goddess of a remnant; (M) [IC]

[ohHeyVaporeon.]

(This is myself and Fuyu's JP! ^^ My post will be bold, Fuyu's will be normal.)

Jayvn wanted to hear what the professor had to say. Honest, he did. However... There was an itching in him to leave, to have young Nai start his journey and get on the road that he could not ignore. He almost felt guilty. None of the others had decided to disobey the rules, so why should he? He certainly didn't want to pollute the young mind of Nai already. No, Nai would need to do that himself. To learn things the harder way. Of course... Jayvn would be there to help, but he wouldn't be the one to guide him down the wrong path.

It was then though, that Jayvn picked up on the arguing that one of the other mentors and her trainer had gotten into. It was the crazy girl, and the... Different mentor. They seemed to be going at it quite verbally. Wait... The trainer... What... What was she doing? Was she leaving? The young girl had made her way out of the back door of the lab and was picking up speed as she went. The mentor followed, although she did not look worried, and it was then that Jayvn got his idea. He could ignore the urge to leave no longer. He couldn't see or hear the rest of the argument, but he didn't need to. He knew they were going to leave, or kill each other doing it... So it was okay for him and Nai to leave, right? No harm, no foul. What was two more people leaving before the professor spoke, right?
If he even spoke.

"Hey... Nai..." Jayvn turned, bending over to look the boy in the eyes. If he needed to, he'd use his eyes to persuade him. No creeper! "I think those two are leaving now for their journey. Do you want to leave now? Or... Do you want to wait?"

Vaporeon danced in circles behind Jayvn, while Jolteon and Glaceon turned their focus instead to Nai's Pikachu. Pikachu. Are you ready to leave? You look like you're ready to leave..." Jolteon couldn't speak, but using emotions he was able to form words and communicate telepathically with Jayvn. So, he tried it here with Pikachu.

"I don't think the professor will mind... He might not even have anything to say!" Jayvn said with a small smile. He'd convince him to leave, if it was the last thing he did.

Nai had been standing there quietly. It was his habit not to fidget, as that was plain rude to the person you were waiting to hear from. Then his mentor spoke to him. Nai was confused. Wasn't that bad manners? Oh... Jen and a lady were fighting. Oh... it was the strong lady. This wouldn't end well. He could feel it. He felt bad for the Pokemon. It didn't seem like it was nice to catch them up in human problems. It was probably why he had trouble with people in the first place. They had trouble being nice to each other. That ws why was taking this journey. He was going to be a hero and show them how to be nice. It would take a long time, but Nai wanted to try. It was the right thing to do and he always had to do that. Mama... his mom had told him to do that. Ooh... Today was a good day so you weren't supposed to think about the sad things. He would always love his mom though, no doubt.
Realizing that Jayvn wanted to leave he pondered it over. Was that okay? The professor didn't seem upset... but... it was what Jayvn wanted so it had to be done. Doing what people wanted was good unless the person was bad. Then you didn't do it.

"We should go," Nai told the elder. "You want to go and Nai doesn't like being indoors."
Piku didn't hear it for a second. Then he heard the voice and glared at the Jolteon. "One. Ask Nai before you enter my head. Two, it's not important to me. We'll go whenever you and your trainer feel like I suppose."

He smiled as Nai pet him. The boy was shaking his head at his Pokemon, telling him to behave. He never would.

Jolteon thought of retorting, even of a simple hiss, but decided against it. This was for the trainers to decide, and not them. They would need to get along, however.

"Nai..." Jayvn frowned a bit, beginning to feel guilt. "Are you sure? I don't mean to pressure you..." Jayvn bit his lip, and continued. "I just have... A feeling, if you will. I have a feeling that you are ready for this. Whether you know it or not, I think you are ready. Of course... And this is just my own opinion and me rambling... I think every trainer knows in the back of their mind when they are truly ready. Which, I guess, would explain why you are here now. Oh, how silly of me..."

Jayvn gave a small chuckle, and motioned to his pokemon, then Nai and Pikachu.

"Let's get out of here while we still can... Hopefully those two are doing arguing now. Otherwise, we might be doing a lot of the ole' duck and cover!"

Nai smiled a little. Jayvn was more nervous than Nai! Though Nai wasn't really nervous, just curious.

"Sure," he said cheerily. "Nai is ready to go with Piku and Jayvn." He followed Jayvn, smiling more.

