"There's no hurry really..." Sayuri wasn't sure what he meant and therefore stayed silent about it. It was probably related to what she saw earlier, how Naomi didn't seem herself... "I'm okay, thanks. Chikorita seems a bit curious though."

She was still wandering when she bumped into something. Something big and dark... As she looked up to see what it was, the thing spoke making her jump into the air of fear. "Chiko!" She was about to use an attack to defend herself when the Gengar vanished as quickly as it came. She curiously continued to look around for the strange shadow.

Going back to the conversation of Naomi, Sayuri continued. "Yeah... I'm kind of worried, too... She doesn't seem like herself..." She'd missed the part about how both Saffron and Celadon were big cities since that conversation came from upstairs. Sayuri was too polite to follow them. "I thought it was because of her losing the gym position, but it seems like a lot more than just that now..."

Hunter shook his head. He knew what was up with his sister; that didn't mean he still wasn't worried.

"It's not about her job at the Gym," he replied. "I can guarantee that." He sat down and looked at her. "Listen... Remember, when we said our parents worked on type-affinity research? And we had to come home to help with it?" He paused to let that sink in a bit. "Well, their research paid off. Naomi and I were identified as having the potential for it, and things... happened. Things were done. I really don't mind, myself, since it just helped me understand my Pokemon a bit better, but I also work with Steel-types. Naomi... well, you know she works with Psychic-types. And getting an affinity to them... It kind of changed something in her head, somewhere."

He had no idea why he was telling Sayuri this now, but it felt right to at least explain why Naomi was acting strange. "She hears things. Voices, words, thoughts... It's bad, here in the city, because there are so many people..." He trailed off. "It's part of the reason she worked at the Gym. The place has like these kind of ward things, it keeps everything out. At least, according to Sabrina. But Naomi says things are getting worse, and you said you're going to keep moving around... It'll be good for her to get out of the city for a while, I think." Hunter was uncharacteristically serious as he explained, exuding a kind of solid strength similar to that of the Steel-types he trained.

Sayrui wasn't sure she completely understood what happened, but nodded as he spoke. "I sort of remember you saying something about the project... Been a while, though." The thought kind of scared her. Though...

"So you're saying Naomi obtained Psychic powers from it? Like she can read other people's minds or something? Or just hear random voices?" She was trying to put it into words she could understand and hoped her theory was right. This whole thing was a bit frightening, but also sounded a bit cool. Made her think... If she, herself, was raising just Ghost Types and was exposed to this program, would she see spirits afterward? Or did it work that way? Sayuri didn't feel confident enough to ask that as she moved on to what was said next.

"So the gym helped I guess... Though why she'd have to get away? Part of training or something?" Her thought was... Maybe Naomi had to be out in the world to train her mind from hearing all the voices... To her is sounded possible, but at the same time... It would take time to get used to that... "If that's the case, maybe we should start somewhere less busy... Celadon could make it worse for her if she doesn't take it slowly... One step at a time..."

"I don't know the full extent of it all," Hunter admitted. "Like I said, I've got a flair for Steel-types, they're not known to be flashy. But I know my sister, and she's been different since it all happened." He glanced over to the stairs. "And she says that it's getting worse, which is why I want to get her out of the city." He shook his head. "You shouldn't skip Celadon, though. If we have to, we can camp out on Route 7 while you're in the city. We each already have the Rainbow Badge, so it's alright." He paused when he heard Naomi coming down the stairs. He looked at her, but didn't need to say anything.

"I'm alright now," she said softly. She set her bag down next to her brother's, and brushed her fingertips over the six pokeballs on her belt. The only one of her pokemon that she figured Sayuri didn't know about was her Metagross. Aside from Medicham, Metagross was her only new addition from before. "We can leave whenever." She knew Hunter had told Sayuri about what was going on; it was still at the top of his thoughts and she couldn't help but hear it, although she tried to block it all out.

Sayuri listened to what was being said and continued to nod, not really understanding the full story, but figured there had to be more to it. She'd probably have to go through such a thing to truly understand what happened to make sense of it all. "Must be hard on her then... Like a curse or something..." It seemed that way. Being able to do psychic things probably had a price to pay.

She noticed Naomi's footsteps coming down the stairs and looked in that direction, keeping quiet now about it now, not knowing she'd heard it all. "I suppose camping out on Route 7 could be okay. I wouldn't mind doing that either, rather than stay at home. Gets a bit boring there..." She paused as she remembered her house, dark, quiet, no one home much... "Of course I'll still need my things, but I can grab those either before heading for the gym the following morning." She hoped the gym battle wouldn't take very long... "Or on the way out after the gym before heading toward the next location. No rush for those." Sayuri was hoping to make it easier for Naomi since she'd only have to be in the city hopefully for a few hours in the morning.

