Welcome to Gaia! ::

Rather effortlessly, the small pink kitten hopped from stair to stair, making a small mewing sound with each step she ascended. Once at the top, she turned to watch the progress Marill and Twinkers were making. However, the energetic Skitty caught a glimpse of her tail out of the corner of her eye, and she lunged for it, making loops as she tried to get it. The stale air and dusty scenery didn't bother her, although the kitten Pokemon did notice that she left a set of tracks in the layer of dust on he floor, and she forgot about chasing her tail as she followed her own trail.

As Marill and Twinkers reached the top, the kitten turned to look at them, grinning broadly. "Isn't this great?" she giggled. "Look at all this neat old stuff! There must be millions of things up here!" The Skitty darted off in a random direction, disappearing behind a row of boxes.

It seemed that whoever'd stored things up here didn't have a great sense of organization, for the entire floor was covered in boxes, old disused machinery, gadgets and gizmos, stacks of Pokemon Today! magazines and old newspapers.

"Don't go off by yourself, Allie!" Marill yelled after her. "We don't know what might be lurking up here."

"Okay," Allegra came running back, and stopped in front of her two friends. Just then, the hackles on the back of her neck stood on end, and it felt as though she were being watched. The kitten shivered, turning quickly to growl at whatever it could be, which turned out to be nothing the trio could actually see at the moment. "This is creepy," Allie commented. "Let's hurry up and find our treasure!"

The once coordinated battle soon turned into a maelstrom of shrieks and tantrum induced tears. Beacon appeared to have the upper hand, but Sherri's Lanturn wasn't about to back down against such an uncanny opponent.

"Volty, listen to me!" The girl screamed and stomping her feet, clearly not amused by her Pokemon's lack of discipline. "Get a hold of yourself, use Water Pulse!" As the aquatic ring blasted Beacon, Mike ordered the only move he had that worked, Brick Break.

However, the Ampharos had other plans. Beacon flapped his arms, the jewel on his forehead began to light up. flashing a rainbow of colors. With a high pitched cry, a concentrated multi-hued beam shot forward from the gem, a Signal Beam. Mike didn't have the time to relish in the joys of his Pokemon learning a new attack, as to his dismay, the blast missed by a considerable distance, blasting a hole in the ground instead. The technique drew alot from Beacon, and as his partner before him, he was unable to evade the Lanturn's retaliatory strike. Moments later the Ampharos lay on the ground, struggling to get at his feet. "Ni-night..." He mumbled before succumbing to his injuries and fainting.

Mike lifted up the Ultra Ball, recalling Beacon back for some rest. "I lost." He said simply. "Good fight Sherri."

"Same to you!" The girl replied, wiping a bit of sweat from her face. "That was intense, it could have gone either way!" She smiled, recalling her own Pokemon and waving good-bye before running off to the Center, a noticeable bounce in her step.

He watched her until the doors closed and she could no longer be seen. Lifting up Beacon's Ultra Ball once more, he looked down at it long and hard. "That was a neat new attack you got." He spoke softly, as if to a bed sick friend who he didn't want to wake. "I can't wait to see what it can do once you know how to aim." He chuckled, Beacon always found a way to cheer him up, even when he messed up, it was just what made him special. Clipping the ball back in place, Mike turned to see his two friends walking away. Were they watching the fight? He asked himself, raising an eyebrow. He began to laugh, holding his stomach. "Figures, the first time Keegan sees me fight, I lose!" Something about it was just too funny, the boy just couldn't stop laughing. Mike wasn't saddened by his loss. After all, everyone loses from time to time it's only natural. He wasn't so vain as to expect a perfect win record, that was too arrogant even for his tastes. "Blech, that would be so Team Rocket of me." The boy giggled at his joke, speeding up his walk to follow behind Kasiya and Keegan. He kept his distance though. If there was one thing he knew about people, it was chemistry, and those two seemed to draw together like a Magneton.

Keegan also looked back at Mike, following at length behind them. "If I know Mike, and I like to think I do," he smirked, "it'll take more than the occasional loss to bring him down. Besides," he nodded, "I'm more than certain he can count many amazing victories under his belt. Losses are part of becoming a strong trainer." Listen to me, I sound like some old schoolteacher, he thought, laughing at himself inwardly.

