Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Y-You!"

Suddenly, a finger was stabbed directly into the fourteen year old's face mere centimeter's from the tip of her nose. Magnolia went cross-eyed as she stared at the fallow brown fingertip before dragging her eyes up the length of the young male's arm before connecting them with an all too familiar face. She gawked in surprise with such excitement that the half-eaten ice cream cone she held landed with a messy plop to Motterossa's square. Rho glanced to it from her shoulder with a slightly disheartened face at the waste of such a wonderful treat.

"P-P-P-Pierce!?" she stammered in disbelief.

When his arm was withdrawn from her face, they both yelled in unison, "What are you doing here!?"

This bellow attracted the attention of the boy's sibling, who trotted up to them with a tilt of her head. She glanced her eyes from her brother to the younger girl who she instantly recognized. With hands clasping her cheeks, she gushed, "Magnolia, oh Arceus, it's you!"

Magnolia's glare suddenly shifted to one of mirth. "Sonya!" she chirped. With a swift step, she threw herself into the seventeen year old's arms and hugged her tightly about the waist. "It's been so long! How are you? How are you?"

"I've been fine!" Sonya chuckled happily. "What are you doing here, though?"

Stepping back from the woman, she replied, "I'm on my Pokemon journey."

"Really?" the boy by Sonya's side asked with raised brows and a skeptical look behind his glasses.

The teen balled a fist and clonked him on the crown of his head. "Don't start, James," she huffed. "It's been years since you've last seen Magnolia. Be a little nicer!"

James grumbled beneath his breath as he rubbed a hand where the tips of her knuckles had hit. Averting his eyes, he fell silent, and let Sonya take over the conversation in his adverse absence.

"That's great!" she smiled pleasantly.

Magnolia pursed her lips to the side at his reaction before returning her attention on the navy-haired woman. "What are you guys doing here?" she asked in return.

Sonya scratched the back of her head. "We're here on vacation," she admitted. "We heard about this young region and wanted to check it out. Well, only I did. This nerd here wanted to tag along with hopes of seeing new Pokemon, but nothing has caught his attention yet."

"I... see," the fourteen year old replied. "Were you headed somewhere?"

"Yea, to the Pokemon Center, but we can't seem to find it."

"Oh, I know where that is," Magnolia nodded. "Would you like me to take you there?"

"That would be great," Sonya replied. "Wouldn't it, James?"

"Yea, yea..."

Sonya ushered the girl along. "Well, go ahead, go show us which way to go."

"Okay, follow me."

With a dip of her head, Magnolia turned on her heel and started to walk. Behind her back, Sonya plucked her younger brother's ear and wagged a finger at his face; warning him to behave. Despite his frown, he silently agreed he would try with a few nods.

"I bet you've lost every single battle you've had!"

"Nuh-uh! I-I've won! Plenty of times! I can prove it!"

James stood and hugged his hands to his hips. With a mocking tilt of his head, he asked, "How?"

Magnolia fidgeted in her seat, trying to come up with a way to do so. When an bulb blared on in her head, she suddenly stood up and shot a finger in James's face as he did before to her. The male bent back to such an arc he nearly fell back on his bottom.

"W-We'll have a battle!" Magnolia cried out in determination. "If... If I win, not only will I prove I'm a great battler, but you have to stop calling me names! And... And if you win, you're words become fact... And I'll give you whatever you want!" With each pause or emphasis she made, the lavender-haired girl jabbed her finger in the male's face, driving him back on his feet.

James blinked a few times. "I... Uh..."

Before he could trip back on the tips of his heels, Sonya caught himself around the cuff of his collared shirt and pulled him to standing. Whacking him on the back of his head this time, she asked, "What trouble are you causing now?"

In a small voice, he answered, "I-Illia here said she wanted to battle."

Sonya's eyes widened before she clutched her abdomen and threw her head back in a hearty laugh. James ducked his head in shame as Magnolia blinked from him to her in unawareness.

"What's wrong?" she managed to ask.

Sonya wiped a tear from her eye and clasped a hand on James's shoulder. "That bet's kinda useless here, Magnolia," the seventeen year old said. "James here doesn't have a Pokemon. Mom and dad haven't let him on his journey yet."

Magnolia's mouth drew to an O as she tried to consider what she heard. "You're serious?" she said. "So all of the picking on me..."

"Pretty much stems from an inferiority complex, yea," Sonya finished.

Magnolia clenched a fist to her bosom and glared daggers at the boy. He, in turn, sweat-dropped and glanced the other way. While it was astonishing news to find out, it didn't drop the girl's desire to prove herself to him.

Nodding her head to her own idea, Magnolia offered, "He can use one of my Pokemon!"

