Welcome to Gaia! ::

Sabrina smiled as the Indigo Plateau came into view. "Wow... it's been forever since I've been here. Heh. It feels like this place is just a dream, a place I can only go to in my mind. It's so surreal to see it again." She continued to beam as they touched down at the entrance, Whitney recalling her Pokemon. "So. Are you ready to lessen those psychic waves of yours? Are you okay with your old associates seeing you again?" She grinned. "Yeah, Whitney," the elder girl replied, "I think I'm ready. I'm ready to start coming back into the open. I can't do it completely yet, because I still need to figure out a plan of attack on Maorde and potentially Phoenix as well. I feel that when he's out of the way, then I'll be able to come out entirely. But if he's out there, I know that I'm not safe... agh. You know what, we can't worry about him right now. We have other matters to attend to." And without further ado, the girls walked inside, where they were greeted by an incredulous Lance.

"Oh my god!" he exclaimed, running toward Sabrina, embracing her in an all-too-tight hug. "Sabrina, I can't believe that you're really okay! I can't believe you're here!" He was on the verge of tears as Sabrina smiled. "It's okay, Lance. It's good to know that I've been missed, and I want you to know that I could apologize a thousand times and still not even come close to expressing just how sorry I am for what not only you, but every other Member and Gym Leader must have gone through, especially in this region. But, I'm back now, and everything's gonna be alright. Okay?" He nodded, not saying a thing as he pulled away from her. He cleared his throat. "Uhm--ahem-- Nina's over in the dormitory. I won't accompany you, because I know that you all will want to have some time to yourselves, to catch up, and... well, probably calm the poor girl down. She's been a wreck ever since she was admitted here, and I'm sure that once you explain everything to her, it'll make a world of difference." He indicated toward the dormitory, and Sabrina smiled, thanking him. She and Whitney headed down the hallway, passing by a few doors, stopping at one on their left. "Well, this is it... Are you ready?" Whitney asked, anticipation building up inside of her. "Yeah, Whit. I am." She raised her hand toward the door, about ready to knock on it.

And then she changed her mind.

With all of her physical force, Sabrina raised her leg and kicked the door in, walking in the room and laughing. "JUST KIDDING!" she hollered, giggling madly, as a mentally unstable Nina screamed and cursed, running into a corner of the room, nearly suffering a heart attack in the process.

Whitney stood at the door, her eyes the size of saucers, horrified at what Sabrina had just done. Something tells me we could have approached this in a much better fashion, she thought.

The poke ball shook and rolled violently for a few seconds and Eraku thought the ball was surely going to break and the running would soon begin again. But to his surprise the shaking became less and less powerful and finally it stopped all together and then the ball made a locking sound. "I did it?" He said not quite sure of what happened. "I mean yeah I did it! Alright I just caught me a Scyther!" He picked up the poke ball and noticed how warm it felt to the touch. "Man I can't wait to tell Hurricane about this." He looked down at his watch noticed that it was beginning to get late. "I guess I probably should get going."

He began to make his way out of the woods he had set up in and walked back through the great fields and took in the sights once again. He saw dozens of Pokémon moving about in the fields. None seemed to want to come too close to him and he was just fine with admiring from afar. He made a mental note that he should come back here someday. After a half hour the sun was just beginning to sink beneath the horizon he had finally made it back to the gate to the park. He walked through and went up to the counter to claim the things he had left behind with the lady at the desk. She stared at him strangely and finally said.

"You run into some trouble in there. You look like a wreck." Eraku turned around and caught a refection of himself in a window and noticed he was covered in small cuts and bruises and all sorts of mud and twigs were covering him. He laughed and looked at the receptionist.

"No I'm just fine. Just had a little run in with a scyther. But I managed to come out on top somehow." He said with a grin.

"Ok son. You should go over to the pokemon center and clean up and rest. Hope you come back again soon." She said still looking at him weirdly.

Eraku left the Safari Zone and made his way back to the Pokémon Center by the time he had reached it the street lamps were just beginning to flicker on in town. He walked in and the nurse behind the counter looked over and said “You were the boy with the pidgey right? He is doing just fine you can come get him when you're ready." She said with a smile.

Eraku walked over to the counter and behind it was a cheerful Hurricane hopping around and chirping at the sight of his trainer. He fluttered up and landed on Eraku's shoulder and rubbed his face against his friends. "Good to see you too buddy." Eraku said rubbing the back of Hurricane's head. "Oh by the way Nurse did a package happen to arrive while I was gone it should be from Cinnabar?"

The nurse bent beneath the counter and came back up with a small package that was no bigger than a small book. "This came a little while after you left. It says it’s from Blaine the gym leader in Cinnabar." The nurse said reading the label on the package. She handed it to Eraku and he went over to the hostel inside the Pokémon center where trainers could spend the night. After cleaning up he sat down on a bed and picked up the package and unwrapped it. Inside was a small red device that looked sort of like a mix between and cell phone and a PDA. On the front of the device was a small note saying:
Eraku,
This is a pokedex. It'll help you out figuring out what Pokémon are and what they can do. I know this will help you out. Though when I was your age I had no such thing we carried books. Enjoy
-Blaine

"hmm a pokedex eh wonder how it works?" He said opening it up and turning it on. The screen came to life and immediately noticing the pidgey in close proximity began to read off a description of Hurricane. "This is cool. I'll have to thank him next time I talk to him. Ohh Hurricane I forgot to show you I caught us a new buddy. I was thinking of names and for some reason Vlad just seems to stick, but here he is." He said dropping the Safari ball on the ground and out came the Scyther who earlier had been chasing Eraku all over.

