EmilyAnnCoons

Sure, go ahead and use this tileset to make me a route and a city (yeah, two maps). Do that, and I'll look at it. (As a note, neither can be bigger then 100x100) http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/1323/outsidegv5.png

To make a sign, you want to go into the event editor and find the "Direction Fix" option. Check that, and the sign won't change. To make a conversation: Using Dubealex's script: At the end of each text window place \name[n] with n being replaced by the name of the character who is talking. Without Dubealex's script: Put the name of the speaking character first. Example: "Shilan: My name is Shilan" Remember that when you switch people talking, to move to another text window. You don't want to stick two people in the same box. Example: "Shilan: My name is Shilan" "Zach: And my name is Zach" Does that help?

Wow, I didn't even see this until now. Thanks everyone for your happy birthday wishes...too bad it wasn't a happy birthday...but that aside, I still thank you all for wishing me a happy 20th birthday. Hopefully by the time I'm 21 I'll actually BE happy...which will only happen when I move out of this (my parents') house...

All right, thanks for all the info, everyone, though it looks like this won't work after all...what I need to do is find a way to make it loop from the end of the song to a certain part in the middle of the song, because whenever the battle music starts, it has a small portion at the beginning, then it goes on with the music...

Chapter 1: The Siege of Karagum Karagum was a peaceful town. It was settled in the center of the Desert of Illusions and was currently ruled over by the Council of Belia. Humans controlled the town, governed by their leader. It was in this town that one of the Seven Keys could be found. For here, in this quiet, peaceful town, a very dark, circular object existed, and was being cared for by the Council There was a gust of wind that went by in the Desert City of Karagum. The wind seemed to whistle about an incoming traveler. As fate would have it, a portal appeared in the middle of the city, and a girl walked out of it. She wasn't too tall, somewhere in the five to six foot range. She looked around, her red hair waving as she turned her head. She had green eyes that seemed to search the city as she looked around. She wore a simple outfit, nothing extravagant. It was a simple, white spaghetti strap shirt, with a rather short, purple skirt. In her hand was a staff, just slightly taller then her. One of the straps to her shirt hung down on her shoulder, and it was fairly obvious the shirt was extremely loose on her. A smattering of footfalls seemed to echo about the city street. Hushed voices flew by on the wind, confident and almost cocky. Suddenly both the footfalls stopped, and the voices ended with an airy chuckle. The footfalls began once again in earnest, growing louder with each second. The young girl twirled around and found herself face-to-face with a group of wild-eyed ruffians wearing old and sandy cloaks which draped down well below their hands, concealing nearly everything from the neck down. One, clearly the leader, had short blonde hair, grey eyes, and an obvious aura of over-confidence. The other two, dark haired and dark eyed, seemed timid but capable. The first spoke up, “What's a vision like you doing in the middle of a place like this?” “Me?” the girl asked. “I have come here for nothing more then to speak with the council.” She grabbed her loose strap and pulled it back onto her shoulder. “That is my sole reason for being here. Now, if you will excuse me.” She turned and began to walk towards the Council building. The portal she had come from was still sitting open, as her partner had not yet come through it. “No worries little lady, we can take you to the 'council',” the blue-eyed ruffian spoke. He jogged up to the young girl and put his arm over her shoulders, pulling her rather uncomfortably close. His followers, knowing the drill, took flank on either side and closed in, all three of the misfits grinning wildly, their eyes glowing with dark intent. Just then, the slick sound of a sword being unsheathed cut through the laughter, stopping it dead. The ruffians turned to view a tall figure, cloaked completely from head toe, the only part of his body that showed was his chin, which bore a deep scar and a mangled goatee. Sticking out of the bottom of the cloak was the tip of a thin sword. He spoke with a low, almost disembodied voice, “Are you troubled, M'lady?” The girl turned to see the cloaked man. “Ah, there you are. I was wondering where you were.” She looked to the ruffians. “Gentlemen, this is my protector, Jarod. My father sent him with me. Oh, and my name is Jessica.” She looked back at the cloaked man. “Well, these three here all decided to gang up around me. Personally, I wasn't worried. Even without you around, I still could have gotten them off my back easily enough.” She shrugged. “But, since you're here, I'll leave you to deal with these three. Have a nice day, gentlemen.” She bowed, and turned to walk off. However, before starting off, she made sure to raise her staff slightly for a single spell. One that would offer her protection, should any of the three decide to turn to attack her. She then sighed. “Oh fidget,” she spoke, reaching into a pouch on the side of her skirt, pulling out from it a rather large map, even though it was a tiny pouch. She then looked it over. “Now, where is the council?” she asked as she looked it over. Without a word, Jarod approached the ruffians. The blue eyed man, no stranger to trouble, quickly drew a dagger and held it to the young girl’s throat, who, being bothered with more important things, kept her eyes on the map and took no notice. Jarod walked closer, steadily, and uncaring. The dagger in the ruffian’s began to shake, slowly at first, the more violently. After only a few seconds the spell forced a small shock of blue lighting from the tip of the girl’s staff and hit the ruffian’s hand. He yelped in pain and dropped the dagger. Quickly the ruffian dropped to his knees and grabbed the hilt, but a massive black leather boot stomped down on the blade just as his fingers wrapped around it. He screamed and leapt back. Now side-by-side with his cronies, his cockiness returned. He drew two more daggers from under his long cloak, one crony drawing a sword and shield, the other a small leather pouch. “I think our large friend here could use a little nap, eh Gordo?” he said with a sneer. The man with the pouch quick as lightning reached in and drew out a handful of what looked like shimmering sand and threw it into Jarod’s face, who, equally fast, drew up his cloak and swept it away, then dropping to his knees, sprung straight at all three, hitting each one in the gut with his foot, fist, and the hilt of his sword. The ruffians staggered back, not hurt so much as frightened. Wide-eyed and aware of the danger that had overpowered them without drawing a drop of blood, they turned and fled in a cloud of dust. Jarod sheathed his sword and stood silently by Jessica. “Ah, here it is!” Jessica shouted. She pointed to the spot on the map. “The council is here...while we're over here...” she pointed to another part of the map. She blinked for a second, and then sighed. “Wonderful...we're that far away? Why can't they ever put councils in more convenient locations?” she grumbled. “It's not far...it's just...inconvenient to get to...” she pointed to the map again. “We have to take this road here, to that road there...then to this road here...” she sighed. “Well...we should probably go if we want to get there soon...” she turned and began to walk in the direction her map said to go. She waved her staff, causing the map to float in front of her as she used her, now free, hand to look around, and point to the different streets. After going through a long, winding set of streets, they finally made it to the Council Plaza. “Finally,” Jessica spoke, grumbling. She looked around. “Lots of merchants here...the council is straight ahead, though.” Jarod’s shoulders tensed as his eyes darted about the busy marketplace. Not a ripple in his dark cloak did he make as his hand reached up to loosen his sheathed sword. His shoulders tensed. There had already been one encounter, and with a mob of innocents as a shield, there could easily be another. Jessica began to walk, following her map as a guide to where they needed to go. The city was rather busy; it was true, though luckily they didn't run into anything else, at least, not at first. “They're coming!” a voice shouted from afar. “Orcs and Goblins are coming! They've even brought siege weapons!” Jessica turned, hearing the noise. “Orcs?” she asked. “That's not good. We need to hurry to the council before-” her sentence was cut off when a large group of Orcs suddenly appeared in front of them. “Mages,” she spoke. “They must be teleporting in all over the city!” The Orcs looked over at Jessica and Jarod, and one gave a grin. “Get them!” the Orcs shouted. “Oh shit!” Jessica shouted, pointing her staff forward. “Let's get them.” A large hand emerged from Jarod’s black cloak and briefly rested on the young girl’s shoulder. With an effortless thrust, she was thrown behind her protector, who brandished a short, thin sword which glinted fiercely in the sun. His heavy body suddenly became light as a feather and in one quick leap he was amongst the Orcs. His sword sung as it flew through the air, dancing between the folds of their armor and slicing cleanly through their flesh. Within seconds, six of the Orcs fell, not even able to react. Jessica smiled, watching the last Orc turn and run. “Well, that was rather entertaining.” she giggled. “Let's go. There's bound to be more, and we need to get to the Council as fast as possible.” Her voice had seemed to change to a serious tone once she was done giggling. She walked forward, as if maturing instantly. A quick flick of Jarod’s expert wrist threw the Orc blood off his sword. It dived back into his cloak and sheathed, his arms withdrew as well. His calm composer restored, he paid no mind as he stepped over the corpses of his bloodied and hacked enemies to rejoin the young witch. Jessica, seeing no immediate threat, soon began to skip through the city, as if her maturity had suddenly changed to that of a child's. It didn't take long for them to reach the council, but once there, she realized trouble was ahead. “Wait…if the mages can teleport into the middle of a city, then I bet they could teleport here into the council without anyone knowing about it.” she grumbled. “This won't be so easy...there's got to be several of them in there...like a hundred or so...” It was then that she heard a familiar roar. “Ah, perfect,” she spoke, looking up. “Down here, girl!” she shouted at the sky. A moment later, a large, Red Dragon swooped down, landing in front of them. She reached up and pet its head, which it had generously bowed down so it could be pet. Sensing an opportunity, Jarod strolled quickly to Jessica’s side and spoke softly into her ear. “My Lady, so near to danger is not your place. Ride your Dragon to the sky and let me reduce the number of enemies.” His ferocity flared at the thought of slaughtering Orcs by the hundreds. He gripped his sword tight under his cloak, though it could not be see, the satisfying sounds of tightly gripped leather rattled into their ears. “It is pretty close to danger, but I think I should be allowed to do something,” Jessica insisted. “I want to help, you know? It's pretty boring if all I can do is watch you kill things. At least let me kill one myself.” “Bound to obey you I am, but bound to protect you as well,” Jarod retorted. “Might I remind you that there are ranged spells you can fire from the back of this mighty beast? Only, though, if you promise to not engage any Orc Mages.” Jessica sighed. “Yeah...guess my Dad wouldn't be happy if he found out I was fighting Orc Mages...that, and it would be somewhat dangerous...” she sighed once more and hopped onto the back of her dragon. “Very well, I'll fight from above. Just be careful...I'm not the best aim from up there on dragon back.” The dragon began to flap its wings, flying slightly into the air. Stepping forward and reaching out his arm as if to grasp a beloved kinsman, Jarod called to her, a strange faltering in his voice, “My Lady...” He paused, and swallowed, and spoke low and tender, a strange sound coming from one so hardened and scarred, “be careful.” Jessica nodded. “Of course I'll be careful.” The dragon flew into the sky, flying up above where the council was. “All right, then, let's see...” she looked around. “Large city...the Orcs are here for some reason, or so I'd think...I doubt they'd attack for no reason...” Jarod stood and watched, letting the feelings wage war inside him. The strongest sense within him, the loyalty to his protectee, had split and was battling amongst itself. He was sworn to obey her orders, and her orders were clear: Defend the Council, defend the city and the lives of the innocents within it. However, his feet were planted, as he gazed up at the young girl with whom he had experienced so much and could not seem to let her go off on her own like this. A distant scream pierced the city, followed by sounds of destruction and murder all around him. His heart was made up, his mind was ready, and his body steel. Making no attempts to hide his presence, he drew his sword, still stained with drops of Orc blood, and ran up the polished marble staircase leading up to the great wooden doors of the Council building. Jessica watched from above, watching Jarod rush into the building. She sighed and pet her dragon some. “He'll be fine.” She turned and looked at the city. She saw an Orc nearby who was attacking an innocent person. Her eyes seemed to light up, a grin appearing on her face. The dragon rushed forward towards the site, and she pointed her staff at the Orc. “Faiatamas!” she shouted. A large orb of fire shot out from the top of her staff, shooting right the Orc. It struck him and shot him back. She laughed a bit. “This is fun,” she spoke. Jessica then flew off on the dragon again, looking around as she did. Seeing more Orcs, she let loose both fire balls and dragon fire down upon them. She did her best to keep from injuring innocents, though. She looked up, seeing siege weapons parked outside the Karagum gates. This was definitely a full scale invasion. As if knowing what Jessica was thinking, the dragon rushed forward at the siege weapons. It smashed into one of them, smashing right through. It then began to unleash its fiery breath upon the weapons, as Jessica unleashed fireballs from her staff. “Time for some fun,” Jessica spoke, grinning almost evilly. She rose her staff in the air, and dark clouds seemed to appear above her. It spread out, covering the area where the army was outside the walls of the city. “Faia Arashi!” she shouted. From the clouds, fire began to shoot down, like small meteors. They slammed into the ground, spreading the army out. “Gaia Jishini!” she shouted, and the ground beneath them began to shake. “Ikazuchi Arashi!” she shouted, lightning was now shooting down as well as fire. “Yes! Run, fools! Run!” she laughed, almost evilly, as if enjoying the fact the Orcs were frightened. Meanwhile, at the council, a humbling wind blew across the dry market square and carried with it the sharp but quiet clangs of a battle raging at a distance. Jarod drew his sword slowly and silently and held it tight as he advanced up the polished marble staircase to the Council building and across the landing to the massive wooden doors leading to the foyer. He inhaled deep and slow, then turned to his side and kicked the door open with his heavy steel-lined boots. The wooden doors splintered as they flew open, revealing naught but a draft of air where there should have been a bustling atmosphere. Jarod walked slowly into the lobby, sword drawn and ready. Under the shadow of his hood his eyes darted about, searching for any trace or clue which could explain the eerie silence. Suddenly the rich scent of death wafted into his nose and his gaze fell to the floor. A lone spot of blood was barely noticeable on the deep red velvet carpet leading across the foyer to the grand marble staircase on the other end. A cold chill shot down his spine as he realized that this was not the work of Orcs, but of something far more sinister. Then his mouth did something it had not done for three full years; it curled up into a smile most foul. He brought the hilt up to his broken lips and licked it to tighten his grip. He then proceed across the carpet and up the staircase. Jarod approached one of the two wide doors leading to the Grand Hall where the Council met and where the townspeople gathered for assemblies and feasts. His hand reached out for the great brass handle but stopped a hairs breadth away; he could feel warmth radiating from it. It had been opened and closed not too long ago. His enemy was on the opposite side of that door. Under his cloak Jarod’s mangled dark hair stood on end; not for 12 long years had he truly felt as if he was on such a deadly hunt, and the memories long past of slaughtering thieves one by one in their own stronghold, with naught but his bare hands. His icy smile broke into a full grin, baring his broken and chipped teeth, as he raised his heavy foot a second time and kicked the door open. He strode through, feeling every limb on fire and aching for the hunt. He was not disappointed. Meanwhile, Jessica laughed again as she watched the Orcs scattering in fear. Her magic was still shooting down around her at her enemies. She and the dragon were also high enough up to avoid arrow fire. “Burn!” she shouted. “Faia Funkazeno!” she shouted. By command, the ground began to crack open beneath the feet’s of the Orc army. As it did, the meteors continued to rain down, some landing directly in the cracks, causing the ground to shake violently, causing a slight spit of lava from the ground. Jessica laughed evilly once more. “Yes! Perfect! I feel your fear! Fear me, fools!” she laughed again. Her protector would also be noticing this sudden change in her. One thing he had been assigned to do was stop the demonic side of her from getting out. Unfortunately, it was trying to get out now. At the Council, Jarod strolled more than walked into the Great Hall, an enormous room with long tables for town feasts, currently set against the wall for the Councils deliberations. The Council itself sat at the far end of the room at their long, oval table. Standing guard were three squads of Orc soldiers, each squad led by an Orc mage. By the table were two figures, one wearing a long black cloak like the one he himself wore, the other a sandy green poncho, very much like the ruffians from earlier that day. As Jarod walked forward he could feel a magic charm burning on his forehead, a signal put into place should he be separated from his protectee. “Let's make this quick,” he said, “I have to save the immortal souls of the rest of your army.” At the Karagum gate, the Orcs were frightened beyond belief. It took a lot to scare an Orc, and this had done way more then scare them. This was frightening them so badly that they were practically jumping out of their skins, just to try to last an extra second. Jessica’s eyes now began to glow a dull red color. A mark, an inverted cross, appeared on her forehead. “Bow to me in the name of Abolition!” she shouted. Jessica rose her hand out, and the meteor showers became heavier. One came crashing down into a siege weapon, which caused it to literally shatter to pieces, the flaming, wooden pieces flying everywhere. The heat was rising, and the Orcs were beginning to collapse from the heat itself. The entire city was beginning to feel a massive heat wave coming from outside the walls. Her dragon roared, sensing what was going on. It could feel the mental connection with its rider slowly dying. It roared loudly, a roar that echoed over the destruction, and the city, reaching the ears of Jessica’s protector. Jessica just laughed more, watching the destruction below her. She could feel their fear, and it was that, and the excitement of destruction, that was causing her eyes to change a brighter, more blood red color then before. However, that was just the beginning of the transformation. In the Council building, dark blood dripped from the tip of a long, thin sword, the once mirror-sleek shaft now covered in Orc blood. A hum filled the air as the swords vibration slowly died out. A heap of Orc corpses were piled around Jarod, who's tongue slipped out of his mouth to lick the spoils off of his weapon. Across the hall, three Orc mages had fallen, their mouths still open and arms still risen as in mid-spell, but a small throwing-knife stuck out of each green forehead. The black cloak billowed as it walked over the pile of corpses; the face on the Leader of the Desert Thieves guild was paler than white sand, a stark contrast from the faces of the aged Council members, whose hope had risen with the arrival of this dark savior. Feeling the charm burn hotter in his forehead and knowing it would soon begin to glow a blue color, Jarod glared hard at the other cloaked figure. His bet won, as the cloaked figure did not draw, but instead whispered a calm word, “Retreat.” The Desert Thieves leader shot him a quick glance, but accepted his judgment. Quickly reaching into his poncho he threw down a single smoke bomb which quickly filled the room and dissipated, leaving only the stunned Council members. With a gracious bow, the cloaked savior turned and walked away, flicking the blood off of his sword once more, and sheathing it. As he ascended the hill of corpses, he heard a distant roar. From that point on, even the wind could not keep up with his feet. Jessica laughed as she watched the fear and terror from below her. The Orcs were dying, be it by fireballs, lightning, falling into large holes filled with lava, or even by the fact the area was at least three hundred degrees, if not more, it didn’t matter. The fact was that the Orcs could no longer survive under the current circumstances. Heat was rising from the sand, which was beginning to melt from the heat. Already, the heat had seeped into the city, setting a few of the buildings aflame. The very bricks the city was made of were beginning to crack, and give way to the heat, yet all Jessica did was sit there on her dragon and laugh. The dragon roared louder, feeling weaker by the second. Its wings were beginning to struggle to flap. It felt its connection with Jessica weakening further, as if its rider was dying, even though she wasn't. Jarod leapt from roof to roof in tremendous bounds, his heavy boots shattering the ceramic shingles but not slowing him down. His eyes remained fixed on the distant dragon, slowly falling further and further. Flames shot up before him, and much to his dismay, shot up between him and his endangered protectee. His heavy feet pounded against the rooftops like a gattling gun, his cloak rippled so fast in the wind that it cracked like a whip. He was so close to now that he could feel the heat scorching his skin, yet his eyes remained locked. Jarod saw the dragon fall behind the flames, but his trained eye knew where they were. At the last second, he leapt high into the air and soared through the flames. They licked his body and singed his skin, yet no sooner had he entered than he had left, and he saw his target before him. He landed on the dragon facing the young witch, her eyes as dark as his sword had been. Not hesitating a second, Jarod quickly drew a holy cross from his cloak and pressed it hard against the inverted cross on her forehead. He wrapped one strong arm around her held her close to him as he shouted, “Honores mutant mores! Non est vivere sed valere vita est!” Jessica roared as the cross glowed brightly. She began shaking, trying to pull away, but it was to no avail. Slowly, her roars of pain died down, as her eyes slowly returned to normal. After a moment, her body slouched forward; the only thing holding her onto the dragon now was her protector. The dragon landed, gently, on a roof nearby. The clouds in the sky began to part, disappearing as fast as they had appeared. The heat began to die down, slowly, but it did. People rushed to quickly put out the fires around the city, and the ground cooled. As it cooled, some of the sand turned to glass, while other, lesser effected parts stayed as sand. The dragon roared lightly, as if saying “Thank you” before it closed its eyes to rest. It was re-connected, but after everything, both her and her rider needed a rest. Jarod held Jessica long in his arms, longer than need be, with the holy cross held strong against her. He felt her go limp in his arms and the dragon under him. Dismounting, he lifted her up into his arms and laid her down on her loyal mount. Reaching up to his cloak, he removed his cape and draped it gently over her, causing her to stir for but a moment. The dragon purred as it slept, the young girl moaned softly as the physical and mental torment of transformation reversed and came to an end. Jarod breathed deep and sat on the roof to wait, occasionally glimpsing a fleeing Orc, occasionally stealing a look at the vision now curled up with his cloak. A few moments passed before Jessica stirred in any way. The only reason for it, however, was due to her being in a major part of the detransformation when it occurred. After a moment, though, she went completely silent, it becoming obvious now that she was fast asleep, and that the process was over. She stirred once, though, the word “Papa” came from her mouth when she did. After that, a peaceful look was on her face. She looked sad, yet happy at the same time. Jarod drew his sword, which slid out of its sheath silently due to the slathering of blood it had received. He put his ear to it and closed his eyes; it was still humming. Pulling out a cloth from his pocket, he wiped down his sword and cleaned his sheath of every last drop of the foul blood which had covered it. To remove every last vestige and restore his sword to its original sheen took well over two hours, after which he sheathed it and bent down to the Dragon. “Dragon,” he whispered, “I thank you for protecting her. Your task is done for now, I shall care for her. You may return to your cave.” The dragon nodded her head, but grunted, as if saying “You better protect her.” She let him take her rider off her back, before she stood to her feet. She spread her wings, and, with one heavy push with her wings, flew up into the air, then flew off. The sound made the rider groan. She opened her eyes a little, finally waking up after what had happened. Jarod lifted Jessica up in his arms, still wrapped up in his cloak, and carried her gently down the side of the roof. He dropped off and landed with astounding softness, then proceeded down the street with careful steps. His eyes rested on hers as they went and he whispered, “How are you feeling, my Lady?” Jarod asked. “Horrible,” Jessica groaned. “My head is throbbing like no other.” She grabbed her head. “How is my dragon, is she okay?” “She's fine, my Lady. The assault on the city failed. The council is safe. Do not concern yourself with these matters yet, you must rest.” Jessica looked around a little, the realization she was being carried through public now hit her and she blushed. Jarod approached a cozy Inn and tried to pull the door open, but it refused to move. Uncaring for anything other than the well-being of the young one in his arms, he stepped back and kicked the door open. It nearly flew off its hinges, and as he stepped inside, a sword leapt to his throat. Fortunately, the one holding the sword was the Innkeeper. “I’m sorry,” the Innkeeper spoke. “I thought it might have been Orcs.” The Innkeeper turned. “It’s ok, you can come out. It’s just a customer.” The Innkeeper’s family came out from under the welcome desk and smiled. “What’s going on out there?” the Innkeeper’s wife asked. “It’s ok, the battle is over. The Orcs are gone,” Jarod spoke. “I need a bed for this young lady. I care not how much it is. I will pay anything to see that this young women gets the proper rest she needs.” “Of course,” the Innkeeper spoke. The Innkeeper quickly looked up the best room he had, and Jarod paid the amount the Innkeeper spoke. Jarod then carried Jessica up to the room and laid her gently on the bed. Unable to stop himself, he gazed deep into her eyes for a moment, then brushed a strand of hair away and walked into a dark corner to stand guard. Upon being placed in bed, Jessica sat up. “Thank you,” she spoke. She grabbed her shirt and pulled it off, letting her chest now sit, uncovered. She then laid back down and pulled the blanket up against her. She closed her eyes, then spoke, “Once I wake up, we have to see the council...they have to know about the Dark Hand...” Under the cloak and within the shadow it was impossible to see that Jarod’s eyes were closed, but despite having murdered thousands, a gentleman he did remain, and his eyes were closed. “We shall visit them when you are rested, my Lady.” He rested his hands in his lap, palm up, right on top of left, the tips of his thumbs touching. “Okay,” Jessica said, sleepily. It wasn't long before she had fallen asleep once more. Jarod sat in silent meditation, but not before whispering a quick prayer to Jinsei for the sake of his protectee. “Requiescat in pace. May she rest in peace.”

