cheery tones, as if somehow understanding that she needed to capture Aria's attention.

"Once you've collected eight, you become eligible for participating in the Sinnoh League Tournament. If you'll just hand me your PokéDex, I can register you." She smiled that mechanical smile again, and Aria was again reluctant in handing the device over to the Nurse. The fact that she seemed almost robotic in nature creeped Aria out, and considering her insanity, that was certainly something to note. The Nurse slid the device into a reader slot on a computer behind her. Several lights turned on, and then there was a beep similar to the one when Glenn had his registered.

"Done." The Nurse confirmed, picking up the PokéDex from the slot and handing it back to Aria, along with a as well as a case from a drawer under the desk counter. "Welcome to the Sinnoh League Challenge. This thing is a badge case - specially designed to accommodate the eight badges of the Sinnoh League. On behalf of the PokéMon League, we wish you success in your challenge. Would you like the official League guidebook as well?"

Aria simply shook her head, thinking that Glenn would simply help her with that, and turned on her heel towards the direction in which Glenn and Fida had walked off. The Nurse called back something about having a nice day, but that only caused Aria to walk away faster. She obviously didn't want to talk to the Nurse any longer, and as she looked towards Glenn, a slight sense of fear glimpsed beneath her usual calm mask. Her amber eyes flicked back towards the Nurse, then fearfully back at Glenn, as if hinting towards what Aria thought about the Nurse being human.

She didn't want to say anything on the subject aloud for fear of the Nurse overhearing. Even if she seemed like she was out of earshot.


Stel:

OOC: Yeah. So far I'm the one that holds this damn RP up more than everyone else. x-x

BIC:

As he waited for his new companions to finish their business, Glenn took time to observe the area around him, taking in the sights of the trainers and the PokéMon. At one table, a black-haired girl with blue highlights in her hair was having a lively conversation with a dark-brown haired boy in a trenchcoat. A small mothlike creature was fluttering around the girl's head with two pairs of wings - a Masquerain. Regally sitting by the boy's side was an elegant-looking white creature with a scythe-like horn projecting from the side of its head - an Absol, who was surveying the Masquerain with a look of mild curiosity. A tall, pale, brown haired-girl with glasses was sat at another table, reading a book and toying with a peculiar-looking PokéBall, while at the table next to her, a white-haired androgynous-looking trainer with the looks of a martial artist had his - or her - eyes locked with those of an avian fighting-type - a Blaziken - Both trainer and PokéMon appearing to be engaged in some kind of meditation.

As he turned his eyes away from the tables, his eyes met Fida's - who signaled him that she was going to make a phone call. He nodded in her direction and smiled a little as she walked away. There was definitely something unusual about the girl - she definitely seemed well-travelled for what seemed to be her age - but Glenn was not the sort to pry. If his new companions would choose to tell him anything lately, he will be there to listen.

His eyes caught someone else's gaze - his other new companion, Aria. The gaze she shot him seemed almost terrified - and he knew it had to be about the almost robotic nurse. He returned Aria's gaze with one that could only mean "My thoughts exactly." and a light shudder, and proceeded to smile reassuringly. Shortly after, Fida returned, two Magnemites in tow - locked in orbit around each other.

"There, Now I can still get used to him and he won't bother you," she said with a soft smile, and he smiled back and nodded.

"Right we are then." Glenn nodded "We have a place to stay tonight, and I think we have a travelling direction. I'm not sure what you want to do right now, but I'm personally planning to head to the PokéMart and stock up on some supplies. You know. Antidotes, potions, the like. You can never know what we might run into out there. I want to pick up some navigation equipment too. What do you want to do?"


Dwayna:

OOC: I extended the post as much as I could, thinking about how Aria would react to everything... I am having WAY too much fun with this character.

BIC:

Aria was relieved to find out that Glenn returned the sentiment about the Nurse, judging by the look he gave her in return. Fida came back shortly afterwards, with two Magnemite floating around her head, more interested in each other than in Glenn. Awfully clever of her... Aria speculated to herself, This child does seem to have a lot of experience under her belt...

Amber eyes turned to gaze around at the rest of the room around them, observing other people and their PokéMon, seeing how experienced they were, and feeling almost inferior to them for several moments. A Masquerain, an Absol, and a Blaziken, and all she had was a small flaming monkey and a silly bird. But then, she reminded herself that she would be training to become as powerful as they seemed to be, and smiled her insane smile at the thought of that kind of power at her fingertips. However, if anything, Aria was loyal to her friends, and as such would never do anything to hurt them. She would stay on their side, fighting whatever opposed them or stood in their way.

Aria snapped out of her stupor and turned her attention back to Glenn, as he was now speaking, and she had accepted him as the leader of their trio. Leaders always had something important to say, and followers were meant to listen. She took this very seriously, perhaps as another example of her insanity, but then again it could keep up her usual calm demeanor that she masked so well. He mentioned going to the PokéMart to stock up on supplies, and as she cared about her PokéMon, she had to agree.

"I think I'd really like to come with you to the PokéMart to stock up on supplies as well. It would be good to have them on hand just in case." She nodded slightly as if to affirm her sanity on making this decision. Briefly she speculated if Fida would make the same decision, as she was curious about the girl. But then, Aria was curious about everyone at first, so it was really no surprise.

"You have the only guidebook among us, so it would be appropriate if you got the navigation equipment, too." Wherever you go, I'll follow, leader. She smiled softly, almost seeming sane for a moment, even if she knew she didn't need to bother hiding her insanity anymore.

Plus, just being in the presence of the seemingly robotic Nurse was effecting her so much that she would follow anyone out of this place.


Sem:

Fida listened at Glenn's suggestion.  It was a smart idea and certainly one of the first things any trainer should do.  Fida herself had done the same, although she found herself having no need of them for quite some time now due to a certain addition on her team.

"Sounds good," she nodded once.  She could just tell them that they would have no need for such items if she was going to be with them for a while, but things happen.  They might decide to separate or she might not be around when needed, or said pokémon would be unable to assist.  Lot's of different situations were possible, so better to be prepared she supposed.


Stel:

OOC: Minor auto to get us moving.

"Alright, then." Glenn smiled. "This won't take too long - I'm assuming that by the time we'll be back, the fine medical staff here will finish patching Aria's PokéMon up."

~*~

It was not too long after that the three trainers made it to the PokéMart - it was only a short walk away from the center, and was easily recognizable.

It was even more easily recognizable now by a small commotion going on just in front of it - Where on the broad sidewalk, a small crowd of onlooking trainers - schoolkids around 10 years of age, the lot of them - were standing in a loose circle and cheering two battling trainers on. A rather nondescript looking blond boy with horn-rimmed glasses and a freckled girl with curly brown hair done in pigtails were yelling orders at their PokéMon - a blue, penguin-like creature which Glenn recognized from the lab as being a Piplup, and a small, fluffy, brown rabbit-like biped.

By the time the trainers got close enough to see the battle in more detail, one of the trainers - the boy - has already won. It was clear, however, that the circle wasn't dispersing, even as the losing trainer withdrew her beaten PokéMon - the rabbitlike creature - and ran off towards the PokéMon center, barely containing her tears.

"Hahah! Did you see that? Another one, Tux! We rule! Yeah! No one can take us on! None of you are a challenge! I can take on anyone that walks by!" the kid called out to the other children in the circle. His voice dripped with arrogance and overconfidence, and the high-pitched, snobby replying squeak from his Piplup was just as obnoxious.

Glenn shrugged to himself. He would have ignored the little braggart, but then, something happened.

"Hey!" the Kid called out to him. "You! With the guitar! You look weak enough - C'mon, I'll take you on! Unless you're chicken?"

The trainer spun on his heels, glaring into the circle at the kid and his PokéMon. It wasn't the challenge that drew him, but the sheer arrogance in the voice.

Glenn nodded to his companions for a moment. "This will only take a moment." he sighed, walking over to the circle, eying the still-gloating challenger.

"Excuse me," he said to one of the kids, who moved aside to allow him to pass. Glenn looked down at the child - he knew that age had nothing to do with experience, but this was so obviously an overconfident beginner, that he felt obliged by all laws of nature to give him a proper fight.

"Sure, I'll battle you." he replied calmly "What's your name?"
"Hah! You want to know who to bow down to when Tux the Invincible will wipe the floor with your PokéMon?" the kid grinned, and the Piplup chirped in that "Damn right!" sort of tone that made Glenn's leg twitch with the beginnings of a kick reflex. "The name's Billy, and I'm the best battler that's ever been! I just destroyed every one in my class, and I'll destroy YOU too!"
"Technically, you just stood there doing nothing but barking orders while your partner did all the work." Glenn replied dryly.
The kid positively seethed at this comment.
"You going to stand here and yak or send out your PokéMon and get your ass handed to you?"
"Don't count your Torchics before they hatch, Billy." Glenn replied. "Let's do this."

"Okay, Tux, walk all over him!" Billy cried out, and the Piplup jumped up, shaking its head and gazed at the trainer pompously.

Glenn smirked.

"Alright, Siegfried. Let's Rock."

A series of haunting notes emitted from the guitar as a strand of living blue and orange electricity flowed out of the guitar case, cackling, sending small sparks in all directions. Soon enough the string detached from the guitar completely and coalesced into the Rotom's form. The electric ghost shot an evil grin to the Piplup... And within a moment, it charged, mouth opening wide, exposing rows of razor-sharp white teeth, with a screech that sounded electronically synthesized - like an old modem. The penguin squeaked, the abruptness of the attack knocking it off its feet. The Rotom cackled, pausing a mere centimeter ahead of the Piplup, pelting the creature with a few small sparks as it cackled.

The Piplup's trainer was furious at being caught off-guard but grinned confidently "You can't even control your own PokéMon! Hah, this will be easier than I thought! Okay, Tux, give it a pound!"

Glenn could not help but facepalm.

The Penguin PokéMon took off the ground with a jump and prepared to crash down, feet first, onto the thing that scared it so much. "Payback!" was going through the bird's mind - but the thought dissipated quickly when the bird's feet simply went through the creature, and a jolt of pain shot up its legs as it realized - too late - that attempting to rush a mass of living electricity was not a good idea when you're a water type.

The Rotom cackled again, its body emitting a Thunder Wave attack that coursed through the Piplup's body, knocking it away powerfully. The Piplup staggered to its feet, shaking lightly, sparks flying along points of its body.

"So that's how you wanna play it?" Billy yelled "Okay, Tux. Use Bubble attack!"

"Siegfried, stop playing with it - use Thundershock!" Glenn pointed at the Piplup, and the Rotom cackled again, shooting Glenn a small gaze that was dripping with "Awww. But I love torturing the little guy!" Glenn couldn't help but return an amused grin.

It was then that the Piplup reared up, launching a stream of bubbles from its beak in the Rotom's direction. Several bubbles hit the ghost-type's back, sizzling slightly against its electric field.

That did it. This thing needed to be put out of its misery.

With a howl like a generator, the Rotom entered a rapid spin, twin tendrils of lightning aura emerging from its sides arcing around it like a pair of blades. The Rotom's spinning drew faster and faster, more and more electricity being generated and pumped to these new appendages as the creature charged forward - still spinning, electric blades swirling, slicing through the bubbles and lashing through the Piplup, one after another, sending sparks all around. Slowly the spin slowed to a stop and the tendrils retracted, shrinking to their more typical length, as the Rotom floated away back towards the trainer, leaving a slightly charred - and obviously in need of a few weeks of therapy - Piplup behind it.

Billy just stood there, eyes widened. He couldn't believe this happened to him. This battle was over before it even started! He did the same things he did before, the same things that helped him beat every single kid in his class before, and they barely even fazed the opponent.

"You cheated!" the kid cried out, shaking his fist furiously at Glenn "Your PokéMon's an electric-type, right? There's no way Tux couldn't hit it with a Pound attack!"

"Siegfried's a Rotom." Glenn replied "He's part ghost-type. Ghost-types are immune to Normal attacks. Honestly, what do they teach you in that school of yours?"

"Hmph!" the kid emitted a whine, stomping the curb with a foot "I'm not listening to you! You're a big mean stinky cheater! C'mon, Tux! Let's go!" The kid returned the fallen Piplup to a PokéBall and walked away in the general direction of the PokéMon Center, attempting to keep a look of dignity and failing altogether.

"Wow. Sore loser." Glenn muttered, then turned to the Rotom. "Great job out there, Siegfried. Sure taught this kid a lesson in humility."

The Rotom grinned a toothy grin at its trainer, as if to point out that it enjoyed this, and within moments it was a stream of electricity again, flowing back into the guitar case and playing a short victory ditty to the cheers of the circle of schoolkids. Glenn walked out of the circle, taking a little bow, and rejoined his companions as the circle dispersed.

"Honestly, kids these days." he muttered, blushing lightly as he remembered one of his companions was not much younger than Billy "Er, no offense, Fida."

~*~

A matter of minutes later, Glenn and his companions walked into the PokéMart - and it was clear that he drew several looks. Some of the patrons were watching the battles outside for a while. The trainer chuckled nervously as he proceeded to browse the shelves. He had more than enough money on him - he made sure of that when he left. Certainly enough to get what he needed.

He shortly located what he was looking for - a first-aid kit that contained several status-ailment cures and a few potions bundled up conveniently together, and an electronic, satellite-tracking 'Town Map'. He approached the clerk and paid for his purchases quietly, waiting for the others to make their own purchases, studying the Town Map as he did, getting a feel for the layout of the Sinnoh Region. If he was to lead the way, he wanted to know where he was going.


Dwayna:

Aria saw the small group of children outside the PokéMart, her attention drawn to the cocky child in particular. She let her smile slip for s second, glaring at the boy, and his pompous little penguin, too. She mentally thanked herself for not choosing to have a PokéMon like that. They would've kept moving, if not for the boy challenging Glenn on sight.

Amber eyes watched, almost in completely insane glee, as Glenn whirled around, giving the child the same glare that had not been on her own face too long ago. She felt her chest almost swell with pride towards her leader, as he told them that he would only be a moment. Aria smiled her insane smile and looked on in anticipation, knowing the cocky child would soon get his due.

The banter before the battle was aesthetically pleasing, and it was all Aria could do but not to throw her arms around Glenn in a hug. She was proud of him, proud for reacting the way he did towards the whole situation. She felt herself smirk with him as he called Siegfried into action. This was going to be almost too easy, but Aria didn't seem to care about that one bit. Her eyes were only for the battle.

Siegfried immediately started off with an Astonish, and how appropriate because that was exactly the reaction it got from both trainer and Piplup. The trainer, assuming little spoiled brat he was, was stupid enough to try to retaliate with a Pound attack. Aria let out a small 'tsk' and chuckled softly, watching the Piplup, and smiling as the attack dissolved right through, like she had expected. Ghost types were fun little creatures.

The Penguin was shocked back by an impressive Thunder Wave, the small water penguin effected greatly by it's weakness. She heard that it would be using Bubble, and raised her eyebrows in surprise, as if she didn't believe that it was really that strong, not with what Siegfried could do to it. She watched the electric ghost smile at it trainer, playfully disappointed that Glenn wanted it to stop playing with the penguin and just get it over with.

It was then that the Bubble attack hit, and the Rotom turned back towards the Piplup in a swirling, electrified rage. The Thundershock hit the water type, and it was easily downed. As the spoiled brat remarked about Glenn must have cheated, and Glenn gave his confident, truthful reply, Aria couldn't help but to grin with pride.

The kid plodded off towards the PokéMon Center in dismay, and she seemed a bit bemused at the fact that he would soon face the horror within as well. She cheered along with the school kids afterwards, showing her pride and admiration in her gaze towards Glenn.

***

Shortly afterwards they walked into the PokéMart, and she browsed the shelves with Glenn, noticing the looks towards him that people were giving. The pride had not worn from her face just yet, so she displayed that to the people inside as she followed her leader.

She looked around beside where he had found his kit, and picked up another one of her own. She had plenty of money with her, as her mother had made sure of that before she left. Inwardly she drew a sneer at the thought of her mother, but all the same, she picked up the kit and bought it. Now her PokéMon would be safe for the first leg of the journey at least, and this brought another genuine smile to her face.

Quietly, she peered over Glenn's shoulder slightly to study the map herself, pushing crimson locks of hair out of her eyes. The Sinnoh Region was large, perhaps daunting to some, but not to Aria. She smiled at the thought of each new companion that she could meet along the way, and waited silently beside her leader as Fida finished up her business too.


Sem:

Fida stood with Aria as the battle began to play out.  She looked on intently, wishing that Glenn would indeed silence the boy. (Through not in the killing sense of the word.)

She blended in rather well with the crowd of young children,  except for the fact that she had two magnemite orbiting her in perfect sync with each other.

The girl had no idea whether or not Glenn had battled before, but he won as she thought he would.  He didn't just have a type-advantage but also a level-head, which couldn't be said for Bill.

"Good job," she congratulated him as he returned to his posse, taking no offense at all to his comment about kids these days.

-------

Once inside Fida simply browsed the isles since she was in no major need for anything.  She would have bought a map-chip for her PokéGear had she not already been provided one.

Instead she took a look at several brochures at the check-out counter.  Several of them advertised many of the arenas in the city.  Others for various attractions in Jubilife, one in particular seemed to be about tracking down clowns in order to win a free Pokétch.  Another pamphlet advertised the Sinnoh Gym Challenge, the challenge all trainers had to take in order to participate in the Sinnoh league.

She took one, touching the crinkled corners, considering whether or not she even wanted to take the challenge.  Her initial mission for coming to Sinnoh could no longer be pursued do to certain circumstances.  She was going to be focused on training, so battling gym leaders would certainly grant plenty of experience.

"Well, why not, Elvia?" she shrugged.  "Let's do it."  Fida felt a warm feeling from Elvia in response.

She slipped the brochure into her bag and looked up, seeing that Glenn and Aria were waiting for her.

"Oh, I'm ready," she grinned sheepishly.


Stel:

OOC: Short post. Does anyone want to do anything before we call it a night and fast forward to the morning?

"Well, then." Glenn smiled, folding the town map and turning his eyes back to his companions. "I did a bit of a check - since Aria and I are taking the gym challenge it seems our next destination should be Oreburgh. It's to the east of here - if this little gadget is reliable, if we head out in a decent time tomorrow, we could make it there by afternoon, maybe early evening - depends on when we leave."

He stretched.

"So... What do you guys want to do now? We still have some time to check this city out, I think. Although we probably should go and pick up Aria's PokéMon first." He gave a slight twitch and a little shifty-eyed expression to Aria "I don't think we want them scarred for life by the Cybernurse."


Dwayna:

OOC: I can't think of anything I want to do, so I'll go right ahead and fast forward.

Aria kept her amber gaze on Glenn, listening to what he had to say. Oreburgh would be the next destination, which meant more traveling, and from what Aria had seen, taking a detour through a mountain. The thrill of adventure struck her again and caused her little insane grin to appear back on her face for a moment, before he mentioned going back to the PokéMon Center.

Her amber eyes filled with horror and fear at the thought of having to be in the presence of the Cybernurse - as Glenn so aptly put it - again. But he was right, her PokéMon needed to be saved from the nurse in question before permanent damage was caused by just being in her terrifying presence.

"I agree, Glenn. We should go back to the Center to collect my PokéMon, at least. However, I cannot think of anything else I'd like to do for the day." She said all with some reluctance, which under the circumstances was completely understandable. She would be spending the night in the same building as that horrible creature.

Shivers went down her spine at the thought of it, and she speculated that she probably wasn't going to be getting much sleep at all.

***

After they had gotten back to the PokéMon Center, Aria had stammered out her request for her PokéMon to be returned to her, being met with the mechanical grin again in response as the nurse returned her PokéBalls. She took them quickly and rushed to Room 15, where she would be staying the night.

She found the room in question and unlocked the door frantically, taking her key with her as she rushed into the room. She quietly closed and locked the door behind her, as if trying to appear calm otherwise, not wanting to alert the nurse anymore then she had to.

She took a deep breath and settled herself on the edge of the bed. The room was plain in color, an egg white that reminded Aria of the Chansey that often worked in these places alongside the nurse. She pulled her face into one of remorse for any PokéMon that had to work with that monstrosity, and moved on looking around the room.

The floor was a yellowish color and looked very smooth, and it was much like the rest of the floor in the Center, causing her to wonder if all of the floor was like this. The bed she sat on was covered in plain white sheets, save for a band of pink near the top and bottom. A fluffed pillow rest at the top of her bed, and she placed her backpack on the nearby bedside table.

Lastly, she let her PokéMon out of their PokéBalls momentarily. She looked at them, and they looked somewhat fearful as well, but once they saw Aria they calmed down. She smiled at her fire monkey and silly bird, and returned Ferny to his PokéBall, keeping Seamus out of his. She got dressed for bed and slipped under the covers, hugging the bird tight to her body as she rested back.

The last thing she thought about before she fell asleep was that she was glad she had friends to look out for her, especially now that she would be sleeping in a place with a monstrous being in charge.


Sem:

OOC: Field trip!  Character development ftw.

The day passed into evening and evening into night.  They had returned to the center a few hours before and gone off to their respective rooms. 

Fida was laying on her bed stomach-down sifting through Tara's PokéDex once more, looking up attacks for her pokémon in order to see what else she could train them to use.  She had gotten back from eating only a few minutes prior, finding a good free meal at the center's own cafeteria.

The girl pressed a button on the device, bringing up the owner's information.  She sighed, gazing at Tara's beautiful face and her sapphire eyes.  Fida scrolled down to the listed address.

"We leave tomorrow," she said aloud to Elvia, who hovered right beside her being the guard of the palace.  Fida rolled to her side to see her friend.  "We won't get another chance very soon."

The mage pokémon nodded her head, watching as Fida sprung up, gathered a sweater and slipped into her shoes.

"Let's go," Fida nodded, reaching out a hand to Elvia.  She walked straight to the wall of the room that faced the outside world and phased right through it. 

She breathed in the crisp night air and set down the street.  She made good time, able to use Elvia to cut down on time walking by taking shortcuts.  No one paid her any mind as she traversed the city.  After perhaps an hour the tall buildings had diminished, leaving her in residential areas.

Another half an hour and she turned onto Tara's street.  She passed the houses slowly, waiting for the house with the correct address to appear.  She looked on either side of the street, stopping only to gaze curiously at a light yellow house before moving on.

Not long after that she finally got to the right address, which was that of a blue house with a white-fence.  It looked completely abandoned, the lawn looked like it was being kept, but not nearly as often as needed; it reached half-way up Fida's shins.

"Here we are..." Fida looked at the house.  Despite its abandoned state, it wasn't uninviting or imposing, just sad.  She touched the door-knob of the front door carefully.  After letting go she and Elvia phased through the door and into the house.

It was completely empty, and had been for sometime.  A good layer of dust covered all flat surfaces and all curtains and blinds were shut.  Fida began exploring the house, looking at all the empty rooms as if expecting to find something.

Elvia followed silently along, sensing for feelings and emotions within the walls.  Almost all of them were quite happy, and even some glimpses of memories played through the mismagius' mind, which she also showed Fida.

When the silver-blonde girl walked into one of the rooms she didn't even need Elvia to know that it had been Tara's room.  The painted blue walls seemed to tell her that on their own.  The girl went to her knees and sat silently.  She took out the PokéDex in her pocket, wanting very much to leave it in the room, but she decided against it, figuring Tara would want her to keep it.

After about fifteen minutes Fida decided to leave.  Elvia took some glimpses at the very latest emotions and feelings that the house could offer, but found that they were only of fear and sorrow, as well as a faint feeling of apathy.

With a last glimpse at the house Fida turned away back down the street.  She feel asleep as soon as she returned to the center.


Stel:

The three of them just returned to the Center, neither seeming particularly inclined to explore the city any more than they already have - which suited him just fine. Jubilife was a bit too big and noisy, even for him. Already as they were approaching the center, he could feel the ominous atmosphere thickening as the boy he battled earlier crossed their path. The boy did not give them a second look - his face was pale, his gaze was fixated at the ground, he was clenching his PokéBall tightly, and he was walking as fast as he could, far away as he could from the PokéMon Center.

Glenn gave a bit of a nervous twitch. Something was definitely wrong with that nurse.

~*~

As soon as they walked into the center, Aria split off from the group to take her PokéMon back, and as soon as she had her PokéBalls, she rushed off to her room. He could almost feel the waves of paranoia from the red-haired girl even as she left the lobby. Shooting a quick sideway glance, he noticed the nurse return to her duties - seemingly unfazed, mechanical as ever. Come to think of it, he didn't think he saw her blink even once...

He dismissed the thought with a shake of his head. Maybe the clever buggers at Silph or Devon or whatever finally managed to make one of those Emergency Medical Holoprograms that were all the rage on TV sci-fi and were testing it out here in hopes no one would notice.

Siegfried did not need a checkup this time either - whatever mild damage the bubbles did to his electric field, he could regenerate on his own. Or at least, that's what Glenn understood from it. With that in mind, he decided to head for his own room and settle down for a bit.

~*~

"Well, then." Glenn stretched as he set his guitar case on the bed, settling into Room 13. He was a bit surprised at the design - This room was dominated by an egg-white color, with a smooth yellow floor, similar to that of the entire center, and a pink band along the sheets that made him raise an eyebrow.

"Definitely not my color." he muttered, managing a little chuckle.

Unzipping the front compartment of his guitar case - which doubled as a backpack - Glenn surveyed his equipment, just to make sure he did pack everything for this journey. Being prepared for eventualities was never bad - as his father often said, who knows when you'll end up marooned on some god-forsaken island, surrounded by rabid man-eating Magikarp, with no way to reach civilization until you fix your boat.

Even though he'd be more worried about getting trapped in a blizzard on some godforsaken mountain and having to fend off ravenous packs of Sneasel in this region, the sentiment was still there.

He had his basic survival gear - tent, sleeping bag, the works - packed conveniently into item capsules (as most large items geared for travel were). He had his league guidebook and his town map for navigation, his first-aid kit and the medicine kit he got in the PokéMart for emergencies, and a change of clothes or two for the hell of it. Definitely enough to survive out there for a while.

As far as food rations went, he carried a small box full of home-made cereal and berry bars that preserved for a long time and were very filling and energizing. His father taught him how to make these things from readily available ingredients long ago - so there was no need to worry if he ran out. There were plenty around to share, as well.

And speaking of food, dinner felt like it could be a good idea. Followed by some sleep.

~*~

After a nice dinner down at the PokéMon Center's diner wing, changing into pajamas and setting his clothes in the combination washer-dryer-folder machine that all PokéMon Center rooms had, Glenn slinked off to bed with the league guidebook, leafing through it. The rules and regulations of league battles seemed to be pretty standard - what he was more interested in was the challenges up ahead. Sinnoh was extremely diverse on the climate front, and had various routes that passed through all sorts of environments - from snowy mountains to marshes, from meteor craters to the shores of the great ocean. The guidebook did not reveal much about the gyms - to keep it challenging - but it did have their locations, the badges they gave out and small images of their leaders. The first gym they had to handle was supposedly a rock-type gym - which could spell trouble. Many rock-types had ground-type characteristics, and Siegfried was electric-type. Sure, he could levitate off the ground - but his better moves would still be ineffectual.

He shot a look to the Rotom. Siegfried was already sleeping - if you could call what the Rotom did 'sleep'. 'Recharging' would have been a better term - the electric ghost was floating over the guitar case - which was now resting in the corner of the room - its 'eyes' closed, its body spinning while its lightning aura flickered softly, emitting a soft, dynamo-like hum. To an outside onlooker, he would look like a strange floating orange object surrounded by a soft glow.

He smiled, replaying the events of the day through his head - definitely not what you'd call a typical first day for a trainer. The thought made him smile even wider - regardless of potential disadvantage, he trusted in his partner. Siegfried will pull through.

As his eyes closed, his thoughts drifted, briefly, back to that nurse. He wondered, briefly, if her kind ever went to sleep, and if it did, did they dream of Mareep?

~*~

He woke up early the next morning - well, not ridiculously early, but early enough to have time to take a nice shower before changing back into his clothes and head out to the diner wing to catch some breakfast - he assumed that the others will want some too. It was going to be a long day of walking, after all. He picked up some breakfast (some type of very fluffy pancakes which came with some kind of berry syrup and a cup of cinnamon-spiced coffee) and found himself an empty table, settling down and putting
his guitar case on the floor beside him. He was hoping today will be as interesting as he thought.


Dwayna:

"STARLY!"

Amber eyes flew open, horrified and seeping with terror, pale arms gripping the bird as she looked around the room frantically. No sign of the cybernurse, but daylight was creeping through the blinds of her window. She took a great sigh of relief, and looked at the bird on her chest. It looked pleased with itself, and she couldn't help but grin at the bird as she slowly became more aware of her surroundings.