Naomi knew why Sayuri was saying what she said, although she couldn't help it. Sayuri was thinking rather loudly, Naomi couldn't really miss it.

"Don't worry about me," she said. "You do what you need to in Celadon, it's alright. We'll tag along with you." She'd survived this long in Saffron, a couple of days in Celadon couldn't be too much worse... "And at least you don't have a Gengar at home waiting to freak you out," she added, trying to tease a little.

Hunter glanced at his sister, silently wondering if she was really feeling as good as she was acting. Naomi looked back at him and gave him a little smile. Yes, she was alright, at least for now.

"Okay... If you say so..." She wanted to try to get this one over with as quickly as possible anyway. She'd had her chance to battle Erika before, living in that town, but by that time she was pretty much ready for Johto. Had she waited a day...

Oh well. That was in the past. This was now. Maybe, being older and wiser, she could learn a thing or two about perfume from Erika as well. She had wanted to learn since the following year, but she was always so... Shy she figured. Erika seemed to be as well, always drawing back...

Sayuri picked up her curious Chikorita as she was sniffing the couch and placed her on top of her head again then stood up, putting her backpack on again after having taken it off. "Okay. Ready when you are. Your Gengar's kind of creepy..." She had to admit that...

Hunter couldn't hold back a laugh at that.

"He's Mom's," he said. "She and that Gengar have been together for ages. Kind of like Dad and his Blaziken."

"It was the idea of having such a long-lasting partnership that sparked the affinity research," Naomi added. She bent down to pick up her Espeon just as the pokemon walked over to them. Espeon purred softly and nuzzled her, and Naomi scratched behind the psychic-type's ears.

"We're ready when you are," Hunter said. He picked up his bag by the door, and let Naomi get hers. "You shouldn't have much trouble with Erika... She uses a Vileplume, a Tangela..." He trailed off.

"And a Victreebel, I think," Naomi supplied. "At least, that's what she had when we battled her. She may have changed her line since then."

"But flying-types, ice-types, and fire-types will be best against her," Hunter added.

"So I guess I'll have to use Takaitouhi again, provided that he's ready for another gym battle so soon. He always seems eager to battle anyone so maybe..." Her Pidgeot was pretty strong, but also slightly stubborn. He'd refused battles before so she'd need a back up just in case... Her Vulpix was somewhat eager for battle, so maybe she'd start with her... Sayuri would have to think about that one.

"I'm guessing your mother had him since he was a Gastly right? Or Haunter... Those are also wild." She wasn't sure what a Blaziken was, but figured it had to be some kind of fire Pokemon from another region.

"Not sure if I said this already, but your Espeon's so cute! It must have taken a while for your Eevee to evolve." She still didn't have one... They were hard to come by.

"A psychic-type would take out the Victreebel and the Vileplume easily enough," Naomi supplied. It was how she'd won her own battle with Erika. "They're both part poison. And Blaziken is the final evolution of Torchic, it's one of the standard starter pokemon from Hoenn. The other two from that region are Treeko and Mudkip. And there's an Eevee breeder in Celadon, if you want to go find him." She was answering Sayuri's thoughts as she heard them, without really even realizing it. She walked with her friend and her brother out the door. Route 7 wasn't that far away, and it was a very short route. Celadon and Saffron were close neighbors.

"Eh... Thanks for the information..." Sayuri was astonished that Naomi could do something like that, even if it caused harm as well... "So Eevee breeder... Why didn't I know of that? I live there!" She was getting slightly worked up again. Was she really that dense or was it a new thing? She wasn't sure. Though... A year ago, she wouldn't have paid much attention to those kinds of things anyway so maybe this breeder was around even then. That was before she found out about the grass evolution, too...

Sayuri shrugged it off as she put her boots back on before following the twins out the door. It seemed customary to remove them anywhere she went so it was a habit for her to follow those customs. Two quick zips and they were back on. She'd debated on laced up boots, but figured she'd be removing them often and that would be a pain. So she made the right choice choosing these.

"It only took me around ten minutes or so to get from Celadon to here when I first started. But I was also running... While walking it should only take around twenty..." She going by whatever speed she had back then. She'd timed it herself as she was running to catch the train before she missed it. Wasn't intended, but in this case it seemed helpful.