Chapter 3: Team Rocket Emily and Kiai had been traveling a little ways now. Emily groaned a little. “Man, I never imagined there was so much walking involved in this! My feet are getting tired!” She soon plopped down, groaning. “I'm tired.” Kiai, however, was stern as ever, and seemed un-phased by the length they had walked so far. Kiai looked down at Emily and raised an eyebrow. “You do realize we'll have traveled, on foot, from coast to coast and beyond before we're done, right?” Emily groaned. “Don't remind me...” she sighed. “I was all excited about this day, but I never realized how much walking would be involved...” she sighed as Shellshocker hopped off her shoulder and looked up at her. “Squirtle squirt,” Shellshocker spoke. Emily sighed. Kiai sighed. “Well, I guess we're taking a break.” He pulled off his backpack and sat down beside Emily. “You know, if you're really that tired, I can carry you. But don't get into the habit...I won't carry you down Victory Road...” Emily shook her head. “No, it's ok...I'll get used to it...If we just take occasional breaks, eventually I will get used to it enough.” Shellshocker, seeing that they had, indeed, decided to take a break, ran over to where Rattata now was sitting and began having a conversation with him. Emily giggled. “Almost wish we knew what they were saying.” “Yeah, me too.” Kiai leaned back and stretched his feet out. “I suppose we'll get to Viridian City by tomorrow, at this rate. Maybe the day after. Hey...” he sat up straight, suddenly deep in thought. “I just realized, Slate is going to be the first Gym leader we come across. You'll probably have an easier time with him then I will!” “That's true, but only if I fight with Shellshocker more. He hasn't been in a Pokémon battle since yesterday...and he lost that one...so odds are he really didn't get any experience from it...” she sighed and looked at Shellshocker. He was still talking with Rattata. Kiai smiled, “It's ok, there's a long road yet to Viridian, and the bug forest after that before we get to Pewter City.” “B-bug F-forest?” Emily asked. She had now begun to shake. Her fear of bug Pokémon came out once more and she shut her eyes, trying to calm herself, but it wasn't working well. Kiai put his arm around her, “Relax,” he whispered, “It's full of trainers. You can't go two steps without being forced into a fight. Plus, you'll be with me. We'll leave Viridian early in the morning and go straight through. It'll be fine.” “Y-yeah...I guess you're right...” Emily spoke, sighing. With Kiai holding her, she felt more secure. “I'm glad your with me.” She put her head against his chest. There was then an odd noise from the bushes nearby. Emily looked towards the bushes, wondering what was going on. The bush opened a little, two eyes that seemed to glow were looking at them. “Psy,” a voice spoke from the bushes. “Duck!” the voice shouted as a Psyduck then fell out of the bush. It looked badly bruised, but there was something else strange about this Psyduck. It was an odd blue color, and its skin almost seemed to shine. “Hey, a Psyduck,” Kiai spoke, not really noticing how the Psyduck was injured, nor that it seemed to shine. “You know, they get some crazy powerful Psychic attacks when they evolve.” As much as he wanted to stand up and catch it, he knew Emily would want to try her luck first. “He's all yours, Emily. Show me your moves!” Emily blinked. “Yeah...but...” she stood up. “It looks hurt...” she quickly ran over to it, kneeling down. “Oh my...” she put her hand on the Psyduck as she looked at it. She bit her lip as she pulled out a pokéball. “I know I'm supposed to weaken it first but...it already looks really weak.” She tossed her pokéball at it, and it opened, absorbing the Psyduck inside of it. It landed on the ground and wobbled for a minute before the red light vanished. Instead of being happy, she was worried as she scooped the ball up into her hands. Kiai walked to her and looked at the ball in her hands. “Do you think it's hurt? If it is...we're still some time away from Viridian...and we can't turn back to Pallet Town...” Emily bit her lip. “There's no Pokémon centers between here and there, is there?” she asked and sighed, looking down at the ball. “It was obviously hurt, because it had been bruised some...I just hope it isn't a Pokémon that ran away from its trainer...because that would just be awful...” There was another sound from behind her in the bushes once more. She turned around, her eyes coming face-to-face with a tall man wearing a black outfit with a red R on it. “Uh oh, I've been spotted,” the man spoke. He quickly reached down and grabbed a pokéball from his belt. “Hey, you, girl, you seen a Psyduck come through here? A blue one?” Emily didn't say anything. Kiai stepped forward. “Yes, we did,” Kiai spoke. “It looked like it was hurt, but when we approached it, it ran away.” He pointed at the bushes across the path. “It went that way. Was it yours?” The man grinned. “Oh really? Well, it's not mine, but soon it will be the property of Team Rocket.” He tossed his pokéball in the air and it opened, unleashing a large, round, rock-like Pokémon. “I know you have that Psyduck, so how about you give it over real nice like?” Emily growled a little. “So you're the one that beat it down so badly?” she looked to Shellshocker. “Get ready,” she spoke and Shellshocker turned, nodding. He rushed to Emily's side and the two looked towards the Team Rocket member in front of them. “I’ll never forgive you for harming this Psyduck.” “Ha! Who needs forgiveness?” the Team Rocket member spoke. “You kids don't know who you're messing with. Team Rocket always obtains what it wants. Graveler, get in there and show this girl who she's meddling with.” The large Pokémon jumped in between the man and Emily, shaking the ground as it did. It looked like a formidable opponent. “That's a nice Squirtle you have, girl. That'll fetch a decent price. After I humiliate you, I'll take it for myself.” Emily growled. “That's what you think.” She looked to Shellshocker who nodded. “Get ready,” she spoke. “Shellshocker, use Water Gun!” Shellshocker inhaled and, like before, shot out a large burst of water from its mouth. It shot forward and struck the Graveler hard, but the Team Rocket member just grinned. “A pathetic Squirtle like that can't hurt my Graveler. Graveler, use Rock Throw!” the Team Rocket Member shouted. Graveler jumped into the air and brought its hands together. It almost seemed to form a large rock in its hands, which he then tossed the rock at Shellshocker. “Dodge it!” Emily shouted. Shellshocker barely managed to jump out of the way. “Quickly, Water Gun!” Squirtle inhaled again, then shot a burst of water straight up into the air, striking the Graveler and sending it flying up, then slamming into the ground. The Graveler slowly rose to its feet, not knocked out yet. Kiai leaned close to Emily and whispered in her ear, “Careful Emily...this might not be the only one he has...save some gusto for later.” The man growled, “Ok girl, you asked for it. Graveler, Dig Attack!” The Graveler began spinning quickly, and burrowed straight down into the dirt. “What's your plan now, girl?” Emily growled. “I know,” she whispered back to Kiai. “Shellshocker, be careful, we don't know where he'll pop up.” Shellshocker's eyes began to dart around as it felt the ground. “Squirtle squirt,” Shellshocker spoke. Suddenly, Graveler jumped out of the ground from directly under him. This sent him flying into the air, and soon landing hard on his back. “Shellshocker!” Emily shouted, and Shellshocker slowly stood back to his feet. He growled now. Emily blinked as Shellshocker rushed forward. Shellshocker jumped up, twirling and striking the Graveler with its tail. It knocked the Graveler back some as it landed on its feet. Emily quickly pulled out her pokédex and held it up. “When angry,” the Pokédex began, “Pokémon can be known to go into a blind rage, which increases their power, but also makes them less likely to dodge attacks.” Kiai instinctively drew a pokéball from his belt. “Tsk tsk tsk,” the Team Rocket Member spoke, “two on one isn't fair. But don't worry boy, you'll get your chance. Graveler, give it another Rock Throw.” Graveler reached into the dirt and drew out a rock, and hurled it at Shellshocker. It bounced off its head, knocking him back but not out. Shellshocker glared at Graveler, and looked like he was going to charge again. Kiai hissed into Emily's ear, “You can't keep letting him do this! He's your Pokémon, he needs your help! Tell him what to do!” Emily bit her lip once more. “Shellshocker! Listen to me! Use your Water Gun!” she shouted. Shellshocker growled a little more, then inhaled once more. Using his rage, Shellshocker pushed the water out of his mouth and at Graveler once again, but this time much harder. The attack hit Graveler hard, and soon knocked it back, and out. “What?!” the Team Rocket member shouted. “This just can't be...” he growled. “Stupid useless Pokémon!” he shouted, kicking the Graveler, then hoping on his foot a little as he felt the pain that would come from hitting a huge rock with your foot. “Graveler, return!” he shouted, holding out his pokéball. The beam shot forward and absorbed Graveler back into it. “You'll pay for messing with Team Rocket, mark my words!” he shouted, then turned and ran off. Emily sighed and Shellshocker walked back over to Emily. She hugged him and smiled. “That was wonderful, Shellshocker, you did great.” She then looked at the pokéball in her hand. The pokéball itself had changed color slightly, becoming a blue color like the Psyduck it held. “Maybe if we run, we can get to Viridian before sundown?” Emily asked, looking at Kiai. “We really need to get him to a Pokémon Center.” Kiai looked around frantically. “Damn, if only we could get a bicycle from someone...wait!” He held the pokéball in his hand out. “Spearow, we need you!” The pokéball opened, and Spearow obediantly popped out onto the ground. Kiai reached into his bag and pulled out a small notebook and pencil, and scribbled a hasty message onto it. He tore off the page, and wrapped it around Spearow's foot, then grabbed the blue pokéball from Emily's hand. He held it out to Spearow, saying “Spearow, take this to the Pokémon Center in Viridian City. Make sure Nurse Joy gets the message! We'll be there as soon as we can.” Spearow trilled, and flew into the air, snatching the pokéball from Kiai's open palm and flying off due north. “That's a good idea,” Emily spoke, nodding. “I hope it'll be okay...” she hugged Kiai. “I'd hate for something bad to happen to it just because of that stupid trainer...” she sighed. “We should still run as fast as we can.” “You're right. Rattata, lets go.” Rattata scrambled up onto Kiai’s shoulder. He hoisted his backpack up, and darted down the path, turning around just long enough to yell to Emily, “Keep up!” “Of course,” Emily spoke, grabbing Shellshocker and tossing him on her back. She gripped her backpack tight and began running after Kiai. It took them until sundown, but after a few hours of running, they managed to make it in time. The two burst into the Pokémon center, heaving and panting, sweat pouring down their faces. The sun was setting; they had been running nearly non-stop all day. Kiai helped Emily, who was nearly completely spent, over to a chair in the waiting area, then ran up to the front counter, behind which stood a very proper-looking Chansey. “Um, excuse me, we sent a Spearow here earlier...er...” Kiai was somewhat at a loss, not knowing exactly how to hold a conversation with a Pokémon. Chansey seemed to understand however, as it squeaked “Chansey chansey!” and ran off through the double doors leading to the medical area. Shortly after, Nurse Joy emerged, looking disheveled but smiling. “I see,” Nurse Joy spoke sweetly, “you were the ones who sent the Spearow. We received it earlier today, it was quite worn, I hope you haven't been mistreating it. The Psyduck, however, is certainly a unique case...” “Is it okay?” Emily asked. “I know it was pretty beat up from that Team Rocket guy...” “Team Rocket?” Nurse Joy asked. “I see...” she thought for a moment. “Perhaps that's it, then.” “What do you mean?” Emily asked. Nurse Joy sighed. “Team Rocket has been developing a virus known as the Pokémon Virus, or Pokérus. It makes Pokémon shine, and makes them stronger as well. Some cases have seen Pokémon gain strange abilities they could otherwise never gain...” Nurse Joy sighed. “I fear this Psyduck may be infested with the Pokérus.” “A virus that makes Pokémon stronger...I don't like that one bit,” sighed Kiai. “Is there anything you can do about it, Nurse Joy?” “No, there is no way to counter the Pokérus,” Nurse Joy spoke, shaking her head and sighing. “However, if you were the ones who caught him, then that Psyduck is officially registered to you. So, I plan to nurse it back to health, then give it back to you, as long as you promise not to abuse it.” Emily shook her head. “Of course we won't, Nurse Joy. I love Pokémon.” She looked to Shellshocker, who looked at her and smiled. “Especially water types.” “Then when I finish healing it, I'll give it back to you. Be careful, though, Team Rocket is experimenting all over the place, so you may run into more Pokémon like these. The best thing you could do is probably catch them, so that Team Rocket can't.” “We'll be sure to keep an eye out for them, Nurse Joy. And we'll spread the word to every trainer we meet. In the meantime...” he looked at Emily, and she looked as tired as he felt. “...I think we need to rest for the night. But first...is Spearow ok?” Nurse Joy smiled, “Of course it is. You can retrieve it at any time.” “Thank you,” said Kiai, bowing to Nurse Joy. She led them into the medical area, down the hall a short way and into a small room, where Spearow was standing on a small bed, pecking at a loaf of bread. Kiai walked over to it, beaming. He reached up and stroked Spearow’s feathers, whispering to it, “You did good. Thank you.” Spearow trilled happily, and Kiai returned it to its pokéball. “And now,” said Nurse Joy, “to bed. I'll show you two to our guest wing.” She led them out of the medical area, and down another hall that looked like a dormitory. She opened a door to a room, empty except for two beds, a lamp, and a phone on a small bureau. “You two can sleep here for the night, I'll wake you up tomorrow morning.” Kiai and Emily both thanked Nurse Joy as she left, and the two fell into their beds. Rattata curled up on Kiai's pillow, and Shellshocker curled up with Emily Emily snuggled into her bed with Shellshocker. She had, naturally, changed into her pajamas before heading to bed, though she had begun to notice Kiai never did, and began to wonder if he even had any other clothes with him. She shrugged it off and fell asleep. She hoped the night would be uneventful, unlike the night before, but it wasn't. Once again the nightmare began to grip her. She began to roll around in her bed, beginning to breathe heavily as she groaned. “No, you can't...” she spoke. “No, don't come any closer...you can't...” She screamed as she found herself waking up this time. Shellshocker jumped at the scream and looked at Emily, a very worried look on its face. Kiai was up too, and Emily soon saw him looking over Shellshocker. “Not again, Emily...” he spoke, with a very worried look on his face. Emily sighed as she closed her eyes. “Every night...” she spoke. She shut her eyes tighter. Finally, she tossed the covers from her bed and ran to Kiai's bed. She hopped onto it and hugged him. Her grip seemed to say that she didn't want to let him go. Kiai sighed to himself. He wished he could get into the head of his friend and help her, but he knew he couldn't. He pulled the blankets over them, wrapped his arms around Emily, and held her close. “It's ok,” he whispered softly, “I'm here.” Emily sniffled as tears rolled down her cheeks. “C-can I...sleep here tonight...?” she asked through her sniffles. She didn't want to be away from Kiai at this time. Kiai paused, but eventually said, “Yes, of course you can.” He held her tighter, not wanting to let her go either. “Thank you,” Emily spoke, holding Kiai as close to her as she could. She soon managed to drift back off to sleep. Once she was asleep, Kiai also allowed himself to drift into sleep. The night was mostly uneventful from there on. As day came, Nurse Joy opened the door to their room. She awoke them and Emily stretched a bit. As she rolled onto her side, Kiai shifted a little, their lips touching, and his hand gently resting upon her breast, which was covered only by her shirt. Kiai, however, hadn't awoken yet, and she blushed. Kiai shifted slightly in his sleep, pushing his hand into Emily’s breast and his lips into hers. Emily blushed even more. She was actually enjoying it a little, but this wasn't really how she had imagined her first kiss. After a moment, however, she pushed him off the bed, making him fall with a fairly loud “Thud!” This awoke and dazed him. Emily looked down a bit, her face turning a little redder. Kiai slowly opened his eyes, staring straight up at Emily. He let out a long, drawn-out, painful “...Oooooowwwwwwwwww...” Emily giggled a little. “Well, that's what you get for groping me in your sleep.” She turned, trying to pretend like she was upset. Once she had her face turned away from him, though, she blushed a bit more. She was trying to get the thought out of her mind, but the more she tried, the more she thought of it. “Groping you...?” Kiai laid on the floor, staring up at the ceiling, a look of utter confusion plastered on his face. “Yeah, grabbing my breasts, like you did the night before last, too,” Emily spoke, turning to look at him and sticking her tongue out at him. “Anyway...I'm going to change...” She stood to her feet, grabbed her backpack, and headed off to the bathroom. Kiai’s face turned red as it sunk in what he did, though he didn't really feel it was worth knocking him to the ground. He got up, and pulled a change of clothes out of his backpack, and proceeded to undress. He pulled out a non-descript white t-shirt and a pair of shorts, identical to what he was already wearing, save for a little less dirt. He pulled them on, decided he was still tired, and crawled back into the bed, pulling the blanket over his head. Emily entered the bathroom and walked in, setting her backpack down next to her. She shut the door, locked it, and proceeded to pull off her shirt. She dropped her pants, then walked to the nearby mirror and looked into it. After a moment, she turned and walked back to her backpack, now pulling out a different outfit, consisting of a blue mini skirt that had little cyan colored polka dots, along with a brown halter top, which she first tied at the bottom, then pulled up and tied around her neck. Once she was done, she pulled on her outfit a little, then frowned. “Either this outfit shrank, or I grew a bit since I last wore it...cause it's tighter then I remember...” Emily then proceeded to put her clothes back in her backpack. She then left the bathroom and opened the door to their room. She blinked when she saw the big lump in Kiai's bed. She sighed. “Kiai, come on, wake up.” She walked over and pulled the sheets off his bed. Kiai sat up, grabbed the sheets from Emily's hands, and laid back down, mumbling something about “five more minutes.” Emily sighed, then, once again, pushed Kiai off the bed. “Get up you lazy bum.” Kiai's hand reached out of the tangle of blankets that he fell off the bed with, grabbed the pillow, and pulled it down to the floor. Emily sighed. She looked to Shellshocker and nodded. Shellshocker rushed over to him and, once Emily had removed any covers that covered him, Shellshocker inhaled, blasting Kiai with his Water Gun attack. “Wake up, you lazy bum.” She then pulled the pillow away and hit him on the head with it. Kiai sat up, his head dripping wet. He stood up to face Emily, then shook his head violently, splashing her with droplets of water. Emily held her hands up to try and block the water. Once he was done, she giggled. “Serves you right,” she spoke. “Next time you should wake up when I tell you to.” Kiai glared at her for a few seconds, then smiled. “Yes Ma'am,” he spoke and snapped his hand up in a mock salute, clicking his heels together. Emily gave him a half glare, then turned. “Anyway, let's grab some food and go see how that Psyduck is doing.” “Good call,” Kiai said, grabbing his backpack as Rattata leapt onto his shoulder. They strolled out of the Pokémon Center into the bright morning sun. It was a picturesque day, and so early in the morning, nearly no one was out yet. They spotted a cafe just down the street, where they had their breakfast. Emily tried out a few desserts, while Kiai scrolled through his Pokédex for information the Pokérus, and Squirtle blew bubbles for Rattata to chase. While she ate happily, Emily couldn't help but think about the Psyduck that was still at the Pokémon Center. After she had finished, she pulled out her pokedex. “Psyduck...hmm...” “Psyduck, the duck Pokémon,” the Pokédex spoke, “when its headache intensifies, it starts using strange powers. However, it has no recollection of its powers, so it always looks befuddled and bewildered.” “Hmm...so it uses its powers best when it has a headache?” she pushed a button, which moved to the next Pokémon in the list. “Golduck, the duck Pokémon, he is the evolved form of Psyduck. The webbed flippers on its forelegs and hind legs and the streamlined body of Golduck give it frightening speed. This Pokémon is definitely much faster than even the most athletic swimmer.” “So it evolves into Golduck, huh? Interesting.” Emily smiled. “Golduck looks so awesome!” “Mmm...” nodded Kiai, without looking up from his own pokédex, “Golduck is critical for water-type trainers, as it's hands-down the strongest Water-type with Psychic powers. Sure you have Slowbro and Polywrath, but they're both far too difficult to deal with.” Once again, Kiai seemed to be a walking, talking pokédex. At length, he closed his pokédex and stood up. “Come on, I know you're eager to see how Psyduck is doing.” Emily blinked and closed her pokédex as well. “Yeah, that Psyduck was pretty badly injured yesterday, so I really do hope it is okay now.” Emily stood to her feet and followed Kiai back to the Pokémon Center. There, Nurse Joy greeted them. “Welcome back,” Nurse Joy spoke. “Thank you, how is that Psyduck doing? Is he okay?” Emily asked. Nurse Joy smiled. “He's perfectly fine, today,” her face changed to showing sadness as she finished, “but he still has the Pokérus. So please, keep watch on him, won't you?” “I will,” Emily spoke, nodding. Nurse Joy handed the still blue pokéball to Emily. “What about the pokéball?” Emily asked. “It's a result of the Pokérus. The pokéball becomes shiny as well...” Emily looked at it. “Interesting...well, as long as Psyduck is okay.” She tossed the pokéball to the ground, and the blue Psyduck popped out. “Psy...duck...” the Psyduck spoke as it tilted its head. “I'll nickname you...” she thought for a moment. “Goldy.” “Psy...duck...” the Psyduck spoke as it tilted its head. Kiai raised an eyebrow. “I...guess that means he approves?” “Psy...duck...” the Psyduck once again spoke as it once again tilted its head. “...Sure, why not,” Kiai spoke. “Anyway, Nurse Joy, is the Pokérus contagious?” Nurse Joy shook her head. “No, we can get it to the point where contaminated Pokémon won't spread it to others.” “Well, that's good, I suppose...I'd hate for all of our other Pokémon to catch it...although...” she thought for a moment, envisioning what Shellshocker would look like shiny. She shook her head and shrugged it off. “While I don't agree with it, it does make the Pokémon look pretty cool.” She held up the blue pokéball. “Goldy, return!” the beam shot out and absorbed the blue Psyduck into the ball. She turned to look at Kiai. “I'm a little surprised you didn't ask why I named it Goldy, as it isn't a Golduck, or gold colored.” Kiai shrugged. “I remember when we were young and you used to call me Ponyta. Ever since then, I never really questioned your decisions in naming things...I knew it would just be asking for trouble.” Kiai was sadly unable to dodge the smack that Emily aimed for the back of his head. Emily cleared her throat, then turned away from Kiai. “Well, anyway, if we're going to go for badges, we should start making our way to Pewter City, right?” Kiai was about to answer that question when a loud “Stop thief!” was heard outside. Emily quickly darted forward to find out what was going on. Outside the Pokémon Center stood a scared woman. “That man stole my son's Pokémon!” she told Emily, and Emily turned, seeing a man running off. He was a bit far to see clearly, but he didn't wear a Team Rocket outfit, or so it appeared. Kiai ran outside just after Emily, as Officer Jenny ran past them, blowing her whistle. Kiai quickly grabbed a pokéball on his belt. “Spearow, Peck Attack!” Spearow popped out of the pokéball in mid-flight, and flew swiftly toward the thief. It passed Jenny and caught up to the thief, pecking madly at his head, stalling him just long enough for Jenny, Kiai, and Emily to catch up. “Get off me, you dumb bird!” the man shouted. “Stop right there,” Jenny spoke, grabbing the man by the arm. “Who are you, and what are you up to?” The man growled, then looked to see Emily and Kiai approaching him as well. The man grinned. “Awesome, the bosses plan worked,” he spoke, pulling his arm from Officer Jenny. “Listen, Officer, I'm just doing a job my boss told me to do. You see, he said if I steal a Pokémon sometime around this time, he was certain that you two,” he said the last part as he turned to look at Kiai and Emily, “would appear.” He tossed the pokéball up and down in his hand. “So, here, you can have your ball back, now that I've gotten your attention.” He tossed the pokéball away and Jenny caught it quickly. “I challenge you to a two-on-two match. You both bring out a Pokémon, and I'll bring out two of mine.” The man grinned. “Winner takes the loser’s Pokémon.” “We decline.” spoke Kiai simply. “Aww, what's wrong, you scared?” the man asked, laughing. Officer Jenny once again grabbed the guy. “I told you, you can have your ball back, now go away.” He managed to break free of Officer Jenny, then hit her in the side with his arm, knocking her down. He smirked as he looked back at Kiai and Emily. “Now, then, as I was saying. You and I are going to duel, two-on-two, or do you need some convincing?” He pulled out a pokéball and tossed it into the air. A snake like Pokémon appeared and hissed. “Ekans, let's convince them to duel. Use your wrap attack...on Officer Jenny!” The Ekans obeyed, wrapping itself around Officer Jenny and squeezing her tight. Jenny tried to break free, but couldn't. “Now, for every time you decline, my Ekans will squeeze her harder.” He pulled out two more pokéballs. “Go, Sandslash and Charmeleon!” he shouted. He tossed the two pokéballs into the air and a brown, mole like Pokémon popped out of one, the other was more like an orange dragon without wings with a fire at the end of its tail. Kiai stared at the man for a while, debating his position. Finally, he decided. “Spearow, Rattata, Shellshocker...attack the Ekans.” Kiai himself lunged at the man, his fist balled up, hitting him square in the nose. The man didn't have time to react before Kiai hit him again in the gut, doubling him over. Before Kiai could do anymore, he felt a surge of pain on his back, and warm blood drip down; Sandslash was defending its master, while the Charmeleon didn’t seem to care. Kiai turned, but couldn't do much more than back away, until a large red glove punched the Sandslash hard in the side of the face, sending it skidding across the ground. “Good work, Hitmochan!” shouted Jenny, as Spearow, Rattata, and Shellshocker wrestled with the out-matched Ekans. The man looked up, a bead of blood flowing from his nose. “Dammit!” he spoke, and holding out a pokeball, “Sandslash, ret-” at that point, a pair of handcuffs fell over his wrist. “You're under arrest for Pokémon theft and association with known criminal element Team Rocket, as well as assaulting an officer of the law.” Jenny picked the man up by the collar, and began dragging him away. As she did, he looked back and scowled at Kiai and Emily. “Team Rocket won't give up!” the man shouted. Emily sighed and shook her head. “Some people...” she sighed and shrugged. “I guess it's good to know none of his Pokémon have the Pokérus, though...so Team Rocket isn't infecting all of their Pokémon with it.” She sighed again. “Anyway, we should get going...I sure hope that's the last we see of Team Rocket...at least for now.” “They won't try anything with Jenny on the watch, but as soon we leave the city limits all bets are off.” Kiai sighed. He was expecting action and adventure, but he wasn't expecting his safety to be at risk. He looked down at Rattata, who was looking proudly back up at him. He smiled. Somewhere inside him, he knew they would make it through ok. He pointed a pokéball at Spearow and called out, “Good job Spearow, Return!” Spearow zapped back into its pokéball, and Kiai knelt down and lifted Rattata up. Kiai gazed into Rattata’s eyes, and it seemed to stare back. Rattata seemed just as determined as Kiai did. “Right.” he said, placing Rattata on his shoulder and turning toward Emily. “Should we be off? If Team Rocket won't relent, neither will I. I'll see this through to the end, no matter what.” Emily nodded. “Yeah, let's go...I doubt that Team Rocket will try much of anything once we get into...” she paused and shuddered. “Viridian Forest...” She shuddered again and wrapped her arms around Kiai. “You'll be there to help me, right?” “No, I'm going to leave you at the first Kakuna cluster.” Kiai spoke, sounding very indifferent. “You better be joking about that,” Emily spoke, pushing against him a little. “Joking about what? Dropping a Caterpie down the back of your shirt?” Kiai spoke, still sounding indifferent, and somewhat cold. Emily pouted. “You wouldn't really do that, would you?” Kiai leaned down and put his face close to hers, a very stern look in his eyes. He paused, staring hard at her. “No.” he said simply, and broke into a grin as he playfully tapped her nose. Emily let go of him and put her hands on her hips, her face showing a somewhat annoyed look. “That wasn't very funny, you know?” “Listen kiddo...” Kiai began, his voice softening. “If I can beat off three Beedrills with a stick for you, I can be there to see you claim first prize at the Pokémon Tournament Championship.” He smiled, and began walking down the road...before he paused, turned around, and sheepishly said, “If I let you win, that is,” before breaking into a run. “If you let me win?” Emily growled a little, but playfully. She then dashed off towards him, quickly snatching Shellshocker off the ground as she did. The two then began to run off towards Viridian Forest and the next great part of their adventure.