"Those two are going to be interesting to watch, I know it. Jen is really mean though..."

Piku huffed at the older pair and crawled into his human's arms. He liked the kid's shoulders and head but sometimes it was nice to be carried. Regardless, it got him away from the sight of those Pokemon. They needed to leave him alone. He didn't like elders and their condescending nature. Regardless the human smelled different. Humans gave off certain scents and feelings to him. This one didn't feel like Simon, who was close to him in age. Though Simon smelled colder... Piku could not figure out what was up with him! He smelled so strange.

"I'm glad you're ready."

Jayvn gave a small nod, and ushered for his pokemon to catch up to him.

"Yes, those two are going to be a lot of fun to watch indeed... I have a weird feeling about them, though. Although I'm not sure what that is just yet."

Jayvn reached back into the pocket where he had stored the pokeballs of Jolteon and Glaceon. Pulling them both out, he looked at his pokemon. He was sure that they wanted to stay out, maybe get some more fresh air... But... But... Okay, it couldn't hurt! Everyone needed to get out every once in a while. Besides, if he kept those two cooped up for too long they might come out next time like a Zubat out of hell.

Ew, Zubat. He sure did hate Zubat.

Placing the pokeballs back in his vest pocket, he looked up. The young girl was in sight, but not the mentor. Had she disappeared? Had the Darigans already struck? Jayvn got a feeling of sickness to his stomach that he could not ignore. He had to ignore it, though... The young girl was not his trainer. It wasn't just Jayvn that could see her, either. Well obviously. Vaporeon had been the first to spot the girl, and her pokemon, and he was quite concerned. Such a caring pokemon... When he wanted to be.

Jayvn looked to his other two pokemon, and then over to Nai. Sweet, adorable... Innocent Nai. He hated to do this, he really did.

"Nai..." Jayvn said, with a tone of assertiveness. "I know that she's not... Nice, but I don't know that she's okay. So... Eh."

Jayvn pondered a little more, and then reached into his other vest pocket. He had a sandwich compacted in a small rectangular box, ham, that he had decided to take with him when he went out the door of his temporary home. Walking over quickly to the girl, he placed it beside her. It was then that he noticed her pokemon, but he did his best not to disturb it. He didn't even know if the girl would eat the sandwich... It was just a gesture.

"Okay, okay..." Jayvn said, hurrying back to Nai.

"We really need to go before she wakes up." Vaporeon spit a bit of water at Jayvn's foot, causing a glare to form between the two.

"Anyways... Nai, do you know the name of the first town we'll be visiting? Have you heard anything about the Gym Leader there?"

Jayvn smiled yet again, his face twitching just a bit. A definite sign to stop smiling so damn much.

"If you can't tell me... Not to add any pressure... If you can't tell me though, we might have to seek out some wild pokemon to battle here on the route before we truly start."

Jayvn cleared his throat.

"I think it's about time I see what you have in you, anyways."

Nai then nodded.

"Yeah, our first stop is Oldale Town. There's no gym there though, the first one near here's in Petalburg." He paused a moment. "That one's run by Norman, and he uses normal types like... um.." He knew this, he did! "Zoom!" he exclaimed proudly. "Like Zoom! And he's strong so people wait to fight him. Instead they go to Rustboro, where Roxanne is."
Piku growled. He knew about Roxanne. He did not like her. Nai ignored this. "She uses Rock types and runs the school there. She can be really nice. She was a strict teacher Nai remembers." He thought a moment. "Can Nai fight Pokemon? Piku can't fight Roxanne too well."

Jayvn was surprised. The boy hadn't fell for the trick question! Indeed the first stop was going to be Oldale Town, and again there was no gym there. It was a nice town, lots of nice sights to see, plenty of nice people... Just no gym. Nai was smarter than he looked, certainly. Also, he was right about Petalburg. Jayvn had battled there... Battled there and won. Of course, it wouldn't have been as easy as it was if it hadn't been for Vaporeon and one of Jayvn's other pokemon, Flareon. Flareon was an Eevee evolution as well... Just as strong as Jayvn's Vaporeon. It really had been such a hard decision to leave Flareon behind...

"Rustboro? Ah, yes... Roxanne."

