((Six is fine))

Espeon knew he wouldn't be able to get in that close again, and so found a good spot to sit on the floor, watching the Pidgeot intently. Every time the massive flying-type would come close, he would Agility out of the way, until he thought he had the pattern pretty much figured. Concentrating, he sent a Psybeam towards the Pidgeot. It would only do regular damage if it hit, but that was alright. He didn't know anything that would quickly take down a flying-type.

((Works for me :)))

Pidgeot used Fly to dodge the attack at him then sent a strong and fast Ominous Wind toward the Espeon as he flew close to the Pokemon, quickly flying up tossing the purple Pokemon in the air where the wind attack was aimed. All of this was on command of his trainer of course so he obeyed any and all attacks she's tell him to do, no matter how silly or how much they lacked in confidence when said.

The Ominous Wind on the back of a Fly took Espeon by surprise, and he was hit square-on with it. He handed hard on the floor with a solid thump, and Sabrina recalled him. She only had one Pokemon left, since she only used three for official Gym battles. She tossed out her last Pokeball, and a Mr. Mime appeared. It was a relatively rare Pokemon, but Sabrina trained it well and it excelled at Reflect and Light Screen. As soon as it appeared, it put up a Light Screen in front of itself, purely out of habit. It didn't like pain, and did its best not to take any hits.

This was a new one... She hadn't seen very many of these, but figured her Pidgeot's moves could still work against it. The Light Screen could be a problem, but she never knew as her Pidgeot got ready to attack this one.

He was really determined after his first two knockouts, but also knew to be careful of surprises as he braced himself for another combination. He looked back toward his trainer as she had a puzzled look on her face as if she didn't know what to do yet. "Pidgeot!" That woke her up and she commanded some moves. With a quick Agility boost, Pidgeot flew upwards again and sent down a quick and powerful Pursuit toward the Pokemon before bracing for whatever his next command would be.

Mr. Mime quickly put up a Barrier behind the Light Screen, effectively doubling its strength. It held on to the walls for all it was worth, and barely anything got through. The walls shattered, though, and he set to work creating new ones. The Pidgeot was too fast for him, so he would have to stay on the defensive until either the flying-type wore itself out, or he got knocked out by it. Once he had a Light Screen and a Barrier up again, he settled back and readied a Thunderpunch. It never hurt to be prepared, and besides, the Pidgeot seemed to like getting up close and personal with its attacks.

((Sorry for taking so long, I haven't had power for the last two days))

Taking a gamble, Mr. Mime reinforced Barrier and Light Screen, and then started to wave his hands in a Metronome. There was always a chance of it making him use something useless or unhelpful, but it could also give him something like Thunder or Blizzard. He kept up with the Metronome until he could feel an unfamiliar move coming on. Once it had built up to the appropriate power, he let it go. The Explosion attack rocked the floor of the Gym, and when the smoke cleared, Mr. Mime could be seen on the floor, knocked out.

((Was it Irene who caused that or something else? I hear a lot of people are losing power from Irene.))

Pidgeot took some damage from the Explosion, too, but was still flying in the air after having been blown away slightly. "Pidgeot!"

Sayuri on the other hand was amazed as she stared at what happened. Not so much from the Explosion the Metronome caused, but also what she'd finished, having been so doubtful coming into the gym. She had a loss for words as she stood there, her flying Pokemon eying her suspiciously. His first time to witness this... Chikorita was used to it.

((Yeah, it was from Irene))

Sabrina calmly recalled Mr. Mime.

"Well done, trainer," she said. "You have trained your Pokemon well, and have earned your Badge." She reached into one of her pockets, and pulled out a bright, shiny yellow Badge. "I now confer unto you the Marsh Badge." She handed it to Sayuri, and glanced out of the corner of her eye when she sensed Naomi appearing on the teleport pad. She knew her apprentice wanted to see the outcome of the battle. "If I might ask again... you are now planning to move on to another Gym city, correct?" Perhaps by asking the question, she could get Naomi to realize why she was being released from Gym duty.

((Yeah. I figured. Sounded like a bad one from what they were saying on the news.))

Sayuri recalled her Pidgeot as she returned to her senses. "Th-thank you." She was pretty surprised to have beaten the gym on her first try. Though, it was all because of her team switch, she figured. Once the Pokeball was minimized and dropped in her bag, Sayuri placed the badge in the green case she hadn't used in a year. Then nodded her head slightly. "Yeah. I'm planning to go for either the Rainbow or Soul badge next. Whichever city I get to first." The Volcano and Earth badges would have to come later.

Naomi heard the exchange, and as Sabrina thought, she understood and grinned.

"Sabrina, I quit," she called as she went over to her friend. She grinned. "You should head to Celadon City, first," she advised her friend. "Out of anyone, you would have the most in common with Erica."

