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Kilik entered the housing lodge after another ten minutes of searching for Ilex Forest's exit. Elekid was perched on his shoulder, taking a clue from Flareon. The boy ran a hand through his hair and winced as his eyes adjusted to the bright lights of the lodge. Compared to the forest, this place was blinding. Kilik took a moment to sit down, watching as the guard talked on a phone. The man's back was turned and he seemed a bit anxious at whomever he was conversing with.

"Talk about a forest, huh Elekid?" he laughed.

"Ele!" it replied. Kilik put his backpack between his legs and opened it once more. The white coat that his mother left him was balled up and shoved inside. Taking a hold of what little sleeve poked out of the lump, Kilik removed the coat and gave it a sharp flick, as if cracking a whip. He'd never owned a coat like this before. Well...there was that black trenchcoat I had when I was with the Rockets... he thought. Kilik stood up and told Elekid to stay where he was. Taking his bag with him, the boy headed off into the restroom of the lodge.

As he was the only one there besides the guard, Kilik didn't bother changing in one of the stalls. He pulled his crimson and gold shirt over his head and hung it on the side of one of the sinks. A black shirt now adorned his chest. Nothing special about it; just a plain black shirt. It took him a minute or two to unlace his boots and removed them, along with his gray cargo pants. The pants were now hanging with his shirt. In the blink of an eye, he slipped his blue jeans onto his legs. Finally, Kilik slipped himself into his white coat. It trailed farther down than he thought. The tail of the coat was at the back of his knees. Gathering his old clothes and shoving them into his bag, along with getting his boots on, Kilik walked back out into the lobby. Elekid dashed over and hopped onto his shoulder.

"Ready to go?" he asked. The Pokemon nodded in agreement.

The moment Kilik exited the lodging, a gust kicked up in front of him. He held his arms up to cover his face and he shut his eyes tightly. He blinked when the gust abruptly stopped. He looked around to see if it had been the cause of a Pokemon. Sure enough, a young boy was running past him, trying to keep his Pidgey under control. Kilik laughed softly and remembered when he was at home with his Eevee. The fox would always run around and end up breaking something. That is, until his father would have Marowak step in and literally knock some sense into the Pokemon.

"Well, there's the Azelea Gym," Kilik said. It was simple to spot from where he was standing. It was the tallest building in the quiet little town and, from over the tops of a bunch of smaller homes, it stuck out like a sore thumb. Kilik placed his hands into the pockets of his jeans and walked down the path leading to the Pokemon Center. "Elekid, you need a bit of a rest after fighting that HootHoot. Plus," he laughed, "I'm sure that Lombre and the others are dead tired, too."

Upon entering the Pokemon Center, he let out a slight yawn then looked at the clock. He was only in the forest for an hour! Seemed a lot longer when he was stuck, though. Kilik lifted up Elekid's Pokeball and recalled him into it, then handed the Nurse his tray of Pokeballs. He then noticed something: Not only was Scizor special to him in that it was a different color, but it was also the only non-Pokeball he carried with him. He laughed a bit. "And I caught her right here in Johto, too." Kilik walked over to the couch, took a seat and waited for his Pokemon to return to full health.

The aforementioned space Mike had noticed on his way to the cavern made for beautiful evening surroundings. Unlike the cave, which was damp and eerie, outer Kanto was warm, with the occasional breeze cooling him and Xanthos. He looked at his gloves, which still sputtered the occasional puff of smoke. "I wonder what came over me." He said to himself. "I've rarely ever that mad." His thoughts drifted back to that obnoxious brat, who acted all high and mighty for someone so young as her. "I'm just glad I don't have to see her again for a long time."

All the while, Xanthos was just taking in the night and the darkness that surrounded him.

Mike looked down at his Pokemon, his constant silence always left the boy wondering. "If only I knew what went on in that head of yours."

The Crawduant said nothing, nor gave any impression he even heard or cared what his trainer said.

After a good ten minutes of walking in silence they reached the Pokemon Center. Mike handed Beacon and Napalm's Pokeballs to Nurse Joy, thanking her for her future service. Flicking his hair out from his eyes, the trainer walked outside, beckoning for Xanthos to follow. Once outside, Mike unclipped a Pokeball and released Felsic. "Alright Xanthos, I'll give you and Felsic one training match before we go to bed. Sound like a deal?"

The dark Pokemon's mouth foamed over, which Mike took as approval. He pointed a few dozen meters, away from the houses and soon to be sleeping citizens. As they reached their 'stage' Mike spoke. "Obviously Xanthos has the advantage here, no offense Felsic." The Quilava snorted, he thought different. "That is why I want you to focus more on defense than offense little buddy. Use your speed. You however Xanthos, go all out. Test the new moves I've given you."

The two Pokemon took their positions, Felsic determined not to get shown up once again by the oversized crayfish.

