"Hm... She may be feeling better, but Thyme still shouldn't be here. She snuck out of the pokemon center and came out here on her own. And I'm fine. I'm rather proud of myself. I won my first battle, ever. Then... I went and lost one. But you don't seem alright... What's the matter?" Bri said, still worried about her. Even though she claimed otherwise, she was still clearly upset about something. Maybe talking about it would help her feel better. Thyme looked at Ryan with a scowl.

"What are you snorting about?" she asked, a slightly irritated edge in her voice. This brought Bri's attention to Ryan, and he smiled brightly.

"Hey, you evolved Ryan! That's cool, he looks really strong now!" Bri said excitedly. He turned back to smiling at Sel. Thyme shook her head and yawned. Then she turned her attention back to Ryan, trying to figure out what his deal was. As for his trainer, Bri could figure out on his own.

Selene
"Oh Bri! That's fantastic news," said Selene with a wide, genuine smile - in terms of events of the day, that piece of news had probably cheered her up more than anything else that had happened - "who did you battle?" She still remembered when she had battled Bri earlier when they first arrived at the Academy, even then he had shown massive potential and had held her to a draw. And he had such strong bonds with his Pokemon, it was something that she aspired to herself.

But ultimately Bri didn't seem to be willing to drop the subject of what had gotten Selene into this state in the first place...the frown returned to Sel's face and she looked down at her feet, voice unusually quiet.

"Someone I liked, someone I trusted...it's become clear that they...well, they've been sabotaging a rela- a friendship that made me happiest with someone I truly cared for and understood. And they understood me too...but he's ruined that now..." she managed to force out the words, careful to keep identities concealed. Should Bri guess who she was talking about...well, that was completely out of her control. This was a fight for her and Mark and Sel didn't want anyone else feeling pressured.

Bri, thankfully, also brought up Ryan and she smiled, nodding brightly with a wide beam. "Yeah! It seemed the right time, Ryan was up for it...so we thought why not, hey! And it seems to agree with him...although...he's been acting a bit differently since he evolved..."

After a moment, Ryan's eyes slowly slid up to Thyme as he heard her aiming her words at him. He simply watched her for a long pause before laughing out loud and shaking his head, standing on both feet and bringing his tail up to swish around behind him.

"And you are? Imma snort when I snort and not giving no bread to no brother, got me?" he said in a bored tone, not even bothering to look at Thyme anymore.

"Maybe they just need some time, that's all. I'm sure everything will get worked out. In a little while, after things have calmed down a bit, why don't you go talk to him about it? If he's really your friend, he'll likely understand what's bothering you and why. And you never know, maybe this is all a misunderstanding? Yeah, just give it some time," Bri said kindly. He had no idea just who she was talking about. Had he known it was Mark and Val she was refering to, he would have been inclined to point out that she herself had gotten those two together. But, he didn't. Either way, he didn't want to make her more upset. So, he decided to drop the subject.

"Anyways, as for who I battled, I'm not sure if you know her or not... Her name is Brogan. She's a Suicune Student, and I think she said that her father was running this expo. We had a three on three battle, and it was really awesome. I still can't believe I won!" Bri said, trying to remember if Sel and Brogan had ever met while he was around or not. Thyme burst out laughing at this. Bri looked at her.

"You beat that priss?! HAH! I bet that was quite the wake up call! I wish I had come and found you sooner! Maybe then I would have been there to see her face when you won!" Thyme said, still laughing her head off. Oh, Skye would love that! She knew that Skye had a deep dislike for Brogan. She had seen it when the two of them had met a while back. Then she turned to Ryan again with a look of contempt on her face.

"Excuse me? Listen here, you overgrown rat! When you talk to me, talk so I can understand you, understand?" Thyme said, slightly annoyed at his behavior. Bri looked at her and gave a little 'tut', and she relaxed.

"Thyme, be nice! And Sel, I could talk to him and find out what's going on to make him act differently. Though, some pokemon act a lot different when they evolve. I've read that in the big medical book they gave me at the pokemon center!" Bri said, a smile creeping across his face. He was feeling happy again. He was still in awe of the fact he had won a battle. He grinned at Sel again.

