Welcome to Gaia! ::

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The sound of twigs breaking and leaves cracking could be heard behind Naano, and she quickly spun around. With her dagger pointed towards the noise she called out "Who's there?". Annoyance riddled her mind. Here she was, trying to sort her emotions and someone had to go ahead and bother her.
"Espeon, esp espee" ("Weak, pitiful human!") Eva said as she crept out of the shadows. "Eva?" Naano placed a hand out towards the Espeon. Seeing her chance, Eva put on a look of guilt and remorse, able to get near the girl. As her Pokemon rubbed her head against Naano's hand she enveloped the Pokemon in her arms. "I'm so sorry." she whispered "I did have faith in you. I do have faith in you...". Thinking that everything was alright, Naano was shocked when Eva wrestled her way out of the girl's arms and scratched her across the face, leaving three sharp edges lines dripping with blood down her cheek. "What?". The Espeon prepared herself for another attack, only to have Shadow stand between them.
He had escaped from his pokeball when he heard her voice. "Umbreon, umbreon umbree. Breon umbreon." ("Calm down Eva and leave her be. Come now, just relax"). Eva looked at him in anger "Espeon! Espee esp espeon peon espee esp!" ("Don't be stupid! She's weak and knows nothing now come on let's leave while we have the chance!").
Shadow looked at her saddened. "Umbreon...umbree?" ("What.....happened to you?") He took a step towards her "Umbree breon umbreon umbree ubmree umbreon. Umbreon umbree!"("You were so happy and full of life. You love Naano!") Eva scoffed at him. "Espeon espee esp esp! Peon espeon espee peon esp!" ("It was her fault! Everything's her fault!"). The umbreon shook his head at her "Umbreon umbree umbreon umbreon breon umbree" ("No, you're not in your right state of mind.")
"Eva please..." Naano begged "I love you. Come on, let's go back to the cave. How about some nice berries? Remember? Remember when we met? I was eating berries in the woods and you hopped into my lap and-" she was cut off suddenly as Eva lunged at her, only to be stopped by Shadow.
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Eva hissed loudly at her mate "Espeon! Espee esp peon espeon espee espeon esp!" ("Idiot! Stay with this vile girl if you wish but I have bigger plans!").At her words, the Espeon saw Ayato there standing behind Naano. A snicker escaped her maw and she quickly hopped over to the apparition. Rubbing her head against his calves she purred loudly.
Naano turned swiftly to see him there behind her. "Aya?" her eyes were wide, but soon narrowed. Looking into his own they were not their usual crystal-like sky blue color. No, these were muddled and dark. This wasn't Ayato at all. "Who are you?" Naano demanded "Why do you take up my friend's appearance?". Her gaze hardened and her jaw clenched.
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Naano and Shadow watched as the Pokemon flew away with Eva. The Espeon seemed gleeful at their departure and chuckled from above. She was so eager to see Ayato again, he would teach her so much. "Espee espeon esp esp. Espeon peon espee espeon!" ("Thank you very much. I am grateful for your help!").
Under normal circumstances the girl would have cried out or yelled, but she stood silently watching the sky. Eva's happiness had not gone unnoticed, and who was she to keep a Pokemon against its will? If she was miserable with Naano, then she would not keep the Espeon under her tyranny.
Lowering her head Naano looked towards Shadow. He had stood close to his trainer and was sullenly starting at the ground. Naano crouched down and pet him gently "Do you want to follow her?". The two Pokemon were mates and she did not want to keep them apart; she knew how much it hurt. In response the Umbreon nuzzled Naano's injured cheek gently and huddled against her. The girl picked her Pokemon up and held him tightly. "It'll all be alright. At least she'll be happy..."
"Umbreon, umbree breon umbreon umbreon breon." ("But, she's not the Eva we both know and love."). Somberly, he lay his head down on her shoulder and she massaged behind his ear affectionately. As Shadow began to purr Naano slowly walked to her bag and retrieved a mirror. The scratch on her face wasn't bad at all and would heal quickly and in a clean manner. She'd be able to live without a scar, but it was quite noticeable at the moment.
Sighing, she returned to the cave and grabbed her sweatshirt. She set it down on the kitchen table and lay the Umbreon on top of it as he slept. Naano decided to put the pineberry jam to use, and planned to test out an old recipe that her grandfather taught her. Surprisingly Naano was a terrible excuse for a cook and could probably manage to burn water if she tried hard enough, but there was one thing she could make.
And that was pie. Give her any jam and she could make a nice sweet and slightly crumbly pie out of it, but she was rusty. Rummaging through the cabinets she managed to find enough flour, sugar, and other baking necessities. This included a special pan for pie. Once more tying her hair up in a bun she tried to throw all other thoughts aside and began baking.
