Welcome to Gaia! ::

"It didn't even occur to me that maybe I should have worn something." Melissa looked down at herself, craning back to try and see her bulb. "You know, sometimes I almost wish I took after my mother. Chikoritas are so pretty." The statement seemed to have come out of nowhere, unbidden, and she shook her head trying to clear the confusing thoughts trickling into her mind. Some of her father's memories were coming through, and obviously her father had thought her mother extremely beautiful. He had loved her enough to leave his village after all.

Sometimes it was annoying to inherit the memories of your ancestors, especially when they're not all that useful. And sometimes it made it hard to remember who you were. Melissa. I am Melissa, 17 years old, living the Kingdom of Eclipse, son of Galen and Iria Azalea. Just to make sure.

"We have all kinds 'o folks here. I never really wear anythin' but I don't suppose there's much I can. Ya learn to live on land after bein' with the Guild for so long, but some habits die hard. It's not exactly all that practical wearin' anything down in the sea. The veil looks good on you though; and your light shines so prettily." The Tirtouga stared admiringly at the glowing tips of Sereni's antennae. "They must look so nice down in the deeper waters."

Melissa was glad that Randel started to talk, which covered up her brief identity problem and she got a hold of herself firmly within seconds. With a smile Melissa closed her eyes and concentrated. As Randel finished his talking, two small seeds came out of the tip of her bulb. Two vines reached back to pluck both off, the two seeds blooming instantly into a small pink flower each.

Maybe the genetic memory thing wasn't so bad. She hadn't even been aware she could do that until one of her grandma's memories came though to her at that moment.

She tucked one flower up at her ear while her other vine reached up and tucked it between two of the plates that lined Katara's neck.

"There we go."

The Ditto-Skarmory shifted nervously, wanting to crane her neck down to look at the flower but not entirely sure if that would could as ignoring the conversation, which would be rude. Social stuff was so...complicated.



"Ah, it's the deeds and not the time that counts. You are a Rescue Team, and you have no doubt saved lives, kept families together, mended futures, and will no doubt continue to do so. That puts you up there with any other team. In this business there is no better- just great." Aiden continued with a smile, never missing a beat.

"What the long-winded fool is trying to say is that we all started at some point. As far as we're concerned the good you'll do and the good we have done can not out measure each other's." Chris shook his head. "Bah, I'm starting to sound like him too. Curse the day I ever met you Aiden."

"I think you're a great friend too Chris."

Still shaking his head, but with an amused grin on his face, Christopher turned his attention back to Team MistMelody.

"The world's a big place kids, and you're going to see much of it as an Explorer. My personal favourite's The Emerald Pools. You ever been there? Beautiful place, great water...too bad what happened to it a few months back, I hope the folks there aren't having too hard of a time recovering. Any unusual places the guilds take you? I've heard the guilds have been quite active recently."

Aiden allowed Chris to take over the conversation so he could step back to Beka's side.

"Relax Beka, we're at a party." He whispered to her, reaching down to grab her hand reassuringly. She allowed her muscles to relax, so she looked less like she was about to pounce on something. Aiden turned smoothly and gave a bow to the newcomer.

"Well met Jessica. This here is Rebecca, and I'm Aiden."

"Well met, and thank you. We know a rather great smith. Not many ply his trade these days."

"That's a fine blade you have there yourself Miss Reed. We don't meet many other Pokemon who has learned to pick up a weapon. I have to say, I wasn't keen on the idea until recently. I found out that it's better to learn that your enemy's blade is stronger than yours when your own blade isn't as indispensable." He made a small waving motion with the end of his stump towards the short sword belted at his hip, while the leaf blades on his intact arm seemed to straighten, looking sharper, almost metallic, for just a second. He got a different aura from the Lucario than with the Pikachu and her friend, and figured his stump wouldn't be as intimidating for the fighting type.

Solaris---Moonfall---Ivy---Diane---Zachary---Genesis

Solaris glanced away quickly once the Flareon had turned to lean on him. Alright Solly, you've had a streak of good luck and great ideas lately. Don't blow this one, just very politely ask her to-something was on his head.
Above the two a tiny Joltik had dropped down and now poised directly between the Espeon's ears.
'Hello!' it chirped and Solaris let out a scream before bolting across the room.
Sadly his panicked run sent him hurtling to the fountain and Diane, who was unfortunate enough to have stepped back into the room, was in the perfect position to get soaked again as the Espeon slammed into the pool of water and sent the liquid splashing everywhere again.
The Purrloin shrieked and ran back out the room in tears.
"Ooh...did...did I get it?"
'Nope!' The Joltik squeaked.
Cue Espeon flail fit in the water.

Zach was also still flailing in dismay, oblivious to Will's reassuring words that he'd survive his HORRIBLE injuries.