Jayvn gave a small smirk, having a bit of a flashback. Oh, Roxanne... She had been a challenge. More of a challenge that Jayvn thought! Vaporeon was supposed to sweep her himself, just take all of her pokemon out. He hadn't, though... No, Vaporeon dearest had needed the help of yet another water pokemon, Swampert. Oh, Swampert... Jayvn missed him too. He was back home as well, being a bit of a hot-head, and had not made the trip with Jayvn to be a mentor. Maybe the two would be re-united... Maybe. Flareon was less of a hot-head, as ironic as that might be, so he would certainly be the next choice to join the trip. Swampert would have to wait.

"You mean you want to battle pokemon?"

Jayvn gave another smirk of pleasure. "Good. I'm glad. It shouldn't be too hard to... Find an angry wild pokemon." Jayvn looked to Jolteon, who had a bit of a smirk himself.

"Jolteon, use Thunderbolt on that tree... If there's anything in it, it'll fall out."

Jolteon nodded quickly in agreement, lowering his body, and letting a ferocious cry out. "JOLT!"

It was then, as sparks flew from Jolteon's body, that a blast of electricity was let loose and aimed at the tree. It reached the tree in rapid speed, frying every bit of the tree from the ground up. Jayvn being a nature freak of sorts, really hated to do so... But, young Nai needed the trainer, and he'd do what he needed to make sure Nai was ready.

"JOLT!" Jayvn snapped out of his thoughts, and looked at the tree. Just as he thought, a wild pokemon was in the tree. Whatever it was, sure wasn't happy it had been deep-fried...

Nai visibly pouted at Jayvn. "Mi~ster! Don't hurt the tree!"

He gave the man a defiant look before he heard an angry squawk and a Pidgey went soaring out of the air, followed by the thump of something pink with many legs. The bird was squawking madly, its chirps furious as it flapped its singed wings. Nai stared at it. Then his eyes brightened.

"Piku!" he cried excitedly. "It's Pidot!"

Piku blinked and grinned menacingly.

"Yeah... it is. How's my favorite chew toy?"

"Spare me cheese-eater." the bird snapped, glowering. "Dear Moltres, of all the damned human-Pokemon pairs I run into, I have to run into you."

Nai blinked at Pidot. Did he know what he was saying? Yes he did. He had bonded with the irritable little Pidgey, but only a little. So he couldn't tell very well. So he was slightly saddened. "Are you mad at me Pidot?"

"Dear Mew I am not going to be called Pidot," the bird snarled, flapping a gust all around its body.

"Especially not by a dumb chimpanzee like this hu-" he was electrocuted abruptly as Piku tackled him with electricity surrounding him, rolling over on the ground and pinning him by his wings. Piku's black eyes were livid as he began to beat down the small bird with his tail.
"No insulting my human!" Piku snapped before being sent flying by a gust.

"Make me mouse," Pidot taunted. Piku growled and glanced at Nai. Nai had been watching in confusion for a moment before nodding a little.

"Piku, Thunder Wave!" Piku pointed his tail to the air and released a weak electrical wave all around him. Pidot avoided it but just barely. Piku then leapt to his back paws and tackled the Pidgey again, releasing a Thundershock.

"Filthy tricks!" Pidot spat and Piku snorted.

"Whiny."

"Huh?"

Jayvn had again been daydreaming and hadn't noticed that the cordial conversation between Nai and the Pidgey had turned into an all-out brawl between Nai's "Piku" as he called it and the enraged Pidgey. Jayvn could hear the growl of his pokemon, but he ignored him. He was watching Nai. Jayvn didn't know if Nai had even been in a pokemon battle, now that things had escalated to such, but now was the time to learn. Jolteon's growl grew louder, no doubt eager to get himself involved in the battle, but again Jayvn ignored it. This was Nai's moment, to win or to lose...

"Maybe this kid can battle after all... He's got spunk!"

Jayvn gave a grin to his pokemon, all still growling, but calmed instantly by the look of happiness on his face. Whether it was Nai, or it was Pikachu, there was a certain amount of strength that had just been exerted in that battle. However... It was then that it clicked. Nai had instructed Piku to use Thunder Wave, as he had, but then he'd used Thundershock as well. Okay, so for the moment it was all Piku... He hadn't really disobeyed Nai, he had just... Well, okay, moving without the order of your trainer is still bad, but... Jayvn would let it go this time. This time alone.

