The wind blew slightly along with the wonderfully warm weather on Kin Island, the forest west of Kin Village; the Berry Forest was as usual, a slightly quiet and welcomed berry picker with open branches. Although, in one of the homes of Kin Island, a girl named Myuu Osokana a.k.a Kitty was napping on a thick branch near the beach, chewing on a weed in her sleep.

Kitty was your average eleven-year-old with wavy bright red hair held back by a white ribbon. Her skin was fair so it turned red easily and her frame was slim, but athletic and trim. She was wearing a white T-shirt and a pair of red Jean shorts. And instead of wearing Tennis shoes, she was wearing dark brown boots that only went up to her ankle.

"YO! Ya up there Kitty-Cat?" Kitty’s golden eyes shot open and she fell off the branch.

"Don’t sneak up on me like that!" Kitty hissed at her best friend, Laura Wood. She was eleven as well with blonde hair up in a ponytail and bright blue eyes. She had known Kitty since they were five and both had one of the most common obsessions- Poke’Mon!

Laura was wearing her usual dark blue vest unbuttoned over her white blouse that was tucked into her tan Jean shorts.

"Sorry about that Kitty, but I asked your mother where you were and she said I might find you here. But anyway, I came to tell you that the new shop opened!" Laura said, Kitty was on her feet in a second.

"OMIGOD REALLY!" Kitty cried, her eyes became bright pink hearts, Laura sweat-dropped.

"Really," she answered. A gentle breeze passed them as the feeling sunk into Kitty. They had waited for two years for the Poke’Mon Adoption Center to be built than put into business. But they weren’t allowed to get any pokemon though, rules set by their parents.

"It is forbidden on Kin Island to have pokemon without a license!" Kitty’s mother told her on the day she told her mother the good news and asked if she could get one once it opened. But than, what was the point of having one built there in the first place if no one can get one? But than, that answer came to them that day when they walked up to the building.

"Look at this Kitty!" Laura cried as she found a notice near the entrance.

"But only those enrolling in that dumb boarding school can get one, that just isn’t fair." Kitty whined.

"All well, come on," Laura said as she dragged her friend inside. There were rows of cages in front of them with Poke’Mon like Gulpin, Weedle, Hoppip, and so on. But they were all basic types, than there were the pokemon in large aquariums like Goldeen.

"Well, hello there, new students for the Academy?" an elderly voice asked, they turned to their left to see the man behind the counter. He had thick gray eyebrows and a baldhead. His eyes (barely visible) were a dark, warm brown

"Sorry, no sir we’re just people here to look at the pokemon." Laura answered, neither noticing Kitty examine every one of the cages with her face and hands up against the glass.

"Ah what a shame, people on Kin Island can’t adopt any pokemon without a license eh? A shame really, but most Sevii native children are accepted into the Sevii Academy, so all students should be getting their letters soon." The man said, "By the way, what are your names?"

"I’m Laura Wood and this is my friend Kitty-" Laura faced towards where she last saw Kitty, to find nothing but air. "Kitty?"

"Hey Luara! Look at this pokemon! No! No! Look at this one!" Kitty ordered as she jumped from one cage to the other. The man found this rather intriguing, Laura just sweat-dropped.

"Sorry about her, she’s Kitty Osokana, she doesn’t always act like this." Laura commented.

"Oh don’t worry about it, it’s excellent on how you two seem to like pokemon, like I said before, it’s a shame you young ones can’t own any yet let alone have them as pets. By the way, my name is Kent Sepson." The man said, "I’m the manager of this place,"

"Nice to meet you Mister Sepson," Laura said, her arm stretching out.

"No no, just call me Kent, it’s much less formal." Kent said as he shook her hand.

"So Kent, did they just now decide to build this just for the academy? Because that school’s been around for as long as I can remember, so why build one now?" Laura asked, Kitty was currently amusing herself by playing with a magicarp in the aquarium next to the goldeen’s.

"Well, about well…a while ago when the school was first built we had to wait several months for a shipment of all sorts of pokemon to arrive for the children enrolling. But now with this here, people on the Sevii Islands just need to pick pokemon out here so we only receive shipment every two months." Kent explained. "But other then that, a friend of mine just moved to Knot Island a few months ago. He’s a pokemon breeder and because of the island’s hot springs it’s easier to care for young pokemon. And lucky for us, he raises many different types of pokemon. So we agreed that when the pokemon mature enough they can come here and wait for a suitable trainer."

"Sounds much more easier and less suspenseful then beforehand." Laura commented.

"It is." Kent agreed.

"I can’t believe we have to wait for a license when you can only get it from a pokemon professor!" Kitty complained after toying with a skitty. Laura sweat-dropped.

"Yes but the Sevii Islands has no professor of pokemon so we either wait to be accepted into the Sevii Islands Academy or wait till we reach the age restriction, which is thirteen." Laura said with a sigh.

"Sounds ridiculous, but such intelligent and erm…spunky people you are I can see that you might just be enrolled into it." Kent said.

"I’ll believe that when I see it on the table waiting for me when I get home." Laura said. Kitty began to coo with a seedot.

~ * ~

"You’ve gotta be kidding me!" Kitty cried with utter joy that evening. She and Laura stayed at the Pokemon Adoption Center for most of the day so by the time they got home, Kitty was given some shocking news.

"Nope, got it in the mail today." Her father said proudly, giving her the application and letter. "Go on upstairs and fill it in, if you give it to me tomorrow morning I’ll send it." Kitty bolted up the stairs faster then he could blink. Her father, Jake Osokana laughed to himself. He was a jolly man with the same bright red hair as his daughters except it was manly cut. His eyes were a bright shade of brown, but his daughter had her golden orbs from her mother, who passed away a few years ago.

I can’t believe this happened! I’m actually getting my own pokemon! I can’t believe it! Besides going to a dumb boarding school I’m getting my very own pokemon! It’s a miracle! Did I mention I couldn’t believe I was getting my own pokemon? Kitty thought as she plopped down on her seat and grabbed a pen. She then began reading the letter after placing the application on her desk.

I can’t believe this… she thought as she then pulled out the paper behind it to reveal about two other papers stapled together. It was the application form.

Name: Osokana, Myuu

Gender: Female

Age: 11 years

Island: Kin Island

Guardian/Parent(s): Jake Osokana

Melinda and Carson Wood were Laura’s parents, but being friends since birth she grew up pretty close to them. Melinda was a fair-skinned, slender woman who liked to keep in shape, which was important since she was the head coach of the Girls Sevii Island Soccer team, the Beautiflies. Carson though, was the head coach of the Boys Sevii Island Soccer team, the Mightyenas. He also was a fit man with muscle to spare basically, Kitty found the two of them a perfect match. Rachel Osokana was Kitty’s aunt, sister of her mother. She lived in Goldenrod, but all the same, she visited at least once a year, mostly during Christmas. Kitty had never gone to any place outside the Kin Islands; she never even went to another island, though Laura has. But Jake never had the time since he was a berry gardener. They lived in a small house, but patches of berries surrounded it. There were more then enough berries, but Jake was a generous and grown some berry bush just for the wild pokemon. Because of this, the pokemon knew the Osokanas well and avoided using the human-grown berries and munched on theirs.