"So, what are you going to do now? Say, you're really tough! I bet you could probably beat one of those champions up there!" Bri said excitedly. He really believed she could win. Her pokemon were way tougher than his, and she actually liked battling, from what he could tell. He thought she could take any one of them on.

Dante

After hearing what Jason said about his Ralts, Dante noticed that more people were gathering around. Soon he got a bad vibe from a boy wearing a black jacket and has blood red hair, which from that Dante heard what Valorie said about him.

Wow, what a totally messed up guy, Dante thought.

Then, Dante's Elekid and Combusken appeared out their pokeballs without being called. Elekid tugged Dante's pant leg and pointed at the stage where the champions were located at. Because of this Dante turned his attention and looked at one of the champions, mostly Steven Stone, mostly because he remember Steven visiting his aunt's gym in Fortree City.

Just then, Dante saw what Valorie did to Lance. Seeing that, Dante could help but laugh at the events.

"Oh man, i can't believe she did that", Dante said with a laugh. "Valorie is such a fan girl."

Dante's Rufflet

Rufflet shock his head and sighed he heard what Ralts said about it's master.

"Fine, I'll take you to see N", Rufflet said to Ralts.

Rufflet moved over to Ralts and grabbed him by the back. With that happening, Rufflet started to flap his wings and lifted off and started to fly toward N's location.

"I gotta question for you, Ralts", Rufflet asked Ralts, knowing that there will be a heavy consequence but Rufflet was ready to receive whatever comes his way, but Rufflet wanted to try and catch Ralts off-guard with the question he was gonna ask. "Why do you not listen to Jason's orders?"

Maxwell

"What? Y-yeah I'm okay." Maxwell said as a new tear started to form in his eye, this time he wiped it off emmideately. "I just remembered one time when I was a kid, my pokemon got a little out of hand when it evolved and it didn't end well." he grew silent, still holding Geneviève's hand, still running.

Quillie

"I ran off so I wouldn't lose my temper" when Quillie heard the Simipour reply to his question, a faint smile stretched over his lips for no reason.

"I did stop here, last time I ran off my trainer almost died trying to find me" Sapphire continued.

"Quil, quil."[Thats terrible to hear.] Quillie said, [Something similiar happend to Maxwell when he was a little kid, not that I was there when it happend, but I've heard about it.] he added.

"Your trainer is probably with her so she won't get hurt, but since that day five years ago I won't let anyone hurt her. I'm just going to say it once, I know she likes your trainer and it looks like he likes her back" "If he hurts her, I won't hold back" Sapphire said to Quillie with a serious look.

"Quil, quil, cynda."[If you think that Maxwell would hurt your trainer, then you are gravely mistaken. You see, Maxwell never really had any friends as a kid.] Quillie made a short break, [So when he likes somebody, he will do almost everything to protect and help them.] Quillie was surprised, he had never sounded this wise before.

Geneviève

Geneviève squeezed Max's hand "I've had something like that happen" she whispered "it was when I first started my journey in Unova, I almost died" she whispered holding his hand as they ran a few tears forming at the memory but she brushed them away.

Sapphire

Sapphire nodded listening to what Quillie was telling her "From what it sounds like he won't, and my trainer isn't the kind to hurt anyone" she paused for a moment "That is my job" Sapphire sighed and looked around jumping to her feet after a minute "I see them" she said to Quille before calling out to her trainer.

Geneviève

Geneviève stopped for a moment hearing a cry of "Simi!" and looked around spotting both Sapphire and Quillie "There they are" she said smiling as her Pokemon ran to her "Sapphire" she whispered letting go of Max's hand to hug her Pokemon.

Maxwell

Maxwell felt Geneviève squeezing his hand a little bit, he blushed and wiped away some new tears that had appeared. But then he froze up, almost stopping dead in his tracks, but he still managed to keep running.
"Wait what?! She almost died?!" he thought horrified. Maxwell shrugged off the omnious feeling that had fallen upon him.