"Thank you, Seamus." She managed to mumble this tiredly and stretched, sliding out from under the covers. She picked up her backpack and brought it into the bathroom with her, which seemed a bit peculiar at first. She took her shower and got dressed, but it was a different outfit this time. For aria, it was actually kind of shocking.

She had slid on a nice, white t-shirt, that was mostly plain white, except for a grey, intricate flower design that ran down her front right side. Flowers surrounded by smaller flowers and leaves, near the bottom trailing off into stems and finally, another flower. Instead of her black pants, she now wore plain, denim jeans, held up by a black belt with a silver clasp and silver studs lining the sides.

Finally, she slid on her black boots and her backpack, returned Seamus to his PokéBall for the moment, and walked her way into the diner hall. In this outfit, her movements seemed more fluid, her blood red hair flowing down around her face and shoulders. Her amber eyes seemed to burn with fire even though she felt like hell from the little sleep that she had.

She picked up some of the very fluffy pancakes and made her own drink, a tea concoction that seemed to be a metaphor for the kind of person she was. As hot as her temper, spicy like her personality, sweetened with sugar (like all the sweet little masks she put on for people), yet still retaining it's unique taste (and she was a unique person).

She scanned the room and spotted Glenn right away, what with his guitar case. She walked on over, a small smile on her face as she slid into the seat across from him. She gave him a small smile, her amber orbs for eyes drooping slightly with how tired she was.

"Good morning." She managed this tiredly, before digging into her meal. Her eyes closed as she savored the food and drink, having her breakfast in silence. Vaguely she thought about the exciting day ahead of them and smiled again, breathing in the scent of her tea before sipping at it. She looked back towards Glenn through her eyelashes, vaguely wondering what he was thinking about, if anything. She wondered about what sorts of things they would be seeing together. He would probably be giving her the information about everything soon, along with Fida, whenever she woke up.

Secretly, she also hoped the nurse in Oreburgh wouldn't be nearly as frightening as this one.


Sem:

Fida stood at her window, staring at the white sun as it rose into the gray sky.  Her hair dripped as she dried it with a towel, already she was in her clothes for the day; some dark blue jeans like the day before and a violet shirt with lighter purple swirl-patterns.

She tied her silvery blonde hair into a single ponytail and grabbed the rest of her things, checking the room one last time before exiting and heading down for some breakfast. 

She had risen a bit early so she could register herself with the league.  She went up to the nurse, who everyone seemed terrified of.

"Good morning," the girl greeted as she approached the counter. 

"Good morning!" the nurse replied cheerily.  Her pink hair was in the usual style for nurses and looked perfect, almost like plastic.  The smile stretched across her face and her eyes looked warmly at Fida.

"I'd like to register for the league," Fida addressed as she brought out her ID once more.

"Oh, changed your mind?  That's great," the nurse chirped, cocking her head and taking the identification of Fida Valens.

After a few moments of typing the laminated card was returned with another grin.  "Welcome to the Sinnoh League."

"Thank you," Fida bowed her head.  With a wave she walked off for some food.

The small girl navigated quickly through the room and the line, picking up her food and silently walking off, looking around for her companions.  Of course, Aria's fiery mane of red hair and very hard to miss.  Fida smiled and went off towards the table, quietly sliding into a seat.

"Good morning," she said as she took a bite of the fruit she had.


Stel:

OOC: PLASTIC! That explains it all. The woman is a Fire Emblem cameo. >>;

Shortly after he arrived, he was joined at the table by Aria. He smiled, greeting her in return - taking note of her change of outfit. It almost seemed out of place on the girl - but at the same time, it seemed to suit her. He noticed the look she was giving him - an inquisitive look which seemed to suggest she was wondering what was on his mind - but he figured he'll wait for Fida to join them and for them to finish eating before going into any significant briefing.

That happened not too long after, as Fida joined them soon. He greeted her in return as well, and the three proceeded to have their breakfast in silence. There was something a bit different about her as well - but it seemed to be more internal than external. He couldn't quite put his fingers on it.

Once they were done, Glenn began.

"So. I did a bit of background checking. Apparently, Route 203 is a bit of a hike - then it heads into a tunnel in the Coronet ridge that emerges right into Oreburgh. Apparently the gym leader is a Rock-type Trainer named Roark. The guide doesn't say much about his team, but just thought I'd let you know. I assume we're ready to leave?"

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

Dwayna:

OOC: Yay for character development. I found writing this post somewhat sad.

BIC:

After they had finished breakfast, Glenn started to speak again, and as always she paid rapt attention. He mentioned having to go through Mt. Coronet, but the notion of having to go into the dark tunnel wasn't what caused the worried look to spread over her face. The first gym was going to be a Rock Type gym, and that meant that with her current team, she had a serious disadvantage.

Her worry progressed as she realized she didn't know much about the sorts of PokéMon lived in the area. So far she was quite knowledgeable about the final evolutions of certain PokéMon, but that's because her father had discreetly taught her some things when her mother wasn't keeping a watchful eye.

Sadness glimpsed momentarily in her amber gaze at the memory of her father. He was a good man, who didn't try to distance her from the world of PokéMon like her mother did. He taught her about some of the PokéMon in the Sinnoh region, but he wasn't able to teach her everything before...

Aria snapped out of her stupor, realizing that she might be worrying her new friends. She managed a small smile again, but by now she realized that they would probably know it to be fake. Her eyes fell downcast to the table, and she closed them in thought, before gazing back up at Glenn with determination.

"I'm ready to go when you are." She had signed up for the challenge and she was going to take it, supposed disadvantage or not. She had confidence that she would probably meet some new partners along the way to Oreburgh that would help her out on the road ahead.

Briefly, before she allowed the thoughts to be buried beneath her mask again, she wondered if her father would be proud of her.


Sem:

There was no talking during the course of everyone's breakfast.  Fida constantly shifted her gaze about the room and she took bites of fruit and bread.

Glenn spoke after everyone was about finished, detailing the plan for getting to Oreburgh and the first gym.  Fida's worry was a bit lessened about the gym when she found out it was a rock-gym.  She had two pokemon with type advantages; though she knew it would take more than that, and of course a gym leader would have a variety of ways around his weaknesses.

So took note of Aria's brief show of emotions, furrowing her brow for but a moment before mentally shrugging it off.

"Sounds good," she smiled and nodded.  "Ready when you are."

OOC: Short post is shoooooooooort


Dwayna:


OOC: Stel told me that he couldn't think up a very long post, so I decided To take up the initiative of setting us on our way down the next route. :3

BIC:

Now that they all agreed that they were ready to go, the trio got up from their table and set off out the door of the PokéMon Center. Aria, for one, was glad to leave it behind, for obvious reasons.

***

They descended the east stairs of Jubilife together to stand at the beginning of Route 203. The rustling of leaves as the winds blew through the trees around them was prominent in their ears. The path in front of them seemed to be lined with trees and greenery, and at the very end loomed the towering Mt. Coronet.

Aria took in the scenery with a smile, and stepped forwards with the group. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement, and she guarded herself as a small figure jumped out in front of her.

The creature was mostly light blue, with large lion cub ears and tufts of hair sticking out around its face. Hints of yellow appeared in its eyes, its ears, in bands at the bases of its front feet, and in a star-like something at the end of its tail. The dark patches of fur were mostly on its backside, but there was a small patch on the front of its neck that looked sort of like a bow tie. Aria pulled out her PokéDex, listening to what it had to say about this creature.

"Shinx," came the female cooing again, "The Flash PokéMon. The extension and contraction of its muscles generates electricity. It glows when in trouble."

An Electric type. Aria thought to herself, mulling it over slightly. Could be very useful later on. Plus, it looks pretty awesome. A slight smirk came to her lips, and she pulled out Ferny's PokéBall, knowing Seamus would be at a disadvantage.

The fire monkey popped out of its PokéBall, and right off the bat it looked a bit frightened by the Shinx. It has Intimidate... Aria mused to herself, knowing that this would affect Ferny's attacking power.

"Leer." she started, and the small lion cub shivered as Ferny glared at it. The Shinx leapt at the Ferny with a Tackle attack, colliding into the monkey and giving Aria the same advantage she had before.

"Scratch." Ferny's claws grazed he furry beast cruelly, and it squeaked as the claws did what looked like critical damage to it. The electric type got back up and tried to tackle Ferny again, this time missing because it was focusing on the wounds that had been inflicted.

Again Ferny scratched the small lion cub, and it called out again in pain, managing to land another hit on the small fire monkey before Aria pulled out a PokéBall, throwing it at the creature to let it disappear into the red light.

Once, twice, and thrice it wobbled, before lying still as the red light in its center went out. Aria collected the PokéBall and put it on her belt for now, knowing the Shinx would probably be in no condition to move beside her at the moment.

She turned back towards her friends and smiled her insane smile before moving forward on the path again. Already, this was turning out to be quite an eventful day.


Stel:

OOC: Slightly uninspired post but it had to happen eventually. >>;

BIC:

After congratulating Aria on her capture of the Shinx, the group continued on, with relatively no incident. Glenn's mind was already on fire planning strategies for dealing with Roark - What manner of PokeMon could he have?  He expected a representative of the Geodude line, possibly and Onix - the formidable rock serpents were a staple of rock-type gym leaders, it seemed. He would have to rely on ghost attacks in this battle - and capturing another PokeMon to back Siegfried up seemed prudent.

The thoughts suddenly came to a grinding halt when the path ended at a large tunnel opening into the mountain. An old, weathered sign with the word "Oreburgh Gate, Through to Oreburgh City." was posted on the top of the massive arch in the rocky wall of the ridge.

With no where to go but in, the three continued on.

~*~

Oreburgh Gate was, for the most part, a natural cave. The most major tunnel within it was artificially reinforced, with small lamps illuminating the way. smaller tunnels branched out to the sides on occasion - some of them blocked off to prevent unwary travelers from falling into pits - others open for trainers to explore. In spite of the artificial enforcement, the tunnel still looked very natural, complete with random rocks and stalactites that were just as protected from collapsing as the tunnel was. It was clear that the people who built this tunnel had much concern for nature.

It was also clear that Siegfried really didn't give a damn, because the moment they walked into the cave, the Rotom began strumming an ominous tune that could have made a fine dungeon theme in the right sort of RPG. You know. The one where the Zubats were six foot tall and craved human flesh.

Suddenly there was a flash, a sharp, piercing wail and what sounded like a electric discharge, and the lights went out, leaving the tunnel in pitch blackness.

"Siegfried, I need you out of the guitar for now." Glenn said, and the Rotom emerged silently, spreading a soft glow all around it. It was quiet. Too quiet.

Then the sounds came. Weak, tired moan-like sounds - the sound of a creature that just took a major blow, and the sounds of hundreds of flapping wings, coupled with weak clangs of metal and the occasional squeak.

"It's coming from over there!" he said, pointing at a side tunnel, and pointing "Siegfried, I need a Thundershock to that direction!"

The Rotom shot his trainer a look of "Why? There's nothing to attack there!", to which the trainer returned a look that meant "I'm attacking the darkness." The Rotom emitted an exhasperated sigh and went into a  rapid spin, charging up enough electricity to launch a bolt of lightning into the tunnel.

There was a flash of light as a dark mass seemed to be thoroughly shocked by the lightning and scatter off. Zubats - a whole pack of them. And they were attacking something.

Glenn nodded at his friends for a moment and dashed into the side tunnel, to observe the creature that was being attacked.

To his utter surprise the creature was nothing he has ever seen in this area - it was a small humanoid creature, covered in yellow fur from head to toe. Its hands and fingers, tipped with sharp claws, seemed to be covered with dark grey, steely scales. It had two small metallic horns, and what appeared to be a huge, mouth-like projection growing out of a third. two halves of a severed electrical cable at the sides of the mouth showed the reason for the creature's state - the creature was obviously paralyzed, bits of its fur were charred and it was covered in little scratches and bites from the Zubats.

"A Mawile... But what is it doing here? I never heard of any Mawile sightings in this area... But anyway, it is badly hurt... I can't just leave it here."

He motioned to Siegfried, who nodded and, using a pair of lightning tendrils, began to piece the torn cable together, using the cable's own electricity to weld its metallic parts. As the lights slowly flickered back on, He turned to the creature.

"If you can hear me, I'm here to help." he said "It would be easier for me to get you to a PokeMon Center if I could be allowed to capture you - if you wish, I'll release you as soon as you are healed. I don't think that staying here in your state is a good idea, in any case."

The creature opened its red eyes and shot a tired gaze to the trainer. It seemed to be contemplating the situation for a moment, before nodding at the trainer.

"I see. Thank you." the trainer said, touching a PokeBall to the Mawile's forehead gently. The creature closed its eyes, the device converting it into red energy and absorbing it. Siegfried, too, returned to the guitar, its job done, emitting a little happy tune.

Returning to his companions, the trainer nodded at them "I'm going on ahead... I want to get through this tunnel as soon as possible. This Mawile needs immediate treatment."

And he took off on a dash towards the main tunnel, the Rotom playing dramatic music as he did. That creature never failed to surprise him...


Sem:

"W-wait!" Fida called after Glenn as he rushed off through the remainder of the tunnel.  She looked back at Aria for a moment before breaking out into a run as well.  The lamps that lined the cave swept passed her, leading her closer to the ever-growing light at the end of the tunnel.

The echoes of her feet faded away as she neared the exit, warm daylight washed over the small girl's form when she broke free from the cavern.  Stopping, she looked out upon the city which was laid out neatly before her.  Oreburgh sat nestled in an arm of Mt. Coronet's large mountain range.  Peaks rose up all around the city, securely holding it in place.  Buildings were scattered, with many plots of bare earth visible, but it was still not a small city by any means.

"Where is it, Elvia?" Fida asked the invisible presence that surrounded her as she searched for the Pokémon Center, holding her hand over her eyes as she did so.  "There!" she gasped, seeing the iconic red roof near the center of the city.  Directly in front of her were steps that led down into the city, which she descended as quickly as she could without tripping.

Her feet crunched on the gravel road as she made her way to the Center, keeping a sharp eye for traffic, which consisted mainly of vehicles for construction.  Large trucks would blow by, filled to the brim with rock and debris.

Fida pursed her lips as she entered the Pokémon Center, whose interior contrasted majorly with the rest of the city.  Looking around she could not locate Glenn and figured that it would be best to wait for him in the front.  Taking a seat in one of the plush couches on the side she waited patiently for his return.


Dwayna:

((OOC: A bit short, but it's to the point, at least.))

Walking through the cave was a bit boring for Aria, until the lights suddenly went out. Her amber eyes seemed to glow a bit in the darkness as her eyes adjusted, soon glimmering back to normal as Siegfried's ethereal glow took over.

Glenn ordered the Rotom to Thundershock the darkness in lieu of something moaning in pain. Aria followed after him down the tunnel, to find a strange creature lying there - one she had never seen in this particular area, but she knew of it. The creature in question was a Mawile, and it looked badly hurt. Why were those Zubats attacking the poor thing?

Aria suspected it had something to do with beasts marking their territory, and Zubats were known to live in caves... So the Mawile might have been considered as an intruder...

Whatever the case, Glenn conversed with the poor thing and it decided to go with him to get patched up at the Pokemon Center in Oreburgh. Aria realized that her recently caught Shinx was in need of help as well (not to mention her regular Pokemon needed some rest), so she quickly ran after him.

...

Coming into Oreburgh, several tall buildings came into view, along with a museum off in the distance and a path that seemed to lead into a cave to the right. closer to the group was the Gym, but Aria knew that at this moment, their eyes were only for the iconic red roof. There would be time for exploring later.

She followed after Glenn closely as her outfit allowed for more fluid strides. She seemed to be very graceful on her feet, even as she ran towards her goal without mind for things to trip on beneath. As the entrance to the Pokemon Center came into view, a shiver ran down her spine in remembrance of the last one.

Sometimes she wished that all Nurse Joys didn't have to look the same.


Stel:

The door to the PokeMon center opened as the trainer rushed in and skidded to a halt by the counter, catching his breath, a little melodic trill emerging from the guitar case on his back. He probably got a few weird looks from the locals, but at that moment, he honestly didn't give a millidamn.

"Yes, how may I help you?" said the local Nurse Joy with a warm tone - making the trainer emit a small sigh of relief. This one, at least, seemed human.

"Mawile. Oreburgh Gate." Still catching his breath, the trainer handed the nurse the PokeBall which contained the Mawile. "It's an emergency. From what I gathered it snapped up a power cable and got a really bad shock - and then got swarmed by Zubats... It was in a pretty bad shape - I got here as soon as I could..."

"It snapped up a power cable?!" the Nurse's eyes widened - and what appeared to be a complete transformation took her - from a helpful nurse who was used to seeing minor nicks and scratches that a typical session in a cell regeneration machine could patch up in no time - to a full blown medical professional handling a life-threatening crisis.

She snatched the PokeBall and ran a small medical scanner against it. Even though Glenn knew very little about the medical equipment of PokeMon centers, he could  definitely understand that the scattered beeping couldn't have meant anything good.

"Magnetic readings are off the scale. Of course." the nurse muttered under her breath "Mr., uh..."

"Hendrix." the trainer said "Glenn Hendrix."

"Mr. Hendrix, I'm afraid that this may take a longer while than you may have expected..."

~*~

... Several moments later...

Now that there was more light than just the Rotom's ethereal glow, he could fully see how badly damaged the Mawile was - through the emergency ward's observation window he watched the creature, out cold, lying on a biobed, a group of medical technicians running scanners and devices against its body. Chanseys ran in and out. It looked like the creature was being prepared for an operation.

"How is it?" he said to the nurse who just emerged from the emergency ward's double doors.
"She." the nurse replied "It's a female."
"I'm sorry. How is she?"
"I'll be honest with you, Mr. Hendrix, it doesn't look good. Fortunately, her steel type protected her from the Zubat poison, so she hasn't lost a lot of blood - but she took some major voltage - a human being taking that voltage for the duration of time she did wouldn't have survived."
"Duration of time?"
"I'm afraid this wasn't a momentary exposure - when she snapped up the cable, the power of the current made her horn-jaws clamp on it and hold the cable for quite a while before it burned itself off. The heat made some of her biometal melt - the horn-jaws pretty much fused together. It'd take us a while to get them separated again - especially with the fact that taking up so much voltage left her biometal magnetized - we need to depolarize her before we can tend to her internal burns and wounds. It's a good thing you got here as fast as you did - Another 10 or 15 minutes and it wouldn't have mattered anymore. We will do what we can."

The nurse nodded and returned to the emergency ward.

Glenn, too, returned to the observation window, his thoughts locked on the Mawile. Whatever was going to happen, he will be there for her as much as he could.


Sem:

Fida sat for a long while, waiting for Glenn to show, but he was quite obviously too worried about the mawile to think of anything else at the moment.

"Think it'll be ok?" Fida asked Aria in an attempt to spark some conversation.  It was glaringly apparent that it was Glenn who was the center of their little triad and that the two seemed less comfortable without him, or Fida felt that way at least; she was rather unsure on what Aria thought of her.

"I'm going to get something to eat," Fida finally said after a while.  She hopped out of her seat and looked for a sign that pointed to the cafeteria.  Once there she grabbed an assortment of fruit, crackers, and cheese for herself, which she nibbled on before decided that it would be a good idea to get some for Glenn.  The young girl was unsure as to what Glenn particularly liked, but figured that everyone likes fruit, crackers, and cheese.

On her way back she stopped by the front desk to check out a room.  While providing her ID it occurred to her that checking one out for Glenn would be considerate, that way he could bypass having to come up front to do so himself whenever he felt fatigued.

"Can I check out a second one for my friend, Glenn?" she asked the nursed up front.  "He's in the back with the mawile."

The nurse pursed her lips for a moment before nodding, "Of course."

After receiving the keys Fida made her way into the back of the medical center.  Upon finding him she asked how the steel-type was doing before giving him the plate of food and slipping the key into his hand.

"Don't worry too much," Fida cautioned.  "You should get some rest; someone'll come get you when there's any news..."

With that Fida went up to her own room so that she could get some rest.


Dwayna:

Aria went up to the counter cautiously, and was pleased to see that this nurse at least seemed more human than the last. She brought out her Pokedex, as it was now like her personal identification. The Nurse took it, and gave it back soon afterwards.

"These two need some rest, the Shinx more so than the Chimchar. It was quite the battle, but don't worry. My Chimchar is not yet powerful enough to cause burns." Aria smiled then, masking her insane personality as always.

She then turned and sat with Fida for a bit. She had yet to decipher what she thought of the girl, but she saw that Fida had taken Glenn as a leader as well. This definitely earned some respect from Aria, though she was still curious. "Think it'll be ok?" the girl asked, no doubt referring to the Mawile.

"I certainly hope so." Aria replied in a compassionate, honest way. She cared for PokeMon very much, sometimes to insane levels. She sighed to herself as Fida walked away to get some food, and followed soon afterwards.

She grabbed up a red apple and picked up some PokeMon food to give to Seamus. the bird ate happily as Aria watched Fida get some extra food, no doubt for Glenn. She smiled then, respecting the girl even more now for doing something Aria would have gladly done herself.

Aria soon came back out front, munching on her apple a little bit. Fida walked away with two keys in her hands, and Aria snorted as if amused. The Nurse turned her attention to Aria then.

"Will you be getting a room as well?" asked the Nurse, a bit grimly as she had probably noticed Aria talking to Fida, who had no doubt mentioned Glenn. Aria almost seemed to ponder it. Would Glenn accept Fida's help and rest? If so who would keep watch?

Keep watch. Aria smirked slightly at the idea mulling through her head. She turned to the Nurse with enthusiasm sparkling in her eyes, nodding her assent. The Nurse looked bewildered and confused, but nonetheless gave Aria a room key.

Aria respectfully stepped through the doors and approached Glenn at a slow pace. Her smile faded slightly when she realized how much pain he must be in seeing the Mawile in pain. He cared for PokeMon probably as much as she did, so she understood his pain.

As she walked up to the window, she realized there was indeed a ledge to it, probably so placed so trainers could lean in to watch. She motioned to the bird who rested on her shoulders, and he seemed to understand. Seamus climbed off of Aria's shoulder and onto the ledge, proudly curling up towards the bedroom doors.

"Seamus here will call out to us if there is any change, so we can rest easy." Aria smiled gently at Glenn, and the bird nodded its assent. She then moved past him to go to her room, but not without giving him a comforting touch on his arm.

She truly hoped in her heart that everything would be okay.

((So this is where I will allow you to control Seamus to allow him to alert you, if you like. Afterwards his actions will be mine again.))


Stel:

Glenn nodded appreciatively at Fida, thanking her for the food and the room key. Even with her words of caution, he could not help but seem a little dazed. He slipped the key into his pocket and resumed his gazing into the window, following the proceedings inside the emergency room. The unconscious Mawile had some of the electrodes attached to her body removed and replaced with a different looking electrode – probably made of a different material, and more highly insulated. His intuition was telling him that they were preparing to depolarize the creature's biometal.

He found himself blushing softly at Aria's little gesture. He nodded at Seamus, then proceeded to nibble on his food halfheartedly. He wasn't particularly hungry, but he figured he should eat something, or else he's probably going to be so hungry, that he could eat an Octillery (as his father would have said). He offered some to the bird, but the bird seemed to be too occupied with watching the proceedings in the emergency room with the eyes of a hawk. Glenn couldn't help but chuckle slightly – the little Starly certainly took his trainer's orders seriously.

"Loyal little fellow, aren't you." He smiled slightly at the bird, turning his eyes back into the emergency room.

Sure enough, the medical technicians reeled a large, complex looking machine into the room. On first sight, the machine seemed like some kind of three-dimensional scanner – it had an elevated base that looked like it was designed to slide under a bio-bed and sported a dual set of tracks – one to serve as a slot-in for the bio-bed, and another one that seemed to hold a large ring-shaped construct that made him think of one of those science fiction star-gates. It was clear that the construct was mobile – a pair of electric engines at the connection points of the construct to its support tracks was designed, indubitably, to move the construct along the tracks.
Some of the technicians reeled the bio-bed onto the base, docking it with the device – while others seemed to connect it to some kind of power modulator via an array of cables.

"If I remember the bit of theory I heard correctly, this is some kind of alternating current coil." He murmured to no one in particular as he watched the technicians take their places – some by an operator console connected to the power modulator, others by life support monitors "They're going to charge it up and gradually reduce the current – which should weaken the magnetic field until it's nearly gone. I'm assuming it could be a delicate process because of the way the bio-metal is integrated into a steel-type…"

He could see the Mawile tensing a little when the scanner seemed to slowly float over her body, starting at the feet and moving gradually towards her head. From the little he could see of the life support monitor, there were no unusual readings yet.

You wouldn't have needed a clear view of the life support monitor to realize that something went wrong – as moments later all hell broke loose.



Suddenly, the Mawile's eyes snapped open in an expression of shock and pain, her back arching up as if lifted by an invisible hand as she lapsed into heavy breathing – or was it a scream? One could not tell, the emergency room was soundproofed. Then the thrashing began.

The room broke into chaos – technicians were running about to find assorted bits of equipment as the technicians at the life-sign monitors barked orders – only to be interrupted when the Mawile's writhing, flailing and thrashing caused the monitor electrodes to be ripped off from her skin. The demagnetizing coil was quickly withdrawn to the general area of the feet  before it could have been knocked over and damaged by the creature's wildly flailing, still-fused jaw-horns – though a technician who was standing nearby was not as lucky, and was knocked flying to the other side of the room by a wild strike.

Glenn watched the scene unfold, the expression on his face betraying his worry. He looked as though he was about to rush into the room - through the window if he had to – just to try and calm down the panicking steel-type. His mind was awash with thoughts – theories on what could have possibly gone wrong, thoughts on how can he help if he can at all, and mostly just concern for the Mawile – he didn't even think of her as his Mawile – since he captured her only so he could bring her here – whether or not she wanted to stay with him later, he did not know. But it did not matter to him that much – he just wanted the Mawile to be okay.

It was then, when – be it through fate or mere coincidence – the Mawile's thrashing brought the view of the window to her eyes – and with it, the trainer.

For a moment, their eyes met. There was a flicker of recognition in the creature's eyes – she was still deep into her adrenaline-addled state, but the familiar presence seemed to calm her down a little. She appeared to be in all kinds of pain.

"Hang in there…" the trainer said, aware that the Mawile could not hear him but hoping the emotion could carry through the soundproofed glass."It'll be alright… Once they finish demagnetizing you, they'll make the pain go away… But you have to relax… Please…"

The Mawile seemed to nod weakly, slowly coming to her senses from the fight-or-flight fog that she was in just a few moments prior. He could see a few technicians breathe a sigh of relief, while the Nurse Joy supervising the whole process seemed to smile at him, murmuring a silent 'Thank you', before returning to her duty of orchestrating the swarm of technicians.

The second time that the coil ran across the Mawile's body, she only flinched a little – the magnetic field was clearly creating some interruptions within her body. Her gazed was fixed on the trainer's all the while - something about his presence reassured her.

As the coil finished its work and slid silently back to the Mawile's feet, the Mawile seemed to be a lot more at ease, though still in pain. Now came the more complicated part – the horn separation surgery. The Mawile seemed to be a little edgy still as the technicians removed the demagnetizer from the biobed and dragged it away and dragged in different equipment carts – probably ones related to the surgery itself. He gave the Mawile one last reassuring look, before the Nurse Joy applied a gas mask of some sort to the Mawile's face, and she seemed to drift off to sleep. Some kind of anesthesia, apparently, was required – most likely because the horns on a Mawile possessed a complex motoric system which could have induced pain if exposed. Cell regeneration could be sped up of course, but the initial pain would still be there.

Glenn found himself yawning in spite of himself. Fida and Aria were right – if he stayed up all night and watched the proceedings, he would be exhausted tomorrow – and whether or not the Mawile would choose to stay by his side or not, he still had a gym battle to plan.

"Hey, Seamus." The trainer said to Aria's Starly "I'm sure you can find me if anything happens, yes?"

The bird nodded, emitting a vigilant chirp, causing the trainer to smile.

"Thank you. I owe a great deal to your trainer. Good night."

Nodding, the trainer walked away, finding the room number he was given, entering the room, crashing on the bed and falling asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. Worried as he was, he was exhausted.

~*~

It was either very late at night or very early in the morning when the trainer was roused from sleep by an EXTREMELY sharp note from his guitar. He nearly jumped – he was by no means a light sleeper, but he slept very lightly that night – still worried about the Mawile.