"What?" the two siblings asked in unison.

James sneered at her. "I don't want to use any of your stupid Pokemon," he said, folding his arms across his bosom.

"Are you sure about that, Magnolia?" Sonya inquired. "Because if that is the case..."

The fourteen year old nodded her head several times. "I'm positive. I want to prove to this jerk I am capable."

"Okay then," Sonya smiled. "He'll battle you."

"Ehhhh?" the male gawked in disbelief. "Sonya, what the heck-!?"

"It'll be a good lesson for you to learn the pain of defeat," she grinned.

James poked his glasses up higher on his face. "You can go first," he offered.

Magnolia didn't know whether to take this response as an act of kindness or if maybe James was clueless on how to battle. Going over Rho's list of attacks in her head, she settled on one after a moment.

Balling her fists to her bosom in determination, she commanded, "Rho, use Slash!"

Rho took a running start before launching himself into the air with the power of his hind legs. With his left paw raised, his claws gleamed white as power collected in them. With a sharp swipe, he Slashed at Phi with all of his might.

The Buneary received a clean cut across her chest. The power in Rho's attack even sent her flying and she remained airborne before being overtaken by gravity and sliding to a halt on the grass field. As she slowly regained consciousness and teetered to her feet (only to fall down again, but she got back up), Phi awaited a command from James.

The crimson-haired boy was unsure of what to do. He scratched the side of his cheek as he tried to mentally consider what the Buneary could do. Sonya let out a sigh before digging into her pocket to withdraw a device. In a clean arc, it was tossed to her younger sibling.

"Here, use that, James."

Catching it, the fourteen year old discovered that it was a Pokedex. He wanted to ask when or where his sister had received such a piece of tech, but ignored such questions in favor for the current moment. Pressing its center button, it flipped open and instantly scanned Phi, pulling up her species' data entry. After short blurb on her, James finally had the freedom to go through her available attacks.

[Rho's HP: 900/900]
[Phi's HP: 800/900]

Smiling to her luck, Magnolia shouted next,"Thunderbolt!"

Static cackled through Rho's purple-blue form. When the energy built up to a point it can no longer he could hold it, a shocking jolt cracked the air as it sought out its target -- Phi.

The Buneary's eyes widened as the bolt couldn't be avoided. Her limbs stretched out from her form as she went stiff when the electricity made contact. Her entire system was shock and, when the attack ceased, a thin plume of smoke and the smell of singed fur drifted into the air.

[Rho's HP: 900/900]
[Phi's HP: 700/900]

"Slash again!"

Just as he did before, Rho launched himself into the air and aimed his sharpened talons at the Buneary. The lash she received hit the same spot it had before, causing pain to radiate throughout the entirety of her body. Phi doubled over in pain as Rho jumped back from her.

"Bunnn..." she whimpered with pleading eyes to Magnolia.

She squeezed her eyes shut in a moment, her empathy causing her to also clutched the area on her own body where her Pokemon was hurt.

[Rho's HP: 800/900]
[Phi's HP: 500/900]

"Ah-" Magnolia feared the Glameow had frozen solid from the Ice Beam, but when she saw the feline's springy tail sway did she feel relieved.

"Grass Knot!"

Suddenly, several blades of grass surrounding the Buneary plaited together and shot upward from the ground to the rabbit. Twining itself about all of her limbs and her body, the controlled ropes pulled her down to the down. Tightly, they squeezed at Phi's form, crushing her body in on itself.

[Rho's HP: 700/900]
[Phi's HP: 300/900]

With his anger raising, Rho did not patiently wait for Magnolia's command. Instead, he tried to retaliate with a Slash to the Buneary, but she jumped back in the nick of time before the Glameow would even lay a paw on her.

James grinned at this sudden change of events. Just when he thought he and Phi were on the losing end, she landed an attack that turn the tides. However, he wasn't in the clear. By the heaving bodies on the two Pokemon, it was obvious to tell who was in better health -- Rho. He could only hope to land more hits like the recent one to make this battle his win.

[Rho's HP: 500/900]
[Phi's HP: 300/900]

Magnolia bit her bottom lip. "C'mon, Rho!" she cried. "Pull yourself together!"

Rho's brain snapped to attention at the sound of his trainer's voice. Shaking his head, he regained control of his scattered thoughts. "Glamrrow!" he replied to her in affirmation that he had heard her loud and clear.

"Use Slash one more time!"

This time, Rho made sure not to miss. When the Buneary an attempt to jump out of the way again, he predicted her move and Slashed her on her left side.

[Rho's HP: 400/900]
[Phi's HP: 200/900]