I know that I want to go into the Safari Zone, Nina thought, as she arrived in Fuschia City. I've never been to one before, but it sounds like so much fun...

The psychic approached the Safari Zone's gate, and noticed several Pokemon in pens nearby. She grinned as she noticed a Chansey, and ran to the pen to look at her. "Aw!" the girl exclaimed, "Anna, she reminds me of Angel..." Nina recalled her own Chansey that she had used scarcely in the past for battling, and had the Pokemon as more of a nurse than a fighter. Turning her head, another Pokemon caught her eye-- a Lapras. She grinned and made her way over to his cage, before looking down to her belt at Aphrodite's Pokeball. "She'd love to meet him," Nina said to Anna, who replied with a little nod. "Yeah. Didn't Aphrodite say that aside from her family, she had never seen another Lapras before?

"Yeah," Nina said softly, as she read a sign in front of the Lapras' cage, which told a little background information about the species. "When I'm done in the Safari Zone, I'll be sure to show Aphrodite." She made her way to the Zone's gate, and walked inside.

Mag moved out of the Pokemon Center and to the edge of town. As he drew near he noticed a new obstacle. The southern edge of Cerulean had a large barrier preventing the wild pokemon on the route below from getting in. Mag noted a break in the wall where a tree had grown up. It seemed that he remembered once hearing about a pokemon move that could get rid of it but he didn't have it.

"So I see you finally got yourself a pokemon. I know how jealous you always were about Shino." Z said smirking deviously. Shino chirped from his spot on Z's shoulder. "Whatever. Since my father is an archaeologist he ressurected a rare omanyte for me. Much better then a common nincada." Mica retaliated not letting Z control his emotions. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. As a trainer you should know that talent and skill is what is important than rarity. The skill of my Shino is far from common." Z said keeping a cool front even though he was quite angry that Mica had called Shino common. "I say we test that theory. In a pokemon battle." Mica said smirking in a slightly sinister fashion. "Sure. My shino versus your Helix or whatever you called it." Z said his smirk evolving into an evil smile as Shino jumped off of his shoulder. "Um hi." Angie said quietly feeling akward watching the two boys fight without even really being noticed. "Angie you be the ref. We don't want him cheating like usual." Mica said looking over his shoulder at Angie. "Just because I am better than you does not mean I cheat. My god man grow some humility." Z said trying not to yell.

"How are you feeling?" Kasiya asked quietly, stepping into the room and closing the door behind her. Flash followed along obediently; he sensed something different about her this time.

"I've had better days," Surge said honestly, sighing and leaning back in his bed. He closed his eyes and sighed, and was silent for a few seconds before he looked back at his daughter, a guilt-stricken expression in his eyes.

"So, are you finished moping yet?" Kasiya asked suddenly, tilting her head and looking right into Surge's eyes. "Are you going to tell me what happened, or am I gonna have to go out and find myself a psychic Pokemon in order to read your mind?" At the mention of 'psychic Pokemon', both Surge and Flash winced a little, the latter put his head down on his paws and whimpered.

"...no. I'll tell you," he sighed, looking away from her. "In this world, there is something known as the Three Relics. One for Kanto, one for Johto, and one for Hoenn. For the longest time, the existence of these relics was thought to be a legend."

Kasiya nodded, suddenly knowing exactly what he was going to say.

"Several years ago, we discovered that Kanto's relic was hidden right here, in Vermilion City. Or rather, near it, in a forgotten ruin in Diglett's Cave. City Council resolved to keep the finding of the relic a secret, that way it wouldn't fall into the wrong hands."

"But somebody found out about the Relic, and came to Diglett's Cave. You tried to stop them, but were unable to." Kasiya chose her words carefully, as not to upset her father. "Whoever it was took Kanto's Relic, and hurt you. Am I right?" the girl asked.

"Yeah," Surge nodded, somehow not surprised that she had guessed. "As Vermilion City's Gym Leader, I took pride in guarding the relic. I failed. I failed the whole town."

"No," Kasiya said gently, reaching out and putting her hand on his. "Dad, since I've been out on my own, I've learned a thing or two about the world we live in. I've seen the evil that lurks in the shadows, putting doubt in peoples' minds. Those who took the Relic from the cave must have had power if they could have got past you. Power that didn't come from anything good."

"Heh," was all Surge could utter. He was silent for a moment before he looked at Kasiya again. "Look Kassie, I know in the past me an' your mom haven't been fully honest with you. A long time ago, before you were born, I done some terrible things. Unspeakable things. You see, I worked for Giovanni, leader of Team Rocket." He paused, thinking of how to transfer his thoughts into words. "I already know that you are aware of your sister, and who she is. I didn't really want to tell you this, but it was her who took the Relic. Your sister, Mai, did this to Flash 'an me." He held up his other hand just then, a silver lightning-shaped pendant dangled from a broken, silver chain.