Quillie

Quillie smiled,
"Quil."[Thats good.] he said after hearing Sapphire talk. Quillie liked the Simipour, she was clever, she was full of spirit and most importantly: she listend to him. Unlike that stupid Snivy who was just full of talk and nothing else.
"I see them" Quillie heard Sapphire say, he looked back to find Maxwell and Geneviève running towards them.

Maxwell

Maxwell heard Geneviève say:
"There they are"
He felt her grip of his hand getting looser and looser until she wasn't holding it anymore. Maxwell saw Geneviève reunite with Sapphire. A smile began to form on his face, he had completely forgotten about Quillie.
*Thud*
Maxwell almost fell off his legs when Quillie rammed them, he looked down.
"Oh hey Quillie! Why'd you run off like that? I was very worried about you."
"Quil, quil."[I'm sorry Maxwell.] Quillie bowed his head down to show that he was truly sorry.
"Heh, its okay." Maxwell said, "Hey Geneviève, how 'bout we go and get some lunch? I'm starving!"

Blaze

Blaze waltzed arounf for a bit minding his own bussiness, he was quite proud of himself, actually.

He locked eyes with Xavier who didn't look half as pleased.

Xavier growled and charged at Blaze, Blaze laughed and ran in the opposite direction.

"BLAZE!"

Xavier

Xavier frowned as he searched for Blaze.

She had felt sorry for HIM, how strange, he was so used to being the one to help others yet she showed HIM kindness and offered to talk to him if he needed it. This confused him and made him frown rather than smile. He was also in no mood to have to go out and look for....
Blaze.

There he stood, the cheeky little growlithe smiling happily to himself. He was so dead.

"BLAZE!" Xavier cried and ran towards Blaze, Blaze immediately laughed and ran the other direction.

Xavier and Blaze

The two ran at full speed, Blaze almost tripping people up and Xavier full force shoving them out of the way.

"I'll catch you! Count on it!" Xavier cried.

"Growl!" Blaze growled. What he meant was, I highly doubt it! But Xavier didn't speak pokemon.

Blaze caught eye of Valorie heading towards a stage as he ran past. Unforunately he didn't have time to say hello.

"Hey Valorie!" He shouted over his shoulder despite it.

He saw Mark embarrased surrounded by a crowd of people. Xavier burst right through and ran across the empty battlefield.

"Hey Mark don't look so down!" He shouted as he passed.

The crowd just stared in surprise shock and disapproval as Xavier pushed through, he had no need to think about such things at that time.

He passed Brock but didn't notice.

"You stupid hound!" Xavier cried.

"Pathetic brat!" Blaze growled in his own tounge.

Brock just smiled.

Blaze ran up on a table and Xavier jumped up after him, carefully stepping and jumping over food, however still knocking some off. The two jumped off the tables and Blaze started wiggling his tail in a mocking manner as Xaviers face grew red with anger.

Blaze ran past a simipour and a cyndaquil he recognised.

"Whats up?" He said as he ran past.

"Sorry!" Xavier said as he jumped over the cyndaquil.

The two slid past two boys with a rufflet and ralts respectfully.

Xavier simply nodded as he past.

Blaze was heading towards the medical desk.

He hopped up on it when he saw Thyme, Brian and the girl Xavier made a fool of himself in front of.

"Whats up my grassy little friend, oh and Brian I'd like to introduce you to my trai... Ahhhhh!!!!" Blaze screamed as Xavier leapt full force towards him.

"I've got you now mutt!!!"

Xavier crashed into Blaze and they fell over the medical desk and they both landed in a heap behind the desk.

"Urk...." Blaze said.

"Why on Earth did yo... " Blaze was cut short as he went flying into his pokeball. Xavier had banged his head pretty bad and passed out after that.

The nurse walked out and almost dropped the hyper potions she was carrying.

"Oh my! Whats happened here?" She asked shocked.

OOC:[hi I'm new. My character is Isaac Deladius. He is a new Entei dorm student. check out his SU in the OOC thread if you want. He has a Quilava (Raizer), Trapinch (Ace), and Duskull (specter) .]