"Siegfried, this isn't a good time to be practicing heavy metal…" he muttered, when he caught himself. Heavy Metal.

The Mawile.

It was then that the repeating tap on his door and semi-frantic chirping from the door came to his attention. Siegfried was only pulling his attention to it – it hasn't been going on for a long while, but the Rotom seemed to have better senses than he did, a fact that it seemed to notice as it silently played another set of notes that could have only been made to make certain the trainer was awake.

"Thank you, Siegfried." The trainer murmured darkly "I'm awake. Now, please, we don't want to wake the entire center up yet."

He leapt out of bed and opened the door, where sure enough the Starly was flapping about, excited. The look on the little bird's face was reassuring – clearly, whatever news it had was good.

"She's awake?" he asked, and the Starly chirped excitedly, flying off. The trainer slung his guitar case on his back and followed.

~*~

"There she is, good as new." The nurse said "The separation went fine and then the cell regeneration programs we ran on her managed to repair whatever damages she had."

She paused, smiling a little – a smile that was full of emotion, nothing like the frozen plastic smile of the nurse in Jubilife "That was a very sweet thing, what you did last night, staying there to watch her while we were demagnetizing her."
"I just couldn't leave until I knew she'll be fine." He replied "I was really worried when she started freaking out like that."
"Yes, something went wrong with the demagnetization process." The nurse explained "Residual charges in the two fused halves of the jaw-horns were rejecting each other and being forced shut like that… We think that it caused some powerful spasms when the magnetic field strengthened, which woke her up – and being in an unfamiliar surrounding and in pain caused her to panic." 
"Well, I'm glad she's fine… Can I see her now?"
"Certainly." The nurse said "She's in the recovery room. Follow me."

~*~

The Mawile, now fully recovered, jumped off her bed and landed on the floor when the trainer appeared, bowing her head down in what looked almost like a greeting out of a martial arts film.

"Hey, take it easy." Glenn chuckled, mimicking the movement "You're supposed to be recovering."

The Mawile emitted a chirp and a series of clicks, tilting her head to the side, as if to say that she's perfectly fine and that he shouldn't be worried.

"So…" he said, with a little smile "You're all better now…  I didn't forget what I promised, you know. If you wish to return to the wild, now, you may freely do so. I'll take you back to Oreburgh Gate, if you want. Of course, you could also stay with me – but that's purely up to you. No pressure."

The Mawile tilted her head the other way, shooting him a playful glare that seemed to be dripping with "What do you think?"… And moments later, a grey-and-yellow blur impacted with the trainer as the Mawile pounced the trainer. Glenn emitted a weak 'oof ' as the wind was knocked out of him, almost losing his balance for a moment before hugging the steel-type, and setting her on the ground.

"Glad to have you with me. But please… try to refrain from this pouncing business, okay? You're a little… metallic and all."

The Mawile chuckled sheepishly, before nodding again.

"You'll need a name…" he said "The one name I can think befitting of an Iron Maiden like you is Metalica…"

The Mawile clicked her jaw-horns decisively with a grin – she clearly took to the name instantly.

"Well, then, Welcome aboard, Metalica." Glenn grinned, and the Rotom burst into a quick Metalica has joined the party riff that made the trainer's grin fade a little.

"The virtuoso in the guitar here is Siegfried." He said "And he seems to believe in the therapeutic power of, well, whatever the heck that was."


Dwayna:

Loud tapping and chirping noises aroused Aria from her slumber. She stretched and got up out of bed, opening the door lazily. Seamus sat proudly at her feet, looking very content with itself. Which could only mean one thing... He has fulfilled his duty...

Thoughts of how it might have turned out in her head flooded through, until she saw the happy look still plastered on the birds face. Aria lightened up then considerably, holding out her arms with a big smile. The little bird leapt up into her arms to receive a twirl-hug and an affectionate nuzzle.

Aria stepped out of the room after getting ready for the day, Seamus comfortably perched on her shoulder again. She came out towards the emergency room, noticing the warm smile on the Nurses face as well. Aria peered in to see why, and saw Glenn and the Mawile having a tender moment. She decided to stay back as they talked for a bit, and stepped in after they were finished.

"Hello, Metalica." she greeted warmly after she heard the name given, "I am pleased to meet you. I am Aria, and this is Seamus." She motioned to the bird. "I had him watch over you so Glenn could get some rest."

She smiled warmly at the Mawile, bending slightly to allow Seamus to give a welcoming chirp. She then turned to Glenn, smiling at him as well, blushing a little bit when remembering he had reacted the same when she touched his arm.

"I'm glad she turned out alright." she said honestly, no trace of her insanity appearing on her features whatsoever. This was Aria being her most genuine yet. It made her seem really pretty in a way, to know that the smile she put on her face was a real one.

Hearing her stomach growl a little bit, she nodded to the both of them and went to get breakfast.


Sem:

Fida slept through the night only vaguely worried over the mawile; something in her head told her that things would turn out fine.  When she awoke the following morning, Elvia confirmed that the surgery had gone well and that Glenn was with the mawile now.

Excited, the young girl showered and dressed as quickly as she could.  She walked quickly downstairs and through the hallways until she found herself at the recovery room that held the mawile, along with a relieved Glenn and a hungry Aria.  Fida leaned against the door frame until Aria had excused herself, meaning it was her turn to introduce herself.  Elvia appeared in her physical form before entering the room, as to not disturb the mawile when being introduced.

She bit her lip as she approached the two and twiddled her thumbs nervously while she got on her knees to be more eye-level with the steel-type.  "Hi," the corners of her mouth curved upward as she said it.  "Glad to see you're ok, um..." she blinked.  "I'm Fida," she introduced.  "And this is Elvia," she gestured to her ghost.  "It's very nice to meet you."

The mawile seemed very well-mannered, and very lively; Fida was quite excited that Metalica had decided to join Glenn's party.

She stood up and smiled at Glenn, hoping in the back of her mind that he didn't worry himself too much and got some sleep.  "Let's get something to eat," Fida suggested.  "I think both of you must be very hungry," she giggled.


Stel:

OOC: Light auto of Fida with Sem's permission.

"Yes, breakfast would be a lovely idea." Glenn smiled "Coming, Metalica?"

~*~

The two trainers and their assorted PokeMon - both out in the open and lurking in the shadows (or guitars, take your pick) made their way to the PokeMon Center's diner wing. After picking up whatever passed for breakfast that morning, Glenn easily located Aria, joining her a the table.

"Well, now that we are all here." he said as Fida joined the two, smiling at his two travelling companions "First of all I'd like to thank both of you for your concern yesterday - on both my behalf and Metalica's." The Mawile chimed in with a bow of gratitude of her own.

"Highly appreciated. That aside... I assume that all of us are planning to challenge the gym? In which case, let's talk strategy. Roark uses Rock-types, which means that Ferny and Seamus, at least, may be in quite a bit of danger... and that Siegfried is at a serious disadvantage as far as at least the dual-types go...  Type advantages aren't everything, but Roark is a Gym Leader - and we can't afford to underestimate him. Ideas?"


Sem:

Fida swallowed, going through possible tactics in her mind.  Having traveled with two experiences trainers she knew that there were quite a few ways to go about this.

"We shouldn't underestimate him," Fida agreed.  "And type advantages aren't everything," she repeated, she herself having plenty of experience in that area.  "But you still need a plan, even if you do have a type-advantage.  You need to figure out which pokémon you're using and know what they can do.  Try to figure out any weaknesses that the gym leader could use against you," she paused, her cheeks flushed a bit.

"Know what pokémon he's using, and which of yours is best to handle which of his.  And you need back up plans, in case something goes wrong."  She took a drink of juice.  "Ferny might be weak to rock types, but he can learn fighting-moves like Brick Break, and he can learn Dig.  And Seamus can learn lots of distracting moves like Sand Attack, which would go great if he could learn Steel Wing.  Siegfried is can use ghost attacks and can easily avoid ground-type attacks because he hovers."

Fida stopped then, blushing and not realizing that so much of her studying had stuck with her.  "I think I sorta have my plan for Roark, so I can fight him first if you want..."  She looked up at them, suggesting that, "you guys should come and watch, that way you get to know how he battles.  It would help your pokémon if they watched too; helps everyone be more prepared."

This was easily the most talking Fida had done at once so far in their little group.  "That's all I have to say..." she finished, allowing them to throw in their own ideas.


Dwayna:

Aria smiled at Glenn as he approached to thank her and Fida. "It was my pleasure." she replied, smiling to Fida as well as they both sat down. Glenn immediately started talking about strategy. Fida had some suggestions as well, but aria had some choice comments to make as well.

"Ferny doesn't learn fighting moves until he evolves, and I'm not too sure how long it would take Seamus to learn said moves. Voltron is at a complete type disadvantage." She sipped her tea, letting them figure out that she was referring to her Shinx. "However, I happen to know that Ferny can still learn Rock Smash, but that would still take a while."

She mulled a few thoughts over in her head before continuing. "I was also planning on adding additions to my team that would have type advantages. I happen to know that there are Machop and Budew around this area, so I could go out and look for them. In fact, that was the plan."

She sipped at her tea again, thoroughly enjoying the mixture of flavors. "If you want to go before us, Fida, go right ahead. I will come and observe, to learn more about both you and Roark." Aria was always a very straightforward person in these situations.

"However I will be setting out soon in hopes of capturing a type advantage, perhaps training Ferny to learn Rock Smash. If you wish to come along with me, then do so. If not, then I suggest you train up for our encounter with Roark."

With that, she finished her tea and stood to leave, merely popping an eyebrow at her companions, questioning if they would follow.


Sem:

Aria brought up some good points; who knows how long it would take her pokémon to learn advanced moves like Steel Wing.  Time they didn't have either way unless they planned on finishing their journey in their thirties.

"I'm going to go look at my strategies more and do some training too," Fida answered.  "Maybe we can meet up back here for dinner at five-o-clock or something and then go to the gym when we're finished," she added her trademark small smile and then excused herself.


Stel:

"I think that I'm going to check out the mines." Glenn said "From what I read, they're full of rock-types. Could be great practice."

He stood up and stretched "Five-o'clock sounds good to me. Good luck with your training."

He smiled at Aria, as he passed by her on his way out "And thank you again. A lot."

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

Dwayna:

"I'll be heading back through Oreburgh Gate to train Ferny and have a better chance of finding some Budew." said Aria. "See the both of you at five." Glenn thanked her again before he walked out, at which she simply smiled in reply. She turned back towards the counter, walking back up towards the nurse.

"How are my PokéMon?" she asked, her brow furrowed in concern. She knew all Ferny needed was some patching up, but the Voltron had taken some damaging blows.

"Yes, here they are, good as new." said the nurse, handing her back her PokéBalls. Ah, the wonders of regeneration. She took them back, nodded her head in thanks, and made her way out the door.

---

Efficiency was top priority in Aria's mind, so first she would go to capture the Budew with a Heal Ball, so she stopped by the PokéMart to grab a few of those. Afterwards she would let her PokéMon spar a little bit while she trained Ferny. A nice, straightforward plan to set in stone.

She headed back through the cave to the field of tall grass laying just in front of the entrance. She told Seamus to look for Budew, and he seemed to understand what she meant. It wasn't long before his keen eyes spotted something of interest, his chirping making her ears ring a little bit.

Being a Grass type, it was sort of difficult to see in the tall grass, but nevertheless, there it was. Budew was about as big as her foot, green as the grass except for its yellow front. It had the knotted bud atop its head just like Aria remembered from the pictures she had seen.

"Budew." it cooed at her, at which she flinched a little at how cute it seemed to be. Accursed baby PokéMon, she thought to herself, before nodding at Seamus. The bird fluttered down from her shoulder to face the Budew, a caw of determination coming from his beak as the challenge. The little Budew seemed to perk up at it, looking ready to fight. Time to battle.

"Growl." she commanded, at which Starly was all to happy to obey. The little flower wavered warily as Seamus crooned at it. The little bud suddenly seemed to expand in size, the small features of its face more defined. Growth, thought Aria with a soft sigh, That means Growl is practically ineffective.

"Tackle." she said instead, at which Seamus slammed into the small PokéMon easily. However the little bud atop its head simply opened, clamping onto Seamus in a menacing manner even though they were soft. He looked a bit drained afterwards, and the Budew looked better off. Absorb, thought Aria, holding her face in her hands. This might prove to be a long battle.

Another Tackle came from Seamus, this time seemingly faster than the other. Is he trying to do what I think he is? she thought to herself, pride starting to swell up in her person. He looked ready to lurch at the Budew again, which could only mean on thing. Another Growth from the Budew, and Aria was all too excited.

"All right then... Since you seem ready, Seamus... Quick Attack!" Seamus lunged at the Budew at a speed that made him seem almost invisible. Aria cheered, and Seamus looked proud of himself. The Budew was nearly keeling over already from that hit, and Aria noticed. She fished out one of the chrome pink balls, and tossed it at the small Grass type, hoping it would allow itself to be captured.

She held her breath as the ball wobbled, before finally, the center flashed a definitive red before going out, signifying a successful catch. She rushed over to pick it up, along with opening her arms to give Seamus a big hug again. Seamus looked elated at this, simply nuzzling against Aria in reply.

Now that that was over, she walked back into the cave, Seamus perched on her shoulder again. Inside the cave, there were a lot of large boulders and rocks for Ferny to practice on. She released the fire monkey, along with her Shinx and the new Budew, which looked as good as new thanks to the Heal Ball.

"Budew, are you female?" she asked, at which the small plant nodded. "Okay, then your name is Rose." The little plant seemed pleased with the name, at least. "Alright then, here's what's going to happen. You, Voltron and Seamus are going to spar which each other while I teach Ferny here how to smash rocks. Sound good?"

All of her PokéMon gave an affirmative, and she got to work, pointing to cracked boulders for Ferny to hit. At first he clutched his hands in pain, and after a while of hurting himself he got frustrated enough to expel some small flames. Aria smiled proudly, knowing this to be Ember. The small monkey kept at it, trying his best to actually break into the rock some more, getting used to pounding his hands on the hard surface.

She turned her head to watch her other PokéMon for a short while. After they had gotten tired of attacking each other, they had found other things in the cave to practice on, such as other boulders strewn about. At one point, Rose spewed some water from her bud, soaking herself thoroughly. Water Sport was known to help protect from Fire type attacks, but it wouldn't be entirely useful against Roark.

A smashing sound startled her slightly, and she turned to look at what had caused it. Her little monkey was dancing around triumphantly, bits of what used to be a cracked boulder strewn about his feet. Aria clapped her hands together, pointing at another boulder similar to that one, intent on watching this time. With a shattering punch, Ferny destroyed that boulder, earning a hearty smile from Aria.

"Alright, great work everyone. Let's go back to the PokéMon Center now for a nice rest, shall we?" Another affirmative from everyone, at which she returned Ferny and Budew to their PokéBalls after asking around. Voltron had expressed an interest in walking around beside her, so she obliged as they walked together back towards the iconic red building.

Turning in the PokéBalls at the desk, she simply let out Rose again as the Heal Ball was regenerative enough. Otherwise she would have felt kind of lonely as the others were resting up. She simply stared at the small Grass type as it sat on the table before her, before checking a watch that she had picked up.

She watched as it just turned over to 5:00. Right on time.


Stel:

Five O'clock. Well, that would be plenty of time to do a hell of a lot of training.

It was still morning – reasonably early, but the colors of dawn have nearly completely cleared out and the morning chill was slowly beginning to fade and be replaced by the warmth of the sun. Now that he wasn't stressed and worrying for the Mawile's well being, the trainer (and the aforementioned Mawile) made their way through the streets of Oreburgh, if streets was what one could call it, taking in the sights.

Oreburgh was rather large, but the building density was relatively low – at least in comparison to the other cities he's seen. The buildings seemed to be designed for sturdiness and durability – and had a simple, robust style to them, most with a slanted roof.  The ground had a dark reddish hue and dotted with prominent vents – designed to create proper air circulation for the mines. Most of the major roads of the city were large dirt roads, many of which worn from years of heavy machinery crossing them.  The air seemed to have a light dusty tang to it which thickened the further the trainer traveled away from the PokéMon Center and the closer he was nearing to the mines.

The buildings became more and more sparsely arranged as he finally reached the mine area. A large, impressive array of conveyor belts seemed to make its way into the mountain and relay large mine carts filled with coal around. Most of the heavy machinery was parked there, and workers seemed to toil busily.  A few of them greeted him with a 'Good Day' as he was heading towards the arch that descended down into the main shaft – a greeting which he returned. The mines were open for trainers to visit and train in, provided they did not damage any of the equipment.

Along the side of the tunnel, there were numerous hooks, upon many of which were mining helmets – these were intended for visitors. He picked one up, placed it on his head and adjusted the straps to fit. Safety first and all. If there were indeed wild PokéMon in these mines, falling rocks were certainly a possibility.

~*~

The mines themselves had only loose illumination, making it possible to see but little more than that – as to disturb the local wild PokéMon as little as possible. There was an integrated silent railway system designed to move coal out of the mines. There were many branching paths, but it was all marked in a way that would make it easy to find the entrance again. Occasionally one could see a fighting-type or three moving huge blocks of coal along, loading them onto the cart. Other than the miners themselves, it appeared that he was the only trainer in the tunnels that day – and they appeared too busy with their work to do battle.

Metalica seemed to feel right at home in the tunnels – Mawiles were cave creatures, after all. The Rotom floated idly by, emitting soft light of its own, and occasionally zapping the occasional swooping Zubat, in an almost bored fashion. And by their side, their Trainer walked and listened.

Glenn had an odd habit – when he was in areas where much sound could be heard, he would have zoned out and immersed himself in the sounds, his mind seeking out harmonies and rhythm. Sometimes that gave him inspiration for writing his own melodies. What sort of music he could derive from a coal mine, he did not know, but he couldn't help it. It was just part of who he was.
 
And so, he let the sound of the mines flow through his mind. The ambience of the cavernous tunnels, the sound of metal picks against rocky walls, the grunting of the fighting-types as they shattered rocks and carried them around. Footprints, faint wing-beats of Zubat. Once or twice, he thought he even heard the avalanche-like bellows of an Onix.

... And the occasional crackle of electricity as Siegfried got another one. He was awakened from his reverie, rather rudely, by a knocked-out Zubat falling on his head, bouncing off his helmet and landing on the ground. That's when he noticed that he wandered significantly deeply into the mines, and that the only person other than him in that particular tunnel was a silver-haired young man clad in what looked like a black and purple business suit, who seemed to be particularly interested in the cave's wall.

The man did not seem to notice him, but something else did – a small archosaurian-looking quadruped that stood at the man's feet, which turned its head to look at the trainer and the two PokéMon with a pair of large, round, luminous blue eyes set within what looked like a metal plated head.  Where it wasn't covered in metallic plates, the creature's skin had the rugged appearance of black rock. The glowing light emitting from the Rotom reflected in the creature's metal plating in an eerie way.

The Aron – for that is what the creature was – emitted a little chirp, attracting the man's attention.

"Oh, Hello there." the man said, nodding at the trainer - he had a deep and yet soft voice – it seemed to radiate confidence and authority. "Here on training?"

"Hello. Yes, I am, actually." The trainer nodded at the man and his Aron. "My name's Glenn. And you are?"

"Steven." The man nodded in response, smiling a little "I'm a collector of rare rocks and minerals. I heard that his mine stretches on beneath the ocean floor and that on occasion, fossils may be found here. So I came to meet the man who runs this place, and see if I can find anything interesting for my collection. Interesting man, he is - very passionate about fossils. Very kind too, considering he allows random trainers to come here and train their PokéMon…"

The man paused and chuckled softly, as if slightly embarrassed for going on a tangent like this.

"But, anyway… What brings you here specifically? You seem more like you're interested in a completely different type of rock." He said, turning a gaze to the trainer's guitar case.

"Well, that's right. I'm a bit of a musician." Glenn nodded "That's why I started my journey so late – I preferred to focus on my music for a few years. But right now, my partners here and I are getting ready for a gym battle – and we heard that the leader here trains rock-types. Figured the mine would be a good spot to find some to battle."

"Yes, you can always find a Geodude or three in caves like this…" Steven nodded, surveying the trainer and the two PokéMon. – and when he saw the Mawile, a spark seemed to light up in his eyes.

"I see that one of your partners is a Mawile." He smiled brightly " I am quite fond of Steel-types, you see. It's nice to see other trainers who can appreciate their potential."

"Well, yes. Metalica here might be the edge I need against the gym leader." The trainer grinned, smiling at the Mawile – who seemed to smile back determinedly.

"Not just against this gym leader." Steven said "Mawile, in particular, has great potential. There are PokéMon that are faster and more powerful, but what they lack in brute strength they make up for with sheer diversity."

"What do you mean?" Glenn raised an eyebrow

"Most trainers look at Mawile, and all they see is teeth. While their jaws are indeed their most potent weapon, they have others…"

At the very moment he said that, the Rotom swiveled again, launching a small bolt of thunder at another passing Zubat. Steven's eyes seem to light up again.

"Glenn, as a trainer of the steel type, I wish to help you unlock your Mawile's true potential." He said, standing up "If you will allow me."

"That depends if Metalica is up to it." The trainer asked, and the Mawile turned a gaze to the trainer indicating she is, and bowed her head before Steven in a gesture of respect. There was clearly something about the rock collector. And what's more, he seemed familiar somehow – as if Glenn has seen him somewhere before but could not place it.

"Very well, then." Steven nodded "Aron, Rock Smash. And then, to me!"

Upon hearing the command, the small rock/steel type snapped to attention, dashing towards a large boulder and lunging at it with a headbutt. The boulder seemed to explode to smaller rocks, which the Aron pushed to form a ring around the Mawile. Then, it stood by its trainer's side, at attention.

"Good job." Steven grinned, and he Aron chirped in delight.

"Now, here's what I need you to do, Glenn. First, tell me, what is the relationship between Steel-types and Electric-types?"

"Steel conducts electricity, and so electric moves have normal effectiveness against steel-types. In contrast, Steel-type moves have little effect against Electric types."

"That is correct." Steven said "However, the keyword here is conducts. Glenn, could you have your Rotom use an electric attack on Aron?"

The Aron seemed to brace itself for attack – but did not seem to be overly concerned.

"Alright…" the trainer nodded "Siegfried, you heard the man."

The Rotom swiveled, turning a grinning gaze towards the Aron, and flicked an arcing tendril of lightning towards the small PokéMon. The Aron simply twisted, the lightning coursing through its plates, and then arced around the Aron in a wave, leaving small singe marks on the rocks.

"… Was that a Shock Wave attack?" the trainer's eyes widened.

"Indeed it was. Powered, as the matter of fact, by the electricity of your Rotom. By simply moving the right way, a steel-type can conduct an electric current through its body and out into a suitable target again. If directed correctly, the electricity may even be dispersed before it can do a great deal of damage. Now. What differentiates your Mawile from my Aron?"

"The… presence of a secondary type." The trainer's eyes widened. "Mawile's biometal is even more thoroughly integrated into her systems than Aron's plating… But…"

Flash.

The cry in the dark. The cloud of Zubats. The image of the shocked creature, electricity still sparking between points of its body. The thrashing as the demagnetizing process went wrong. It all came back to him.

Flash

"Metalica, do you think you can handle it?" he asked the Mawile, with a little whisper. The Mawile seemed to shudder for a moment – clearly the memories came to her too – but she proceeded to nod decisively at the trainer.

"It appears she is." Steven nodded "Good. Glenn, you should start with a very weak current at first – and have it flow continuously and gradually rise."

"… Okay." The trainer nodded. "Metalica, if anything becomes too much for you, let me know."

The Mawile nodded, a little shiver passing through her body. It was clear that she was afraid, but her desire to learn surpassed the fear.

"Siegfried, generate a continuous, low-power thundershock… directly at Metalica."

The Rotom paused for a moment – perhaps pondering just what on earth was going through his trainer's mind, but then, shrugged, and reached out with the faint tip of a lightning tendril to gently touch the Mawile.

The steel-type's entire body suddenly tensed and convulsions ran through it, the electricity flowing through her. She clenched her eyes closed tightly, shaking slightly, struggling to stay on her feet.

"No. Do not be afraid of it." Steven said in a reassuring yet firm tone "Concentrate. Let yourself feel the energy. Now, Move!"

The Mawile's eyes opened slowly, as she began moving, steadying herself against the current, assuming a more steady poise, slowly moving her arms. Yes, there it was. She could feel the circuit – the electricity coursing through her body and into the ground below. Why the ground below? Why not somewhere else, more productive?

Instinctively, the Mawile began shifting the mineral balance within her body, leading the energy along the path she herself desired – to her arms and out her body. The Mawile released a cry and in a moment, unleashed a beam of focused electricity from the tip of her fingers into one of the rocks. The beam slowly faded out as the Rotom's continuous wave of electricity ended. The electric ghost slowly drifted down to the ground and began rotating at a high speed to recharge itself. The Mawile collapsed to the ground – in pain, but with an accomplished grin. She succeeded.

"Are you okay, Metalica?"

After taking a few breaths, the Mawile realized that it did not hurt as much as she thought. She stood up – a little shakily, and turned her eyes to her trainer. She nodded with a triumphant grin.

"You did it." The trainer grinned.

"That she did." Steven nodded with a little grin, as the Mawile shifted to a fighting stance.

His grin faded.

"Think fast!" he suddenly said, and pointed at the Mawile. The Aron's plates sparked and launched a quick shock-wave attack at the Mawile. The Mawile twisted her body to intercept the bolt of lightning with her horn-jaws, snapping them open and allowing the bolt of lighting to leap between the points of her teeth before lunging backwards at the small steel-type, snapping the jaws on the small PokéMon and discharging all the voltage into the small steel-type. The Aron screeched in pain as the Mawile shook her head a little and snapped her jaws open, letting the Aron fall out. The small Iron Armor PokéMon wobbled to its feet while the Mawile twisted again to glare at it.

The silver-haired trainer emitted a little whistle.

"Talk about lightning-fast reflexes." He chuckled "Your Mawile has even more potential than I believed."

"I've heard of Steel-types learning to generate electricity." Glenn said, eyes widening "But this is the first time I actually see it in action."

"It is certainly a possibility." The silver-haired trainer nodded, removing his backpack and procuring a spray-bottle from within it, lightly spraying both his Aron and Glenn's Mawile with it. There was a slight hiss as the material within seemed to form a reaction against their skins, regenerating whatever injuries they may have received. "You three should practice more lightning redirection. It may come in handy against users of the electric type…"

Steven smiled, crouching to speak directly to the Mawile "And maybe, it could spark new possibilities within you. You can learn much from observation… Watch your companions and your opponents closely."

He bowed his head towards the Mawile, and the Mawile returned the gesture.

"But yes." The silver-haired trainer said, standing up "I believe that I've taken up enough of your time, Glenn. You should go and train more for your coming encounter with Roark. And after you face him… tell him that Steven Stone sends his regards."

The trainer's eyes widened. Steven Stone. So THAT is why he seemed familiar. The air of confidence. The appreciation for Steel types. The hobby of collecting minerals…The Full Restore. He could not believe he did not catch it sooner.

"… You're… The Steven Stone?" Glenn asked "As in, the PokéMon League Champion of Hoenn Steven Stone?"

"Retired League Champion." Steven chuckled "I gave the title away so I could pursue my… hobby… in peace. When you told me you delayed your journey to follow your passions, you reminded me of myself. And this Mawile of yours - I can tell that you've only been recently acquainted, but the amount of trust between you two… I have a hunch you and your PokéMon will do great things together. And my hunches tend to be correct."

He stretched, slinging his backpack over his shoulder "Keep practicing, Glenn, Metalica. Maybe someday, we will meet again! Aron, to me."

The Aron emitted a final chirp at the trainer and his three PokéMon, and dashed away to walk by its trainer's side. Within moments, they vanished into the depths of the cavern, as if they were never there.

"Well." Glenn murmured appreciatively "There's something that doesn't happen every day."

The two PokéMon emitted a small vocalization of their own.

"Well, what are we waiting for, team? We still have time to practice!"

~*~

The hours slowly ticked away, and, come 4:30 or so, the trainer slowly emerged from Oreburgh Mine, the Mawile walking by his side, the Rotom back within the guitar, playing a quiet yet energetic melody from its depths. They walked slowly, taking in the afternoon air – which seemed to clear the further away they got from the mines – in the general direction of the PokéMon Center.

During their hours of training, the Mawile's reflexes and her lightning redirection techniques were improving – already, she learned how to redirect higher currents of voltage which were too risky to pass by her jaw-horns into her hands and discharge them as she punched a target. Once or twice, the trainer thought, he could see a spark or three forming between the points of her jaw-horns or her fingers even when the Rotom did not attack.

