The air about Petalburg Woods was oddly calming, yet it had a slight eeriness to it as the sun light shone through the thick canopy to cast dancing shadows everywhere the eyes landed. Many Pokémon watched us pass, most of which were seemingly bug types but it wouldn't surprise me if their were many grass type Pokémon in this environment also.

Miku was riding around on Pie through the tall grass and beds of flowers, the young Manaphy and Mudkip were seemingly having a good time, if it weren't for Champ interrupting them here as there, scolding the two for wondering off too far, going too fast or drifting to close to the dens of wild Pokémon. Samurai found his behaviour quite amusing, since it was normally his job to watch out for the members of my team but I did note how he always watched Champ for signs of aggression since it was obvious that when my Meditite became frustrated, he could become somewhat aggressive.

Riley was questioning Gardenia about telepathy, apparently interested in catching a Ralts of his own as they were easy Pokémon to catch and loyal to raise. I could agree as I'd raised two myself. I doubted I'd ever forget the day Samurai and Gardenia hatched, gaining the two as close friends had brought so much joy to my life, even when within Team Plasma's castle, I could always rely on them to make me feel both safe and happy.

Jake and Milly were joining in here and there on the conversation with Gardenia and Riley, trying to get to know the aspiring trainer while explaining to him what they knew about telepathy since it could be very confusing to learn. It came naturally to me now, since I'd been using it for years and since I was young but for someone like Riley, the feat would be harder.

My eyes surveyed the area, pausing momentarily when I realised two of my team were missing. :Gummie, Angel! Where are you guys?: I paused momentarily, waiting for a response. Frowning slightly when they didn't reply, I again tried to call them. :Gummie! Angel! Come here please: After again receiving no reply, I ran to catch up with Samurai. :Samurai, I can't find Gummie or Angel:

For a moment, Samurai was silent, observing the surrounding forest before he sighed slightly. ~I'll go look for them, you stay with the group, okay?~

I nodded, starting to worry about the wellbeing of my Pokémon. What if something bad had happened? Team Plasma used to steal Pokémon what if there were people here in Hoenn who--

~Boo!~

I yelped loudly as something grabbed me from behind, practically leaping into Samurai's arms as I whipped around to see what had scared me, only to see Gummie with Angel sitting of her head, both giggling their heads off. The others in the group had stopped to see what the commotion was as I figured out what went on, no doubt Gummie and Angel simply hid further up the path in wait for me to pass, only to scare me when I did wonder pass their hiding place.

:What was that for?: I scolded. :I was worried something bad had happened to you both: I scolded, looking between them both with a hard expression. :You both know that when I call you, you need to come. What if something bad happened and I didn't know because you didn't reply?:

Gummie and Angel both hung their heads guiltily. ~We're sorry Paige, we just meant to surprise you, we didn't mean to scare you.~

Shaking my head slightly, I brought them both into a hug, switching my hard expression to one much softer. :It's okay, just please don't do that to me again. If I call you, please respond, okay? I thought someone bad had taken you or something:

~Eon.~ My Sylveon nodded, followed by Gummie.

~We promise Paige, we really are sorry...~ Gummie explained as she nuzzled my chest.

I smiled at my Pokémon. It was impossible to stay mad at them and they didn't mean any harm, they were just playing after all. :Come on, lets go:

"Everything okay Paige?" Jake asked as I caught up.

Smiling brightly at my friend, I nodded.

Samurai came up behind me, resting a hand on my shoulder. ~Everything's fine now, simply a misunderstanding.~

My friend nodded. "Right. Let's go then." Jake shrugged it off, most likely knowing better then to ask for a play-by-play of my telepathic conversations I have with my Pokémon.

Everything seemingly went back to peaceful serenity of silence soon after, until a close by argument broke the quite like a hammer through glass. "Just give me the papers!"

"B-b-but I'll loose my job! I simply cannot allow such information to fall into the hands of a sleazy lowlife such as yourself!" The squeaky reply came as we reached the spot of the argument.

A woman in the Team Aqua get up had a much older old man backed up against a tree, clutching a brief case close to his chest. The Team Aqua member had her hands on her hips, her face reddening in anger but it was hard to tell if it was the same grunt who we'd run into in Petalburg City.

Samurai stepped in front of me, motioning for me to stay behind him as Riley stepped forward, clearly angry with the grunt. "What do you think you're doing!?" He growled, his Tailow squawking unsurely from his head.

The grunt turned to face us, making me hide further behind my Gallade, fearing provoking her to attack us.

