Xatou Quest

[Stu]

They now were headed to Cyan village. They first had to go through a deep, dense, marshy forest, called Ogera Woods.

Tai got his foot stuck in the mud. He tried to pull his foot out, but nothing happened. He sent his Buneary out to try and help him out, but Buneary got stuck herself. She couldnt get out of the mud. Tai then sent out his Treecko, in hopes that Treecko would find a way to help, but he climbed on top of Tai's head and wouldn't come down.

The others seemed to have ways of getting through without getting stuck. Tai was the only one who was having trouble getting through. He then noticed that Aidan looked ghostly. He realized that the rumors he had heard about were true. Ghost pokemon love to trick the trainers who pass through these woods.

Meanwhile Aidan struggled to get through, but knew he had lost everyone. He stopped for a moment, and realized he had been walking in circles. The ghost pokemon must have been tricking him.

Marcus and Scott were still together, and saw their friends lying dead in the mud. They quickly got to their dead friends, but as they got closer, the bodies disappeared into thin air.

Finally Lina and Ellie, who had also gotten lost together, found a path leading to an old, crusty home. Inside, they found a plusle and minun, both abandoned. Lina wanted both Plusle and Minun in her party, so she gladdly accepted to take care of them.

Everyone finally made it to the end of the forest, where they all were being chased by the ghost pokemon. One Haunter stopped Tai in his tracks, trying to lick him into paralysis. Tai hastily dodged the tongue, and Treecko bullet seeded the haunter to keep it away. As they left the forest, they found a big prairie area, with an old looking village across the way.

"That must be Cyan Village." Marcus said aloud.

"Let's go!" Lina said, taking the lead.

They entered the town, and the towns folk looked at them with strange faces, as if they were ghosts.

[spiritchan]

As Tai and Aiden tried to talk to one of the townspeople about lodgings, Marcus noticed Ellie was standing off by herself with Jett in her arms. He wandered over to her.

"So, what's up?" he asked. "You've seemed a little down since we left Beige City." Ellie looked up at him, and let Jett down from her arms to play with the other pokemon.

"Oh, it's nothing..." she lied unconvincingly. Marcus didn't fall for it.

"C'mon. I know you're down, it's written all over your face." he prodded. "You can talk to me about it, if you want. I mean, I know we don't know each other very well--"

"It's ok, thanks." Ellie interrupted. "It's just... I'm concerned about that kangaskhan." She trailed off. After a moment of silence, she looked back up at him. "And....your group of friends remind me of the ones I left behind back home." Marcus gave her a sympathetic smile.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll see them again soon. But in the mean time, you can stick around with us!" She smiled kindly at him.

"Thanks, Marcus." Just then, Tai came bounding up.

"Good news, guys! I found us a place to stay!"

"Where?" Scott asked. Tai giggled gleefully.

"It's called the Rusty Lodge, and it's just up the road a ways!"

And with that, they set off.

~~~~~

"This is the Rusty Lodge?" Aiden said coldly when they arrived. The gang was standing in front of, literally, a rusty lodge. Rusty and run-down.

"....I didn't think he meant it was literally a rusty lodge..." Tai admitted blankly as he stared at the lodge.

((ANIME FALL))

"Well, I guess it's better than nothing. I'm sure there's a few rooms that are good enough to camp out in tonight." Marcus pointed out as he picked himself up off the ground.

"Yeah, and we don't even have to pay!" Tai put in. Aiden smacked him upside the head. "Ow..."

"Then let's get set up. It's starting to get dark." Aiden said, and they followed him in through the creaky door, which fell off its hinges when Tai tried to close it behind him.

"My bad..." he apologized.

((anime sweat-drop))

As the gang explored, Ellie looked back over her shoulder. She just hoped Team Snaggem didn't follow them here.

((OOC: OK. for whoever writes next, if you add in Team Snaggem, put in that they're really there for Ellie's eevee, cuz she stole it from them or something. but let me write the part where she admits it.))

[Stu]

Tai awoke in the middle of the night. He went to go to the bathroom. While he was in the bathroom, he noticed a weird picture of ancient looking ruins on the wall. At the corner of the picture it said, Cyan Temple. "I wonder if those are real... if they are, we should check them out..." He thought to himself drowsily. He then snapped awake, flushed the toilet, and ran down to a near by store, to talk to the clerk about a map to get to the ruins. Luckily they had a map, and he was able to buy it for cheap.

The next morning, Tai explained to the gang about the ruins and how they should go check them out. The gang eventually decided it would be nice to go check out the ruins, and maybe learn something about ancient pokemon.

As they travelled into the ruins, they noticed somethhing was wrong. A man came running out of the Temple in a panic. "T-t-t-team S-snaggem! Th-th-they're here! Th-they are after Ho-oh! The whole team is there, including the six commanders and the boss! They said something about taking a rare eevee, and taking Ho-oh in one big plan!" he said.

"Not on our watch they won't!" Tai said as he threw all his pokemon out, ready to battle.

"Oh no..." Ellie said under her breath worried.

"Do you guys really think we can take out the whole team snaggem team? I mean we may have faced clowns at first, but... I mean if their commanders are here... and their boss-" Marcus said only to get interrupted.

"We don't know until we try!" Aidan said as they all started running in to the temple.

As they entered the temple, they saw there were four paths. "Aidan, come with me down this path. Ellie, take Lina and go down the left path. Scott, take the path facing northish, and Marcus, take the southern one." Tai commanded. They all took their seperate paths.

A man in the shadows, wearing torn black clothing, scurried along the shadows of the temple, distracting Team Snaggem's thugs and floozies outside to look for him. That way, the gang could get to the boss easier without having to worry about too many battles with unimportant peons. Though they did not know eachother, the mystery man knew he had to help them save Ho-oh.

As Tai and Aidan ran down their passage, they were suddenly attacked by a beam of fire being shot at them.

"Too bad this is your guys' unlucky day! We like to fight dirty, as in we throw out all our pokemon to fight you! Commander Zeli and I aren't as nice as the other commanders!" A red and black based commander lady said.

"Commander Lunami is right. We fight dirty!" Zeli shouted.

"As you can see, my Ninetails, Raichu, and Dugtrio. Are ready to take you out, along with my Zeli's Dragonite, Aron, and Glaceon." Lunami said.

"Alright, then I'll just have to fight dirty too!" Tai said as he released his Treecko, Buneary, and Pichu.

"I'll take Zeli, Tai, you take Lunami! Go, Abra, Larvitar and Dratini!" Aidan exclaimed.

Meanwhile, Ellie and Lina ran down their path, and encountered two strange looking Team Snaggem members. They had badges, so they must have been some of the commanders.

"I'm commander Elsh!" said the one that seemed to be pink and black based.

"And I'm commander Tira!" the other one, who was purple based said, "Prepare to lose! Purugly, go!" She then threw out a Purugly, a big fat purple cat.

"And I'll bring out my Persian!" Elsh said. A big white cat pokemon came out of the pokeball, and was ready in a fighting stance.

Ellie and Lina both got ready to fight. Jett jumped out of Ellie's arms and got ready to fight. Lina brought out her Mudkip.

"Wait a minute... isnt that THE Eevee? The one we're after?"

"Yes... yes it is! Explain yourself girl!"

"Ellie... what the hell is going on...?" Lina asked confused.

[spiritchan]

Jett had jumped out of Ellie's arms before she could put him back in his pokeball. As her opponents, and even her teammate questioned her Eevee, Ellie swore under her breath. She hadn't wanted to come into the ruins when she learned Team Snaggem was here. It was disaster waiting to happen.

And it did.

"Jett, what are you doing? These people are after you!" Ellie tried desperately to reason with him. Jett didn't move from his position.

"Ellie, is this the rare eevee that Team Snaggem is after?" Lina asked her again. Ellie fumbled around with excuses in her mind, and began to panic.

"That's right, girl! She stole that eevee from us!" Commander Tira explained to Lina when Ellie didn't answer. Lina flashed a confused and disappointed look at Ellie, who wouldn't meet her gaze.

Without another word, Ellie returned Jett to his pokeball and took off the way they had come.

"Ellie, wait! STOP!" Lina called after her, but it was no use; Ellie refused to look back.

"Well then, if that little thief is going to take something of ours and not give it back, then we'll take something of hers!" Commander Elsh purred evilly as she and Tira loomed behind Lina. Before she could scream, Tira put a gag in Lina's mouth, and took her hostage.