Physician: Jesse Moore

Jesse Moore was a Knot Island native; he was the only doctor among the Sevii Islands and moved from one to another due to patient calls. He surfed from one island to another on his mantine, Umi with his raichu, Morgan and machoke, Crusher. He said the names weren’t picked out for medical use, it turns out he had them since he was little, Kitty suspected he went to the Sevii Academy as well.

Fave. Type(s): Fire, Grass, and Bug

Fave. Breed(s): Cat, Butterfly

Fave. Characteristic: Furry, cute

Fave. Nature: Spunky, friendly

*Fave. Pokemon: Doesn’t matter

*Specials: I would like to battle, but I also like to study

*Future goal? Pokemon Master, breeder, professor

If Laura was doing this, she knew for sure that she would want to open a pokemon inn for pokemon and their trainers. She could already imagine it…

"Hello everyone and welcome to Wood’s Pokemon Inn! For every pokemon and pokemon-loving human in the world!" Laura would cry as a person entered her inn with an aipom on their shoulder.

Even though Kitty had never been outside the island, she did like to study, and loved to read. She practically read of every morning newspaper since she could read and watched a lot of pokemon battle in the Pokemon leagues in at least four regions like Hoenn, Johto, Kanto, and Orange Islands.

Done! Kitty mentally cried as she lay both the application packet and letter next to her then she looked down at the supplies list.

1. World of Pokemon by Sonia Miscross
2. Breed Varieties for Grooming by Miranda Hobbner
3. Battle Tips of Mind and Body by Arrow Harris
4. Spiritual Youth by Gilbert Tolkien
5. Living means Eating by Carol Potter
6. Pokemon of Astronomy by Dylan Wagner

1. Rubber gloves
2. Battle Goggles
3. Uniforms (Supplied by Sevii Cloth Shop)
4. Everyday wear (on weekends or after classes)
5. Bathroom supplies – Toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, towels
6. Pajamas
7. Tennis shoes, black shoes (for occasions), boots (for hiking)
8. Personal class agenda
9. 5 notebooks, pencils & pens
10. Coats, jackets, wear for seasons

This isn’t any inexpensive list, everything will cost a lot… Kitty groaned, and shifted her position. Strange it was to feel so out of whack; Kitty was one to be bouncy with just about anything, always filled with levity. But now that she’s going to go to school for a year at a time, she now realized she would be by herself. Since her mother died, Jake was everything to her, and she was everything to him. The Woods were like a second family, and Laura was like a sister, a big one. But there weren’t that many other people on the island, the Sevii Islands had a small population, so in other words, Laura and Kitty were the only ones at the same age on Kin.

"You done Kitkat?" Jake’s voice asked, she looked up, and nearly fell. Her father was holding the letter and application in the other hand. His eyes were scanning both at the same time, she had no idea how he did that. "I suppose this means yes, we’ll go shopping tomorrow!"

"But Kin doesn’t have a mall or anything! Just a pokemon center and pokemon market!" Kitty cried, only her dad called her Kitkat, he once told her he called her mom the same thing, but she didn’t know what her mom’s name was, Jake was about to tell her when she was old enough to talk but she told him not to. She didn’t know why, but maybe hearing her mother’s name would probably make her cry, and crying, she didn’t like.

"We’ll ferry over to Vermilion and then to Celadon, I see no problem in doing that. Maybe even Luara can come along, and when we get back, your pokemon should be up for grabs-for you anyway." Jake said with a grin. Then he began waving the application. "And I’ll send this tomorrow morning! Gets some rest!" Then he was gone. Kitty sat there, with the list of supplies. There was only three weeks till school started, and for some reason, she was both excited and nervous.

The next morning Kitty found it pretty easy to get up, shower, and dress. She wore her bright crimson hair up in two pigtails that ended in natural ringlets at her shoulders, two white bows stuck out at the top. Her bangs were fluffy and lasted to her eyebrows. She wore a white tank top with a wavy, green skirt that last only to her knees. She had her white hoodie wrapped around her waist, it had a green poke’ball logo on the front of it, but you would only be able to see once she wore it.

Jake himself was pretty happy as well, he wore a blue collared shirt tucked into tan khakis with a black belt. His own pokemon (about four) were nestled inside their poke’balls and snapped onto his belt. His red hair hung loose over on the sides of his forehead, while the rest was slicked back. His chocolate orbs were nonetheless excited when his daughter finally appeared down the stairs.

"Well come on! The ferry waits for no one!" he cried as he led her out the door. "Laura said she had something to tell you and she and her family were coming along to Celadon as well!"

"I wonder if she was sent for ASI?!" She cried, ASI stood short for Academy of Sevii Islands.

"Who knows!"

Several minutes later they were at the harbor, Jake had a life-long pass for the ferry, so did any other Sevii native. Those is other regions had to pay about $250 for one, so that was why not many people came to the Sevii Islands, it was an expensive trip. Kitty and Jake waited there on the harbor, the ferry didn’t leave for another fifteen minutes, but the Woods were no where in sight.

"Ahoy there! I see Wood!" Jake cried, Kitty, who was leaning over the rail and into the water, staring at some magicarp jumped up and turned around. She spotted Laura, Melinda, and Carson heading their way. Melinda and Carson looked a lot like their daughter, both had blond hair, which Melinda had back in a french braid with no bangs and Carson had in a comb-over. Both were pretty tall, as tall as Jake anyway, but Carson was a bit more athletic.

Melinda was wearing a pink dress that ended at her ankles and flip-flops with pink throngs and she wore pearl earrings. Carson looked more like a head coach though; he wore his team’s t-shirt with the mightyena logo with ‘The Mightyenas’ at the bottom. He also wore tan khaki pants like Jake though.

"Was your daughter sent a letter too?" Carson asked brightly, Jake nodded. "In which school?"

"Which school? There’s only one school in the Sevii Islands," Kitty pointed out.

"But Laura was accepted into a school in Goldenrod City, it’s called Golden Rod Educational, GRE for short. It was the same school Melinda and I went to and met at, it’s such a joy she’ll be going somewhere we know about. How about you Jake? Kitty?" Instantly, Carson saw something was amiss. Laura’s head was down and Kitty looked like she swollen a watermelon. Jake and Melinda looked down at their daughters while Carson began wondering what was wrong.

"Ferry to Vermilion will soon depart, all passengers please get on board," the PA rang.

"That’s us! Let’s go!" Jake suddenly cried, making everyone jump.

If it wasn’t for the sudden change of mood, the ride would probably have been eventful. But news of being separated, broke Kitty’s spirits, and it seemed to be the same for Laura too. They were both sitting at a round table next to one another while the adults talked enthusiastically about eh school year.

"I’ll go to a spa on Knot Island with Roxanne and relax!" Melinda cried, Roxanne was her golduck, she said she once raised a few beautifly, but they left several years ago on the beautifly love migration.

"Don’t get too excited Linda! We’re really going to Lavaridge Town!" Carson cried.

"I’ll stay home," Jake said with a sweat-drop. Neither of the three seemed to notice the girls weren’t at school left, and it made Kitty and Laura miserable.

