Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was like walking through a land of shadows. The moon and stars lit the land ahead of them barely, distorted black blobs of all sizes making up the landscape. And then the lighthouse would sweep its crisp white light across the horizon. The hills, trees, and rocks then appearing like black cardboard cut-outs.

Venerax saw the creature during one of the sweeps. It sat upon a rock ahead of them. At first he thought it was just another part the rock. And then it shifted. It was like a large cat, hunched there upon the rock. Booky hopped from foot to foot nervously still on Venerax's arm. He took another step forward reaching for his pokeballs unsure of what it was.

Its eyes opened sharply at the soft slide of dirt beneath Venerax's shoe. Silver slits that seemed to carry there own light. He stepped back startled. The silver eyes widened and stood abruptly. No, he saw as the light sweeped by again, it floated above the ground where it had been sitting. And then it launched itself at him! Venerax raised his arms to protect himself sending Booky into the air. There was a flash of light...or was it the lighthouse again...and it just seemed to pass through him. Venerax fell back to the ground, the strange pokemon gone. He heart was racing. Hoothoot was frantic.

And something howled from off to the side and his heart froze!

Junko nodded at the man that had battled with alligator Pokemon against Jasmine's iron snake(lolz), as he walked by with a smile. That was some force, she thought adjusting one of her pigtails. She then turned to her old friend who was making her way toward her with some speed. "Hey, Jasmine. How are- Hngh." The purple haired girl couldn't finish her sentence before she was gathered up into a hug by the young Gym Leader. "We were just around, so I figured we could stop by and visit." She answered as the slightly older girl whisked her away to the living quarters behind the gym. Junko looked around the room, it hadn't really changed much since the last time she had been there. "How's Amphy?" she asked picking up a Steelix doll that had caught her attention. She had always thought of Steelix as being rather cute.

Hades followed the young girls happily, still excited about his victory over the Abra and the race. There were a few other cute dolls decorating the room and he floated up close and began to inspect them. One in particular that caught his attention was a little Magnamite. He reached out a ghostly hand and poked it in the eye.

(Sorry for the short post. >>; )

Being the sick and twisted little person that he was, seeing someone being forced to part with the one thing he held dear (being nearly covered in flames was a huge plus, too) painted a proud smile on Milo's face. Not to mention, watching Mazarin be carted off in restraint had a poetic sort of irony to it. Milo let loose another cackle, jagged and devoid of rhythm, preceded by his now trademark high pitched shrill as the helicopter disappeared from view. "Ahh, other's misfortune really do taste of honey. Delicious. Kyeh-hahaha!" Oh, what fun. Too bad it couldn't last just a little longer. He would have liked to play with Maz a bit more, maybe scar that pretty face of his with some third degree burns. He smiled at the thought of the self-appointed lady killer with a nice diagonal scorch mark across his face. That would really attract the ladies. But alas, he was gone. So sad.

The sound of police sirens and frantic yelling filled the air, muffled by the smoke from the now ruined east wing cell. "Well, as much of a blast as this whole endeavor was, I think it's about time we made ourselves scarce." With a flick of his wrist, Milo released Nitro. That flaming tail sticks out like a sore thumb. the boy said with a frown.

Needless to say, the Charizard was quite bewildered at the sight his trainer's ragged appearance. How did he get out...oh boy. He leaned over to see the smoldering wreckage of Mike's old cell. Before he could even formulate a thought on the matter, he felt 'Mike' jump onto his back and demand a hasty retreat.

"Less prying more flying. GO!" Milo kicked his heels into Nitro's sides in annoyance, and without any more hesitation, the two were skyward. Both Nitro and Milo covered their trail with a smokescreen to make sure they weren't followed. When they were far enough away, Milo ordered Nitro to idle for a moment as he thought up another wonderful plan. "Now what?" he said to no one in particular. "I'll probably be on the news for torching that hospital, so Kanto might not be the best place to hang around. I really don't feel like being thrown back in there. They won't be dumb enough to fall for that trick a second time." Milo ran his fingers through his hair, a gesture made difficult by his recent fire bath. The tips were all burnt and stuck together, he bet he looked awful. "So I got carried away. I got hair to spare." He shrugged it off, and went back to his devious planning. "Maybe something to take the edge off all this pent up anger?" Not that Milo felt that was even a problem, he just needed an excuse. "How can I vent and scar someone for life at the same time?" He scratched his chin. His thoughts wandered to a familiar girl. She was slender, not too tall, and had light purple hair that hid under a somewhat dorky helmet. A spark went off in Milo's head. There was a way to do both at once overall. "Hn-hn-hn-hn-hn..." he chuckled, once again kicking Nitro's sides. "You. Take me to Fortree. Now."

What was with Mike all of the sudden? Why was he being so mean to him all of the sudden And what was all this talk about scaring someone for life? His behavior today was so different than usual. The Charizard snorted angrily at his trainer's sudden change in attitude, but nonetheless complied. He turned around, gave his wings a few strong flaps, and took off for Hoenn. Boy, was he tired. Couldn't they just take the train or something?