~~~~~

After several wrong turns and dead ends, Ellie finally found her way out of the ruins. She continued running, deep into the forest, her guilty conscience screaming at her the entire time. Finally, when she couldn't go on any longer, she broke down and cried.

Ellie knew Team Snaggem had taken Lina, she heard the dispute as she fled. But she wouldn't go back to help her; she was too terrified at the thought of what Snaggem would do to her for taking their eevee. Yet, Ellie couldn't help but feel utterly terrible. She had just made new friends, who accepted her, and maybe even cared about her, and she just let them all down. Thinking of this, she sobbed harder.

Why did she have to get mixed up with him?

~~~~~

"Commanders, retreat back to base! We weren't able to recapture the eevee, but we were able to take a hostage!" said the receiver on Commander Zeli's belt. Lunami and Zeli exchanged confused glances, as Tai and Aiden exchanged worried ones.

"A hostage?" Zeli said into his receiver.

"Yes. One of the girls. The one with our eevee fled!" replied the receiver voice. Zeli and Lunami grinned evilly.

"LINA! That's Lina!" Tai screamed, panic arising.

"Let her go!" Aiden demanded. The two commanders returned their pokemon.

"Fat chance, kids!" Lunami said, and before Tai and Aiden could come after them, she and Zeli disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"We have to save her!" Tai said with a look of anger and panic in his eyes.

"But wait, didn't they say 'the one with our eevee got away'?" Aiden explained. Tai recalled the quote.

"They did....Does that mean Ellie is the one with their eevee?" Tai realized.

"I think so. Looks like we'll have to meet up with the others and get some answers before we can go after Lina." With that, the two boys headed for the ruins' exit.

~~~~~

"They have Lina!" Scott informed Tai and Aiden when they came running out of the ruins.

"We know. Hey, have either of you seen Ellie?" Aiden asked. Marcus and Scott shook their heads.

"No, we thought maybe she was with you guys." Marcus explained. "I wonder where she could be?"

"Well, we need to find her! She has something that belongs to Team Snaggem, and we won't be able to get Lina back without that trade!" Tai said. The other three agreed, and came up with a plan to split up in search of Ellie.

((OOC: for whoever posts next, they split up entirely. so don't write about Marcus or Ellie, cuz Marcus is gonna be the one to find her. unless you post, Erbis. Then you can write about it. But leave all the Ellie background stuff and explainations to me.))

[Stu]

Tai had run off on his own in a panic since he had learned of Lina's abduction.

"I don't think Team Snagem should have Lina or the Eevee. Criminals like them... they don't deserve either of them..." Tai said to himself as he walked around the ruins. He then froze. He felt a weird presence behind him. "Who's there?" Tai asked.

"Heh, guess I wasn't hidden that well. My name is Wes, and I am an Ex-Team Snagem subordinate. In the Orre region, where Team Snagem originally came from, they created a special glove stealing machine called 'the Snag Machine'. When I quit working for Team Snagem, I stole the machine. This thing on my arm is the Snag Machine. Unfortunatly, they created another one... and they are using that to get to Ho-oh. They are going to try and steal Ho-oh, and all the other legendary pokemon with it. And I know of your friend being taken hostage for that special Eevee, but if you will allow me, I will help you get your friend back without the Eevee being given up."

((OOC: Yes, Wes is the original name for the character from Pokemon Colosseum, and I also found out that Team Snagem is spelled with only one g. Wes won't be in for long, but we need his help here.))

"Thank you Wes, you say you will help me get my friend back and we won't have to sacrifice Eevee?" Tai asked.

"Yes, you won't have to lose either of them. I was already helping you guys inside of the ruins. I distracted all the Team Snagem goons so you would have easy travelling through them. Unfortunately... now they are all inside again, and we will need to go through again to reach Evice, the leader of Team Snagem." Wes responded.

"Well, let's go find all my friends so we can all go through there and get to this Evice guy." Tai suggested.

"We need to go now. We can't wait for them to totally regroup." Wes replied.

They travelled back into the ruins, and were confronted by five Team Snagem thugs, and a squadrant captain.

"Not so fast you three. Wait a minute... isn't that... Wes? Wes, why are you here? We left you alone, why are you still trying to take us out?!" one goon asked.

"Because you guys are bad! Ready Tai?" Wes asked.

Tai sent out Treecko and Pichu, and two of the goons sent out a Zubat and a Magikarp (lolz) to fight him with. Wes sent out an Umbreon and Espeon, and the last goon and the captain sent out a Gastly and a Hitmonchan.

Tai started his battle with Treecko using bullet seed on the Magikarp. But the attack missed.

"Magikarp, counter with a splash attack!" one goon said. (lolz)

"Treecko, use bullet seed again on Magikarp!" Treecko puffed up its cheecks and shot out more seeds. It was a direct hit on Magikarp, and Magikarp fainted.

"Zubat, use super sonic on Treecko!" the other goon exclaimed. Treecko began to shield its head, but it was too late, Treecko had become confused.

"Pichu, thundershock on Zubat now!" Tai shouted. Pichu built up electricity in its cheeks, and zapped the Zubat. The Zubat dropped to the ground, without moving. The goons ran away in fear.

~~

Wes knew how to win his battle easily. He was a very skilled trainer, and was very good with his Umbreon and Espeon, his first two pokemon.

"Umbreon, use faint attack on the Gastly, while Espeon, use psychic on Primeape! Don't let them play any games!" Umbreon jumped on the double, hiding into the shadows and tackling Gastly. Gastly was instantly KO'd. Espeon closed its eyes and Hitmonchan started moving around, until it felt crushed and fainted. Within two attacks, his battle was over.

~~

"Let's continue on our way." Wes said.

"Wow... You're good Wes..." Tai said shocked.

"Let's go, hurry!" Wes rushed.

They ran deeper and deeper into the ruins, until they came across a lone Team Snagem thug. He looked at them with an awkward face, as Tai began to draw out his pokeball.

((OOC: Chads turn to get into the rp ;D))

[Naucoaran]

(I don't remember my poke’mon team! >< I accidentally deleted his profile...^_^;; I remember a couple, 4 of them I think...)

Marcus nodded determinedly after all the plans had been drawn up to search for Ellie. He had opted to check the forest partly because he liked the solitude the forest provided and partly because ghost poke’mon were one of his favorite. Everyone split up then in the pre-determined locations and with a smile on his face, Marcus strolled calmly into the forest.

"I must be walking in circles!" Marcus exclaimed to no one in particular as he passed by a tree that looked strikingly familiar. Sighing in exasperation he leaned against the tree to rest his feet. He was about to continue on when a Haunter materialized out of the trees in front of him. It laughed, a resonating sound, and then disappeared. While a little unnerved by the ghost Marcus smiled at the ever-mischievous poke'mon. "Hey wait!" he called suddenly but it was nowhere to be seen. From behind he heard the laugh again and turned just in time to see the last visage of the Haunters face disappear.

