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Leaning over Jaeshan's shoulder, Robin read his pokedex over his shoulder a small smile on her face. "When I battled Roark he used his Aerodactyl and Cranidos on me. They are both really tough. I bet he has all the rock pokemon though, he just switches them up sometimes, like trainers who have more then six pokemon." Or well Robin thought that trainers did that, it would be sad if someone had to leave whenever there wasn't any room on their team. "He was really tough." Looking around Robin saw Black*Star running around and leaving his signatures everywhere. Busting out in laughter Robin gave her pokemon a thumbs up. "Your so funny Black*Star!"

Ahead of Robin Black*Star gave a thumbs up as well at his trainer. It was always good to get attention from his number one fan. Grinning a grin full of fangs, Black*Star wasn't really paying to much attention and manged to trip over a rock. Popping back up from his place on the ground Black*Star just laughed and acted like nothing happened. Turning around so he wasn't walking backwards Black*Star looked around wondering where all the trainers were. How else was he supposed to show how awesome he was if he couldn't even show off his skills?

Saebum excused himself, as he had to take a call, and M.A. leaned back against the bench, sighing. Well, she supposed she'd drift wherever she wanted, now, starting with taking Ulani to this Move Tutor or whatever. She was free of any goals, any ambitions, any conceit; it was both liberating, and to some extent, slightly terrifying, as if she was free-falling and she wasn't sure there was a ground or if she had a parachute. M.A. as a child, in her cozy home in Fallorbor Town, had never felt this sort of total uncertainty before.

He came back shortly. "What was it?" M.A. asked.

Saebum looked back at his sister for a moment, and sighed. "It looks like my grooming salon is having something of a crisis. I asked them to handle it, though, so I could stay with you a bit longer."

"You can go back," his auburn haired sister answered composedly without missing a beat. Seeing how he was torn between obligations, she added, "I'm fine. Really."

She really did seem like it, smiling faintly like that, even though her body was something of a mess. "And I have Daemyn with me; he's going to be at my side no matter what I say," she laughed a bit, a windy, tinny chuckle. Saebum didn't seem entirely convinced, still, as he glanced her over.

"You just got out of the hospital, though..."

"And I feel right as rain. A little sore, but it's nothing having you around will fix," M.A. said, realizing that her bluntness was a bit acerbic. Softening her tone a bit, she added, "I'd feel guilty if you stayed."

Saebum bit his lip for a moment. The business really had been urgent. "Well... If you're sure," he said, uncertainty as tangible in his voice as the grass around them.

"I'm sure," M.A. answered breezily.

"Make sure you take it easy for a while. You hear that, Daemyn, Ulani? Make sure she takes it easy for a while!" The two Pokemon nodded dutifully. Tora noted that she hadn't been included, and felt a little offended. What, yeah she was a little... um, rash, but couldn't she given some responsibility too?

Mahnaz stopped by the waterway and took a quick drink. She saw that there were some Poliwags; an idea formed in her head.

"Maipe, we're gonna get a second Pokemon today. And, it's one that'll do great against the Pewter Gym." She smiled as she pulled her rod out of her bag and walked to the shore.

"Lithe," Maipe said disappointed. He didn't want anyone else with the two of them, but he knew it was necessary for them. The two of them waited for what felt like an eternity, the sun baking on them, which felt good for the young Growlithe. She felt a few nibbles, but no major bites.

"I guess they aren't-woah!" she exclaimed as a large tug pulled on her line. She fought with the thing on the other end for what seemed like forever until a Poliwag popped up. "Perfect; Maipe we need it weaker, but not too weak." The Growlithe nodded as he ran forward and snarled. "Bite." The Puppy Pokemon chomped down as the Poliwag blew Bubbles. Maipe flinched back as the Bubbles hit.

A Water move; not bad. Not bad at all. She eyed where the Poliwag was and grimaced; it was too close to the water.

