Welcome to Gaia! ::

Magnolia turned her head in the direction of Shina, who proclaimed that the caravan were now heading out towards the Rinaul Mountains. "Is that..." she muttered to herself in thought, flipping open the flap of her messenger bag and pulling out a map; Altais hastily pulling the carrier closed with a glare after she did so. Unfolding the squared parchment to its full display, the lavender haired girl looked over the illustration of the region and located the range with her eyes.

"Well?" Altais questioned to her in thought.

"It's in the direction we're going," she replied. "So we can keep traveling with them."

"Well, that's just great," the wishmaker said. "Now start walking. They'll be gone by the time you're done thinking!"

"Hmmph," Magnolia harrumphed as she placed the map back in her bag."You're such a pain in the neck."

Fixing the strap on her bag, Magnolia prepared to set out on foot with the others, but noticed most were hitching themselves and their belongings on bikes and Pokemon before following Shina. She blinked to herself.

"Oh my," she breathed. "Well, isn't this a problem..."

"What? Altais demanded to know.

"They're all using a form of transportation," she replied. "I thought we were going to walk there, but..."

"Arceus, you're so stupid," the Jirachi huffed. "Did you think your twiggy little human legs could take you the entire way to the Kesfas Mountains? Hah! Your legs would be reduced to stumps by the time you get there!"

"Hey!" Magnolia shouted at her bag, but quieted, realizing her rise of voice may attract surprise and wonder. "I've walked this far, I'm sure I can walk the entire way..."

Though the fourteen year old wasn't sure how she'd fair keeping up with the others. Her savior came in the form of a Pokeball pop and a figure materializing beside her. After the white cleared, Magnolia realized it was her Kangaskhan.

"Theta?" she blinked as she was gently lifted off the ground. "What are you doing?"

She was fitted into the Parent Pokemon's pouch next to her little brother, Zeta. Theta smiled down to the two, patting her trainer's head as if saying she was the perfect fit.

"Huh?" the girl blinked again. "Theta, I don't understand..."

"Kanga!" she pipped up, taking a step forward. "Kangaskhan!"

"I still don't-"

"Idiot!" Altais rebuked. "She's offering to carry you instead! Arceus!"

"O-Oh. Theta, you don't have to do this," Magnolia tried to reason. "I'm just fine-"

"Kangaskhan!" Theta cut her off, folding her arms across her bosom. "Kanga, kangaskhan." She wouldn't take no for an answer.

The girl sighed. "Fine," she agreed reluctantly. "You can take me." Though Magnolia didn't want to admit it, she was content with the idea of having Theta carry her instead. She could conserve her strength until she had to do something and, most of all, Theta's pouch was quite comfy. Cuddling up with Zeta, the girl waited for the caravan to start moving.

While they were stopped in Moterossa, Anise has also considered getting a saddle for Gypsy, but the Zebstrika was resistant to the idea. Anise didn't want to push the issue, since she could ride fine bareback, but the storage space provided by saddlebags would be very useful. Eventually Gypsy agreed to a bare minimum saddle, little more than a cloth-and-leather pad belted on, with a set of saddlebags that clipped behind it, and no reins or bridle whatsoever. Anise transferred some of her food and supplies there, bought some more nonperishable foods for when they reached the frozen north, and left space in her messenger bag for more medicinal plants. They would be hard to find up north, too.

She was all packed and ready to go when Shina set out, so she fell in with the caravan and rode out of town.

Cambria smiled a bit as the caravan began moving again. It was slow, but people were packing up and getting ready to move. She finished up the small breakfast she'd made from the supplies she'd just replenished in the city and helped Tesla into the little doll's backpack she'd brought with her from home. It didn't hold much, but it made Tesla feel like she was helping so Cambria let her carry a little bit of food and the map her father had given her. Next, she set Tesla in the front basket of her bike and pulled her own larger backpack on.

A few moments later and she was on the move, slowly picking her way through the crowd and looking around at all the pokemon that were out. She'd seen so many so far, but hadn't had a lot of chances to interact with any of them. Maybe this would be a good time to make a new friend or two, both for herself and Tesla. She spied a trainer fitting her Blitzle with a saddle and grinned, making her way closer. Electric types were her favorites and now was her chance to meet a new one!

She braked and eased to a stop as she came closer, hoping that she didn't startle the other girl. "Hiya! I hope I'm not bothering you, but I thought I'd introduce myself. I saw your Blitzle and couldn't help it!" She giggled a little. "I'm Cambria, and this is Tesla, my Pachirisu," she said and smiled brightly. "Paaachi!" Tesla added happily.

(going with Cambria was always part of the caravan, but is just now meeting Keria x3 Yay new friends!)

Cambria beamed at the other girl, happy that she seemed nice. "I like any kind of pokemon, really, but electric types are my favorites!" Really, she could ramble on for days about the different electric pokemon and which ones were her favorites and why. In fact, she had done exactly that before she came on the caravan. Her younger siblings adored Tesla, and loved when Cambria told them all about the different types she wanted to meet. "Houdini, huh?" she giggled a little. "He's beautiful. I love his markings! How'd you meet him?" she wondered curiously.

Tesla squeaked a bit at the sniff from the larger pokemon, but for once she didn't shy away, as curious about the other as her trainer was.

Page huffed with excitement and shouldered the large camping pack her parents had given her for the occasion. They'd heard a caravan of explorers would be passing through their home and Page had begged to be allowed to go on her first pokemon journey. She'd been a trainer technically for some time now, having been gifted Ivory from her mother's own breeding line. She had never actually traveled far from their home though.

The pack was large, and quite likely overstuffed as Page had tried to come up with every possible scenario they could encounter and prepare accordingly. A lack of experience showed though. She had more clothes than she could possibly need, a battery powered flashlight, a emergency first aid kit filled with bandaids, far too many granola bars, a pup tent, extra sleeping bag, florescent tape to stick on everything, and an arm decorated in colorful paracord bracelets. Not to mention her imagination had come up with a hundred outlandish ways they could use things for uses they weren't intended to be used for.

At least she did have a bike. The front was modified with a large basket where currently, her buizel rested on one of the blankets, nose twitching with excitement at the crowd of strangers around them. "Coming! I'm coming!" She chirped, staggering as she mounted the bike with her large pack. She checked the buckle on her helmet, kicked up the stand and grunted as she peddled hard to match pace with the leaving group.

"Too bad I can't ride you Ivory!" Page grinned as she saw a young boy perched on his Rampardos's shoulders.

The buizel just stuck her tongue out at her trainer. "Buiiiiii" She made an unpleasant noise.

Joey noticed a brightly-dressed person he didn't remember seeing before. Being a friendly kid, he waved at her. "Hi there!"

"His name is Starlily!" Joey said. "And I'm Joey!" Lily Rose ran back over and barked. "And that's Lily Rose! What's your name?"