Sighing in good spirits Marcus chased it three steps before stopping in defeat. For a third time he heard the laugh behind him and this time he felt a chill go down his spine as the poke'mon ruffled his hair with its disembodied hands. Despite his love for the ghost poke'mon he grew frightened at the touch of it and sprinted off screaming.

Eventually he stopped and shuffled the four poke’balls on his belt. Bagon was a bit tired from his fight so going to his next poke’mon in line, Marcus let Eevee out. The diminutive poke'mon loped around soon as it exited then nuzzled against Marcus' leg. Patting the Eevee on the head the duo walked off. Soon Eevee caught the scent of something and without warning darted off.

Fearing for his poke’mon in the forest Marcus quickly followed it around the twists and turns till he came to a small clearing where his Eevee had found Ellie. Stopping at the entrance of the clearing he sighed in relief then moved out to where Ellie still sat slumped on the ground. "Ellie what’s wrong with you, you left us all back there. Team Snagem took Lina as a hostage!" He knelt down beside her and grabbed her arm to pull her up in his slight lapse in temper.

He stopped suddenly though, his anger deflated as he saw the state she was in. wet marks littered the ground and her face was wet with tears, not to mention her eyes were red from crying. "Ellie what's wrong? We'll get her back, don't worry. We'll find a way to get her back and you won't even have to give up your Eevee." He knelt down next to the girl and gave her a sympathetic rub on the shoulder. "There’s more to this than just Lina getting taken," he said determinedly. "You can tell me what it is, I can help you but you have to let me." he said in the kindest tone he could muster.

[Chad]

Kuro just stared at the two Pokemon trainers who stood before him, in battle poses.

He literally had no idea why he was here in the first place. Way back in his hometown in Johto, he had only had his Pokedex for literally 5 minutes when two strange men approached him and offered him rare Pokemon if he joined their team. Of course, being only 10, this sounded like an amazing offer. So they shoved him on a boat with about 100 more recruits and sent him to this new country. Eventually he ended up wandering through this temple and, as previously stated, had no idea why he was there.

Perhaps it had something to do with these two? He eyed the two trainers suspiciously and scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"Are you going to fight or what?" the younger trainer asked aggressively.

"What? Oh... yeah!" Kuro suddenly remembered the blue Pokeball with red markings he had been given upon arrival to these ruins. He grabbed the ball from his belt to hastily, because it slipped out of his hand when he held it up. The ball inconviently rolled across the floor and stopped at the older trainer's feet. The trainer picked it up.

"Well what do we have here?" he said mischeviously.

Kuro dashed over to him but was stopped by the trainer's outstretched arm. "Lets see what you've got in here," he said as he pressed the small button on the Great Ball.

After the red flash of light, a Flygon appeared. The younger trainer with the golden-brown hair pulled out his Pokedex, and the electronic voice spoke.

"Flygon-- Mystic Pokemon. Creates sandstorms by flapping its wings. It's wings create a musical pitch."

"Sandstorms, huh?" said the trainer. Sounds like a Ground pokemon. Better use Treecko." The boy reached for his belt.

"Wait!" shouted Kuro. "It's impossible to battle me?"

"Oh? How so?" questioned the older, silver-haired trainer.

"Well..." Kuro said quietly and glanced over at Flygon, who had curled into a ball on the ground and began to nap. "He doesn't really obey me yet..."

((OOC: Tai: T__T

Rofl. Okay Stu, I RP'd. Your turn now~))

[Stu]

((OOC: Chad you wutburger. XD))

Tai stared at the kid in astonishment. How the hell did some kid become a team snagem member? This guy can't even control his own flygon. Maybe we should just run past him.

"Let's just skip this guy." Wes said as he started running again.

"Yeah, see ya, punk." Tai said as he ran.

"Wait! I'm gonna help you guys! I don't wanna be here anymore! I want to get away from Team Snagem!" said the boy as he chased after them.

Upon reaching the final room in the back of the temple, Tai and Wes were shocked to see Evice already with the Ho-oh. He had already "snagged" it, and could now use it to fight.

"This can't be good..." Wes said worriedly.

"I guess we will have to fight him. And by us I mean you, Wes. He said as he and Kuro dashed behind him.

"Don't worry, your battle wont be with me. Heh heh heh. Your battle is with my two commanders, Lunami and Tira, while I get away to my next destination! Hah hah hah hah hah hah!

"Oh no you don't! I'll challenge one of them, and you, silver haired guy, you fight Evice!" Kuro explained.

"Kuro, you traitor, what are you doing?!" Tira asked. She was his commander, meaning Kuro was in her squadrant.

"I'll take Lumina again!" Tai shouted as he threw out two pokeballs, Treecko and Buneary. Lunami sent out Ninetails and Raichu.

Tira threw out Purugly and Misdreavus. Kuro sent out his disobeying Flygon, and his Squirtle, who he had started out with when he first became a pokemon trainer.

Wes stared at Evice. This was it, he had to get that Snagem machine from Evice and use his snag machine to get Ho-Oh. Wes sent out his trusty Umbreon and Espeon, his first two pokemon. Evice countered with sending out Ho-oh and Aggron.

Tai stared down Lunami. She had pink bangs that covered her right eye and two long pink ponytails with red hair bands. On her face, she had glasses, that made her look intellegent, along with red lipstick. She wore a tight, strechy, black skirt, and a red, short, zipper tank top exposing her stomach, with the zipper half way down, exposing a somewhat busty chest. She also clad a big red and black checkered belt, that hung losely, only being held up by her hips. Upon that belt, he saw she had many weird looking items, including a big net wrapped in a sack.

"You gonna start the fight or what?" She asked hastily.

"Treecko, use bullet seed on Raichu, and Buneary, use quick attack on Ninetails!" Tai shouted.

"Ninetails, jump and use fire blast on Treecko! Raichu, body slam Treecko!" Lunami exclaimed.

"Buneary, use agility to save Treecko, while Treecko, use Razor Leaf on Raichu!"

Buneary jumped in and saved Treecko from the fire blast attack and the body slam, as Treecko created leaves and fired them out at Raichu. It was a direct hit. Raichu stood back up, but had taken a serious hit.

"Ninetails, use flamethrower at Treecko!" Lunami shouted.

"Buneary, stop the flames with defense curl!" Tai commanded.

"Heh, fell right into my trap. Raichu, use thunderbolt on Buneary!" Lumina said.

"Heh, YOU fell into MINE," Tai said, "Treecko, use energy ball on Raichu!" Treecko put its hands together and focused energy into its hands, creating a green sphere, and then released it at Raichu. Raichu was hit, and fainted from the blast.

"Now Treecko, use iron tail on Ninetails!" Tai shouted. Treecko's tails light up, and he jumped into the air. He flipped in the air, followed by slamming his glowing tails onto Ninetails' head. Ninetails stopped blowing fire from its mouth in pain, and got a direct hit by Buneary's swift attack. Ninetails fainted.

Wes now stood in shock at how these newish trainers had defeated the commanders. Kuro had also wonhis battle. Wes and Evice were both watching in shock. They weren't even thinking about the fact that they were in a battle themselves. Wes turned around and faced back at Evice. He looked at Ho-oh, and how sad it looked, and looked at Evice's loyal Aggron. How was he going to beat a legendary pokemon and an Aggron? Even though his best pokemon were powerful, he had no chance of defeating Evice with out using the original snagem machine. Wes had Umbreon use dark pulse and Espeon use psychic on Ho-oh, then loaded the snagem machine with an ultra ball, hoping it would work.

