Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Thank you very much!" Zinnia told Nurse Joy as she handed back Zyk's pokeball. Zinnia pocketed the ball, deciding to let the crobat rest for a while longer. Most of the rest of the team were also in their pokeballs-- with the exception of Dreydonna and Zebo, who tended to wander when she didn't need them for battles.

She turned to Lenore; they'd walked to the pokemon center from the stadium together. It was a short walk (by necessity), so she hadn't been able to think of much to say in the way of conversation. But now was her chance, and she wasn't about to let it slide past her. "You're Lenore, right?" she asked brightly. "My name's Zin! You're a great battler; your kirlia is really strong!"

"Wanna go for a walk?" Zin asked. "It's funny to me to be so familiar with your face, and yet I know almost nothing about you! I'd love to be friends with you." She interrupted herself with an audible gasp. "We could be rivals! Oh, I've always wanted one!" Her eyes sparkled at the idea.

"Haha, not really, I guess," Zin answered with a chuckle. "I mean, I have all of my pokemon! But... I guess it's been a while since I had a close human friend, yeah." She thought back to who she had thought were her friends; the mysterious Adriel, whom she hadn't seen in ages, and various members of Team Rocket. After leaving the evil organization, she'd spent months hiding in the wilderness. She had eventually decided that they must have given up on her and her mew, and returned to the city. Still, she hadn't had much time to make friends.

"Do you have lots of friends?" she asked, still smiling. "I bet you do, 'cause you're so pretty!" She stated the compliment as if it were obvious, like commenting on the weather. "Are you part of a book club? I like reading too, though I haven't read anything in a long time! What's your favorite book?"

As they talked, Zinnia slowly lead them toward the edge of town. She had come out of hiding and was even partaking in stadium battles again to make some money-- but she was still cautious, and didn't want to tempt fate too much. At the edge of town, she believed they were less likely to be spotted by Rockets.

"Woooooow," Zinnia gasped. "You went to Inhinx? Isn't it dangerous there?" She paused for a moment, considering her words. "I guess your friends are really strong, so it's nothing they can't handle, huh?" She beamed in wonder at this dark-haired girl, who went to such distant and supposedly haunted places. "Do you train there? Is that how you got so good at battling?" Zinnia spotted a bench and plunked herself down on it, ready to continue their conversation for a good long while.

Zinnia's eyes sparkled upon learning that Lenore worked at an actual gym! That made her a professional!

She was a little surprised when the question was turned around on herself. "Oh, well, uh, I... I guess I've been taking a break from training for a long time," she said, rubbing the back of her head apologetically. "I've been, uh... camping. Yeah. I was camping for a long time and I just got back. But usually I just train at the stadium, I don't have anywhere special to go."

Deciding to change the topic before Lenore got too curious about her 'camping' trip, Zin asked with a warm grin, "So, is Nel your kirlia, or another one of your pokemon? Who all is on your team? I remember you had a duskull?"

"Wow!" Zinnia cried, taking in all the pokemon. "It's great to meet all of you! Here, I'll introduce my friends too!"

She pulled out three pokeballs. "My first pokemon is Zyk; you know him!" She released the crobat, who circled once overhead before landing on the bench behind Zin. "Next is Shadow Mew." She let the black mew out, who nodded politely to the others. "Finally is Zarya." The mismagius appeared out of her pokeball, shyly hiding her face beneath her hat. She drifted away, closer to Zyk, as she wasn't used to meeting so many people and pokemon at once.

"I also have a gengar named Dreydonna and a liepard named Zebo, but they're taking the day off for themselves today. I'm sure you'll get to meet them some other time, though!" She winked, glad to imply that they would be seeing more of each other.

Suddenly, there was a rustling in the tall grass. Many pairs of eyes turned to look; a large, pink pair of eyes stared right back. A small ralts stepped out of the grass, attracted by the happiness that such a large group of people was radiating. The ralts looked nervous, but he smiled at them.

"Wow," Zin said again. "A wild ralts! He is so cute! They're pretty rare; I wonder what he's doing here..."

The ralts smiled at his evolved counterpart, then looked with some concern at the butterfree. Those humans feel warm, he said telepathically to Nel. That one is smiling, he continued, nodding to Zinnia. I think she's always happy. He reached up, brushing one of his horns that sensed the two trainers' dispositions.

Shadow Mew, who was eavesdropping on the conversation, translated for Zin and Lenore,

That certainly boosted Zinnia's ego. "I like you, too!" she said to the ralts. "Where's your family?"

The wild pokemon looked down, shy to address a human directly. He spoke so that everyone could hear him,

"Aww, oh no!" Zin cried. "If you think they're in Katarina, it'd probably be safer for you to come with one of us if you want to look, right? We can help you!"

the ralts asked, eagerly clasping his small hands together.

"Of course! I'm Zin, and this is Lenore." The pigtailed girl turned to Lenore and asked, "Who do you think should take him? We have to help him find his parents!"

"Yeah, definitely!" Zinnia agreed quickly. "The more, the merrier! It'll be easier to find them if we have more people looking." She turned her attention to the ralts and got down on one knee so they'd be closer to eye level. The wild pokemon sensed no ill-will from her, so he did not draw back.

"I have to ask," Zin said slowly, reaching into her pocket. "Do you mind if I use this pokeball on you, just for now?" She pulled a small pokeball out for the ralts to examine. He'd been afraid of being captured, but he didn't think that the young trainer was lying. She continued to explain, "It's just to be safe; this way, no one else can take you against your will, and I can have you healed at the pokemon center if anything happens. There are places in town where pokemon aren't allowed outside of their pokeballs, but this way I can take you there and you can still keep a look-out. Is it okay? I promise to release you again as soon as you want me to."

The ralts hesitated for a moment, but his insight into Zinnia's emotions allowed him to trust her right away. He had sensed the emotions of a great many humans, and few felt as pure as Zin and Lenore's. However, as the mew had said, Zinnia did feel warmer than the dark-haired girl. That decided it for him.

he agreed, giving a small smile. He reached out and touched the pokeball and was absorbed in a beam of red light. Zinnia waited a moment for the pokeball to lock, then released the ralts again.

"Now that we're gonna be friends, we gotta know your name!"



"Then I'll name you, if that's okay! I named most of my partners! How about..." She paused, rubbing her chin contemplatively. "... Zachary. You look like a Zach to me!"

Zach clapped his hands together, quite pleased.

Zinnia turned back to Lenore and grinned. "I think you're good luck!" she told the girl. "I bet if we work together, we'll find his parents in no time."