Rochelle briefly considered the available options. She could agree and let Simon scan Iskra later on, when he was out of his ball in the middle of training; or she could let him out now and make sure he was alright after the battle, in addition to allowing Simon to check him with his Pokédex. The latter seemed to be the better option: two birds with one stone, as it were. She doubted that the Pokémon Center staff would object to Iskra's presence.

"Tell you what, you can scan him right now, if you'd like," she suggested to Simon, opening Iskra's Poké Ball as she did so. The Wool Pokémon materialised in the usual ray of white light; he took a moment to look around the Pokémon Center before turning his attention to Rochelle. "Maa?" he said quietly, looking up at his Trainer as he nuzzled at her leg with his nose.

"Hey, buddy," Rochelle answered, her tone of voice changing to one of affection. "How're you feeling? You got banged up pretty bad back at the Gym."

"Maa. Mareep, maa," Iskra answered after a few seconds, looking down at the floor. He had what sounded like dejection in his voice. The little guy seemed to be down about the loss. Rochelle reached down and began to scratch him behind the ear to comfort him.

"It's okay, Iskra. We'll go back sometime, and we'll show Misty how much we've improved since we lost," Rochelle answered. Iskra seemed to perk up a little, though she had no idea if he understood a word she was saying. A small smile on her face at her Pokémon's reaction, she looked over at Simon to introduce Iskra to him. Off in the background, the double doors to the Pokémon Center slid open, and a familiar-looking figure walked in accompanied by an unfamiliar Pokémon, brown-and-gold in colour.

"Iskra, this is Simon, a friend of ours. He's with the rest of the group... and there's Tyler, remember him?" she added, giving the other Trainer a wave as he walked past with his strange Pokémon. It bore similarities to his Abra, Geist... had Geist evolved? She made a note to ask Tyler later, turning her attention back to Simon. He hadn't recognised the name Rochelle had given her Mareep. The Pokémon in question was regarding Simon with a somewhat inquisitive look. He wasn't sure whether to investigate the new person or not.

"The word 'iskra' means 'spark' in Russian," she explained. "I learned a fair bit of the language from close friends of the family who spoke it. They began to teach me when I was younger. It's not often you hear foreign languages, I think, and Pokémon seem to understand them just as easily as English."

Jordan watched as Tyler walked off following his victory. He was going to offer some congrats and ask what the heck happened in the middle of the battle, but he was gone too fast. He looked around, he appeared to be the last one to face off against the ginger leader.

"OK, is there anyone left? Are we done here?" Misty asked, hoping the answer was yes. She would not be as lucky.

"Uh, I'll go, I guess. Might as well right?" Jordan asked rhetorically. He moved over to the official challenger's platform. "Uh, so yeah. I'm Jordan, and like, I challenge you, and stuff."

Yes! That cutie from last night is going to battle. And he sounds really stupid. Just how I like them. At least if he's not stupid enough to see what I'm trying to do. How do I make sure I get him to take me out though... "Hey Jordan, how about we make this battle a bit more interesting, huh?"

"Uh...what do you mean?"

"Well, if you beat me, you're going to get all this great stuff for winning. Don't you think it's fair that I should get something if I win?"

Jordan was still unfamiliar with the whole gym procedure that dictated that leaders had to give out prizes regardless, so this made some kind of sense in his mind. "Yeah, OK, I guess."

"OK then, so how about if I win, I get to pick something from you that I want?"

Uh, that's kind of weird. Like what does she want? My frying pan? "Um, but what do I get if I win?"

"How about I double your prize money?"

Jordan understood money very well. "OK! Yeah! Let's do it!"

Misty smirked. Haha! Perfect. Even if I lose this match, I'll just say he should use his new found earnings to take me out. I can't lose! "All right, let's make this quick then. Go Goldeen! Corsola!"

Misty tossed two Pokeballs into the air, as flashes of light filled the pool. One materialized in the water splashing around a bit before revealing a fish that matched the color of the light with orange blotches all over it. It would have looked silly if not for the intimidating horn on it's forehead. "Goldeen!" it cried. The other Pokemon appeared on top of one of the floating platforms in front of Misty. It didn't look like it was done when the face appeared attached to a pink and white blob, but the spikes that jutted out of its head showed that even if it didn't look like it, it would be a tough opponent. "Corsola! Corsola!" It cried. "Choose your two Pokemon then!"

Jordan fumbled around in the pockets of his sweatshirt, before pulling out two of his three in use Pokeballs. "OK bros! Let's do it up!"

He through out his own Pokemon, one landing right on the platform in front of him. The raised arms and roar as the green came into focus revealed his starter, Vince. "Scyyyyyther!" Awwwww yeah!. The other flash of light remained suspended in the air, fluttering back in forth before Vicky emerged. "Zubit-BITzubitbit!" What's going-SUN, not dealing with sun!