As Wes threw the pokeball, Evice tried to step in the way of the ultra ball to block it, but was stopped by Tai tackling him to the ground. The ultra ball hit Ho-oh, and captured it inside of the pokeball. It shook three times, and then stopped moving. Wes had captured Ho-oh. Wes jumped where Tai and Evice were, and stole Snagem Machine off of Evice's arm.

"Let's get out of here!" Wes exclaimed as they all started running towards the door.

"Aggron, Hyper Beam at them, they're getting away!" Aggron opened its mouth and fired a huge blast at them, barely missing them.

They ran faster to get away, and finally made it out of the temple. They didn't save Lina, but they did save Ho-oh and stole the second snagem machine. Wes released Ho-oh and all watched as it flew away to safety in another region.

"You, Kuro, who are you and why do you want to help us?" Tai questioned.

"I-I... I want to run away from Team Snagem, and I want to go back to being a pokemon trainer, not a snagem thug." Kuro responded.

"How do we know you aren't trying to trick us or cheat us?" Tai questioned.

"Please, please let me join you! I won't be a hassle!" Kuro said desperatly.

"OK, fine. My name is Tai. When we meet up with my friends, I will introduce you to them." Tai said.

Aiden was near by and heard talking. When he peeked through the bushes he saw a Team Snagem member talking with Tai. He found it very suspicious, and charged in to "save" Tai.

"Tai, don't show weakness to the enemy!" Aiden shouted as he ran.

"AIDEN AIDEN STOP!!" *Crash* Tai and Aiden collided, "Aiden, his name is Kuro, and he is on our side."

"Kuro? Hmmm, are you sure he isn't lying?" Aiden questioned.

"I don't know, but I think we can trust him." Tais replied.

((OOC: Sorry i had to skip Kuro's battle with the commander, it was getting ridiculously long.))

[spiritchan]

((OOC: wow Matt, nice job on the last post! practically what I had planned! ^^))

When she heard the kind tone of Marcus's voice, Ellie looked up at him with crying eyes, then immediately averted her gaze to the ground.

"I-I'm so sorry, Marcus..." she began. "I didn't mean for anyone to get hurt..." Marcus looked a little confused.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"It's true, this eevee isn't mine. But I didn't steal it from Team Snagem, I promise! It was given to me..." She wiped the tears from her eyes as Marcus waited for her story.

"I had just started my journey as a Pokémon trainer, when I met this guy. His name was Jackson, and he was so nice to me. We became friends, and he, being a little older than me, helped me out with my Pokémon and stuff.

"Eventually, I started liking him more than a friend. But that was after he gave me a rare black eevee that he supposedly "found somewhere". Jackson and Jett where my best friends, and like I said, I fell hard for Jackson.

"We traveled around together for about a year, and we had formed sort of a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship. We trusted each other entirely. Or so I thought.

"One night, after we had gone to bed, Jackson got up and left our campsite without even telling me. He didn't know, but I followed him, curious about where he was going. Then I saw him talking to two hooded figures, so I hid behind a tree.

"From where I was, it sounded like they were making a deal. One of the hooded figures had spotted me after a few moments, and that's when I learned everything I had was a lie.

"Jackson was really a member of Team Rocket, and had stolen the black eevee to give to his boss. He only gave it to me because he was using me to not look suspicious. The three of them tried to capture me, but I fled with Jett, and I haven't seen them since. This is why Team Snagem is after me, and I can almost guarantee that Team Rocket is too."

When Ellie finished her story, Marcus sighed heavilly-- he had no idea what she had been through. He stood, and offered her a hand.

"Let's get back and find the others so you can tell them your story. I'm sure they'll understand." he assured her. Ellie took his hand, and as soon as she got to her feet, promptly hugged Marcus.

"Thank you, Marcus," she thanked him.

"Uh, d-don't mention it," Marcus said as he hid a blush.

[Zukuto-kun]

"Well Kuro," Aidan began. "I appologize for the lack of formalities but our friend is in trouble. If you're with us you'll come to help us one more time."

Kuro looked hard at Aidan and then nodded.

"Very well," he continued. "We'll have to go quick to get to her before they escape. I don't know any routes through here so we'll have to go back into the temple."

"Wait!" Kuro exclaimed before Aidan and Tai ran back inside. "I have a map of the temple! If we want to find her quickly i suggest we use it."

Kuro pressed a button on his wrist band and a hologram of the temples inards popped up. Tai inspected the hologram and turned to Aidan.

"This could work," he said. "Kuro, lead the way."

Kuro nodded and ran off into the temple. Tai followed closely behind with Aidan bringing up the rear. Kuro snaked his way through the temple with Tai and Aidan following closely until they reached a two way intersection. Tai slumped down and exhaled in defeat.

"Great! Now what!" he exclaimed looking at both hallways.

Kuro checked his map and clicked a few buttons. The hallway on the right glowed as the lights came on. Kuro turned back and smiled.

"This way," he said.

The group ran straight down the hall until the came to an opening. They ran out to be met with the bright light of the outdoors once more. They all winced at the suden change in brightness but when their eyes adjusted they scanned the area for any sign of Lina and team Snagem.

"I don't see anything," Aidan said taking a deep breath after the long run through the temple.

"Me either," Tai agreed with the same exhaustion. "Are you sure we came the right way?"

"Yes," Kuro said gulping air. "They made a make shift landing pad back in the forest that way. If we're uick we can get there before they take off."

"Then let's go!" Aidan said running headlong into the forest reaching for a pokeball.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lina struggled to kick herself free of her captures. The two men that now held her held her with a firm grip and never seemed to acknowledge her futile attempts to get free. Lina scrambled to think what she could do to get away. An idea came to her...but it was a long shot. She Turned her head to the right and exclaimed, "Look! It's Ho-oh!"

The two men looked up in her direction and released there grip enough for her to get free. The first man noticed her getting away and turned back toward her. For this part she closed her eyes. She cocked back her leg and kicked at the man. The man stopped moving and his eyes rolled back into his head as the kick landed between his legs. As he fell over the second man finally looked down.

"Hey you little liar - Charlie!" he exclaimed noticing his downed comrade. "Hey! Get back here."

Lina ran away and made for the forest. The Thug was right behind her and threw his arms out in a bear hug.

"Headbutt!"

The man behind her was hit by something and was sent hurtling off until he slammed into a tree. Standing next to her was Aidan's Larvitar with its arms out in a protective stance, protecting Lina. From her left came from the forest Aidan, Tai and a boy she had not met before. They ran in front of her and blocked the approaching team Snagem's advance. Tai turned back and winked at Lina.

"Did you miss us?" he asked with a cocky grin.

Lina blushed smiled as well. "How did you find me?"

"This guy here, Kuro," Tai said slapping him on the back. Kuro grunted.

"Now's not the time for talking. Now's the time for fighting," Kuro said shrugging off Tai's hand. Tai nodded and reached for his pokeballs.

"Go Treecko!" He shouted.

"Go Larvitar!" Aidan exclaimed.

"Go Flygon!" Kuro announced.

Larvitar and Treecko stood next to each other ready to fight as Flygon appeared and looked back at Kuro with annoyance. Kuro stared at Flygon with cold eyes.

"I've never asked you for anything except to be my friend," Kuro began. "If you choose to, you don't ever have to obey me again but please, obey me now!"