Isaac stood at the stern of the boat watching the wake get thrown into the air. He was relatively new to the academy and had already screwed up by missing the field trip. He phoned his dad who called in a favor. An old ranger buddy was able to bring Isaac to Vermillion so he could catch up with the others.

The Kanto port town was only a few minutes away and Isaac was extremely nervous. How would this reflect on what everyone thoughts of him, not that anyone had really paid him much attention. He was a mediocre trainer in the Entei dorm, Why should they bother to?

"Qui?" (what is it?) Raizer asked cocking his head to the side curiously.

"huh? Oh its nothing Raizer no need to worry we'll be in port soon. Then its just a short bike ride to Saffron." Isaac sighed.

He returned Raizer to his pokeball and went to the port side of the ship. The small vessel was just meters away from port. When they finally made land Isaac thanked his father's friend and hurried off the ship. He pulled one of those fancy fold-able bikes out of his bag and set it up then mounted it. He sped through town hurrying north to Saffron.

Bri was waiting for Sel to answer when Blaze suddenly came out of no where. He leapt up onto the nurse's stand. Bri's face registered a look of surprise on his face. Thyme fixed a haughty look on Blaze.

"Wait, trainer- YIPE!" Bri began, but he stopped and shouted in suprise when a boy came out of no where and tackled Blaze, sending both of them behind the counter. He was so shocked he took a step back. Of course, he took a step back on his injured leg, which would not support his weight. His crutches clattered to the ground and he fell on his rear end. Thyme lost her grip and slammed into the ground behind him. Several of his pokeballs went rolling across the floor, two of them bursting open to reveal Nova and Drizzle.

"Oof!" Bri said when he hit the ground. That had hurt. He looked around saw Thyme getting to her feet, rubbing her head and hissing angrily.

"Stupid human brat!" Thyme shpouted as she got back to her feet. She hissed angrily and rubbed her head. Thankfully the floor had been soft. She had not been hurt when she fell from Brian's shoulder. Drizzle went and collected Bri's fallen pokeballs. He fixed his gaze on Thyme and smiled widely at her.

"I'm sorry Thyme," Bri said quietly as he took the pokeballs from Drizzle. He looked at Nova, who had jumped up on the counter and was growling at the boy that had taken a fall on the other end. Thyme shook her head and wrapped her vines around his torso. She surprised him a lot when she lifted him off the ground and back to his feet. She had never been strong enough to lift him like that before. Drizzle picked up the pair of crutches and gave them back to Bri.

"Hey, Thyme. Looks like you've been getting tougher too! Heh, you would not believe how tough I've gotten. I battled four pokemon without healing before I was knocked out!" Drizzle boasted. Thyme cocked her eyebrow at him but said nothing. She instead climbed back to Bri's shoulder.

"That's interesting. I have gotten a lot tougher too," Thyme said quietly. Drizzle grinned. That had been a better response from her than he had expected. Maybe he did have a shot after all! Nova stopped growling and jumped down. He was feeling pretty down. Here were Thyme and Drizzle, both getting really strong. But him... He was still weak. That was why he had left the pack. He wanted to get stronger, not for the pack anymore, but to protect Bri. And he was still weak.

"Say, nurse, is he ok?" Bri asked as the nurse was checking on the boy that had dove behind the counter.

Xavier

"Say, nurse, is he ok?" A boy asked from behind the counter.

Xaviers eyes flickered open, he had a warm towel on his head and he shot upright.

"Huh? Wha? Where?... Oh right, I kinda lost it at Blaze..." Xavier murmured.

"He'll be fine." The nurse smiled.

"Huh? Oh Im sorry, I didn't hurt you or anything right? I just... fire types y'know?" Xavier tried to smile, but his head hurt like hell.

"Urk... I should apologise to Blaze." He opened Blazes pokeball and the small fire type appeared in front of him.

Blaze had a funny frown on his face, the kind a small puppy would make after being scolded.

"Sorry about that buddy, but you shouldn't run off and mock me like that when I get worried!" Xavier said.

"Growl..." Xavier couldn't understand exatly what he had said but he got by the tone that he had said. Yeah I'm sorry too.