The Rotom itself, too, seemed to benefit from the training – in one of the latter sparring sessions, when the Rotom's frustration with the Mawile's redirection of its own lightning back at it peaked, the electric-type's electricity-generating rotation reached a whole new level of speed, sending the Rotom moving in a circle, so rapidly that it left a trail of after-images – the beginnings of a Double Team attack – and perhaps, if the Rotom was to learn to harness the power of its second type, something more.

It was not on each other alone that the two PokéMon practiced their combat though – for Geodudes, disturbed by the flashes of lightning and the sound of rocks being crunched by the Mawile's jaw-horns soon began appearing and attacking the invaders to their territory. The Rotom still had difficulties with the Rock/Ground dual-types – their ground type nullified his Electricity, and their rock-type made the few normal moves it knew much less effective than they could have been. The Mawile, however, soon found itself tearing through the rock-types, cracking their shells with focused hits and biting the weakened foes.

As they hours progressed, there were more miners and fighting-types in the tunnels, working away at harvesting the coal from the rocky walls. Taking Steven's advice to heart, the Mawile was watching the Fighting-types – mostly Machops – intently, getting a feel for the stances they took while plowing through the rocky walls and an eye for the specific weak spots they seemed to be targeting. Soon enough, she incorporated them into her rock smashing technique, practicing them herself on larger boulders, staying out of the miners' way. But from observing them, the Mawile indeed learned a new technique – Brick Break.

In the end, it was a very productive day for all three. Now, however, was the time for them to make it to the PokéMon Center, and get some rest. It was nearing 5 o'clock, and as the trainer paused before the glass doors of the PokéMon Center, he shot a look to the Mawile, which was returned, followed by a small musical cue from the Rotom. All three of them knew it – this was just a prelude to the real thing – the coming gym battle against Roark. This was their real test. And they intended to excel.

The Rotom emerged from the guitar in a stream of orange and blue lights, and in a second was converted to red light and returned to its PokéBall. After a day like this, even Siegfried needed some proper regeneration. Metalica returned to her Ball soon after, giving her trainer one last determined gaze.

Glenn Hendrix stepped into the PokéMon center and handed the two PokéBalls to the nurse. With a stretch, he turned his eyes to scan the center, spotting Aria at a table. He made his way towards her, sliding to a seat opposite to her and waving.

"Hey, Aria. I assume this is the newest member of your team?" he smiled.

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

Sem:

OOC:  I think this is even longer than System posts, my System posts at least.  Have fun guys xD It's eleven pages.

BIC:
Fida followed soon after the other two trainers had left for their day of training.  She left the center and headed straight towards the northern end of the city where it lead up to the infamous bicycle route.  It was going to be a warm day and the skies looked clear, so the girl didn't trouble herself with too much outerwear.

The path smelled rather dust and earthy, but it felt rather good in the early morning.  There was a field nestled against the base of a large hill and it was there that Fida decided to do her training. 

Taking the Timer Ball that held one of her magnemite she released it, not bothering with the second seeing as no one was around.  The girl had still not been able to come up with a name for it but she figured it would come to her in time.  They walked for a bit until finding a good collection of large stones.

"Ok!" Fida exclaimed, excited and wired for a day of training.  "Practice your Charge Beam!"

"Maaaag-ne-mite," it replied in a fuzzy robotic tone.  Both magnets on the Steel-type pokémon began to turn, slowly at first with a few sparks bursting to life around it, and faster until the creature was alive with blue electricity.  The screws on its body moved rapidly as well, as if being forced in and out by an invisible drill.

The magnet pokémon released the attack upon one of the smaller rocks, leaving a decent scar but not much more.

"Try again," Fida instructed.  They had been practicing this move before, mostly because Fida noted how useful it really was if used properly.

It went on like this for a good part of the day.  As the hours passed it seemed that Magnemite did not seem to tire, rather its attacks gradually became stronger.  The first rock had been completely destroyed after about two hours and the dual-type was onto the second that was a bit larger.  Eventually the Charge Beams became consecutively stronger after each use until the point where it was obliterating larger stones in one blast.

"Excellent!" Fida hopped.  She wanted to hug her pokémon but it was rather alive with electric build-up which she quickly had it dispel with a long Thunderbolt.  "One last thing," she told her magnemite.  "Practice Swift a few times."

Magnemite did so, its magnets glowing a hot white as it moved them to point out in front of it.  Star-shaped bolts of white-energy flew out of the ends at the ground and the remaining stones.  Swift was a bizarre move that Fida had discovered by accident, having missed it before when she viewed Magnemite's list of attacks that it knew.  That was a few months prior and admittedly it was a toughie to learn.

After a few rounds of Swift Fida returned the Electric-type for a rest.  Next up was Kieran.  Now, before her adventures in Sinnoh Kieran was a very touchy bird when it came to taking commands.  However, thanks to events that occurred in the girl's brief stop in Canalave, the bird had finally come to trust Fida.

The murkrow flew out of the dusk ball and landed in the grass.  Immediately he lifted his head back at Fida in a 'hmph' expression and began pecking around in the dirt for edibles.  Of course, Kieran didn't like to admit that he trusted Fida and still tried his best to misbehave, outside of battle anyway.

The girl didn't mind it though, she had always been rather fond of him for the most part.  She grinned as he pretended to ignore her while noticing the purple hair-tie he still wore around his neck.  "Steel Wing on that rock!"  The purple-clad girl pointed to the one of the stones.  Unlike Aria's recently captured Seamus, Kieran had had more than an ample amount of time to learn and master Steel Wing.
Kieran took flight without hesitation, circling high into the air.  Sunlight seemed to gleam off of the bird's wings as he took a dive down towards the rock.  His wings flew out as he pulled up just inches above the tips of grass.

Slice!

The rock seemed perfectly intact, but after a weak Night Shade the top of the boulder simply flipped off the rest of the rock like a coin, cut very cleanly.

Fida nodded her approval and actually blushed with pride in her bird.  "Now let's try the new one!"  She had noticed that training Kieran was very similar to training Elvia, in which you went in touch with an inner source of power to call upon what you needed.

Kieran took to the air again and faced a group of the boulders.  He began to flap his wings very quickly, vigorously working his muscles.  A wind was generated very quickly within the area they were in and it grew noticeably colder as the attack went on.  After a dozen or so seconds snow began to form in the air, plastering itself against the rocks.  More and more formed as moisture in the area began to freeze, and indeed the rocks were starting to be taken over by a coating of ice.  At the end of the attack Kieran and Fida were looking at a bunch of frozen rocks and grass.

Fida clapped, still rather pleased.  "Again."  The Icy Wind attacks continued on until Kieran was visibly tired from the effort of flapping.  He was returned to his Pokéball and Fida was very content with the training done.  "What do you think, Elvia?" she asked her ever-present friend.  "I think we're ready."

Heading back into town, she did note that it wasn't nearly five, though she figured that was best since it would give her pokémon more time to rest.  After giving Magnemite and Kieran to Nurse Joy she herself decided to lie down for a rest.

-------

At five pm sharp the three of them seemed to be down in the lobby of the center.  Fida rubbed her eye as she walked up, nodding to Glenn and Aria.  After taking a moment to smile and introduce herself to Rose Fida led them to the cafeteria.

The girl ate in complete silence, too much in suspense to really say anything.  Fighting Roark would be her first official gym match.  She actually had a badge from a certain Ghost-type trainer in Johto who was a great deal of help to her and Elvia.

After she had finished and made sure everyone else had as well she spoke.  "Well..." she grinned shyly.  "Ready?"  Getting up she left the cafeteria for the lobby once again in order to grab her pokémon.  Seeing the expression on her face after giving the pokémon back Nurse Joy told Fida good luck; no doubt the expression was one she saw often.

The gym was not far from the center, only down the road, but the walk seemed to take much longer than it should have.  For the first time she realized that this was a pretty significant match for her.  Instantly she realized how much she wished Sem could see her, or the other two Aquaises...

Or Tara.

She shook her head and walked more quickly, confidence flowing into her.  She made up her mind to dedicate this battle to her friend, no matter what the outcome was.  Fida walked through the sliding glass door of the gym with perfect timing, not even having to slow down to wait for it to open completely.

"My name is Fida Valens!" she said with a level of certainty that surprised her.  "And I challenge the
Gym Leader of Oreburgh to a match!"

Her voice echoed into a vast empty room that was completely dark save for the light that flowed in from behind her.  After a few moments the lights switched on all at once, illuminating the room.  A large and rocky arena lay before her with spectator stands rising up on either side.  Directly across from her Roark the Gym Leader stood, one hand to his side with the other on his hip.  He looked as if he had been standing there all day waiting for her.  The young man was clothed in a gray mining uniform with a red construction hat and white gloves.  A short fringe of his cherry-brown hair slanted against his forehead just above his glasses.  His eye stared into hers, as if determining just what kind of fight she would put up.

"I accept," he said smoothly but loudly.  Fida walked forward, stepping into the trainer box.  A few other people had walked in behind her and went up into the bleachers where Glenn and Aria no doubt were.  "The battle will be three versus three and there is no time limit," he said it very kindly, but there was no room for negotiating the rules in how he said it.

"That's fine," Fida nodded.

"Well then," he grinned, pulling out a pokéball.  "As per tradition I will start first...  Go!"  He threw the red and while sphere where it cracked open against the ground, releasing a white burst that formed itself into Fida's first opponent.  The light faded away to reveal the form of a geodude, though it looked far more formidable than any wild geodude.

Wordlessly Fida pulled out Magnemite's timer ball and tossed it onto the field to join Geodude.

"A Magnemite?" Roark cocked his head.  "An interesting choice.  Let's have at it then, Fida Valens.  Geodude, Rollout!"

With a grunt Geodude curled itself into a ball and began rolling forward, slow at first but quickly gaining momentum and speed by using the arena's rocks as ramps.

"Iron Defense!" Fida shouted.  Magnemite blinked its robotic eye and prepared itself for a hit, hardening its own metal body, doubling its defense.  Magnemite avoided the first few hits by hovering up higher into the air, though this allowed the rock-type to gain even more momentum and was able to solidly hit the magnet pokémon on the third attempt.  Fida cringed as she heard the sound of rock and metal clash.  Magnemite seemed pretty dizzy after the hit, which was strong despite the little effect Rock had against Steel.  Geodude landed safely on the ground, coming to a stop before Roark.  "Iron Defense again!" Fida blurted, not wanting Magnemite to take another hit like that.

"Quick thinking," Roark complimented.  "I'll have use some stronger attacks to get to you.  Use Dig, Geodude."  The rock-type quickly dug out a whole for itself with its large hands, rather quickly for what was normally expected for the species.

"Hover higher, Magnemite!" Fida cautioned, not sure what Roark intended to do with a Dig.  "Iron Defense once more!"  Fida was pushing it, she knew, but it was best to be prepared.

"Rock Polish!" Roark yelled,  casually crossing his arms.  Grinding was heard from under the arena as Geodude used friction with the earth around as it moved to polish its body.  "Fire Punch."

The rock and ground-type burst through the floor with a speed Fida had never seen a rock-type achieve.  One of its hands was reared back in the form of a fist as it flew up at Magnemite.  Flame enveloped the fist of the geodude and it hit the Steel-type hard.

Magnemite blared loudly as it was hit and sent flying with the super-effective hit.  It held itself in the air nonetheless, and Fida realized had it not been for her precautions Magnemite would already be out for the count.  "Good job, Magnemite!" Fida encouraged.  "Charge Beam!"

Just like before, Magnemite whirred, buzzing with static as it blasted at Geodude with a burst of electricity.  As to be expected, the attack did nothing at all.  "Again!"  And again Magnemite attacked, though this time with a more powerful blast, and again Geodude took the harmless hit with a bit of a confused expression.  Roark furrowed his brow, wondering if he should tell what appeared to him as a new trainer that electric attacks wouldn't work or if she knew that already.

"Again!" Fida urged.  Rinse and repeat; Magnemite attacked again with yet a stronger form of the same attack, though this time Geodude dodged, having been ordered to attack with another Fire Punch, causing Magnemite to miss, though, it still had the desired effect.  "Dodge it!"

Magnemite avoided the attack with a sweeping motion to the side.  Per its trainer's command it used Charge Beam again, launching a powerful blow that would certainly but a nice dent in anything that wasn't a Ground-type.  Geodude Fire Punched through the attack, attempting another shot at taking Magnemite down.  "One last time!" Fida said.  Bye now Magnemite was simply jittery with all the power coursing through its small body, which became even stronger with the next attack.  During the course of the attack the Electric-type had gotten close to the ground.

"Mud Slap!" Roark said quickly.  Geodude quickly gathered up a hand-full of earth and flung it violently at Magnemite.

"No!" Fida squeaked, but relieved to find that her precaution had saved her yet again, though only barely; it looked to her that another hit of any kind would take Magnemite out of the match, which was to be expected after the strong Rollout and two super-effective hits.

"Follow it up with Brick Break!"

"Metal Sound!" Fida countered quickly before covering her ears.  The Geodude was stopped dead it's now speedy yet non-existent tracks as the wave of sound assaulted its senses; it, being a Rock-type, finding it particularly distasteful.  "Now's our chance!" Fida narrowed her eyes in determination.  She had a powered up Magnemite and a Geodude with weakened defenses - time to put it to work.

"Swift!" she followed up.  She didn't expect to use it during the match, but a guaranteed hit was better than a miss with Magnemite's vision being impaired.  The audio-attack ceased as soon as the stars were fired; they met their mark, doing a surprising amount of damage than what they should have in normal circumstanced.  Geodude let out a growl of pain, alerting Magnemite to its position. 

"Mirror Shot!" the girl relentlessly ordered again.

Magnemite's body shone brightly under the lights of the gym, brighter and brighter until unleashing the powered up Steel-type attack on the weakened geodude.  The attack hit and threw Geodude crashing through a couple of the rocks before tumbling to a stop at Roark's feet.

"Impressive," Roark said without skipping a beat.  He returned his defeated pokémon and pulled out another monster ball.  "We're just getting started though."  He cast the ball high into the air where it split open, letting loose an incredible large amount of energy that formed itself into the large serpentine form of an onix.  The creature let out an impressive roar that shook the gym and could no doubt have been heard by most of the people in Oreburgh.

"Good job, Magnemite," Fida said with a relieved sigh, happy that it had done so well.  She returned it and pulled out a regular Pokéball.  "C'mon, Rin!" Fida threw the ball, leaving her fully evolved vileplume on the field.  Fida had battled with Rin the least, she being an accidental capture when already fully evolved instead of trained from an oddish; this meant she tended to do rather well on her own.

"Don't remember the last time I fought a vileplume," Roark told her.  "Especially not from a young trainer like you,"

"I started out kinda early..." Fida explained sheepishly.

"You're good, I hope you do beat me, but I won't let that be a walk in the park," he smirked. 
"Earthquake!"

With a slam of its tail Onix set the ground beneath them into motion.  The attack was very localized, so as to not damage the city, but it was very powerful.

"Ingrain!" Fida raised her voice above sound of moaning earth.  Rin, who was struggling desperately to keep balance dug her roots into the ground, going deep in order to support her top-heaviness.

"Another smart move," Roark nodded.  It was too, while supporting herself Rin was also drawing nourishment from the ground, however much there was, adding to her stamina.  The downside was that she was locked in place; luckily for both her and Fida, the training she has gone through has been in stationary battle, inspired by Sem's cradily.  Of course with a foe as large as onix it didn't help much; Fida knew she would have to try and end this fast.

"Rock Throw!"  The onix roared again and was initiating its attack before being interrupted.

"Grass Knot!"

Vines burst out of the ground under Onix, disrupting it while it was in motion, writhing and constricting as they bound the beast to the arena floor.  The vines grew thicker and thicker, violently destroying the ground.  The amount of damage actually surprised Fida, she never having seen use the attack against something so large before.  Try as the onix might, it could not do more than struggle against the binds, which only seemed the hold it tighter the more it fought.

"Dragonbreath!" Roark said speedily, clearly not expecting the tables to turn so quickly against him.  Onix opened its mouth and exhaled a green cloud at Rin.  She protested against the stench and closed her eyes, her stubby arms flailing.  After a few seconds she seemed unable to do more than twitch.  "That would be the paralyzing side effect of Dragonbreath," Roark informed.

"It doesn't matter," Fida found herself saying.  "Rin, use Aromatherapy!"  A cloud of purple pollen shot up above the vileplume in a puff from her flower, descending upon the Grass-type's body.  The pollen relaxed Rin's body, giving her motion again after a matter of seconds.  "Follow up with Giga Drain!"

The vines around Onix's body squirmed, looking more like veins than vines as they sapped life energy from the rock-type and giving it back it Rin, further weakening her captive.  One vine moved,  wrapping itself around the onix's mouth, keeping it shut.

Roark was rather at a loss at what to do at this point and was reaching for his Pokéball to return Onix when Fida called out her final attack.

"Hidden Power!"

Sphere's of icy cold power surrounded Rin as she waved her arms.  The extensive root system she had created under the area began to freeze over with ice, the sounds of it spreading were heard even above ground.  Ice took over the vines around Onix and once that had happened the ice encased the rock snake itself, with it helpless to do anything about it.  The arena was left in a chilly silence.

"I cannot deny that I am thoroughly impressed," Roark clapped.  "You're creative and resourceful; that'll really be put to the test for my final and strongest pokémon!"  He returned Onix, leaving the frozen vines intact like a gnarled, skeletal carcass on the arena's surface.  His next pokémon was rather intimidating and did not surprise Fida that it was his strongest.
The rampardos screeched and looked predatorily at Rin.

"Head Smash," Roark said quite calmly.

Rampardos screeched again and broke into a run, crashing through the frozen vines as if they were paper.

"Grass Knot!" Fida said desperately.  Her response did not come quickly enough and the vines failed to latch on before Rampardos rammed into Rin directly, hard enough that she had to sever herself from her root system or risk grave injury.  The now-mobile vileplume was sent flying despite her large size.

"Finish it with Zen Headbutt!"

The rock-type veered around, dust billowing up in its wake, each step seemed to shake the entire floor.  Its dome-shaped head began to glow with an aura as it rushed at Rin again.

"Solarbeam!"  She realized it was vain until after she said it, but already beads of light were being absorbed into the center of Rin's large flower.  She launched the attack as soon as Rampardos hit her, the combination of energies resulted in an explosion, destroying whatever was left of the vine-torn arena.  The shock forced Fida back, and she would have fallen if she wasn't caught by Elvia, levitating her and setting her back down.  The smoke cleared quickly, showing a defeated Rin and a victorious Rampardos with not even a scratch.

"Rin!" Fida yelped, fumbling for the ball and returning the grass-type.  The Rampardos carried the title of most powerful well.  Fida assured herself that it had to have taken some damage from the explosion and pulled out Kieran's dusk ball.

"Next!" Roark chuckled.

"You can do it, Kieran!" she exclaimed, throwing the ball and releasing the murkrow from a burst of dark energy.

The size difference was quite amusing.

"Once again, interesting choice," Roark nodded.  "I hope you have more tricks up your sleeve rather than just that you have no other choice."

Fida did have other choices.  In her mind she liked the idea of Calhoun versus Rampardos much better.  But no, she decided to use Kieran this battle, and so use him she would.

"Stop this bird with a Rock Slide, Rampardos!"

With a growl the fossil pokémon stomped on the ground with a foot, tossing a large loose rock into the air, before ramming it into the direction of Kieran.  It did this again and again, sending a volley of boulders at the bird pokémon.

"Dodge with Faint Attack!"

Kieran instantly drained into its own shadow, vanishing completely.  After a few seconds he burst out of Rampardos' shadow, hitting it in the head while surrounded by a dark aura.

"Clever!" Roark nodded.  "Iron Tail!"

Kieran flew back in order to avoid being swatted and fired a Night Shade as he often did on his own.  The Night Shade did not seem to do more than simply annoy the beast and it charged Kieran at Roark's command.

"Steel Wing!"

Both pokémon flew at each other, Kieran twirled away and then back in, running the tip of his wing across Rampardos' back.  That attack actually seemed to hurt, as the dinosaur let out a roar of pain and veered off to the side away from Kieran.

"Excellent maneuver, try this!  Ice Beam!"

Fida held a hand to her mouth as Rampardos let loose the icy attack from its mouth.  Kieran flew away from it as fast as he could, but his leg got hit and was frozen.  The extra wait dragged him to the ground, disabling his flight.  Fida quickly searched her mind for available options as Kieran struggled into somewhat of a stand.  With the weight Kieran couldn't gain momentum for a proper faint attack, but he could still...  "Kieran, Faint Attack, get under it!"

Kieran briefly glared at her before doing as he was asked.  In moments he was appearing out of the dino's shadow.  "Steel Wing!"  Kieran slashed at the thing's legs with one wing as if her were a swordsman, though with a quick hop the Rampardos avoided damage to its legs.

"Stomp!"

"Um, um," Fida panicked.  "Thunder Wave!"  She resorted to one of the first attacks she had trained Kieran to use.  His feathers crackled with lightning before dispelling it at Rampardos, the force of it shattering his frozen shackle.

Rampardos convulsed at the lightning surged through its body, it not having the advantage of being part Ground-type.

"Yes!" Fida cheered.  "Icy Wind!"

"Not so fast!  Flamethrower!"

A jet of fire blew out of Rampardos' mouth, melting whatever snow and cold had managed to form in the short time Icy Wind was active; it forced Kieran to get out of the way so as to not get fried Kentucky-style.

"Night Shade into a Steel Wing!"  Fida was becoming ever more hopeful now, especially upon remembering that she still had Magnemite in reserve, however weak it was.

The murkrow fired the ghostly energy from his eyes as he dove towards his opponent, wings spread and reflecting the lights above him.

Smack!

The Steel Wing hit Rampardos across the face, causing it to lose balance and fall.

"Assurance!"

Dark energy surrounded Kieran's beak as he dove after the rock-type, stabbing at the dinosaur violently in the side, doing more damage because of the pokémon's vulnerable state.

"Stone Edge!"

The ground rumbled briefly before a large slab of rock burst from the ground, sending Kieran away like a flicked insect.  The attack was insanely powerful; Kieran could barely get up afterwards. 

"Come on, Kieran!" Fida shouted.  "We're not done yet!  Payback!"

The small bird attacked again that was almost identical to Assurance, pecking hard at Rampardos' head with the attack.  Kieran withdrew after moment, giving him just enough time to dodge another Ice Beam.

"Ominous Wind!"

A spine-chilling howl broke the air as a current of wind was created, dropping the temperature in the gym several degrees.  Faint traces of purple ghost-like energy laced the wind as it hit the large rock-type, powerful enough to send it sliding back against the ground.  Attack only seemed to intensify as time went on, so much that Rampardos had to lean into it with a strong stance to keep from being blown over.  It was the strongest Fida had ever seen the attack be she realized as she saw the stands rock and some spectators exchanging worried glances as they hugged themselves against the cold; the lights swayed above everyone's heads.  Kieran looked perfectly worn out at a glance, but the glint of determination in his eyes seemed only to suggest that he was powered up.

"Icy Wind!"

"Flamethrower!"

Kieran beat his wings quickly and powerfully, creating an Icy Wind that made his earlier attempts that day during training seem silly.  The temperature dropped even lower and ice was forming in the air within seconds.

The blast of fire met with the burst of wind head on, pushing against the other.  The wind only seemed to make the flames grow bigger and more powerful, so much that Kieran stopped and fluttered off to the side, allowing the fire to blow past him in a surge of heat.  Kieran tried the same attack from a different angle, taking advantage of the still going wind current to quicken the speed of his attack.  Ice was already forming on Rampardos' body.

"Charge with Take Down!" Roark ordered, more in an attempt to break the mold the ice was forming than to actually attack.  Pieces of ice cracked and came off, but others were still intact in places around the Rock-types body.

"You charge too, with Steel Wing!"

With a leer the dark-type took wing towards Rampardos at a greater speed than was seen before.  Wings outstretched, he avoided the wild ramming of the dinosaur's head and swooped down to the monster's leg.  The force of the attack paired with the pain effectively brought Rampardos down, sliding and rolling across the arena.

"Assurance again!" Fida said, body fully pumped with adrenaline.

The crow pokémon climbed up on the air before taking another dive at Rampardos, this time with the aura surrounding his whole body as he starting to spin like drill.  The attack hit with a burst of dark energy in all directions and driving the ancient-pokémon into the floor, creating an indent.  As Kieran flew off back towards Fida he all together lost consciousness.  Running forward, she caught her bird before he hit the ground.

She smiled her Fida-smile at her bird, cradling him in her arms, before turning her attention to Rampardos and Roark.  Much to her surprise and relief, Rampardos did not rise from where it lay in the middle of the ruin that was Roark's arena.

The Gym Leader smirked.  Returning his rampardos as he walked across the battlefield and stopped directly before Fida.  "I think you won," he said, getting to one knee so that he was eye-level with her.  "It was a very exciting battle, you should be proud."

"Thank you..." Fida blushed, still holding Kieran in her arms.

"I present you with this gym badge, congratulations," he pulled out a small object from his pocket, presenting it as the Coal Badge, a clean and shining gleam reflected off of its surface.

"T-thank you," Fida repeated, bowing her head and taking the badge.  She held it up and stared at it were her cloudy-gray eyes.  "Look, Elvia," she whispered before turning her attention to the unconscious bird in her arms.  The girl wanted to find her companions in the stands and wave at them, but ran out of the gym as the applause began.

Rushing through the glass doors of the center she returned Kieran and gave him along with Rin and Magnemite to Nurse Joy who seemed to be waiting for her, probably because there was no more noise coming from the gym.  The woman took them while eyeing Fida with an expression that simply read, "Well?"

In response Fida showed the nurse her badge.  Nurse Joy smiled and gave a short nod before turning around and doing whatever she needed to with the pokémon she was given.  Fida glanced about the room before walking to an empty corner of it and sitting down upon the couch that was there.

"We did it," she said out loud and closed her eyes as she sat waiting for her friends.

OOC:Stupid Word killed my post, jamming all the paragraphs together.  If I missed spacing one or two or ten, sorry XD


Dwayna:

Glenn slid in across from her, noticing her new companion. The little Budew regarded him for a moment before turning back to Aria, a little bit confused.

“Yes, this is Rose.” Aria replied, pointing at the Budew. “Rose, this is Glenn.” Aria put her hand down on the table, at which the Budew hopped up into it. It felt a little weird to have a small moving plant in her hand, but nevertheless, Aria lifted it towards Glenn, letting Rose look at him more closely. After a little bit Rose gave a little bow and wiggled happily, obviously showing she liked Glenn. Aria smiled at this, turning her head to see Fida come in.

Fida introduced herself to Rose as well, gaining another bow and happy wiggle from the little creature. Rose seemed to be sociable, at least to Aria's friends. She could only imagine what the little Grass type might do against her enemies.

“So how were the mines, Glenn?” she said to him after they had all grabbed some dinner. “Anything interesting happen?” Light conversation was always a good thing in her opinion, and she was thoroughly interested in what Glenn would have to say. She listened to his reply, noticing that Fida seemed to be quiet and nervous. No wonder, thought Aria, she's going to be taking on Roark soon.

“After Seamus gave a spectacular display battling little Rose here, I went back to the cave and had them spar for a little while. Ferny learned Ember as well as successfully mastering Rock Smash.” she said all of this proudly, an air of confidence about her. “After Fida's battle, I have no doubt we'll be training our PokéMon some more.”

After they all finished their dinner, they all headed towards the gym, Aria and Glenn sitting together on the sidelines. Other people crowded around them to watch the Gym battle, and aria didn't blame them. Probably one of the more exciting things to do in this world, she thought to herself, before focusing her eyes on the battlefield. This was where she would learn more about the mysterious girl named Fida and her companions.

The battle that transpired was spectacular. Fida brought out a Magnemite, clearly a type disadvantage, but with her stellar display she managed to take down the Geodude without much problems. The Vileplume choice was a good one, making clean work of the humongous Onix. However the strange  PokéMon named Rampardos was more of a challenge for the Vileplume. Fida finished off the battle with a Murkrow, and albeit the hilarious size difference, the two PokéMon seemed almost evenly matched. However, Fida won the battle in the end, earning a cheer from Aria, as she was thoroughly impressed with the skill the girl exemplified.

After the stands cleared out, Aria walked behind with Glenn. Her heart was still beating like mad from the excitement of the battle, a small grin plastered on her face. It caused Aria to think more about her strategy, what she would be doing to win against Roark. So many thoughts rushed through her head, thinking about how type advantages might not be as important as she originally thought among other things, but one idea seemed to stand out above the rest.