"This Pidgey's not quite out of it yet... Make sure you're on your toes, Nai."
The statement was really meant for Piku... Jayvn wasn't about to admit that, though. He didn't feel like being on the end of one of those Thundershocks.

Nai nodded silently, barely listening. Pidot was back on his talons, flying over his head too easily despite the paralysis.

"Nyah nyah," it gloated. "Can't catch me ya stupid cat toy!"

Nai frowned. Pidot had always been rather mean... maybe Piku could take him down a notch. Piku watched him fly and snorted. Pidot paused and swooped down, intending to peck at Nai's head. He didn't like the little kid much, mostly because of his pure heart. Those sappy, happy, innocent humans ticked him off.

Nai moved at the sight of the bird, keeping it in his sights.

"Piku!" He called, "Let me throw you!" Piku nodded and ran into his arms, letting Nai throw him up in the air with as much strength as he could muster. Piku couldn't maneuver in the air but he could slam Pidot out of it. The bird squawked as it fell. Piku landed on his tail, yowling in anger. He jumped back to his feet, causing Pidot to screech and charge at the mouse.

"Thundershock!" Nai called happily and Piku let electricity burst from his bruised appendage, causing Pidot to fall. He tried to get up but only managed to get on his talons, wings paralyzed.

"You will pay for this," Pidot growled. He weakly spread his wings and charged. Piku barely dodged this, glaring as the gust the bird unintentionally created sent him flying.

Jayvn continued watching Nai battle, watching as the boy came up with the creative tactic of throwing Piku into the air towards Pidgey. At first Jayvn thought that the idea would never work, but to his surprise it worked with a relative bit of ease. Jayvn no longer doubted the strength that Nai had... or at least the possibility of a growing strength. He had a lot of tactical strength; the throwing of Piku was a perfect example. Not just that, but Piku was one of the strongest "starter pokemon" that Jayvn had ever seen. Definitely impressive.

"You're doing good, Nai... You're doing great!"

Jayvn could sense the tension in the air between Piku and the Pidgey, but he tried his best to ignore it. Jolteon was making it bad enough, still growling and sending jolts of electricity flying from its body. Vaporeon was hissing, and Glaceon was digging his feet into the ground as if to pounce, but still Jayvn ignored it. It wasn't their call, nor was it his. If things got out of control, then he would step in. That was the thing to do, right? Unless of course, Piku was taking too much damage... He seemed fine, though. He seemed it... Would Nai ask for help if he needed it?

Oh, stop overthinking it Jayvn.

"Nai if you need me... I'll step in. You and Piku are doing great! Fry that fuc-! I mean Pidgey!"

Nai didn't hear the curse, being too focused on the battle. Piku dodged another Tackle, cheeks still sparking. His eyes flashed and so did electricity, causing Nai to cheer. "Go Piku!" PIdot squawked and flew up again, causing him to fall over. Nai felt no fear. But then... he was confused. He turned toward Jayvn in confusion.

"Um... Mister?" he began hesitantly. "I forgot how to open a Pokeball. Piku doesn't have one so I don't use them much."

Pidot snorted. "Stupid human." Piku glowered and zapped him.

Jayvn watched with satisfaction as Piku finished off the Pidgey, feeling a great sense of pride in both Nai and his Piku. Then he heard Nai's confusion over opening the pokeball.

He smiled.

"Nai, take a pokeball out like so..." Jayvn pulled out Jolteon's pokeball, showing it to Nai.

"While it is still in it's smaller form, press the center button. This will expand the pokeball, and make it easiest to catch Pidgey."

Jayvn grinned, then paused, slapping his forehead lightly with his free hand.

"OH! And throw it at Pidgey... Once it hits him, it will bounce back and open, basically sucking him in."

Nai nodded, enlarging the Pokeball and throwing it at the twitching Pidot. It opened and sucked the Pidgey up in a white light. Piku shook himself of the dirt and tottered back to Piku. As the ball closed Nai let out a worried cry.

"Is Pidot okay? Can he breathe in there?" Nai went to pick up the sphere, only to jump back when it shook. Nai had never seen a Pokemon captured before. He had always worried what happened to them inside.

Piku snorted. "The idiot's fine."

"Piku..."

Jayvn smiled as he saw the pokeball shaking. With all the damage Pidgey had sustained, he just knew that it was going to be caught.