"So…you’ll be supporting the Miltanks then huh?" Kitty suddenly asked, Golden Rod’s school mascots were miltanks, because of Whitney’s (Golden Rod Gym Leader) main pokemon, Miltank. Sevii Islands mascot was gyaradoses, they inhabited the seas around every island of the Sevii, another reason tourists don’t visit much even though the dragons don’t go to the surface very often unless their prey goes somewhat close to it, the only things you had to look out for were the tentacool, they were pretty common everywhere.

"Yeah, but when I graduate (in four years, one less then the Sevii) I’ll be back with the Gyarados!" Laura said with a smile, she didn’t get down easily, and if she did, it didn’t last long. Kitty was going to miss her, and when they got back for summer break, they would battle.

"Let’s make a deal, when we get back, let’s battle!" Laura suggested, as if reading her mind.

"I thought the same thing! But all right, right when we get home we’ll battle. Be prepared to lose," Kitty said.

"Now that you two have come to an understanding let’s get something to eat! Come on out everybody!" Jake cried releasing all his pokemon.

"Swampert!" His swampert, Surf.

"Prrrimeeape! The primeape was Fury.

"Ledian!" Ledian was named Starlet.

"Fly!" And the flygon was Layla.

"Every time I see your pokemon it just fascinates me Jake, all I have is a mightyena, come on out Rascal!" Carson cried, throwing his poke’ball.

"Mightyy!" Rascal cried as the white flash disappeared.

"When you two get pokemon we’ll have Kin Island the toughest of them all!" Melinda cried. Laura and Kitty sighed as their parents and their pokemon celebrated for no apparent reason, sure they were being enrolled into awesome schools, but they were going to be separated for a year at a time, neither of them could think of a time when they were not together through some event.

"What did GRE send you?" Kitty asked as she drank some of her juice, Laura didn’t touch hers.

"Some dumpy old packets full of questions," Laura answered glumly, it was obvious that she wasn’t looking forward to going to this school, but her parents went there before her so it couldn’t be all that bad right? "They also want me to study genetics…"

"Doesn’t sound that bad unless you don’t like genes," Kitty joked, it didn’t get her to smile though. "It can’t be that bad right?"

"If it weren’t for the already assigned classes, it appears that if any family went before you you’re sorted into classes that way, so in other words, they possibly already have me in Pokemon genetics, and so on and so fourth. I was thinking about joining their soccer team toobut to get into their sports you got to be in 4.0 average in every class…even the specials…"

"No point in sounding down then, I’m sure you’ll come through when you set your mind to it, like you always do!" Kitty encouraged.

"It’s not that easy-"

"Nothing’s easy Laura! You and I both know that! So instead of sulking let’s party!" Kitty cried grabbing her friend’s wrist and pulling her towards the pokemon and other passengers on the ferry. The stereos began blaring music, the first was Get Happy by the Lavender Town star band B*Witched.

"So? Do you think we can live a whole year without one another?" Laura asked.

"I think I will, I mean, we went through a lot together. But that doesn’t mean anything to the world of education, so when it comes to school, let’s write to one another, and then when we come back, we’ll battle it out okay?" Kitty asked.

"Will do!"

I don’t care if we never even see each other again Laura! But as long as we stay friends I’m sure we’ll be with one another till the end of time, and besides, we will see each other again, we have to, because we need to battle! Kitty thought as their parents joined in the dance, Jake and Carson unfortunately had too much pop.

"Dance till your feet fall off Lori!" Carson shouted, Laura fell.

"DAD!!!!" Laura cried, Kitty laughed. Roxanne (under Melinda’s orders) blasted a Water Gun into her husband’s face, and as a favor, in Jake’s as well.

"Go Roxanne!" Kitty and Laura shouted happily.

The party kept going on noisily, and next to the dads, the pokemon was just as haywire (except Roxanne). Kitty, Laura, and Melinda stood at the sidelines, already have hidden the pop and brought out ice cold water, stood watching the groups of people on the ferry.

"Hey looky! It’s another ferry! It’s the Wave Cutter from Quest Island! Ahoy!" Jake cried over the railing. Many of the passengers looked over at the ferry. It was a fast one and a big one at that, Kitty spotted a window, it looked like a dining room inside, but what caught her attention was the boy right in front of it. He had silver hair that was tied back in a black bow and his bangs lasted a little over his azure orbs. He wore was looked like a black tuxedo with a white bow around his neck. She blushed when he raised a glass full of red liquid and noticed her, he winked and with a grin the ferry sped off with him.

Who in the world was he? Kitty thought, her blush fading, he certainly was handsome, and he looked just about her age.

"People from Quest Island are particularly strong and wealthy, pretty much because of the Trainer Tower. I bet some of their young kindred is going to the Academy of the Sevii Islands," Laura pointed out, typical that she would know that.

"Did you see him though?" Kitty asked.

"Who? The guy in the window?" Laura asked, looking over at her. She did see him! And she didn’t appear aware of how awesome he looked! Of course, Laura stated herself that she would never fall for anyone who was cute and rude, but rather handsome and intelligent, Kitty thought it was ridiculous. "Why?"

"Must I answer that? You already know the answer," Kitty hissed, looking away from Laura.

"Well, I did see him wink at you…and I saw you blushing…so add those two together and we get a…crush! You two dig each other!" Laura cried happily, hugging Kitty.

"We do not dig each other! And since when do you talk like that?" Kitty asked as she pried herself out of Laura’s grip, for as long as she has known the girl, Laura preferred to use intellectual words instead of what was ‘in’. So these kinds of outbursts were always surprising.

"Just now, since I’m going to an urban area, I better start trying to fit in, smart alecs don’t last long in the city." Laura answered.

"You’ve never been a smart alec," Kitty pointed out.

"Really?"

"Has a face like this ever lied to you?" Kitty asked, making large eyes.

"Well, now that you mentioned it-" Laura began, "There was a time when you told me that there was nothing in your basement and instead I was chased out by your dad dressed as Jason on Halloween, then there was the time when you said we could dig up the grass in Ms. Fawcette’s yard next-door to you when instead she was trying to improve her grass’s color, then when we were little and could hardly read you said the sign that led to a forbidden part of the beach said ‘Welcome everyone’ when in fact it said ‘No trespassing, under toe!’. We were lucky my mom caught us before we went in!" Kitty sweat-dropped.

"So I made a few mistakes! No one got hurt right?" Kitty asked.

"Barely, usually if one of us were to be hurt, I have the higher chance." Laura said with a sigh.

"True, but hey, when school starts, you won’t have to worry about it unless you’re surrounded by pickpockets." Kitty said.

"Never felt so reassured…" -.-

"I didn’t mean it that way!!!"

"Don’t worry Kitty! I know you didn’t mean it, just testing you!" Laura laughed; Kitty folded her arms and pouted.

Evening came fast and it wouldn’t be till the next evening that they would reach Vermilion City, and as chance would have it, Rachel caught wind of it and wrote to Jake by flying a note to him by her strong fearow, Stormbringer. She said that she would be taking the train to Saffron and meet them in Celadon’s hotel by ten on the next morning they would arrive. They would have to walk to Celadon unfortunately, but the adults said it would be adventure, for them anyhow, they had pokemon to battle others with.

The only uncomfortable part was finding a place to sleep. On the Kin ferry, Kindred you had to make yourself a bed somewhere on the thing, they didn’t have a room specialized for guests for the night, so all the passengers went directly to the benches and either rested their arms on the sides with their heads rested on top and their kid on their lap or, take up the whole bench completely.