Jordan looked at the pool confused. Where is Spike bro? I was going to have him come out, since he's like crazy and stuff. I gotta label these dang things, like-AH! Jordan's kiddie train of a thought process was derailed by the sound of something smacking into the back of his head. Zubitbit! Getting away from sun!

Jordan grabbed his default second choice and brought her in front of his face. He looked into its....ears, since eye contact was not possible. "Vicky, broette, you gotta like, get out there! Sun or that won't stop you. You can totally do it, k? Make me, like, proud and stuff, OK?"

Bit! Fine. Vicky flew out of Jordan's hands and back onto the battlefield. "OK, so like bros, Attack!

Meanwhile, Misty was trying not to let her amusement crack her gym leader's facade, but it was hard in her hungover state. This is great. He doesn't even know what he's doing! I'm going to win this one for sure!

Vicky unleashed a Supersonic wave towards Goldeen, while Vince took off from the platform, flying across the water to get a Quick Attack in on Corsola.

Even with the faint pounding in her ears from the cries of the combatants, Misty knew that this would not end well for her opponent. "Goldeen! Dive underwater!"

As the Fish Pokemon followed it's command, Vince arrived at it's teammate, ready to deliver a blow to the Coral Pokemon. However Corsola held its ground, and Vince connected, then seemingly bounced off the pink Pokemon. Vince landed on a platform near Corsola's, wondering what went wrong there.

Misty chose now to go on the offensive. "Goldeen! Show Jordan a real Supersonic on his Scyther! Corsola! Rock Blast his Zubat!"

Goldeen leaped out from beneath the surface in front of Vince, and once facing the Mantis Pokemon, shot it's own Supersonic wave at him as it fell back into the pool. It smacked Vince straight in the face, leaving him just as confused as his trainer. But that salvo was tame compared to what Corsola had in store for Vicky. Orbs of light began forming in circles around the growths on it's head, rotating around, shining brighter as they hardened before being fired at Vicky. Vicky tried to fly around them, but between the sunlight and her relative inexperience in battle, she had no chance. Vicky got slammed by the flying orbs, sending her spiralling towards the pool. She managed to pull out in time before hitting the water, but it was clear that it was a struggle for her to remain in the air.

"Dude, like what just happened there?" Jordan asked, not sure how things turned this badly this quick. He had been living a semi-charmed life in his battling career and now it was all catching up to him at the hands of the more experienced Water user. "Come on Vicky! Do that Supersonic thing on them! Vince bro, try that Pursuit thing you did before, at Rock Bro's gym!"

Vince tried to shrug off the Supersonic, but his world was spinning right now. Up was down, right was left, apples were rocks and he was his own worse enemy. He held up one of his scythes, trying to hit his head into staying still, but all he accomplished was dealing himself a nasty cut across the face. Vicky meanwhile tried to follow orders, but staying aloft was challenging enough. It finally got a weak Supersonic blast off but the only thing it would confuse is anyone who was expecting an attack. Goldeen didn't even have to move.

The sunlight was still getting to Misty, so like her other battles there was no mercy in this one. "Let's finish this now! Goldeen! Hit Zubat with a Water Pulse! Corsola! Use your Rock Blast on Scyther!"

Goldeen struck first, it didn't even have to jump considering how low Vicky was flying. A ball of water formed in it's mouth growing to about the size of a softball. It lobbed it towards Vicky and connected sending the Bat Pokemon crashing into the pool, and one didn't have to be a genius to know that a flying Pokemon that wasn't flying wasn't going to be battling. "Vicky, come back broette." Jordan said dejectedly as the red beam enveloped Vicky, returning her to safety. This left Vince in a dangerous 2 on 1 situation. However, it wouldn't be in this situation for long. Corsola had charged up another batch of blasts. These ones rocketed towards Vince and hit it twice as hard as they previously hit Vicky. Just one hit had Vince crying out in pain, but they kept coming. After the fourth hit, Vince couldn't take anymore, and he fell backwards onto the platform, unmoving.

"I think that's the end of this one!" Misty said, raising her hand in victory despite the pain it caused in her head from the effort.

"Dude, weak..." Jordan returned Vince to the Pokeball. It was his first ever loss and he couldn't feel worse about how he did. Barely even scratched his opponent's Pokemon.

While he was busy taking this defeat in, Misty had returned her two Pokemon and made her way as quick as possible without letting the sunlight get pass her sunglasses over to where Jordan was standing. "Well now, seems I won. Now what should I take from you?"

Jordan reached into his bag and pulled out his frying pan. "Here. It's the most valuable thing I got."

"Ummm, I've got enough frying pans thanks," Misty told him. "Hmmm, how about you just buy me dinner instead? That sound fair?"