"You and Piku did an awesome job, Nai. I'm impressed. You're a very good team."

Jayvn looked to his Eevee evolutions, all quite now, and then looked back to Nai. "These guys over here wanted to step in... I knew you had it, though. Piku is a very formidable opponent." A look of worry still found it's way across Nai's face, though. It had always been hard to hide for Jayvn.

"Are you ready to start towards our first town? Or do you think you want to battle some more? And don't forget to grab your Pidgey!"

Oh, Jayvn. Such a fatherly young man.

Nai looked at Jayvn oddly. The encouraging words were nice but... Nai knew better than to be bolstered by them. They made you in trouble. They got you hurt because you didn't pay attention. That was the downfall of all heroes: pride. Nai was quiet, patting his smirking Pikachu's head. Piku was a scary opponent. He backed down from nobody, threw every bit of himself into the fight, and fought dirty when he had to. Nai knew that. Nai knew a lot of things, things people thought he didn't or couldn't know. Nai picked up his Pidgey and shook his head.

"What does Jayvn want to do?" Nai asked softly. "It's his journey too."

He smiled a bit and added, looking obliviously happy.

"And we did not do very well. Piku has a type advantage over Pidot. Besides they have fought before. Piku just paid attention more."

Piku let out a small squeak-like laugh. Nai took this too seriously sometimes.

"I feel like, if you're ready... Then I am ready as well."

Jayvn looked at the young boy and gave him a whole-hearted smile.

"There are things that the two of you could stand to improve, I won't lie... That is every team, though. I'm still learning better tactics myself!"

Jayvn chuckled and looked again to his pokemon. There was no greater truth than what he had just said. Vaporeon, while strong, could take a whooping, or could escape a battle unharmed. Most times he escaped battle unharmed, but there had been instances where Jayvn had let him take too many hits. Too many hard hits.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be, right now. We can take this journey, and learn together. There are a lot of things I'd like to show you."

Nai was confused. Okay Nai was usually confused but this guy spoke way too deeply for his young mind to comprehend. Poor Nai. Piku growled and snorted.

"Just what are you going to show him?"

Nai did not yell at Piku this time. He was way too confused about everything else. Piku hopped away from his human and looked at Jayvn. He growled once, indicating annoyance and suspicion. Then he went over to Nai, who picked him up.

"Hey Mr. Jayvn?" Nai asked in a small hint of shyness. "Can the people in the Pokemon Center fix Piku if he doesn't have a Pokeball?"

Piku snorted. "They'd better or I'll sick the pincushion on them. You know Pidot and girls."

"It's not his fault Piku!" Nai exclaimed with a small pout. "That lady was a big meanie! She was not right at all."

"Like I care," the mouse said dismissively. "His flight feathers are way too far up his butt."

"Piku..." Nai shook his head.

"Yes Nai, they can fix him." Jayvn smiled and looked at Piku. "If all else fails, I can give you a pokeball for him. Although I'm not sure he would like that very much." Jayvn looked at his own pokemon, digging around in the pockets of his emerald vest. "Speaking of which... I probably need to return these guys, before they don't want to go back!" Jayvn gave another flashy grin, pulling the three intricately designed pokeballs from his pocket and pushing the center button on each to enlarge them. "Jolteon, return!" Jayvn tossed Jolteon's pokeball at his softly, watching as the red light sucked Jolteon in quickly. Glaceon was almost the same, although trying to run at first, but to no avail.

Vaporeon was the real challenge.

"Vaporeon, come on... You need some rest. Don't make it hard." Jayvn pulled at his tie a bit, frustration showing in him voice just a bit. "If you don't... I'll drag you by your tail!"

Vaporeon growled a bit, even giving a pouty face. "Vapor, vapor... Vapor!" Vaporeon nudged Jayvn's hand, knocking the ball from his hand. Prancing over to it, Vaporeon nudged the button and it open. He was quickly sucked inside. Jayvn smirked, picking the ball up and looking at Nai and Piku.


"See... I told you Piku might not like the pokeball all that much."

Piku snorted. "We knew that genius."

Nai didn't say anything. Piku climbed up to his human's head.

"So..." he drawled. "We goin' anytime soon?"

Nai blinked. "Mm... Piku's right. We need to go. The routes are bad at night." Piku rolled his eyes at Nai's innocence. There was something off about this guy... too bad he didn't know what it was.