When done, she kept the pie in the oven to keep warm and left a note for Ryan on the counter. She herself was covered in flour. There were patches of it on her face and clothes. To her satisfaction it seemed to cover up most of the scratch on her face. But she had managed to dirty up the rest of the kitchen as well and called for some Klinks and Klangs to clean it. "Leave the note and the food that's in the oven.". A delicious smell wafted from the pie and out into the hallway that Naano walked through to get to her room. Replacing Shadow onto her bed Naano plopped down on her couch still covered in flour. She was too tired to make an effort and simply lay there staring at the pictures the resourceful Pokemon had created for her.

~~~Note~~~
(Some of the text is smudged with flour)
Sorry about what I said, it was insensitive and I was only trying to cheer you up a bit. I guess I just went about it the wrong way. Times are hard, and you make them so much better for me. I'm not trying to be all sappy about it, but I can't lie to you. You continue to protect me and I continue to use your strength in vain. I just hate seeing you so injured. If you let any of those wounds get infected you won't be able to train and get stronger. Just keep that in mind, okay?
Anyways, I made you something that will hopefully perk you up a bit. Its sitting in the oven to keep warm. If it tastes bad just throw it out, I'm an atrocious cook.
~~~End~~~
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Examining the pictures on the wall, Naano had gotten up from the couch and was now tracing her finger against each one. There were multiple pictures, and each included at least one of her friends or family. She couldn't believe how real they looked; as if such events had actually happened. In one, Rebecca Lynn and her grandfather were interrupted from planting in the garden and were instead waving at the camera while in another the pair were painting the rickety shed out back. Someone had managed to photograph Esme looking cool and sleek with her Charizard which made Naano smile slightly. Looking to the right she saw Bitten cooking up a big meal with her Pokemon at her feet begging for little scraps of food like persistent puppies. To her great surprise, there was one picture with her, Ayato, and Ryan. The trio wore smiles and each was genuine. Sighing Naano began to turn away when she saw a picture that truly caught her eye.
In a golden picture frame was an image of herself in her father's embrace. It looked so warm and natural...
There was a sudden knock on the door and she picked the picture off the wall. In somewhat of a trance she opened the door and continued to stare at the picture for a moment before looking up. Seeing Ryan before her, she quickly held the visible part of the picture against her chest in a hug-like fashion. "Yeah?" was all she could muster out of embarrassment. Not only had she been an a*****e to Ryan, but she was standing in front of him with flour on her face and in her messy bun as well as all over her clothes. But the light powder seemed to blend in with her pearly white skin well enough to cover the scratch on her face naturally.
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Her gaze softened greatly at her relief. "You don't have to apologize. You had a right to be angry." Naano could see how changed he was. How much taller he had grown, how much stronger he had become, and how much older he looked. Her height had, to her dismay, stayed in the same petite fashion she was seemingly destined to live with. And her other changes? She preferred to not dwell on them. The image that Naano had seen in her mirror was still unsettling to the girl.
Naano slipped the picture face down onto a nearby surface and lightly brushed her hand through Ryan's hair a few times. Grinning softly she left the embrace to retrieve all of his new clothing. It hadn't been cheap and Naano's single outfit showed that, but she wouldn't admit it to the man. "Here you go Blondie, they should fit you well." Often having gone shopping for her grandfather Naano could easily tell Ryan's size just by looking at him.
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Naano chuckled and shook her head lightly. "Normal, now what fun would that be?" Settling herself back down on the couch Shadow hopped off the bed and snuggled himself in her lap. His expression was sad as he was still mourning. Scratching him behind the ear she looked back up at Ryan "Plus, you're much too tall to seem like a teenager. Well there's that, or I'm just too short."
A Klink nudged her for the dirty clothing she was wearing to be washed. "Later." Naano said as she waved him off. At this point she had nothing to change into, so she decided to let the Pokemon handle her clothing when she took a shower later.
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Naano looked down at Shadow and sighed. The Pokemon lifted his head up and rested his paws on her chest so that their heads were almost at the same level. Gently, he nuzzled her chin and looked at his trainer in a concerned manner. A sad smile appeared on Naano's face as she pet her Umbreon and turned her face towards Ryan. "She left....". Her gaze shifted to the downward facing picture for a second and swiftly returned to his eyes. "I have no idea where Lulu is, she wasn't with us, but there was some other Pokemon. It was a dark type I'm pretty sure." The whole scenario ran through her mind. "It transformed into..." she looked back down at Shadow who had decided to once more curl up in her lap "It took her, but the expression on her face....she was happy to go."
A weary chuckle escaped her as her hand ran through the tufts of the Umbreon's fur. He began to purr softly and his tail moved slowly from side to side. "I couldn't just..." clearing her throat she willed herself to continue. "I couldn't just keep Eva here against her will, that wouldn't have been fair. But Shadow's not taking it so well and that breaks my heart the most." Of course she was downsizing her own pain. Eva, her starter, hadn't been happy traveling with her. She had left to pursue a better life, one that Naano couldn't provide for her.
It hurt so badly...

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