“Glenn,” she began, blushing a little bit. “Perhaps we can train together. Whether that be through our PokéMon teaching each other a thing or two or perhaps having a battle, I would like very much if we could focus our abilities together to better ourselves for our upcoming challenges against Roark.”

With that said and done, Aria simply waited for his reply, her heart beating quickly for an entirely different reason this time around. Probably having something to do with the prospect of spending alone time with Glenn.


Stel:

With dinner done and his PokeMon reclaimed from the nurse after being healed, Glenn followed Fida and Aria to the Gym, Metalica and Siegfried walking by his side. Glenn found it surprising that the Rotom did not immediately siphon its way into the guitar the moment it was released from the PokeBall - but after a while, he realized it wasn't that surprising. Siegfried, he believed, decided to heed Steven's advice to Metalica as well - and learn by observing. Glenn wasn't certain what would the Rotom be observing - but he had a hunch that it wasn't Roark's PokeMon that the Plasma PokeMon found interesting in potential.

Roark seemed to have a flair for dramatic introductions - either that or it was a standard part of the Code of the Gym Leaders, Chapter 2, Verse 13: "Thou Shalt Make A Dramatic Entrance When A Challenger Appeareth" or something.

He seemed like a formidable trainer - but Glenn had a feeling, in spite of not knowing the young girl for long, that Fida was quite a formidable trainer on her own right.

This would be an interesting battle. Glenn found himself tuning out all other noises - and focusing exclusively on the battle. He smiled a little when he noticed both his PokeMon were trying to mimic him and single out the sounds of the battle against the background cacophony of people.

The first round began - and Roark sent out a Geodude. Typical,  Glenn thought, Chapter 3, Verse 1337: "Rock Gym Leaders must have at least one Geodude and possibly an Onix, so decreeth the Holy Laws of Dirt.". To Glenn's surprise, Fida countered with a Magnemite.

Interesting. A battle of opposites. Glenn thought, making a mental note. Steel conquers rock but ground conquers both. What's she playing at?.

Defenses. was the first answer that came to mind as the girl appeared to be focusing on raising the Magnemite's defenses - something that proved to be wise as the Geodude, apparently, knew Fire Punch.

The flurry of Charge Beams that followed seemed to make no sense. Electricity had no effect on ground-types. A little spark caught his attention as he turned his eyes to the its origin - the Rotom intensified its glow, shooting the trainer a meaningful look.

It's powering up? Glenn seemed to convey the thought to the Rotom, as the creature nodded, turning its eyes back to the battle, focusing intently - it was clear that the Rotom was observing the battle with more than just its eyes - but also with its ability to sense electric fields.  He shot a look to Metalica, who seemed to be concentrating on the Magnemite as well - perhaps attempting to make sense of the increase in the electric-type's power.

And the increase in power culminated in a flurry of special attacks - Swift and Mirror Shot - that took the Geodude out of the game.

The gym leader sent out an Onix in response, making Glenn grimace. The Holy Laws of Dirt win again, he chuckled.

Even though it was still functional, the Magnemite seemed pretty banged up - so it came as no surprise to Glenn that Fida recalled it and sent out something else - a Vileplume. There was an odd air of coldness to the grass-type that he couldn't quite place. If the trainer didn't know better, he could have sworn he was looking at an ice-type.

This battle was considerably shorter than the battle before it - though Glenn could not help but be thoroughly impressed at the Vileplume's apparent affinity for status restoring moves - and even more impressed by the creature's icy Hidden Power.  There was something beautiful but deadly at the sight of the vanquished Onix - a once-mighty serpentine dragon of the earth, entangled in a cage of vines, succumbing to the bitter, glacial embrace of winter. Even the spheres of icy energy seemed to resemble an aurora.

A little shiver passed through Glenn as in the depths of his mind, the scene took a slightly different twist - a musical one. He will have to take the time to sit down and compose this when he had some time for his music.

... It all came to an anticlimactic end when the Rampardos appeared and made short work of the once-victorious Vileplume. The melody in his mind shattered into cacophony as the explosion of Solarbeam and Zen Headbutt happened.

A creature of this size and bulk should NOT have been so fast. Talk about using your head.

Fida's next choice was a Murkrow - the image seemed almost comical - a massive pachycephalosaurid-theropod cross with a predatory grin facing off a tiny black bird with a hat - that seemed to have an "Oh, is that all?" expression plastered all over its beak. Glenn knew Murkrows were birds with an attitude, but THIS much attitude surprised even him.

And it seemed that the Rotom has taken a particular interest in the bird - especially as it seemed to use a whole assortment of devious tactics, evading the Rampardos' assaults while attacking key areas with Steel Wing and a wide array of dark moves.

Then the wind began. Glenn did not even seem to notice the cold as his mind was entirely -transfixed- on the attack. The ghostly howl of the wind - it almost seemed as if it had a life of its own - wailing with the rage of at thousand lost souls. Inspiration struck him again.

He wasn't the only one excited about the attack - The Rotom seemed to flare up ecstatically as the Ominous Wind attack seemed to trigger something inside it - its own inspiration, perhaps. Glenn thought about the Double Team incident earlier on, in the mines. Could it be used like this?

The final movement of the battle embedded itself in his mind almost as much as the Onix's fall. A last-ditch assault from both combatants, charging forward at great speed, the Murkrow going for the legs and knocking the great beast down, finishing off with a burst of darkness. Both of the combatants were down, but Fida still had her Magnemite.

She has won - against the odds, with PokeMon that seemed to be a bad match-up to the gym leader's - but she won.

The final chord played out in Glenn's mind as his mind slowly returned to the real world as the crowds began to drain. He may have been taken in by the beauty of the battle and the music it made in his mind, but he has made many worthy observations - and with them - realizing that he had to make this battle count. He only had two PokeMon with him. If he lost both in this battle he would be forced to forfeit the match. He should probably train more before taking on Roark.

Aria's question seemed to be an answer to his thoughts.

"I think that's a great idea, Aria." Glenn smiled at the red-haired female "I think Sieg and Metalica got a few ideas from watching this battle - they should probably try to practice them. And with a team as diverse as yours is shaping out to be... maybe we could unlock a few new moves together. Although first thing's first, I think we should go and congratulate Fida for her victory. And let her know we're going to do some more training. What say ye?"


Dwayna:

Glenn told Aria that her idea was great, which caused her to swell with pride at being complimented by her leader. She nodded in agreement at his statement about their PokéMon learning things from each other, thinking about all the possibilities of the things they could learn from each other. At his suggestion to go congratulate Fida, she smiled broadly, skipping her way towards the PokéMon Center.

She spotted Fida sitting on one of the couches, walking her way over to the girl. She could still sense the presence of the Mismagius around the girl, wondering a little at the power that it had. However, she realized that wasn't what she was supposed to be focusing on at this moment.

"That was a spectacular battle, Fida." she said honestly, smiling her genuine smile. "I am thoroughly impressed at your expertise and congratulate you on your win." She stood back up straight, mulling some thoughts over in her head as she palmed the chrome pink PokéBall that held Rose.

"Glenn and I are going to go train together for a while." she stated first, before continuing her thought. "I have decided that after my PokéMon have gained more strength through this manner, I will be the next to take on Roark. Hopefully later tonight."

She then swiveled towards the front desk, her little speech finished. A mixture of confidence and nervous feelings ran throughout her system as she collected her PokéBalls from the Nurse. She took a deep breath to steady her emotions, letting out Seamus to allow him to perch on her shoulder, and Voltron to walk by her side.

She headed back towards Glenn afterwards, simply smiling at him in anticipation of their training session together.


Stel:

"What she said." Glenn smiled at the young girl "That was one hell of a battle there. Really inspirational... And do pass that message on to your team - they were amazing over there. Congratulations, Fida."

He nodded, then stretched. "Well, then. As Aria here said, we'll be off to do some training. From this battle it seems like we're going to need it."

He turned to Aria and smiled back "Well then, let's go."

~*~

They made their way to Route 207 - as it seemed like a good place to train in terms of terrain diversity and proximity to the city. Soon enough they found themselves in a little rocky field nestled by the mountains around them. It seemed like a lovely place to train. Afternoon was fading, and already the sun was beginning to set. It already seemed like it was going to be a gorgeous one.

Glenn liked sunsets. He couldn't help it. They did something to the artist in him.

Now, though, he had to focus that inspiration on the coming battles.

"Alright, then." he said, with a little smile to Aria "I think we've both noticed Roark is not to be taken lightly. He's got a lot more diversity under his wing than I believed - so we're going to need all the advantages we can get. This made me think... Metalica learned something over at the mines which I think could help Ferny."

He pointed at one of the large rocks, nodding at Metalica. The Mawile seemed to snap into focus, as if charting out the rock in her mind - and suddenly, broke into a dash, a leap, and a somersault, bringing her jaw-like horns down on the rock like an axe, shattering it almost cleanly in two.

"That was a Brick Break attack." he said with a proud grin "Metalica learned it by observing Machops at work in the mines. I think that Ferny might be able to learn it from observing her..."


Dwayna:

Route 207 was just north of town, adding for convenience and judging by the look of it, the area had a diverse mixture of tall grass and rock. Aria looked on at the sunset a little bit, her eyes that usually looked to be crimson glowing their true amber color in the light.

Aria turned her attention to Glenn as he talked to her about how Roark must not be taken lightly. He then showed her that Metalica had learned a new technique while they were in the cave. Aria watched as the little Steel type effortlessly sliced the boulder in two with her Brick Break attack, and Aria clapped her hands together in glee.

"Yes, Brick Break is more powerful than Rock Smash... It is similar, but Rock Smash is more of a wild technique while Brick Break has more focus." Aria explained this to no one in particular, before nodding her assent. She let Ferny out of his PokéBall, smiling at the little monkey.

"Please observe Metalica as she uses the Brick Break move, and try to learn it yourself." Aria motioned towards the Mawile when she said 'Metalica' so Ferny would know who she was talking about. After she was finished with that, she let out Rose again, thinking to herself how she'd like to change the appearance of the chrome pink ball later on.

"Alright. Since Seamus would be in considerable danger from Rock types, I am going to keep him out of this battle." the bird on her shoulder chirped in a little bit disappointed way, but Aria pet him in reassurance.

"Don't worry, you'll be able to fight with me in other battles, I'm sure. For now, please spar a little bit with Rose. But don't hurt her too much - I know you'll be learning Wing Attack soon and Grass types are weak to Flying types." With all of that said, she turned her attention finally to Voltron.

"As for you, I will be trying to teach you Iron Tail as a last resort move." As Ferny was becoming adept in Fighting moves and Rose was a Grass type, Aria had it between Seamus and Voltron to learn a Steel type move. Noting that it was a Rock type gym, Aria knew that Seamus would have a clear disadvantage, thus leaving Voltron as her last resort.

So she set off pointing to rocks for Voltron to hit his tail with. The poor little lion cub flinched with pain at first, letting out small mewls in complaint. After a while the little Shinx got used to the pain, still trying to chip away at the rocks with the edge of its shuriken-like tail. Surely if that got steely enough, it would be quite painful.

She looked over at Ferny to see his progress. He was monkeying around a little bit with Metalica, sending a Taunt out towards the little Steel type. Aria growled slightly, at which Ferny perked up, looking towards her. Aria glared at him enough for him to look frightened, before he turned back to focus on trying to learn Brick Break. Aria smirked a little bit at this, impressed with her control over her companions.

She turned her head to the sparring between Seamus and Rose for a little bit. As she wished, when Seamus looked ready to use Wing Attack, the bird directed the attack to a nearby boulder instead of at the Grass type, his wings crashing into the rock and leaving him to make a pained chirp. Not too long after that, Rose opened her bud again to release a yellow-ish powder onto the poor little Starly, causing Seamus to stop in his tracks at the electric shocks running through his body. Stun Spore, Aria reiterated in her mind Could be very useful in my upcoming battle.

"Alright you two. That's enough." She returned Rose to the regenerative ball, and opened the item ball she had put the kit into. She brought out a Paralyze Heal and sprayed it on Seamus, releasing the poor bird from its electric prison. The bird cooed at her in relief, at which Aria simply smiled.

Voltron was still trying to learn Iron Tail, beginning to chip away a little of the rock that he was bashing his tail into. At one point it looked like he was collecting electrical energy, causing his fur to crackle with the power of it. Charge, she thought, looking a bit grim, Not very useful right now.

She looked back over at Ferny, who seemed to have taken her previous glare quite seriously. With one great swipe of his hand, he managed to split a boulder in two, earning a cheer from Aria. He practiced his new move over and over, just to make sure he had it down pat.

"I suppose that will do for now." she said, looking at the small scratch Voltron had made in the boulder. He was so close to learning the move, she wouldn't be surprised if he learned it in the gym battle. She returned everyone to their PokéBalls, and smiled appreciatively at Glenn.

"Thank you very much for helping me train, Glenn." she said honestly, a small blush on her cheeks. He had done a lot to help her today, and she was glad for their time together.

"We should go back to the center, so I can rest my PokéMon some more before the big battle." Thinking about the big battle sent another nervous feeling throughout her, and it showed a little bit. she shivered slightly with all of the emotions passing throughout her, giving a worried glance towards Glenn.

Nevertheless, she shook her fiery mane of hair with some of the confidence she had left, and turned back towards the PokéMon Center.


Stel:

Glenn Hendrix gazed up at the beginnings of the sunset for a little while, sending an encouraging little smile to Metalica as she was attempting to teach the little monkey the technique. He was amused for a moment at the thought that both his new friends had nearly full teams - and all he had at the moment was Siegfried and Metalica. For a moment, he pondered searching for a fighting-type PokeMon to capture and train briefly, simply to have a backup in case Metalica and Siegfried both fell - but somehow, it didn't feel right. These were living creatures - he preferred to avoid taking away their freedom if he could. If he was to catch a PokeMon, he wanted to make sure it would be a companion for a lifetime, not a momentary strategic decision.

For a moment he thought of the obnoxious 10-year-olds who were all for collecting every single species of PokeMon as if the creatures were nothing but trading cards or action figures. He was thankful that he didn't have to deal with any of those yet - and that both his travelling companions seemed to, at least, genuinely care about their teams.

Fida had at least five of the creatures with her: Elvia, her ever-present guardian Mismagius. Kieran, the Murkrow with an Attitude. Rin, the mysterious, icy Vileplume. And of course, the strange little Magnemite and its companion. Whether or not the girl had a sixth member to her team, Glenn did not know yet. Somehow, though, he had a feeling that he would find out sooner or later. Fida told the gym leader she started early. Glenn wondered briefly how early was early. The young girl was a complete mystery to him - a mystery he had hoped would at least partially solve itself as their journey continued.

And as for mysteries, Aria seemed to have many of her own. She began her journey on the same day as he did - and already she had four PokeMon to call her own. Ferny, the firey litle Chimchar. Seamus, the loyal Starly. Voltron, the young Shinx and Rose the Budew, the female trainer's latest capture. Already, the girl seemed to have a form of control over her PokeMon that seemed rather surprising. There was also something in the way she talked... Something... poetic. He could not describe it otherwise. She was certainly not an ordinary person - but Glenn didn't seem to mind. After all. Being out of the ordinary made people interesting.

As Metalica was focused on teaching Ferny Brick Break, Glenn figured that while Aria is training the rest of her team members, he should probably focus on training with Siegfried. The Electric-type seemed to have its own ideas though - watching Kieran's preformance with the Ominous Wind attack inspired the Rotom to learn the move itself. In attempt to mimic the flaps of the bird's wings to create a gust of wind, the Rotom seemed to direct some of its semi-solid core into its lightning tendrils as it rotated, vaguely changing its shape as it went into a wild spin. Ghostly afterimages danced in the Rotom's wake again as they did when the creature used Double-team - except that this time, they were directed upwards, funnelling into the vortex of air, getting caught in its currents. A chill slowly formed in the air as the afterimages in the vortex seemed to disintegrate from a blur of orange and blue into violet wisps, emitting what sounded like synthesized screeches that faded gradually into faint whispers on the wind. The attack dissolved into nothingness as the Rotom ceased its spinning and embedded itself in the earth, sparks dancing as the Electric-type discharged the excess rotation-generated energy harmlessly into the ground. Soon enough, the Rotom levitated again - and tried again. As the training session continued, it took less and less time for the Rotom to muster the technique. Glenn couldn't help but be impressed.

Every once in a while he shot a look towards Metalica - smirking a little as he noticed the Mawile seemed to completely ignore the little primate's taunts, and the trainer's response to her Chimchar's "Monkeying Around". Glenn couldn't help but twitch a little when he noticed the almost terrified reaction by the monkey. The girl, clearly, had a killer glare.

Soon, it was all over - Ferny seems to have mastered Brick Break, and Aria seems to have decided that now would be a good time to take a break and let her PokeMo recover prior to her upcoming battle with Roark.

She thanked him for his assistance, to which he replied with a "You're quite welcome." and a smile. He nodded at her as she said that they should return to the PokeMon Center - not failing to notice the fact the girl seemed to be under a certain amount of stress.

"I think you'll do just fine, Aria." he said as the girl shook her head and turned to leave and head towards the PokeMon center - though whether or not she heard him, he did not know.

"Well, guys?" Glenn turned to Metalica and Siegfried with a smile. The Rotom, in response, syphoned itself into Glenn's guitar again - clearly, he had enough practice for today. The Mawile made her way over to the trainer's side and emitted a little sequence of chirps, causing the trainer to smile and lightly scratch the Mawile's head, right at the point her horns began. While she herself didn't get to do much training on anything beyond Brick Break it was clear that she refined the technique even more. Perhaps after Aria's battle, he would return here with Metalica and continue practicing her electricity manipulation. If he was to take on Roark next morning, he wanted to be prepared.

The trainer and the Mawile that walked by his side turned to head for the PokeMon center themselves, shooting one last look to the sunset. This was a very eventful day - and it wasn't over yet.

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

Dwayna:

With some more encouragement from Glenn, Aria calmed down a little bit, simply walking into the center to give the Nurse her PokéMon. She explained that they needed a short rest, as she would be taking on the Gym soon. The Nurse simply nodded in understanding, and took the PokéBalls to regenerate them quickly.

Aria was going over strategies in her head, merely silent while she was waiting. She would have Glenn and Fida watching her from the sidelines, cheering her on. But that also caused feelings of wondering how they might react if she lost. She didn't want to lose, especially not with her leader watching.

It wasn't long before the Nurse called out to her, telling her that her PokéMon were ready. She took a deep breath as she collected the PokéBalls, calming her nerves as best as she could. She steeled herself and walked out of the PokéMon Center, Glenn and Fida in tow.

---

“I am Aria Terra, and I challenge the Gym Leader Roark to a match.” she called out with an icy tone, Seamus resting atop her shoulder. The lights came on soon afterwards, and it was so much different actually being on the gym floor rather than watching from above. People who had stayed up late were siphoning into the stands, as if waiting for this very thing to happen.

Then she saw Roark, standing directly across from her, looking the same way she had seen him look during Fida's battle. The gray mining uniform, the white gloves, the short fringe of his cherry-brown hair coming out from underneath his red construction hat. His eyes peered at her from underneath his glasses, boring into her eyes like any confident gym leader would. She stared right back at him, finding her fire beginning to coil up inside of her yet again, her glare matching his perfectly as if she was mimicking him in a way.

“I accept.” he replied, in his smooth but loud tones. "The battle will be three versus three and there is no time limit." Of course, like any Gym Leader, he would reiterate his rules to whomever challenged him.

“As you wish.” she replied, her ice-cold demeanor beginning to crumble underneath her fiery personality. Her eyes glowed their true amber color under the light, making her seem all that more intimidating. However, Roark did not crumble beneath her stare, simply smirking back at her.

"Well then, as per tradition I will start first... Go!" he said, throwing out his first  PokéMon. The Geodude appeared before her, crying out its challenge. Without blinking, Aria shook her fiery mane of hair, throwing out the chrome pink PokéBall that held Rose within.

“A strategically sound choice, that Budew. However, you'll find I am no pushover, Aria Terra.” he said to her, still with a confident gleam as ever. “Geodude, Mud-Slap!”

“I am no pushover either, Roark. Stun Spore.” retorted Aria, as the Geodude started to gather mud in its hands. The Geodude flung the mud, but Rose was smart enough to run forward and dive so the mud flung right past her. She slid right up underneath the Geodude, expelling the yellow spores onto its body before running back towards Aria, turning around to see the paralysis start to take effect.

“Smart move,” complimented Roark, “But if you think that will stop me, think again. Geodude, Dig!” Despite the newly obtained paralysis, the Geodude started digging a hole for itself, burrowing beneath the gym floor.

“Growth.” Aria commanded, watching Rose expand in size slightly as the Geodude tunneled beneath the Grass type.

“Rock Polish!” commanded Roark, casually crossing his arms again as the grinding could be heard underneath them again. Aria recognized this strategy from earlier, knowing what would come next.

“Rose, pay attention to your surroundings.” she hinted towards the Grass type, who nodded in affirmation and looked like it was concentrating on something.

“Fire Punch!” came the anticipated call, at which Rose tried to jump out of the way of the quickly ascending Geodude. However she was rocketed into the air riding atop the Geodude, who didn't have a flaming fist. The paralysis made the joints of the Rock type stiffen, indicating it had just kicked in to stop the potentially lethal attack.

“Absorb!” shouted Aria, at which Rose jumped up, only to flip upside down. The bud part of its head clamped around one of Geodude's arms, the Rock type crying out in pain as some of its nutrients were drained into Rose's body. It looked almost as if the Budew was trying to amplify the strength of the attack. Could it be?

“Rollout.” said Roark, at which Geodude started spinning very quickly, launching Rose off of its body. The small Grass type flew back onto the ground, sliding backwards toward s Aria before getting back up again.

“Growth.” called Aria again, causing Rose to appear even larger. However it wasn't long before the Geodude came spinning back in her direction, causing Aria to need to think fast.

“Jump to dodge, then use Absorb again!” she called, at which Rose was all too happy to obey. The little Budew jumped up in the air just as the Geodude was rolling under her, fipping over in the air to open its bud towards the Geodude again. This time instead of plunging back down to try to latch on, Rose shot out a vine that hit the rolling mass, stopping the Geodude in its tracks as it called out in pain again. This Absorb definitely looked more powerful than the last. The Geodude slumped to the ground, fainted from the power of both super-effective attacks.

"Impressive. We're just getting started, though." Roark said without skipping a beat. He returned his Geodude, still with a confident smile. He threw out his next PokéBall, releasing the colossal rock snake that Aria had anticipated.

“Onix, Screech!” he called, at which Aria covered her ears before the large Rock PokéMon emitted an ear-splitting screech. Rose was blown back a little bit by the sheer force of the attack, shivering slightly afterwards as she lowered her defenses.

“Rose, try Mega Drain!” called Aria, at which the little Budew climbed up to the top of the largest rock, jumping up before opening her bud again. The vine shot out and latched to the Onix's horn, the Grass type pulling itself forwards as the attack started to come into effect. The Onix roared in pain as the Grass type attack shocked through its body.

“Onix, Dig!” cried Roark in retaliation. The big Rock snake plunged towards the Earth, the Budew still tightly latched onto its horn. It burrowed beneath the ground, only to come up a few moments later, flinging Rose into the air to come crashing back down in front of Aria. Rose fainted, causing Aria to pull out the chrome pink ball again to return her defeated PokéMon.

“No wonder you are a Gym Leader.” said Aria, a soft growl in her voice. “Nevertheless, as you said, we are just getting started. Go, Ferny!” she called, throwing the PokéBall marked with the fire symbol. The little fire monkey popped out.

“Hmm, a Chimchar.” Roark observed, before steeling himself yet again. “Onix, Rock Slide!” The large rock snake smashed the ground with its tail, causing rocks to be hurled towards Ferny.

“Ferny, get in there and use Brick Break on the joints!” retorted Aria. The quick little fire monkey dashed forwards, avoiding the rocks being hurled in his direction. With a great leap, he landed a Brick Break attack right on the Onix's tail joint, causing it to call out in pain again. However, that was not the end for the rock snake.

“Earthquake!” came the call, at which the Onix smashed his tail into the ground again to cause a rumbling throughout the entire floor. However, Ferny had grabbed the tail before hand, simply riding it as it crashed down, and jumping off as the tail came back up, some damage done to the poor little fire type.

“Again!” called Aria, at which the monkey simply smirked, crashing another Brick Break right into the midsection of the Onix, causing it to come crashing down to earth, making a lot of dust and debris fly into the air. After it all cleared, Ferny was dancing around triumphantly at Aria's feet, the large snake behind him clearly unable to continue.

“You've trained your companions well.” remarked Roark as he returned Onix to its PokéBall. “However, you'll find I've trained my last one especially well. Go, Rampardos!” he said, releasing his final team member. The large fossil PokéMon towered over the small Chimchar, leading Aria to think of the earlier battle with Fida's Murkrow.

“Taunt.” she quickly commanded, knowing Roark might use a move to buff the Rampardos' power beforehand. The little monkey stuck out his tongue at the Rampardos, making rude noises at it which caused the large fossil to become angry.

“Alright then, use Zen Headbutt!” called Roark, and the large fossil dashed towards Ferny with its head lowered. However this was what Aria was anticipating, a small smirk coming onto her face.

“Roll out of the way and use Brick Break again.” she called casually, and she was met with an expedient response. The little monkey jumped and did a little roll just as the Rampardos dashed past, coming around behind the fossil to crash another well placed Brick Break into the creatures back. Though the Rampardos looked a bit pained, it reared up again afterwards, even angrier than before.

“Rock Slide!” Roark called again, and this time some of the debris that was caused by Rampardos smashing its tail down hit its mark. The small fire type came catapulting back towards Aria, just barely standing up after the super-effective attack.

“One last time.” she called, at which the monkey rolled around to the back of the fossil PokéMon again, landing another Brick Break on the back of the creature. Now the Rampardos looked almost as badly effected as Ferny did, causing Aria to nod her approval.

“Rock Tomb!” came the anticipated call from Roark, causing the Rampardos to hurl some boulders in Ferny's direction. One hit its mark and sent Ferny to the ground again, causing the little fire monkey to go down. Aria returned him to his PokéBall, and brought out her last resort.

“Go, Voltron!” she said without missing a beat, the electric lion cub bursting forth to pounce on the Rampardos, clamping its teeth onto the nearest limb. Aria chuckled slightly at Voltron's antics, knowing that it was a prelude to a Bite attack.

“Get up high, Voltron.” she called to him, at which he sought out the tallest rock on the battlefield and raced towards it. The little lion cub climbed atop it, giving a confident glare towards the Rampardos.

“Earthquake!” called out Roark, albeit with a bit of a desperate tone. He wanted to finish this match fast to get his win, but Aria would have none of it.

“Jump, and use Iron Tail!” she commanded, and just as the Earthquake tremors got the the little lion cub, he jumped into the air, doing a little flip over the head of the Rampardos before its tail shined with promise, the shuriken part of his tail coming down to drag along the Rampardos' back, the attack finally striking true. With another cry of pain and a severely damaged back, the Rampardos keeled over, Voltron still standing despite the damage done to him from the Earthquake. Aria had won.

She heard the crowd erupt in cheers for her, a broad smile plastered on her face. Roark returned the Rampardos and adjusted his hard hat, a little smile still pulled onto his face. He walked towards Aria, producing from his pocket a brand new Coal Badge.

“Your aggressive style reminds me a little bit of myself.” he said, his glare softened from before as he looked on at Aria. “That was an impressive battle there, Aria. You earned this.” He held out the badge, which Aria politely took from him, smoothing it over in her hand.

“Thank you, Roark.” she replied, her smile turning to a friendly one as she pocketed the badge. “You are a worthy opponent and an exceptional gym leader.” She held out her hand towards him, which he gladly took, shaking it in congratulations and perhaps a little of friendship.

Aria recalled Voltron before she left the Gym to hed back towards the PokéMon Center. At the front desk she met the eyes of the Nurse, smiling and producing her new gym badge. The Nurse smiled in approval, taking the PokéBalls that Aria handed to her. After that, Aria sat down at a nearby table, Seamus deciding to flutter down on top of it to sit in front of her, leaning up to nuzzle her and give her a chirp of congratulations.

Aria simply smiled back, relaxing into the comfy couch as she waited for her friends to arrive. She took out the badge case that she had obtained, placing the Coal Badge into the first slot, marking the true beginning of her journey throughout the PokéMon League.


