Welcome to Gaia! ::

"How frustrating," Flannery sighed, knowing just how Keegan felt. Before her Camerupt had evolved, it had been a terribly lazy Numel, with no regard for battle or doing anything but lazing about. That had changed, though, when it had finally evolved and become a real powerhouse.

"Well Torkoal, might as well keep playing it safe, eh?" the redhead smiled, scratching her chin. "Use Curse again!" The small tortoise repeated its previous actions, once again boosting its attack and defensive power at the cost of its speed. It was a good thing neither of the two Pokemon on the battlefield were known for their speed.

"This is useless," Kasiya muttered, shaking her head sadly. "How is Keegan supposed to win this when his Pokemon won't even listen to him?" She did have to admit though, it was kind of funny to watch him yell at her, and she had to stifle a giggle as he then threw a rock at the Golem. Levi tilted her head in confusion, unsure as to why the big Pokemon wasn't participating in the battle. She wasn't afraid of the Torkoal, surely Tierra wasn't, was she? The young Pokemon jumped up and down, shouting at the Golem in their own Pokemonic language. If humans could have understood, it would have translated to something like 'Wake up, you big lummox, and fight back! What, are you afraid of that little fire turtle? Get in there and fight, you big wussy!'

"Slateport, the first. We've got tomorrow then it's here," Kilik scratched his head, using a little bit of conditioner to make his hair light and bouncy. "I'm interested in what this Rowan has to say. I've never heard of him," though he did read a lot when he was younger, nothing on Rowan ever popped up. When he closed his eyes, he imagined a very intimidating Professor. Not like Oak, who had a very welcoming face, but a very scary version of Blaine. With a briefcase -- loaded with bricks. A chill ran down his spine. The name alone seemed stronger than 'Oak', 'Elm' or 'Birch'.

"I wouldn't have expected it," Kilik laughed, shutting the water off, "She looks more cute than tough. A lot more cute than tough." He snaked his arm over the stall door and grabbed the towel, rubbing his head and body before wrapping it around his waist and stepping out of the stall. Steam billowed out behind him. The cool bathroom felt nice against his chest and the exposed part of his legs. "I can feel a good night's sleep coming on..." he yawned.

"Well, I'm glad to hear you're going." Mike spun the shower nozzle, bringing the shower to an end. After abusing his hair with a towel and combing it in place with his fingers, the boy realized something. "You know, it just dawned on me. I never got a Pokedex." He was getting sick of always having to wait until he made it to a town or city to look up stuff. Because by then he already forgot what it was he was looking up. "We'll have to meet up there." He rolled his waist in the damp towel and stepped out of the stall, nearly slipping on the small puddle of water.

"Trés adorable." said the boy in response to Kilik's comment. "Here you go." The clothes were finished washing and drying. Huh, either this is like, quantum technology or we took wicked long showers. Mike sifted through the clothes, finding it remarkable easy to differentiate between the two boy's apparel, just look for anything red or on fire. After a quick changing he was back in his normal clothes again, feeling all fresh and clean. He stuffed the Magma outfit into his backpack, hoping he'd not have to put it on in a long time. It was a shame, he really liked it.

"Well, I'm heading to bed. 'night." Thankfully Mike's Pokemon were all healed. He snatched 'em up and clipped them to his backpack. Ah, all is right again. With a happy sigh the boy made his way into the guest room. The lights were dim, almost romantically so. He jumped on the middle of the three beds and placed his backpack softly on the ground, making himself comfortable. After a few minutes of relaxing Sasha entered the room, dressed in actual pajamas. They were pink (surprise). Mike couldn't help but notice how cute she looked in them. At least Kilik has good tastes in chicks. He chuckled to himself.

"What're you laughing at?" She asked defensively, blushing slightly. She tucked all her stuff under the rightmost bed and crawled in, pulling up all te covers.

"Nothin' don't worry about it." He smiled, then leaned over to face his friend. "I'm glad you're alright Sasha." With a yawn he closed his eyes, clutching his pillow tight.

Her heart fluttered. She still couldn't believe that all this happened in just one day's time. "Me too Mike..." she trailed off, the warmth of the Pokemon Center beds beginning o get the best of her. "Thank you."

A tall and impressive looking young man walked across the rocky rim of a mighty volcano. His black cape danced erratically as he stood alongside the edge. Running a finger through his dark hair, the man stared down into the molten core. "This awesome force is mine to command!" He thrust his arms up, the magma rumbling beneath him. "I am the mightiest Fire Pokemon trainer in the world! Nothing can stand up to our intensity, our ferocity, our passion!" A proud and manic laughter could be heard as flames shot up from all sides, surrounding the man. The fire licked his face, his scarf flying off as the cyclone of fire roared around him. Surrounding him were many large and dark silhouettes, all with flaming red eyes. "My friends, we shall show the world the unstoppable power we posses!" He opened his eyes, the fire instantly disbanding. His eyes were green; piercing, but not frightening. A devious smile rose from the man. "My name is Maikeru Kyoka, and I am the most powerful Pokemon trainer alive! Ahahahaha!" With a terrible and deafening explosion the volcano erupted, and the sound of his near psychotic laughter became more distant, before fading off completely.