"Not exactly it kid..."

A thought occurred to Nai. "Um... What are we gonna do in Oldale?" Nai was probably not going to press the mentor thing yet. He was innocent enough to take things at face value sometimes.

Jayvn replaced the pokeballs in his pocket, and looked ahead.

"We'll just need to stop by my temporary home on our way out, so I can get my bag. Other than that, we're good to go."

Jayvn then listened to Nai's question, at first unable to come up with an answer.

"We probably won't do anything. There isn't a lot there. We might be able to stop and eat, but other than that... We'll most likely just pass through."Jayvn nodded his head once more, as if agreeing with himself on something. "If you get tired of the travel, we can stop there and sleep. I have a feeling you and Piku like a good adventure, though. So let's get going!"

Nai nodded quietly. "Let's go!" he said with a tiny smile.

"A hero cannot stand still." He walked ahead and then stopped, looking sad. Then his expression cleared and he looked at Jayvn.

"Um... Where can I catch a Trapinch? And where are Absol at?" He looked worried. "Is Nai asking too many questions?"

Piku rolled his eyes then a familiar blur of brown and black shot across the pathway, berries in its mouth. "Hey look it's Zoom!" The raccoon was watching them and waved a paw, scampering over.

Nai turned away in surprise. "Hi Zoom!" The boy tilted his head. "What are you doing here?" He thought the raccoon had a schedule he adhered to.

The Zigzagoon laughed. "Like I'd miss that bird getting his tail beat! Nice goin!" Nai smiled.

He turned to Jayvn and smiled. "This is Zoom!" he introduced. "He's good at finding treasure! He knows where all the thieves are too! Just ask him and he'll find it!" He was likely the only Zigzagoon who could speak human speech as well, though he avoided it most of the time.

"For the right price," Zoom smirked, waving.

Jayvn smiled.

"Nice to meet you there, Zoom." Jayvn bent down to the level of Zoom and whispered to him softly enough that Nai could not hear.

"Just what is this price? I might need some... Information from you."

To make it look as if nothing had been said, Jayvn gave Zoom a polite pat on the back. "I used to have a "Zoom"... She's back home with my sisters and brothers, actually. Such a lady, she is."

Jayvn smirked, and looked back down to Zoom.

"You know, you're more than welcome to join us on our journey, if you want... As a bit of help? That is, if you want."

Jayvn gave Zoom a look of secrecy, nonchalantly placing a finger before his lips.

It might be nothing, or a small something... In the back of his mind though, he had an odd feeling that they were being watched.

Please be wrong...

Zoom grinned. It had been. A long time since the Zigzagoon had encountered a person who could catch the hints, so to say. Not since Nai actually. He mouthed the word "Berries" and paused, thinking. Then he added simply.

"Food." He tilted his furry head and let Nai scratch it, now thoroughly ignoring the older human.

"I'd love ta my man," Zoom commented. "Just no ball."

Piku growled a little and Nai shivered. "Someone's here," Nai whispered sadly, as though he felt bad for them. Piku huffed and twitched his ears.

Jayvn looked at Zoom and smirked. Berries? Food? That would be easy. Jayvn had plenty of that in his bag.

"No ball? Deal. I've already fought with one over the ball, so I won't make you go into a pokeball." Jayvn then turned to Piku, hearing the growl clearly. He then turned to Zoom. Kneeling back down to Zoom, he took on a serious tone.

"Zoom... Is anyone here? If you've seen them, what do they look like?"Jayvn dug for a few berries in his other pocket, pulling out six Sitrus berries. "I hope that's fair payment till we get to my bag."

Nai spoke up suddenly. "There's someone here," the boy mumbled. "And they feel bad, like..." he couldn't think of what.

Zoom ignored the berries. "Yeah that guy's here, the weirdo blond. He drops by twice a day. Sometimes he talks to kids. The kids aren't there when I get back but he might be."

"This is where the kids go away," Nai said childishly yet wisely. "Here and Route 103. It's why there's a curfew and stuff." he ignored the exchange between Jayvn and Zoom; it was business talk.

"Yep." Zoom agreed. "Easiest place ever. Ya gotta be careful."

"Weirdo blond?" Jayvn paused for a moment, albeit clueless as to who "weirdo blond" was."Is he hiding? Watching us? I might just have to... Introduce myself."