"Days! Weeks! Months! I tracked it!" The beast continued to rant. But as it did, Venerax got a better look at his monster. The taloned claws turned into thin bony fingers that were spasming in anger. The luminous predatorial eyes into thick round eyeglasses. And its shadowy bulk into a white lab coat and dark dress pants. He was a labboy. Venerax was thankful for the darkness as it hid his utter embarrassment. "Learned its patterns, its habits, its life! Waiting for the one perfect moment to catch, my oh so elusive quarry!"

He turned and pointed accusatorily at Venerax. "And then you! one bumbling fool! Ruined it all!" He stamped his feet in frustration and continued to pace, to rant. "How much more time will I have to dedicate to find another, learns its life, and come back to this perfect moment!"

"Well really wouldn't want to look for another moment like this," Venerax cut-off the labboy's rant and his pacing. "I mean afterall this moment wasn't as perfect as you make it sound. Otherwise it would be in a pokeball and not gone. By the way, what was it exactly?"

"A BUMBLING IDIOTIC FOOL!" The labboy raged to himself. And then to Venerax. "IT WAS AN ABRA!"

"Now that was uncalled for," The born gambler continued to quip with a slight smirk that was hidden in their little silhouette land. "See that's the beauty of luck, it swings both ways. See your moment of bad luck is my good luck. And I am sure it will swing back sometime in your favour again."

"OH! And what pray tell do you beleive is so advantageous about the misfortune you have brought upon me?" He planted his bony fists upon his hips in defiance.

"Well," Venerax was so glad he still had it in him to be so gib with aother person, as he continued with a grin. "You see my foolish bumbling about here is all because I have been lost. So now with your talented aid, I am sure to be gone from the wilds and back into the beauty that is civilization. And therefore far from your hunting grounds." He finished smugly.

"Lost? I think you are lost for good reason, and maybe you should stay so!" The labboy exclaimed. "I think I'll leave you out here in the stoneage, but before I do I think I'll give you a taste of the 21st century!"

"C'mon now, you're just being unreasonable," Venerax sighed exaperatedly, running his hand through his hair.

"PREPARE TO DO BATTLE FOOL!!!" He exclaimed drawing out a pokeball. Obviously he wasn't going to listen to reason.

"If you're going to be so insistent about it," Venerax shrugged. "But your just holding back the door to swing back into your favour."

As the sun began to dip in the oranging sky, Violet City made it's approach. The town was pretty much the way he left it when Kevin strolled in on the main road. Kevin paused for a moment as a bit of unwanted nostalgia punched him in the gut. The same people went about the same routines they had back when the young trainer frequented the quiet community a few years ago. "Whelp, off to the Center then."

As he entered the Pokemon Center, Kevin noticed a few strange looks heading his way but decided to pay them no mind. He walked up to the counter and handed his Pokemon over to the nurse and took his few moments of waiting to zone out for a bit. Had he paid attention, Kevin might have noticed the nurse give him the same puzzled glance that most other people had.

The Center's machine let out a beep, snapping Kevin back to reality. He took his Pokemon back, thanked the nurse and pulled a semi-fancy U-turn back outside. "On to the main event."

"Fang, we're going to Pallet Town."

Those were the words Kasiya uttered once she'd walked a little ways down the street from the Saffron City Pokemon Center and had released her Crobat. After appearing in his usual shower of green and gold sparkles, the large bat had landed at her feet, foregoing his usual three-laps-around-Kasiya tradition, and instead simply allowed his trainer to climb up on his back. The Crobat fluttered his wings a bit made a strange sound that might have been his attempt at purring as the girl got comfortable, and Kasiya smiled weakly, patting his head. "To Pallet Town," she repeated, knowing her Pokemon well enough to know that he'd already forgotten their destination. The Crobat screeched and rose up into the air, his four wings making no noise as he carried his trainer up and away from Saffron City.

The flight was quiet, quick and uneventful, and soon the duo had touched down in Pallet Town. Kasiya quickly recalled the Crobat into his Pokeball before he could start screeching and wake up the entire town, and looked around. She didn't really know why she'd chosen to come here, but here she was. There really wasn't much to see in the dark, and the street lights were few and far in between. Rising up on a hill Kasiya could make out the outline of Professor Oak's laboratory and without really thinking about it she headed in that direction, wondering how Professor Oak was doing. She started up the flagstone steps, smiling wistfully as she remembered the first few days of her journey. The last time she'd been here, Ariel had been a newborn Eevee and her one and only Pokemon, darting up the steps and playing peekaboo from the tall grass framing the walkway. That had been some time ago, when Kasiya had first came here to get her PokeDex from the famous Pokemon researcher.

Once she'd arrived at the top of the stairs she stopped, realizing that it was very late and that no lights were visible from the building at all. Sighing a little Kasiya went up the front steps and crept across the porch, looking over the railing at Pallet Town spreading out before her. The small town was very peaceful and quiet, very strange compared to everything she'd witnessed only hours ago. She pressed the button on Hiro's Pokeball and the Arcanine appeared beside her, also looking very sleepy. The girl had only enough energy to raise her hand and gently pat his nose before she was falling forward into the canine's soft, warm fur, completely out of it. Hiro let out a soft whine and shifted his position so that his trainer slid carefully to the ground where he cradled her with a paw, making sure she was sound asleep before he too put his head down and closed his eyes.