Ok, I know someone at one point said that they could take music and turn it into a very good, looping Ogg file. I've come to the point where I can find no music for my game that loops properly. However, if I could get a looping Ogg file made from mp3s I have, then I could easily work the music in my game better. So, who was it that could do that?

Chapter 2: Catch and Battle Emily had returned to her home now. She was excited. She was rushing around her room, grabbing clothes and stuffing them into a small backpack. She also stuffed other things into it, like a brush for her hair, a couple small cases of makeup in case she needed them, and other random feminine objects. Her Squirtle, which she had nicknamed Shellshocker, was wandering the room, examining things here and there. “Well, I think that's about it...” she reached over to her dresser and took a small pokeball off of it. “I guess it's a good thing those pokeballs were only for show...and that Professor Oak handed all of us six pokeballs.” She turned to Shellshocker. “Shellshocker, return!” she shouted. The beam shot forward, but Shellshocker hopped out of the way. “Eh?” Emily blinked. “Shellshocker, get in your pokeball!” Shellshocker turned his nose up at Emily. “Squirtle squirt,” Shellshocker spoke. “I said get in your pokeball!” This time she tossed it. Shellshocker quickly knocked the pokeball away and turned his nose up once more. “He doesn't like his pokeball?” Emily asked, blinking. “That reminds me of Ash...his Pikachu didn't like his pokeball either...perhaps...I should just let him stay out, like Ash does with his Pikachu?” Kiai waited outside Emily's house, having packed his essentials the previous night. His Rattata was investigating a line of ants, marching along the sidewalk. Oak had told them all to say their goodbyes, but Oak was the only one Kiai had to say goodbye too. Ever since he was abandoned in Pallet Town, he really only had one friend worth saying 'goodbye' to, and she was coming with him. He heard some crashing noises from inside Emily's house, and was decidedly glad that he wasn't inside. He sat down to meditate some more, and unbeknownst to him, Rattata had sat down beside him. It took only a moment more before the door to Emily's house opened. She walked out, Shellshocker at her side. She had her backpack all packed and slung on her back. It was a small, more feminine backpack, in that it had only a single string strap that lead to a small, cloth pouch that made up the backpack. It had two cloth pouches that were sewn carefully onto it, though looked a little out of place, being that Emily had put them there, and had not originally come with the backpack. She smiled as she saw Kiai in front of her and waved. “All right, I'm all ready to go.” “Emily!” a female voice shouted and Emily rolled her eyes. She turned and her mom rushed out, hugging her tight. “Please be careful, sweetie. I don't want you to get hurt out there.” “Mom, I'm thirteen. I'll be fine. I won't be by myself, you know? Kiai is coming with me.” “I know...but I'm still your mother...so I’m allowed to care about you.” “I'll be fine, Mom...” Emily hugged her mom, then turned to Kiai. “Ready to go?” she asked. Kiai stood up and smiled at Emily. “Ready,” he spoke with a grin. As if reading his mind, Rattata ran up Kiai's leg and perched on his shoulder. “They should be starting the going away ceremony soon, but if you're eager to leave, we can get a head start.” Emily smiled. “I'm not a big fan of parties,” she spoke, then looked away. “I usually feel alone and left out...” she muttered under her breath. She began heading off to the north, to where they could begin their journey to Viridian City. “So, then,” Emily began, “now that we're on our journey, what shall we do? There are a lot of options...we could work to catch other pokemon...collect the badges and go to the pokemon league...” she thought for a moment. “Anything else we could think of, I suppose...” she stopped and turned to Kiai. “So, what should we do?” “First things first,” said Kiai, and Emily could hear him getting serious. “We need to consider what sort of team we want to develop, putting particular emphasis on our strengths and weaknesses. We should also immediately analyze the combat potential of our current pokemon. Before we even consider badges, we'll have to put in several days at least of combat training, both for ourselves and our pokemon.” At this point, Emily pretty much drowned Kiai out, though he continued talking. After a few moments Emily sighed. “Well...I know exactly what I want to go for.” She bent down and lifted her Squirtle off the ground, tossing him onto her back. “I'm going to become a water trainer! I love Water Pokemon!” Kiai smiled. They both knew he knew the most about pokemon, but Emily loved them more, without a doubt. “Well I don't know about you,” he said, “but I'm itching for a fight. I can't wait to get this party started.” Rattata squeaked in agreement. “I want to be the very best…like no one ever was!” Emily giggled a little as the two continued to walk. “While I'm not big on fighting, I certainly wouldn't mind an occasional pokemon fight. I'd love to get my pokemon stronger...but you could say I'm more the breeder type then the trainer type...” She shrugged. “Either way, I just love pokemon, and water ones are my absolute favorite!” She stopped and looked around. They were now officially out of Pallet Town. She blinked, then turned around. She suddenly seemed nervous. She stared back at the town behind her, her eyes seemed fix on her home town. Kiai noticed her pause, and he too looked back. Neither of them had gone so far away on their own, and knowing they wouldn't be going home at the end of the day really began to sink in. Kiai put his arm around Emily's shoulder. “It'll be ok…we'll come back, and when we do, they won't even recognize us.” Emily looked at Kiai, then back to Pallet Town. “Yeah, you're right.” She nodded. “I've been waiting for this day for many years, and now I can finally begin my journey.” She then looked back at Kiai. “The thing that makes this the best of all, though, is being with you for it.” She wrapped her arms around Kiai's neck and hugged him. She was happy that they wouldn't be separated now that they were both trainers, and on their journey together. Kiai hugged her back. “You're right...I can't imagine taking this journey with anyone but you.” Suddenly, a very annoyed Squirtle drenched them both with water. Seems they weren't the only two eager to get moving. “Ack!” Emily shouted, then looked at Shellshocker. He did indeed have a very annoyed look on his face. “Right, we should go,” she spoke, rubbing the back of her neck. “So, then, I guess the first place to go is Viridian City to the north. It's going to take a while to get there, though, but we should be able to manage pretty easily.” She looked down at her wrist. She now had a small, watch-like object on her wrist. It was a pokegear, specially designed for radio, phone, maps, and time. “It's also still pretty early, so we've got a good few hours of day left. I wonder how far away Viridian is, though...” She pushed a button on her pokegear, showing the map to Viridian. “Doesn’t look too far...but you ever can tell with maps...” Kiai peeked over her shoulder, as Rattata peeked over his. “Looks like we've got a few inches to go…” he spoke, looking at the small map. “Hey, we should be there in plenty of time.” Emily nodded. “Yeah. And if it's far away, we'll just keep traveling.” She turned off the map, returning the pokegear to watch mode. “It's what being a trainer is all about, right?” Suddenly, a loud noise was heard from nearby. Emily quickly turned her head to look to see what was going on. A small pokemon soon appeared from nearby. It was a small bug pokemon known as a Caterpie. Emily's eyes went wide at first, then her face turned to an almost frightened look, her arms shaking. Her body soon began to shake, then she jumped with a scream, landing into Kiai's arms. “It's a bug pokemon!” she screamed. Kiai was well aware of her fear of bug types, which had been caused by one fateful event involving her and about three Beedrills, one that Kiai had helped her out of. Kiai grinned. “Just what I was looking for. Show ‘em what you can do, Rattata!” Rattata leapt off of Kiai's shoulder with a fierce “RRRATTATA!” He landed just in front of the Caterpie, ready for battle. “Alright Rattata, lets start things off with a Scratch attack!” Rattata leapt at the Caterpie, and scratched at its nose. Instead of seriously hurting it, the Caterpie instead became enraged, and responded by tackling Rattata, a move which tossed him to the ground. “Dammit!” shouted Kiai, “Don't give up Rattata! Give him another Scratch!” Rattata leapt at the Caterpie again, and scratched him in the same place. This time, the Caterpie winced in pain, and Kiai saw his chance. He drew a pokeball from his belt and hurled it at the weakened Caterpie. “You're mine now!” he shouted, as he threw it. It bounced off of the Caterpie’s head, and sucked it in in a brilliant red flash. It wiggled twice, then the red light on the front changed to white. Kiai grinned. “One down.” he spoke, as he scooped up his new pokemon. “Yay!” Emily spoke, smiling. “That means you have two pokemon now.” Her face seemed to change again to the frightened look. “Even if it is a bug pokemon...” she spoke in a low voice. “I still remember that day...those Beedrill...” she shuttered. “Bug pokemon are scary!” she shouted. Too bad for Emily, her shout scared a Caterpie up in a nearby tree, causing it to fall on her head. “Don't...tell me...” she shook heavily, trying not to scream. “Get...it...off...” she spoke, using all her strength not to freak out. Kiai took out his pokedex and began punching buttons, sending the Caterpie to Professor Oak. He hardly looked up at Emily, and simply muttered “I'll get to it when it starts crawling down the back of your- OW!” He looked down, seeing that his Rattata had just bitten his foot. “Geez, it was just a joke…besides, you're injured.” Rattata looked up scornfully at Kiai, then bit him again. “OW!! Ok ok, I get the idea. Let’s try that Bite attack out on him.” Rattata leapt up onto Emily's chest, and scrawled up to her head, where he bit the tail of the Caterpie as it was crawling down the back of her neck. It squealed in pain, and landed on the ground with a hard thump, then ran off back into the woods. Emily gasped, as if she hadn't taken a breath in the last minute. She shivered and hugged Kiai. “Bug pokemon are creepy...” she spoke. “I'm sorry...I know it's kind of dumb...being afraid of bug pokemon...even though it's been several years since that event...” she sighed. Shellshocker seemed to roll his eyes. “Squirtle squirt...” Shellshocker spoke, then blinked. Something caught his attention. He growled a little, and rightfully, too. Alex Shibata was now making his way out of Pallet Town as well. Alex stopped walking near Emily and Kiai. He gave a smirk. Kiai turned to face Alex. “Well well well,” Alex spoke, “if it isn't the love-birds playing with their bugs. I'll have you know I've already captured 5 pokemon, and by the looks of things it wouldn't be worth humiliating you.” Rattata gave a fierce growl. “Oh ho ho! Looks like one of you has some guts, and it's the puny one no doubt.” Alex pulled out a pokeball from his belt. “I suppose showing you how worthless you all are wouldn't be a complete waste of my time. Let’s go, Bulbasaur!” The pokeball opened, and out popped a very irate Bulbasaur. Before Kiai could stop him, Rattata lunged at Bulbasaur, hitting it square in the face with a fierce Tackle, but simply bounced off. Alex could barely contain his laughter. Emily growled. “Leave us alone, Alex!” she shouted. Shellshocker also growled. The Bulbasaur and Shellshocker seemed to look each other in the eyes. “Shellshocker, no,” Emily spoke, noticing the look on Shellshocker's face. “Squirtle!” Shellshocker shouted. He stood to his feet and inhaled. He then breathed out, firing a large blast of water at the Bulbasaur. It hit him, but Bulbasaur mostly just shook it off. Alex laughed. “You're both pathetic.” Emily growled. Shellshocker rushed forward, now striking Bulbasaur with a tackle. Bulbasaur reacted a bit more to this attack, as Squirtle was bigger and tougher then the small Rattata. “Shellshocker, stop it!” Emily shouted, but Shellshocker seemed to be paying no attention to her. Alex smirked, “Bulbasaur, finish this. Vine whip!” Two long vines shot out of Bulbasaurs back and smacked Shellshocker. The powerful Plant attack was too much, and Shellshocker fell down unconscious. “Now,” said Alex, as he pulled out a pokeball, “I'll teach you what it's like to be humiliated.” He threw the pokeball at Shellshocker, but Rattata leapt in front of it, and was drawn in. “No!” shouted Kiai. The pokeball wiggled several times, and Rattata safely leapt out. “Damn you Alex, that's against the rules! You're not allowed to steal other people's pokemon! You can get banned for that!” Alex chuckled, “Geez, it was just a joke. C'mon Bulbasaur, we have badges to win. Return!” Alex held out a pokeball, and Bulbasaur obediently returned. “Well that was fun. Later, chumps!” spoke Alex, as he turned and strolled confidently down the path to Viridian City. Emily growled as she watched Alex walk off. She then turned to Shellshocker and knelt down, picking him up gently. “Shellshocker...you tried your hardest...” She hugged him. “I'm sorry you got hurt so badly.” Her eyes darted towards the way Alex went, giving a cold glare. “That bastard...I hate that jerk...I don't care how many pokemon he has...he'll never be a good trainer...one day, he's going to do something stupid and get himself into some deep shit he can't get out of all because of how he treats his pokemon.” In a nearby bush, a small pokemon watched them. It didn't make its presence known in any way, nor could anyone tell it was there. “Mew,” it spoke, then quickly flew off, making sure it wasn't seen. Emily sighed. “Let's get to Viridian City and heal up our pokemon...” she then looked down at Shellshocker. “It was just too much...” “They would heal inside their pokeballs...” spoke Kiai, looking down at Rattata, who was licking its wounds. He smiled, and continued, “But I don't think either of them would go for that.” He knelt down by his small Rattata, which seemed to have grown a small amount in the past few minutes. He gently scooped it up in his hand and placed it on his shoulder. “Come on,” he spoke, “let’s get on the road to Viridian City!” “Heh...yeah...I know Shellshocker hates his pokeball...” Emily spoke. “I spent five minutes trying to get him to go back into his, but he wouldn't...” She sighed. “Well, I guess the only way to go is north to Viridian, then.” She smiled a little. “Even if Alex is a stupid bastard, I'll be happy when we get to Viridian.” She pulled Shellshocker up against her and looked to Kiai. “Let's go.” She turned her head forward and began walking forward. “It will still take us a day or two to get there…we can hike for a few hours, but then we should set up camp. Hopefully Alex will be too eager, and he'll have gotten a good lead on us.” Kiai looked up at the sun, and after gauging its position, said, “We have about 4 more hours until sundown.” “I know it's still a few days...” Emily spoke, “and our pokemon should heal up by themselves after they rest a bit.” Emily and Kiai walked down the path, until the forest began to clear and opened up to rolling hills and meadows. A few Pidgey and Spearow could be seen, pecking amongst the grass. Emily blinked some, examining the meadow. “Wow!” she shouted, looking at all of the bird pokemon. “There's so many of them.” She pulled out her pokedex and held it up to one of the Pidgeys. “Pidgey, a bird type pokemon,” the pokedex spoke. “Pidgey has an extremely sharp sense of direction. It is capable of unerringly returning home to its nest, however far it may be removed from its familiar surroundings.” “Interesting,” Emily spoke, then looked up at the Pidgeys around her. She then held it up to one of the Spearow. “Spearow, a bird type pokemon,” the pokedex spoke again. “Spearow has a very loud cry that can be heard over half a mile away. If its high, keening cry is heard echoing all around, it is a sign that they are warning each other of danger.” Kiai eyed the Spearow. He wanted a good Flying-type, but had a feeling Rattata wasn't up to the challenge just yet. “Perhaps tomorrow…” he thought to himself. They continued along the path, pointing out to each other some wild pokemon, and what they were doing. Kiai saw several Rattata running around in a circle, which his pokedex said was a technique to ward off aggressive flying-types, since it made them look like a coiled Ekans. Emily pointed out two Pidgeottos singing to each other, which her pokedex said was a sign that they had chosen each other as their mate. Kiai looked at Emily, and blushed a little when he heard. Fortunately for him, she didn't notice. Night grew close and the two stopped, setting up a small camp in the meadow. Shellshocker had awoken and began walking on his own. Emily had managed to keep him out of battles by reminding him of what happened to him only a few hours before when he didn't listen to her. Emily smiled as she pulled out some food from her backpack and handed a little to Shellshocker, eating some herself. She looked up at Kiai, wondering what he had packed to eat. Hers wasn't much, unfortunately, just a small bit of food. While Kiai knew she wasn't a big eater, this seemed like a rather small amount of food, even for her. Kiai wandered around the area, collecting dead branches and dried grass while Rattata rested next to Emily. He drew a length of string from his backpack, and using the bow method, had a small fire going in minutes. He also drew out some hard bread-type substance, and a small bit of meat, which he skewered on a stick and held over the fire. As it cooked, he crumbled up some of the hardtack, which Rattata gratefully ate. When the meat was done cooking, he cut it into four pieces, giving Emily the largest of the four, and divided up some bread. He also pulled out a canteen of water and two cups, having figured that Emily wouldn't have even considered any of this. Emily blinked a little when Kiai handed her some meat. “Thanks...” she spoke, not expecting this. She took the meat and began to eat some, when she was then handed the cup of water. “Thanks, again,” she spoke. Once she was done eating she grabbed her backpack and opened it. She first pulled out a sleeping bag, then pulled out a set of clothes she planned to use for her pajamas. She placed them on the sleeping bag, then stretched a bit. Kiai pulled his own sleeping bag out as well, and unrolled it near the fire. He pulled out a towel as well, and coiled it around the snoozing Rattata. He then looked over at Emily, and asked, “Are you tired?” “A little...it is getting pretty late.” Emily looked up at the sky. It was dark now, the stars were in the sky, but no moon was visible. “That's right! Today was a new moon wasn't it?” she asked. “I actually forgot that.” She stood to her feet, grabbing her pajamas as she did. “I'm going to change, no peeking, got it?” she spoke as she passed Kiai. There was no truly private areas around, save for a tiny group of bushes, but she figured she'd be okay if she just walked away from the camp, especially if she walked in the direction behind Kiai. As tempted as he was to peek, Kiai instead slipped into his sleeping bag and laid back, staring up into the starry sky. The day had been a roller coaster of emotions, and it wouldn't stop. Even now, he was so excited that he was actually becoming a pokemon trainer that he felt as though tonight would be another sleepless one. He heard some rustling in the grass behind him, and began to wonder what Emily was doing. He blushed, and quickly returned his attention to the stars, trying to remember some of the constellations. Emily reached behind her back, untying the top of her halter