Welcome to Gaia! ::

There were a handful of things that Salieri hate to do. Wearing a dress was one of them. So when Jump brought her to an apartment store to get her a dress, she was more than irked. He pulled into the parking lot and turned off the car.

"This is it. We don't have a lot of time, so I hope you know your dress size. Measuring is a b***h."

“You know what? Forget it,” Sal told him, closing the door while getting out of the convertible. “This is a waste of time. Thanks for the ride, but I’m out of here.” She grabbed her beltbag from the seat and made sure all of her pokemon were inside, ready to go.

“Oh come on! I’m trying to make it up to your bro, here.” Jump walked around the front of the car and took off his sunglasses.

“Moze should know that I take care of myself just fine.”
“And this is coming from Miss Pukey Blood Puke.”
“You know what? I can figure out what happened to me on my own too. I don’t know what your deal is, but I think you’re lying to me?”

Jump’s jaw dropped. She was calling him a liar. “Say what now?”
“You heard me. I don’t think you know what you’re talking about at all.” She tilted her head to the side as she examined the goofy man. He didn’t look that strong. Interpol’s field agents had a reputation for high combat abilities, but this one just seemed, inept.

Salieri put her hand on her hip. “And I’m starting to wonder if you were even telling the truth about fighting my brother. Can you even fight?”

Jump rubbed the back of his head, looking around for inspiration to answer the question. “…do I have to prove it to you?”
The Battle Girl rose an eyebrow. “How would you go about that?”

The Interpol Agent sighed. He looked reluctant. “You won’t like it. How’s your stomach feeling?”
“Can you get off that subject? I’m fine.”
“You sure?”
“Yes! Now what were you going to-“

Jump grabbed onto Salieri’s shoulders. And then the two of them disappeared.

****

And then they reappeared less than a minute later, miles north in the desert. Jump skidded to a halt, letting go of Salieri when he reached a full stop. Running on the sand wasn’t as easy as solid ground. As soon as he let go, the girl spun away and fell to her knees, throwing up.

Jump looked away, gagging. “Ugh, stop. You’re gonna make me puke too.”

Salieri stood to her knees, still feeling dizzy. “W-What the hell was that!?” she yelled over the roar of the sandstorm. Wait, sandstorm? “Where are we?”

“Route 4.”
“What the ********? How?”
“I ran us here.” He jabbed his thumb at his chest. “You’re looking at the fastest man on the planet.”

Salieri squinted her eyes, resisting the urge to blink while the sand pelted her body. She had to believe him. There couldn’t have been another way. There was no pokemon, no machine to move them. He had grabbed her and that was it. Jump really was that fast.

How fast was Moze? If Jump lived up to his claim, than Moze wasn’t faster. So maybe they were evenly matched. But still… “This doesn’t prove that you could be a match for Moze.”

“Yeah, I know,” Jump said as he started walking to the top of a sand dune. Salieri, not knowing what else to do, followed him. When they got to the top, he pointed to what was below. “That should prove it, though.”

Salieri stepped forward some more to see over the hill. And when she finally did, she was sure her eyes were playing tricks on her.

What was previously a large sand bowl the size of a football stadium was at the bottom of the hill. The entire surface had been turned into a sheet of glass, cracked all over the places with large impact marks. Huge trees were sprouted up all over the place, and from what Salieri could see it looked like they had grown straight through the glass. They were lifeless now, though, as each one had a wreath of blue fire on top. The flames did not flicker in the sandstorm’s winds.

The sky above the glass bowl was filling with swirling red clouds unlike any others in the area. Wild shocks of blue lightning streaked in and out of the clouds like livid serpents.

Perhaps the most interesting sight was that of some dead trees that simply floated through the air aimlessly, like garbage in the ocean. When they bumped into rooted trees, they lost altitude and just kept moving until they eventually crashed to the ground.

Salieri rubbed her eyes, and closed them. When she opened them again, the scene was exactly the same. It was incomprehensible to her. This had to be the work of their pokemon as well. “You mean-“

“This was less thank two weeks ago…I guess we sort of ******** up the desert.” The Interpol Agent looked into the sky. “The Aura in this area is all out of wack. Must be why these effects have been so persistent.”

“But this…” Salieri struggled to find words. “This is impossible…”

“Moze and I battled full force. It was one of the most intense fights I’ve had in a looooong time.” Jump grinned to himself, nostalgic already. “He’s a real ace, your brother.”