"I guess so-"

"Great. You can meet me at the door in the back around 7:30. I should know what food I'm in the mood for by then."

A loud crackling pierced the air in the gym and sent Misty's hands up to her ears. A loud voice boomed over the intercom. "ATTENTION! THE CERULEAN CITY AQUARIUM IS NOW OPEN! PLEASE FILE INTO THE BUILDING IN AN ORDERLY FASHION FOR TODAY'S AQUATIC SHOWS!"

"Ah the hell! Damn it Lily!" Misty's hands were not leaving her head. "Ugh, my head. That's it. No more battles today! I'm done! I'm going to the back!"

Fary heard this and stood up. "But wait! I wanted a rematch!"

"DON'T CARE!" Misty shouted on her way to the back. "COME BACK ANOTHER TIME!" She threw one of the big double doors in the back of the pool area open and headed out to the safety and relative quiet of the inner sanctum of the gym.

Jordan headed over to where Red, New Guy, New Girl and Fary were. "Well that sucked. Should we like head back now? To the Center? I think my bros are hurt to the max."

Aeris watched as the others battled against Misty. She felt sorry for Rochelle because of how badly she'd lost, and the same was applied to Jordan. She was happy for everyone else who had battled and won. She still didn't let go of the feeling that she had won against the Water type gym leader. She just felt so good with herself. Blaze was happy as well. Tristan too, though perhaps not as happy as Blaze. It was a considerable accomplishment for a Fire type to win against a Water type. And a powerful one, too, like Starmie had been.

Aeris nodded her head at Jordan's question. "Y-yeah, lets get back t-to the Pokecenter. B-Blaze and Tristan require some h-healing, after all." She returned Blaze and Tristan back to their Pokeballs, having forgotten to do so earlier because of her victory. She headed off for the Pokecenter before the others could have a chance to follow her. She just wanted to get out as soon as possible, though she had stuck around to watch the rest battle.

Outside was still a bright, sunny day. Perhaps she should have let Blaze be outside her Pokeball? But she needed healing, plus she'd be let out of it shortly after the healing. She headed inside the Pokecenter, walking straight to the counter. "Good day. What can I do for you?" Nurse Joy asked Aeris. "My Pokemon need healing. Just finished battling Misty..." Even when saying it, she couldn't believe it. She couldn't stop smiling as she thought over the battle. She handed over all her Pokeballs, because it didn't hurt for her other Pokemon to get a healing as well. "Congratulations on that. I just need your name, then you can go and take a seat." the nurse told her. "Aeris Crimson." Aeris answered. "Alright. Just give us a moment or so and your Pokemon will be all healed and ready." Aeris nodded and turned around to look around inside the center.

In one place there was Mika sitting and doing bugger all. And in another place there were Rochelle and Simon, and she noticed Tyler was in there as well, not in the same place as the other three were, it would seem. I feel bad for Rochelle, and Jordan too... They fought their hardest, but it wasn't enough. And Misty's Pokemon hit so hard...

She took a quick look at Rochelle, and she didn't seem as down about her loss as Aeris would have imagined. Perhaps she and Simon had been talking? Whatever the case was, she decided to go over to Mika. She sat down beside him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I am so glad that's done with. Got a neat badge, a TM and some money out of it too." Aeris knew those weren't the only things, though. She felt that this might be just the first step towards getting over her fear of water. She would need to battle other Water Pokemon eventually, and it wouldn't do to just cover in fear and hope the Water Pokemon would leave on their own. Sometimes, battle was inevitable. Right now, though, she wasn't concerned with that and just snuggled close to her boyfriend.

Aeris didn't want to think about the TM she got from Misty at the moment, but since Mika brought it up... "I don't think I will be using it right now. I'm going to at least hold onto it. It might be useful for later, and perhaps in the future I'll have gotten rid of most of my phobia, so I would be able to use it then." She snuggled closer to Mika.

And then, to her surprise, Mika said something that startled her a fair bit. She let go of him for the moment and sat up. She didn't know how to respond to him. However, she didn't know if she felt the same. She wasn't sure since she'd never been in love herself.

There were a few moments of silence from her, then she turned back to Mika. "I'm sorry, but I can't say back that I love you. I can say that I really like you, and that I would like to continue what we have. And I would really like it if I am able to say in the future that I love you. But I can't lie to you and tell you something that isn't true. I hope that doesn't hurt you. Because I don't want to hurt you." She was practically on the verge of tears, but not quite about to cry. She put her hands over Mika's and looked him in his eyes, trying to smile. "Lets just continue with what we have and see what the future has in store for us, okay?"

Simon knelt down began to shift items around in his pack. "Hello Iskra." he greeted the Pokémon while he looked for his Pokédex. "Just a minute..." In between a sock and a Potion he found the device upside down. Simon turned it so the viewer was aimed at Iskra. He waited for the Pokédex to register the unlock. It only took a second.