If it weren’t for poke’balls though, there wouldn’t be enough room for the humans on board. All the pokemon were returned to their poke’balls, and thankfully, there was enough room for the people.

Kitty was in between Jake and Melinda; Laura was in between her parents. She thought about that silver haired boy, he must have been filthy rich and probably fast asleep on a comfy bed if their fast boat didn’t make it to their destination yet.

"This reminds me of your mother you know…" she looked up, Jake was looking out at the sea, she wondered why anything right now would remind him of her mom, of course, she never knew her long enough to know what she was like at all. Her red orbs didn’t appear to be interested or curious, but Jake explained anyway.

"When we dated and even after we got married, she would always get up at midnight and look up at the stars out at sea. And often, she would go down to the beach, I sometimes followed, just to make sure she would be safe. Guess what she did every time I followed," he said.

"I wouldn’t know," she stated.

"She prayed,"

"For what?"

"I never asked, but I should have, she died so suddenly after you were born, I was scared that it might not have been by chance because it wasn’t primitive medicine that helped her bring you into this world, I thought it might have had something to do with what she did every night, but right now, I’ll never know." Jake went silent after that. Her mother prayed every night? Well that was normal for a lot of people, but why do it outside and at the beach when you thought everyone was asleep? Kitty shook her head, all well, some things weren’t meant to be known.

Morning came just as fast as evening had come before. People were much more groggy then the day before, most of whom had gotten high on pop were once bounding with energy were now dragging their feet murmuring meaningless words. The ferry didn’t serve very good beds, but served excellent food. That morning it served coffee, pancakes, maple syrup, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, milk, orange juice, bacon, ham, eggs, and so on. Kitty could barely speak when she was done.

"I’m stuffed…" Kitty grumbled.

"You’re not the only one…" Jake joined in.

"Father like daughter," Carson laughed neither he nor Melinda ate much, they didn’t starve themselves, but they barely filled their stomachs all the way. Laura didn’t either.

"Proud of it," they both mumbled. Carson, Melinda, and Laura laughed, their blond heads shining in the sunlight that just then appeared on the horizon.

"What a beauty, too bad it won’t remain cold for long, we’ll be sweating by noon." Carson pointed out.

He was right, by noon it was so hot Kitty could have sworn she lost fifty pounds just by sweating. But they were a few more hours away from Vermilion, thankfully, Roxanne was water-ample. It was like a sprinkler party and by the time they reached Vermilion Harbor, everyone was soaked to the bone, thus, cold with the lower temperature night brought.

"Wonder where she is?" Jake wondered aloud as they docked into Vermilion’s harbor and the group sauntered into the city. People bustled about and almost instantly their clothes began to dry when the sun appeared from behind the clouds among the horizon.

"JAKE! KITTY! HOW NICE IT IS TO SEE YOU AGAIN!!!" Kitty and Jake were both pulled into a tight and friendly hug almost instantly; the Woods jumped in surprise and recognized the woman as Rachel Osokana. She was a slim figure with brilliant red hair that was pulled back in a tight braid. Her eyes were hazel and her loose attire (a blouse and a navy-blue skirt) hung off her frame with ease. It was a wonder how it kept itself from falling.

"Hello Rachel," Jake breathed out as soon as she released them. "I do believe you remember the Woods, Melinda, Carson, and their daughter, Laura." He pointed to the family behind him, nonetheless she seemed to have forgotten Jake and Kitty existed as she went right up to them and shook their hands.

"How nice it is to see you again! If you don’t remember me from the last Christmas then I’m Rachel Osokana!" Rachel beamed happily as she complemented each one and commented how tall Kitty was at the moment. It had only been several months but she could tell the difference between an inch in height.

"Pleasure seeing you again Miss Osokana," Carson said as he shook her hand.

"Same here, but let’s get down to business. Soon before you all arrived the Wave Cutter docked, I’m friends with the manager of the Trainer Tower, Aldercy Lexington and she agreed to transport us to Celadon since they are heading there as well. So what do you say, they’re leaving in thirty minutes?" Rachel explained. The adults didn’t seem anxious, as they wanted to do some exploring, but Laura and Kitty managed to convince them (along with the help from Rachel) and got them to follow the aunt.

"Their bus is around here somewhere…"

"Bus?"

"What do you think they would ride in? A car? There’s too many people heading there so they saw it was just a waste of time to go through individual cars." Rachel answered; Kitty saw the logic behind this and continued to follow Rachel. It wasn’t till fifteen minutes later that Laura spotted a bus and Rachel exclaimed that it was the one they were looking for.

They followed Rachel up to the door and while she knocked, Kitty scanned it from the front to the rear, there were no windows open and she saw no faces, but moving bodies. There must have been music on or something since a loud beat came from within it.

"Hello Rachel, this must be the people you were talking about eh?" A woman asked as the doors folded open, she had shoulder-length orange hair and gleaming cyan eyes. She was lovely Kitty had to admit, as she had a trim body and wore tight clothes, but unlike looking bad in them like most people did, she looked perfectly snug and perfect in them. She climbed down and shook hands with the adults.

"Pleased to meet you, I’m Aldercy Lexington, though I’m sure you already knew that. Please go right on in and pick a seat, there’s plenty." She stated, but with how many people that must have came here in the Wave Cutter, Kitty wondered how there would be so many extra seats. When she climbed in, she realized that she was exaggerating. There were only a few seats, and none of them were in one spot, they were scattered everywhere.

"Oh sorry! I should have reserved some, but you’ll be able to manage, no one will give you a hard time." Aldercy said as she spotted the mishap she made when she followed Melinda, the last to get on. Kitty and Laura looked around uncomfortably, if she said no one would give her trouble, than why were the younger preteens like the girls (who appeared older and some their age) looked at them snobblishy. Kitty’s bright demeanor seemed to have diminished when Laura pushed her so they could move. Carson and Melinda hurried and took a pair of seat near the front, looking for seats to save or to ask whether people would move so their friends would sit there, but no one was willing to budge and there were no available seats near them. But Laura was fine with it and continued to move towards the back with Kitty and Jake.

"Packed lot huh?" Jake commented, scanning the rows of seats. People stared back in a strange gaze; it made all three feel uncomfortable.

"Hey Dad, there’s a seat there, you go on and sit, Laura and I will move further back." Kitty suggested, he shook her head.

"We don’t know the people on this bus or what they might try to pull, I’m not going to let you go further without supervision." Jake said stubbornly.

"It doesn’t seem like we have a choice." Laura sighed as she pointed out two seats together and available ahead of them. "We’ll sit there, and that way you can keep an eye on us from here." Jake seemed rather hesitant to do so, but eventually he sat down and watched as the two walked back and finally sat down, Melinda and Carson shot Jake a worried glance, he shot the same one back at them. It turned out that Rachel ended up seating next to Aldercy, both deep in conversation.

"With how rich Questrians are you would think they could afford a bigger bus." Laura commented quietly, not wanting to be heard form other than Kitty, she nodded in agreement. Laura looked around shyly, she wasn’t one liking big groups, but Kitty wasn’t either. They were born on a less populated island and didn’t have as many citizens. The tiny conditions made them both reveal just how claustrophobic the both of them were.