Stel:

"Well, that was awesome." Glenn murmured to himself as he made his way to the PokeMon center. Aria's battle was almost as impressive a sight as Fida's - especially in the light that she began her journey on the same day he did. The female's intense training for the past day was really apparent in the results of the battle. The trainer could not help but smile when he thought of the end of this particular battle.

The contrast in battle styles between Aria and Fida couldn't have been more apparent. If Fida's battle inspired images of something almost opera-like in his mind, Aria's was a rapid-fire shred-guitar solo - complicated in its own way, some times more intense than other, but mostly aggressive.

And it earned her an impressive victory.

He spotted Aria easily as the door to the PokeMon Center opened. He made his way to her with a grin.

"Lovely battle there, Aria." he smiled "Congratulations."


Sem

"I knew you'd win," came a voice through a purple PokéGear device.  Fida was in her room, having gone there shortly after Glenn and Aria left for some extra training.  She kept silent as she held the multifunctional gadget to her ear, looking out the window from which orange light flowed into her room with glazed gray eyes.

"You ok?" the voice asked again.

Blinking furiously, she shook her head a bit.  "Yeah, I'm fine, Sem."  The girl called him, informing the boy of her win.  She had also called the Aquaises, who were equally as proud.

"Give me a call when you get to Eterna," he replied, completely changing the subject, though with a tone that suggested he didn't quite believe her.

"Sure," she nodded.  "I'll talk to you later."

"Hm," she heard him smirk.  "Later."

The line clicked and Fida closed the device, moving from the window to take a seat on the bed.  Sighing, she looked over at the blue PokéDex on her nightstand and took it into her hand, running her fingers across the top.  She felt a stir in the air around her; Elvia flooded the girls mind with more positive thoughts, such as the win itself, and Glenn and Aria applauding with everyone else who watch, to an image of the Coal Badge is it also lay on her nightstand.

Smiling, she got up again and looked out the window, the sunlight turning her pale skin an almost equally stunning orange.  In the light of the sunset she saw her two companions walking back to the center; Aria having an intense expression.  Quickly, Fida grabbed a sweater and vanished.  She saw the floor rush up to her head and past it as she phased through it at an angle, leaving her in the downstairs hallway.  Fida passed through another wall and became visible again right as she turned the corner into the lobby, picking up her pokémon from the nurse as Glenn and Aria walked in.

She waited with them while Aria's pokémon were being restored to fighting-fit conditions and wishing her good luck before they all set out to the gym.

-------

For the battle Fida had released the magnemite, they keeping each other company as they watched the battle along with everyone else.  Fida was thoroughly impressed with Aria, she having only started days ago, had very firm control over her well trained pokémon; Ferny taking on Onix being the thing the stuck out most in her mind.

She smiled at the young woman after she and Glenn had returned to the center, bowing her head a bit as she said congratulations as well.  The only person left to battle Roark was Glenn, and Fida was intently interesting in seeing how he would do, especially with only two captures under, or rather, on his belt.


Dwayna:

"Thank you both very much." replied Aria, with a smile. She was most happy that Glenn approved of her win, being her leader and all. Seamus hopped back onto her shoulder, chirping at all of them gleefully.

"Seamus is happy for all of us." she said, as if translating what the bird had chirped at them. She smiled at Fida, in congratulations again, and then looked to Glenn.

"I'm sure we're all anticipating seeing you battle, Glenn. You'll probably be training some more tonight, yes?" she questioned, with another smile on her face. This one seemed almost reassuring in a way, like she was trying to comfort him.

"I'm sure you'll do just as great as we did. I'm here for you if you need anymore help training your team of two before your big battle." With that said, Aria picked up her room key from the front desk, which she quickly pocketed.

"I'm assuming you want sleep tonight, so I look forward to watching you battle Roark in the morning." She turned towards the phone monitors to the side, typing in a familiar number. She waited as it rang, before the screen flashed on, displaying a woman's face.

The woman on the monitor had purple hair tied back in a bun, clipped back stylishly with a black hairpin in the shape of a bat. Her face was pale, but she wore eyeshadow, mascara and lipstick that made her seem like she had a regal sort of air to her. She peered at Aria with eyes that shone with a magenta prominence in them, her upper half also displaying a darker purple than her hair.

"Hello, Mother." said Aria, in a vehement tone, as if she wished she didn't have to do this at all.
"I have called to inform you that I have won my first gym battle." Seamus chirped at the woman cheerily, as if confirming Aria's story.

"How nice." replied the woman, just as snidely as Aria had been talking to her.
"Following in your father's footsteps as you said you would. I can only hope that you won't end up the same way."

Aria balled her hands into fists, her knuckles turning white from the pressure that she was giving her hands. She didn't like to talk about her father's death. Being around that many Rock Slides had given her enough reason to reminisce about him. She didn't need to hear the same old stuff her overprotective mother fed her.

"I will be fine, because my PokéMon are at least loyal to me." she spat in retort, remembering the story they had told her. Her father's partner wouldn't listen to him, went on a rampage, and finally caused his death.

"You never know when those wild creatures may go rogue. Your father trusted his partner as much as you do yours, and look where he ended up." That was the last straw. Aria's knuckles cracked, and although she tried to hold her tough demeanor, a single tear rolled down her cheek.

"Goodbye, Mother." she replied, and she watched the screen go black before hugging Seamus close to her body. The bird simply nuzzled her in reply, affirming her that he would protect her as much as he could.

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

With Aria heading off to pick up a room key, Glenn nodded at Fida, smiling. "I think I'm going to pick up a room and head out to do some more training. I've got a couple of ideas I want to work on. I'll probably be back late – so I'll say goodnight in advance."

And with that, he made his way to the front desk to pick up a room key of his own. He vaguely noticed Aria making her way to the vidphones as he turned to leave the PokéMon Center, Metalica still by his side. He had a feeling the Mawile preferred to stay out in the open, and who was he to deny her?

~*~

Night fell on Oreburgh City.

He made his way out of the city as fast as he could, taking in the chilly night air as he made his way back to the field on Route 207. He smiled to himself when he realized this field was far enough from the city for him to be able to see the stars. It also meant it was far enough for him to be able to sit down and play his guitar a bit.

He found himself a nice rock to settle down on and unloaded the guitar case off his back, opening it and taking the guitar out.

"Hey, Sieg, mind giving me some time with it?" he chuckled softly, the Rotom forming into the twin streams of energy and releasing itself, forming and turning an expectant look to its trainer, emitting a little array of synthesized-sounding noises.

"Alright, you two." Glenn smiled "I've got my own training to do… And while I am, I want you two to focus on the upcoming match. You've seen Fida and Aria's battles. They have an advantage we don't – they have more than three PokéMon. All I have is you two – so we've got to make this count."

He shot the Mawile a meaningful look.  "Metalica, you're my lead in this one – We need to take Geodude and Onix out - or at least take Geodude out and put a major dent in Onix. Geodude's major strength is that Fire Punch maneuver... Keep it out of the ground as much as you can. Onix seems to like Earthquakes. A lot. So, we need to find some way to get over that ground weakness of yours. I have a hunch that electricity is the key, as crazy as that sounds."

He then turned to the Rotom, who seemed to snap to attention, turning him a look that could only mean "I'm listening."

"Sieg, I want you to focus on Rampardos – that's the most major threat. The big lizard has a head and it knows how to use it – so if you're going to mess with its head, do so from a safe distance. Focus on range."

Taking the guitar into his hands, he struck a chord – an E - just to see if the guitar was tuned. It was.

"Alright, guys. Let's hit it!"

He started slowly, with a few deep, low bass notes, setting a base to the rhythm. Then came a few high notes, setting into a frame. Slowly, he constructed a riff that grew more and more complex, becoming louder as it intensified. And as his mind was carried by the melody – he couldn't help but notice something.

<i>Metalica and Siegfried seemed to be following the melody.</i>

As the theme intensified, so did the Rotom's swiveling became faster, and sparks seemed to dance around Metalica as she seemed to attune her mind to minute electric fields all around her, a bright azure field of electricity taking hold of her form, sparking from point to point along her body... He had an odd hunch… And he had to test it.

He launched a single jarring chord and the Mawile seemed to emit a screech as she thrust her arms forward, launching a high-voltage beam of electricity at the Rotom. He broke the chord into a quick series of notes and saw – to his amazement - the Rotom swiveling around itself, taking in the Charge Beam attack and wrapping it around itself like a scarf, augmenting it with its own electricity. Another chord, and the Rotom launched its own Charge Beam – its power augmented by the Mawile's – back at the Mawile. Three chords rising in tone and the Mawile caught the Charge Beam and redirected it into her fists, throwing a devastating Thunderpunch into a rock, shattering it to tiny pieces, little sparks dancing between the pieces of shrapnel.

Glenn grinned brightly as he brought his melody to a pause, taking a look at the two PokéMon.

"I don't know what THIS was." He said "But I think I know EXACTLY how we're going to win this."

~*~

The morning air was crisp, and Glenn Hendrix seemed to be supercharged as he walked into the gym. He held Metalica's PokéBall in his hand, and smirked a little at the darkness.

"'Morning." He called out "Name's Glenn Hendrix, and I'm here to Rock. In more ways than one. Roark, I challenge you!"

The lights flared up again – revealing the arena and the Gym Leader that stood opposite to him – looking as refreshed and energetic as he did in the battles against Fida and Aria. This was the third time he's seen them do that – and Glenn couldn't help but think that for such a great performer on the battlefield, Roark sure could get better lighting people.

"Good morning. I accept." The gym leader replied "The battle will be three versus three and there is no time limit."

"Your gym, your rules." Glenn grinned "I'm afraid that I only have two PokéMon myself, but I'm sure they can handle your three, if that's okay with you."

"You're a confident one." The gym leader grinned in return "I'd like to see you back that up on the field of battle. As per tradition… I'll start this battle off with Geodude!"

There it was again, the Geodude. Defying gravity as Geodudes often did. Glenn seemed to size up the opponent, an almost predatory gleam appearing in his eyes for a moment.

"Alright, Metalica. Let's rock!" he said, casting the PokéBall into the air. The sphere snapped open, red energy coalescing into the Deciever PokéMon's form on the battlefield. Her eyes closed, her mind in focus.

"Let's get this started with Mud-Slap!" the Gym Leader called out – and the battle officially began.

"Iron Defense!"

Flailing an arm like a windmill, the Geodude dug its hand into the ground, flinging globs of mud at the Mawile. Without a moment's hesitation, the Mawile did a 180-degree turn. Like a strange tall shield, the Mawile's jaw-horns took on a more radiant metallic sheen as the biometal was fortified with more minerals. The mud-slap attack impacted, splattering harmlessly against jaw-horns.

"Interesting." the gym leader said "Guess I have to do better than that. Okay, Geodude, give it a Rock Slide!"

"Iron Defense again until the barrage stops!" Glenn commanded, and the Mawile's jaw-horns glistened even more with the glow of metal as the Geodude gathered his attack, launching rocks into the air and slamming them with a fist to shatter them into a great avalanche. The Mawile, in response, dove to the ground, covering her body with the metallic shield of her jaw-horns, channeling more and more minerals into them. The clashes of rock against metal were loud, but in the end, when the rock barrage relented, the Mawile remained relatively unscathed.

"Your Mawile has impressive defenses, but that won't protect you forever. Geodude, Dig!"

"Not this time you don't." Glenn grinned "Metalica, Bite and hold on to it!"

And the Mawile sprung to action, doing a 180-degree turn yet again and charging forward at the Geodude, which already began to make a dive for the ground. But the Mawile was slightly faster – and with a powerful twist and a snapping of her jaws, the Geodude had no where to run, the Mawile's jaw-horns clamping down on its rocky body like a vice, the sharp fang-like growths along their edges glowing faintly with an ominous dark aura.

The gym leader grinned "You walked right into it, you realize. Now how are you going to get out of this Fire Punch?"

"Who nose, Roark?" Glenn grinned "Metalica, Sweet Scent!"

Just as it seemed that Geodude's fists seemed to explode into flames, the Mawile emitted a little squee as some kind of vaguely pinkish fluid jetted in a fine aerosol from glands at the base of her jaw-horns directly into the face of the captured Geodude, and an intoxicating aroma filled the air. From a distance it would have been relaxing. Alluring. But to the Geodude, who was currently caught in the grip of the jaw-horns, it was completely overwhelming. The scent was assaulting the rock-type's senses, overpowering them – and the flames around its fists sputtered and died as the creature desperately tried to get its bearings….

"Now!" Glenn called out, bringing his hand down in an arc – and with a swift whiplash-like motion the Mawile thrust her head downwards, slamming the Jaw-horn – and the Geodude caught within it – powerfully on the ground in front of her. There was a loud, metallic clang and a sickening crunching noise as the Geodude's rocky shell cracked like a nut hit by a 10-ton hammer.

The Mawile pulled her head up, shaking her jaw-horn a bit, and snapped it open, allowing the Geodude to flump out of its grasp like a discarded rag doll. Deep cracks ran along the creature's shell and chips of rock and dust vaguely dislodged from its body – but it was clearly still alive and breathing.

But it wouldn't be fighting this battle anymore.

"How's that for a snappy comeback?" Glenn grinned.

"Impressive." Roark said, returning the Geodude its PokéBall. "So it seems you have a solid offense alongside that defense. But let's see how you fare against Onix!"

As the rock serpent materialized on the ground, bellowing out its cry of challenge, the Mawile relaxed her muscles, breathing in, focusing her mind on the hum of the electricity running through the gym. The lights flickered softly as a faint aura of lightning seemed to encompass the Mawile's form, her body becoming a conduit for the electric field, drawing extra power into her…

The gym leader smirked.

"Onix, Earthquake!"

The trainer's eyes locked on the serpentine creature as it moved, observing its motions. The creature swung its tail, slamming it against the ground, triggering a shockwave. As he felt the beginnings of the first tremors, the trainer narrowed his eyes and grinned, as if expecting this.

"Metalica…" he raised his hand slowly up like a conductor signaling the orchestra to play more loudly."Ride the lightning!"

It was as if the Mawile was waiting for that signal. Suddenly, the aura of azure electricity flared brightly, and the Mawile leaped off the ground, arms stretched to the sides, lightning arcing between them. Then she brought her hands down, launching rapidly upwards.

"Magnet Rise. Clever move there, Glenn." Roark said "But the ground is not the only thing you should worry about when tangling with an Onix! Stone Edge!"

With a loud bellow, the Onix seemed to become surrounded by rings of sharpened stones, its eyes glowing a bright blue as it launched them directly at the Mawile. The little Steel-type veered sideways and up in a spiraling path, attempting to evade the sharpened rocks - several of the shards grazing the Mawile's fur.

"Now, Metalica! Dive and use Brick Break!" Glenn commanded, and the Mawile went into a wild somersault, electric sparks still arcing around her as she used the energy of the Magnet Rise attack to gain more momentum with her dive.

"Not this time! Onix, Dragonbreath!" Roark commanded, and the serpentine PokéMon obeyed. Twisting its body, the rock-snake turned its head to intercept the Mawile's flight path, opened its mouth and spewed forth a stream of what appeared to be turquoise-green flame – or perhaps air laced with energy.

Not that this could stop the Mawile's momentum – her air-speed was already far too high. As her charged body cleaved through the stream of energy she curled up even tighter and rolled faster – until finally she smashed into the Onix's head powerfully. The Rock-type screeched in pain and frustration as the Mawile rolled down along its body and off its tail to hit the ground in a crumpled heap, her body twitching as she attempted to stand up, fighting off the effects of Paralysis.

"I expected you to do that. It's what I would have done too." Glenn grinned.

"So you made sure your Mawile will be in a position where it would still hit even if paralyzed… Smart move." Roark nodded "But I'd like to see your Mawile fly its way out of this now… Sand Tomb."

The Onix's eyes developed the bright blue glow again, as the ground underneath the Mawile seemed to disintegrate into fine sand, the little steel-type screeching as she felt herself sinking, finding herself waist-high in the trap before she could even move out of the way.

Now Metalica was caught in a way that seemed almost hopeless. Her body both paralyzed by Dragonbreath and trapped by Sand Tomb, it appeared to Glenn that there was little he could do.

"Just hang in there, Metalica…. And use Iron Defense as much as you can." Glenn commanded, and the Mawile nodded, wincing as the sand trap seemed to deepen, causing her to sink even further. She closed her eyes, sending her body into an almost meditative state, struggling against the numbness in her body to better disperse the minerals throughout the biometal of her form, bolstering her defenses.

"Aww, you're no fun." Roark raised an eyebrow, chuckling "Not going to attack? Well, let's make things more interesting, shall we? Onix, Curse!"

There was a moment of silence as the Onix's eyes seemed to glaze over, its motions becoming more and more sluggish – as sinister looking swirls of crimson and purple aura seemed to slowly entwine around the rock serpent's form. The creature was now moving as if within a dream, although the raw power that emitted from the creature now seemed to suggest that in its dream it was at least the size of the world and with the strength to crush even Arceus within its mighty shelled coils.

The battlefield seemed to be at a stalemate for a while – the Mawile, slowly sinking, was bolstering her defenses to the best of her ability while the Onix seemed to be drawing more and more energy onto itself, the more energy it drew, the more soulless its eyes appeared to become.

And Glenn was watching. He noticed the gym leader appeared to be waiting for something, though what it was he was waiting for – that was anybody's guess. He turned his eyes to the Onix as it moved in its dreamy fashion – and something clicked in his mind as he stared at it. There was a certain pattern in the Onix's coiling motion. It was subtle, but it was there. A systematic repetition. A rhythm.

His mind flew into his listening mode, tuning out the crowds, the atmosphere, the gym leaders, even the air itself. All he could hear now was the slow sinking of the Mawile in the ground, the vague flow of ominous energy around the Onix… And the minute sounds made by the grinding of rock against rock as the Onix's body segments rubbed against each other. And he couldn't help but notice that there was something missing. A sound that wasn't as sharp as the others.

There it is. he thought when his eyes sought out the origin of the anomaly – and found it. A crack in the Onix's shell, not too far from the head – making a gap between segments wider than it should have been.

A perfect spot to aim an attack. He found himself memorizing the creature's motion patterns, the exact moments where that particular segment gap will be open – a stitch in the armor that could take a certain attack that he had in mind…

Then a new noise caught his mind as his head flew back into the real world. Roark was grinning.

"Now, Onix! Dig and Rock Polish!" the Gym Leader pointed, and the Onix emitted a deep bellow and plunged into the ground in a corkscrew-like motion. There was a ripple in the earth as the Onix's figure slowly moved under the ground, the sounding of rocks grinding and crunching echoing through the gym as the rock-type's motions became faster and faster and faster, occasionally breaching out of the sand and diving in again, moving in circles that closed rapidly in on the trapped Mawile – up to her neck in sand by now – like a shark circling its prey.

"Game over." Roark announced, and the Onix – now polished so finely it almost looked like a streamlined bullet of rock wrapped in red and purple energy tendrils – burst out from underneath the Mawile with impossible speed, knocking her up to the air in a massive wave of sand.

It seemed to happen extremely quickly, and yet extremely slowly at the same time. The Mawile emitted a deep cry of pain – the Onix's curse raised its attack and defense sharply – certainly enough to counter Metalica's continuous Iron Defense. The Onix's Rock Polish countered the debilitating effects of the curse on the serpent's speed - and it seemed that with a super-effective attack like this, the Mawile's fate was sealed.
But Roark did not take one thing into account. Sure, the Onix's shell was more powerful than ever - but polishing a rock had its drawbacks. If a flaw existed, it would be enhanced. Emphasized. And rising tempo or not, the Onix's melody was still the same melody.

One… Two… Three…

"The gap! Sixth link down from the head! Now!" Glenn commanded, and the Mawile's paralyzed body burst into a vivid orange glow.

The grin on Roark's face faded.

The Mawile smashed into the Onix at the precise moment the gap in the creature's armor revealed. Rock shrapnel was flying everywhere as the gigantic beast toppled over like a pillar hit by a wrecking ball, raising a cloud of dust  that seemed to almost blanket the arena for a moment.

When the dust settled, it was clear that the Onix was down and out – and that the little Mawile's Iron Defenses paid off, as she was still standing – barely, shakily, but still standing. Glenn smiled to himself, his little gamble paid off.

Facade was an odd move that Glenn's father was quite fond of - A move that had great power indeed – provided its user suffered from a status condition, turning a potential loss into a win. A great part of his training session that night involved developing the exact right angle of rollover when paralyzed, and teaching the Mawile that particular attack. And it worked like a charm.

Roark returned the Onix silently, nodding at the trainer.

"Very perceptive and resourceful. This battle definitely gave me something to think about. But I think it's about time we finish this, right?"

"Bring it on." Glenn grinned.

Roark nodded, releasing his Rampardos onto the battlefield, the dinosaur-like PokéMon roaring out a cry of challenge.

Without a word, Glenn took Metalica's PokéBall off of his belt and returned her into it, smiling. "You've done great, Metalica." He said softly, and placed the ball on his belt.

Then he did something unexpected.

The trainer removed the guitar case off his back, and set it on the ground gently, opening it. He reached inside and pulled out the guitar contained within, holding the instrument up and slinging its strap on his shoulders. He locked his eyes on the Rampardos, and then on the Gym Leader.

"Alright Siegfried." He said, striking a chord. "Let's rock."

The guitar burst into light as an ominous riff echoed through the gym – but this was not Glenn's doing – the Rotom emerged from the guitar slowly, a stream of sparkling energies, ending its short introduction theme as his form coalesced, locking its gaze on the Rampardos for a moment, before a gradual rotation on its side.

"That's a… unique… replacement for a PokéBall." Roark said, obviously surprised.

"You haven't seen anything yet." He grinned.

"Well then." Roark said "Let's start this off with Zen Headbutt!"

And Glenn's fingers plucked the first strings.
He began with a slow rhythm, almost like a heart-beat. One bass note repeated twice, slowly picking up the pace as once again, the Rampardos' domed head glittered and glistened with the blue nimbus of a psychic attack, flowing across its curves.

The Rampardos charged into the Rotom – but the Rotom was no longer there. An afterimage dissolved as the Rampardos hit it.

For indeed, ever 'pulse' of two notes, the Rotom moved, leaving a ghostly image in its wake. And the pulses became faster and faster until finally, there was a ring of Rotom afterimages all over the Arena.

"Stalling for time again?" Roark said, raising an eyebrow "This will not do. Rampardos, you see, has a special quality… its Mold Breaker ability will negate your Rotom's Levitation, making it weak to what I am about to unleash next! Rampardos, Earthquake!"

Glenn smirked as he wove a new theme into the rhythm – a little, seemingly random, almost discordant sting. As the Rotom continued swiveling, its shadow clones in its wake, it took on a bright purple glow, the clones following suit. Soon enough all the Rotoms on the field were glowing, and suddenly, there a near-simultaneous blast of swirling purple rays illuminated the room. Only one of the attacks was not illusory – but whichever one it was, it hit the Rampardos – and it hit it bad.

The Headbutt PokéMon couldn't even register its trainer's command as its mind was assaulted by afterimages. The Rampardos charged blindly forward, completely failing to notice a boulder directly in its running path. The large creature tripped, rolled to the ground and then stood up. It was convinced it was under attack – and Glenn's strumming began to take the nature of a hunting song.

The Ring of phantom Rotoms grinned predatorily, swirling faster and faster.

"Try another Earthquake!" Roark called out – but it seemed as if Glenn anticipated that as well. He struck an E chord and made it waver in the air a little. Sparks danced between the shadow clones, all reaching out a lightning tendril in unison and slashing the Rampardos with it from afar, discharging a weak electromagnetic wave. The dinosaur screeched as the Thunder Wave attack took effect, the collective assault on its senses intensifying even more. Between confusion and Paralysis, the Rampardos was completely lost in its own mental world, just waiting for the next attack.

"Rampardos, snap out of it!" Roark called out "Zen Headbutt, and run across the entire field if you have to. Take them out one by one, you'll hit the real one at SOME point!"

The Rampardos charged blindly, its charge being far slower than it could have been, its muscles still fighting the electricity coursing towards them.

Too slow. Glenn thought, as he shifted the melody a whole octave up and playing faster. As the Rampardos charged, its head glowing a radiant blue, the ring followed, keeping the monster as close to its center as possible, spinning more and more rapidly. The Rampardos charged again, in the opposite direction – and Glenn shifted the melody an octave down. Even though the confusion was clearing out of the Rampardos' head, the paralysis was still in full effect, and soon enough, the Rampardos found out that its muscles are not obeying its commands.

That was when Glenn burst into a rapid fire solo, rising slowly in voltage. Lightning tendrils from which there was no escape lashed out – Shock Wave attacks - striking the Rampardos from multiple angles, sapping its strength. Whenever the Rampardos even tried to charge, the melody would simply change and the Rotom would move  with it. And if it was fast before – the pace it reached now was bordering on bloody madness.

Glenn knew it too – he felt himself sweating, his concentration slowly fading as he was concentrating on the melody moreso than on the battle – and he knew he had to finish this quickly.

Roark seemed to share the sentiment.

"This is it, Rampardos. We're taking this little ghost down! Give it an Earthquake it'll never forget!"

The Rampardos, mustering the last of its weaning strength, proceeded to leap off the ground.

Glenn struck a sharp jarring chord.

And as the dinosaur's feet came smashing on the earth, unleashing the wave of tremors, Glenn burst into a rapid, elaborate and ominous melody that seemed to float across the entire battlefield. The Rotom – and all its shadow clones – now swiveling so rapidly that you could not tell where one ended and where the other began, emitted a high-pitched, synthesized sounding wail, transferring parts of their mass into their lightning tendrils, becoming a small swarm of tiny whirlwinds, picking up and becoming a huge whirlwind.  The shadow clones shattered, breaking into wisps of purple spirit energy and being absorbed by the vortex. And the vortex grew, seeming to draw in all heat from the gym – and particularly from the Rampardos trapped in its center. The wind wailed loudly, overpowering even Glenn's guitar. The ground was trembling like it was nobody's business, but the Rotom was far from the ground, spinning in its own vortex, sparks flying from the creature's body as the rapid dynamo effect supercharged it…

And at last, as the earthquake subsided, the Rotom came to an abrupt halt right above the Cranidos's head… And slammed onto it directly, discharging all the electricity it built up in one blindingly bright blast.

The melody faded.

The Rampardos collapsed to the ground, completely petrified, electricity running from point to point on its body, its eyes wide open.

The Rotom rolled away weakly, its aura of lightning dissipated, its body seemingly completely solidified. There was a vague flicker of a lightning tendril as the Rotom seemed to draw the excess electricity from the rock-type's body into itself, allowing the larger creature's muscles to relax and a faint glow to appear around itself. The Rampardos emitted a low growling-purring noise that sounded almost like it had congratulation and gratitude in it, and the Rotom responded with a silent buzz of approval, as the two PokéMon fainted, side by side on the battlefield.

Glenn collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily. What an exhausting way to battle he thought exhausting, but effective.

There was a moment of silence as the trainer placed the guitar back in the case, rose to his feet, closing his eyes and catching his breath. He heard – out of the haze, the sound of a PokéBall – the gym leader returned his fallen Rampardos. His eyes still closed, he pointed Siegfried's PokéBall  to where he vaguely remembered the Rotom was, the sound of energizing and reabsorption confirming the creature's return.

Then, he opened his eyes, slowly, lifting his head up to look at the gym leader straight in the eyes.

"Now that." Murmured Glenn "Is what I call a battle."

"I'll say. I've faced quite a number of challengers before but never anything quite like this." Roark said, a little grin on his face "Using music to command your PokéMon. There's something you don't see every day. This is one battle I'm going to remember for a long time."

"Yeah… So am I." Glenn said "That Onix of yours is really something."

"Thank you." Roark smiled, and presented the trainer with a small badge "Now, I believe that I owe you this. Oreburgh City Gym's Coal Badge. You've certainly earned it."

"Thank you, Roark.  Have a nice day." He smiled, and saying so, he closed his guitar case and slung it back over his shoulder. Taking a look down to the two PokéBalls hanging on his belt, he couldn't help but feel a wave of pride in his partners wash through him. He won. His first gym badge.

Glenn took off in the general direction of the PokéMon center, a grin plastered on his face. Now, the sooner he'd get his partners healed up, the sooner he'd be able to celebrate with them.

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

Sem:

After Aria's win, Fida was restless and thought it would be a while before she could fall asleep that night.  Instead of wasting time she would be awake anyway, she figured she could do some moonlight training.  The girl slipped into a bathrobe and but her sneakers on, not bothering to change out of her pajama top and bottoms.

"Come on, Elvia," Fida said, walking straight through the wall and being gently let down from the second story to the ground.  Besides being her best friend; having Elvia around had its perks, and some were just too fun for Fida not to enjoy.