Flygon looked over Kuro and the other two pokemon poised for battle. Flygon looked back at Kuro and nodded. Kuro smiled and nodded as well.

"Where do you think you're going with our hostage?" an executive shouted at the group.

Lina joined the three boys and grabbed a pokeball from her belt.

"I'm no hostage," she said angrily. "Go Mudkip!"

Lina's pokeball opened and Mudkip appeared next to Treeko and Larvitar.

"Big word for such small brats," The executive countered. "No matter. Let's show them that nobody crosses team Snagem!"

The executive threw two pokeballs and another executive threw another one. Materializing before the group were a Rhydon, an Agron and a Snorlax.

"Go!" the executive roared.

((OOC: I'll post again with the fight so please only Matt or Ashley post after this. I wanna do teh fight and then we can all group up after words. Thanks))

[Naucoaran]

After the hug Marcus could only hope that Ellie had not seen his embarrassing blush. That it had gone away before they had let each other go. "So uhm, we should probably get back to the group. The others are probably worried about us." he said after clearing his throat. "It’s..." he paused as he slowly spun around in a circle. Everything looked so much alike in this forest. As much as he liked ghost poke'mon, it was quite tedious and time consuming to visit them in the trees. "That way?" he asked more than stated as he pointed in a general direction that he thought he had come from.

Behind him, a light giggle escaped Ellie as she walked up and spun him in the right direction. Putting on a shy smile he felt his face go red the second time that day. "That’s what I meant. Yeah, that way." he said hastily then pointedly hid his face by looking around for his Eevee. Apparently sensing him looking for it, his Eevee loped over and jumped into his arms. "Now let’s go, before we lose our daylight and get lost in the forest forever." he said in jest as he smiled once again, this time it appearing care-free and happy, not shy. Working together the two seemed to be making good time and going in the general direction they wanted to go.

"I’m sorry about Jackson." He said, shattering the silence. "I can’t say that I know how you feel but it can’t be good. You shouldn’t worry about it, I mean..." he paused, not sure on what his next words should be. "Don’t dwell on the past because there will be so many better and bigger things for you in the future." He then mumbled as an after thought. "He probably didn’t deserve someone like you anyways." He shoved his hands in his pockets then and kicked a stray rock, trying to keep his attention off of how stupid he must have been sounding.

(erk, it's short >< oh well. Spirit you can either get them all the way out of the forest or whatever but I think ZK wants the battle to be ended before we meet up again so...at your discretion I guess.)

[spiritchan]

It seemed like Ellie and Marcus were lost in those woods forever. They knew they were going in circles when they passed the same tree for the fifth time in a row. An hour had gone by, and they still couldn't figure out the way.

"Well, I guess I was wrong about the direction..." Ellie admitted, scratching the back of her head.

"No, it's not your fault." Marcus protested. "It's these darn ghost Pokemon."

Silence fell between them for a while.

"Um, about what you said before, about Jackson..." Ellie piped up after a while. "Thanks for saying that. It really helps me out, thinking that I can still have friends that care." Again, Marcus found himself blushing slightly.

"You're welcome. But it's true." Ellie smiled at him.

On the ground, the two trainers' eevees were playing and sniffing out a route at the same time, and after a while, they picked up a familiar scent.

"Veee! Veee!" Marcus's eevee purred excitedly, and jolted off.

"Wait! Eevee!" Marcus cried, chasing after his Pokemon. Ellie and Jett rushed after, and before they knew it, they were out of the woods. And face to face with a mass trainer battle, involving their friends.

"Marcus! Ellie! Bout time you guys showed up!" Aiden said cheerfully as he fought the Team Snagem trainer.

((OOC: Take it away, whoever posts next~))

[Zukuto-kun]

Marcus and Ellie Joined up with Aidan, Kuro and Tai. They both sent there Eevee's out to join Larvitar, Treeko and Flygon.

The Agron charged at the group of pokemon. They scattered to avoid the charge. The Snagem executive smiled.

"Rhydon, Earthquake!" He shouted. "Snorlax, Hyper Beam!"

The Rhydon jumped up into the air and slammed its fist into the ground causing the earth to shake. The group's pokemon wobbled to gain balance and fell over. A beam of light shot out at them past Rhydon and shot out at Jet.

"Jet, Double Team!" Ellie shouted.

Jet suddenly multiplied itself five times. The beam shot through one replica of Jet as it dissapeared. Once the pokemon regained their balance they formed up again. This time the Agron was on its way back toward them. Kuro lit up with an idea.

"Flygon! Pick up Treeko, Larvitar and Mudkip on your back and fly upward!"

Flygon did just that as Treecko and Larvitar jumped onto its back. Mudkip follwed and jumped up next to Treecko. The Agron sped by just under them. Aidan and Tai saw an opening.

"Larvitar, Sandstorm!" Aidan shouted.

"Treecko, Energy ball!" Tai followed.

"Mudkip, Bubblebeam!" Lina announced.

"Flygon, Hyper beam!" Kuro yelled.

The four pokemon used their attacks in unison. Larvitar shot out a cloud of sand that envelpoed Agron. Mudkip's bubblebeam popped all over Agron's body making him stumble back. Treecko's Energy ball nailed Agron in the chest and Flygon's Hyper beam hit Agron square in the head. KO.

"Worthless pokemon!" the executive shouted. "Rhydon, Horn drill!"

Rhydon's horn began to spin as it ran toward the two Eevee's. Ellie and Marcus looked at each other and smiled.

"Eevee/Jet," the both anounced in unison. "Agility!"

As Rhydon approached the two Eevee's they both shot off to either side. Rhydon stopped where he was and his horn stopped spinning. The two Eevee ran in opposite directions around Rhydon in a circle.

"Eevee, Double Edge!" Marcus shouted.

"Jet, use your Double edge too!" Ellie shouted as well.

The two Eevee jumped from the circles they were making and hit Rhydon on either side of its head. The Rhydon stumbled a bit and fell over. Marcus's Eevee and Jet landed next to each other and shook there heads from the blow.

The executive grimmaced and looked over at his Snorlax.

"Snorlax!" he said. "Body slam those two Eevee!"

The snorlax jumped up into the air and soared down at them. Marcus and Ellie gasped.

"Jet, Eevee!" Aidan yelled. "Jump onto Flygon's back!"

The two Eevee turned around to see Flygon soaring toward them. They both jumped up onto his back and Flygon took off straight for the Snorlax plummetting down on them. Aidan, Marcus, Tai, Kuro, Ellie and Lina looked to each other and nodded with a smile to each other.

"Larvitar, Headbutt!" Aidan yelled.

"Treecko, Slash!" Tai shouted.

"Eevee/Jet," Marcus and Ellie yelled, "Double Edge!"

"Mudkip, Tackle!" Lina announced.

"Flygon, Wing attack!" Kuro called.

The pokemon on Flygon's back jumped off toward Snorlax to do their techniques. Flygon sped up and flew parallel to the other pokemon. They all struck the Snorlax at the same time. The Snorlax shouted a pained, "LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAX!" before dissapearing on the horizon.

((Ding, star twinkles. lol))

The pokemon landed on the ground next to their trainers. The executive shouted in anger.

"No!" he roared. "This isn't the last time you'll see us! We'll be seeing you all again!"

With that he jumped off his platform and took off in a large ship on the ground below.

((whew...my hands hurt. Ok yourguy's turn))

[spiritchan]

((OOC: ...I just realized that we've been forgetting Scott...>.>))

As the Team Snagem thug ran into the distance, the group of trainers cheered. Their teamwork had saved Lina, Jett, and helped defeat a powerful opponent. They all hugged and congratulated each other. All that is, except for Ellie. She stood farter away from the others, Jett cradled in her arms. After a moment, Tai noticed her, and walked over.