"Scram kids, this has nothing to do with you. Run along now." She snarled, glaring at Riley.

Jake bit his lower lip, clearly wanting to stand up to the member of Team Aqua but since he'd agreed with Samurai not to get involved unless they directly threatened him, Milly or myself, he couldn't.

"Help me!" The scientist cried out, attempting to edge away from the grunt but stopped after she pulled a Pokéball from her belt, releasing a small, canine like Pokémon from inside.

"Poochyena, use Bite and clear out these children." The grunt growled.

"Lolo, use tackle!" Riley ordered as his Tailow fluttered from his head.

The battle ended fairly quickly with Riley easily being able to take down the Poochyena and defeat the grunt. She returned her injured Pokémon, retreating into the forest with a defeated growl. "You may have beat me now, but you won't stop us from stealing our prize in Rustboro City!" With that she was gone.

"Well that was strangely sudden..." Milly mused, coming up to my side as I stepped out from behind my Pokémon. "Are you alright Paige?"

I nodded, hugging myself slightly as I looked around and counted off my Pokémon, feeling relieved when I found all of them quite close to me.

Jake wrapped his arm around my shoulders, giving me a one-armed hug. "It's over now." He promised, smiling softly.

Riley seemed quite confused as to why I was being fussed over but probably decided against questioning it since he simply urged up to follow him through the forest, Milly had other ideas as she approached the scientist.

"Are you okay?" She questioned, green eyes gleaming with worry.

He nodded. "Y-yeah, thanks for that." Despite the fact that the danger was gone, he still hugged hid briefcase. "I would of gotten into so much trouble had I lost this."

Milly nodded. "Okay, we can take you with us to Rustboro City if you like." She offered.

"No thank you, I still have work to do... but I feel I own you four." He searched his pockets, pulling out a dull yellow rock, in somewhat of the shape of a crown. "This is all I have on me."

Riley took the strange stone, examining it carefully. "It's a King's Rock, right?"

The scientist nodded in reply. "Right, certain Pokémon evolve with it's assistance, like Slowpoke into Slowking." He explained. "Thank you children again for your help, but I really must be going."

We nodded in reply, heading on our own way through the forest and towards Rustboro City, hoping that there wouldn't be any more delays in our travels.

~🌺~

Riley split from us as soon as we exited the forest, claiming he wanted to train a bit more before challenging the Rustboro gym. He thanked us for our help getting through the forest and promised that one day he would be strong enough to take me on in a battle, but for now, he knew he had a long way to go.

"I'm going to the gym right away." Jake beamed, turning on his heal to face us. "Either of you girls coming to watch?"

"Paige and I are going to explore." Milly smiled. "Rustboro City has the best jewellery is the region since Roxan is such a fan of her rocks and I'm really hoping to find something that would go with my contest outfit."

I nodded agreeably as Jake sighed. "Fine, just don't get lost, Rustboro is a large city and I don't want either of you getting lost."

"Okie dokie." Milly replied with a goofy smile, stealing a page from on of my books - so to speak.

~If it is alright with you Paige, I would like to watch Jake's battle.~ Samurai spoke, looking down at me with his crimson eyes. ~I would also like to take Champ and show him how in a battle, trainer and Pokémon must work together.~

Champ looked up at Samurai in confusion but didn't argue the point.

:It's okay with me, you boys have fun: I smiled. :and Champ, listen to Samurai, okay?:

My shiny Meditite only grumbled in response but I chose to see that as a yes.

Waving off my Pokémon, I linked arms with Milly and we went on our way to explore the city. It was quite large, the buildings held an old, yet modern look to them. It was astounding really, though still not as cool as Jake's home being built on the ocean.

Together, we did a bit of exploring through the quaint little town, trying to find a store that would sell the right kind of accessories for our contests but with little luck. Milly had let out her Mudkip for some fresh air and bonding which was working since Pie was sitting on her head. Miku was sitting happy a top my head also, trying to poke Pie with her antennae when she got close enough.

The tranquility of the air was snapped with a shout somewhere ahead of us, hardly audible from our distance but something along the lines of - "Give me back my peanut!" Though I couldn't figure out why someone would be yelling so loudly over a simple peanut... maybe I misheard to part.

I looked over at Milly for answers, unsure as what to do. She nodded in the direction, before running towards that sound. "Come on Paige, let's see what's going on." The brunette didn't even see if I was following.

Biting my lip, hesitated before I followed, a sickening feeling churning in my chest but I didn't want to seperate from Milly so I soon chased after her, checking off my four Pokémon before I did. I took Miku off my head and into my arms so she wouldn't fall off and get left behind by accident.