top, letting her chest out for a moment as she moved her hands down, also untying the bottom strap. She then dropped her skirt and stretched a little. She did wear panties, but she disliked bras, and thus, never wore one. She grabbed the pants she had brought and pulled them on, when she heard a rustling in the bushes behind her. She quickly turned, ready to hit Kiai on the head, as she figured it was him trying to peep. However, her reaction was different when a small Weedle popped out of the bushes. It stared up at her and Emily's face quickly switched to its frightened look. She tried to hold it, but in the end, she screamed. Kiai tore out of his sleeping bag in an instant and dashed into the grass. He could barely see the outline of Emily, but he made for it at top speed. One thing he couldn't see, however, was the Weedle, which he tripped over, and fell into Emily, knocking them both to the ground. Emily blinked a moment as she found herself knocked to the ground. She stared, looking at Kiai on top of her. Kiai had been lucky, as one might say, since he had managed to fall in a rather interesting position. One of his hands rested on the ground, while the other had managed to land upon her breast. She blushed a little, but quickly pushed him off, covering her chest, and turning away from him. The Weedle was no longer in her mind, as she now had something else to think about. She was blushing heavily, and would have spoken had she known what to say. Kiai quickly turned away, blushing profusely, and mumbling, trying to gather his thoughts. “I…er…um…s-sorry…” he managed, after a while. Whatever it was that had frightened her was now forgotten. “I-it's ok...really...” Emily quickly grabbed her shirt, then pulled it on her. “It's more my fault...since I screamed...” she stood to her feet now, her face still deep red. “Maybe we should forget about this...and head to bed?” she asked, turning her head to look at Kiai. In the dark, she couldn't see he was blushing, but she figured he probably was. The Weedle which had scared her just passed through, now being completely ignored. It didn't take long for it to pass and vanish from view. “Yes…” muttered Kiai, “we should get to bed.” He got up and, trying not to look at Emily, made his way back to camp. He intentionally left off the part where he would forget about it. When he got back, he slipped into his backpack and gazed back up at the stars, but couldn't really focus on them. As Emily passed him on the way to her sleeping bag, she noticed that he was, indeed, quite red. Emily just stared at him for a moment as she quietly slipped into her sleeping bag. She rolled over so her back was to him, then blushed a bit more. “It felt kind of nice,” she whispered to herself. “I almost hope it happens again...” she turned her head back to look at Kiai for a single moment, then turned back, closing her eyes and falling asleep. Shellshocker quickly took his place next to Jessica, snuggling up in her arms, as if he was a teddy bear. Kiai stared at the stars a bit longer, then raised his hand to his face. He looked at it, remembering how it felt. He thought to himself, “I sure wish that would happen again…” He turned to look at Emily, and saw that she and Shellshocker were peacefully asleep. Rattata too, was sleeping, curled up in the towel. His eyes began to droop, and finally, he too fell asleep. Emily lied in her sleeping bag as she slept. Shellshocker stirred a little, rolling onto his back. This made Jessica shift a little, but that's only where it began. A moment later, her head rolled, now facing the other way. Her face showed that she was beginning to fall into a nightmare. “No...” she began to mutter in her sleep. “Not...Shellshocker...” she rolled onto her other side now, facing Kiai. Cold sweat was beginning to form on her face as the nightmare grew worse. “No...” she mutter, louder this time. “No!” she spoke, now at normal volume. “No, you can't! No! Don't do it!” she now began to shout. “Leave me alone! No! Don't!” she shouted louder. “No!” she screamed loudly, loud enough to wake up Shellshocker, Rattata, and Kiai, but not herself. She was now rolling back and forth in her sleep, screaming. Shellshocker scrambled out of Emily's arms as Kiai and Rattata ran over to her. The fire had died down to a few glowing embers, so it was hard to see, but Kiai managed to unzip her sleeping bag and pull her into his arms. “Emily! It's ok, it's just a dream! Wake up, Emily!” The sudden movement from her sleeping bag, and into Kiai’s arms, managed to startle her enough to wake her up, but not without a final scream as she quickly sat up, her eyes wide. She breathed heavily and looked around. She first searched for Shellshocker, then up at Kiai. Once she knew her dream was just a dream, she sighed, falling back against Kiai, her eyes closing. “It was just...a dream...thank god...” she wrapped her arms around Kiai, pulling him close. Whether it was on purpose, or subconsciously due to still being mostly asleep, was unknown. To Kiai, all that really mattered was having Emily in his arms, snuggled against him. She rested her head on his chest. “Kiai...” she spoke, sleepily, then her head slid a little, showing she had fallen to sleep again. Shellshocker stared, worried about his master and friend. Kiai could feel her body go limp in his arms, and he knew she was asleep again. He didn't want to let go of her…but he knew he couldn't hold her all night. He laid her gently back down, and nodded to Shellshocker that it was ok to snuggle back up with her. He threw a few more branches on the fire, then dragged his sleeping bag over to Emily's. He laid down right behind her, and draped one arm over her. As Emily and Kiai drifted off to sleep, Rattata made a small squeak, which woke Shellshocker up. He looked at Rattata, then motioned for Rattata to come snuggle up with him, and they too fell back asleep. The rest of the night managed to be pretty uneventful. She only had a single nightmare, which was quickly calmed by Kiai once again. In the morning, Emily awoke, giving a light groan. She sat up and looked at Kiai. She blushed a little, seeing he had slept next to her. “I'm sorry,” she spoke quietly, then carefully slipped out of his grip and stood to her feet. “I better change before he wakes up.” She quickly grabbed the clothes she had worn the day before and rushed to the bushes once more. Once she made sure there were no bug pokemon around, she began to pull her clothes off so she could change. Feeling that she was no longer there, Kiai slowly woke up. When he saw that she was missing, he bolted upright and yelled, “Emily?!” as he looked around frantically and struggled out of his own sleeping bag. Emily blinked as she heard her name. She quickly finished tying her halter top and peeked out of the bushes. “I'm just changing over here! Give me just a moment!” she shouted to him, then ducked under the bushes again, pulling on her skirt to finish dressing herself. She then stood up and walked out from behind the bushes, heading back to Kiai and the rest of the group. As she walked, she checked her outfit over one last time, pulling on it some to make sure the outfit was on just right. When Kiai spotted her, he sat down and sighed heavily. “Don't scare me like that again.” he spoke. As his sleepiness was leaving him, he reached into his backpack and pulled out two candy bars, handing one to Emily as she sat down. He poured them each some more water, and began to eat his, saving a good portion of it for Rattata. He couldn't help glancing up at Emily, noticing how pretty she looked in the morning sunlight. Emily took the bar into her hand. “Sorry, I didn't expect you to wake up so quickly.” She rubbed the back of her neck a little, then took a bite of her candy bar. She turned her head to look at the road ahead of them. “So, today we continue our journey to Viridian. Wonder what today will bring.” She heard a chirp noise and looked up. A couple of wild Pidgeys were sitting on a branch building a nest together. She smiled, then looked back at Kiai. For a split second the memory of the night before returned to her and she blushed a little, quickly looking down. “Today will bring new opportunities,” spoke Kiai, as he held the candy bar down for Rattata to munch on, “and each one we must take.” Emily smiled. She never really understood what he meant when he was speaking so cryptically, but he had done it ever since they were small, and it never failed to amuse her how mature Kiai could act sometimes. “Although…” he started, looking around the grass. Emily looked around too, but couldn't see what he was looking at. “Some opportunities,” he continued, “have to be created.” He reached into his bag and grabbed a small bit of hardtack, which he crumbled up and tossed onto the path. Immediately a few Spearow hopped out of the grass and began pecking at the crumbs. Kiai looked down at Rattata, who looked back up at him expectantly. “You ready?” Kiai asked, and Rattata turned to face the Spearow, growling softly. “Ok Rattata…Tackle the nearest one.” Rattata ran toward the nearest Spearow and leapt toward it, but they all flew off when they spotted him. One, however, turned around in mid-flight and dive-bombed Rattata, just as Kiai had expected. “Wait for it…wait for it… Now, Rattata, Dodge!” Rattata leapt out of the way, and the Spearow couldn't pull up in time. It landed hard, and Kiai took the chance. “Finish it, Rattata, Bite Attack!” Rattata leapt onto the Spearow before it could get back to its feet and bit it hard. It squawked, and just as Rattata leapt away, Kiai threw a pokeball. The Spearow was caught easily. Emily squealed and clapped. “That was awesome.” She smiled. “Your pretty good at this, you know? I just wish there were water pokemon around...but you aren't going to find any without a lake of some kind.” She shrugged. “Oh well...I don't mind.” She hugged Shellshocker. “I have a cute pokemon right here.” Shellshocker just wagged his tail. She looked to the path they were soon going to be taking and sighed. “I wonder how far ahead of us Alex is...I kind of could care less how he's doing...it's more his pokemon I worry about...the last thing he needs is his pokemon disobeying him because he's stupid and abusive to them...though maybe it will make him realize what he is doing to them...” she sighed and looked down. She brushed the crumbs of her candy bar off her skirt, then looked back up. “We should get going soon.” “That we should” said Kiai, as he placed the pokeball with Spearow inside on his belt. He rolled up his sleeping bag and stuffed it into his backpack then stomped out the remaining embers of the fire. “If we're lucky, we might find a stream along the way. You might find a Goldeen in there, if you're lucky.” Emily giggled. “That would be awesome. Goldeen are cute...” she then thought for a moment and shivered. “Though, its evolved form isn't...oh well...” she shrugged. She stood to her feet, rolled up her sleeping bag, and put it in her backpack, along with her pajamas. She then picked it up and slung it over her back. She turned to look at Kiai and smiled. “I'm ready.” “Squirtle!” Shellshocker spoke, showing he was ready as well. “Un-evolved water pokemon…you know, you might want to broaden your horizons a bit. Maybe get some rock or ground types in case you come across an electric type…or at least a normal type to balance- OOF!” Kiai tripped, and fell backwards, where he looked straight up into the face of a rather irate Shellshocker. “Of course, water-types are really swell, and no one could have too much of them!” he hastily added. It was apparently enough, since Shellshocker muttered “Squirtle squirt…” and walked closer to Emily. Emily giggled a little. “You are right. I should broaden my horizons some, but hey...I've heard of water pokemon taking on electric types and winning...granted, it was a rough battle, but they still won. If I can train them well, I might be able to do something like that.” She sighed happily as she began to day dream. “I'd love to be a strong water trainer like that.” “Hey!” a voice suddenly called and Emily turned her head. “Who was that?” she asked. From behind, a man was running towards them. He was fairly tall, taller then either Kiai or Emily, anyway. He stopped next to both of them, a smirk on his face. “You two are beginner trainers, right?” the man asked. “I saw you walking by a moment ago and thought, 'Hey, I wonder if they'd be interested in a battle.' You see, I'm a beginner, too. I actually caught my own first pokemon.” Emily blinked. “Really? That's pretty cool.” “Yeah, want to battle?” Emily looked to Kiai, then back at him. “Sounds fun.” She smiled, then pushed Kiai towards the man. “You can battle him.” Kiai stumbled forward. “Err…ok!” He reached into his belt and pulled out the pokeball that held the Spearow he had just caught earlier. “Let’s start things off. Spearow, I choose you!” He hurled the pokeball to the ground, and Spearow popped out. The Trainer considered his options, then grabbed a pokeball from his belt. “Alright Oddish, show him what you can do!” He threw it to the ground, and a small Oddish popped out. Emily smiled. “Oddish against Spearow. This should be interesting, since Oddish has a type disadvantage against Spearow,” she spoke. “Oddish, Poison Powder!” the trainer shouted. Oddish pulled its leaves back, then waved them around. A purple powder seemed to spread from its leaves, floating towards Spearow. Emily quickly covered her mouth so she was sure that she wouldn't get hit by the attack as well. Kiai grinned. This was definitely interesting. “Spearow, blow it away with your Gust attack!” Spearow flapped its wings, creating a small whirlwind, which traveled along the ground, dispersing the poison powder. “Very clever,” the trainer spoke, grinning. “This could be an interesting battle. Oddish, use absorb!” Oddish seemed to inhale, and he glowed green. Spearow would feel energy being sapped from him as it seemed to shoot off and hit Oddish, making him grow a little stronger. The Trainer chuckled. “Ha, how about that one for, you?” “Fine with me. Spearow, show him how battles are won. Peck Attack!” Kiai shouted out. Spearow ran toward the Oddish, then flapped its wings and took to the air, flying only a few inches above the ground. As it zoomed past Oddish, it struck it hard with its beak. Oddish was knocked back as it was hit by the attack. “Oddish odd!” Oddish spoke, standing back to its feet. “Yeah, let's get him, Oddish!” the trainer spoke. “Oddish, use your absorb again!” Oddish once again seemed to inhale, directing its attack at Spearow once more. However, the attack failed to “lock on” to Spearow, causing Oddish to miss. “Crap...” the trainer spoke. Emily just watched. Shellshocker had now jumped onto Emily's shoulders and was watching the battle from there. “Squirtle squirt squirtle!” he shouted to Spearow, who seemed to flap in happiness. It appeared that Shellshocker was praising Spearow. “One more time ought to do it, grass types just can't match up to flying types. Spearow, give it another Peck Attack!” Spearow dive-bombed the Oddish, pecking it hard again. The Oddish fell, and the Trainer hastily returned it. “Ok, that was good, I'll give you that. But try this one!” He pulled out another pokeball, “This one I caught myself. See if you can handle Beedrill!” He threw the pokeball to the ground, and a larger-than-normal Beedrill appeared, buzzing angrily. Emily's eyes went wide at the sight of the Beedrill. She screamed and quickly fell to her knees, pushing her hands against her chest, shaking, her eyes shut tight. “Squirtle squirt,” Shellshocker quickly spoke. “Squirtle!” It looked at Beedrill with an almost angry look. The trainer blinked for a moment, but soon realized what was wrong. “Oh man...I'm sorry...I didn't realize she was scared of bug pokemon...” “It's ok...she'll have to fight them on her own some day, and she'll lose if she doesn't overcome herself. That's part of what being a trainer is all about. It's not just our pokemon who grow. Although, there's more to it than that...” Kiai carefully considered his options. A weak Beedrill would be easy prey for a Spearow, but one so well-trained as this would prove difficult. Ultimately, he decided to go for broke. “Spearow, Fly into the sky!” The trainer watched as the Spearow flew up high. He growled. “Beedrill, Focus Energy!” he shouted. The Beedrill seemed to shut its eyes as it focused its energy forward into its two large pins. It was getting ready for a good strong attack. Kiai bit his lip. He was hoping the Beedrill would follow Spearow, allowing Spearow to out-fly it. But if the trainer was going to wait for Spearow to come back down, then he would have the advantage. Suddenly he had an idea. “Spearow!” he called out, “With the sun behind you, attack from the east!” The Spearow did as it was commanded. It quickly flew into the sun, causing the Beedrill to raise its pin to see it. The Spearow then shot forward, aimed directly for Beedrill. “Crap! Dodge it!” the trainer shouted, but Beedrill was struck by the attack. The attack knocked the Beedrill to the ground, but it wasn't out yet. Emily opened her eyes now, still shaking, but trying to fight her fears. Beedrill was the one she was scared of the most. “Beedrill, Focus Energy again!” The Beedrill flew into the sky once more and began to focus his energy once more. “Now, unleash your Fury Attack!” Beedrill flew straight for Spearow and, before it could dodge, Beedrill's pins quickly shot forward, striking the Spearow several times in a row, the attack being more powerful then normal. The trainer smirked, watching. “That's it!” Spearow fell to the ground, hurt bad but still able to fight. Kiai decided it was enough, and held out a pokeball. “Enough is enough Spearow, return!” Before Kiai returned the pokeball to his belt, he whispered into it, “You did good.” The trainer laughed, “How do you like me now?! No one can beat my Beedrill!” Kiai grinned, “Then I guess I'm no one. Rattata, lets do this right. Tail Whip!” Rattata waved his tail at the Beedrill, confusing it slightly and forcing it to drop its guard. The Beedrill flew in one spot, watching the Rattata tail. The trainer blinked. Kiai then called out “Quick Attack!” Before the Beedrill could react, the Rattata had vanished, then, from behind, it struck him, knocking him to the ground. “Beedrill!” the trainer shouted. Rattata hopped off the Beedrill, and the trainer could see the swirls in his Pokemon's eyes. “You did good,” he spoke, holding the pokeball out. “Beedrill, return!” he shouted, and the pokemon returned to its pokeball. “Very good. I didn't realize you were such a good trainer. This Beedrill was my first pokemon...caught it just the other day, actually.” He smiled and walked up to Kiai. “Good battle,” he spoke, holding out his hand to shake Kiai's hand. “By the way, my name is Jarod. What's yours?” Kiai smiled and shook his hand. “My name is Kiai, it's a pleasure to meet you, Jarod. I suppose we'll see you around, if you ever make it to the Pokemon League Championship.” Jarod blushed slightly, “I'll never make it there...that's only for people who are really good.” Kiai smiled, “You're good, just do your best. I'm sure you can make it if you try.” Jarod smiled back, encouraged by the compliment, “Thank you, I will try!” With that, he waved, and turned down the path, to follow his own adventure. Kiai walked to Emily and knelt down beside her, putting his arm around her. “It's ok Emily, its gone now. Don't worry.” Emily shook a bit more, then hugged Kiai. “I'm so scared of bug Pokemon...” she buried her face in Kiai's chest and actually began to cry. “Why can't I get over this?” she spoke through her tears. “It's been six years...and I've only grown more and more scared of them...” Shellshocker walked over to Emily and hugged her the best a Squirtle could hug someone. Kiai held her tight. “It's ok,” he spoke, “you'll get over it...I know you will. I'll be right here, right by your side, every step of the way. Don't you worry about a thing.”