"Round it up and Bite it again, but be careful about that attack." Maipe followed diligently without a problem, keeping the new Pokemon away from the water as he bit the tail.

"Wag!" it yelled, but it couldn't do anything. Mahnaz threw one of her Pokeballs at the weakened Poliwag. A red light shone and after a few tense minutes, the Poliwag was captured.

"Technically speaking, tomorrow night our annual company banquet, to thank all our employees personally. In practice, it's my mother's way of throwing an engagement party."

"Engagement party?" Jun asked, mirth in his eyes. "Now, dear Devon, I did say I'd play boyfriend for you, but this is all just /too soon/! My mother /always/ told me marriage was for two people who, well, loved each other, and why, I don't know how I feel about this yet! We hardly know each other," Jun said, expressing mock shock and placing both of his hands on his chest.

Devon laughed heartily. "Oh, shut up. What happened was that my mother had shown me a list of potential wives she'd love me to meet. It was kinda frightening. So before the first arranged meeting I told her I was hustling out to Sinnoh for business -- I'm from Hoenn, you see -- and that she'd have to just wait until I came back. I finally got the balls out here to tell her I wasn't interested in any of them, but she jumped to the conclusion that I had found somebody of interest out here in Sinnoh," he bemoaned humorously. "So you see, I was in quite a pickle until I met you. But I don't think we'll have to actually play the part of a couple at the banquet; just having you there will show my parents I'm serious about not marrying someone else. My mother probably expects to announce my fiance to the company, but I doubt she will want to when she sees you... Wait, no, that sounds wrong. That wasn't said with any negative intent, I swear. It's just that she's so set on me getting married and all to a nice gal, you know?"

Jun waved it off. "Don't worry so much, I'm not that thin-skinned. It is what it is. She's really rushing with this marriage thing, isn't she, though, your mother?" Jun pondered aloud. "I mean, you don't look much older than I, certainly?"

"25, and haven't dated in the last two years."

"Why, Devon!" Jun interjected, adopting his shocked, southern belle accent once again. "How utterly inappropriate! Your peak of virility is slipping away, you'll be old and childless if you don't start taking beaus!"

Devon grinned a bit. Jun reminded him somewhat of his sister with his type of sarcasm.

"Ah, well, my father married my ma right after my grandpa passed away, and they were about 20, so they figure I oughta follow in their footsteps. In any case, since you're in this now, here's the proposed plan. My company lies back in Hoenn, and it's a half-day flight by private plane."

"How spoiled of you."

"Ha. You can leave your Roselia here with the flower specialist here in Floaroma -- trust me, she'll love it, leaves them feeling all refreshed and vibrant and strong (my sister left her Bellossom here when she came with me the first time I went to Sinnoh; I've been in the region long before it opened up to the public, business you know) -- and I'll fly you back after the whole party is over, and you can pick her up. Sounds alright with you?"

Jun mused for a moment. Posh probably wouldn't like taking a break from work just a week out from the show, but Jun was sure most of her designs were more or less done. She'd been overworking herself, though, and maybe a break would do her good. Her flowers did kinda look droopy. "Yeah, sounds good."

”Zzz!” Calistra hissed as the icy fist landed solidly in the bee’s abdomen. But she wasn’t ready to call it quits yet, as she spit a gob of sticky webbing in the sneasel’s face. Not waiting for the sharp Pokémon to recover she lunged forward her twin stingers aglow

“Another twin needle attack,” Venerax commented as he watched his Pokémon battle. “She must’ve not liked that ice punch all that much.”

Calculus observed the battle from the sidelines, analyzing its compatriot’s chances of winning this battle. There were type advantages, but the beedrill on had a single attack that would cause a great deal of damage to the sneasel, and the sneasel had more experience than its compatriot. Overall it did not believe she would win, though she would likely give the sneasel a hard fight none the less.