"Hey! Aren’t you Kindreds?" A person asked from next to them, it was a boy around fifteen with anti-gravity, short green hair, sharp brown eyes, and nicely tanned skin. He was a sleeveless white jersey with number 19 on the back with ‘Gryaradoses’ under it, a picture of one stood out in hues of blue on the front. He had well-toned muscles and ripped Jeans.

"Yes, nice to meet you." Kitty greeted, he smiled, and it seemed that only the girls stared at them in odd ways.

"Same here, name’s Shawn Motorcutte. You are?"

"I’m Kitty Osokana and this is my friend Laura Wood." Kitty replied, her bouncy self-returning.

"Kitty? Is that a name?" he asked.

"It’s my nickname, I like it more than the real one." Kitty answered.

"Nice, so you two are going to Sevii Academy?" he asked, Laura didn’t answer but Kitty replied with a "I’m going, but unfortunately Goldenrod got hold of her." Kitty said, pointing at her friend, she turned head in shame. Shawn though, grinned and stared ahead of him as the engine started.

"That must be awesome, going into a different region, the furthest I’ve been away from Sevii was a study research trip to Seafoam and of course to Celadon, I have another year after this one till I’m free to be." Shawn said with annoyance as the bus jerked slightly than began to move itself out of the parking lot it found itself in. Then with a sigh of relief, they were on the road to Celadon.

"A study research trip to the Seafoam Islands! Isn’t Articuno rumored to live there? And why did you go in the first place?" Laura began to build up questions for the boy, and it was clearly shown on his face how curious she was. Kitty watched with amazement as Shawn took this in patiently and answered every one of them.

"Yeah, I’m studying to be a professor, and yes Articuno is said to roam upon the Seafoam Islands but we didn’t see hide nor hair of her, pity really, but we were studying the currents, temperatures, and habitats of the pokemon that live in and around the area." Shawn answered. While they chatted on, Kitty took the pleasure of looking around. The stares had long stopped and everyone was in their conversations. It dawned upon her that there seemed to be no other adults on the bus except Aldercy, were these kids rich and independent enough to wander outside their region and bustle about on foreign territories?

Apparently they were, and when she looked behind her, she not only spotted a few more seats she didn’t observe before sitting down, but strangely, the boy she saw on the boat was sitting right behind her! But he was deeply in conversation with someone next to him; she couldn’t bring herself to intervene for some reason. But his lovely ocean orbs were enchanting, they seemed to dance with their own light and it reflected off his adorable features he had at the age of eleven. She could only imagine what he would look like in teenage years.

"Well hello there, I recognize you from the Kindred. My name is Akira Hiriyama, and you are Kitten Osokana, or so I heard." She jumped when he noticed her and she turned slightly red from embarrassment.

"Oh! It’s just Kitty! Pleasure to meet you!" she greeted back, trying to keep her voice straight. He grinned.

"But I insist, Kitten is more adorable." Akira insisted, it wasn’t till than that she spotted the person he was next to, it was a girl about their age with hot pink hair pulled up in a high ponytail with her bangs drawn back. Her orange eyes gleamed at Kitty, as if trying to drill a hole in her. But why he was sitting with her was behind Kitty, as she looked nothing like the other girls with very tight and revealing clothing, it made Kitty sick. But she didn’t know Akira long enough to judge him yet.

"Hey Rika, what’s wrong with you?" Shawn’s head popped up from behind his seat and was looking at the pink-haired girl, she grunted silently than stared the other way, Akira smiled softly.

"That’s Rika Thorn, worry about her, she rarely talks." Akira said, Kitty forced a smile as Laura joined in.

"Are you all going to Sevii?" she suddenly asked, Shawn nodded.

"There are mostly older years in here, there are fewer new years this year, Akira is one of them." Shawn answered.

"Why?" Laura asked.

"Because our parents and Miss Lexington are losing faith in the Sevii Academy headmaster, Franklin Sevii," Akira answered.

"What’s wrong with him? Everyone on Kin Island and the others have almost always sent their children to the Sevii Academy," Kitty pointed out.

"True, but Quest Island has the Trainer Tower, and people all over the world visit it next to the Battle Tower in Johto. We’re pretty famous, so we hear more than enough from other islands as well." Shawn explained.

"That makes sense," Laura exclaimed.

Not to me…Kitty thought miserably, Akira noticed.

"In other words, we’ve been hearing things about the school as well as from others and it seems there has been things currently going on that we do not know of." Akira explained.

"Like what?" Laura asked.

"All kinds, like how Team Rocket is starting to rise again after some few years and things like that," Shawn answered. "Most of it is just trash, nothing worth our time."

When they sat back down, they didn’t talk. It went flat out boring as they went on without words, so they said nothing on the two-hour trip. But they were happy that they were able to ride the bus, it would have possibly have taken two days to get to Celadon by foot. But when they climbed off the bus near the Pokemon Center, every single person climbed off with a yawn or cracking of their muscles. It wasn’t very pleasant, but they all survived.

"Thank you so much Aldercy," Rachel said as she, Kitty, Laura, Jake, Melinda, and Carson separated themselves from the Questrians.

"No problem, but we must get going. We have to be back in Quest Island by the day after tomorrow." Rachel said she than left with a wave and she led the group over towards the Pokemon Department Center.

"This city is so big!" Kitty cried happily as Jake pulled out a map and began skimming through it.

"Hasn’t changed by much, or by what the map says," Jake announced as he grinned insanely. "And neither has the Game Corner!" Melinda rolled her eyes as Jake and Carson both sighed happily than announced that would be their first stop.

"Fine, you two go ahead, but we’ll go shopping. Don’t get in trouble and spend your money wisely," Melinda stated, but it seemed that neither men were listening as they were walking with extra spring in their step down the brick streets. Passerbys watched them with odd expressions of curiosity and wonder. "`Let’s go shall we," Melinda said as she than pulled Kitty and Laura and Rachel along with her in the same direction as the Questrians.

"Oh Kitty dear, can I see your supplies list?" Rachel asked a few minutes later when they reached the department. Several of the Questrians were bustling about along with the citizens of Celadon and other foreigners; it would become much busier around noon. But while Melinda helped Laura with finding her books, notepads, and writing utensils Rachel insisted she would help with the clothing and the decorations of their rooms.

"Decorations reflect on who you are Kitty you must always remember that, and when you’re not wearing your uniform you must always dress in what you like so people can see how you really are, nothing too snobby or country though. You don’t want people thinking you’re a tomboy or a hillbilly." Rachel explained as she skimmed down the list. "Ah ha! We can go for the easy stuff first like the goggles and gloves, why you need those are beyond me. Back when I was in school we had to suffer through all that crud from battles and soap suds from the sink when you were splattered by a pokemon who hated baths."

"That’s interesting, but I think people invented these to make those situations more comfortable." Kitty pointed out.

"Well yes, of course they did, in other words you children are too spoiled. Here’s the isle; do you want pink or yellow gloves? Oh of course yellow! Pink and red hair do not go together, but the yellow does stand out and match your eyes, but your eyes have more of a brown hue to them, all well, there aren’t that many options now are there. Aw! They sure have gone into style! What do you like best Kitty?" Rachel could talk on and on about anything set or random, but now they had the gloves (got pink for Laura) and were now browsing around the goggles.