Salieri let out a weak laugh. Was this what the big leagues were like? Moze, Jump, other trainers on their level. This was truly the result of that kind of pokemon battle. A scale she had never even seen before.

“Yeah, he sure is.” Sal found herself smiling too, before remembering where she was. The middle of nowhere with a super powerful manchild. “Can we go back now?”
“Will you not throw up on my shirt?”
“I’ll try not to.”
“Then yes.”

Jump held out a hand for Salieri to take. She grabbed it.

They disappeared.

Luka nodded. "Don't worry about it. There are times when everyone has a lot on their mind. And you've been through a lot in the past few days from what I can gather, as have I. It's only natural. But before you completely believe that the badges force the bond we have with our Pokémon, think about the Pokémon you got before you got your badges. They wouldn't have been effected by this machine, would they?" He sighed too.

Then he took the map and the key from her and smiled. "I'll see you later. Probably at the banquet, since I'll be going too. It looks like they've invited everyone in bloody Castelia to it. Have fun on your date." He winked at her cheekily.

Luka sat down on the bed after Henrietta had left. She was really cynical, like, ultra mega cynical. It did make him think though. What if she was right? He tried to shake off the thought. No. His Pokémon had told Hexum that they believed in him and that they thought he was doing a good job. He had to have faith in that belief. If he lost that, then where would he be? He'd be miserable. Life wasn't a field of daisies, it wasn't pretty and calm and safe but it also wasn't a desolate wasteland where nothing grew and everything died. It was like a field of roses, beautiful and calming at times but covered in harmful thorns. Actually, he quite liked that metaphor. It worked.

With that thought, he had himself a shower and washed away the minor hardships of the day before getting himself suited up for the Plasma Banquet in his dark waistcoat and trousers with a deep blue shirt with rolled up sleeves. ((Like This))

He decided he would stay in his hotel room for a little while longer so he let his Pokémon come out and they all set about doing their own thing. Kai snuggled down on one of cushions Luka had placed for them and went for a nap. Squirt had a relatively long conversation with Misa about the ocean and how much better it was than the desert. Tayla sat down elegantly in one of the chairs and set about weaving a pretty scarf from her sticky silk and leaves that she found nestled within her leafy dress.

Luka, meanwhile, was sat on the bed reading one of the many books he had bought in Castelia. It was the one he had mentioned to Henrietta. It was about the histories of the different regions of the world and it dealt quite heavily in one section about how extremist Teams had caused mass damage in their respective regions. From the way the author wrote the book, it was as if he had experienced most of the events himself, which shouldn't be possible. Anyone who had gotten caught in those type of events that many times should be dead. The guy had written a few other books which Luka also happened to have on him and they were fictional accounts of events that took place in Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh. At least, Luka assumed they were fictional. After all, there was no such thing as psychics and ninjas and ancient spirits inhabiting people's souls and aura and an afterlife where a huge monster came and destroyed you. At least.... Luka hoped not. Life would be incredibly scary if that stuff was real. But it wasn't, was it?

((I hope this party starts soon.))

The cool night air licked at her bare skin, her fingers running over her arms to warm the skin. The salty ocean air, the fishermen on their boats - living their dreams out. It was too dark to fish, of course, but that didn't stop them from being out and about, conversing until the start of the season for things like clam fishing.

Henrietta waited for Reid to arrive.

"Excuse me, miss," came the voice of an older man. Henrietta turned to see him. Large, bulky. Gray hair littered his face and the top of his head - mostly covered up by a cap. Held between his lips was a pipe, and he was dressed warmly for the night.

"H-hello," Henrietta said.

"You're a young thing," he said. A creepy observation to make and Henrietta took a step backward. He laughed. "No no, not like that. Youngins these days, always wary. What I mean is, I'm gettin' old in my years. Can't fish, much less raise a Pokemon. Wouldja mind doin' me a favor?"

Henrietta was quiet, but she didn't run away. Not yet, anyways. "See, I'm from Kanto, raised myself some water types. Blastoise, mostly. But I'm too old to be raisin' another one, didn't stop my last one from havin' a kid. Got it past the whole baby phase with the miss, but now he needs to be on his legs, ya know?"

Henrietta nodded once, slowly. "Y-yeah."

"So I was wonderin', if it wouldn't be too much trouble, if you could do the honors of that for me?" He smiled, plucking the pipe from his mouth. Apparently he'd held it there like one would a cigar when he spoke, his teeth biting gently, just enough to keep the object from falling.