	179 Mareep
	Wool Pokémon
	HT 2'00"
	WT 17.2 lbs
	Its fluffy coat swells to double when static electricity builds up. Touching it can be shocking.

'Wool Pokémon...' That made sense. "Spark." Simon muttered. He eyed the Pokémon's wool. An uncomfortable image of it covered in miniature lightning bolts formed. 'It certainly fits.' he thought, pocketing his Pokédex as he stood. "That's creative." Simon said. He offered a brief smile to Rochelle.

Recalling that Rochelle mentioned Tyler, Simon looked around for him. He found the trainer had reached the front counter. 'Geist evolved.' Which hopefully meant that Tyler's battle had gone well. It definitely meant that Simon had one more scan to do. 'Later.' he noted. The small Abra had certainly gotten a lot bigger. Which seemed to be a pattern. 'Glad they fit in their Pokéballs, otherwise we'd need a truck to transport them all.'

"Yeah, all right, let's go," Jordan said, following after Aeris. The remaining members of the party followed after them. Luckily for Jordan it was a quick walk to the Center. He hurried in, up the counter, getting his injured party onto the table. "Uh, yeah, my bros got kind of hit hard there by Misty," he admitted. "She, like, destroyed me."

"It's OK," the Nurse Joy on duty assured him. "We get that a lot. She can be a fiery gym leader at times. We'll have them back to you as soon as possible."

A slam came from a door near the counter. Terinth came charging out, bag slung on her back. "Hey Blondie," Jordan asked. "Where are you going?"

"Home," she replied tersely. "I can't stand you guys anymore, or this continent. I'm going to take the Magnet Train to Goldenrod then ferry out of Olivine. So whatever. I'd say it's been fun, but it hasn't." With that, she walked out of the door of the Pokemon Center.

"Jeez, she needs to like, mellow out," Jordan noted.

LATER THAT DAY.....

The sun was just starting to set on Kanto as 7:00pm rolled around. The city was starting to quiet in preparation for the meagre amount of nightlife it had to offer to emerge.

Jordan was in the lobby of the Pokemon Center, not thrilled with the prospect that he would have to buy dinner for two tonight, what with his meagre amount of spare cash on him, but still it was better than the alternatives. Plus there was an added benefit. So rock Bro dude gets his stones off with Fary, Misty wants to have dinner with me. Is this the way things work in the Gym system round here? Does Janine have to play flirts with every dude who walks through? Didn't know that was part of the job description...

After lunch at the Pokémon Center, a brief check-in with the other Trainers to see what was happening that day, and a trip to the Cerulean Poké Mart to stock up on Potions, Poké Balls and other medicines, Rochelle had spent the whole afternoon training north of Cerulean. It turned out that Jordan needed to stick around, as he had to have dinner with Misty as a result of a lost bet. Terinth had left, apparently heading home: Rochelle wasn't entirely sure what to make of that. Apparently it hadn't been fun travelling with the rest of the group. Still, it was Terinth's decision and Rochelle respected it.

There had been other trainers sitting around on the bridge between the city and Route 24: determined to make up for her loss that morning, she had given their Pokémon a sound thrashing. With each match they participated in, Iskra and Phoenix seemed to regain a scrap of confidence until they were back to their usual selves. The last Trainer on the bridge handed Rochelle what looked like a lump of gold after she beat him... that was bizarre. Why were people just handing these things out, she had wondered. They could be valuable, selling for a fair bit.

The oddity of the gold aside, and the lump stashed in her backpack for later, Rochelle had pressed on north of the bridge to train her Pokémon. Her Pokédex gave her constant updates on their general health, battle techniques and how tired they were as a result of battling. Each of the four had proven to be good in battle against some of the wild Pokémon hiding in the grass: each of Kirsten, Phoenix, Iskra and Natalya received over an hour of training focusing explicitly on them. They seemed to enjoy the one-on-one attention Rochelle gave them; she was trying to raise them evenly, though, and did her best to make sure she wasn't neglecting one in favour of another.

There were, of course, difficulties with training. Wild Abras that Rochelle occasionally encountered frustrated her; all they did was teleport away before she could give instructions to her Pokémon, wasting time that she could have spent on honing her Pokémon's talents. Kirsten and Iskra struggled to beat many of the Grass-type Pokémon in the area, as the wild Pokémon had natural resistances to electric shocks and blasts of water. Kirsten did enjoy picking off the smaller bugs like Caterpie and Weedle, though, and there was a good patch of grass right next to the water, so that was where she trained.

As the sun began to set, Rochelle headed back into the city to rejoin her friends. All of her Pokémon were out of their balls, walking or flying alongside her with the exception of Kirsten who was comfortably nestled in Rochelle's arms. She felt that they all deserved some time out in the open after putting in such good efforts earlier that day.