There were many empty spaces of land between buildings, and this was especially the case with the center.  Going out to the back of the center, the girl made sure no one was around.  The air around her blurred and bulged away from her, forming into the mismagius.

Elvia was the strongest of Fida's pokémon and the girl did pay attention to other partners more than Elvia when it came to training.  However, this didn't mean that she didn't train with Elvia at all.

Fida sat cross-legged on a flat stone and cleared her throat.  Making sure no one was around she turned to Elvia and said, "Let's hear Perish Song."  The city was very quiet at night for some reason.  The sound of construction machines and large trucks had stopped hours ago, the workers out with friends or at home with their families.  The moon hung high in the sky and a cool breeze kissed at Fida's bare neck and face.

Slowly, and very quietly at first, Elvia began to emit a low note.  It sounded rather pretty, not raspy or screechy as some people might expect.  The tune kicked up, going a bit quicker but with quieter notes.  It had a very melancholy melody, but that was something you expected with something called Perish Song.  It went from melancholy to utterly mournful, but Elvia still retained a pristine, beautiful voice.  The night seemed to slow down even further as Fida looked around, passively gazing into glowing windows and at groups of people out and about; she couldn't help but start to feel a little sad.  The last note faded into silence.  It wasn't very long, but it couldn't be when it had to be sung on a battlefield.

Fida nodded.  "Very good, and pretty," she told her ghost.  It was pretty too, though it was also definitely something she didn't want to hear too often; Elvia seemed to understand.  Fida leaned back on the stone, supporting herself with her hands and she pondered the list of moves that Elvia had yet to master.  She had memorized them all at this point, which made it very easy to pick something that could prove useful later on.

When she thought about the next gym leader they would face, Gardenia, Fida knew that it would be a good idea to have a way to take care of status problems, especially when they had to go through Eterna Forest.  Luck favors the prepared.

"Let's try Heal Bell," Fida suggested, returning to her previous sitting position.  Closing her eyes she could immediately feel Elvia's mind touch hers.  Fida embrace the link and found herself falling through a vast blackness towards an enormous ball of light with Elvia at her side.  As they neared the orb they saw that it was comprised of many tendrils of an assortment of colors.  Many of these strands responded to Elvia, offering themselves to her freely, but others still lay tightly coiled.

Fida and Elvia got closer, inspecting some of the colorless strands of power; they pulsed at the touch.  A good majority of the strands were white, so it was hard to pick which one it was that they were looking for.  The duo looked over each one until a faint ringing was heard, more like a memory actually, echoing in their minds, a soothing chime. 

"That's it, Elvia," Fida said.  Elvia pulled at the thread, loosening it from the tightly woven ball and pulling it.

Fida opened her eyes, rushing herself back to the outside world, and looked at Elvia as she concentrated.  Chanting was a thing that mismagius were known to do, though Elvia herself didn't do very much of it.  It didn't surprised Fida when her partner began singing in a matter of moments.  This time a soothing and uplifting hymn, it brought a smile to Fida's face.  The ghost-type's voice cracked mid-song, forcing Elvia to do the process over, but within fifteen minutes was performing it flawlessly.

"I think that's enough for today, Elvia," the girl smiled and yawned.  Dutifully and despite a protest or two, Elvia carried the girl back up through the wall and into her room.

-------

"C'mon, Magnemite!" Fida shouted.  It was the next morning, a bit early.  She was standing out in front of the center with a stopwatch application on her PokéGear.  The magnet pokémon was doing laps around the building, it's partner whizzed about Fida's head.  She had plenty of more training to do with Magnemite, and one of those areas was speed.  The girl knew that magnemite and it's evolutionary line weren't very quick; she had even found out that the last in the line, Magnezone, were typically slower than magneton.  This didn't really discourage Fida, though, she had heard that a Johto Gym Leader had a magnemite that was famous for its speed, and she intended for hers to be equally so.

The magnemite zoomed around the corner and passed Fida, she clocked it, seeing that the lap was faster than the last, though the steel-type had been at it for a while now and looked sufficiently beat and in need of a recharge.  She waved him in and returned them both.  Thoughts of Glenn's upcoming battle flooded her mind as she jogged into the center for breakfast, thoroughly excited to see how he would do.

-------

The girl definitely wasn't disappointed.  She marveled at Metalica's endurance and ability to to take two very strong opponents after only being recently captured and her accident.  Even more impressed was she by Glenn and Siegfried's performance.  The rotom had effectively defeated the rampardos without even taking a hit.

A grin spread across her face as she stood and clapped for Glenn as he left the building.  Fida followed after him with Aria as soon as she could, making her way out of the stands and out the door.  She quickened her pace to catch up with him, shouting a congratulations.  As soon as she caught up she reached up to touch his shoulder.  "That was great," she complimented.


Dwayna:

Noticing that the others had already wandered off, Aria was left to her own devices. Mournful emotions passed through her mind as she moved towards one of the tables, the excitement of her win drowned out by thoughts of her father. The Nurse gave her a concerned expression, but as the supposed Joy clones were more of vets, not much of an exchange was had.

Aria saw the door to the Center slide open, to give way to two dark figures making their way into the place. Both of them were mostly black, but it was apparent that the larger one following the human figure was a Charizard, known to be one of the rare forms of it. The trainer of the beautiful best appeared to be wearing a hooded trench coat clasped together with a sort of a skull clip.

Pale hands came up to lower the hood, revealing brown hair cascading around it and cold green eyes peering over a pair of glasses. The woman seemed to peer around for a bit before going up to the counter to do her business, then promptly sitting down at Aria's table for no particular reason. Aria was thoroughly intrigued by this, not to mention the rare Charizard b the woman's side.

"I am Ame, and this is Charles." replied the woman in a voice velvety enough to almost counteract her cold stare, as if she had read Aria's mind. Come to think of it, just being in the presence of this woman sent shivers down Aria's spine, the same sort of sense she got from being around spirits.
"You seem to have a depressed aura about you." said Ame, in an inquisitive tone. The question in her voice was obvious, and Aria felt compelled to respond, to unload her worries onto this complete stranger.

"I'm Aria, and this is Seamus." she began, motioning towards the bird resting in front of her.
"I won my first gym badge today, but when I told my mother, she was kind enough to inform me that my father died because his partner didn't listen." A few more tears threatened to brim out of her eyes, but she held her composure.

"So not only do you have family issues, but you are mistrusting your partners a little bit." summarized Ame in a matter-of-fact sort of tone. Although it was slightly aggravating, Aria realized she was essentially right and simply nodded in response. Ame looked to her colossal companion, and they shared a nod between them, as if they had just exchanged dialogue, before Ame turned back to Aria with a smile.

"There is a way to bond with your partners, you know. Charles and I have something called a mind-link. It happens between partners, often of the Psychic or Ghost type, but as well as those who feel particularly close to one another." She seemed very knowledgeable about the subject, at least, and Aria's curiosity was definitely piqued.

“Now, Aria... who of your team do you feel closest to?” Ame asked her, a hinting tone prominent in her voice. Aria stopped to think for a bit about all the members of her team, and her conclusion was pretty much instantaneous. She thought about the nights she had feeling frightened or alone and one companion had been there for her no matter what so far.

“Seamus.” she responded, at which the small bird gave a joyful chirp. However, Aria was thinking about what Ame had just said. Theoretically, she could create a mind-link with any of her PokéMon if she felt close enough to them.

Then Aria had a light bulb moment. Maybe if I try hard enough, she thought, I can create such a link with Seamus, and be aware of his thoughts. Ame smiled then, as if aware of the epiphany that Aria had come to.

“Clear your mind, and allow yourself to flow freely into the mind of your partner.” Ame said this with a tone of finality, as if she was ending the conversation. She stood to leave to go to her room for the night, Charles loyally following afterwards.

Aria looked to Seamus, who seemed to look very willing to participate in the new challenge. Aria stood from her seat and Seamus flew to her shoulder again, sitting vigilantly as she walked towards their room for the night. New thoughts and ideas started running through her mind as she closed the door behind her and sat on the edge of her bed. Seamus fluttered down to sit beside her, chirping questioningly.

Clear your mind, and allow yourself to flow freely into the mind of your partner. she thought, closing her eyes and calming her thoughts. After she was certain that there was nothing else on her mind, she pushed her thoughts outwards, expanding them, feeling for another source of energy.

Soon she felt a familiar presence nearby, the one of her bird companion. She imagined her energy as crimson tendrils, and his as a deep grey. They seemed to extend outwards to each other, getting closer to touching. As they got closer to touching, a pushing sensation came through Aria's mind, as if the tendrils were struggling to resist the connection.

After a while, the tendrils of energy calmed themselves, stretching further outwards, until they finally touched and entwined around each other. The beginnings of the bond between them were already beginning to form, so Aria sent out a test thought. Hello.

Hello, Aria! called back a different voice, sounding very cheerful and almost melodic in nature. The masculinity of it still rang through, implicating that the voice was indeed her feathery comrade. Even though we've been together such a short time, I feel very loyal to you. I am happy that we could start a bond, as it shows trust between both parties!

I'm happy too. she thought, before the tendrils of energy pulled themselves back into herself, her mind coming back into her own. She shed a few more tears, but these were more of joy, as she found that she could truly trust her companion now.

With that done, she felt a bit exhausted from everything that had happened that day. She fell asleep, hoping tomorrow would be a better day.

---

Aria woke again to the chirping of her companion, and she decided to get back into her nicer outfit of the white shirt and jeans. Today was a special day for her leader, one that she absolutely refused to miss. She grabbed her breakfast and quickly ate it, collecting her other PokéMon shortly afterwards, excited to see Glenn's gym battle.

She followed after Glenn and fida and sat back up in the stands again, watching as the battle began. As it went on, she found herself worrying many times for Metalica's health, but was thoroughly impressed by the prowess that the Steel type had gained through her training with Glenn. Aria cheered as Geodude and Onix went down at the hands of the small Steel type, and watched to see what Glenn would do against Rampardos.

Siegfried would be the one to take on the colossal fossil, and Aria thought it to be quite appropriate. She watched as Glenn controlled his partner purely through the means of his electric guitar, the Rotom avoiding the Rampardos like it was nothing. Aria cheered as Siegfried brought down the beast, applauding with everyone else in the stands as Glenn was awarded his badge.

She made her way out of the bleachers, walking back slowly although she was very excited. She wanted to make sure Voltron could keep up with her, but the little Shinx seemed fine walking at her normal pace. She came into the center after Glenn, a broad smile on her face.

“My congratulations to you and your partners, Glenn.” she said cheerily, her proud smile as genuine as it got with Aria. She was truly impressed that he had won out over Roark even with just his two partners, but then they had been trained by her leader. Seamus gave a chirp towards him as well, at which aria smiled at the small bird, then looked back to Glenn.

“Seamus says congratulations, too.” she reiterated, again as if she understood his chirping, but now she had almost good enough reason to.


Stel:

Glenn made it to the PokeMon center as quickly as he could, handing his two PokeBalls to the nurse - She did not even need to ask how did the battle go - the aura of triumph Glenn seemed to radiate was enough.

He took a seat and waited for the nurse to finish whatever it is she had to do to Siegfried and Metalica.

His two travelling companions caught up soon, congratulating him for his win. He smiled at them both.

"Thank you. All three of you." he chuckled softly, nodding at the little bird perched on Aria's shoulder. Then, he proceeded to pull out his electronic town map and league guidebook, taking a few looks at some things, finally setting the map on the table and pointing out locations as he talked.

"Alright. So, now that we have Oreburgh out of the way, we need to figure out our next destination. The next Gym is up in Eterna City, north of here. It's never that simple though - the route leading up is designated a cycling road. Meaning it's rather off limits to us - or at least to me, seeing as I don't have a bike." he blushed a little "The other way to Eterna is quite a roundabout way - goes back to Jubilife, then up through a tunnel into a little town here, named Floaroma. Might be a good place to rest up to the next leg of the journey.... Then we follow Route 205 through Eterna Forest. Might take a day or two to get through, that one, it's quite a large one, but the path  leads directly out and into Eterna City... Looks like quite a way to go... I'll probably be setting off as soon as my PokeMon are back to full health. If you guys are coming there with me... do any of you have any things you want to do before we get going?"


Sem:

"I'm ready, just let me get my bag," Fida responded.

Setting off for her room she quickly grabbed her bag, scanning about the room and under the bed to make sure she got everything.  Slinging the pale lavender bag over she shoulder she made her wait out of the room and back to the front desk. 

"Thank you," she said while giving her key back to the nurse.  Nodding to Glenn, she took a seat and released the magnemite.  She noted to herself that her magnemite seemed much less excitable now than it was, meaning it was at least used to being around other people.  Perhaps she'll send the second back home after they arrive in Jubilife.


Dwayna:

"I have everything I need." replied Aria, patting her bag and Seamus a little bit when he cooed at her. All her PokéMon were healed up, and they had all had their meal. She still had plenty of her healing agents left from the kit she had bought a long time ago. She held up her finger, remembering something as she walked back towards the counter.

"Did the woman with the black Charizard already leave?" she asked the Nurse out of curiosity. The Nurse's expression automatically lightened, as if remembering the rare specimen and his female trainer coming in the previous night.

"Yes, they left this morning," the nurse quipped, "Ame does a lot of jobs all over the PokéMon world according to the database, so it's no surprise she was merely stopping by."

"Ah, I see." Aria looked a bit disappointed that she couldn't have said goodbye or even give her thanks to Ame. The woman had really taught her a valuable lesson, one her father had surely never learned himself.

"However, she left you a nice gift." said the nurse, as she pulled out a PokéBall from under the desk. It glittered beautifully in the light even though it was pure black, with a red ring around the top part of it with golden edges. The center of the ball was a golden colour instead of the regular white, and around the rim of the golden center it was painted a nice contrasting silver.
"I believe this is a Luxury Ball." said the Nurse. "It is supposedly known for causing a PokéMon to become more friendly towards you."

Aria simply smirked a little bit in reply, thinking about how it was a perfect gift. She took the Luxury Ball from the Nurse and said thank you before returning to the group. It was certainly an item Aria could remember Ame by for all the time that she had on this Earth.

"All right, now I'm set to go." she said to her companions, a slight shiver running down her spine at the realization that they would have to pass through Jubilife again.

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

Stel:

"Well, it's settled then." Glenn said, and the three set off again.

~*~

The journey back to Jubilife was largely uneventful. Siegfried was playing appropriate background music (at least, what it -thought- was appropriate) from the guitar. Metalica was walking by her trainer's side, chipper as ever. There were no particular encounters along the tunnel or the route after it - and by the time the evening came, the trainers were back in Jubilife City.

"Well. Here we are. We should probably rest up and head out to Floaroma early in the morning. I get the feeling at least a few of us would like to spend as little time in this remarkable city as possible."


Sem:

The whole way back to Jubilife Fida concerned herself with more speed training for Magnemite.  He would linger back for a certain distance and then the girl would time how fast it took for him to catch up with them.  It wasn't the best method and she got some irregular results, but all in all it was doing the job.  The other magnemite spun around her head, eye wide open but unmoving as it orbited.

At a certain point during the day Fida let Kieran out as well, and had Magnemite chase the bird, much to the murkrow's discontent.  He figured the best way to exact revenge was to simple fly fast enough that Magnemite could not keep up, taunting as he did it.  Pursing her lips, she returned the bird after a few minutes.

-------

Once in Jubilife Fida checked out another room in the center, her new room being only a bit down the hall from where she stayed only a few nights ago.  Her only plan for the night was to continue training Magnemite.

She raced him to the northern gate, which opened up to the route they would be taking in the morning.  Magnemite actually beat her there, which made her proud.  His mechanical parts whirred with energy.   "Ok," Fida said, expelling a breath of hair in preparation for the next few hours.  "We're going up against a Grass-type gym pretty soon.  I want you in the battle," she started to explain.  "We're going to keep focusing on speed and start working on your power, and we're going to try to get you to learn a new move."

Fida sat down on the grass, motioning for Magnemite to hover closer to the ground.  "We're going to try to learn Signal Beam.  Signal Beam shouldn't be too hard..." Fida trailed off.  "It's like your electricity, but this time it's only light.  I think I'm going to teach you Flash first, so you know how to make the light, and then we'll try to make you focus it into an attack."

"Maaagnemite," he croaked, moving up and down in the air, the only way to show a nod.

"So," Fida sat up straighter, wondering if she was going about this the right way.  It was a machine after all, not a living creature.  It had thoughts and emotions but overall its an entirely different kind of being.  "Close your eye and focus," Fida instructed.  "Try to make light, but without making electricity."

Magnemite hovered almost unmoving, focusing on his trainer's instructions and trying to perform the move.  Sparks sputtered after a few moments then stopped, more came alive some seconds later.  It was silent then for a few minutes, the only sound being the various nocturnal creatures and the hum of Magnemite's body.  He was working very hard, Fida thought, who sat with utmost patience.

There was a burst of something then, it was too fast for the girl to see.  Then streams of lightning came to life between the poles of his magnets and remained steady.  Fida was about to say something when Magnemite's entire body began to glow, amplifying the light from the electricity and reflecting it off his metal shell.  This lasted for a few moments and then stopped.

Fida smiled, seeing how Magnemite had thought better than she had, using electricity's light and amplifying it.  With better practice she realized he would be able to do this when any light source that was nearby, though Flash wasn't usually much use during the day unless you wanted to blind someone.  He could use his own electricity in a place with little or no light, say a forest or a cave, or anytime at night.

"Good!" Fida exclaimed.  This kept on for the continued time that Fida had allotted for training.  Because Magnemite could naturally make light on his own, it wasn't a difficult move to get the hang of at all, and was soon able to keep up the Flash for quite a long time.  As time progressed she bet that he would be able to hold the Flash indefinitely and have better control over it; focusing the light and intensity of it, among other things.

At the end of the session Magnemite looked like a lit light bulb, his entire body shining.  Fida returned him for a good rest and walked back to the center.  Glenn said they would be leaving early, so she made sure to get enough rest.


Dwayna:

They headed out right away, without very much happening along the way. Fida looked to be trying to raise the speed of her Magnemite as they were walking along, probably to help comabt for the nest gym battle.

It was nightfall when they reached Jubilife again, causing Aria to let out a small whimper. We have to stay there again. she thought, another shiver running down her spine. She reluctantly walked through the door of the center that now haunted her nightmares.

She approached the desk and remained looking away from the Nurse as much as possible. As soon as she was handed her keys she quickly made her way to her room again. Another restless night under the roof of that... thing.

She hugged Seamus tight to her chest, falling into an uneasy slumber as they waited for then next day to come. As Glenn had said, the less time spent here, the better.

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

Stel:

The night passed fairly uneventfully - and after a quick, early breakfast the three set off again. This time, they headed north, leaving Jubilife behind through Route 204.

It was a quiet morning - Pokemon lifesigns were all around, but none chose to make a point to make their presence known. Young  trainers hot for battle were, unusually, rather absent. It was a quiet day.

Well, ALMOST quiet. Siegfried thought it would be a hillarious time to practice some rather energetic riffs. Glenn couldn't help but wonder what was the reason the little electric ghost felt inclined to provide the group with an overworld music wherever they walked. What was this, some kind of multi-million-dollar RPG franchise?

It wasn't too long before they came to the tunnel. In comparison to Oreburgh Gate, the tunnel wasn't nearly as impressive. According to the town map, the tunnel was known to many as the Ravaged Path, and it was stated that one should watch for cave-ins if they were to travel beyond the stabilized section. They opted not to go beyond it - the last thing they needed was another cave adventure. They had a forest adventure to get to instead.

Clearing the short tunnel, the three trainers finally emerged upon the higher level of Route 204 - a rather nicely forested hill. Afternoon was approaching its end, and by the time the sun began to set, they crossed the wooden archway that denoted the entrance to Floaroma Town.

As its name suggested, the Floaroma air was awash with the vivid scents of flowers and grass, and many flowerbeds grew, bright and vivid, almost everywhere. It was a small town - practically a village, actually - and yet, it was by no means sparsely populated. Glenn could understand why - it seemed like a lovely place to live in - not too far from a major city (regardless of the fact the city in question was Jubilife) But far away enough to be surrounded by nature.

He could come to like it here.

"Well." Glenn smiled, taking in the air - it seemed to brighten his mood instantaneously "I think we have plenty of time to check this place out before we hit the PokeMon center and get ourselves some sleep. Might be a good idea to check on your supplies - Eterna Forest -will- require at least a couple of campsites..."

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

Sem:

Fida did as was suggested, entering the town's small PokéMart to stock up on whatever she needed.  Between Rin and Elvia the girl had little need for items such as Antidote or Burn Heal, but, luck did favor the prepared, and the girl kept a small stock with her just in case.  Walking the isles, she scanned the merchandise, making sure she had everything she needed.

After paying for her things she sat outside and organized them into her pack, which really was rather organized thanks to a number of Item Balls, which also made her bag light and easy to carry.  Standing she gazed around, inhaling the sweet scent of the flowers and proceeded to explore the village.  It certainly was a nice place, and she didn't know if she'd ever come back, so it was a good idea to take as much of it in as she could.

And so she did, trotting through the vast flowerbeds and finding a place to simply rest her legs a bit.  She could hear the sounds of pokémon all around her, and many of them were easily seen from where she sat.  Scores of butterfree and beautifly could be seen going from flower to flower, and the buzz of the occasional beedrill or combee would reach her ears.

It was almost dark by the time Fida decided to head back to the center.  a few mothim had appeared by now, waking up just in time to ambush a combee or two for its honey as it made its way back to its hive.

Passing by the 'Pick a Peck of Colors Flower Shop', Fida received a free Sitrus Berry.  After thanking the woman who gave it to her she continued on to the Pokémon Center.  She didn't know if Glenn or Aria had already checked in, but she decided to do so now before heading for dinner.

This particular center was full of flowers, which certainly did give a cheery atmosphere.  The nurse herself, who seemed pleasant, sported a flower that was tucked behind her ear.  Once she had received her room key she went over to the computers that stood against the back wall.  Turning it on she typed in a number on the keypad and waiting until she heard a ring.

"Fida!" came the familiar sound of Mrs. Aquais' voice.  "Good evening."  The face of the girl's adoptive mother flickered onto the screen.

"Hi," Fida smiled.  "I'm in Floaroma town - it's very pretty here."

"Floaroma?  Yes it is pretty, and you're making quick progress aren't we?"

"Yeah, a lot of walking," she nodded, feeling her tired feet.  "I, uhm, just wanted to check in, oh!  And I wanted to send Magnemite back, the one you let me borrow."

"Oh?  Is the other one behaving?"

"Yes, he's much better now," she nodded again.

"Alright, give me a second..." she set to pressing a sequence of buttons, prepping the transfer mechanism on her end.  "Ready."

Placing the Pokéball on the machine, Fida pressed a button and watched as a white light enveloped the ball before it completely vanished.

"Got it," Mrs. A informed her, holding the sphere in her hand and showing it on-screen.  "Oops, Toby needs me," she muttered, looking away from the screen at something.  "Talk to you later, dear."

"Bye," Fida curved her lips and waved before the screen blanked out, 'Call Ended' appeared on the screen in red text.

Pushing in her chair she walked to the cafeteria for her meal, which consisted of pasta with a small salad.  After that she retired to her room for the night, as she was going to need her strength for the next day.


Dway:

Aria saluted to Glenn slightly, wandering off in the direction of the PokéMart. Now that she was earning some money through battling, she wouldn't have to rely on her mother's funds for much longer. She would have enough to get her own supplies now.

Eterna Forest was sure to be filled with bug PokéMon, so it was best to be prepared for that. Aria went in and saw that they had a kit that looked good for Eterna Forest - it had some Paralyze Heals, Antidotes, potions and a couple of Awakenings as well. She purchased that along with some food for the road, putting all of it into one of her storage balls.

Aria furrowed her brow slightly in thought as she came out of the PokéMart, and pulled out the Heal Ball with Rose in it. She hated the pink color scheme of it, and wondered slightly if it was at all possible to change the appearance of it somehow. She looked around and noticed the Pick a Peck of Colors Flower Shop, deciding to step in and have a look.

One of the girls immediately walked up to her, handing her a blue-ish berry with green leaves covering the top. She recognized it as a Rawst Berry, known for it's supposed bitter taste and ability to cure burns. She thanked the woman, putting it into another of her storage balls. She then walked up to the front to talk to the blonde woman at the counter.

"Hello there," said the woman cheerfully. "How may I help you? Our shop trades accessories for berries people find in the wild."

"Actually," replied Aria in a bit of a bored drawl, "I was wondering if you knew of a place that could sell me paints, because I want to change the look of these Heal Balls. Never been a big fan of pink." She pursed her lips slightly, holding out Rose's PokéBall as an example.

"Oh, certainly. That would be our shop," replied the woman, turning around to a shelf behind her. On it were a lot of different accessories with the number of berries one would have to trade to get them. A refrigerator stood beside it, no doubt there to hold all the berries they got. After a short while the woman turned back to her, with a set of paints and paintbrush.
"These paints can stick to PokéBalls no problem, miss."

"Thank you." said Aria sternly, simply choosing to pay for the whole thing. She nodded her head slightly and made her way out to the PokéMon Center, admiring the flowers that grew naturally around her. She paid special attention to the ones that were colored red or orange, loving their vibrancy and beauty.

She finally made it back, sitting down at one of the counters almost immediately. She pulled out the set of paints, also pulling out Rose's PokéBall. Aria contemplated ways to paint it, soon beginning the design she had in mind. Every stroke of the paintbrush was delicately placed, the artist in her flowing through her fingers as they gripped the brush.

After a while she was pleased with her handiwork. The previously pink ball was now red on the bottom and black on the top. A red rose design was meticulously placed onto the top of the PokéBall, to signify the PokéMon lying within. around the edges she painted green lines, opting for the central part of it to be silver. It was truly a masterfully crafted work of art.

She decided that when she caught things with Heal Balls, she would do this from now on. With that in mind, she got up to get her room key some dinner for herself and her companions, enjoying the meal for what it was worth. Tomorrow would be the start of a long journey to Eterna, after all.

After they were all finished, she turned in to rest herself, leaving a note on the door to say where she was. Just in case.

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

rWith his travelling companions gone off to do their things, Glenn pondered what was he to do in the meantime. Picking up supplies would be a good idea - He did end up using some of his during the training sessions of the last few days. He still had four of the five PokéBalls that Professor Rowan gave him - enough for now. He preferred to focus on a few partners for now rather than train a full blown compartment of creatures. Metalica's diversity should be rather useful against the greater challenge ahead - the Gym Leader of Eterna, confirmed to specialize in the Grass-type by the guidebook - and he could pick up a bug-type or a flying-type somewhere in Eterna Forest to back the Steel-type up, just in case.

Eterna Forest. That was the more immediate challenge, the one that he had to plan for even before Eterna's gym became an issue. Crossing the great, ancient forest would be a long and daunting task, one that would take at least a day and a half - possibly even two - to accomplish. He heard the paths through the woods were marked well, but that it was still easy to get lost. He'd have to plan a route that would allow them to see the sights but not spend weeks wandering and emerge near some phantom train station to the spirit world or something.

"Well, at least Sieg and Elvia would feel right at home." he murmured as he made his way to the PokéMart - where he purchased another med-kit, just in case - travelling through a forest for days did not have the benefit of PokéMon Centers - he should be prepared for any eventuality. He also took care to purchase more food ingredients - travelling and camping out and away from PokéMon Centers would require setting up some actual food every once in a while.

"Thank deities for Item Balls," he thought to himself momentarily as he organized his food-type purchases into a cooler-type container, absorbed it into an Item Ball and placed it in his guitar case's front pocket with the rest of his supplies "I wonder how trainers got by without them in the past."

With supplies acquired, there was just the matter of planning a route. He needed a place where he could think.

~*~

He found that place in the Floaroma Meadow. There, sitting on a wooden bench and surrounded by flowers, he sat down to plot a route. Using his satellite-tracking map device and whatever loose information he found in his guidebook he slowly set up markers on the map, zooming it in as much as he could - prospective campsites, areas of particular interest, the works - while keeping up as much openness for flexibility. Eventualities could always happen - territory squabbles of PokéMon, falling trees, sudden weather conditions, migrations of voracious flying man-eating Magikarp swarms - you could never tell, really.

Well, except for the bit about flying, man-eating Magikarps. Those only happened on alternate Tuesdays and even so, only when absolutely no one was watching.

Content - for a while, at least - with his route, Glenn Hendrix stretched, taking out his guitar and striking a few soft notes. There was something in the meadow that made him peaceful, and the nature of the melody that followed was peaceful as well. Even Siegfried - who was, for the moment, displaced from the guitar again - did not seem to particularly mind handing the instrument over.