"Nice work back there, teaming up with Marcus like that," he told her, a slight tone of distaste in his words. Ellie noted that he didn't look very happy with her, either.

"Um, thanks..." she practically muttered, looking to the ground. Tai folded his arms, and by this time, the rest of the gang had drawn their attention to her.

"But I believe you still have some explaining to do." he said crossly. Ellie gulped; she could feel all their eyes burning on her as they waited for her answer.

"I didn't mean for anyone to get hurt, I promise...." she admitted, and Tai went over the edge.

"So that IS Team Snagem's eevee!" he shouted, causing Ellie to flinch. "You knew they were after you all along, and you let Lina get captured!" Ellie's eyes started to swell with tears as she thought carefully her next choice of words, when Marcus jumped in front of her.

"Hey, leave her alone! She went through a lot before she met us, ok? She isn't a bad person! You should at least let her tell you her story before jumping to conclusions!" he demanded in a harsh tone.

Thank you so much, Marcus... Ellie though to herself. She sighed heavily, and began exlpaining her story when the others were ready.

((OOC: yeah it's short, but I just got back from graduation, so whoever posts next can write about their reactions to her story. Which, if you haven't read it yet, is the 9th post on this page.))

[Stu]

((OOC: Ash ash... Tai would never ever EVER be like that with anyone... he is a happy go lucky kinda guy... he would be like "so you screwed up, oh well, lets just go make things right." Whatever, ill just play along. i think i have a plan.))

Tai glanced around after hearing the story and how he had lost control of his usual self, he wanted to just hang himself. He couldn't understand. Why was he getting so weird feeling lately? Ever since he came into Cyan Village, his mind had been thinking about things he normally would never have thought about. He was trying hard to keep to his normal mind set, but he couldn't stop thinking about sad things in the world. He could tell this journey was going to open up a whole new side of him, along with a whole new aspect of everything. For the first time ever, Tai's eyes swelled up with tears.

Aiden noticed Tai's random burst of tears. Aiden had known him all of his life, and had never seen him once cry. Everyone was in shock that the happy-go-lucky, clown of the party was crying uncontrollably. He lashed out towards Ellie, but instead of hurting her, he embraced her, as the tears streamed down his face. He then fell to the ground as more tears flowed from his eyes. He could not stop crying.

Lina started crying too, as she couldn't stand to see Tai sad. She kept it to herself though, and made it so no one could see her. Even Scott who had finally found them didn't notice she was crying.

Tai stood up, wiped his face and continued walking on through the forest. At that moment, he felt arms fly around his waist. He spun around and saw Lina was hugging him. They stood for a moment embracing eachother, then they continued on.

((OOC: you guys can write about your own reactions to her story. XD Sorry but im lazy right now, and kinda busy on other things))

[Zukuto-kun]

Aidan walked over to Tai and Ellie. He patted Tai's back and led him away from Lina.

"Don't worry man," Aidan consoled. "It happens to all of us. I'll be right back."

Aidan left Tai with Scott and Kuro and approached Ellie who was now wiping away her tears with her sleeve. She sat down on the ground looking down at Jet, stroking him affectionatly.

"You hate me too, don't you," Ellie sniffled.

Aidan knelt down next to her and lowered his head untill he could see her face. She didn't look at him but stared intently at Jet's fur.

"No, I don't hate you," Aidan said with a sigh. "This incident has done nothing to change the way I view you as a human being."

"Your just saying that. I'm the reason all of this happened. I shouldn't have come." Ellie turned her head away from Jet, looking away from Aidan. Aidan inched closer and touched her chin with his outstretched hand. He turned her head to face him.

"I am not just saying that. You're a great person and I think if you hadn't have come our journey would have been alot more boring." He flashed a disarming smile.

Ellie giggled a bit and sniffed back her tears. Aidan brushed the tears from her eyes with his sleeve and stood her up.

"You're our friend and nothing you could ever do would make us hate you. Remember that."

Aidan rubbed Jet's head affectionatly. Jet cooed and Aidan smiled happily.

"And don't worry little guy," Aidan said to the Eevee. "You've got a good triner here."

Aidan smiled at Ellie and led her back to the group.

((It's too happy, someone post something with something dying please...XD))

[Naucoaran]

After everyone had spoken to Ellie and started on the walk to success once again Marcus grinned to both himself and Ellie. "I told you that they wouldn't want you to leave. And even if they did I wouldn't let them." he said in an uncharacteristically strong tone. He stopped her then with a hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him. Locking their eyes with a look of determination he spoke in the most serious tone he could muster. "Team Snagem and Team Rocket will not get Jet, no matter what." he then took her hand and squeezed it to emphasize his point. A few seconds later it registered to him that even though they were in the back of the group that they had drawn some attention.

Suddenly shy once more Marcus released her hand and broke the eye contact, looking down to the ground. He then mentally cursed himself as he felt heat tinge his face and ears again. Clenching his fist at his side he roughly cleared his throat. " we should get moving again." he said rather sheepishly as he dared to look up once more. Seeing his distress as much as feeling it, someone in the front shouted with much enthusiasm "To the next town! And Woe to those who try and face us!" he silently thanked who ever yelled it for taking the attention off of him. The group moved out.

It wasn't long before Marcus and his traveling companions reached the next town. It was a small little thing, more of a village. "I'm hungry." someone muttered and many echoed the same. "well then," Marcus started up "Perhaps we should find a place to rest and eat?" the simple statement had many people staring at him with resigned looks in their eyes. The boy shrugged helplessly then smiled. "How about there?" he said pointing at a rather cozy looking diner/inn. The group nodded then bolted to the establishment for some food.

(so its a filler post, oh well...oh wait I forgot to kill something...^_^)

[spiritchan]

As the group walked in to the inn, Ellie couldn't help but replay the recent events through her mind, and feel very happy about how things had turned out. The feeling was a bit overwhelming, causing a smile and slight giggle to escape her. After Tai had asked for a table and a couple rooms, a waitress seated them.

"Well then," Lina piped up after they were seated. "Where are we off to after this?" Tai stood, and placed his hands on the table, a determined look on his face.

"We're off to Tealwater City!" he announced happily. "That's where the next gym is!" Ellie's eyes lit up.

"Ohmigosh!" she exclaimed. "Speaking of gyms...I'll be right back!"

Without another word, she stood up and took off out the door, leaving a bunch of curious faces in her wake. Aiden grinned.

"That girl sure is quirky."

~~~

Ellie ran straight to the local PokéCenter, and frantically rang the bell on the front counter.

"Nurse Joy! Nurse Joy!" she called. She stopped ringing the bell when she saw Nurse Joy emerge from the back.

"Can I help you, miss?" Joy asked. Ellie nodded.

"Yes, I had a baby kangaskhan sent from Fushia City to Beige City about a week ago. Can you tell me how it's doing?"

"Oh, of course! Just one moment." Nurse Joy logged onto her computer, typed a few things, then turned to Ellie. "Your kangaskhan is just fine. Would you like me to have it sent over here?"

"If you could, please," Ellie responded, and Joy immediately started typing again. Then, she walked over to a machine, and a few moments later, a Pokéball appeared out of a nozzel. Joy picked it up and handed it to Ellie.

"There you are. Take care!" Joy said, smiling at Ellie. Ellie returned the smile.

"Thank you!" she replied, and left to return to the inn.

~~~

"That was fast, where did you go?" Tai asked as Ellie returned. They had already ordered their food, and were eating. Ellie took a pokéball from her bag and held it up with a grin.