"Well alright!" Xavier hoisted Blaze up onto the table, who, still a little dazed, spread out like a rug and had a cutesy face on. However he straightened up when he saw another Growlithe. He had to act presentable in front of another member of his kind, it was the honourable thing for a Growlithe to do.

Blaze smirked at Thyme.

"Sorry for the scare grass snake! Didn't mean to frighten you!"

Xavier rubbed the back of his head and turned to see Selena.

"Oh Selena, hi... I don't seem to be able to appear in front of you without appearing like a total idiot..."

Blaze amirked at this, so Xavier quickly smacked him on the back of the head fast enough so nobody would notice.

Xavier turned to the boy and held out a hand.

"Sorry about that, my names Xavier, and yours?" Wait, wait, wait.... I'm the narator here and even Im confused. Xaviers suddenly socially able? Maybe he hit his head so hard he forgot to be a total mess... yes that seems acceptable lets go with that.

It appeared that Xaviers head trauma had somehow caused him to temporarily forget his fears of others and allowed him to introduce himself properly.

Yup that sounds good.

Selene
"Perhaps...only..." she looked at Bri, and for a wild moment she was sorely tempted to tell him everything – about how the relationship between herself and Valorie had gotten so wildly complicated, how she wasn't sure what she was feeling about it, her suspicions that Mark was purposefully trying to turn Valorie against her because he was intimidated by her...but she bit her lip. Ultimately, she wasn't ready to say these things to the one person who needed to hear them – Valorie – so it would be best for her to keep quiet about it altogether. She sighed and shook her head, rubbing the back of her neck and averting her eyes from Bri to the ground, "I may have just shouted some things at him in a somewhat...uncontrolled manner...in front of people...but that isn't like me really...anyway, you're right, it will sort itself out in time I'm sure." Sel decided to end the conversation on a more positive note and smiled at Bri, her grin widening as he told her who he had beaten in his battle.

"Brogan? Brogan Houghton-Taylor? Oh yeah, I've heard of her. She's a bit...difficult isn't she? But Suicune dorm, Bri, that's really good going!" gushed Selene, reaching out instinctively to pat Bri's head but then, fearing that her gesture could be construed as patronising and condescending she decided to place a hand on his shoulder briefly. She looked down at Ryan, withdrawing her hand as Bri offered to talk to him, watching how Thyme seemed to be irritated with him...but Ryan just seemed totally nonplussed, if anything he seemed totally arrogant and as though he was enjoying having Thyme annoyed at him.

"Overgrown rat? Oh no sister, you did not just go there, that is like well too jigga from a skinny-ass lil' snake runt like you!" laughed Ryan, meanwhile, as Thyme barked at him, "if you don't get the lingo, then maybe /you/ should be the one to get in the game, you get me? I ain't translatin' for no person, no how."

"If you would I'd really appreciate that...it may be that evolution has made some...facets of his personality...more prevalent I suppose, but he just doesn't seem himself...I don't know what he's thinking now like I did when he was a Pikachu. Except the tail of course, he moves his tail exactly the same way, just a little more fluidly with it being longer," she smiled at the familiar swaying of his tail, how she knew that he was up to no good.

"Champions...yeah...Steven would be a good battle..." her eyes averted up to the stage and she saw Valorie and some other blonde kid talking to Lance...Valorie seemed annoyed about something, whilst Dragonair was just looking down at them. Sel frowned slightly...what was going on up there? She never imagined Valorie to be...annoyed...meeting her idol...must be that boy next to her. Selene had to hold herself back from rushing over there to sort stuff out...although...

Her thoughts were interrupted, however, as a Growlithe bolted through the gathering and leapt up onto the Nurse's desk, Xavier not far behind – must be his Pokemon, deduced Sel as she took a step backwards to steady herself, faring better than Bri who was actively thrown backwards onto the floor from the chaos. Before Selene could offer him a hand, however, Thyme was there with her vines and, in a somewhat impressive display, she lifted Bri back up onto his feet.