Kasiya's heartfelt words would have slain most boys. Such a sweet, lovely girl, professing such profound feelings in the dead of night with such passion, such...pain. He loved it. The boy looked down and smiled, like he had just caught on to a joke told the day before. "What a mess we are." he said, his shoulders jumping slightly as he chuckled. "What are we going to do with ourselves?" he asked the girl with a light shrug, not really expecting an answer. "Oh well." he sighed. "It's nice to know that Keegan is getting such a nice girl. If he ever gets out of line, just smack him. He can't refuse a pretty face. He's like me." Mike motioned for Nitro to come over and taker her down. "You should get some sleep there, Kassie." Mike said softly. "Tomorrow I need everyone in the tippest of top shape." The boy smiled warmly at the girl. "And don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Just grab Mitsu when you're down there alright Nitro?"

Mike waited until Kasiya had left before turning around again, taking another hard look at the sky. "What a delightful girl." he said to himself. "So hard to find someone like that." There were fewer people in the world he valued more than Kasiya. Even thought they had only really known each other for a short amount of time, they had grown to be very close. Mike chuckled at the thought of someone crossing her the wrong way, then turning one day to see him. They wouldn't know who he was, or what he was doing. He'd smile widely, and hold up a flaming fist. They'd understand then. He made a vow then, in honor of their friendship, to punish anyone, anyone that hurt his dear Kasiya.

His arms trembled at his sides, and he clutched his stomach as he fell to the ground, heaving up more molten vomit. His body was still adjusting to his newfound ability, and the transition was starting to become a little less pleasant.

"It's a shame...to lie to her though." he said in between coughs. "Fine...ha....haha..."

------

Mitsu wasn't looking so good, not at all. She was holding her head like it was about to fall off. "Migranes?" she asked. "I have got some peels in here, some asprin, if you would like. Z'hey work for me at least." she stood up and walked over to the girl, putting her arm around her for support. "Is it z'he heat? Stress?" As she asked the purple haired girl she found herself unintentionally rubbing her back. "Whatever eet iz, a good night's rest will make you feel better. A lady needs her beauty rest, especially at our age. We want to be knocking away z'he boys with steecks, non?" she felt a little silly playing the nurturing older sister type when tomorrow they would all be invading a crazy cult and burning it to the ground.

Sasha wore a somber, tired look. "How can you possibly hope to fight in your condition? You could really hurt yourself." The last thing Mike wanted was to get his friends in more trouble because he asked them to help, Mitsu especially. Sasha had seen Mike and her together, he was such a gentleman to her. She could tell he cared for her quite a bit. "Now let's get some rest, oui?"

So, with much further ado, Saebum reluctantly let his sister meander off on her own, feeling as if he was doing something fundamentally wrong but torn between one obligation and another. Well, she did say she was alright. And Saebum had felt this sinking sensation that, while patient and smiling, M.A. wanted to be rid of his presence to be on her own, for better or for worse. She was growing up, he supposed; she ought to be allowed to do her own thing, and she really was safe with that hellish canine at her feet. "Call me if you need anything, I'd fly back in a jiffy!" he called back to his sister while on top his Togekiss. M.A., far below, either didn't hear or simply made no sign of her hearing.

So, the Move Tutor was near some place called Hearthome, according to the map she filched from the PokeCenter before sneaking out. Nurse Joy had assumed she would be staying to rest another day or two and had redressed her wounds quite nicely so that they were nearly entirely covered; to not draw curious eyes, M.A. had thrown on a long sleeve shirt and loose fitting jeans even in the heat of the summer. Before she had done that, she had caught some people looking as if she were some exhibit, looking away guiltily or smiling when her gaze met theirs. She hated the latter, the ones who boldly smiled at her benevolently as if they hadn't been ostracizing her; she decided then for good that she had no interest in photographing people if they were going to think one thing and put on a facade of another. Phoniness wasn't beautiful, and she had already determined that she was going to live -- since she definitely was living -- to horde beautiful things and selfishly hold them against her own heart so she didn't have to feel her own mediocrity and conniving ugliness.