"You caught a Pokémon?" Scott asked. Ellie shook her head.

"No. Remember the baby kangaskhan I took to the PokéCenter when we first met? I went and got it back!" she explained. She then let the Pokémon out of its ball to join the others, and took a seat.

"Aww, it's so cute!" Lina commented when she saw the baby Pokémon. "Are you going to name it?"

Ellie thought about it for a moment. She had named Jett, and her starter Pokémon-- a Sqirtle she had named Bubbles, who was eating with the rest of the Pokémon--, so she decided to think up a name.

"Pocket," she announced. "I'll name her Pocket. Pocky for short."

((OOC: DAMN filler posts suck. >.< But at least Ellie has one more Pokémon now~))

[Stu]

((OOC:I got a plot now babies~ It's all good now, Uncle Stu is here to make things better~))

As Tai searched the city for the gym, he couldn't help but notice all the weird characters standing around. Many of them were dressed in red cloaks with hoods that had ears ont he top, and others had blue bandanas around their heads like pirates. Tai didn't like the looks that he was getting from the blue characters, but the red characters seemed to like him. "Maybe it has something to do with me being dressed in a lot of red," he thought to himself.

He wondered if this was the safest town to be in. Every where he looked, it looked as if the red guys own the place, and the blue guys were invading or something. Blue characters and red characters were havin pokemon battles at every corner he walked by.

He glanced at a tall building that was painted red, and looked in the other direction at a dock that had a giant blue ship. He then noticed that a sign on the red building read "Magma". He wandered over towards the doors, thinking maybe it was a very strong training area, like Battle Tower. Upon entering, he saw many of the red looking characters wander to him as he entered the door.

"Hey you Aqua scum, what are you trying to pull? You think you look like one of us because you're dressed in a lot of red and black? Prepare to battle all three of us!" One shouted as they pulled out their pokeballs. The first one threw out a Mightyena. The second one summoned out her Numel, and the third one brought out a Golbat.

"Aqua...? Who's that? I'm just a trainer passing through this town, who happens to like the color red. But if it's a battle you want, it's a battle you'll get!" Tai said as he tossed out his three pokemon.

He sent his Buneary to use quick attack on the Numel, while his Pichu used thundershock on the Golbat. They were both instantly KO'd. As for his Treecko vs. Mightyena, it would be a little bit harder.

"Treecko, use iron tail!" Tai shouted. Mightyena dodged it with ease.

"Mightyena, use shadow ball!" The red thug character shouted. Treecko was hit by the ball of dark energy, but was not hurt that badly.

"Treecko, use energy ball now!" Treecko created a ball of energy in it's hands, ready to throw it at Mightyena.

"Mightyena, use shadow ball again!" The thug shouted.

The two pokemon released their blasts at the same time, and the two balls collided. A giant explosion occured, and created an cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Mightyena was fainted on the ground, while Treecko stood with a grin on it's face. In the center of the explosion, a Tall man with long red hair stood with his eyes closed, grinning.

"Hello there, young man. Are you really not with Team Aqua?" the man said as he smiled.

"Who is Team Aqua? What are you talking about?" Tai questioned.

"He really isn't with Team Aqua... I'm so sorry about that. You three, in my office! How could you treat a guest to our town so rudely with a random battle?" He commanded sternly, "So sorry about that..." He apologized as he returned his focus to Tai.

"It's alright, so who are you guys, and what is this town... I've never heard of this town before..." Tai asked.

"This is my town, called Magmapolis. I am Maxie, leader of a well organized team named Team Magma. We used to try and make a world with only land on it, but we releaized that we need a balance of the two to live. Unfortunatly, our archenemies, Team Aqua, still haven't given up hope of trying to make a world that has nothing but water... quite a shame actually. You'd think that they would have learned after the incident with Kyogre and Groudon..." Maxie said treading on, "Oh, sorry, this must be jibberish to you. Why don't you join me in my office? I would really like to talk to you."

"Um... ok, I guess..." Tai said, kind of confused. They walked into an elevator and went up to the top floor and opened to a very big room, with a desk and a lot of trees, rocks, and pictures of a big, red, lizard like pokemon.

"Wow... this room is amazing..." Tai said.

"Isn't it? You three, apologize to... Oh that's right... I forgot to get your name."

"Tai Patrick." Tai said.

"Tai... Please apologize to Tai you three. Especially you Commander Zane. I think I should demote you for that." Maxie said sternly, "Now leave. Sorry about that, Tai. Listen... you are a very skilled trainer, and i was wondering if maybe you would like to join Team Magma against Team Aqua. I know you're a trainer, so i wouldn't make you stay around as a thug or something. I would make a commander, who would travel around making sure Team Aqua wasn't acting up. But if we did need you, we would send a helicopter to come get you, but that would only be if we needed a strong commander. you are very talented, and i would like to have you be a commander. You wouldn't have to use any of the pokemon we use, everything would be normal. Basically you would just be helping our cause, and in return we will pay you and such."

"Hmm... I-" Tai said.

"How about if i showed you the Magmatch. With this Magmatch, we could contact you or you could contact us if anything happens. It also has things that will help on your pokemon training quest." Maxie said.

"I... can I think about it?" Tai asked.

"Well, if you must... but I'm not gonna let you leave without a magmatch. Even if you aren't with team magma, I'd like to be able to contact you..." Maxie said as he handed Tai the Magmatch.

Tai left the room and went back downstairs, to return to his friends. "My own son... has gotten this powerful... I don't think he recognizes me... I left while he was still really young, but if I could get him to join this team..."

Tai felt a weird connection to Maxie. He knew Maxie was someone he could like. As he walked back to the inn, everyone stared at him.

"Where were you?" Aiden asked.

"I went out. Why are you so curious?" Tai asked as he went ot his bed.

"You ok? Lina asked as she approached him.

"Yeah, I am. Why are you guys acting so funny?

"You're wearing a watch? Where did yo get that?" Lina asked worried.

"I got it from a man named Maxie. Apparently he runs Team magma-" Tai said. There was a knock on the door. Lina opened the door, and there stood a Team Magma floozy.

"Is Tai here?" the Magma floozy asked.

"Yes. Tai, it's for you." Lina said as she flustered secretly.

"Maxie wanted to let you know that you and you're friends can get your money refunded here, and come stay with him in the Magma building. There you can have a much nicer room. Also, Maxie wants me to travel around with you as a personal body guard, in hopes that you will join. My name is Terri." Terri said.

"U-uh h-hi, T-Terri. L-let's go people. We get a room for free." Tai said as he gathered his thing.

"Ok then, Tai. See you there." she said as she waved her pink hair into her Magma hood, and walked away.

"Tai, you don't really want us to stay in the Magma Building do you?" Ellie asked curiously.

"Why not? It's very fancy and clean and a lot better than this dump. Maxie seems trustworthy to me... Please, let's stay for free in the Magma Building for tonight, and we can leave first thing in the morning." Tai begged.

"Tai... are you sure?" Aiden asked, "I really am not sure about this whole Magma business..."

"Yes, I'm sure. It's a free ride, and I won't join team magma..." Tai reassured.

"Fine, fine. Tai wins. I kinda want a cleaner place than this anyhow." Marcus admitted.

"Thank you Marcus." Tai thanked.

"I uh... I think I'll pass. I'm gonna go off on my own for now guys. It was fun travelling with you guys, but you guys are getting involved in too much. I want to have a normal pokemon quest." Scott said as he got up to leave.

"You sure, Scott?" Tai asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'll catch you guys later." Scott said as he left.