Sabrina gave her small, mysterious smile as she watched the two. Already, her now-former apprentice seemed brighter, which just further enforced the notion that this was the right move for Naomi to make.

"Kindly take your brother with you when you leave," she interjected. Naomi couldn't help but grin, and opened her mouth to reply, but Sabrina beat her to it. "No, I do not want his Scizor around here any more, so please take them away."

"Scizors are part Bug," Naomi explained as she waved to Sabrina and walked with Sayuri to the teleport pads. "Psychic-types are weak to Bug-types, and Hunter kind of likes freaking out the mediums and psychics around here with Cutter. He managed to get his hands on a TM to teach Cutter Silver Wind, which is kind of like the ultimate Bug move." She didn't mention that Starmie knew Signal Beam, which was also a Bug-type move. She grinned. "You should see his team now... Steelix, Scizor, Magneton...He doesn't have an Aggron yet, but he's working on it. He got a Skarmory and a Piplup since Violet City. Empoleon is Water-Steel, which is good for him to have."

((But... Sayuri DID see the Espeon, she remembered seeing it earlier when she saw Sabrina's.))

Naomi nodded.

"Yeah," she replied. She grinned. "He knows Zap Cannon, which makes him kind of badass. And I figure you saw my Exeggutor and my Medicham earlier..." She didn't immediately offer up any more of her team, although she figured Sayuri would correctly assume she had a Xatu as well. She didn't particularly like thinking about exactly why she had an affinity for psychic-types. Hunter was more likely to explain, if Sayuri asked at all.

Speaking of, Hunter met them near the door of the Gym.

"How did it go?" he asked. He glanced at his sister, "I take it you quit?"

((Heh... :P Fixed!))

Sayuri had a hunch of the other Pokemon in Naomi's party. At least the ones she knew of back then and with the time that passed by chances were that some, if not all, had evolved already. Same with Hunter's team. Hers... It was still being worked on... As far as Naomi knew, Sayuri had her Vulpix, which was relatively new, Pidgeot, somewhat new again but well trained, and Chikorita of course as she was still on her head. Others hadn't been mentioned yet, out loud anyway. "My Pidgeot knows a lot of strong moves, too. Vulpix is still being worked on and Chikorita... She's still shy about battling sometimes... Can't let go of the water sprayed in her face during that first battle and capture in Johto. Those two fight all the time."

Sayuri noticed Hunter standing there, but didn't reply to the question, figuring Naomi would want to herself. Instead, Sayuri was more excited about the next plan. "We're going to Celadon City next."

((lol))

Naomi nodded to her brother.

"Yeah, I quit," she replied. She rolled her eyes. "She knew I was going to, too... I just didn't know I was going to." She stretched.

"Well, if we're headed out on the road again, I think we should stop back home and pack real quick," Hunter said. "Cuz, ya know, I don't know about you, but I want things like clothes and food and stuff." Naomi rolled her eyes and punched her brother in the arm.

"Smartass." She turned to Sayuri. "You're welcome to come with us, if you like," she said. "It shouldn't take long."

Sayuri giggled at the siblings, having missed their closeness and teasing ways. "Sure I'll come. I might need to do a bit of packing myself when we get to Celadon." She didn't mind waiting while they got things. After all things were required sometimes. It helped a lot when the place they came from was right there, though they'd all have to double check just to make sure they got everything. It made things easier anyway.

Ruben was thinking the same thing as he got off the Saffron train and was about to head west when he saw the trio together again. He smirked and figured he'd play a trick on his cousin. Slowly he crept over and placed both hands on Sayuri's shoulders, making her jump. "Still jumpy I see. You don't change much even after a year." He seemed a bit nicer than usual for some reason...

Naomi and Hunter both looked over when someone came up behind Sayuri and startled her. It took them both a couple seconds of glancing from one another to the new arrival before they both realized who it was. They both looked at Ruben and raised an eyebrow.

"Look who it is," Naomi said softly, mostly to her brother.

"Something seems different, though," Hunter replied. "I don't know what it is..."

"No, I see it, too, but still..."

"Well..." He started as he measured himself against each of the twins. "I'm taller than you." He was referring to Naomi in his smartass-like way. "And I'm about as tall as you." He looked at Hunter directly. "This little one... I don't know... You look the same to me. Though..." He gave a slight tug to one of her streaks. "Were you swimming in chlorine at one point?"

Sayuri knew he hadn't changed much, but turned to him anyway, releasing his hand from her hair. "No, I was not swimming in chlorine! This is what happened after your Blastoise knocked Yobirinjiku into me!"

"Well it's not my fault the bell flipped upside down on top of your head. You were using a move not mastered yer and Blastoise just happened to defend himself by knocking it away. You were just standing in the wrong place at the time." There he went with his know-it-all snobbish attitude again...

Sayuri gave him the angry pouty face before turning away, crossing her arms. "What are you even doing here anyway? I thought you weren't returning till the next day."