"I'm afraid I haven't had the pleasure..."
The Glaceon responded, not recognizing the team name nor it's captains, but that was mostly because she was so sheltered in the Guild she never had time to explore at all.
Despite being fully evolved she was still a child.
Ivy gave a 'meep' and jumped up when Arizona appeared and she sighed upon recognizing her.
"H-hey Ari." Smexylicious? What was that? The Glaceon didn't know so she ignored the comment. "This is Rem. Rem, this is my friend Arizona. She's a Raicario."
The term was stated in a joking manner. Arizona was a Lucario, she just had Raichu coloring and the tail.

Era smiled contentedly, nodding in consensus, "Well, if you say so," she said, "I think you have a point there. The most important thing is that we help other Pokemon out when we're doing our job, that truly is the best." It was a sincere truth that Era followed above all else, something that she believed in. Without following that, Era doubted she would be the same way she was today. It was what brought her through the hard times; the knowledge that she was helping other Pokemon in everything that she did.

When she spotted Tolin out of the corner of her eye, Era did a double-take, attention shifting to where he was. It had been a long time since she'd last seen the Scyther whom she so admired. She made a movement as if to head over to him, but he vanished as quickly as he had appeared, much to her chagrin. She looked about the party, noticing the members of Team Southern Cross who had arrived. The Pikachu spotted Serrin in the crowd and considered going over to talk to him before realizing how rude she was being to Chris, who had just finished talking to them. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" she said, hoping that he hadn't noticed too much, "Something caught my attention for a moment. What did you say?"

Ethfael looked at her oddly, puzzled that Era of all Pokemon would be not paying attention to someone talking to her, "He was telling us about the Emerald Pools, Era," he told her almost chidingly. Turning back to Chris he nodded, "They sound quite lovely, it sounds like a place that would be a sight to see. Personally, I am rather partial to Mana Reef myself. We went there on a mission once, the coral is quite a sight to behold. It gives off light to mirror the sunlight itself, and almost seems to be alive."

Era nodded in agreement, still slightly embarrassed from before. "It really is incredible down there," she said, "Manaphy lives there, we met him on a mission. He's very sweet." She smiled at the memory, thinking about Phione. The little Pokemon was still recooperating from the Bounty he had joined them on, although he was sad to be missing a festival. "We've met a lot of great Pokemon on our explorations."

Sereni listened to Melissa's comment, finding it a little odd, but going with the flow of the conversation. "Yes, I suppose they are, but every Pokemon has their own unique sort of beauty." She was a very open-minded Laturn, one of the reasons why she'd had the position she had before she joined Team MistMelody.

Sereni felt another blush creep to her cheeks unbidden as Randel complimented her again, her light shining a bit more brightly, perhaps because she was happy, and perhaps slightly in a subconscious attempt to impress him a bit. "Yeah, it took a lot of adjusting for me," she said, pleased to find that he must have a had similar experiences to hers, "I worked very seldom on land before I joined a Rescue Team, but now I've gotten used to it for the most part. There's a lovely pool in my Team's room that I swim in frequently, but it's nothing like the depths of the ocean. That's where I'm most at home, with nothing but the darkest parts of the seafloor and my own light to guide the way." Sereni sighed a bit wistfully, "Maybe someday I could show you." She nearly flinched, the words having just slipped out of her mouth. Arceus, now she was making a fool out of herself.

Struggling to regain her composure she latched on to the ornamental flowers that Melissa had put on herself and Katara. "Those look lovely on you." She said rather lamely, finding herself tongue-tied, this was just getting worse, wasn't it?

Riley took note of the new members in the group, four to be exact, after a young Totodile took a card from the deck, and then the Ralts who had introduced herself as Alice did as well. Putting the remainder of the deck back into a neat stack. He held out the pile for the two to replace their cards, indicating that they should be put on the top of the deck. Assuming the younger Pokemon did, he spun the deck around behind his back in one quick motion, and flipped the deck over to show his audience the bottom card. "Now the trick to this trick, is that you can only get it right the second time. The first time it won't be the card that they chose. You can tell them that right? And you too." he said to the Totodile, and Alice, "Is this either of your cards?" Riley of course knew perfectly well that the card wasn't the card that the Totodile had chosen or the one Alice had chosen; the card that his audience could see was the 9 of Hearts. What they all didn't know though, was that he now knew the cards of both of his participants.

The new Team hurried through the portal later than the others, having just been informed that most of the Guild was out visiting the new Generation Five Pokemon. Well, Tris had hurried at least, his current form that of a Pachirisu and bouncing with energy, as opposed to his new partner who currently floated in the air in the guise of a rather sour looking Volbeat. "We're already late Maestro!" the Ditto muttered to his new partner, "This is the best opportunity to get to know the Teams around here, and besides, you know how these Generation Five Pokemon are, so it should no problem for you."

Maestro frowned, brow furrowed unhappily. "I have already explained this to you Tris," he said, "I just got away from these Pokemon, I don't want anything more to do with them." The Zorua looked about a bit anxiously at all the surrounding Generation Five Pokemon; it wasn't as though he was a fugitive or anything, but he didn't want anyone to recognize him. He was fairly safe under the power of Illusion, but he was cautious nonetheless.