They weren’t all that fascinating really, but for someone spasmed about battles must have been into them. Rachel was pointing every which one out but Kitty liked the white-rimmed goggles, it looked more like sunglasses but with clear lenses.

"Those will do as well, do you think Laura would do with these, they do fit her perfectly." Rachel said, pointing at blue goggles with an elastic blue strap.

After a while they eventually met back up with Melinda and Laura who got two copies of every book (their lists were very similar) and after paying up they quickly went up to the next floor which covered for clothing.

"I’ll go and get the uniforms, the sign said they had the Kanto, Johto, and Sevii uniforms so I’ll go get those real quick. Rachel get them some more clothes, they’re outgrowing theirs." Melinda ordered as she hurried away towards the counter. It amazed Kitty about how much Melinda knew about her, she was practically her mother, and she loved her just like any child would love his or her mother.

"All right, let’s see, what are your sizes?" Kitty was the one who loved to dress up, but Laura was a different story. She didn’t whine or complain, but by the disgusted expression on her face you knew her patience was thin for the fabrics she had to try on. Kitty had bought a few T-shirts, skirts, headbands, ribbons, jeans, shorts, and tight shirts. But Laura only got so much more. She was taller than Kitty and an early bloomer, so it was only expected when Rachel went berserk over her saying things like ‘you want guys at your doorstep next summer don’t you?’ and Kitty knew it was driving her up a wall.

"C’mon Aunt Rachel, we don’t have all day!" Kitty cried brightly, Laura mouthing thank you to her friend as Rachel agreed and bought their stuff. Melinda was surprised to find a lot of stuff in their arms when she got back and said the line was extremely long that the manager made them wait in a line on the stairs! But she didn’t seem to mind for she had the uniforms.

"All right, anything else?" Melinda asked.

"Personal agenda," Kitty answered.

"There weren’t any in the book section along with the notebooks, but there should be some in the personal section where there’s decorations and things like that." Melinda said.

"Then off we go!!!" Rachel cried, running up the stairs followed (slowly) by the tired feet of Melinda, Laura, and Kitty.

"It’s girl paradise!" Laura and Kitty cried when they came to the floor, there were dolls on about five shelves front and back, posters rolled up, diaries, notebooks, pokemon-branded pens and pencils, even a Jigglypuff-shaped pencil sharpener, there were cell phone covers, purses, belts, and so on.

"Let’s search for agendas first then at least two more things ‘kay?" Melinda said.

"OKAY!" The other three cried whizzing off, but Melinda held Rachel by the scruff of her shirt.

"You’re not the one we’re shopping for," Melinda said, Rachel became glum.

"Omigod look Laura!" Kitty squealed as she held up an eevee agenda that was slightly bigger than her hand with a butterfly background of cool colors. Laura showed her one of a beautifly with a plain pink background.

"Well looky here, Lori and Kitty-cat," they looked up, it was Rika! But what was with the tone? "I heard you talking with Akira and Shawn on the bus,"

"Apparently so, we were right in front of you two." Laura pointed out innocently, she scowled.

"Don’t get smart with me Wood!" Rika hissed.

"What’s wrong with you? We didn’t do anything," Kitty hissed back, her teeth revealing small fang-like incisors.

"You were talking to my Akira, don’t talk to him! He’s mine! And don’t think you’re cute good two shoes look will take him away from me!" Rika growled.

"But we’re only eleven, we’re not interested in boys right at the moment, pokemon are our main obsession." Laura stated.

"Pokemon aren’t anything compared to Akira," Rika said in a day-dreamy voice, Kitty and Laura exchanged puzzled glances.

"Pokemon is the main reason you’re even going to Sevii," Laura pointed out.

"No! It’s because of Akira and of course, my super rich family! That dilapidated fisher’s hut is dying to get their greedy little hands on my kind of money! They couldn’t possibly afford not having us Questrians not enrolled into the school." Rika replied.

"That isn’t true," Kitty retorted.

"Sure is, and so is me and Akira," Rika replied.

"You mean Akira and I?" Laura corrected.

"Shut it Wood! But anyway, stay away from my Akira! He isn’t going to like you, never has and never will!" And with that, Rika stormed off.

"I wonder what’s with her," Kitty wondered aloud, Laura fell.

"Hey girls, was that you we heard?" Rachel and Melinda appeared behind them and looked at the two with curiosity.

"Erm…yeah! We got excited with these!" Kitty said, revealing their agendas.

"Those are so adorable, now let’s get those decorations!" Rachel said as she raced off with Laura and Kitty.

"Two each Rachel! Not including you!" Melinda shouted.

"You should hang this one no, no, no, how about this one, nah that won’t match either!" Rachel said, looking the poster samples as Laura and Kitty browsed through the dolls.

"This one is so cute," Kitty said, pointing at a ponyta.

"Hey look Kitty, you should get these, you never know." Laura said with a wink as she showed her two necklaces, it was like a yin-yang necklace but black was nidoran male and white was nidoran female. Laura took them apart then put them back together.

"It says on the tag that these symbolize everlasting friendships with bright futures ahead of them. Of course these represent a boyfriend and girlfriend relationship like the boy wears the nidoran male and the girl wears the female. It also says that they ‘evolve’, like when the relationship grows stronger, the pendant shifts into the pokemon’s next stage. When both reach their highest form, the bond is impossible to break and ensures a promising marriage." Laura said, reading the tag at the end of the two silver chains. "It’s called the Love Bond really,"

"Why do you think I’ll want that?" Kitty asked.

"You might find someone in that school you know?" Laura said with a second wink, almost instantly Kitty blushed, but she quickly changed the subject.

"I found this," Kitty said, holding up two golden necklaces this time, both were connected like the nidorans, but it was an actual yin-yang pendant with one black that said ‘best’ and the other white said ‘friends’ in small text, while at the bottom ‘forever’ was split. "How about it?"

"Awesome, let’s see if your aunt’s done yet." Laura said as she and Kitty walked out of the isle to each receive a poster.

"Here you go," Rachel announced. They unrolled them; Laura received caterpies reading books on Shakespeare with the title ‘Book Worms’ at the bottom and Kitty a disco persian with an arcanine in what looked like a tuxedo.

"These are great-" Laura began, but Rachel had already snatched away the posters and necklaces and the register was now ringing them up.

"Now let’s go get Melinda!" Rachel said as she hurried the two over with their new stuff to the big pile where Melinda sat on their stuff.

"We’re going to have to find the men Rachel, why don’t we stay here while Laura and Kitty go to the Game Corner and fetch them?" Melinda suggested.

"Are you mad, this is a city we’re talking about, they don’t know we’re their going-" Rachel said, but Melinda had released Roxanne.

"But Roxanne knows, we’ll stay here and keep an eye on the stuff, you go and find your dads and bring them back all right. Roxanne, keep them out of trouble and lead them to the Game Corner." Melinda ordered, Roxanne nodded and they hurried down the stairs.

They were halfway down before Kitty bumped into someone and before she landed on the ground, a pair of hands grabbed her arm.

"So sorry about that-Kitty! Well I’ll be!" It was Shawn, and shocking enough, Akira was next to him, making Kitty turn pink slightly.

"It’s all right, are you already done shopping?" Kitty asked, Laura and Roxanne stood down the stairs from her, starring up at them curiously.

