[center][h2][u][b]Pokemon Day-Care - Route 117[/b][/u][/h2][/center][quote]"Did you get a good look at him?"
	"Um," she began, a quiver in her voice. "Skinny, brown hair, pale, average height?"
	"Any distinguishing features?"
	"No...I was knocked over." Her voice grew frustrated, frightened.
	"I understand. I apologize, Mrs. James," he said with a shallow bow. "Are you sure you don't want to go to the clinic? I can have an escort ready."
	"Yes, I'm fine," she said with a sigh, falling slowly into a nearby chair.
	"You don't mind if I stay to make sure you're okay? Make sure they don't come back?"
	She nodded her head. Like a response, someone entered and called for the day-care lady by name. "Female," he thought, anticipating the thieves to return at any moment. His head snapped to the right in the direction of the entrance. "Excuse me."
	His heavy feet pounded in a march down the narrow and brief hall. He shot out from behind the receptionist desk and almost too close to the girl. "Are you Ms. Haven that went after the thieves?" he commanded an answer more than asked a question. "If not, I'm afriad," he continued with no sense of fear, "you must leave the premises as this is an active crime scene."
	From one "Forrest" and into another. But this one was shorter, stockier. Scars painted interesting designs across his body. Stories. War stories. Accidents.
	He held an air of authority. Clearly from the Rangers. Despite this, he only wore training fatigues like most Area Rangers. His large boots, black leather, came up mid-calf. Between the top of these and the bottom of his shorts, barely mid-thigh, was sunned skin and wiry hair. A darkened pink line ran horizontally over his right knee. A few circles of scar tissue dotted his left thigh. The top of his shorts held in a tight tank top, revealing the pronounced crevasses of his torso. Much of his right shoulder was discolored. His right forearm showed gashes scarred-over and ppale. The wiry hair followed from his legs to his chest and arms. His nose had clearly been broken in the past. Stubble spread from his chin to the sides of his head. The top not quite short enough to accurately be classified as "stubble." His eyes were steel, a pale gray holding no warmth or softness. His chin pointed straight to the floor and the sides of his jaw wide and rounded. His ears could have been considered "large" but fit his misshapen nose enough to be features of the same person.
	"Sergeant Broadson," a newly famiiar voice pounded from behind Haven. "How did you get stuck investigating this?"
	"I was nearby Mr. Johnson," he said, his gae not leaving the girl before him.
	"Leave her alone," he said with a chuckle. "She's been through enough." He paused, his large hand suddenly on the girl's shoulder. How could someone so large walk so quietly? "I'll tell you what I saw and show you were the criminals are."[/quote]

[center][h2][u][b]Mauville City[/b][/u][/h2][/center][quote]Her rounded paw contacted an orb of metal. A light, red and dull, illuminated above her. She released a stead stream of electricity. A light of an equally dull green blinked just beside her. A distant "click" sounded beyond her, through the numerous metal panels surrounding her position. It was a shift in the generator, levers had switched back, a deafening experience any closer than she was currently. A yellow light flickered steadily and she released her output of electricity.
	"Looks good, you two. Come on back," a voice reverberated through the tunnels and against the walls from the intercom system. "We've gotta head to Mauville."
	Levers slammed and cables reacted. Doors and gates responded in time. She appreciated her Trainer always being a step ahead.
	Her paws caught each rung of the narrow and story-long ladder built specifically for someone of a diminutive size. It was convenient, for the space available for the Heart of Hoenn was diminutive by comparison.
	She took every rung thoughtfully, unlike her brother. She touched the pad of her left paw in a tentativeness of uncertainty despite having climbed the ladder countless times in her life. The iron grate floor under her couldn't be too secure, ever cautious of her surroundings and with lasting concern for her trainer and party mates.

	The sun was too bright for a moment. Despite the many lights in New Mauville, the intensity of the sun's illumination was always awing. She rose a paw to shield her eyes until they adjusted more completely.
	She enjoyed the walk to Mauville Proper, shave for the few times her brother touched her to take some of her elecricity, which always made her jump with a large spark due to the level of discomfort it produced.
	"The Southeastern Quadrant has been experiencing power surges and outages for the past day. Sounds like our friends are back."
	Her trainer was handsome, at least to her. She always felt like a daughter to the man more than a companion, a party member. Of course, a trainer of his caliber, the relation between the Pokemon and Trainer was infinitely more powerful than simply one's training. 
	That was her opinion, at least. She always felt strongest when she could physically feel her trainer's energy for her, for the battle, for the excitement, for the care and emotions he held for them.
	She hopped onto Manectric's head. The walk to Vauville wasn't long, but she enjoyed the protection he offered against her brother. His attention would, at least, be on Manectric and not her. The hound would snap his faw at the rodent, usually his ears. Her brother would then default to playing "let's see how close I can get." Manectric's enthusiasm for the game always lacked any kind of shared amusement. But she could tell how he enjoyed it, however calmly.
	"Okay, let me get a diagnostics report and then we'll head out."[/quote]