JoH: KtD has finally come in story form to RMXP Unlimited. It has been on my deviantart for a while, but I feel like sharing my stories on here as well now, so you will see me posting more over time (I think anyway >>;; ). Like with OceanBlue, I am posting a table of contents for everyone, and it follows the same rules as OceanBlue (All current chapter titles will be posted, and ones without links are not yet posted, save for the prologue, which is in this post.) So, here you go. Table of Contents Prologue Chapter 1: The Siege of Karagum Chapter 2: The Meeting with the Council Chapter 3: The Dark Eye Seeing Stone Chapter 4: Shandria Chapter 5: Caleb, Master of Earth Prologue Versumi, the world, once at peace, now at war. In the beginning, Jinsei – the God of Creation – looked down upon the desolate and dark world of Versumi. He saw it not as it was, but as he could make it. He descended upon the world, and he spoke to it, creating life. He created animals, plants, and many other things with only his words. He gave the world a grand power, the power of magic. No other world he had formed before was as rich in magic as this. After he finished, he looked upon the world, and he knew it was good. He knew it would serve the purpose he had created it for. “Out of us, let there be a life upon this world,” Jinsei spoke. “One that can take dominion and keep it. Let them be many, and live strongly.” And out of Jinsei came the first races. With his words he formed the humans and the elves. “Now let there be those who they may look up to, and may teach them in the ways of magic, until they may teach it amongst themselves.” With Jinsei’s words, a third race was formed. It was the Titans. Nine creatures that were created for a single purpose. Each one was given control of a specific magical element, and they would teach the other races to wield it. So was formed the nine Titans – Juggernaut, the Great Beast of Fire; Lily, the Elven Maid of Water; Gaia, the Earthen Mother; Garuda, the Great Demon of Air; Belia, the Elven Goddess of Light; Necroasa, the Elven Goddess of Darkness; Karok, the Great Lich of Bone; and Mari, the Spider of Blood. The world was in peace for the first four hundred years of existence. The races all lived in unison with one another. However, the races had begun to view the Titans as gods, which began to cause a great uneasiness in the world. After four hundred years of peace, the peace was beginning to dissolve. It was at this same time that a great meteor crashed into Versumi, knocking the world off its axis, and forcing it to rotate at a different degree then before. The land where the meteor crashed grew up instantly into a large mountain range, and dark clouds appeared above the mountains. These clouds would never leave, and if one looked at them, they would notice the clouds seemed to shift and change, though they were always dark, yet never stormy. When the meteor crashed, a rift in space was ripped open, and a beast unlike any other came from the rift. He was not alone, however. Shrouded in darkness, his minions began to come from the rift. These beasts became known as the Nightmares, and their leader became known as the God of Destruction. The peace had ended, and an invasion had begun. The Nightmares were determined to destroy all life on Versumi. To aid in the process, the God of Destruction left the mountains and, with Nightmares at his side to guard him, met with the Titans. He tricked each and every one of them into thinking they were better then the others. This began a war between the nine, which brought upon the First Great War. It was in this time, due to the war between the Titans, that the races separated. The Elves split into three, one group leaded by El’Tier, King of the Sun. He and his elves followed Belia, and separated from the others who didn’t to become the High Elves. The second group was lead by Melthanor, the King of the Forest, who separated from the Elves simply in a hope that doing so would keep them from fighting their brothers. The final group lead by Tamuril, the Queen of the Moon, separated from the Elves to follow the uncorrupted Necroasa. They formed the Drak-shal, which meant “Forsaken Ones” in their language. These Elves also later came to be called the Dark Elves by most races due to them going into darker lands, resulting in their skin growing pale and hair growing dark. In the end, all Drak-shal had black hair and pale-white skin. The humans also separated, forming those who followed the Titans, and those who did not. Those who did not see the Titans as gods went into the mountains, where they dug homes and grand mines. In the end, they grew shorter from lack of sun, and grew long beards. When they emerged, they were no longer humans, but were Dwarves. With the races separated and now at war with each other, the God of Destruction began to sell the Nightmares to the Titans, giving each an army. The war grew a hundredfold, and it seemed that the world was doomed. However, a light shined forth when four who would be heroes rose to fight. Saria, a human and the first Paladin; Scheris, a Drak-shal and the first Summoner; Dracon, a High Elf and the first Cleric; and finally Gladius, a Nightmare who saw the evils of the God of Destruction and separated. The war progressed on, but the four heroes stood against the times, and battled their hardest. Using the magic Jinsei had granted unto them, they sealed away the nine Titans into Limbo, the Realm Between Dimensions. As they did, the races began to re-unite, now seeing the evil behind the war. In the end, the four heroes fought against the God of Destruction. It was in this battle that the Dragon Queen, Telenia, was brought to Versumi, and thus the world became populated with Dragons. As the heroes fought, the God of Destruction became weaker, but as he weakened, they too weakened. In the end, they conjured the last of their power to seal away the God of Destruction into Limbo. However, they did not have the power to seal the portal they had forced him into. Using magic, the races united together and forged a statue that would hold the portal within it. From the statue was carved seven small objects, each having a unique power. It is said, that should all seven items be returned to the statue, the statue would crumble to dust, and release the God of Destruction within. This story occurs fifteen thousand years later, after many other wars have come and gone, and new races have been created. This is the story of the Seven Keys to Destruction, and the journey one girl has with her protector.