"Yeah, but we had to fetch all the girls. Is that golduck yours?" Akira asked, glancing over at Roxanne.

"It’s Laura’s mother’s, we have to go to the Game Corner and get our dads." Kitty answered, and with that the two beamed.

"Too much stuff huh?" Shawn asked.

"Is it that obvious?" Laura asked.

"Trust me, once we get up there we’re going to have to carry things the size of wailords, if we help you it’ll be enough of an excuse not to carry any of theirs." Akira explained. "So we’ll help you if you don’t mind."

"That would be great, thanks." Kitty and Laura replied at the same time as they all hurried back up the stairs.

"This all?" Shawn asked sarcastically as they came back, Rachel and Melinda noticed and sweat-dropped. But the girls from Quest Island had about five bags per girl, Shawn and Akira happily swung around the items and hid themselves.

"We’re going to have to walk as there is no way we’ll fit on your bus now." Rachel said glumly, "But that’s what pokemon are for,"

"They’re helping Aunt Rachel," Kitty said quickly.

"Oh! All right, grab a few bags and let’s go." Rachel exclaimed.

"Don’t you think it would be easier taking the elevator?" Laura asked as they threw bags over their shoulder.

"Honey, if you want to get on the elevator we’ll be waiting for the next century." Rachel replied as she than led on happily with the rest following.

It wasn’t till long that they reached the entrance of the store that they were panting, sweating, and entirely not up to the journey to the Game Corner.

"I shouldn’t have let them go! If I knew you would buy them so much clothes I wouldn’t have even let them out of my sight, at least we had most of the money." Melinda said as they dropped the stuff up against the wall. Roxanne, who was practically dehydrated, fell back exhausted onto a few bags of clothes. Akira and Shawn looked at one another, than at Laura and Kitty.

"Most of this is clothes?" Shawn asked, they both pointed at Rachel, and instantly, they understood.

"You two have already bought your things?" Rachel asked, looking at the boys. They both nodded and said that they had gone shopping for clothes about two weeks ago with their parents, so they only needed the books, gloves, etc.

"Fancy timing, but I guess someone will have to go and get the dads and someone else stays and guards the stuff, we can’t have people stealing hundreds of yen worth of school supplies now can we?" Rachel asked, turning towards the group.

"We’ll leave you two here, you guys have the pokemon." Laura said quickly.

"All right, do you two know where the Game Corner is?" Melinda asked, Akira shook his head, but Shawn nodded. "Would you go with Kitty and Laura to get their dads there please? If you-"

"No problem, we’ll be back before you know it." Shawn said as he waved off with Kitty, Laura, and Akira following in pursuit. It was true that it would be much busier around noon as the streets were alive with people of many shapes and sizes, including pokemon. But Shawn seemed to maneuver around the place as if he was born here, of course, he had been to Sevii since he was eleven and had to have gone to Celadon for supplied every year, so he must have been used it by now.

"You’re sure you know where you’re going?" Laura asked, she wasn’t nervous but unsure of the street choices as it began to grow much darker as they turned corners.

"I’m just picking out short cuts, me and my buddies from school used them to get away from the parents." Shawn said as he pushed a trash can aside and began walking to the right, the three followed closely.

"What’re you doing here brats?" It was a chilly voice that made a shudder goes down Kitty’s spine, it was so high-pitched, but you could tell it was male because there was a low tone to it. But it wasn’t till Shawn’s vibrant green hair lowered; she saw his face grow dim and sinister.

"We’re just taking some short cuts, we won’t bother you." He said, strange, he said that his friends and him went down these short cuts, but he never mentioned any other people. The man in front of them seemed to be in his late twenties with a spiky black haircut and black attire that included a bold red ‘R’ on the torso. He had a black mask over his eyes, but only revealed his brown irises. He sneered.

"Bother me? You disturbed me, that is similar to bothering me is it not? So you have lied," the man said in a ‘matter-of-fact’ kind of tone, it already annoyed Kitty. It seemed to have done the same thing to Shawn and Laura, but Akira alone remained unaffected.

"Why don’t you make this easy for the both of us and let us pass through and we won’t come back again." Akira reasoned with a firm stoic expression, Kitty instantly admired his nobility.

"Sorry Pretty Boy, but orders are orders and I can’t let you leave this place alive." The man said, Shawn tensed up and Laura gasped. Akira though placed a hand on Shawn’ left shoulder to help him calm down, it worked like a charm.

"And why not? You coming back again and forming your HQ somewhere around here? Team Rocket Grunt?" Akira asked, adding extra sarcasm to the word ‘grunt’, it ticked the agent off enough to distract him slightly, that was when Akira let go of Shawn’s shoulder and the boy launched at the man. He put his right fist into sharp contact with his gut, sending him into the wall to his right. When the man fell clutching his stomach mumbling curses Shawn turned to them.

"Let’s go!" Shawn shouted as almost instantly Laura ran for it. "C’mon!"

"We must go Kitten, he might have already called reinforcements, you don’t want to be here when they arrive." Akira said as he grasped her left forearm and dragged her off at a fast pace after Laura, Shawn taking up the rear.

"Why in the world is Team Rocket here Akira?" Shawn asked, Akira seemed angry at the moment, the worst emotion Kitty ever wanted to see on him. She was glad though, that he didn’t make his grip on her any tighter.

"How should I know? You’re the one that has been taking these short cuts since first year!" Akira shouted back.

"Yeah I know! But they’ve never been here before!" Shawn replied.

"Who’s Team Rocket?" Kitty asked, looking up at Akira, they were nearing the end of the alleyway as light began to grow.

"You really are out of fashion aren’t you huh?" Shawn asked sarcastically. Akira ignored the comment.

"Team Rocket is an evil organization that uses pokemon in experiments and so on, they steal and destroy, those are their only main objectives. Someone witnesses them, they’re killed or captured and forced to work for them." Akira explained.

"That’s terrible, but no one can be that evil," Kitty stated.

"Dad! What are you doing? Who are they?" Kitty asked as she ran up to her dad, Laura did the same, Shawn and Akira were right behind them. Jack and Carson turned towards them.

"Didn’t I already tell you? It’s Team Rocket," Shawn said, eyeing the man and woman dressed in the same black clothes the former agent was wearing. The female though was wearing a skirt up to her thigh and had longer gloves. These two were wearing hats though; the other agent must have had too much hair. Shawn brought his right hand to his belt and unsnapped a poke’ball Kitty wasn’t aware he had. But then again, he was at a pokemon school for a while; it would be obvious that he would have some pokemon.

Jake and Carson already had a pokemon out each, Rascal and Surf were already baring some damage, but it seemed that the Rockets’ arbok and gloom were wearing out much faster. But Shawn intervened anyway.

"They called reinforcements! Look!" Shawn shouted, pointing over behind the two agents. There were five more running towards them. "Go! Fistshocker! Use Flash!" Kitty and Laura blinked in awe as an electabuzz appeared, and it willfully obeyed its master’s command. Its two antennas sparked and with one blast, shot a blast of white light upon them.

"RUN FOR IT!" It was Jake, he grabbed Kitty and Akira while Carson took care of Laura, Shawn and Fistshocker were right behind them, the flash would take a few moments to fade.