Jayvn looked to Nai, hearing what he said. "I feel like I should've known that... I was too careless." Jayvn slowly eased his hand back into the pocket of his vest. "I might have called them back to early..." He glanced at Zoom. "Just how strong is this guy? Have you ever seen what he can do?"

Zoom shook his head. "No way dude. I only see him on my rounds. The dude's a creep. I ain't much use yet anyway."

Nai looked nervous as Piku glared everywhere. "We should go," he whispered.

Zoom nodded and shrugged. "Kid's right. We're close to Oldale. Doubt he'll come out now. Besides, Nai looks a bit spooked."

"Have you heard of the Darigans, Zoom?" Jayvn made sure to whisper "Darigans" especially quiet, as to not alert Nai or Piku. "Do you think... He's one of them?"

Jayvn looked back to Nai again, who was indeed looking spooked. "Nai, Piku... We're going. We'll stay in Oldale for the night. He pulled Jolteon's pokeball from his pocket, releasing the spiked pokemon into the air once more. He picked up on the situation almost immediately. Growling, small bolts of electricity coming from his body, Jayvn gave Jolteon a small nudge."Not here Jolteon, not now. Stop." Jolteon nodded, calmly down almost instantly.

"It's safer to stop in Oldale, don't you think Zoom? I know I'm the mentor here, but you seem quite skilled in this area. I trust you."

Zoom nodded. "The dude stays away from the city. I saw that. And..." he dropped his voice but knew Piku had heard it all. "I've heard human stuff... Creepy stuff man... Not safe fer the delicate ears yanno?"

Nai frowned and shook a little. "Okay..." he whispered, eyes full of shame. He felt like such a coward, running at the first sign of real danger.

Piku squeaked in his ear, nuzzling his cheek. Nai was really confused and upset now. Poor emotional kid. Zoom remained in the boy's lap. He wasn't sure about Nai but Piku would want answers when they got there. Piku glared. "Come on."

"When Nai goes to sleep," Jayvn started, cupping a hand over his mouth now, "We'll discuss it when Nai is asleep... Maybe Piku has some insight too, if he'll talk to me."

Jayvn then reached over to Nai, patting him on the back. "Hey, it's okay. We got this... We won't even stop for my bag tonight, we'll just get it tomorrow if we have to." He smirked. "I might just leave that one there, and buy a new one. Not like it has anything in it besides a book, some pokeballs, and food. I can get that all in Oldale or Petalburg."

Standing back up, he looked around once more before proceeding forward. "Just follow my lead. Unless, of course, I head the wrong way. Then correct me." Jayvn laughed a bit, and started on his way. Only time could tell what was coming for them, but for now it was too early to get into any trouble. Nai and Piku just weren't ready. Even Jayvn didn't fully feel ready.

Brave face Jayvn, brave face...

Nai nodded a bit. "Kay..." he followed Jayvn silently, shaking his head. He bit his lip. This was silly. He couldn't be scared. Mama was watching Nai... It was going to definitely be all right. Plus Piku, Zoom, and Mister Jayvn were here too. It would be okay. He blinked in confusion and shivered. The eyes were on him.

Piku glared at the human. Dude was hiding something. How dare he limit him? Piku needed to know all he could to protect his human. And Nai was innocent not dumb. He was well aware of what was happening. But he kept quiet.

Zoom simply nodded. "Chillax man."

Jayvn marched quietly through the darkness, fear not an issue. He had traveled through many a long, dark night, and he had came out okay. Well obviously! He was sure that it was scary for Nai, but with the determination and strength that his Pikachu had there really was no reason to worry. Piku was wise. Not just that, but Jayvn's pokemon were as good as Nai's. They were there to protect him, too.

Meanwhile, Jolteon was listening to the frustration that boiled on in Piku's head. "Permission to speak, if I may?" Jolteon sent telepathically to Nai and Piku. The Pikachu had said to ask the human... So, he asked both.

Such a smart ass.

Nai glanced at the Jolteon and nodded silently. He was staring at the sky wistfully. The stars were beautiful. Piku grunted, turning on his human's head toward Jolteon. "What's up?" he growled slightly irritable. Nai was too bothered to scold him.