It took a minute and a few choice turns before I managed to catch up with Milly, who was consoling a man in tears. "They took my Peeko." Well... it makes more sense then a peanut. "As a trainer, you have to get my Peeko back!" He demanded, looking up pleadingly between Milly and I.

Milly bit her tongue, seemingly unsure as what to do. "I'll do what I can mister, but I can't get involved with Team Aqua, okay?" She glanced over at me with a worried expression.

The man nodded, jumping to his feet. "It's this way!" He explained, leading us out of the city and down a nearby route.

Lush trees hid a sheer cliffside and the area seemed lacking of any wild Pokémon, giving me an unsettled feeling as I followed behind Milly and the man, again counting off my team to make sure I still had the four remaining members. Gardenia took my side, holding my hand tightly. We were lead to a cave which protruded ominously from the cliff but the man didn't pause, dragging Milly into the cave, stabbing his spare finger towards two Team Aqua Grunts who were arguing in front of a rocky barricade with a timid little Wingull cornered behind them. It's wing lay at an awkward angel, explaining why it didn't just fly away. "There, they took my Peeko! Make them give her back!" He pleaded.

The Seagull Pokémon let out a pitiful squawk, fluttering her wings uselessly when she saw her trainer. Milly was slightly taken aback, looking unsure what to do to avoid the conflict with Team Aqua as I hid behind Gardenia to avoid being seen maybe since Samurai wasn't here they wouldn't recognise me. Gummie and Angel flew in front of Gardenia, ready to protect me in they were needed.

Miku pulled out her chainsaw and before anyone could move, she charged in on the Team Aqua grunts, swinging her weapon wildly around above her head as she did so. ~Miku kawaaaaaaaiiiiiiii!~ She squealed happily as the grunts squealed, fleeing for their lives as the kawaii little Pokémon ran at the with the ginormous weapon. The little Manaphy then snorted, tucking the chainsaw only Reshiram knows where and cuddling Peeko close. ~Miku save the birdie!~

The Wingull seemed quite uncomfortable with Miku's constant petting and hugging and even more so when she picked up Pie and attempted to seemingly try to play Cupid with the two. ~Time for kissy kissy.~

"Miku! You can't do that!" Milly interrupted, taking the obviously uncomfortable Peeko from my Manaphy and handing her to the old man. "Peeko isn't our Pokémon."

~Oh...~ Miku cocked her head to the side, looking down as Pie who was struggling in her grasp before her face lit up. ~Heeey Angel!~

My Sylveon's eyes widened in either shock or surprise but regardless she leapt onto Gummie's head to avoid Miku and her shipping frenzy. ~Eon.~ She pouted, flicking her head in a distasteful manor. I'm not going to lie, because lying is wrong, Pie seemed the slightest bit disappointed by Angel's refusal to be apart of Miku's shipping frenzy.

Miku stuck out her bottom lip in a pout. ~Who be kissy kissy with Pie then?~

"No one Miku." Milly lightly scolded. "Pie is my Pokémon and he's still too young to get a girlfriend."

:And you're too young to be play matchmaker: I smiled as I picked her up, tickling her tummy playfully in atte,put to cheer her up.

~Aww.~ Miku attempted to pout more but soon lost herself in a fit of giggles.

The old man cradling his injured Pokémon stepped forward. "Thank you so much for getting me back my little Peeko, I'm Mr. Briney, is there anything I can do to repay you both?"

Milly simply smiled. "Well we do need a lift to Dewford City tomorrow."

"Consider it done. Just come by my shack whenever you're ready and I ferry you across free of charge." The man beamed.

~Gull!~ Peeko chirped, snuggling down in her friend's arms.

"Thank you, we'll see you tomorrow." Milly nodded as the three of left the cave and headed back to the city.

"Hey Paige?" My green eyed friend questioned.

I looked up at her, waiting for her to continue.

Milly once again linked arms with me, smiling as she did. "Why don't we just head back to the Pokémon Centre for now? I think I've had enough excitement for one day.

I nodded agreeably.

~~~~~~🌺~~~~~~
Word count: 2667

All done~! Took me a while to get it to a point I was happy with and even now I'm kind... ehh...? But I'm not sure if I'll be able to get another chapter of anymore books out until the Christmas Holidays. Maybe more of 'Star Struck' but I'm not too sure at this point.

I'm looking forward to the next chapter though. Finally get to introduce Zyra!

Anyway, you know the drill, remember to vote, comment and of course keep on reading on!