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Meanwhile, Nidoking was charging forward, having no cares in the world as he kept up his own pursuit of whatever it was he'd spotted. While his trainer needed help finding the missing Pokemon, he wasn't really the one to be sleuthing around; he was more of a go-getter. So, having seen what looked like a suspiciously fleeing figure in the distance, the Nidoking decided to do what he did best: attack relentlessly. He let loose an earth-shaking roar, and laughed viciously as he heard his quarry let out a fearful cry and fall to the ground. This would be fun.

Jaeshan and Combusken were doing a fairly good job of keeping the large purple Pokemon within their sights, and as he stopped and roared, the duo slowed down a bit, wondering what the Nidoking had discovered. "Nidoking, what are you doing?" he yelled, panting a bit from his run. "Wait up!"

Combusken dashed up to the Nidoking's side, looking around curiously. Up ahead, she could see the fallen figure of what looked like a boy, probably around Jaeshan's age. He pulled himself to his feet and stared at Nidoking fearfully. Jaeshan squeezed himself between his two Pokemon to look at the boy. A Pokemon poked its head out of the trees, and Jaeshan recognized it immediately. "A Masquerain?" he said, looking at the boy. "So is that was this is? You scare a trainer and steal their Pokemon while they're recovering?" Jaeshan wasn't sure how he jumped to such a conclusion so quickly, but the boy's complexion paled and he was certain he was right. Jaeshan also spotted three familiar-looking Pokeballs in the kid's hand, and he frowned. "How did you get my Pokeballs so quickly?" he asked, taking a step forward. Nidoking and Combusken did the same, and the boy yelped and stepped back nervously. The trainer didn't say anything, just continued to back-up all shifty like, but just then a small brown Pokemon popped out of the ground, causing him to fall over backwards. "Diglett. It's all clear now," Jaeshan grumbled, looking to his Pokemon. "Get him!"

No time to waste. Mike made his way to the top of the stairs, signaling for Prickles to be quiet with a quick finger to his lips. Listening intently, he didn't hear what he would call commotion. Well, maybe he could, if the base's generators weren't drumming their damnedest as if to intentionally make his mission that much more aggravating. "Great." He said under his breath, continuing down the stairs. The Cacnea tried to keep up, but his stubby legs prevented him from taking the steps quickly and quietly at the same time. He was forced to climb down each one if he was to avoid excessive noise.

The two little ninjas continued down the staircase, Mike checking back every few steps to make sure Prickles was keeping up. After a few minutes of light footwork they reached the generator room downstairs. Mike poked his head out from the doorway, trying his best to stay out of sight. This room was much larger than the last one, at the far end was another railing he could only imagine lead to another pool. The generators were right to the left of him, the mechanic locomotion was so loud, he wanted to get out of this room quick. Once again the room wasn't much visually, a few machines and bright white walls.

Mike looked around, no one was here. He started to make his way to where he thought the warp panel was but stopped abruptly, a Grunt was patrolling this room too! "Okay Prickles," Mike whispered. "We gotta be quie-EEEP!" A slight high pitched squeak shot from the boy's mouth as the Cacnea accidentally ran into his calf, two of the spines on his body stabbing into Mike's leg. The boy stifled his yelp, a tear welling up in his eye. "I know that was an accident but by the grace of the forces of HOENN that hurt Prickles!" The boy shouted, then looked over at the Aqua Grunt charging full steam at the two. "Oh dammit."

Jaeshan let out a howl of pain as his fist connected with the trainer's jaw, and he drew back his hand, shaking it as if it would make the hurt go away. He'd never hit someone before, so naturally it was a bit of a shock to him that it would hurt like that. The thief staggered back, sporting a cut lip, wiping it with his sleeve. The smear of blood on his chin was unflattering, and the terrified look in his eyes only seemed to drive Jaeshan's anger even further. "Stealing Pokemon is wrong!" he shouted, deciding then that he didn't care how this ended so long as he got his Pokemon back. "It takes time and dedication to raise them, you can't just swoop in like a vulture and steal them!" There was another thudding sound as Jaeshan had hit him again, and the two both fell to the ground, arms flailing as they each tried to gain the upper hand in the 'fight.'

Meanwhile, Nidoking had side-stepped a blast of silvery wind that the Masquerain had shot at him, and he roared again, sharing in his trainer's rage. While he may not have really cared for the other Pokemon on the team, the point was that they were a team, and he wouldn't allow anyone-- be it human or Pokemon-- take that away from them. He held out his hand as a thick sludge began to seep from the spines covering his body and gather in his palm. A second later Nidoking hurled the Sludge Bomb at the Masquerain, scoring a direct hit right in its face. A triumphant roar was loosed at the sight, and as the flying bug tried to shake off the poisonous goo, Nidoking charged at it once again.