"Hey Xavier...well, not really your fault was it? I've heard that some Growlithe can be...high-spirited," she said finally, having to consider the adjective carefully and choosing the most empathetic sounding one before turning to Ryan and gesturing with her head. Ryan took the signal and ran up her back, settling himself around her shoulders – boy, this would take some getting used to with his increased size and weight...not to mention that tail! – and Sel nodded to the group.

"I have something to take care of guys...I think I'm going to have myself a battle with the Hoenn Champion...but I'll see you later, and I think that Ryan would enjoy that conversation with you later on Bri," she nodded to both of them before turning away from them and walking toward the stage.

As she approached, and Valorie drew closer, she felt an odd drying within her mouth, and a quickening of the pulse...wow, it wasn't normal to be this nervous surely? But then...a lot had happened today, and after what had just gone down with Mark...if Valorie reacted badly to Selene, then she really had screwed everything up with everyone.

Climbing the steps to the stage, Selene joined the small group, noting how Lance seemed to look up at her in exasperation, as though expecting her to add to the spectacle he had just witnessed, but she wasn't focussing on Lance...apparently.

"Hey Valorie, are you going to take on Lance? Is that why you have Dragonair out? I don't know if it's possible...but she's looking even bigger than the last time we battled! I'm sure she will put up a worthy fight, she's very powerful," she complimented, not quite able to meet Valorie's eyes as she spoke, assuming that the boy next to her had been trying to put Valorie down so that he could battle Lance instead. "I think even Ryan here remembers the last time they battled – he was WHOOPED by Dragonair" she added to the boy as an almost side-thought, "I had to pull out my Ice-type attacks to take down Valorie's Dragonair! But anyway...I'm going to see if Mr Stone would battle me...so I'll see you guys later. Good luck Valorie, good luck Dragonair!"

She threw a dirty look at the boy, practically ignored Valorie, and walked over to where Steven had been talking to Cynthia toward the back of the stage.

Sel, of course, wasn't a shy and retiring wallflower in any sense and wouldn't be at all afraid to march on over to the Hoenn Champ and request a battle with him – the way Selene saw it, she was just going after what she wanted and making it happen for herself – but this was somewhat different. It was almost as though she was on a mission to battle until she herself fainted, as though she was desperate to prove her own worth and strength. Which, in fact, she was. It was as though the battle with Mark had been a mere warm-up, and now Sel really wanted to let loose.

"Excuse me, Mr Stone?" she said strongly, her voice firm and confident as she stood near to Steven as he chatted away with Cynthia. Steven turned his head to Sel and smiled in a somewhat forced manner, a nod in her direction indicating that she should continue. "I heard you announcement, about the showcase battles...and I...I know you said that you were going to choose your opponents but I really feel as though I could put up a good fight against you. And I would very much like to battle you." Her tone was strengthened by an underlying anger, not expressed explicitly, but it bolstered her request for a battle and made her sound even more determined.

Steven looked at her for a moment, sharing a glance with an amused looking Cynthia before returning his eyes to Selene and nodding slowly.

"I trust that you will give me a battle to remember, Miss..?" he asked inquisitively, standing and keeping eye contact with Selene.

"Evans, Selene Evans. And I promise you, I will. So...when are we going to battle...now?" she asked eagerly, having to stop herself from rushing over to the battlefield as it was. Steven seemed amused by her directness and the rush she seemed to be in to get fighting, but of course his somewhat serious countenance stopped him from laughing at her outright. Instead he simply folded his arms and raised an eyebrow at her slightly.

"Of course, no time like the present. Shall we?" he gestured for Selene to move over to one of the battlefields, and Sel nodded with a small smile before striding off, not arrogantly but more with purpose as though she were determined to shine in this battle, to take her place on one end of the battlefield. Steven, after a few moments, stood opposite her and cleared his throat to make an announcement.

Bri nodded at Sel. He smiled at her once he was securely back on his feet again. She seemed to have cheered up quite a bit. That was good. He didn't like his friends to be upset.

"Alright. I'll talk to him later. You go and beat Steven! I'll be rooting for you!" Bri called after her as she walked away. He smiled at Xavier a moment. Thyme shook her head at Ryan before turning to Blaze. She regarded him with a somewhat somber expression.