Rochelle's had her Pokégear's radio playing as she walked: her Pokémon seemed to take interest in the sounds coming from the built-in speaker. She enjoyed listening to the radio; there were two good stations that stood out from the mediocrity of the current generation of music. In particular, she liked the music by the band Full Restore: their latest song "Incinerate", featuring a trio of Fire-type Pokémon, had fallen short of the number-one spot on the charts, though, in favour of three of the many, many songs made up entirely of a turntable, drums and repeated lyrics that had no real meaning to them. The music industry was so strange.

One of Full Restore's other pieces, "Trick Of The Light Screen," began to play. A smile set itself on Rochelle's lips as the lead guitar's introduction, a simple tune that was supposed to resemble the melodic tones of the Psychic Pokémon Kirlia, reached her ears. She made her way towards the Pokémon Center, intending to grab some dinner and give her Pokémon a decent meal as well before returning them to their balls for the night.

Aeris had spent most of the day training her Pokemon and letting them obviously rest in between. They didn't need much more training at the moment, or at least not Blaze and Tristan. But it didn't hurt to train some more. She was giving Ekans and Xal some extra training. They were both doing fairly well against opposing Pokemon, wild or trained ones. Aeris occasionally walked back to the Pokecenter to let her Pokemon heal there if they got very injured. Thankfully that happened rarely.

Aeris was at the moment sitting against one of the trees just north of Cerulean City. All her Pokemon were lying in the grass to relax after a session of training. "Good work, everyone. I think a treat is well deserved for everyone." All five of her Pokemon were glad to hear that while staying on the grass.

Jordan couldn't help but overhear the conversation that Fary was having, and from the sounds of things, there was more than Rock Bro to be worried about when it came to people Fary had been with. Jeez, how many guys has she been with? Like dude, really hope this isn't some Natalie case where everyone finds out she sleeps with everyone at the same time. Totally awkward bro, totally.

Fary sat down on the bench next to him. Meanwhile people were getting back from their days training. New Girl was walking through the door and he though he could see Rochelle outside. "So...uh...Fary," he didn't really know how to respond after such a conversation. "How's things?"

"Harsh," Jordan answered as he sat there. Fary went all negative on the situation, which made Jordan think, for a change. Huh, maybe she was, like telling the truth. She totally thinks Misty is better than her, and she's all crying and stuff. I dunno. I dunno if I want to give her another chance, risk catch some of Rock Bros shit.

"I dunno, Fary. Like whatever, I just dunno." He looked up at the clock in the Pokemon Center. "Anyway, I gotta go do this date thing now. Lates." He got up, sidestepping the battle that New Girl's Pokemon seemed to be having with each other, and left the Center intent on getting his date started. Maybe I can learn how to beat this chick while I'm at it.

Cerulean at night was a lot quieter than Jordan expected it to be. Sure, there were a couple of couples going around on the streets, there was a girl desperately trying to get a Slowbro to do something intelligent, but other than that, nothing. It was a little weird. Fuchsia was always busy at night, if only because of the crowds going for beach bonfires, or to keep his dad at the Safari Zone late by going on midnight hunts.

The lights led the way back to the gym. As he got to the main entrance, he remembered Misty wanted him to come in the back door. Heh, heh. Coming in the back door....wait why is that funny? It took him a couple minutes or so and he had to climb a hill but he found the one Misty meant. There was a doorbell and everything. He rang, and waited for an answer.

It came in about 10 seconds, but it wasn't the fiery redhead answering. This woman had blue hair and was much older than Jordan. "Uh..." he said, confused. "Is, like, Misty here?"

"Oh?" the woman asked. "You must be like, her new little crush, huh?" It was a true meeting of the minds. "Like, come on in tiger, she'll be ready eventually." She beckoned Jordan to follow and he did. The woman leaned into a nearby stairwell and called down. "Misty! Your boytoy is here! Hurry up and like, stop trying to fix what you totally can't fix!"

"Shut up, Violet!" came the reply. "And he is not my boytoy, damn it!"

Violet laughed. "She's so totally into you right now, you know that right?"

Jordan shook his head. "Uh, I guess? Like really that quick? I've been getting that a lot in the North. It's not like Fuchsia at all."

"Oh, you're like one of those Southern boys? Hot, I know a couple guys from down there. We had a cottage near one of the Seafoam Islands, it was totally awesome."

"Yeah, I've been there, it's pretty sweet."

"Yeah, totally, well anyway, enjoy what time you can with Misty until she finds someone else. She usually does. I still don't think she got over that kid from Pallet."