Combusken wasn't having such a good time with the Diglett though, as the little speedster would pull itself back in the ground after taking a swipe at her, making it impossible for her to fight back properly. The young Pokemon eyed the Diglett as it once more disappeared into the earth after decorating her other leg with another Scratch, and she grinned as an idea came to mind. She looked deep into the hole the mole Pokemon had left and breathed deep, firing a powerful Flamethrower into the abyss. Moments later streams of fire shot out of the ground on various angles, some nearly hitting Jaeshan and the thief as well (although neither of them noticed). One jet of fire licked at the Masquerain's wing and it screeched in pain, falling to the ground from the newfound burn it had suffered.

It was probably close to an hour before Jaeshan pulled himself to his feet. The adrenalin surge he'd felt during his outburst had left him drained, and he couldn't believe just how tired he was. It was times like this that he wished he had a Pokemon to fly on, or one that was at least large enough to ride on, but he had a quick, late lunch and continued onward, having ensured that the clips to secure the Pokeballs on his belt were nice and snug. His heart felt heavy and the guild hung over him like a storm cloud, and he could think of nothing to justify what he'd done. Violence had always been over the line, in his opinion, and as he stalked clumsily through the forest, he couldn't help but notice the dried blood on his still-trembling hands. It was his own, he soon discovered, having taken his handkerchief from his pocket to clean up a bit. There were scraps and cuts decorating both sets of his knuckles, and he winced a bit as he bandaged himself up, thanks to the first-aid kit he'd packed before leaving home.

"My Pokemon are safe, and it's only a few minor injuries to us both," he muttered as he packed the kit back into his bag and stood up, preparing to continue. He judged that he was about halfway through the woods, and that he'd been making better time that he originally thought, even after his slight delay. After another ten minutes or so of walking, one of his Pokeballs began to shake and Combusken materialized beside him, able to feel her trainer's guilt even inside the sphere. She patted his leg gently, as if to tell him she didn't think any worse of him for defending her fellow teammates like that. If anything, it made the young Pokemon proud to have a trainer who would go to such lengths to keep them all safe. Her presence seemed to calm Jaeshan down somewhat, and the duo continued to make their way through the forest in silence.

Keegan could only chuckle at Flannery's annoyance with him, and he motioned for the two girls to follow him into the Pokemon Center. He still wanted to evolve Tierra before they did anything else, as he knew it would give him quite the upper hand with his next gym battle. "It was just a bad day for both of us," he said, referring to the last time he'd seen Flannery; when he and Kasiya had their major falling-out. "We talked it out and we're good again," he added, sitting down on the edge of the coffee table. "Right, Kasi?" he smiled at the beautiful blonde standing nearby, feeling his heart race at just the sight of her. Things have never been better, actually, his thoughts expanded on his previous statements, although he didn't voice them. Whatever doubts Kasiya seemingly had before had all but disappeared. Either that, or she was a very good actress. He frowned at the last thought, wondering if that's all this was - her putting on a good front while the two of them were together. Nah, impossible, he scolded himself, shaking his head. If that was the case, she would have ditched me when we got back to Vermilion City.

"And you're just the person I wanted to see, because I want to challenge you to a gym match," he said simply. "Flannery, I'm going to defeat you and earn your Heat Badge."

((Edited to answer Flannery's question. xd ))

By the time the duo made it out of the Petalburg Woods, Jaeshan was mostly feeling like himself again. Combusken had made him laugh a few times by doing handstands or cartwheels along the path, although he did laugh hardest when she fell flat on her bottom. The bright sunlight greeted them as they stepped out into the open, and Jaeshan could see Rustboro City in the distance. "Almost there," he said, looking to Combusken happily. The Fire-type nodded, feeling the anticipation of the upcoming gym battle in her gut, and even though she didn't know what to expect, she would still do her best, regardless of the circumstances.

There were several trainers scattered around, some who were busy training, others were battling. Jaeshan glanced down at Combusken, noting the young Pokemon seemed to be itching for a fight herself. Looking around, he kept his eyes open for a trainer or two who didn't seemed to be locked in a battle already, or happened to be completely involved in their training. There was a girl, maybe a few years younger than he was, standing nearby. She was watching a pair of boys battle, one with a Zigzagoon, the other with a Poochyena, and was looking as though she really wanted to be in there battling.

Combusken looked up to Jaeshan, who was looking apprehensively at the female trainer, and sighed. The Fire-type started to walk forward, and when she reached the other trainer, she tugged on her sleeve, trying to get her attention. "Oh, hello there," the girl said, smiling at Combusken. Combusken smiled back, then turned to Jaeshan. "Would you guys like to battle?" she asked brightly.

Why is everyone always so cheerful? he thought as Combusken returned to his side. "Yes, we would like that very much," he said, reaching for Beldum's Pokeball.