"Too bad!" Tris said cheerily scampering on ahead to find another Team to chat with and Maestro followed slowly with a sigh. He found Tris nearby an Azumarill and Togekiss, greeting them animatedly, "Hello, my name's Tris, and this would be my partner Maestro. We're a new Team, just joined actually. We thought we'd go around and meet some new Pokemon while we're here."

Maestro sighed, although his partner was older than himself, the Ditto was definitely the more immature of the two. "Pleased to meet you Sir, Madam," he said, "My partner can be a bit puerile at times." He gave an elegant bow to the two and smiled slightly, "It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance."

.::Rem::.

Rem nodded, understanding of Ivy's... misinformation- hardly anyone else in the Guild knew who they were, anyway. He tilted his head when a Lucario came up to them, greeting Ivy as an old friend. He listened to Ivy's introduction of her friend, and, smiling, bowed to Arizona.

"Charmed, Miss Arizona. I am delighted to meet you. As Ivy said, I am Rem Hallen, Co-Captain of Team Blacksteppe." He tilted his head inquisitvely at the Raicario. "I am curious as to which team you belong to, Arizona, if I may ask."



.::Geisha & Luna::.

Luna wagged her tail even harder at Crown's greeting, and also at her question. She took every opportunity to talk about her family- she was very proud of such skilled adventurers.

"Yeah! I came here with the nice Geisha lady, 'cause Daddy's tr... traiiiining," she said, as though unfamiliar with the word, "with the nice new people today." She nodded happily, a punctuation of her statement. She gasped, as though remembering something, and steamrolled on.

"Oh! And we came with Mr. Rem, too, but he's over somewhere talking with the cold lady!" she said, nodding in the direction that the group had left Rem with Ivy. She opened her mouth to speak again, until a voice drifted over the crowd noise in their direction.

"Luna!" called Geisha in a relieved tone, leading a smiling Vladimir along with them. Geisha picked up the Mudkip, hugging her close, protectively. "Oh, I was so worried... Don't you dare run off like that again, Luna..." Finally, Geisha seemed to notice the pair that Luna had been conversing with.

"And... who are your new friends, Luna?" she asked, nodding at the Butterfree and the Cherrim. Before the two who could respond, however, Luna interjected in her usual explosive fashion.

"Oh! Oh! These are Luna's new friends! The butterfly is named Crown! Like a princess, Miss Miss Geisha! Are you a princess, Miss Crown? Ooh, and the flower lady is named, uh... Cr... Cronick-ler, or something, but she's really nice, too! They're really nice people!" By this time, she was visibly shaking with excitement in Geisha's grasp, so the Mismagius set her on the ground next to Vladimir, and bowed gracefully to the pair.

"Well, then, Crown and Chronicler, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Geisha Takeoka, of Team Blacksteppe. Thank you for watching over my Captain's daughter- he would have been most upset if I had lost her. I do hope she wasn't too much trouble to you two," she said, bowing slightly again.

Laura was startled by the sound of shrieking that filled the room once again. Her head was tilted directly to the source. An innocent Joltik had found its way to the top of an Espeon. Solaris, she recalled his name. The Purrloin watched Solaris flail about. She spotted her sibling who looked fine now in the corner of her eyes. Too bad she stepped out to get splashed again by the pink Espeon who clumsily fell to the fountain.
She walked out of the room, looking for fresh air. She felt a bit awkward seeing her sister get upset by the water twice and a splashing event who made her sister upset twice without getting a drop of water on her glossy violet fur. She spotted a couple, a Vaporeon and a Flareon, overhearing their comments about the aroma of the air that was filled by the beautiful smell of the flowers. "Of course, the aroma of the flowers that we specifically picked is quiet strong." She replied as if the two were expecting an answer. Her purple tail flicked to the side.

Zorora's ears pricked at the sound of a new voice. A small Ralts who was beside an unfamiliar Misdreavus answered her question. Well it was kind of obvious by now that magicians do tricks. But nonetheless it was quite thoughtful of the Ralts to answer her question.
As how she expected she would be praised a bit for her neat little trick, she then felt pride through her body as Riley said that her trick was nice. His suggestion was quiet true. If they had more space the Electricworks would look much better. The Misdreavus --who is Taciturn-- that was once beside the Ralts --and who is Alice-- quickly vanished and a few moments after that she dropped her ears. She thought that she did something wrong or her trick accidentally hit the Misdreavus after when she tried to avoid any objects or anything that might make contact with the trick. She heard the Alice reassured her that she didn't do anything to harm Taciturn. Nor it was her fault for that matter, it was actually the Misdreavus herself that was shy and vanished. There was a compliment along the Alice sentence before her voice trailed off. Zorora tilted her head to the side before she figured that she didn't know her name. "The name's Zorora!" She exclaimed while hopping.