This was unwelcome news for Jordan. Great, another girl with old relationship issues. Why can't girls just let things go? I mean, it's not that hard, right? There was a clomping coming down the stairs that indicated that Misty was ready. As she emerged from the stairwell, it was apparent she was looking much better than she did when taking challenges. The blue jacket and yellow shirt combo worked better than expected, and her hair had been straightened out, though it still curled at the end. She kept the aqua theme going with a pair of blue shorts and finished with a pair of sneakers. It wasn't exactly going out clothes, but Jordan appreciated that she just seemed to be taking this casually.

"Geez Misty, don't you buy like, any new clothes?" Violet chirped. "Or are just spending all your gym earnings on double vodka and lemonades?"

"Violet, shut up!"

"I'll shut up when I see you wearing a different outfit. Or like any clothes that I would consider passable."

"Like I would take any fashion advice from you! You dress like a hippie!"

"Whatever, Misty. Just go out and enjoy yourself OK?"

This whole back and forth thing between siblings was lost on Jordan, being an only child and all. He just played with the tooth hanging around his neck until they were done.

"All right then. I'll probably be back later."

"Sure. I'll believe it when I hear it."

"Shut up, Violet! Let's go Jordan!"

Jordan took this cue to exit, as most people would. "OK, later Violet."

"Later, you two."

Misty practically dragged Jordan out the door. "I'm really sorry about my sister," she explained. "She likes to tease me and doesn't know when to stop. She's a bit stupid like that. I hope it wasn't too insufferable for you."

"Nah it was all right," Jordan assured her. "She seems nice."

"It's an act."

"Whatever, anyway, where did you want to get food at? Cause, like, I don't know any places here."

Misty thought for a second. "How about the Riverside Lounge? They got good food."

A Lounge? That sounds like, expensive. Still Beach Code is Beach Code. Gotta do it. "Yeah sure, let's go there."

"Great! It's not that far from here just a few blocks. It's got this real nice view of the river..." Misty explained more about the place the two were going to as they began Misty's prize from the day.

"Yeah, I was thinking of getting them healed and giving them something for their effort. Blaze and Tristan in particular after their victory in the gym." Aeris stood up and walked over to Mika, wrapping her arms around one of his and kissed his cheek. "Lets head back." She didn't feel like putting her Pokemon in their Pokeballs at the moment. A bit of walking would do them good, the ones that walked at least.

The question caught Aeris off guard. Why did he ask that all of a sudden? At the moment, she thought that if he were to ask it at all, it would have made more sense to ask when they started dating. But they hadn't been together for that long anyway.

"Why do you ask that? You make it sound almost like you think I'd be better off with someone else. Though I doubt you want to make it sound like that considering what you said earlier today." Her smile went away for the moment. It was just a shock to her to hear that question, and in that tone.

"I agreed because...I'm not sure. I honestly don't know. This is my first relationship. Maybe it's because you're so darn cute?" She giggled at that. "No but, I'm not entirely sure. Maybe I feel that we might 'click', so to say. Or rather, considering our first Pokemon, we 'ignited' something between us." It was a stupid phrasing and she knew it. She couldn't find anything better though. "I wasn't even really looking for a relationship when I started this journey, but here we are. If I were you, I'd consider yourself lucky to get someone like me. Not saying you wouldn't be able to get anyone else, but rather that there's no one like me." She giggled again, squeezing Mika's hand lightly and smiling towards him.

Aeris pulled out her map of Kanto and took a look at it. "Well, I don't know, really. It would be likely that we'd go to Saffron, but according to some trainers I spoke with that came to Cinnabar to challenge Blaine when I was still on the island, Vermillion is next. Though, I am interested to see what's north of Cerulean City." she said as she traced a finger along the map. "And there seems to be another route that leads to a powerplant. Might be worth taking a look, if I had any Pokemon that could fly and carry me." She might have beaten Misty, but she'd still much rather fly than swim on a Pokemon.

Aeris put the map back into her backpack. Her five Pokemon were still walking along with Mika's behind them, using some time to train a bit more against the wild Pokemon around while the two were walking.

Noticing Eileen and Alan, Aeris waved towards them as she and Mika walked into the Pokecenter. Aeris put all her Pokemon back into their Pokeballs and handed them over to the nurse. She waited for Mika to hand over his before she'd sit down with him.

It started as a shared exercise between Pennant and Brynn. Simon had wanted to train them both, as well as get the two opposing type Pokémon used to fighting as a team. Shadow had good instincts, and would help his teammates unprompted. Simon wanted to make sure that the idea of teamwork was shared. They needed to be more than solo combatants.

The plan began simple, with Simon sending Pennant after a lone Caterpie and Brynn after a Rattata who was attempting to hide in the grass. Now after several breaks and a short nap the female Pokémon were finding opponents to battle before Simon even noticed the grass stir. They made a game of who could find an opponent, for the other Pokémon, (at Simon's insistence) the fastest.