"Our parents bought this one from the Eevee breeder," Naomi said, cuddling Espeon a bit. "It's the only place to get them in Kanto, Eevees aren't know to be found in the wild anymore. I think there's a breeder in Johto, too... In Goldenrod or something." She had realized she was listening to Sayuri's thoughts, and was trying to tune them out. She knew it was rude to listen in, and she was trying not to.

"Celadon isn't far," Hunter agreed. "Fifteen minutes, tops. It won't take long to get there." He and Naomi had taken a few trips out to the other city for supplies and such, so he knew how long it would take. "And we all have someone who knows Fly, so that'll make it even faster. You can follow us there."

"Or beat you there. Takaitouhi's pretty fast at flying when he wants to." She was thinking by this time he was rested enough for the trip. "Though, being only fifteen minutes away maybe it's easier to walk. Not very far. Big enough for large flying Pokemon to land on, but kind of pointless to only go that far when it's perfect walking distance..." The exercise could be good for them, too she thought. She was also thinking it could be hard on Naomi's mind, too, but wasn't too worried about that... Tried not to be anyway.

Sayuri turned to her. "I've heard of that breeder. The one in Goldenrod. Thought about going there before coming here since it was on the way to the train station, but by the time I got to the city, the train was ready to leave and it would have taken an hour for the next one. It was already getting dark outside by then..." She didn't like walking alone in a big city at nightfall. Scared her...

Naomi grinned.

"Don't make that challenge," she teased, "Xatu knows Teleport. We can get there in less than five seconds." It felt good to joke with someone again, someone who wasn't Hunter. Hunter had become a bit timid in his joking with Naomi, never certain when he would cross the line. "She can't take more than one at a time, though."

"Don't ever agree," Hunter warned, although he was grinning too. "It's weirder than the teleport things in the Gym. It's like pins and needles all over and gives you chills up your spine."

"That doesn't sound good..." She was getting chills just thinking about it. The teleport pads had been bad enough. Though she was nervous then, too so that probably didn't help much.

She turned to Naomi then. "I'd forgotten about your Psychic bird Pokemon. I'm going to bet by this time, since it evolved, her head is about the size of her previous form..." She wasn't certain about that as she'd only seen pictures of them together. It'd be funny if she was right. Her challenge had been blown over by that fact, but she still thought walking would be best. "Teleport will come in handy later on when we need it, but I don't think it's necessary for only a few minutes of walking..." More than a few, really, but it would also be relaxing... Maybe...

"If we ever have a real battle, you may see her," Naomi said. "I tend to type-match a lot, so Xatu would be my first choice against a Grass-type." Reaching over, she gave her brother a playful shove. "And Teleport isn't that bad, just a little tingly."

"You also don't feel the teleport pads in the Gym anymore," Hunter pointed out.

"Point," Naomi admitted. She was so used to it that it didn't bother her.

"Anyways, let's head on out," Hunter said. They were approaching the gate to Route 7 by this point.

"Ready when you are," Naomi said, adjusting her bag on her shoulder and brushing her fingertips over her pokeballs.

Sayuri wasn't sure if the gate was open or closed as the thought occurred to her. It was open back then she thought... Or was it? She was running so fast she forgot to check... She might have been sent back, and forced to use the underpass. She had a feeling when she got to Route 8, however, she had sneaked her way past the guard on the other side. So really she'd passed by the gym on the way to the train station without giving any thought to battle it. Her cousin had been smarter she guessed, knowing what to do to get passed... The guards were always thirsty and she forgot what to do at the time... She was rushing... That was probably why!

"I'm starting to learn to choose by type, but usually I like to rely on skill." Also having Pokemon that learned other types' attacks helped, too she thought...

That was a good point with the pads as Hunter was saying. She'd felt them, but maybe having worked in a gym, Naomi was more used to them, having to move from one room to another, she figured.

Sayuri saved the trouble of the twins going first as she rushed through the gate. No one tried to stop her so she deemed it safe to cross. Then again the guard had been bent down from his desk seeming to pick something up off the ground...

"I think it's a combination of type-matching and skills that works best," Naomi admitted. "All of our pokemon know off-type moves, which helps." Some of their pokemon knew more diverse moves than others, but even the ones like Espeon and Lairon knew unusual moves.

Hunter snorted.

"Yeah, you don't really expect something like a Steelix to know Dragon Pulse," he said. "Or a Medicham to know Bullet Punch." He grinned. "Not a bad move, by the way. Very fitting for a pokemon that fast." Naomi rolled her eyes. She knew as well as he did that they 'traded' types every so often, and they both overlapped in Metagross, regardless. But aside from that, two of her pokemon knew a Steel-type move, although none of his were capable of learning Psychic-type moves.