It wasn’t till they arrived at the department wiped out (they had to run around buildings because the short cuts weren’t safe) that they all collapsed against the wall, both Melinda and Rachel stared at them as if they lost their minds.

"That was a nice Flash, you trained your pokemon well son," Jake complimented as he stood up without the help of the wall, Shawn nodded thankfully and returned Fistshocker saying ‘Great job’.

"What happened?" Melinda asked. While they talked, they completely ignored the kids, while Shawn heaved himself up and soon after helping Laura as well, he turned to Akira and Kitty and instantly started laughing, but the adults were too deep in conversation to heed.

Akira had landed on top of Kitty, who was now blushing as brightly red as a tomato. He himself only flushed slightly before getting himself up, he too was panting. He eventually leaned down and offered his hand to Kitty.

"Oh Akira where have you been? And why are you…?" It was Rika, and instantly Shawn stopped laughing and Laura silently gasped. Akira was frozen in his position just when she came up when Kitty grasped his hand. Rika though, fumed. "You’re that little girl on the bus, I thought I told you to mind your own business."

"Business? What business? What are you talking about Miss Rika?" Akira asked as he pulled Kitty up. Rika growled, Shawn held in his laughter, knowing how clueless his best friend was about the situation, yet he was wise enough to stay out of it. He would need his limbs to save Kitty later from Rika’s wrath.

"Never mind, but why are you helping her and where have you been? Miss Lexington has planned to leave soon." Rika stated.

"Shawn and I volunteered to help Kitten Osokana and Laura Wood, that is not too much trouble to you I presume." Akira answered, Rika possibly thought about something soothing because she wasn’t fuming as she was before, but instantly she smiled and commented on how nice he was being. It made Kitty wonder what was with the change of heart.

"Well, we can’t waste anymore time let’s hurry." Rika said grasping his hand, it made Kitty’s hair stand on end, her cat features appeared, Laura backed away slightly, so did Shawn.

"Whoa girl, cool the fire, what’s wrong with you?" Kitty calmed down.

"Oh sorry, what did I do?" Kitty asked, making both Laura and Shawn sweat-drop.

"All right, I’ll see you at school Kitten, good bye." Akira said as Rika led him away, Shawn sighed and turned to the girls.

"Gotta go as well, try and keep out of trouble ‘kay and I’ll see you at school." Shawn said before running off after them.

"So, what was that about hm?" Laura asked with a playful smirk.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about." Kitty replied innocently.

"You like him huh? You were going all frantic while he called you ‘Kitten’, I am liking what I am seeing." Laura said.

"But I don’t get it," Kitty replied.

"Don’t worry about it, it’s more fun if we think about pokemon first." Laura stated.

"Over what?"

"Never mind,"

"All right kids, let’s hurry, I want to report this to the police." Carson called over. It must have taken over three hours or so it seemed to just get to the police station, which was only next door to the department. Well, maybe it didn’t take that long, but it did take long enough for them to see the Quest bus leaving, and Rika, who was in the window smirked at Kitty as it drove by.

"She’s not going to be fun." Laura said, noticing the smirk and staring at the bus as it drove out of view. "But I bet she’s miserable, poor Akira and Shawn, must be stuffed in there like baggage since the students bought so much."

"Kitty and Luara will come in with us, we saw them after all. You two stay out here and watch over the stuff." Carson said, Melinda and Rachel nodded and Laura, Kitty, and Jake followed Carson inside. "Excuse me! I have a report!" It wasn’t at all crowded here, which surprised them all. They couldn’t have been the only ones encountered by Team Rocket could they? The city was full of people, but then they may just be picking on the loners.

"Yes, what is it sir?" It was Officer Jenny, they had one on their island as well, it amazed Kitty how far the Jenny line went with so many look-alikes, and it was scary.

"We spotted some Team Rocket individuals south of here near the Game Corner," Carson said.

"And in the alley ways." Laura added.

"You’re not serious! The last time we had a problem with them was at least eight years ago; I can’t possibly imagine why they would be back. Especially since Ash broke them up that long ago," Officer Jenny said.

"Ash? That sounds familiar," Laura repeated.

"Of course, he was the last League Champion, but he went into hiding as soon as he was announced champion so no one else could challenge him and become the next champion, that’s why the leagues only go so far in battling, there’s no one to battle for the title. Fortunately most trainers just battle for the fun and experience of it, so when Ash returns, they’ll be ready." Jake explained, Officer Jenny just then finished writing the report and smiled.

"Thank you for your time, we’ll see what we can do about it." Officer Jenny said, but with how major everyone seemed to take it, Kitty thought she could have sounded at least a bit more urgent.

"That was fast," Melinda stated as the foursome came out.

"Yeah, we weren’t interviewed or anything, just who, what, and where and that was all she seemed to need." Jake said.

"Is it possible that you four wouldn’t be the first to come by them here then?" Rachel asked, they shrugged.

"We asked, but that might be why she asked no more questions, but she was surprised." Carson replied.

"That doesn’t make any sense," Melinda retorted.

"All well, let’s get going."

"How do you suppose we’ll do that? We are in Celadon, and we need to be in Vermilion by tomorrow morning or we’ll miss the ferry." Rachel asked. Jake seemed to have expected as he instantly announced his idea.

"Release the pokemon!" They did so, but it was obvious for what they were going to have them do.

"Left! Left! Left, right left!" Jake and Carson cried out happily as they each (including the pokemon) carried at least one bag each. Even Laura and Kitty were forced to carry them, but night was coming fast and they were no where within miles into the next town or city.

"We’ll have to camp out here." Jake announced.

"But we have to get to the ferry by tomorrow morning!" Laura and Melinda exclaimed.

"Do you suggest that we walk all night?" Carson asked, they both gave him a ‘what-do-you-think?’ look, he turned around quickly and began to briskly walk on with the pokemon behind him following unflaggingly.

Evening set upon them with a blanket of darkness lit by millions of stars and the moon quarter above them. Nocturnal pokemon went into action as the daytime pokemon went into hiding. Kitty looked around frantically as she apparently heard a hoothoot.

"Don’t worry Kitty, with all these pokemon out no wild ones would dare come near." Jake said reassuringly.

"Unless they’re mad," Carson pointed out.

"Angry or psychotic?" Laura asked.

"Erm…both." That was real reassuring, but both men seemed to feel confident so the women followed closely, the pokemon grew bored, but they all grew tired and weary. It must have been around midnight that they finally gave up and thought it would be better if they caught the noon ferry.

"Man…and I was looking forward to getting my pokemon sooner," Kitty whined as they put their stuff in a pile and Rachel (who somehow managed to get camping supplies without them realizing it from Celadon) got out the camping gear. Immediately all the humans and pokemon went to work, all of them slow as they were tired.

"At least you’ll get it sometime, but let’s hurry and set up camp." Jake replied. They worked quickly, resulting in poorly managed tents. They didn’t bother making a fire as the returned their pokemon and climbed into their tents. The Woods going in one, the Osokanas in the other.

"Sure beats riding in a crowded bus eh?" Jake said tiredly as he shifted in his bed. Kitty thought that they were possibly already on the Wave Cutter for Quest Island, she remembered Rika smirking at her and somehow, it made her sick. She never paid so much attention to people like that before, but now it bothered her badly.

But it will all be gone by tomorrow…I hope…