Glenn's melody went on for a while longer before a soft humming caught his ears and he paused, turning a gaze to its source.

The source of the hum was a young woman who sort of jumped the moment he noticed her, blushing softly - the light redness that came to her face rather contrasting with the general green theme she seemed to have. Her eyes were a radiant green and she had very long forest-green hair, done back in what looked like a very thick braid - and seemed to have much natural volume. She was clad in a mix of greens and dark browns - dark brown leather knee-high boots and what looked like a complex dress composed of a long, forest-green pleated skirt - only slightly more muted than her hair color - and a dark brown blouse with thin black stripes on it - over which she wore some kind of a lighter green, white rimmed over-jacket that buttoned  once at the base of her neck. She looked a little like she could be a dryad of some sort - and Glenn could not deny to himself that she was very pretty.

"I'm sorry, I did not mean to intrude..." she said - she had a soft voice, a nice midrange in pitch "I just let my mind wander, that is all."

"It's okay. You just caught me a bit off-guard, that's all." Glenn chuckled nervously "I wasn't expecting an audience."

"I wasn't expecting a soundtrack." she giggled softly – it sounded almost like crystal bells hanging on branches "My name is Cheryl."

"Glenn. Glenn Hendrix." Glenn replied with a smile – the initial awkwardness at the meeting slightly easing. "Are you from around here?"

"Not exactly," She said, "Though I come here often. It's a good way stop before - and after - travelling through Eterna Forest."

"That's where we're heading tomorrow, me and my travelling companions." Glenn smiled brightly "We're on a journey, currently en route to Eterna City. Do you know the forest well?"

"I've come to know it very well, yes." Cheryl replied confidently, her voice melting into a little blissful sigh, eyes looking distant for a moment, as if she was traversing the forest in her mind at that very moment "It's a beautiful place, full of roads less-traveled and wonders to be discovered..."

"I don't suppose you'd mind taking a look and seeing if there's a better route to go through than the one I planned?" Glenn asked the woman, his voice lightly shaking her from her little trance "I'd appreciate any sort of input right now."

"Well, let's have a look." the woman said. She shot a quick look to the bench, and Glenn nodded, moving a bit to the side to offer to girl more room to sit down. She nodded a silent thank-you, and sat down by his side as he handed her his navigational instrument.

"Hnn." she said, looking at the map and pointing out locations on it as she talked "Seems like the route I normally take when I'm just crossing the forest - though if I were you I'd take this road over here, rather than this one. I know it sounds crazy because it's longer -  but then, if you take this junction, it takes you to a perfect little campsite that not a lot of people know about - and the path from there leads directly to this point - which I can see you've already marked - and gets there faster."

She turned her eyes to him "So I'd say it's worth it."

"Sounds excellent to me." the trainer smiled brightly at the woman. She handed him the device back - and he added the new alternative route to the map. "Thank you very much, Cheryl."

"You're very welcome, Glenn." she said, smiling back just as brightly. The trainer could feel himself blushing a little – the woman's gaze along with her smile made her look even prettier.

They just sat there for a little while in silence – the slightly awkward silence of people trying to figure out what to say next.

"So, um, this tune you were playing. Is it, er, one of yours?" the green-haired woman eventually asked "I've never heard it before."

"Yes, it is." Glenn replied "Sort of a spur-of-the-moment thing. I do that when things inspire me and I let my mind wander. I don't remember half of the things my mind comes up with later..."

There was a strange synthesized-sounding chirp from nearby, which made Glenn turn his eyes to the ground. Suddenly, Siegfried levitated, shooting Glenn a little semi-frustrated glare – the sort of "Sigh, it went like this look – and then transforming into the swirl of orange-and-blue energies and flowing into the guitar's amplifier port. Slowly, the melody filled the air again - with slight variations as the Rotom enjoyed adding its own touches. The girl was surprised for a few seconds – but then giggled softly, humming along for a moment.

"I see your companion is equally talented." she grinned.

"He tends to be." Glenn chuckled a little nervously "That would be Siegfried... My first PokéMon, partner in music, resident guitar dweller, background music provider and... well, as it appears, a part-time recording studio. Do you have any interesting partners?"

"Well, I have a Chansey." she said "You don't see many of those around, at least, not with people who aren't Nurses named Joy."

"No relation, I assume?" Glenn tilted his head sideways

"Not at all." she giggled, lightly touching her hand to her heart "I'm actually from a family of treasure hunters - so I'm on the road a lot. Actually, my latest adventure took me to a few really interesting ruins near Solaceon..."

~*~

They spent a while longer discussing their adventures - Cheryl recounting her journeys throughout the region and giving Glenn some very useful information that would help him plan his journey ahead - and Glenn talking about his journey so far and his companions - both human and PokéMon. Eventually, they decided to introduce each other to their respective PokéMon companions. Metalica seemed to take an immediate liking to the woman when they were introduced, though it was harder for Glenn to identify what the the woman's Chansey thought about him - like the rest of her species, the Chansey was very cheerful, very friendly and most of all, very pink. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Glenn always wondered if the species secretly had plans for world domination and used their advanced medical skills as an excuse to get closer to the heart of humanity so they may one day overthrow them and lead the world to a new age of pink, fuzzy terror.

Time flew by - and eventually even the two of them realized it. Finally getting up, Cheryl and Glenn walked together towards the exit from the meadow. The two decided that they should certainly sit down and chat again if they ran into each other, and exchanged PokeDex IDs - so they could have at least some form of contact. They parted with a little hug – initiated by her, to his slightly surprise – and went their separate ways.

Glenn's way, specifically, led him to the PokeMon Center. He had a rather uneventful dinner, and then he made a line to the Vidphones – he hasn't talked to his parents in a few days, and he figured now would be a good time – especially since he was going to more or less vanish off the grid for a day or three.

The phone rang once or twice, when it was suddenly answered by a rich baritone voice that was still offscreen.

"Be there in a minute!" the voice said, and then assumed a dangerous tone "I got you now, fuzzball!" There was a sound of frantic squawking, and something large and feathery zoomed past the camera and landed on the floor with a THUMP.

The thump clearly got the vid-phone on the other side off-balance as its camera swiveled lightly downwards to reveal the identity of the thing – a large and particularly frazzled-looking Male Dodrio, its three heads expressing what looked more like confusion, frustration and resignation than the typical happiness, sadness and anger – and its legs bound together by a rope that was clearly just slung. A man's silhouette walked into the frame, casting a shadow on the large bird "Now, WHAT did I tell you about charging into the house, hmm?" said the voice "Do you want to go back in the ball?"

The bird's expressions all shifted into a look of horror – whoever the man was, he was staring down all three of the bird's faces – definitely not an easy task.

"Now don't give me that look." He said in a voice – stern, firm, but obviously holding back amusement "Just calm down and say you're sorry."

The bird paused, its heads exchanging confused looks, before finally shifting into an apologetic, almost pathetic expression. The three heads squawked one after another – bowing their heads down. From the bird's fallen vantage point on the floor, it looked almost comical.

"That's better." Said the man's voice – and he bowed down to untie the bird's legs – getting into the frame for a moment, turning a steel-blue gaze to the camera to notice the slightly amused trainer's face "Oh, Hello, Glenn. How's your journey going?"

The man was Stephen Hendrix, Glenn's father. The family resemblance was immediately apparent – there was much similarity between their faces – the same steel-blue eyes and olive-ish complexion (though Stephen's was slightly deeper), and a generally similar facial structure. Glenn, however, inherited his mother's nose and eyebrows – Stephen's nose had a bit of a steeper curve and had the characteristic kink formed by a broken nose, and had wilder eyebrows. He also sported a trimmed beard and moustache, and his hair - long and done in a ponytail, with a pair of long bangs falling along the sides of his face – was darker and more reddish than Glenn's.

Their general build was similar as well – though Stephen was a bit more top-heavy and broader shoulder than his son's. He was clad in dark jeans, combat boots and a black, sleeveless shirt. His ponytail was held in one piece by an intricately carved wooden bracer – with a similar carving style to that of Glenn's – and hanging loosely by a leather string around his neck was a large fang – a Gyarados fang, as the matter of fact. All these and the intricate tribal-looking tattoo on his right arm gave him a bit of a fierce look – a bit like some kind of a barbarian warrior. His taming of the large bird added even more to the impression.

"Going just fine, Dad." Glenn chuckled, waving "WTF still giving you problems?"

"Well, ya know, he was never entirely right in the head. Heads." Glenn's father replied, petting the bird's heads, ruffling their white-patched red feather-crests as if to reassure them. The bird's expressions registered annoyance, a sneer, and a 'Hmph', all at the same time – but the trainer knew that the large avian wasn't really offended.WTF was simply always like that.

WTF was not the bird's actual name – the Dodrio did not have an official singular nickname, because its heads could not agree on one. One of Stephen's oldest companions from his original homeland of the Orange Islands, the large flying-type was simply full of personality – sadly, it was too full of personality to keep it in one piece, and so it opted to have three instead. Stephen came to jokingly refer to the Dodrio's heads as 'Whiskey', 'Tango' and 'Foxtrot' - and the names stuck. Sooner or later the bird just came to accept it.

"So. What's been going on?" Stephen helped the large avian up and readjusted the camera – emphasizing just how ridiculous the situation was – Stephen was by no means a short man, but the bird was at least a head taller than him, and that wasn't even with its necks fully extended. "Where are you? What'd you start with?"

"Floaroma. Sorry for not calling earlier – had a few really busy days. What did I start with…Believe it or not, a Rotom." Glenn began, recounting Siegfried's capture to his dad, who couldn't help but burst into a deep laughter "Now, THAT sounds like a battle! Reminds me of the time Tango decided he could make the rest dance."

"Oh deities, I remember that alright." Glenn laughed "Mom was furious. Speaking of which, Where's mother?"

"In the reverse fish-tank, where else." Stephen said, rolling his eyes "Honestly, they've been keeping her there too long lately. She says that she's starting to get tired of seeing Lumineons."

Glenn's mother, Camille, was a scientist, specializing in advanced scientific instruments - currently employed by the marine research institute of Canalave – a large underwater observatory, which Camille and Stephen both tended to refer to as the "reverse fish-tank" ("We're a glorified aquarium, with people in the tank and the fish are outside watching US to pass the time.") Her analytical nature and quick observations made her quite a valued member of the staff – and lately, her job has been keeping her in rather late due to a large migration of Lumineon through the area.

"Still?" Glenn rolled his eyes – it's been a few weeks now "Are they SURE the Lumineon aren't going around in circles just to spite them?"

"Could be. Red-eyed bastards, probably stoned." Stephen rolled his eyes "I remember in my day, we didn't worry about fancy neon-fish who can't decide where they want to be – we were more worried about having our boats rammed by vicious territorial  Seakings and…"

"Yes, yes, I know, rabid man-eating Magikarp off the port bow." Glenn chuckled.

"I was thinking more to the line of giant mutant Tentacruel, but yeah." Stephen grinned. "So. Your Guitar-Hero of a Rotom aside, what else?"

"Well, I got a Mawile in Oreburgh Gate, somehow…" Glenn replied "And I beat Roark. And now I'm travelling around with these two girls, and we're hitting Eterna Forest tomorrow. How've things been back home?"

"Well, you know this house – never a dull moment." He patted the Dodrio's back slightly "But the old gang have been mostly calm. No stampedes all over Canalave quite yet!"

"Good, keep it that way. I'd like to have a home to come back to when we get there. Besides, I think the creepy guy with the purple beard might be offended if your guys left giant holes all over his city."

"I think he'd love these holes, but then, how am I to know what the crazy bastard thinks?"

For a second, Glenn had a terrible sense of déjà vu, but he stifled it.

"Well, dad, I should probably get some sleep… Got a long damn day tomorrow. I'm navigating." He said.
"Of course you are." Stephen grinned "You're my son, after all – you have my almighty sense of direction!"

"And the common sense of my mother – that's why I'm relying on a satellite-tracking map. Wouldn’t want to end up taking the left turn at Alamos and end up in Hoenn through some contrived plot device involving a pod of Lugia and a berserk Haunter."

"Aww, you've heard that one before." Stephen mock-frowned. "And it was a Gengar."

~*~

Bidding each other good night, the conversation ended. Glenn checked into a room and crashed as soon as his head hit the pillow. He had to wake up early tomorrow… The next leg of their journey was afoot.

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

Sem:

Morning came quickly, and after a sound sleep Fida rose in order to prepare herself for the coming day.  After a quick shower she got dressed into her usual garb and proceeded to look about to room, making sure she had everything she needed and that she hadn't forgotten anything.

The ten-year-old walked across the lobby, going into the center's small cafeteria for breakfast.  She was hoping that was where she would find Glenn and Aria, whether they were there already or would arrive after her.  Fida decided she would eat as much as she could in order to have enough strength for the day.


Dwayna:

Familiar chirping noises roused Aria out of her sleep again, a thankful smile spreading over her lips. She gently brushed her fingers over the feathers of her comrade, Seamus letting out soft coos in reply, much like how a cat would purr. Aria stretched afterwards, getting dressed into her regular outfit again, before moving out the door.

She headed towards the cafeteria, obtaining a hearty breakfast for herself and her PokéMon, whom she released to enjoy their meal. She smiled again at the handiwork that she had don to Rose's PokéBall, noticing out of the corner of her eye that Fida seemed to be waiting around. Perhaps for them?

"Good morning, Fida," she greeted warmly towards the younger girl. "We have a big day ahead of us. Did you get everything you needed?" Aria felt a little bad for neglecting to pay much attention to their other group member very much. Now that she had seen the battle prowess of this young one, she wanted to get to know her better.

Nonetheless, she looked around slightly, wondering when Glenn would finally awaken to join them.


Stel:

Glenn woke up early alright - but took his time running over his equipment and making sure everything was in order. Satisfied with his examinations, he proceeded to run his clothes through a cleaning cycle and take a shower. Finally re-equipped, the trainer stretched, slung his guitar case over his back and left the room. Siegfried has already finished whatever passed for his recharge cycle and was already in the guitar, emitting the occasional note as if to let the universe know that he's still alive and probably doing science in some form or another.

This was going to be one hell of a day.

He was rather surprised to find Fida and Aria already in the cafeteria - apparently his inspections took him longer than he has thought. Somewhat sheepishly, he acquired some food items  and turned to join the other two, nodding in greeting.

Before long, breakfast was done with, and the three trainers stepped out of the PokeMon center into Floaroma, bidding the small town farewell as they set forth for its eastern exit - the one leading onto Route 205.

And from there, it would be on to Eterna Forest... And the next adventure.


Dwayna:

Route 205 was lined with mountains, staircases leading into the mountains, and ledges for other people to hop back down if they wished to walk back this way and take a shortcut. A small bit of wind blew through the crimson strands of Aria's hair, and she took in a deep breath to enjoy the scents of the area around here. Still reminiscent of flowers, but now it was lined with the water nearby to them, and perhaps the trees of the forest at the end of this part of the route.

Aria saw the way for them laid out in front of her. She walked towards the large patch of tall grass towards the first staircase, small crunching sounds of the grass beneath her feet following her. She heard strange animal noises up ahead, and looked to Seamus, as if in question - at which he cooed worriedly back at her, as if something might be wrong. Then she felt the small tingling sensation in her mind, like something was trying to enter it in the same sort of way that she had bonded with Seamus.

Help me!

Aria felt panic surge throughout her being, and started running towards the pull that she felt at the back of her mind. She stopped in her tracks, mortified by all the pink that had suddenly appeared in her vision. The creatures in question had rings of pink fleshy knobs arranged like a flower on their heads, yellow lining defining their eyes, mouth, and outside of what appeared to be a pink shell casing covering a white underside.

The slug PokéMon, which Aria recognized as the western type of Shellos, were flocking around another PokéMon, this one perhaps the source of the call for help. The white body of the creature was reminiscent of a small dress, but the head of the creature looked to be a green helmet with two red horn-like protrusions spiking up, one in the front and the other in the back. This PokéMon she didn't quite recognize, so she pulled out her PokéDex.

"Ralts," cooed the female voice, "The Feeling PokéMon. A Ralts has the power to sense the emotions of people and PokéMon with the horns on its head. It takes cover if it senses any hostility." So it's a Psychic type. Aria didn't know how this Ralts had gotten into so much trouble in the first place if that was the case, but the point was that the Shellos were clearly attacking it in an aggressive manner, and it needed help.

Aria pulled out Rose's PokéBall as well as nodding to Voltron, knowing that Shellos could be tricky creatures sometimes. Rose was released, and both her and Voltron went to work. Rose made quick work of the Shellos with her Grass type moves, and Voltron did his best to clean out the rest. Soon all that was left of the group was the frightened Ralts, shivering on the ground in front of her. Nonetheless, Aria felt it commune with her again, the familiar tingling sensation setting into the back of her mind.

Thank you, came the soft, feminine voice. Those Shellos were supposed to be my friends, but they hurt me... That's not what a friend does! A friend saves me from trouble, like you.

"I felt that you were in need of my help," replied Aria quietly, "So I came to your call. I could see that they were hurting you, so I wanted to save you with the help of my other friends. If you come with me and be my friend like these two, I can teach you to be strong so you can protect yourself, and I can heal the pain you feel now with this." Aria pulled out another pink Heal Ball, holding it out towards the Ralts as an invitation.

The Ralts studied the Heal Ball with a sort of curiosity, before nodding her agreement to the situation. She touched the center of the PokéBall knowingly, and it opened to envelop her in red light. The Ball closed and dinged almost instantly, the little Ralts accepting Aria as her trainer.

Pleased with the result, Aria recalled Rose and motioned for Voltron to walk beside her again, looking back to the others with a smile before continuing forward.

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

Sem:
"Aria?" Fida asked aloud in confusion.  The girl had run off suddenly, seeming distressed.  Fida felt a slight tingling in her head, which she recognized as telepathic communication.  Nothing got through, but that was all thanks to Elvia, her personal firewall.

With a quick glance at Glenn Fida followed after the redhead.  She didn't quite know where to go, but Elvia seemed to.  By the time Fida had found Aria she had chased away a group of pink Pokémon.  Taking a quick look around Fida saw that there was no danger and stayed back, watching as Aria communicated with another Pokémon.  In only moments the creature allowed itself to be captured, seeming glad that Aria had come.

"Is everything ok?" Fida asked, coming closer now.  Everything looked ok now, but no harm in asking to make sure.  Aria was smiling at her and Glenn, confirming Fida's thoughts.  In a moment's time they were back on their way, as if there had never been an interruption.


Stel:

OOC: Goddamnit, Bio. About time I replied to you somehow. Sorry for taking this long. Writer's block from hell. ^^;

Glenn smiled back at Aria - he recognize the creature she just bonded with and captured - a Ralts. That brought the total of her captures to five - and it's only been a few days since her journey's beginning. The girl seemed to be a natural when it came to bonding with PokeMon and catching them - he couldn't help but be impressed.

It was not long at all before the three trainers made their way to the edge of Eterna Forest, following the path leading into it - and as soon as they passed through the arch of intergrown trees that seemed to mark the entrance to the forest, they could feel the change in the atmosphere.

It was like stepping into a different world - a pristine world, nearly untouched by human hands, where nature reigned supreme. A world of fae where time stood still. At places the trees were dense enough to nearly blot out the sun - allowing just enough light to filter in through the leaves - and at places they were sparser, creating large clearings awash with sunlight. The air was rich with scents of earth and wood and moss - and with the sounds of wind rustling in the leaves and the cries and motions of assorted PokeMon going about their life cycles, as they have for centuries before - and will for centuries hence.

For indeed, the forest teemed with life, and even here at the outskirts of the forest that fact was very noticable - Birds were chirping, usually sticking to the high canopies though occasionally fluttering down to peck at the ground in search of food. Butterfly-like PokeMon - Beautifly and the occasional Butterfree - fluttered past in small groups around flowering trees and berry bushes in bloom as their larval forms - Wurmple and Caterpie - crawled about, feeding on leaves. Metapods, Silcoons and Cascoons swung gently in the wind like cradles suspended by trails of silk from branches - the creatures within engaging in quiet metamorphosis, awaiting their rebirth into the world.

Amidst fallen logs covered with moss, a sharp-eyed observer could spot a Nincada or two, draining nutrients from the rotting wood. Other PokeMon used the logs as burrows - A curious Buneary or two would occasionally emerge from holes in the sides of the logs, regard the newcomers to the woods with a gaze, then scurry back into their dens or hop off into the patches of grass to continue doing whatever it is Bunearies did. In hollows amidst some of the trees, one could occasionally notice the sinister gaze of a vigilant Murkrow - or the occasionally eerie red gaze of a Hoothoot - these would become more active as night fell - when the butterflies took to rest and the moths - Dustox and Mothim - emerged to take their place. Budews and the occasional Seedot sometimes emerged from the grass, merely to hop into another patch of grass - and every once in a while, one could pick up the sound of one of the more elusive denizens of the forest - the heavy hum of Heracross wings, as the large beetle-like creatures moved in search of Honey Trees.

This was but one face of the forest - for it had many. Ahead the roads winded and twisted, occasionally scaling up mountainous paths that projected above the canopies - as well as ponds and streams and mighty waterfalls. Many other species of PokeMon indubitably dwelled there - and there were probably other travellers along the many paths - but to Glenn, it seemed like he and his three companions were the only humans in the entire forest - and he was already immersed in the melody of life around him - his attention divided between listening and navigating. If all went properly, they would make it to the campsite Cheryl marked on his map by evening, marking the end of the first planned day of travel.

He would definitely need to spend a while with his guitar that evening. There were few things that inspired him as much as this forest did.


Sem:

Before Fida had even taken one step into the forest her breath was taken away by the sheer atmosphere of the place.  Trees that seemed as old as the earth itself numbered in the thousands.  She felt as if she were communing with nature by simply walking through the forest, as if it were allowing her to experience the pure essence of life that seemed to reside there.

Elvia felt it as well, to the point where the invisible shroud that was her started to bend and flicker back into the visible spectrum.  Despite the multitude of Pokémon that inhabited the forest, it seemed as if it were still the safest place in the world.  
Elvia decided to instead hover around Fida looking like a proper Mismagius, and studied everything around them.

Miraculously, they ran into no signs of other people as they walked further and further into the forest, though at times Fida thought she heard the sounds of a distant battle.  It got darker and darker as time passed, and in some of the already dark parts of the forest it was hard to see anything.  It was in one such area that a flash of color caught her eye.

Turning, she saw a large spot of blue against one of the ancient trees.  Squinting her eyes, she saw that it was one of the Bug-types that the forest seemed to have an abundance of.  It had six legs that had hairs that were purple with black stripes.  Red mandibles and a horn were also visible, but the most striking feature was the expressionless face that it had on top of its abdomen.  The face's empty eyes seemed to stare back at Fida as the Spinarak scurried down the trunk.

Fida had seen Spinarak before, though they were usually a shade of green.  One had been discovered in her house in Violet - her mother almost died of fright.  They were usually seen as pests, seeing as they liked to find the dark places of your home to live and build their webs.  They were typically only a problem for parents with small children, but it was a bit terrifying to suddenly discover one while cleaning or something.

Normally Fida wouldn't have given it a second thought, but the idea of training something that most people considered an annoying pest intrigued her.  Only the bug-catchers were proud when they called out a Spinarak into battle.  Perhaps it was because of Calhoun, but she decided that she would catch it.  Pulling out a Timer Ball, she pressed the button that caused it to expand and then threw it, releasing her Magnemite.

"Metal Sound!" Fida ordered, feeling somewhat bad for breaking the peace and serenity of the forest with her shout, though it was nothing compared to the sound that followed.

"Maaaaag," the Steel-type moaned as it began to rub its magnets against its spherical body, producing an awful sound that caused every goose-bump in Fida's body to raise.  The Spinarak seemed even more severely affected, as the vibrations traveled to the delicate hairs on its body.  It halted in its tracks and fell off of the tree, landing on its back, legs squirming.

"Thundershock!"

The horrible noise ceased and was replaced by the sound of electricity crackling.  The jolt of lightning hit the spider dead-on as it tried to flip itself over.  It reacted noiselessly to the pain, though it squirmed and flailed all the more in reaction to the electrocution.

Fida readied a Pokéball to catch the arachnid with, but stopped when it fired a Nightshade at her Magnemite.  She should've realized that it wouldn't be that easy.  Despite all appearances, it was life and death for the creatures in the forest, and so obviously they would be made of tougher stuff.

An all but invisible line of thread shot out of Spinarak's mouth and latched onto her Pokémon.  Then another and another, in quick succession.  "Zap it off!" she said, knowing that if it went on the String Shot would cripple Magnemite completely.

The web fell to the ground in pieces, allowing Magnemite to escape, but not before getting hit by another Nightshade.  The face on the Spinarak's back had turned to resemble that of an angry face.  Instead of fleeing it scurried straight towards Fida on her Electric-type.  Hairs flew off of the spider's body and flew at them both.

Elvia flew in front of Fida and instantly threw up a Protect, stopping the Poison Sting from hitting her.  Fida flinched and backed away, a bit intimidated by the Spinarak.

The Poison Sting bounced off of Magnemite's metal body harmlessly, and he retaliated with a burst of light, Flash, per Fida's command.  The light blinded the spider, which had probably not seen that much light in its entire life.  "Tackle it!" she yelled.  The Steel-type did as it was told, and hit the arachnid while it was still dazed.

"Now!" she thought to herself and threw the Net Ball that she had in hand.  The ball hit the Pokémon and split open, absorbing it in the form of red energy.  The ball shut closed, trapping the creature inside and jiggled as it hit the ground.  The center of the ball blinked red as the ball moved, as it struggled to contain the creature within.  After a few tense moments the jiggling stopped and the center of the ball stopped glowing.

"Yes!" Fida exclaimed in an excited whisper as she ran to pick up the sphere.  She held it in her hand and grinned.  This meant that she now had a complete team, complete after starting out nearly two years prior.  It was an important moment for her, and she thanked Magnemite graciously before returning it to its ball for a rest.

She scanned it quickly with the PokéDex, checking the special moves it knew along with simple things like gender.  It was female, which was an important detail if Fida was to give it a nickname.  She put the items away and returned to Glenn and Aria with a slight blush on her face.


Dwayna:

Aria had been taken to Sandgem by guide from Hearthome through the mountains, so it wasn't until now that she had the pleasure of experiencing Eterna Forest. Now that she was surrounded by wilderness and the thriving lives of PokeMon, she felt more at home than anywhere else she had ever been. Her chest swelled with emotion at the beauty of the place, her awe showing plainly and truthfully on her face as she looked about with anticipation and curiosity.

"Bug PokeMon are always abundant in forested areas," her father had said. "There can also be some birds hanging around, and if you're really lucky, there will be some ghosts lingering about." He had always understood her interest for PokeMon and encouraged her to try to learn more about Eterna Forest, for she was 'going to visit it one day'. Seems he had been usually right about anything PokeMon related, except for one time...

Flashback

"Reports say there has been a small landslide just off the side of Rote 207," said the male reporter before the camera flicked to the scene of destruction. "Witnesses claim that a rouge Aerodactyl had caused the landslide with a powerful Hyperbeam attack. Unfortunately, an adventurer from the Devon Corporation was caught in the landslide and fatally wounded."

The image on the screen flickered to a man on a stretcher, and at first her mind refused to accept what she was seeing. However, they flicked to a portrait of him and announced his name, but beyond that the sound faded from her mind as the voices began to take over. The evil and sinister plotting from her mother that the purple-haired woman was not aware her daughter knew. The affirmations of how she had married her father for his money and all the fake smiles her mother gave. The genuine smiles and love that her father had given her mother and herself.

She had been slowly cracking, knowing the truth behind her mother's trickery towards her father. She had begun to shy away from other humans, only trusting what her father told her and the PokeMon he brought with him. Now that a PokeMon had betrayed him, she finally lost the last piece of her sanity, masking it with a fake smile of her own as she finally broke.

End flashback

Aria couldn't hold back the tears as she finally felt liberated from her past in this place of PokeMon and wilderness. She choked them back a little bit and wiped them away just in time to watch Fida make her first capture in their presence. She showed a genuine smile then for the girl, proud of her for the gaining of a new companion.

She returned to focusing on Glenn and wherever he led them, but also looking around at the scenery as they walked together. The plan was to spend at least a couple of days in this place, and she was glad for the solace and sanctuary it would bring her while they were there. Tonight they would be camping underneath the stars, and then the true symphony of the forest would begin.

With that in mind, she made a mental note to join said symphony with her own voice, to show how she felt one with her surroundings and the creatures within.