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"Of course I thought I was doing something right," He yelled, throwing punches with even more ferocity than before. "I thought I could do something that would help the people of Hoenn, do my part to the land that birthed me, but NO! I had to reduce myself to petty thievery!" With that last word, he launched his right arm with all his anger and frusteration, smashing it into Felsic's palm. The Typhlosion's body leaned back slightly, then shook his palm to let it relax. Mike's anguished assault wasn't on the level of a Hitmonchan per say, but constant hits to the hand would hurt anything. The boy lowered his hands, letting them hang as he leaned forward and took many deep breaths. Little beads of sweat traveled down the boy's dirty face, his hair still stuck to his head with all the humidity in the air.

"Lavaridge...is more of a...dry heat." He said in between breaths, wiping a bit of dirt from near his lips. The boy stood up, lifting the strap of his backpack over his head and then dropping it on the ground. He rolled his shoulders, the flame decorated jacket falling onto the dirt. Finally came his basic green tee shirt, he quickly removed that as well, letting it float downwards onto the pile. "Much better." Mike lifted his hands up, his movements feeling alot more free formed without the restriction of his shirt, jacket and bag. Felsic's teeth showed through another smile, the Typhlosion began to find a new respect for his trainer, he was no wimp. "Round two Felsic," The boy said with a smile, his breaths still deep. "put em up."

Mike continued his form of stress relief, images from his past flooding back to him like one of Xanthos' Surf attacks.

"Rena! Get out of the way!" Kilik roared, running towards her. His grip on the ball slipped and he dropped it behind him. A bright flash erupted at his back as Ludicolo revealed himself. The Pokemon wasn't sure what was happening, but he noticed his master running towards something. He skidded to a halt, then noticed another boulder falling in her direction. s**t! he thought, breaking into another run. On the higher elevations, something was pushing large rocks down to the lower level - Rena was the target.

"Hold on!" he barked, pushing her with his entire weight. A split second after his foot left the spot, a boulder crumbled into rubble. He began to breathe heavily. "You okay?" he looked at her, huffing and puffing. He saw her nod, then he blinked over at Ludicolo. "Alright, Ludicolo. Seems you're out," he laughed, "Help us find a Lairon." The search was over quite quickly for the Pokemon. He merely pointed behind Kilik and Rena.

Wild LAIRON Appeared!
Lv. 35

The boy turned his head, seeing the beast on the level above him. The Pokemon roared, then backed off a few feet. There was a crash as he slammed his foot into the ground, another large rock appearing in front of the iron behemoth. With a mighty roar, he ran forward and used a Headbutt on the rock, Kilik growled and jumped back, pushing Rena away. The boulder came flying passed him, slamming into his arm as it flew. A rush of pain filled his body; something cracked. His eyes widened and he fell to his knees, clutching his shoulder. A mighty yell of pain escaped him, his eyes fogging up in tears. He had never been in a pain like this before. "L-Ludicolo!" he growled, "Use Surf!!"

Kasiya stopped for a moment, and stared at him. Or rather, the back of his head. "I-it is so my business," she said finally, running to catch up with him. "You're my friend, so I'll make it my business! And besides, those fossils have been lying around there for eons, so they can wait just a little longer. My friends are more important than any fossil, any day." She stopped when Keegan stopped, her hands on her hips. "Why won't you just tell me what's wrong?" she asked him, her voice rising a bit. "I want to help, but I can't do that if you won't let me." She smiled meekly when he turned to look at her - she'd gotten him to tell her what was bothering him once today, and she would do her best to make him spill again.

Kasiya let out an angry growl of her own, and stamped her foot, much like a child. "But I don't want to go with Mike," she told Keegan firmly. "I want to go with you."

Anyone who'd known her well enough in the past few months would probably have died of shock at that particular moment. Kasiya herself felt a bit lighter as she said those words, almost as though a restraint that had been holding her back had been broken. "I don't care if you tell me what's going on or not," she went on, her gaze slowly falling to the ground just in front of her shoes. "I just...want to be with you, that's all." She was a bit surprised when she realized that her eyes were dry, and that she wasn't crying even a little bit. "But if it's too much to ask, then I'll go," she nodded, looking up at him one last time before she turned and started walking again, patting her Vaporeon on the head. Ariel looked up at her trainer, and shook her head slowly. Human emotions were very difficult to understand sometimes.

I win, Kasiya smiled to herself. No one can resist a cute, pouting girl. She stopped walking and turned around. "You didn't want to hurt me, yet you told me to go away, and you called me a little girl?" she asked playfully. "I don't think that constitutes as not hurting someone." Her smile got wider as she walked towards him, no longer caring that he wouldn't tell her what was going on (and she was completely oblivious to the fact that it may or may not involve Mike). She was just glad to have broken down his defenses enough to not push her away again. "But anyways, apology..." she trailed off suddenly, and stopped moving as she started to feel a bit light headed. She blinked a few times, staving off the feeling and continued. "Apology accepted," she said finally.

That comment made Kasiya smile; this was the Keegan she'd come to enjoy spending time with. "Glad to oblige," she replied, practically stumbling into his arms. The faint feeling overcame her again, and she would have fallen had Keegan not been supporting her. "I just want you to know," she murmured into his shoulder, wondering if the wrenching pain she suddenly felt shooting through her side was a good enough reason to cry or not, "you can tell me anything, anytime, and I won't judge you or hold it against you." She pressed her face into his shoulder for a moment, letting a few tears fall from her eyes and mingle with the rainwater that had drenched his clothing. She looked up at him, smiling wistfully, and desperately wanting for him to lean down and kiss her just then, and she probably would have pushed herself up and kissed him first had her legs not given out on her. She slumped to her knees, unable to fight off the dizziness this time, and the constant aching in her side told her something wasn't right. Gently she touched the spot where Casimir had slashed her, and winced. "This isn't good," she sighed, closing her eyes.