*Bzzzzz*
*Zzzz*

"Pidg!"
*Shrra*

The currents opponents were two Beedrill. Who despite being the same type of Pokémon were not very interested in working together. They were more interested in getting rid of the two Pokémon who'd interrupted their meal. Or their nap. 'Do bugs nap?' Simon wondered. He was a bit wary of the creatures himself, recalling his own brief interaction with them. Up close and personal was one way to describe it. Painful was another. But he'd learned a lesson from that fight.

"Brynn, use Poison Sting. Pen use Gust!" Simon gave the commands quickly. It was rather enjoyable training without some evil cooperation minion getting in the way. And without the pressure of a gym battle to deal with. "Same attacks, but rotate. Go!" Simon's two Pokémon began their attacks but upon execution aimed for the other's opponent. The technique caught the Bug Pokémon off guard. This process repeated itself for several more minutes. A single opponent sudden become a different opponent entirely, or sometimes Pennant and Brynn would attack together.

When the battle was over the Beedrill duo lay unconscious on the ground. Pennant had her clawed foot on top of one bug Pokémon, Penn had one clawed hand pinning down the other bug Pokémon. Simon still wasn't certain where his team had gotten their 'victory poses'. He wished briefly for a camera.

"Well done you two." Penn gave a short cry and launched into the air. Simon's arm was already extended, ready to take the Pokémon's weight as she landed on his shoulder. Brynn prodded the Beedrill one last time before following.

"Are you two hungry?" Enthusiastic replies met the question. Simon raised his arm quickly to let Pennant return to the air. He held up Brynn's Pokéball but the Sandshrew shook her head before he could ask if she wanted to be returned. "Alright. Let's go back to the Center." Where food and supplies awaited.

Time had had passed by rather quickly under the clear night sky that had moved in over Cerulean. Trainers were ending their regimen and returning to the places that they came from, the active night crowd were heading down South for fun and excitement, and one could do a little celebrity spotting, if they were outside the Riverside Lounge at nine. Misty and her boy du jour were emerging into the warmer than normal evening.

"That was really nice Jordan, thank you. Did you enjoy the food?" The Cerulean leader asked Jordan as she held onto his arm.

"Yeah that was all right. I'm used to more like seafood, then riverfood, but the trout was good enough," he answered. He tried to stretch his free arm, but it was hard keeping balance with the woman hanging off him. "Plus that wine wasn't really for me. Glad you seemed to like it though."

"I know right! It was just so good! But fuck me, let's talk more about you! I can't believe you're that into the water! Living on the beach, surfing, the total look! Why aren't you using a Water Pokemon then? You should have gotten one living there!"

"Ah, I just started up pretty recently. Vince bro is my first one, and I haven't really seen any like Water Pokemon around, you know? Otherwise totally I would catch one for sure."

"Maybe I can give you some help! I know a bit about reeling in a catch or two, and about rod selection, if you catch my drift..." Misty was already using an effective Leer attack, scoping out the man next to her and tried to go in for the KO with Attract. Too bad Jordan's power is Oblivious.

"Uh maybe, like fishing would work right? But I dunno, I think the group wants to like get out of here soon. We had like some bad karma going through Mt. Moon, I think Rochelle is still a little shaken from it, so like yeah, they want to go on."

"I see." Misty was disappointed, but only for a moment. Eh, I could use the one-nighter anyway. "Well then, I guess we'll just have to do what we can tonight to make it memorable. It's still pretty early. Got any ideas for what you want to do this evening?"

"Well if we go anywhere else, can it be like, for free? I really don't have much money now since you like beat me and ate on me. No offence, like, happy to do it, but still."

The red-headed gym leader thought for a second. I can't bring him home now. Violet and Lily are probably still awake, and they would just have a field day. There are no good places in town that are free...except...yeah that could work. There's probably nobody up there right now. Awesome. I'm so smart. "Yeah, yeah I might know a place, if you're up for a little walk."

"Yeah sure, I could walk a bit, burn off that meal, totally. Lead the way, Misty."

Yes! The Cape's going to live up to its name tonight! "Awesome, it's up on the other side of Nugget Bridge, then a little bit of a hike but it will be worth it."

"Cool. You mind if I let Vicky out while we do it? I kinda need to make things up to the broette after earlier when you totally wiped her out."

"Yeah, go for it." Misty clung tighter to his arm. "I don't mind."

Jordan reached into his pocket at hoping he had the right ball, released his Pokemon. For once he guessed correctly as the fluttering Zubat appeared in the air. Zubitbit! Zubit! Zubitbitbit! What happened? Is it night? Yes! Awesome night! Finally!

"Vicky broette! Just like stay close, you know? Don't need you going off like, in the mountain or anything, k?"