Things were happening so fast that Kasiya didn't know what to make of it all. One moment, she was recalling Ariel and Ada (who'd hopped back to her side after aiding Cable and Napalm) and then the next it was like Mike was choking her. At some point she saw that Mai was there as well but for once her half-sister's presence didn't unnerve her. She tried to cry out but he'd let go soon after, and was suddenly he was rushing at Giovanni with murderous intent. "No, Mike! Please!" she screamed, fully intent on running after him, but she felt strong arms grab her from behind and pull her back. "No! Let me go!" she shrieked, flailing wildly to try and free herself, but then she heard Keegan's voice and she realized it was him holding her back. "No..." she sobbed, turning her face into the redhead's chest. "Don't hurt him... please..." her voice was muffled against Keegan and she flinched with each blow that was landed, even though she couldn't see it.

Keegan loosened his grip on her enough to turn towards Giovanni, her eyes burning with hate. "No! You're lying!" she shouted at the Rocket Boss, her cheeks streaming with tears. "You're lying... Mike would never... Mike... he's my friend... you're lying..." With each word Giovanni uttered she once again felt Keegan's grip tightening on her, quickly to the point where he was hurting her. She struggled against him again, whimpering incoherently as she tried desperately not to let Giovanni's words sink in. It couldn't be true. It just couldn't. Mike was one of the most kind-hearted, selfless people she knew. There was no way he could have been capable of something so... heinous. A surge of anger welled up in her veins and when she felt Keegan relinquish his hold on her she smashed her elbow backwards into his ribs and darted forward, throwing herself on the ground next to Mike as though her very presence would protect him from Giovanni's words.

Mai merely watched Mike's breakdown with a sadistic smile, her arms folded neatly across her chest. Her eyes moved swiftly from child to child, unable to express just how good it felt to watch each kid break. We're just getting started, she thought, laughing coldly even as Kasiya rushed to her friend's side. Her gaze then turned towards the redhead nearby and she shook her head. Just as I expected. I knew she'd stick up for Kyoka, I just knew it.

=-=-=-=-=

Jaeshan watched Keegan walk away and he sighed, sticking his hands in his pockets. Maybe he'd been wrong about the pairing of Keegan and Kasiya. That good side of him, right there, he thought, starting to walk as well, Butterfree flying along with him. I guess he really does love her, and she him. How about that. He wore a funny little smile as he walked, not really heading in any particular direction. He'd wanted to go towards the group and help, but the battles seemed to have stopped and other than having some strong Pokemon of his own, he didn't know how he could. He walked for some time, somehow making his way to the beach after a while. There was a cool breeze and the stars were reflecting in the ocean, and just like that Jaeshan remembered that his hotel was somewhere nearby. He could see it from the beach and he sighed, knowing it was still somewhat early, but not at all caring. All he wanted to do was get back to his room and lie down, and pretend like that whole seminar never happened.

Though once he was back in his hotel room, he felt wide awake, and suddenly very much like going for a swim. It seemed kind of redundant but the hotel (being as fancy as it was and stuff) did have an indoor (and heated) swimming pool, and Jaeshan donned his swim trunks for the second time that day, grabbed a towel and headed downstairs.

Well, well, M.A. thought, light-headed and not entirely attached to the gravity of reality. Mike and Kilik, they seemed like such nice guys. She remembered distantly Mt. Chimney erupting that one day so long ago; the whole of Fallarbor had to evacuate as breathing became near impossible with the downpour of ash. She heard little snippets about Groudon and how the lava stopped just short of eating sleepy little Fallarbor Town, but her father and mother had done their very best to keep the grittier details from their impressionable daughter. She need not think too deeply of the uncontainable mass destruction, the piles of bodies that stretched on and on.

They weren't as protective of independent Saebum, however, and he knew the extent of the horrors of that time. He looked with disgust and animosity toward the man who supposedly triggered the mass murder, that disaster. How could he do such a thing?

That was it. He was getting his sister and her goddamn stubborn dog out of this spat between two parties of villains. The chaos had subsided, and everyone who had regained their stolen Pokemon had regained it by now, or tough luck; all the Grunts had retreated. In the distance, he could vaguely make out the sound of sirens and barks; about time law enforcement reared its head around these parts. All he had seen during the chaos was ambulances and what not.

"Let's go get both of you patched up," he said, more gruffly now. Like his parents, he wanted to shield the girl from the ugly sight of the bloody brown-haired guy. Straight out of a bad horror movie, that one was. M.A., however, witnessed it with wide eyes; how awful the scene was. The pain and misery was almost tangible. Yeah, okay, she could stop watching this movie now; just turn off the TV, right. "Okay," she said, climbing into her brother's arms and giggling lightly like a little girl. Daemyn growled again, teeth baring, but Saebum quickly returned the dog before it went rabid. "You two are impossible," he sighed. To which M.A. only smiled and stated her intention to go to sleep, which she promptly did, a content little smirk on her face, unperturbed by her head throbbing. Would it be okay for her to go out on an adventure on her own like this? She was so, so carefree and naive. Especially when she didn't have enough oxygen goin' to her noggin.

The PokeCenter was once again understaffed for the influx of trainers seeking help, but Saebum forced his way through. "A little transfusion and some stitches for the Houndoom," he demanded of the Nurse, who nodded with the nonchalant gaze of someone who had witnessed too many injuries in her career. Saebum, having done this all before (when his sister had somehow ripped a vein by tripping), was too relatively calm, albeit slightly pissed off at the whole turn of events. He'd have to give up some of the good ol' O stuff too, and did he hate needles.