"Scared? That didn't scare me. It annoyed me when Brian took a tumble, but it didn't scare me. Anyways, these two idiots are Nova and Drizzle," Thyme said smugly to Blaze. Nova walked over to Blaze and sniffed him. Thyme couldn't help but notice that while they both had a very similar posture and attitude, Nova was a tad bit bigger. Whatever, it's not like she cared. Both mutts didn't exactly matter to her.

"What's up?" Drizzle said lazily as he put his paws behind his head. Nova turned and walked back toward Bri, still not speaking. Bri extended his hand and shook Xavier's hand. He had a warm smile on his face.

"Hey there! I'm Brian. Based on what Blaze has been saying, it looks like you already know Thyme," Bri said with a smile. Nova turned and sat down, looking at Blaze and Xavier with an odd expression on his face. Thyme sat down on Bri's shoulder, watching them all with interest.

"So, you know our charming little snake here?" Nova said quietly after a few minutes.

Xavier and Blaze

"You could say we've met...." Blaze smirked.

"Blaze and Thyme had a little, improvised battle of sorts, it was terrible there was lots of pointless comments, lots of anger and moves shot left and right, teacher got involved, wasn't pretty..." Xavier said.

"Yeah, we kinda, had a disagreement... but it's all good now! Right Thyme?" Blaze shot Thyme a half cocky half genuine look.

He sniffed the other Growlithe in reply and nodded his head.

"Pleasure to meet you Nova, you to Drizzle. Im Blaze." Blaze smiled.

Xavier noticed something suddenly.

The champion Cynthia was standing there looking around she looked almost bored, Xavier was totally enraptured by her, his eyes would have turned into hearts if that was possible. He realised he was staring and snapped out of it when he caught the champion looking at him confused.

Xavier as you can see by my wonderful description as narator is not exactly the most... brainy person, lets face it he's not exactly smart or mature but you know the guys heart is in the right place so why not? Heck you can't blame him for having a crush on the most famous female pokemon trainer currently in the world can you? Anyways back to the story.

"Ummmmm.... hmmm, Brian... do you think, if I asked, the champion would agree to battle with me?" Xavier asked.

He lost against a gym leader five minutes ago and now he wants to battle a champion... well like I said at least his hearts in the right place.

Rei let out a gentle cry as Axew charged at her, almost appearing not to notice the attack coming at her. "Ice Shuh-Shard," Skye called softly, letting her release spinning ice crystals toward the weakened Axew. It dodged, landing on the ground wearily. Pala, weak though she was, had done a bit of a number on the dragon with her Bide attack. He growled and without a word, leapt to attack with a Dragon Pulse. "Ah-ha-gain," Skye commanded kindly. Rei was not a battling Pokemon. He knew that. However, he didn't want her to get hurt because of weakness. Besides, she hadn't protested. She sent the attack flying through the pulse, it slamming painfully into the small Axew. It rolled and hit the ground. THe other snarled and returned it.

"Useless," he sneered.

"Ih-hit is nuh-hot," Skye countered, actually looking slightly annoyed. "Yuh-hour Axew dih-did its best."

"Yeah," Rama sneered from the floor, having woken up. "Not his fault you're a jerk."

The other scowled. "Tch... shut up already! Freak... Finish this Kadabra!" He threw out the cat-like Pokemon, who stared defiantly at the opponent. Rei was returned and Ellie, surprisingly, burst out.

She gave the Pokemon a yowl, who snorted and blasted an Energy Ball at her. Ellie glared and ran forward, tail shining silver. She spun herself on her front paws, destroying the attack and continuing to charge. "Focus Punch" was heard over the commotion, and the Pokemon closed its eyes. With a ferocious snarl, Ellie leapt and slammed it over the Pokemon's head, causing it to break its concentration.

"Hah!" she yowled. "Focus Punch won't wo~rk!" Kadabra glowered, now showing a hint of fury. Ellie grinned. She had learned a few tricks from Rama, one being always tick off your opponent. It was like when Thyme, she frustrated herself! She let herself growl a bit at the thought of the plant. If she or Rama got their paws on the little brat, they would beat her senseless. You did not beat up a comrade like that. That went against the unspoken code. She flipped back away from another Energy Ball. The only Pokemon faster than her was probably Rama. He wasn't nearly as versatile though.