"I.. hum.." Henrietta considered the offer. Another Pokemon? So easily? She tilted her head slightly.

"Whaddya say?" the man asked. "It's just too much for my old bones now. His shells already all hardened."

"S-sure." Henrietta nodded again.

"Really? Thanks, miss. I'll do you a favor for it. Come back tomorrow and I can teach ya how to fish." He grinned, turning his head. "Hey, Maribelle! Bring Bastion out here, will ya?"

"I.."

"Eh? Don't need to learn how to fish?" He turned his head back to Henrietta. "Well, the offers always there. Tomorrow mornin'."

An elderly lady stepped off of a boat and onto the harbor proper with the Squirtle in her arms. "She takin' him, Ed?"

"Yup. Kind young lady here will raise him into a strong Blastoise."

Maribelle handed Squirtle over and Henrietta took the turtle Pokemon, mimicking the method of holding him. He was sleeping, you see.

"Now, Ed, she's all dressed up. How's she gonna go to wherever she's heain' and take care of Bastion?"

"Ah, Maribelle, just give her a pokeball, will ya?"

"N-no, that's okay."

"Don't be silly, miss." Maribelle handed over the pokeball and Henrietta took it.

"Th-thank you."

"Right. Now, miss?"

"Henrietta."

"Henrietta, lovely name, you make sure you raise him to be big and strong like his Dad, alright?"

"Y-yeah."

"Ah, lighten up. Shy little thing, eh? Lifes too short to spend it shy like that. Right Maribelle?"

"Ed, you're scaring the poor thing." The elderly woman turned to Henrietta. "Thank you so much for taking him."

The three conversed for a bit more, elderly questions prodding about this and that. Where was she going, where was she from, what was she going to be doing with her life. Something about not being able to be a trainer forever. After they left Henrietta put Bastion into his ball and returned to waiting for Reid.

Elizabeth was scared. When the shockwaves hit, she thought it must have been a continuation of the attack on Liberty Garden. She'd been prepared to defend both her daughter and herself, but by the time she had Fatass' pokéball in hand, it was already over. She wasn't scared about that. It was Katelyn.

The five year old sat quietly with her feet dangling over the edge of the pier. They'd moved toward the end where it was peaceful, where the earthy smell of old wood mixed with salt water was particularly strong. When she asked if anything was wrong, Katelyn said there wasn't, happily, chipper. But then went right back to staring out at sea.

They had to get out of the city, out of the country, and soon.

---

Wayne drenched himself with cold tap water. The headaches wouldn't go away, nor would the incessant ringing. It felt like his brain was boiling, pounding as his skin seeped sweat from every pore. What the hell was that just now?

He'd dragged himself into the pokémon center room he'd booked last night, literally picking himself off the street to do so. When he last had his senses, Wayne was leaving his battle with Henrietta and making his way back to the pokémon center. But as he entered the busier parts of town, he suddenly got a weird, piercing headache and a buzz in his head like a thousand voices chattering at once.

Thinking about it now, he must've looked like a crazy person, staggering against the wall and doubled over. As the voices started to reach a climax, he began getting visions. At first it was like vague ghosts were zooming down the road, moving as if on fast-forward or in some cases remaining completely still. They started to pulse like his own racing heartbeat until each beat was met with a powerful throb and his vision started to fade.

Maybe nobody wanted to go near him. While he awoke less than a minute later, the hallucinations receded, he had to help himself to the pokémon center. At least his pokémon weren't stolen.

It was just pain behind his eyes now, like hot knives jammed in there. If he moved his head too much, Wayne felt his brain battering around inside his skull. He tugged the light off and slid down the bathroom wall, blanketed in warm, soothing darkness.

He was probably going to miss that party. And Tess. And Yana and Henrietta. But right now, Wayne only wanted to sleep.

Henrietta looked at Reid as he approached. "R-right." She didn't have much of an idea of what was etiquette for a date, so she simply decided to follow Reid's lead. Stepping over to him, her height lifted a few inches by heels.

"Lead the way."

Luka had finally arrived at the Banquet. He was a little early, but that didn't bother him. He kinda always felt the need to be as punctual as possible and getting places early tended to ensure that he was fine if a little too eager to some.

Tonight was going to be interesting, he was sure of that. What he wasn't sure about, however, was the pain that was running up his arm. It wasn't too bad, but, every now and again there was a sharp stinging pain. He reminded himself that he should probably get it checked out in the morning if it got any worse or didn't die down.