He'd lost himself in thought as they continued along the road, only coming back to reality when Kasiya stopped him by tugging on his jacket sleeve. "I don't know what to say," he mumbled, after she'd finished. He gently took the parcel from her, and stared at it. "You didn't have to do this," he said, chuckling. "And as for the exact date, it's July 2nd." Carefully, he opened it up, and smiled at her. "A Flamethrower TM. For Mori, I assume? Thanks, Kassie. You're wonderful." He reached out and pulled her close in a gentle embrace. He couldn't help but smile at the fact that his earlier wish had come true - these were indeed better circumstances.

Putting her Nav away, Nina got to her feet and walked to the window, watching the hailstorm that Storm had caused start to let up. Looks like we need to wait for all of that to stop before we even think about Flying anywhere, she thought, recalling that Krystal, Rio, and Fearow all had weaknesses to Ice-type attacks. Flying during a hailstorm was only asking for trouble.

She pivoted on her heels and turned around, her hair arcing as she did so, and approached the PC in the corner of the room. Logging on, she accessed the link that led led to Saffron City's PC, and examined the five Pokemon that she had stored away for Gym battles.

"Regal... Oracle... Mimien... Anastasia... Xena... Hmm."

Nina contemplated which Pokemon she was intending to use for the upcoming battle. After deciding, she rearranged her Pokemon in the order that she intended to send them out.

Wow. That was one of my most useless posts ever.

Upon finishing, Nina logged out and turned to walk towards the front desk as the bell dinged, signifying that all of the Pokemon had been healed. She took back the Pokeballs, releasing Anna and keeping Krystal's in hand, and tossing the others to Whitney and Raimundo. She walked back toward the window and peered out. It was, obviously, still hailing-- of course it would be, she had only checked but a minute or two ago. The hailstones were easily the size of a small golf ball, and were most definitely not something that Nina desired any of her or her friends' Pokemon to be struck by.

Whitney approached Nina, Raimundo close behind. "What's up? Can't we, like, leave now?"
"Nyeh, no, we can't. It's still hailing. I wouldn't want Krystal or Rio or Fearow to get hurt trying to fly us to Johto, you know?"
A shrug. "I guess that you're right. They are all weak to Ice, after all... Do we really need to wait that long? I mean, who knows how long it'll, like, keep going on?
"We don't need to wait for it to clear up," Rai said, grinning a little bit. "Just have Storm use Sunny Day."

There was a long pause.

"Oh. Wow. I... hadn't even thought of that." Whitney looked entirely astounded. "Wow, I didn't either."

Stepping outside, Whitney released Storm from her Pokeball, getting bonked on the head by a hailstone. "Agh. Ow. Storm, use Sunny Day, and like, quick, please!" The Castform transformed into its Hail Form and nodded, looking up to the sky. She summoned the sun to show its face again and to make the hail stop pounding down on the earth. After its task had been completed, and after a transformation into its Sun Form, the Pokemon was recalled. Whitney replaced Storm with Rio, and hopped onto his back, while Raimundo sent out his Fearow. Nina was about to send out Krystal, but decided against it.

"Nina, what's up?" Rai asked. "I thought you wanted to get going?" The girl nodded, clipping the dragon's Pokeball back to her belt. "Well, I do," she responded, "but, I feel like I've been overusing Krystal as of late. So, I'll find another method of transportation." Anna stared at her trainer in horror. "Oh-my-god. Don't you even think about it." She grinned, and tossed out another ball.

Pookie ran and flailed around idiodically, his tail shaking energetically.

Mag prepared his pokemon for their upcoming journey. The next gym was supposed to be in.. Vermilion City if he could remember correctly. That would be the place to head then. Back to the town Mag first arrived at when he began his journey. Quite a few things had happened in that semi-short period of time.

"Then it's settled! I'll head off with you untill you are ready to go along by yourself." Linalee said nodding her head as she tightened up her shoe laces and then stood up off the floor. "I'm ready to head out as soon as you are." Linalee said smiling.