Mike arose from his bed in a cold sweat, his eyes wide. He gasped for air, coughing intensely. He looked around frantically to confirm where he was. It was the Pokemon Center in Lilycove. With a heavy sigh the boy regained a somewhat calm composure. "What was that?" He clutched his head, hoping he didn't wake his two friends. Sasha and Kilik appeared to still be sleeping, that was good. He let out a short chuckle. "Was that supposed to be me?" He looked so...fantastic, imposing, prideful. "I certainly hope so, that was awesome!" He threw his covers off and grabbed his backpack. "8:34. Not bad." He snapped his PokeNav shut and walked into the lobby. Nurse Joy was sitting behind the counter as usual and greeted the boy with a friendly wave and a smile.

Mike got himself a roast beef sandwich and a soda and bought a few packets of Pokemon food for the road in case they got hungry along the way. One of the many things he loved about the Pokemon Centers was they fed your Pokemon as well as providing medical support. He sat at one of the tables by the couch, he was looking forward to devouring this sandwich.

"Yeah," replied the boy as he fixed his hair. No matter what he could never get it to look right in the morning. It was just all sorts of poof. "Odd dream though." Mike had already eaten his sandwich and was now slowly enjoying his soda. He didn't care if it was early in the morning, he loved carbonated drinks at any time. "In about a minute I'm gonna head out to the store, then go to Route 121 to train Napalm." He burped, then punched his chest. "Whew, that one felt good."

Miharu and Lily wandered around Goldenrod City for a good fourty minutes before heading back to the Pokemon Center, and the small girl wasn't suprised to see that the place wasn't any less busy than it was before. However, her Pokemon were ready by this point and she wasted no time in reclaiming them, happy to have her troupe back with her once again. The walk itself had been uneventful, but the day was beautiful and the city was too, although Miharu couldn't wait to see it all lit up at night. However, there was only one other thing on her mind other than seeing the city at night, and that was issuing her challenge to Whitney.

With all six Pokemon fully healed and set safely in her belt, Miharu left the Pokemon Center and headed towards the Goldenrod City gym, her mouth set in a tight line as she walked. Even if she couldn't challenge the gym leader today, she would let her presence be known, even if that meant battling with some of Whitney's underlings. She reached the gym in record time, and looked up at the doors leading inside. She took a deep breath and pushed them open, unsure of what to expect as she entered the gym.

The Smog Daemyn released was surprisingly somewhat dense, even though it wasn't a Smokescreen. He must have put quite a bit of air and effort into it... It surprised the Masquerain that he couldn't hear the Houndour breathing hard at all. His sense of hearing wasn't poor, that was for sure. He couldn't smell with all the poison floating about. And he couldn't see too well either, what with it being dark and this poisonous haze... Masquerain technically had tiny eyes, despite the huge fake eyes its antennae portrayed.

"Unfortunately, that won't work with Jin here; whip that stuff away," Michael said just moments after his sister issued the attack. Jin wouldn't be poisoned easily, but he wasn't about to take any chances and ruin their night here -- he didn't have any Antidotes with him. Flapping his winds carefully, he created a silvery current that whipped the purple smoke away, careful to direct it away from the humans.

With the haze cleared, the Masquerain was surprised to see that nothing was around him at all. There was no trace of Daemyn at all.

To his front, Mary-Anne smiled and nodded.

By the time he heard the light push of feet behind him, it was a just a second too late to react; Daemyn had leaped into the air behind him, smacking hard into the back of the bug and simultaneously biting down ferociously on his head. Jin screeched and came crashing down to the ground. That hurt! Little pesk! The surprise of even being hit paralyzed the Bug-type momentarily.

Daemyn didn't let go and quickly rolled over to pin the Masquerain to the ground. The Bug-type sighed, lying there; this was a stunning development, really. He didn't know that pup was capable of that. It looked like Daemyn's younger years of hunting with his pack had ingrained certain survival skills in him; there was no other way to explain his talent with stealthy stalking. "Looks like we both underestimated you two," Michael chuckled. "That's enough. I'm content."

Daemyn looked up confusedly at the young man, although the heat of battle and determination hadn't left his eyes yet. Michael grinned. This canine here was prideful, there was no doubt, but it would serve for the better so long as they didn't do anything too reckless. "C'mon Jin, get up already, you lazy bum."

So quickly that Daemyn's eyes could not even detect the movement, the Masquerain was no longer under his feet. He toppled over from the sudden change. Copies of Jin spun about for just a second, dizzying him with his speed before recombining into the original. The Masquerain looked down from his comfortable position smugly; his gaze seemed to say, 'you're far from beating me!'. It felt good to fight a little again, though. "Not too bad, that Double Team. We'll train some more, hmm? You wouldn't mind competing again, would you?" The Bug-type purred, if that's even possible, before resting on Michael's shoulder.

He strode over to Mary-Anne next, scooping up a loudly-protesting Daemyn in his strong arms on the way. "He's gotten heavy! But yeah, I'm reassured now; you'll be okay out there, especially if the other two behind you are anything like this mutt." M.A. smiled in response. "Told you so," she said.

There was nothing to worry about after all. They weren't too strong yet, but they were growing still and they had the right spirit. That was good enough for now. Sure, she had a way of stumbling into trouble wherever she went, but it wasn't life wasn't one of those movies were whatever bad could possibly happen happens.