With a painkiller or two -- M.A. had also filched these, since they technically /were/ for her anyways, Nurse Joy just didn't know of her intentions to leave -- she didn't really feel the burns or bruises too much and so sat very comfortably upon Tora's back. The Donphan had eagerly offered her back to M.A. when they first set out, having felt guilty for not being there to help out too much in her time of need. Her other Pokemon were here and there, too; she figured it'd be good for them to have some return to normalcy, since Daemyn still snarled and snapped at every stranger who got as little as three feet from M.A. The other two, free-spirited Ulani, now bodily healed, and Diego, who had begun to paint again, didn't seem too affected by the other day's events, but M.A. figured a typical day in the life of a trainer would do them all good regardless.

"Woaaah! Is that an Altaria? I've never seen one around this region! How pretty!" a chick's voice hailed. M.A. turned her head stiffly -- her body might not hurt, but it definitely wasn't feeling too limber all wrapped up as it was -- to see an aqua-haired girl, probably two years her junior, admiring the Humming Pokemon with admiration. At her side, there was something that looked like a dressless Gardevoir and a hot air balloon.

By the virtue of the Drifblim -- as it indeed was a Drifblim -- being female, Diego felt his heart thumping erratically. Look at that helium-inflated mass of beauty! Why, the way she drifted, made his heart bob as if weightless, too.

Ulani, noting Diego's love-struck expression, sucked up plenty of air (as was her habit when she was a Swablu, although she looked less like a Jigglypuff now and more threatening) in mild irritation. Here he was again, falling for every woman he saw! Sure enough, he had begun to paint that dumb floating thing that, save for its blinking here and there, could have been an inanimate object! Jealousy overtaking her, the Altaria Pecked Diego sharply on the head, not heeding the fact that he was still recovering, to which the Smeargle sobbed a bit. (But he shortly continued painting, much to Ulani's exasperation, and it didn't matter to her that he fell out of love with his sources of inspiration once he finished painting them because he /had/ fallen in love in the first place, and he still hadn't -- as far as she knew -- even started to paint her! Not when she was a Swablu, not now!)

"And wowwww, a Houndoom, a Donphan, and a Smeargle! You really don't see those too much in this region here, either. I gather that you're not from Sinnoh, huh? Woah, these guys look tough! You must be a great trainer!"

M.A. hesitated in answering, uncomfortable in the midst of this girl's positive, almost obnoxious energy. She was looking at M.A. without skipping a beat, without calling to attention her odd, frumpy attire or the fact that a third of her face, shadowed by the sunhat Saebum had insisted she wear so that she not scar, was covered up in a band-aid. M.A. permitted her self-consciousness to fuel into great distaste for this girl who haphazardly threw herself before her, prying with her eyes and high-pitched, cloying voice to make M.A. feel self-conscious to begin with. The aqua-haired kid's stupidly smiling face betrayed nothing of what she really was thinking; maybe she was repulsed, maybe not, and maybe she was just stupid. M.A. instinctively hated the girl's assumption that the brunette would entertain her questions, would be cordial or even friendly, just because she was throwing herself upon her with a disarming smile and "niceness." A bit of it reminded her of herself, and how she'd assume everyone had great intentions, before the events of the last couple weeks. Well you know what, flat-chested shortie? She, for one, didn't have good intentions. She would've loved to punch this sickeningly sweet, sunshiny girl in the face. Not that she'd done anything wrong. M.A. just subconsciously figured that it would've felt perfectly lovely, and possibly get her to shut up, too.

"Oh my gawd, would you do me the honor of battling me? Just to see these guys in action?! I don't want to just fill up my Pokedex with things I've seen, I wanna battle all of 'em!"

M.A. thought to herself for a moment. Well, a return to normalcy. "Sure."