"Jayvn is hiding it from Nai, not from you. He has plans to tell you. Or I can tell you, if you cannot wait." Jolteon looked at Jayvn, then at Nai. "There's a reason he's hiding it. He doesn't want Nai taking his journey in fear."

Piku glowered. He saw the point... but... "Tell me later," he stated quietly. "However, keep your human well aware: security can lose freedom. Worse, it could lose trust. I doubt it'll happen..." Piku sighed. "And you need to be afraid to be brave."

Jolteon could see Piku was frustrated, and he understood. Jayvn was supposed to mentor, yes, and protect, yes... Secrets though? Eh... Maybe not so necessary early on. "Obviously, I know that. Jayvn will tell Nai when he feels that Nai is ready and can fully... Understand it. He doesn't want to cause fear that's not needed." Small shocks fired from Jolteon's body. "We ARE afraid to be brave... Jayvn is only so brave. A lot of it is face talk. He's doing it for good reason, or reason he feels is good."

Piku snorted. "I can see that," he said placidly. "Just be careful. Nai will get it." he turned to see his human staring at a tree. "What are you doing?"

Nai pointed. "Bug." There was a sleeping Wurmple on the branch. "It's a Wurmple," he said softly, delightedly. "It's cute."
"
Careful," Piku muttered. "They bite. Come on." The human hurried on.

"I see lights," Nai stated after a moment. Oldale Town couldn't be far now.

"We will be as careful as one can." Jolteon noticed Piku watching Nai, and then watched his own trainer. Jayvn was just strolling along all merrily, happy as one could be in these circumstances. Weird? Maybe? Effective? Definitely. Jayvn had always been one to look on the brighter side of things when it came down to it.

"Lights?"

Jayvn turned to see Nai stopped, eyeing a Wurmple, and then what looked to be Oldale.

"That wasn't far of a walk at all... Easy as peas!"

"Yeah," Nai agreed with a tiny yawn. He had been up early this morning due to another surprise in their otherwise useless garage: baby Poochyena. He had never been all that interested in breeding but it was a magical thing. Piku patted his head.

Jayvn looked at Jolteon, who seemed to be really chipper for some reason. Raising an eyebrow, but not saying anything, he continued on. He knew that Jolteon was able to communicate thru words a little telepathy, but he had never been quite sure about whether or not he was able to do so with other pokemon. If such was the case... Then had he and Piku just been communicating? Jolteon certainly looked guilty.

Oh well, no time to sweat it now.

"Just a little more to go... I'm sure we can find a nice place to stay. Just as long as we get out of all this darkness."

Without question, he pulled Jolteon's pokeball from his pocket once more and returned the pokemon. They would have to have a talk later.

Nai nodded a bit shyly, grinning at the sight of the light. "Up there Mr. Jayvn. Up ahead. Let's go." Piku glanced up at Jayvn a moment, then down at Zoom. The Zigzagoon leapt from Nai's arms. He grinned.

"I'll catch you all later," he said. "I've got some rounds to make. Info to get, berries to eat, items to find, ya know what I'm sayin'?" He hurried off into the lights of the town.

"Bye Zoom," Nai called lightly. "See you later." He turned to Jayvn. "Zoom will be back later," he said earnestly. "There's probably good scents up ahead."

Piku snorted as Nai yawned again, the boy almost toppling over. "There's always a good scent for him." Seeing his human falling asleep standing up, he groaned. "Just a bit longer buddy..." Too late, as Nai hit the ground, snoozing lightly. Piku shook his head. "Silly kid."

Jayvn was determined to not think too much about the task at hand. Not with Piku around, at least. He didn't want to lie... There was really no reason to lie. Still, in his heart, he knew that letting Nai or Piku know too much might hurt them in the end. Nai, while a bundle of joy, was naive... Piku, on the other hand, was not. He was the brains, the brawn. If he thought that there was too much risk involved in this, then he would surely convince Nai that maybe they should give up training till things calmed down. Or something of the sort. Nai was capable of handling it just as much as Jayvn was... Piku would just have to held him dig deep and find it within himself. I mean, not to get all philosophical and stuff...

"Nai...?"

Jayvn whirled around to see Nai passed out in the grass, Piku beside him.

"Piku... Do you mind if I pick him up? Carry him? I don't feel like stopping right here's the best idea..."

Jayvn bit down on his lip hard, looking around.

"Yeah. I definitely don't think this is a good place to stop."