As they walked through the gatehouse, Naomi managed to pick up a stray thought from the guard. She would have disregarded it, but it sounded kind of interesting. She went over to him, pulling a spare bottle of water from her bag and handing it to him.

"Here," she said. "You look like you could use it." She paused for a moment, and then, "Did you find anything interesting?"

Sayuri sweat dropped at the simple action Naomi took to get by and made her way back toward them. She was embarrassed...

She soon shook that off and responded to what she heard said prior to that.
"Some of my Pokemon know off-type moves, too. Even though we're still working on perfecting them..." They'd only just been taught and were taking some time to learn how to use them. Something to get used to she guessed...

"I should work on those before they're used in a gym battle. I should be okay with this upcoming battle, but for later I might need them..." She was thinking for the Fuchsia City Gym as they used Poison Types. And the final two after that one.

The guard thanked her for the drink and placed it on the shelf under the counter for later. "Something interesting?" He wasn't sure about that. "Saw a boy with blue hair come this way recently looking over-confident, but not much else." He hadn't noticed what the boy was holding in his left hand as he crossed, but like Naomi, he'd also handed the guard a drink for later.

"No, I mean, I noticed you picked something up," Naomi replied with a bit of a sheepish grin. "Was it anything interesting?" She knew that the best way to get the guards to say anything was to act interested, and she liked chatting with them, anyways. Hardly anyone ever stopped just to chat with them. Hunter stopped to wait for his sister. He knew she liked to chat with the guards, and even he knew that it might be a good thing to be on their good sides later on at some point. It never hurt to be nice to them. He made a mental note to bring them something better than water next time they passed through the gatehouse.

"Oh this?" He placed an empty bottle from earlier on the counter. "Just missed the recycling bin. Was trying to get in without leaving my post just in case someone were to come by, but I missed. Guess this isn't the place to be playing games..." It was sort of silly to him having to do that, but sometimes on the job he'd get bored... They all would at some point and probably did the same thing. "Sorry it's not something more exciting."

What the guard said had made Sayuri nearly burst into giggles. The way he told the story made it seem like a lot of fun. She did the same thing at home herself. But with paper balls. Studying was always a pain and since she had to use pen, she made a lot of mistakes.

"That boy did drop something however." The guard picked up something by the handle from behind the counter and soon passed over the case it was attached to. "Why it's pink is beyond me..." He shrugged as he released the handle.

On the case in big, green letters was the name SAYURI.

Sayuri had calmed down her giggling and became curious about the case.

Hunter looked at the case curiously.

"What is it?" he asked Sayuri. He and Naomi rarely used suitcases or anything, since they only usually carried a couple of days' worth of clothes with them when they were on the road, so he had no idea why Ruben would have left a pink suitcase behind with Sayuri's name on it.

"That's strange," Naomi said. "Did you forget that somewhere and he left it here for you?" She also didn't understand why anyone would carry around a suitcase, but anything was possible.

She wasn't sure where it came from, but it had her name on it... The writing was familiar enough, but whose... "My aunt in Johto! Ruben said he was going to visit her the last time I saw him in Ecruteak City." She was going for the badge there and he came out of the building, having just won his. "She must have sent this with him to give to me when he left Johto. But with me being so quick, he couldn't catch up in time, therefore had to carry it with him to Goldenrod to catch the train after mine. But how did he conceal it all the way from Blackthorn City to Goldenrod?" If he did... A boy carrying around a pink suitcase would seem pretty odd to anyone...

Hunter shrugged.

"I have no idea," he said. "Maybe he had it inside another bag or something?" It kind of made sense to him. If Ruben had kept the suitcase in a plain bag, nobody would realize he was carrying a girly pink suitcase.

"Or he has someone who knows Fly," Naomi pointed out. "It wouldn't take long to get from Blackthorn to Goldenrod by way of Fly, would it?" She didn't claim to know everything about Johto, they hadn't spent enough time there for her to really know the geography of the region. She was much more familiar with Kanto, and knew most of the region very well. The only areas she didn't know as well were Mount Silver and Victory Road. She had never been further east than Viridian City.

"Fly... I suppose he could have used Fly to get places quickly." Though another thought came to her. When did he obtain the bag... He had to have obtained it sooner than the Blackthorn Gym as their aunt lived in Cianwood... And without getting to the places first it would be pretty hard to fly there. Though maybe he found a way... She wasn't sure.

Sayuri was pondering so much she forgot to thank the guy for holding onto it for her. She noticed his nod then and figured he should get back to work... She made her way to the other end again and waited for her friends to follow. It was a short distance, but somehow Sayuri felt pumped and ready to go. She also missed her home a bit, too...