Sorry for the wait. Chapter 3 of Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders is finally here! Chapter 3: The Coeds Mars, a beautiful red planet. It is the fourth planet in the solar system, and is said to contain no intelligent life. On this day, however, that is not true, as two Yale coeds have managed to convert their minivan into a space shuttle. After a long, two month flight, and a lot of space sickness, Melissa China and Leslie Bennett have safely made it to Mars. Melissa China was a tall woman, a few inches taller then her partner, Leslie Bennett. Melissa was an oriental girl, most likely of either Chinese or Japanese decent. She had waist-length, straight, black hair, as well as blue eyes. She wore a cyan-blue spacesuit that covered her entire body. Leslie Bennett was a few inches shorter then Melissa. Unlike her partner, she was of English decent. Her hair was very curly, and was currently a blonde color, though it did have an odd habit of changing color on her. Whenever Melissa asked about this, she just said, “It’s the hair dye I use,” and left it at that. Her eyes were a beautiful grass green while her spacesuit was magenta in color. “This place is boring…” Melissa spoke up. “I’m tired of just standing here and waiting for instructions.” “Yeah, tell me about it,” Leslie spoke up. “Mars has a great beach, I’ll give it that…but there’s no water, no boys…ugh!” “I’m beginning to think we should have gone to Fort Lauderdale for Spring Break like everyone else. It would have only taken us two days…not the two months it took to get to this place. Not to mention that I wouldn’t have gotten sick every time I looked out the window!” “Oh, tell me about it! In zero gravity, that was some mess.” “Maybe we should just go back home…” Melissa spoke, trailing off. “Why? We got here, so let’s explore!” Leslie spoke quickly. “Just because no one was here to give us instructions, that doesn’t mean we have to go back home. Who knows? Maybe if we explore some, we’ll find someone…maybe they weren’t expecting us so early, you know?” “It’s doubtful, but maybe…” “Then it’s settled. Go grab the debit cards and your boombox. We can listen to music while we’re out here.” “I don’t know if we could hear it out here…with no air and all…” “I’m sure we could. After all, we can hear each other, right?” “Umm…built in communicators, Leslie,” Melissa spoke. “Oh, right, I forgot about that,” Leslie responded. “Still, it’s worth a shot.” “I guess so…” Melissa turned and opened the car to the minivan. She sat down in the chair and opened the glove compartment, which had a sticker on it that said “I love Mars”. She reached in and grabbed the two debit cards that were sitting inside. She handed one of them to Leslie, then grabbed her boom box and picked it up. Finally, she reached over and ejected the tape from the tape player in the van. “Oh shuzbutt!” “What’s wrong?” Leslie asked. “The tape is busted!” Melissa growled. “I guess the stupid piece of tape on the inside broke.” “Aww, that’s no good.” “Tell me about it.” “Well, let’s go explore anyway.” “I guess…” Melissa hopped out of the van and looked around the red, desert sand that was Mars. Meanwhile, back on Earth, Zak McKracken was now realizing he had bought the wrong ticket. “How the hell did I wind up in Miami?” he shouted. He grumbled. “I must have bought the wrong ticket…only one way to fix this…see if I can buy a ticket to San Francisco, then make absolutely sure I get it right.” Zak headed off further into the airport and, once again, purchased a new ticket. This time, he was certain his flight would go to San Francisco. Zak sat down in a chair and sighed. He pulled out the book the man in San Francisco had bought him. He opened it up and began to read it. “Hey, man!” a voice shouted. Zak tossed the book into the air, and looked forward. There was a man now standing in front of him, wearing tattered and torn clothes, and he had a rather rough, short beard that looked as if he hadn’t shaved in a couple days. Zak had been startled by this man, the book landing in his lap a moment later. “Who are you?” Zak asked. “Just a man without a home,” the man spoke. “Can you spare some money?” Zak blinked a little. “Sorry, I don’t got any on me.” He looked down at the book. “You could take this book, though, I guess. It’s supposed to enlighten you…I read some on the last plane ride, but I didn’t get anything out of it.” The man quickly snatched up the book and glanced it over. “I’ve heard of this guru,” the man spoke. “Let’s see what he has to say, shall we?” The man began to read the book, and Zak’s eyes widened as he saw how quickly the man read through the book. The man handed the book back to Zak and gave a bow. “Thank you, sir, you have given my life meaning.” The man reached into his coat and pulled out a bottle of whiskey. “Please, take this, I don’t need it anymore.” “Thanks, but I don’t drink,” Zak spoke. “Take it anyway, I’m sure you’ll find someone who will need it.” Zak sighed, then took the bottle. “Thanks…I guess…though, don’t they like…not let you on the plane with alcohol?” “Normally, but take a look at the bottle.” Zak held up the bottle. The bottle had the cover of a juice bottle on it. “You sure this will work?” “It worked for me,” the man spoke. “Well, all right.” Zak then looked up as they announced his flight. He took hold of the book, stood to his feet, and walked off to the plane. He was stopped for a moment, but the cover of the bottle let him go through without problems. “Worldwide stupidity epidemic,” Zak spoke to himself. “Perhaps there is something going on, after all…that shouldn’t have worked…nor should this book have given that bum a meaning for his life.” Zak was beginning to notice something very odd was going on. Back on Mars, the coeds has begun to explore the barren, red planet of Mars. To their left was a rather large building, one that, from the top, looked like a rather large face. The coeds had labeled this as the “Great Face of Mars”. To the right they had found a fairly small building. A sign on the outside read, oddly in perfect English, “Mars Hostel”. “Let’s check this out,” Melissa spoke. She walked inside the hostel and looked around. The inside was a single room, or so it looked. The room was filled with all kinds of advanced technology. Machines lined the room, all seeming to work together to do something, but none were activated. Melissa stepped in and looked around, examining the walls until she found a small fuse-box-like object. “Check this out.” Leslie came over to her partner’s side and bent down to look at it. She reached forward and grabbed the cover of the box, pulling it open to look inside. Inside the box was a single, obviously burned out, fuse. The entire fuse was broken in two now. “Looks like we need a new fuse,” Leslie spoke. “Wonderful! Where do we find a fuse that will fit in there here on Mars? It’s not like there’s a shop anywhere around here!” Leslie pulled the fuse out and examined it. “It’s the same kind of fuse we used in our van. It should still be good. Go grab it and we’ll see if it fits.” “All right,” Melissa spoke and rushed back off to the minivan. She got into the glove box and pulled the fuse from it. She looked at it, making sure it was still good, then quickly headed back to Leslie. “Here you go,” she spoke as she handed the fuse to Leslie. “Thank you,” Leslie spoke, taking the fuse into her hand and installing it into the box. The whirs of the machinery could be heard as the fuse powered the room. Leslie stood to her feet and looked around. A small button now flashed on the wall, and she carefully pushed it. The door that they had come into quickly shut closed, and an odd noise could be heard, almost like gas being released into the room. “Oh great! Now what have we done?” Leslie asked. “Hang on,” Melissa spoke as she turned, now seeing a door appear on another wall. A small light flashed, then turned green, the words “room oxygenated” could be seen in the light, and the door shot open. “Room oxygenated…I wonder if that means…” Melissa unclipped her helmet, and quickly held her breath. “What are you doing?” Leslie shouted. Not listening, however, Melissa took the helmet off, noticing how it didn’t depressurize when she did. She breathed out, then breathed in, noting that the room was filled with oxygen now. “It’s ok, the room has been oxygenated. We can breathe in here. So turn off your tank and take your helmet off so we don’t use up oxygen.” “All right,” Leslie spoke, popping her helmet off and turning off her oxygen tank like Melissa had done moments before. “All right, let’s check out this room.” Melissa walked forward, entering the room. It was a fairly large room, consisting of a ladder, a bunk bed, a couple of lockers, and a few other odds and ends. Melissa opened the first locker, looking in. A small flashlight sat on the inside and she picked it up. She then turned to look at the second locker. “What’s this?” she asked. Upon the locker was a small piece of tape. The tape looked exactly like a piece of tape from her audio tape. She reached up and pulled it off, noticing how it was sticky. “I wonder…” she thought as she pulled her audio tape out and pulled on the tape inside of it. She placed the sticky tape onto the break, then rewound the tape back into the audio tape. She then stuck it inside of her boombox and turned it on. The boombox began to play and Leslie cheered. “Awesome, we have music now!” “Yeah, but we shouldn’t use up the batteries,” Melissa spoke as she turned it off. “Never know when you’ll need it, you know?” “True, we don’t have the adaptor out here, so we can’t plug it in,” Leslie spoke. “Exactly.” Melissa then walked forward, looking around. She looked over at the bunk bed, noticing how the blankets were raised. This meant something was sleeping under them. She quietly snuck up to the bed and grabbed the blanket, throwing off of the bunk bed. Underneath the blanket was a long broom. Two eyes seemed to stare up from the broom, completely blank. “Oh, it’s just a broom,” Melissa spoke. “Then why does it have eyes?” Leslie asked. “What?” Melissa asked, looking back down at it. Her eyes went wide as she saw the eyes on the broom now. They weren’t moving, just staring up, and no noise was coming from it either. “It’s a dead alien!” she shouted. She quickly turned and rushed off, this had terrified her. “A dead alien? Run!” Leslie shouted, turning and running away as well. The two ran in completely opposite directions, but soon turned and ran into each other. They collapsed to the ground and rubbed their heads, sitting up. “Ouch,” Melissa spoke. “God, that was scary…a dead alien…” Leslie spoke, looking over at the broom. “Well, if it’s dead, then maybe we can still use it. It is a broom after all.” “Yeah, let’s just pretend it’s a broom and forget about it being an alien,” Melissa spoke. Leslie stood to her foot and grabbed the broom alien. “Now what do we do?” “Grab the ladder and head out?” Leslie asked. “And what would we do with a ladder?” Melissa asked. “Hey, you never know when you’ll need a ladder.” “True, I’ll grab it then.” Melissa headed over and grabbed the ladder. The two then headed back out of the room, and into the first room. They set their stuff down and put their helmets on. Activating the oxygen tanks, they pushed the button once more, which closed the door they had come through, and opened the exit, which immediately depressurized the room. Melissa and Leslie then walked out of the hostel. They looked around, noticing a large mound of sand in front of them. Melissa stopped and pushed some of the sand, noticing something underneath. She quickly snatched up the broom alien and hopped onto the mound, quickly beating against the sand to sweep it off the object. A few minutes passed, and underneath was revealed to be a rather large solar panel. “How interesting is that?” Melissa asked. “Awesome! A solar panel! I wonder what it powers,” Leslie spoke. “Probably that,” Melissa spoke, pointing over to a tram that was nearby. It had seemed to power up the more they cleared off the panel, and now looked fully powered up and able to run. “So, now what do we do?” Leslie asked. “I haven’t a clue…” Melissa spoke. “Melissa, Leslie, can you hear me?” a voice suddenly asked. “Whoa!” Melissa shouted. She looked around quickly. “Whose there?” “If you can hear me, close your eyes and think out my name. I am Annie Larris, I need to speak with you.” “Like this?” Melissa asked in her head as she closed her eyes. “Awesome!” Annie shouted. “I’m here with someone who has given me a piece of a strange machine. We’re all going to use telepathy to talk to each other, got it?” “All right,” Leslie spoke. “What’s his name so we can hook to him as well?” “His name is-” Meanwhile, back on Earth, Zak McKracken had made it back to San Francisco. He headed from the airport to 14th Avenue. Once there he made his way through the street until he came to an odd building. It only had a single door with a drop box, no windows or anything around it. He opened the drop box and tossed the Blue Crystal inside, then quickly shut it. He tapped his foot, standing at the door and waiting. A moment later, the door opened and a woman stepped out. It was the same woman from the TV earlier. It was Annie Larris. “Where did you get this crystal?” she asked. “Forget about that!” Zak spoke. “You were the girl from the dream I had!” “What a line!” Annie spoke, turning around. She stopped and turned back to look at him. “Wait…a dream? What dream, exactly?” “We were standing in a blank space and a machine was between us.” “Wait,” Annie spoke. “Follow me.” She turned and headed back into the building. Zak followed close behind. The building was a single room building. It had a large set of bookshelves to one side, on the other side were a couple more bookshelves and a desk. She walked over to one of the bookshelves and grabbed a small ring that was hanging off it. She pulled it down and a scroll unrolled, showing a strange machine on it. “Did it look like this?” “That’s it!” Zak shouted. “That’s exactly the machine I saw in the dream!” “So, we both had the Great Dream, huh? Interesting. I’m not sure what this machine will do, but I have the feeling we have to create it.” Annie walked over to another bookshelf and grabbed a yellow crystal. “This is another piece, but it is only part of it. The rest of the crystal is somewhere else.” She handed the blue and yellow crystals to Zak. “Take these and be careful with them. We both had these dreams, meaning we’re both a part of it. If you are caught and thrown in prison or some such thing, we won’t be able to do this. Understand?” Zak nodded. “Yes.” “Now, there are four of us. We will each talk to each other using telepathy. Just close your eyes and speak the name of the person you want to talk to in your mind. Since we’re all connected, we will be able to talk to each other.” She then blinked. “Oh, hey, what’s your name? I just realized I didn’t know it.” Zak laughed a little. “My name is Zak McKracken.” “I see.” Annie closed her eyes. “See? Now that I know your name, I can talk directly to your mind.” she spoke to Zak’s mind. “Interesting,” Zak spoke, then closed his eyes. “Like this?” he asked in his mind. “Perfect! I’ll connect you with my friends on Mars now. One moment.” She then spoke another name in her mind. “Melissa, Leslie, can you hear me?” she asked, but their was silence for a moment. “If you can hear me, close your eyes and think out my name. I am Annie Larris, I need to speak with you.” “Like this?” Melissa asked in her head. “Awesome!” Annie shouted. “I’m here with someone who has given me a piece of a strange machine. We’re all going to use telepathy to talk to each other, got it?” “All right,” Leslie spoke. “What’s his name so we can hook to him as well?” “His name is Zak McKracken. He also had the Great Dream. It looks like the four of us will be working together.” “All right, I’ll connect to him, then,” Melissa spoke. “Zak, can you hear me? My name is Melissa China. If you can hear me, please respond.” “Melissa?” Zak asked. “That’s right, I’m one of the two Yale coeds on Mars. Now just connect yourself to Leslie Bennett.” “Leslie? Like this?” “Awesome!” Leslie shouted in her mind. “We’re all connected now!” “Perfect, let’s keep it this way. Whenever any of you encounter something you can’t figure out, let us know, we might be able to find it out on our side.” “Understood,” Melissa spoke. “This is going to be very interesting,” Zak spoke. “Very interesting indeed,” Annie spoke.