Bitbitbit zubit, zubit. Zubitbit! I'm still mad at you for earlier, but fine. I'll stay close. You're lucky! Vicky flew off ahead of the two, towards the bridge.

That Zubat will probably keep the Wild Pokemon away anyway. Less chance of an interruption. Sweet. "So, you ready to go now babe?"

Babe? I think Fary used that too. Weird vibes... "Sure, let's go." The two made their way to the bridge and onward towards the most notorious make out point in all of Kanto, Cerulean Cape.

Having eaten and fed her Pokémon as soon as she got back to the Pokémon Center, Rochelle was now trying to take it easy for the short while she had before she went to bed. The key word there was 'trying'. As the sky darkened in preparation of the night to come, she felt herself start to become a little uneasy for sone reason. Sitting on her bed in the accommodation wing of the Pokémon Center, she paid no attention to the comings and goings of the others. Rochelle undid the knot in her bandana, stuffed it into her pack along with her Pokégear, and ran a hand through her slightly messy hair.

Unbidden, her mind began to wander. She remembered the dark and dank caves of Mt. Moon: even with Iskra's tail acting as a small lightbulb, the place had been gloomy. The small passages, the dim lighting...

The Team Rocket members. Rochelle shivered involuntarily, a cold feeling spreading through her as she recalled their faces and the events that had followed soon after she had met them. The darkness outside suddently took on a more oppressive look, like it was about to rush through the windows and kill the lights, plunging the room into darkness. With that thought, Rochelle's thoughts turned to the closet she'd been locked inside...

That memory wasn't a good one. She shuddered again, now incapable of turning her thoughts elsewhere no matter how hard she tried. It had been a tight space... she didn't want to relive that. It was too much. But Rochelle wasn't in control. She couldn't do anything to put her memories aside.

All of a sudden she was trapped in the closet, afraid for her life, her friends and her Pokémon. Tears were streaming down her face as she hammered on the door, a futile attempt to get out or to draw someone's attention. But even if she escaped, where would she go? She didn't know where she was.

Rochelle froze on the edge of her bed, eyes staring blankly at the floor.

Her naivété had gotten her into this mess. Team Rocket had her Pokémon, and now they had her as well. What were they going to do with her? Or to her? They had put her to sleep once before, so what would happen if they did it again? Would she even wake up a second time?

This was it. The end. She would never see her family again, nor her friends new or old. She wasn't going to get out of this mess, she had nowhere to go -

Rochelle let out a quiet whimper. Not in her memory. In the present. The sound abruptly threw her off of her recollection; she realised where she was. Cerulean City. A peaceful place. She had her friends and her Pokémon. She had no reason to worry over yesterday's events... but she couldn't help herself. The darkness outside had brought it all back to her. She couldn't face it. She had to be away from it, in a room that was brighter. Bright lights meant she was safe, her irrational mind told her.

Leaving her pack sticking halfway out from under her bed, Rochelle hurried out of the communal bedroom and back into the main hall of the Center. There she took a seat on one of the benches, resting her chin in her hands as she tried her best to rid her mind of her memories. Part of her said that such an act was impossible. They were too strong, too recent; a single day had passed since the Mt. Moon incident had taken place. That wasn't enough time to forget it all.

Aeris had fallen asleep on Mika's shoulder. All the excitement after winning against Misty had taken a lot of her energy, combined with how she'd been tense from having fought her, given her fear. However, she suddenly woke up now for no reason other than Blaze pulling on her jeans. "I didn't realize I was this tired." she said and yawned.

Her Pokemon had been healed earlier and retrieved. Then she'd given them the treat she was talking about. Her specialty, the only thing she could make really, something she called Spicy Treat. It wasn't a very creative name, but it was her thing and she'd name it what she wanted. Spicy Treat didn't lie, it was spicy. Which is why she only made it extra spicy for Blaze. All her other Pokemon were careful about eating it, not all of them used to eating something spicy. Blaze happily ate hers. Tristan , surprisingly, liked spicy food as well, which worked for him. Aeris only found out about that when he asked Blaze if he could taste hers and and she noticed that he liked it. She made it extra spicy for Blaze, sure, so there wasn't much left to make it extra spicy for Tristan. She'd remember it for next time, though.

Blaze had pulled on Aeris' jeans since she wanted her to not fall asleep at a wrong time. "Charmeleon char charme." Really now, you're that tired? Although I can't blame you. Aeris giggled a little. "Heh, sorry." "Char char char charmeleon." Anyway. Do you have any idea what the next gym will be? "No, not really. After all, I didn't even know that the second gym would be. That's why I'm making sure you'll all be strong enough for the next gym." Blaze nodded and went back to Aeris' other Pokemon, who were all just happily playing with each other inside the Pokecenter. Even the timid Ekans. Aeris smiled at that and snuggled closer to Mika.