They spent the night in the Magma Building and were now ready to leave Magmapolis. They were now headed to Tealwater city. Though their friend Scott left them, they acquired a new friend, the Team Magma worker named Terri.

((OOC: Tealwater's gym leader should be Archie's (The leader of Team Aqua) brother. And also i took the liberty of getting rid of Scott for now. He was just kinda there, and if Ryan comes back, he can bring Scott back maybe new and improved =D.))

[Naucoaran]

After resting up in the Team Magma sanctuary, Marcus and his companions headed out to the next city. Marcus couldn't help but wonder at the significance of Tai getting involved with team Magma. He wasn't too current on the two teams and their politics but knew that they weren't overly evil in any sense like Teams Rocket and Snagem. With that fact he put the addition of a team Magma member into the party into the back of his head.

To get to the next city they had to go through a maze of rocky outcroppings and hills. "as long as we stay on the trail.." he started to say as they approached the entrance into the rocky maze. They all looked up at the daunting sight. Ragged sharp fingers of rock reached out to the group, becoming them all to get lost inside the mountain range and never find the way out.

"I know the way through; I have a map in fact." Terri said suddenly, drawing them all from their personal thoughts. "We had to learn to navigate the range when we joined because it was so close to home. Its bad for business to lose members right outside the town you see." with her last statement she made a slight giggle.

"Well then, I guess we'll be safely through in no time then!" Tai said excitedly as he leaned in to peer at the map Terri was unrolling. Without much delay and after a rough plotting of the course the team moved out. Three and a half hours later after many scratches, a couple falls, and a good share of fights with wild pokemon, the team came upon a small field of grass with a small pond off to the side. "This is the middle of the range, its almost like an oasis in the desert." Terri explained as she indicated the point on the map. "We're half-way through."

"I think we should stop and rest, I mean that’s what an Oasis is for." Marcus put in after dumping a couple pebbles out from a shoe. "And EAT!" Aiden exclaimed as he held his stomach "I'm starving!" Everyone shared a laugh at the spectacle then made the easy walk down to the pond. The grass was thigh high and often very thick to the point where you couldn’t begin to see your feet. The group collapsed in delight at the waters edge and began to nurse their wounds and fill their stomachs.

Marcus had a particularly nasty scratch on his elbow where he had fallen two hours into the journey. The blood had flown enough to reach his hand down his arm and now it was drying on him. Shuffling over to the pond He went to his knees and began to tenderly wash the wound with a handkerchief. He was just finishing up when Ellie walked over to see if he was ok "It was a nasty fall." she remarked as he washed the rest of the blood out of his handkerchief.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." he said as he looked at the injury. "Can you tie this for me?" he asked as he looped the handkerchief around his elbow to keep it clean. "I can't get it with one hand."

"Sure, Marcus." she said as he held his arm out. When she had finished he gave her a nice smile and thanked her. "Do you want to eat lunch with me? I mean, it'd be nice. And you can tell me the story about Pocky!" he said happily as an after thought. Not far from the two, a lone figure crouched in the trees and listened to the two. "The eevee and a kengaskhan? I'll get promoted for this for sure!" he whispered excitedly to himself.

Flipping open his rocket phone he dialed the number for his superiors. "Hey Kennith, This is Jones. I've been following the girl with the black eevee that we want. I'm about to get it and a Kengaskhan too!" he said with a wicked tone in his voice. "I just need the right moment when they aren't going to suspect it..." The voice on the other end said something positive to the man then hung up. Jones rubbed his hands excitedly then slipped deeper into the shadows where his partner lurked. They started to plot immediately.

Marcus and Ellie were just sitting down to lunch, letting their pokemon out to enjoy the nice reprieve. The two eevees scampered off to play while Shuppet and Ghastly hovered about laughing manically. Marcus smiled at them and went to par them. His hand barely found contact with any substance with Ghastly but the Shuppet cooed and rolled around playing with his hand. Finally Marcus let out Bagon who let out a call and went around the area looking for a ledge to try and fly off of.

"You couldn't have made this any easier kid." Jones said suddenly as if he appeared out of no where. He had a net in his hand and Jett was inside it fighting furiously to get out. Ellie gasped and called for the Eevee but he couldn't get out. Marcus stared at the rocket member with pure hate in his eyes. "Let him go, or I'll be forced to do something drastic." Marcus said, his tone deathly calm and more threatening than he ever thought possible.

If the rocket member was unnerved, he didn't show it. "Please child, I'll just be on my way with this Eevee. It's just a shame that I couldn't get the Kengaskhan." he said as he motioned to the baby that never left Ellie's side. With a snarl Marcus snapped for Ghastly and Shuppet to come to his side. The two ghost pokemon materialized from behind him and laughed with an edge of insanity in them. "Shuppet knock off while Ghastly use Hypnosis!" Marcus snarled with determination as he commanded the pokemon.

In unison Ghastly expanded and locked eyes with the Rocket member ad began to hypnotize him into slumber while Shuppet flashed forward and knocked the net and Jett free. The rocket scum, now without his prize and falling into slumber, tumbled backwards to the ground. It was at this time that his partner, Jenny, ran up and threw out her only pokemon to help recover what was supposed to be a flawless plan. "Muk, Golbat, go!" she shouted franticly as she tried to catch Jett. It was no use; the agile pokemon quickly escaped the net and fled to Ellie’s side.

Hardly finished yet, Marcus laughed at the other rocket member with hunger for the upcoming battle. "I offer you the chance to leave now with at least your dignity intact." he said with a grin then looked to the dozing other rocket member. The woman snarled herself and commanded Golbat to wing attack Shuppet while Muk was to sludge Ghastly. The wing attack did nothing and the sludge made Ghastly more happy than hurt. Shuppet night shade! Ghastly hypnosis again! Marcus shouted in return. The whole pond area grew dark as if the light had been sucked away as Shuppet attacked. Waves of darkness buffeted Golbat, KOing it and sending it to the ground. Ghastly lulled the Muk into sleep. As the Muk went to sleep it relaxed and seemed to get even more watery.

"Ghastly, nightmare!" he commanded and the ghost pokemon began fabricating dreams of utter horror for the Muk. Marcus reveled in the look of fear on the Rocket members face. No one tries to steal from his friends without repercussions. The Muk had almost had enough and so to finish it off Marcus commanded Ghastly to use dream eater. The Ghastly laughed and zoomed into the Muk, leeching the mental thoughts, growing stronger as the Muk grew weaker. The Muk finally got KOed and almost melted away completely.

"This isn't over pest!" The woman screamed as she returned her pokemon then threw a smoke bomb on the ground. When the smoke cleared, both she and her sleeping friend had disappeared, far away from the group and the dangerous pokemon they commanded. Marcus let out a large sigh as the excitement wore off of him of the battle. He had acted so bold, so out going, so unlike himself.

The fight was over but Shuppet was still bouncing around excitedly. Twirling over to marcus the Shuppet cooed again then began to glow a dark purple, tendrils of light spinning out from the pokemon. When Marcus could see again he looked over to see Banette, his Shuppet evolved. He cheered with happiness then hugged the Banette. (I'm too lazy to describe it, it's on my trainer card and here’s a link to it. www.pokemonelite2000.com/v2pokedex147.html)

He looked over to Ellie sheepishly and smiled. "I told you, I won't let anyone will steal your Eevee." Needless to say, the fight had drawn everyone over and they were all cheering for Marcus when the learned what had happened and how Marcus had handled the situation. "Thanks guys, but I'd really like to just eat now." he said jokingly with a crooked smile.