"Stay still you little rat! Charge Beam!" The cat fired an electrical beam from his hands. Ellie fired a Shadow Ball in response. But it broke through and the feline went flying back, hitting the ground and rolling.

THe Kadabra's trainer laughed. "Out after one hit huh? Weak."

"Luh-hook closely," Skye corrected. Ellie was shaking her head a bit, not looking too hurt at all. She dove underground, burrowing rapidly.

"Hmph. Confusion!" Kadabra concentrated and lifted Ellie from the ground. Ellie shook dirt from her head and twisted. Kadabra grit his teeth. Stubborn little fox. Ellie forced her head free and fired a Shadow Ball, breaking herself out. Landing on the ground, she smacked the fallen cat over the head with an Iron Tail. To her surprise it lay still.

The opponent was speechless. "What...wha..." Skye grinned.

"Guh-hood battle," the boy acknowledged, causing ELlie to cheer.

"Yahoo!" she cried, spinning in circles and ringing the Soothe Bell. "I WON! Yahoo!" She ran up to Skye excitedly. He let her climb into his arms, smiling a little. The other Entei student didn't speak as he turned to stomp off, growling.

Skye sighed a little, walking over to Ciel. "Gluh-had thah-hat's over." HE sat down and began to patiently place potions and berry powder on Rama and Pala, the latter of whom was asleep now. "Beh-he right back."Rama leapt after his human, growling a little. Ciel nodded, sitting quietly. He felt really anxious now but he couldn't just keep Skye there. He'd be back soon anyone. The older boy didn't notice that his Pokeballs were floating. Raph was snorting in silence. Thank god the young master was too scared to notice.

Skye went up to the healing machines and saw Bri. He healed his Pokemon, Ellie included before heading over. "Huh-ello."

Mark walked around the expo aimlessly for a moment. His own mind wasn't in place... he had never taken a loss like that so seriously before. Just the way he DID lose was humiliating beyond belief. How was he supposed to forgive Sel...Selene for this? He hadn't done anything to Val to turn her against Sel... he never would! They were great friends in general!... well... they were great friends...

Mark had a groggy expression on his face and completely ignored Xavier who made some kind of comment to Mark being down. He didn't feel like making some witty retort back to him and headed to the healing station after a little while. He figured Sel would be there first so he took his sweet time getting there so she would be long gone while he healed his own Pokemon. He didn't even notice Bri or anyone else by the nurses counter. He placed Snype on the counter and returned both him and Able back to their Pokeball's without a word and handed them to the nurse with a angry groggy expression on his face.

"Please just heal them. Quickly if possible." He said with a slightly ticked off tone of voice. He continued to mumble indescribable things quietly. Things that would be better off untranslated.

"Yeah, nice to meet you too... I suppose," Nova said, still a little subdued. Bri looked down at him. Nova was usually so full of life, to put it mildly. Bri had never seen him like this before. He didn't seem dipressed, just very distracted and deep in thought. Drizzle grinned and leaned up against the wall.

"Nova? Is something bothering you?" Bri asked him. He looked up at Bri and shook his head no. He then returned to thinking.

"No, just thinking about something," Nova said. Bri decided he'd best let Nova sort himself out for the moment. He looked up when Xavier asked him a question.

"What? Oh, yeah, I think she would. She looks bored enough," Bri said quietly. He smiled when Skye walked over. Thyme simply stayed perched on Bri's shoulder where she had been before.

"Hey Skye! I'd like you to meet my new friend Xavier! Xavier, this is my best friend Skye!" Bri said happily when Skye said hello. Then Mark walked over. He said nothing and went about healing his pokemon. He was clearly upset. What was with all of his friends getting mad?

"Mark? Hey, Mark! Is everything ok?" he said. He had never seen Mark like this before. Drizzle's expression soured a little bit, but that passed after a fraction of a second. He looked at Thyme with a knowing smile.