Sorry for the long wait. Here is chapter 2 of Phantom of the Opera: The Untold Story. Chapter 2: The Phantom of the Opera Christine and Meg made their way back to the gala. As soon as they arrived, everyone jumped on Christine. They pushed her with questions, and Madam Giry quickly jumped in and pushed them away. She took Christine to the changing room, and shut the door behind her. “No!” she shouted at someone, before shutting the door. She then turned to Christine. “You did very well, my dear,” she spoke. Madam Giry walked over to a stand and picked a rose off of it. It had a green ribbon on it as well. She handed it to Christine and smiled. “He is pleased with you.” She then turned and walked out of the dressing room. Christine stared at the rose for a moment, sighing. “Why all of this?” Christine asked herself. “Suddenly so many people like me all because of my voice…I never wanted this…” She set the rose down and then sat down in her chair across the room. The entire room was filled with flowers. Normally flowers made her happy, but this was just too much. Meanwhile, just outside her room, the Vicomte had made an appearance. He was heading towards the dressing room. “Ah, Vicomte!” Firmin spoke. “Vicomte!” Andre spoke. Andre had caught Raoul’s attention. Raoul turned to look at them. “I do believe we made quite the discover with Miss Daae. Perhaps we can present her to you, dear Vicomte.” “Gentlemen, if you wouldn’t mind,” Raoul spoke. “This is one visit I would like to make unaccompanied.” Raoul stared at the set of flowers that were in Andre’s hands. He snatched them from Andre’s hand with a “Thank you”, then turned and walked off towards Christine’s room. He opened the door and entered. “Little Lotte let her mind wander,” Raoul spoke as he entered. “Little Lotte thought, am I fonder of dolls, or of goblins, or shoes?” He walked towards her. Christine looked up and smiled. “Or of riddles or frocks…or of chocolates?” “Those picnics in the attic,” Christine spoke. “Father playing the violin.” “As we read to each other dark stories of the North.” Raoul set the flowers down and kneeled down to Christine’s level, as she was still sitting in her chair. “No, what I love best, Lotte said, is when I am asleep in my bed, and the angel of music sings songs in my head.” “The angel of music sings songs in your head?” Raoul smiled. “You sang like an angel tonight.” Raoul and Christine embraced in a hug. As they broke from the hug, Christine began to talk again. “Father said: ‘When I am in Heaven, child, I will send to you the Angel of Music.’ Well, Father is dead, Raoul, and I have been visited by the Angel of Music.” “Oh no doubt,” Raoul spoke as he stood up. “And now, we go to supper.” “No, Raoul, the Angel of Music is very strict,” Christine responded. “Well, I shan’t keep you up late.” “No, Raoul,” Christine tried to speak. Raoul gave a laugh. “You must change. Two minutes, Little Lotte.” Raoul turned and walked out. “No, Raoul! Raoul, wait!” Christine spoke louder, and the door shut behind Raoul. She sighed, sitting back down. After a moment, she stood back up to her feet and headed behind the small curtain made for her to change behind. She changed into a white dress, then sighed as she stepped out. There was a gust of wind, seemingly from nowhere, and it blew out all the candles around her. She looked up, a worried look on her face. “Insolent boy, this slave of fashion, basking in your glory!” a deep, male voice boomed out. “Ignorant fool, this brave young suitor, sharing in my triumph!” Christine had tried to make for the door as he spoke, but she sighed, looking down. “Angel of Music, I hear you. Please speak to me and I will listen. Stay by my side and guide me. Angel, my soul was weak, please forgive me. Enter here at last, Master.” “Flattering child, you have served me well. It is time for you to know who I am, and see why I hide in shadow. Look at your face in the mirror, and you will see me there, inside!” Christine turned to the mirror, and much to her surprise she saw a man standing in the mirror. He was dressed in a black tuxedo, his hair slicked back nicely. A mask covered the right side of his face, and gloves covered his hands. Her eyes focused on him, and she began to walk forward, as if under his control. The man in the mirror gave a smirk and extended his hand. “I am your Angel of Music. Come to your Angel of Music.” It was then that Raoul came to the door. He put his ear to the door as he heard the man’s voice. “Whose is that voice? Who is that in there?” he shouted. “I am your Angel of Music, come to your Angel of Music,” the man continued to chant. Christine extended her hand out, and their hands touched. The man pulled her close. “Stay with me, and I will show you great wonders. I am the Angel of Music, the Phantom of the Opera!” The Phantom then turned and pulled Christine gently. They seemed to walk through the mirror and made their way through a long hallway. The hallway was lit by several torches; all that seemed to be held onto by odd, hand-shaped hangers. The Phantom lead her through them, and down the hallway. At the end of the hallway was a set of stairs, which they began to slowly walk down. Christine’s eyes focused on the taller man next to her as they walked down the stairway. The stairway soon lead to a flat piece of marble which held a horse on it. The Phantom grabbed Christine and set her on the horse. “No need for you to walk all the way,” the Phantom spoke, “please rest your legs.” Christine gave a nod and the Phantom turned, grabbing the bridle of the horse. He pulled the horse along beside him, glancing back at Christine on occasion. He’s amazingly handsome, Christine thought. I never would have imagined it, really. I should have guessed he would be, though. Oh, but what are these thoughts in my head? The Phantom now began to sing. His voice…it is definitely the voice I remember…but how can all of this be? That voice…I’ve always heard it in my mind during the night. Now he sings in front of me, and I found it so amazing. He is my Angel of Music. A few minutes passed, and they finally came to a stop. The Phantom walked to Christine and pulled her down off the horse. He smiled and turned, holding his hand out to point to the boat nearby. An underground lake was now in front of them, and there was a boat sitting at the edge. The Phantom walked Christine to the boat and sat her down in it, then carefully stepped into it himself. He positioned himself at the end and pulled out a long oar. He pushed the oar against the ground beneath the lake, and it pushed off. He continued pushing on the ground below with his oar, moving the boat further along the lake. Christine just watched in wonderment. She hadn’t met such a wonderful man before. As the boat sailed, they came to a large gate. The Phantom rose his hand, and the gate seemed to open, as if by magic. The boat continued to sail forward, and the lake turned into a large room. An organ sat in the center of the room, on the edge of where the water ended and the land began once more. Mirrors were all over the room, though covered by some kind of curtain or other. Candles lit the entire room as well. “Welcome, Christine,” the Phantom spoke as he set the boat against the side of the land. He stepped out, tossing his cloak to the floor so his three-piece suit was now showing better. “This is the seat of sweet music’s throne. All who come here must pay homage to music.” The Phantom reached out his hand and gently helped Christine out of the boat. “I have brought you for a single purpose,” he continued. “Ever since I heard you sing for the very first time, I knew I needed you. I brought you here to serve by singing for my music.” “You want me to sing for you?” Christine asked. “Exactly,” the Phantom spoke. “I want you to sing like you’ve never sung before!” An odd grin appeared on his face as he pulled her close. “I write the Music of the Night.” “The Music of the Night?” “Yes, can you not hear it?” “No, I cannot, monsieur.” “Then close your eyes. Ignore your surroundings, and listen only to my voice.” Christine did as she was told. “Turn away from the garish light of day. Light is cold, unfeeling. Ignore it, listen only to the night. Surrender yourself to your darkest dreams. Purge your thoughts of all the life that you once knew. Listen, carefully, and you will hear it.” The Phantom’s hand rose up and touched Christine’s face. Slowly his hand slid down the side of her body, and Christine seemed to slip into a complete trance, now only noticing the words from the Phantom’s lips. “I hear it,” she spoke. A smile crossed her face. “I hear it! It’s wonderful!” “Now open up your mind, and let your fantasies come to life! In this darkness which you know you cannot fight, the Music of the Night shall gently caress you. Listen to it, let it possess your very being, and become a part of it.” Christine did not realize what was going on, but soon, she had slipped under the Phantom’s complete and total control. “You are the only one who can make my songs take flight, Christine. Help me make the Music of the Night.” “I will,” Christine spoke and gently began to sing. “Let me show you something,” the Phantom spoke and walked Christine over to a small curtain. “Behold!” he spoke, and pulled the curtain down, revealing a life-like mannequin of Christine. It was wearing a beautiful, pearl-white, wedding dress. Christine’s eyes went wide when she saw this, and she fainted, falling back into the Phantom’s arms. Carefully, the Phantom lifted Christine into his arms and carried her forward. He pushed through a couple of curtains, until he finally reached a large bed. He gently set Christine down upon the bed, then turned and stepped away. He stopped after a moment, and gently closed a curtain around the bed, then slipped off. Meanwhile, back in Christine’s room, Meg had become curious. Christine had been missing now for an hour, and was determined to find out why. “Christine?” she asked as she walked up to the door and knocked. “Christine, are you in there?” She took hold of the handle to the door, and gently turned it, opening it carefully. The room was still full of flowers, but Christine was nowhere in sight. “Christine?” Meg called out, but heard no response. She walked through the room, examining everything she could to see if Christine had perhaps just fainted from all the work, and not yet awoken. Soon, though, her search led her to the mirror in which Christine had vanished into. As she reached it, she noticed it was pushed a little to the side, and an opening was visible in the back. “Christine?” Meg called into the opening, but received no answer. She pushed the mirror a little, giving her room to step in. She then quickly turned around, noticing the mirror was actually a piece of one-way glass. Someone could easily see into her room, but she wouldn’t be able to see them. Meg then turned, noticing the path before her was dark. There wasn’t a single light in the hallway before her, and it appeared it hadn’t been used in a while. Cobwebs hung on the ceilings and walls, and there were even small pools of water on the ground. Meg continued in, however, determined to discover what had happened to her lover. She did not walk long, however, for no sooner had Meg entered the hallway, then did a rather large rat jump out in front of her. She gave a scream and jumped back a little, watching it run off. Then, a hand reached out for her and grabbed her by the mouth. She went to scream, but she couldn’t, and the hand quickly turned her around, revealing to be attached to none-other-than her own mother. “What are you doing here?” Madam Giry spoke. “Looking for Christine,” Meg spoke. Her heart was beating heavily as she was slowly relaxing now. “Don’t worry about her,” Madam Giry spoke. “She’s fine.” Giry took hold of Meg’s arm and gently began to pull on her. “Come, we must go back to the dormitories.” “Yes, Mother,” Meg spoke, a fairly saddened sound to her voice. The two walked slowly back to the dormitories, where Buquet stood around a small group of women. “His skin is like yellow parchment,” Buquet spoke, describing someone. “There is a big black hole where his nose never grew.” He pulled out a small length of rope, which he had fashioned into a lasso. “You must always be on your guard, or he will catch you with his magical lasso!” He quickly wrapped the lasso around one of the women and pulled her close, giving a snarling sound to her. “Buquet!” a female voice shouted loudly, scaring Buquet. He whipped around, starring Madam Giry in the face. She quickly undid the lasso around the girl next to him. “Those who speak of what they know, soon find that prudent silence is wise.” Madam Giry then turned to Buquet, pushing herself into his face. “Joseph Buquet, you hold your tongue!” She slapped him hard across the face, then tossed the lasso around his neck. “Always keep your hands at the level of your eyes!” She pulled on the knot in the lasso, which tightened it right around his neck, nearly tight enough to strangle him. “Yes, ma’am,” Buquet spoke quickly, and Madam Giry pulled the lasso loose. Buquet then quickly pulled the lasso off his neck, and Madam Giry turned, walking off. Buquet followed quickly behind. “So, Christine is really with-” Buquet began once they were out of hearing range. “Yes,” Madam Giry interrupted quickly, then sighed. “He is obsessed with her, and I would rather not be one of his ‘accidents’.” “I see, well, it probably is best to leave her there, then. What about Meg, though? What if he doesn’t bring Christine back?” “He will,” Madam Giry spoke. “He needs her to sing. He will do whatever it takes to make her happy with him.” “He really wants her then?” “Of course, he chose her. And why wouldn’t he? She is beautiful, a great singer, and he could live very well off of her for the rest of his life.” “I know…to think, though…Christine is in the hands of that…Phantom…” “But it is for the best. If Christine and Meg truly wish to be together, this will be one obstacle they will have to overcome.” “How very true.” Meanwhile, back under the Opera House. The Phantom of the Opera gently played upon his organ, composing music. Christine’s eyes slowly opened, and she slowly sat up from her bed. “Where am I?” she asked. The trance she had been in was now broken. “I remember mist…over a glossy lake…” she stood up from her bed and began to walk forward. “There were candles all around,” she continued. “On the lake…a boat…” she spoke as she had now come out far enough to see the lake. Her eyes noticing the boat once again. She turned, now seeing the Phantom playing on his organ. “And on that boat, there was a man…” Christine walked forward, slowly, desiring to discover who he was. “Who was that man? Was it this man?” she asked herself. She now noticed the mask on his face. “It was, but who is the man behind the mask?” she asked herself. She now walked forward a little faster, and walked up behind him. She gently began to caress him, and the Phantom closed his eyes, smiling. She then carefully, but quickly, pulled the mask from his face. The instant she did, the Phantom’s eyes shot open wide, and he quickly knocked her back. “Damn you!” he shouted, turning to her. She could now see his face. It was mangled, and ruined. It looked as if his skin had been melted in several spots, causing seemingly loose, almost clay-like skin. A piece of his nose was missing, and even his hair was scattered over his head, the black wig he wore to cover his nearly bald head, now falling to the ground. “You little demon! You Pandora! You couldn’t resist could you? You were curious!” The Phantom shouted, then pushed himself close to her, his face now close to hers. “You little viper, is this what you wanted to see?” He quickly pushed her away and stood to his feet. “Damn you! Now I can’t ever let you go free!” he shouted as he stormed off to the dock, stopping at the edge. “Stranger then you could have dreamt it, isn’t it? Can you even bear to look at or even think about what you’ve now seen? I’m nothing but a loathsome gargoyle who burns in hell, but secretly yearns for heaven.” He turned to look at her, now covering his face. “But, fear can always turn to love. You can learn to be able to see and find the person behind the monster with this face. I’m just a repulsive carcass that seems a beast, but secretly yearns for beauty.” The Phantom walked up next to her and knelt down. “Christine, please,” he spoke. Christine reached over to the mask that she had dropped and handed it to him. The Phantom took it with his free hand and smiled, standing to his feet. He quickly turned his back to her and placed the mask back upon his face, grabbing the wig and pulling it on as well. “Come, we must return,” he spoke as he turned back to her. “Those two fools who run my theatre will be missing you.” With that, Christine and the Phantom quickly hopped upon the boat once more, pushing off, and returning to where they had come from. Madam Giry had been waiting in the dressing room for a while now, and gave the Phantom a glare as he returned Christine. “Are you alright, my dear?” Madam Giry asked. “I’m fine,” Christine spoke. “You should rest,” Madam Giry spoke, taking hold of Christine. The Phantom quickly turned, heading behind the mirror, and shutting it behind him. Christine opened the door to her dressing room, coming face-to-face with Meg on the other side. “Christine, you’re okay!” she shouted. Christine smiled and hugged Meg gently. “Yeah, I’m okay, Meg,” she spoke. “I’m okay.”