Ruben didn't get the chance to answer when Chikorita used Sweet Scent in his face.

Naomi and Hunter couldn't hep but snicker when Ruben got hit by the Sweet Scent.

"You kind of deserved that," Hunter said. He barely noticed a bus going by on the street, but he did notice when his sister winced a bit. He knew what that meant. "Anyways, we need to get home and get our things." He glanced at his sister. The momentary wince was gone, but he knew she still wanted to get away from the crowded street. The chance to travel again couldn't have come at a better time. "You're both welcome to come with us, just try not to jump if Sable comes out of nowhere on you."

Sayuri noticed the wince herself, but didn't ask what it was about yet. Didn't want to seem too curious about it as if she were prying.

Chikorita also noticed, but like her trainer said nothing.

Ruben grumbled as he couldn't see for a few seconds from the attack so he missed the wince. Good thing, too 'cause he was one to pry into anything easily. "What did I do to deserve a shower of pink flowers in the face!" He was just being himself when it happened.

Sayuri resisted saying why as he already knew. It was his annoying smart attitude that caused it. No one seemed to get away with teasing Sayuri about anything bad. Not with Chikorita and her Sweat Scent to defend her. Though the thought made Sayuri giggle. He'd be smelling like that for a while which by chance could attract a lot of Pokemon in nearby grass.

"Sure let's go." She wasn't sure who Sable was, but she figured it had to be a Ghost Pokemon of some kind.

"No thanks... I have my own packing to do." With that said he was gone, down the street and through the roadblock building rather than the underpass his cousin took on the first day. He knew she always like taking the long way as he snickered.

Hunter led the way back to their place, keeping an eye on his sister as they went. Occasionally, as they passed a store or a particularly large crowd of people, he could see Naomi hiding a wince or a grimace. That only reinforced his belief that it was past time for them to get out of the city.

Once they got to the house, Naomi dashed by him and ran inside, going right up the stairs. Hunter heard her footsteps going across the floor above them, but he didn't hear her go into her room.

"Make yourself comfortable," he said to Sayuri, a little distracted. "If you see a Gengar, it's my mother's, so don't worry." Turning, he went up the stairs himself, to see what was going on. He already had a pretty good idea. As he got to the top of the stairs, he saw his sister leaning against the wall, her arms around herself tightly enough that she was shaking. "Nao..."

"I can't stay here anymore," Naomi choked out. "I--I can't. It's getting worse, Hunter."

"Which means we need to get you out of the city," Hunter said firmly. He tried to keep his voice low, but sound carried unusually well in the house. "It'll be better once we're out on the road."

"But what about when we go into Celadon? It's just as big as Saffron..."

"We'll figure that out when we get there," Hunter replied. Reaching out, he gently steered Naomi into her room. He could see her eyes focusing and unfocusing as she listened to things he couldn't hear. "Pack. If we have to, we'll camp out outside of Celadon."

"Right," Naomi replied distractedly. Once Hunter was sure she would be alright for a little while, he went and threw some things into his traveling pack and then went back downstairs.

((My old computer was going wonky on me for a few days... Didn't like me and would reset itself anytime I wanted to type... :gonk:
Using a laptop now and still getting used to it after only one day.))

Sayuri walked around the living room for a bit, observing everything in it while she waited for her friends to do their packing. She wasn't sure if Naomi was just eager to get going with her packing or if there was something wrong. Being polite, Sayuri continued to leave the situation alone as she'd noticed her friend was acting a bit odd...

Chikorita had hopped down from the top of Sayuri's head and went to investigate like her trainer. Only she was more curious about what a Gengar was, never having seen one before. "Chiko?"

Sayuri finished her observing soon after her Chikorita disappeared and sat herself down on the couch as she watch her curious little Pokemon looked around. She'd seen a Gengar before, but at that time Chikorita was still in her Pokeball. It was right here in Kanto which was why she couldn't.

As Sayuri sat there she wondered if her cousin really had changed... He seemed a bit nicer than he did in the past, but was he really?

((It's fine, really.))

"She may take a few minutes," Hunter said once he'd gotten back downstairs. "She kind of needs to get her head together." He glanced back up the stairs before setting his pack by the door. "You may as well get comfortable. Want anything? I'm sure we have something snack-like in the kitchen." He saw a black blur out of the corner of his eye and turned. A big, older-looking Gengar had appeared in the room, and was watching them. "Hey, Sable. Nao and I are getting ready to head out for a while."

"Geeeeengar," the Ghost-type replied sagely, in a gravelly-sounding voice. It sounded vaguely like an agreement, so Hunter let his attention wander again. The Gengar vanished a few moments later, having only been there to check in. Every so often, Hunter would look at the stairs again.

"I'm kind of worried about her," he finally admitted softly. He sighed and glanced at Sayuri. "I'm sure you've noticed something's up."