[center][h2][u][b]Lilycove City[/b][/u][/h2][/center][quote]A low bass pounded through the harbor. Foreigners and business professionals were flushed from the ship and onto the docks. A constant hum, the overwhelming murmur of countless simultaneous conversations filled the city-streets. A Sealeo and Sheal turned acrobats performed stunts to passers-by for some kind of income between Coordination Events. Street vendors rang bells and called through projectors. It was chaos, comfortable and used to itself. Everyone walked in every direction with an unconscious fluidity only birth in cities such as these.
	"Oh, Unova, huh?" the receptionst asked with a heightened sense of entusiasm. "I spent some time in Castellia for an internship. Certainly a completely different atmosphere compared to just Lilycove, here," she continued as she gathered some maps from under the counter. "But, yes: quite crowded."
	Her fingers flicked through some papers. "This one's the map of the city," she said, extending the appropriate pamphlet forward. Her fingers caught an edge with a skilled deftness to spread it open.
	"We're here," she explained, pointing to a red dot on the northwestern portion. "You might consider making it to the PokeStation to get these maps and more programmed into your device."
	She couldn't remember the Unovan equivalent to the Hoennese Gauntlet and didn't seem concerned if the young man had such a device. Regardless, she moved on from her passing suggestion.
	"The second floor, here," she said, gesturing to the current location," will have the supplies you seek."
	Her smile looked rehearsed, practiced. Given her occupation, this wasn't surprising.
	"And this is Lilycove, here," she said. "However, finding serious trainers might be difficult despite the population," she admitted. "Nothing [i]too[/i] serious, anyway." She placed a finger just above a far-west corner of the main continental landmass.
	Her finger then traced a path west and then slightly south. It now pointed to an island mountain in a bay. "Mr. MacKenzie can show you how the Pokemon League in Hoenn works. Here, on Mt. Pyre." She tapped her finger twice for emphasis. It then slid back east, past Lilycove, and over a long stretch of water.
	"Directly east is the island of Mossdeep. Mr. Percival, his brother, would be more than willing to do so, as well."
	Over the map appeared another brochure. This one listed times and locations. "And these are the Ferry schedules if you need them. You've missed the one to Mossdeep," she explained, having thumbed to its place in the charts. "You'll need to be quick to catch the Ferry to Mt. Pyre from Route 121, though."
	The time for that ferry was an hour and a half from now, proving the scale of the Region and the map with this small gesture. She, then, folded everything back up neatly for the foreigner to collect them.
	"Have a great time," she started as a farewell. "And welcome to Hoenn."[/quote]

[center][h2][u][b]Slateport City[/b][/u][/h2][/center][quote]Puddles over pavement rippled and splashed with feet like organized Magikarp pacing through the city. The storm from the day before had passed, leaving the sun free to glimmer back from those puddles. Moisture filled the air, the heat slowly evaporating the wetness away. The air was heavy but smelled fresh, cleansed of dryness and dust. By the end of the day, that dryness would fill the air. For now, patrons enjoyed the temporarily-cooled heat from the sun.
	The appropriately-named Slate Port was being visited by the city's Gym Leader, Admiral Pauline Chilikov. She, along with a team of architects, were baptizing a vessel to be added to the Admiral's already-sizable fleet. The Steel Serpent would be the largest and most heavily-armed ship once it proved seaworthy. Incoming cruisers would be postponed for the event. At least they'd have the unique opportunity to view the ceremony from the sea. The docks and narrow shores along the eastern edge of the city were flooded with people, when, just the day before, it was flooded with storm water.
	Admiral Chilikov's voice projected with surprising clarity, even to those upon the S.S. Libra, the usual ceremonial speech for all new vessels: protecting Hoenn's people; protecting Hoenn's Pokemon; and, more importantly, the environment in which people and Pokemon lived. There was a list of energy-efficient features experimental and still in testing phases, just barely passing the tests allowing it to be used for transport of living beings.
	The vessel slowly drifted northward as to allow the S.S. Libra to dock. The crowd surrounding the port didn't dissipate quickly, however. Passengers would be unloaded into the dense crowds. However, the general sense of manners would allow easy enough passage through.
	Slateport Marketplace, as a whole, was holding a sale and festival for the day. The more intellectual individuals made their way to the Center of Marine Biology where admittance was free for the day. The Naval Base was holding presentations related to the Pokemon Rangers and all duties related to their positions. Recruits were signed up, the most in one day for a very long time.[/quote]