Behold! For the first time in my entire story posting "career" on this site...a table of contents! Now you can click links so that you can read each chapter...makes it easier, so you don't have to skip through post after post trying to find the next chapter >>;; If a chapter has no link (other then chapter 1) it means it isn't posted yet. This table of contents is simply what is currently all written out. I will be posting slowly, allowing time for people to comment between chapters. Anyway, here it is! Book 1: The Legendary Mew Chapter 1: The Chosen Ones Chapter 2: Catch and Battle Chapter 3: Team Rocket Chapter 4: Of Beedrills and Bug Pokemon Chapter 5: Of Bug Catchers and Dreams Chapter 6: The Dual Duel of Twins Chapter 7: Gym Leader Slate Chapter 8: Magma Trainers and a Revealed Dream of Sorrow Chapter 9: The Electric-Type Human Chapter 1: The Chosen Ones The Kanto Region, one of many places where Pocket Monsters, or Pokémon, exist. The amount of different Pokémon species is unknown. It could be any number. The Kanto Region, however, is home to 150 different types. They rank from small to large, grass to rock, electric to ghosts themselves. A golden sun rises over the calm waters of Pallet Bay. The morning mist clears, leaving sparkles of dew on the soft, green grass. Today was the day that the boys and girls of Pallet Town had been waiting for; the day they began their journeys as Pokemon trainers. Only three would be selected; the rest would have to wait another year. Kiai didn't even manage to sleep, so he was waiting outside Professor Oak’s lab since long before the Pidgey's began singing. As he gazed upon the peaceful colors on the ocean horizon, for which Pallet Town got its name, the stillness was broken by the sound of approaching footsteps. Only one girl could match Kiai's eagerness. She was a beautiful young woman, no older then 13. Fairly tall for her age, she wore a simple cyan halter top, along with a white mini skirt. She had long brown hair, about waist length. Her eyes were a very beautiful, almost crystal blue color, and she wore a small, golden locket. Her shoes were rather dull in color, being a simple shade of red and nothing more. She had a brown purse strapped across her shoulder, which went from her left shoulder to her right hip. She walked up to where Kiai was standing, her hands clasped together behind her back as she skipped and turned to look at Professor Oak's place. This was Emily. Kiai could hear the determination in the footsteps on the gravel path. He didn't need to turn around to know that his rival was just behind him, but he couldn't turn his deep, brown eyes away from his friend. He turned and smiled at her. He wore a simple white t-shirt and jean shorts, and a worn-out pair of sandals. Across his shoulder was a simple black backpack, and on his belt were six old, empty pokeballs which he had gotten from his brother. He tossed his long black pony tail over his shoulder as he turned around. “Good morning, Emily. What brings you here?” he spoke, with a casual grin. Emily giggled. “You know plain well what I'm doing here, Kiai. I'm going to be one of the three chosen to get my very first pokemon.” She closed her eyes. “It's just going to be so much fun! I can just imagine it.” She pulled her hands up against her cheek and blushed a little. She was obviously fantasizing what she was planning. This, however, was something Kiai dealt with all the time with her. “Well…” said Kiai, and Emily knew what was coming before he even continued. His level-headedness often clashed with her outgoing personality. “…you and I won't be the only candidates. There are a lot of talented people here.” He gave her a very adult look, a strange thing coming from someone only one year older than her. As Emily rolled her eyes and turned away, Kiai gazed back upon the sun, and the tone in his voice slipped a little. “Of course, if only one of us is chosen…” Emily looked down, almost sad at the thought. “If only one of us is chosen...then one would go, leaving the other behind...” While Kiai was her rival, he was also her friend, and Emily had no desire to lose that just because only one of them was chosen. “Maybe...if only one of us is chosen...we can still go together?” she asked, but she didn't look up. Kiai smiled. “If you're chosen, I'm kicking your ass out. If I'm chosen…I'm staying here until you get picked.” He walked over to Emily, and she looked up at him. He smiled at her, and spoke, “It's just going to be so much fun.” Emily smiled. “You’re such a nice person, Kiai.” She turned and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tight. The two were nothing more then friends, though the way Emily acted one might think otherwise. Still, it was how Emily acted, and Kiai was somewhat used to it, having her act this way their whole lives that they had known each other. However, sometimes he still got a little nervous when she randomly hugged him, and almost always did when she tried to snuggle against him, as she now seemed to be doing. Kiai never was positive where his relationship with Emily was going, but he knew that they would be together forever. Despite being nervous, he knew what this day could mean for them. He wrapped his arms around his friend, and held her tight. The thought that they could be separated today was something he had, up until that point, managed to ignore. But now, his heart ached. Emily continued to snuggle herself against Kiai. Tears were now forming in her eyes. The thought of being separated from him was something she didn't want. She wanted to stay with him, no matter what. She was, however, only able to snuggle a moment more before the door to Oak's lab opened and his assistant walked out. He had his eyes closed, a happy look on his face. “Hello, everyone,” the assistant spoke. “Professor Oak is waiting inside for the three people who will be picked as Pokemon trainers today.” Emily looked up and quickly broke from the hug. She quickly wiped her eyes and switched to a rather nervous emotion now. Her mind was racing with multiple possibilities, but only one of them was what she hoped would come to pass. Kiai looked around. The sun was shining and the birds were singing, but other than that, it was complete stillness. “Three people?” he spoke, “but there are only two of us. Where's everyone else?” The assistant walked forward, and now actually opened his eyes, as he had been, somehow, walking without his eyes open. He blinked at the sight of only two wanna-be trainers. He had the same question Kiai had. “Where is everyone?” He looked at Kiai and Emily, then sighed. “Well, since you're both here. You two might as well come in. We'll wait a bit to see if anyone else shows up before we announce you two as trainers...but others should have been here by now.” The assistant turned away from them. “Come with me, you two.” Kiai nodded toward Emily. “After you.” he spoke. They followed the assistant up to the lab, where they were led into a large waiting room. There were pokemon shaped cookies and a pitcher of milk on the table, which Emily immediately began helping herself to. Kiai sat down on a large, fluffy chair and closed his eyes, again forgetting how Emily enjoyed taking advantage of him while he meditated. “Hey, Kiai,” Emily spoke, turning around to look at him. One cookie lied in her hand, a glass of milk in her other hand, and a second cookie hung from her mouth. She blinked a little, seeing Kiai was meditating. She grabbed the cookie out of her mouth using her hand that held the other cookie. “Figures...” she spoke to herself in a low voice. She set her cookies and milk down, then walked over to Kiai. She first poked him in the head a couple times, but that did nothing, as it never did. She then sighed and walked next to him. She poked him a couple more times, then thought for a moment, wondering what to do. From somewhere else in the lab, a door opened and the sounds of chatter filled the area. Kiai's eyes darted open, and he stood up so quick Emily fell backwards into a chair, giving an “oof!” Kiai had recognized one of the voices at once. The voice he never wanted to hear again, but knew he would never get away from it. Alex had come. The pretentious prick who had been making life a living hell for almost as long as Kiai and Emily had been together had come to make himself a Pokemon trainer. Emily blinked a little at Kiai. She had only seen Kiai with the look on his face at certain times, and each one involved Alex. She stood to her feet, her face changing to an almost angry look. She heard Alex's voice, and knew he was coming. “Why does HE want to become a trainer?” she asked, stomping her foot, and placing her hands on her hips. “He'd be no good at it. He'd just treat his Pokemon badly...He's nothing but a big bully, and that's all he'll be to his pokemon.” It only took a moment more, though, before Alex entered the lab, looking at Emily. She could now tell he had heard her, but she didn't care. Alex approached Emily, the young boys and girls who followed him (and who had also come to try their luck) had gone silent. “Care to repeat that, little girl?” Kiai pushed Emily back onto the chair and she once again gave an “oof.” Kiai then stood between her and Alex. No sooner had he, though, then the lab assistant came into the room. Emily quickly stood to her feet and straightened out her halter top and miniskirt as to look presentable. “Ah ha! I see we're all here,” the assistant spoke. “Come, Professor Oak will see you now.” The assistant turned, and Kiai spat a whispered “She's right, you know” at Alex, before they all walked out of the room to meet their destiny. Emily walked right up to Kiai, now walking in perfect step with him to stay right next to him. “I hate him,” she whispered to Kiai. Kiai whispered back, “You know those moments where everything falls into place?” Emily gave him a confused look, but he didn't look back. Something in his gut told him that he was getting on the ride of his life. The assistant took them down a long, wide hall, then through a set of swinging double doors. Inside was Professor Oak, standing next to a table, and on it were three pokeballs and three pokedexes. As they crowded into the room, Oak spoke up, “Gather 'round here, children! The moment has finally come! You've all trained and studied hard for this, but only three of you will be chosen. Are you all ready?! Good!” Oaks eyes twinkled as he looked over the small crowd of eager, young faces. “I'm sure you all know how it goes. Inside these pokeballs are either a Squirtle, Charmander, or Bulbasaur. As I call your name, come up and select one, and a pokedex. First...Alex Shibata!” The younger children cheered and whooped, as Alex smugly walked up and snatched the center pokeball, holding it triumphantly over his head. Emily stared. She growled a little. “Of course...he's the most rotten bully around, and he gets first choice...ten bucks he abuses the poor Pokemon...” she grumbled. There were a couple of children she heard shout “Boo!” to their disappointment that he got picked, and she couldn't resist the urge. “Boo!” she shouted as well, then folded her arms. “Rotten kid...” she mumbled. “Guess this is where we find out who goes and who stays, huh?” she looked to Kiai. Kiai looked back at her. “I guess it is.” Memories from last year still haunted him, when he was one of only four candidates, and he knew he was better than the rest, yet he was singled out as being not chosen. He didn't have much time to reminisce, as Professor Oak raised his hands to calm the children, and continued. “Next,” Oak began, “will Emily Yamaki please step forward!” Oak had barely gotten the name out when Alex shouted “Boo!”, but it was drowned out by Kiai screaming “Yes!!” and clapping loudly. Emily blushed. “Me?” she asked. She then turned to Kiai. “I did it!” she shouted and hugged him. “If I can make it, then you can too.” She giggled. “I'll see you when they call your name.” She turned and headed up. She looked the two pokeballs over, examining each closely. She seemed as if she was very particular about which she picked. Finally, after what probably felt like hours to the others, but was actually only a minute or so, she grabbed one, smiling. She then walked up to where Alex was, giving him a scowl. “You abuse that Pokemon, and you're in deep shit.” Professor Oak applauded respectfully, and when the clatter died down, he prepared himself for the final name. Everyone in the room was on pins and needles; some of the younger ones had even stopped breathing. Oak grinned, then shouted out, “Michelle Maybelle!” A high shriek pierced the crowd, and a small blond girl ran forward, excitingly grabbing the remaining pokeball, and knocking the pokedex off the table in the process. She quickly picked it up and ran back to her friends. Everything seemed to go strangely silent in Kiai's ears. By the time he was brought to his senses, a very old-looking Professor Oak was looking down at him, his hand on Kiai's shoulder. Kiai looked around, and saw that they were alone in the room. “Where is everyone?” Kiai asked. Oak replied, “The three have gone for their instructions, and the rest have gone home.” Kiai's eyes fell, and he tried to tell his body to leave, but his legs wouldn't move. “I suppose I should go home too...” he spoke, but he felt Professor Oak's grip tighten on his shoulder. He looked up again, and Oak smiled warmly down at him. “I want you to know why you were not part of the three.” he said. “Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Charmander are chosen so that the three selected trainers will always be stronger than one other, but weaker than one other. Thusly, neither one will be able to boast to the other, until they've learned the hardships of training.” Oak got down on one knee and looked up at Kiai. “You already know those hardships. And you have a greater task than becoming a Pokemon Master. You need a pokemon better suited to your destiny, one that will be loyal to you, and as determined to protect your friends as you are.” Oak reached into his lab coat and pulled out a pokeball, which he placed into Kiai's hands. “Come, the other three are waiting.” He led Kiai down the hall, into another room, where the Assistant was showing Alex, Emily, and Michelle how to use their pokedexes. Emily turned for a moment, her eyes coming in contact with Kiai. At that moment, it was as if the world around her ceased to be, as she no longer cared about what the assistant was saying. She rushed to Kiai and hugged him tight. She didn't want to let go of him. She hadn't noticed the pokeball in his hand, and thought he would still be sad about not being picked twice in a row now. “I'm sorry, Kiai. I'll stay with you until you get picked,” she spoke. “I won't leave you.” Kiai wrapped his arms around her and held her very tight. At first, he was in a dream, knowing now that Oak had been planning this day for some years, but with Emily in his arms, he suddenly realized what it meant. He was finally going to be going on the journey of a lifetime, with a friend of a lifetime. He whispered softly into her ear, “I made it.” Emily’s eyes went wide. “Wait a minute...” she looked at Kiai. “You made it and didn't say anything? I hugged you and was sad for you for nothing?” She bonked him on the head with her fist. It wasn't hard, just enough so that he would know she was upset, but not enough to really hurt him. “You better say something next time.” She then smiled and hugged him. “I'm so happy.” Kiai stared blankly off into nothingness as Emily hugged him. If there was ever a girl who defied his expectations, it was Emily. Professor Oak coughed loudly, and the two parted. Kiai looked at Oak, but his eyes met Alex, who had decided to stage an intervention. “Breaking the rules again, Oak?” said Alex. “You know you're only supposed to pick three.” Oak smiled, “Surely, Alex, you aren't threatened by Kiai being included?” Alex scoffed, “Hah! I could beat him with one hand tied behind my back.” Oak clapped his hands and laughed, “Splendid idea! I just so happen to have some rope right here!” He reached into his lab coat and miraculously pulled out a length of rope. Alex said nothing, simply turning and burying his nose into his pokedex. Emily giggled a little at Oak and Alex, then pulled her pokedex back out. She touched a couple buttons, then put it away, being pleased. “So, what did you get, huh? I want to know so bad! Is it a Pikachu like the Professor gave Ash for his first Pokemon? Oh, that would just be so cute!” She was now babbling on and on...During her non-sensical babbling, however, she had managed to grab her pokeball and toss it in the air. It hit the ceiling, bounced off, hit one of the nearby computers, bounced off and hit the ground, where it proceeded to shake for a moment. There was then a blinding flash of light as the pokeball seemed to “explode”. A small Squirtle appeared from the smoke as the, now broken, pokeball rolled aside, falling into three or four pieces. “Squirtle!” the Squirtle shouted and shook. He seemed unhappy. “Oops,” was all Emily had to say. Alex, suddenly curious as to what he had received, called his pokemon out. A stout, strong-looking Bulbasaur appeared, to which Alex shouted “Hah!” at Emily. Michelle began hopping up and down, repeating “I got Charmander! I got Charmander!” Kiai looked down at the pokeball in his hand. What could Oak have given him that would serve as a loyal companion? He called out the pokemon, and a very, very small Rattata appeared. Michelle’s squeals of delight were easily drowned out by Alex's riotous laughter. “Rattata?! That's not even worth catching, let alone keeping as your primary! What a loser!” Kiai shot Alex a hard glare, then heard a hiss from somewhere below him. Rattata was standing alert, his hair on end, hissing at Alex. Kiai smiled, and knelt down, offering his hand. Rattata hopped on, and scrambled up to Kiai's shoulder, where it sat still and proud, despite being so small. Emily watched the scene unfold before her. After a moment she stepped closer to Kiai and pet the Rattata gently. “I think it's cute, unlike SOMEONE's pokemon.” She seemed to give an odd glare at the Bulbasaur. “You see, I studied how Professor Oak would be giving out the pokemon. Each of the pokeballs has a tiny little symbol on it to tell you what is in it. At first I didn't see the water symbol on mine, but after looking carefully I did. Once I knew Squirtle was around, I took it.” She grinned. “All that to say, my pokemon, Squirtle, is just so cute!” she then began to make, yet more, non-sensical babbling about how she thought Squirtle was cute. This was, however, interrupted when Squirtle shot Emily with his Water Gun. “What was that for?” she shouted. Squirtle folded his arms. “Squirtle squirt,” the Squirtle responded and Emily grumbled. Kiai chuckled, until silenced by a warning glance from Emily. Professor Oak clapped his hands once, loudly, and everyone turned toward him. “Very good. You all have your pokemon and your pokedex,” Professor Oak began. “Now you begin your journeys, hopefully all of you will become Pokemon Masters. You will all take very different paths from this point on, but I am confident that each of you will find what it is you're looking for.” He paused, and looked at the four children looking back at him. “I'm very proud of all of you. Now, say your goodbyes to your families and friends. This afternoon will be the sendoff party, but you're free to leave early if you wish. Good luck, Alex, Michelle, Emily, and Kiai.”

Topic moved to the requests forum. Sorry, but I'm no good at sprites, so I can't help.

Awesome. I trust isaacsol, so I don't expect the same thing that happened with Ghost Rider to happen here -nods- It's good to remember what happened, just so long as we don't hold it against them to say they are always evil. After all, it's a matter of forgiveness, not a matter of forgetting, and thus giving them trust back -nods- Anyway, I'm happy to hear we're on a new server, and I hope this time we have no problems ^^

Perhaps, but not unless we actually get going...the problem is, we're still stuck back in the introductionary stuff, and can't get onto the real storyline until its over...and with one comic a week...that'll take forever >< which is why we need a second artist to help out, so we can update faster...

The Book of Change All was normal in the lives of Brandon Seaborn and Jeremy Jansson, until they met the new girl in school. That day, they left for the mall, and the day only grew more strange from there. Jeremy began to stare at feminine objects, such as jewelery and dresses, and he became angry at most anything said to him. Who knew the day would end with such a strange twist as it did? (No, I'm not saying what happened :P) From then on, Jeremy and Brandon began an adventure using a strange book to guide them. Characters Jeremy Seaborn - A 16 year old boy with strange problems. He stares into "girly stores", appears to long for feminine objects, and seems to feel alone. He hides a deep secret, but what is it? Brandon Jansson - A 16 year old boy that seems fairly normal. He rarely gets angry, but when he does, his anger shoots sky-high. He cares for his friends and will back them up, no matter what the problem is. He also holds a secret, but what is it? Emily Konichi - A 17 year old girl, also known as "the new girl in school". She seems odd, but normal at the same time. There is something different about her, but no one can place it. She holds a secret as well, but what could it be? So...with all of that out of the way...I'll begin by saying this: The Book of Change is a webcomic rated WEB-14. It deals with controversial issues in life, such as homosexuality, transexuality, and some other similar things. It includes magic, demons, and even very odd humans. I recommend this only for open-minded people, as it deals with some things that some closed-minded people mind have trouble with. For examples, the above mentions controversial issues, as well as "the beginning of the universe." I'll leave it at that >>;; In any case, I will be posting random bits of news here on occasion, and people are free to comment on the comic here. I would like people to know that Book of Change is looking for an "artist team". Right now, we have a main artist, but he is unable to do everything at a high pace. If we could get a team together, it would be easier and our update speed would likely increase (i.e. main artist, background artist, color artist). If you can help us out, please contact me, TR would GREATLY appreciate any help he can get (he's said so himself!) Finally, a link to the comic:

Yay! Glad to know it is back up now ^^

So...I'm still lacking in the way of music and art...I need some trainer and character sets done, and I need some music still...I've had no luck with either...I tried downloading the oggs above, but that didn't help...so...if anyone can help with either of those, that would be nice. Otherwise, I have about half of the Kanto region done...map-wise anyway...

It's complicated, but it's all in the system. Download the link that isaacsol gave me to see it.

Ok, that will help some, and, thanks isaacsol, but that starter kit is the one I'm already using.

hehe, that's good. Just let me know when they are done, then ^^

I am working on a pokemon game, and need an image for a specific trainer. SO far, all trainer images have been in a 128x128 image. Can anyone help out with this? Here is her character set:

It's ok, it doesn't have to be in the same style...my game has about 5 different styles in it anyway

Well, for yours the sword was really big and kind of in an awkward position...so...not to say it was bad...but I think that Darth Mongooses' battler is the best out of the 5 that people have given me... (one of them had the sword made weird so that it bent when it was on the battle screen)

Cool, thanks, just let me know when you get them done.