[h3]Meanwhile...[/h3]
[center][h1]Petalburg City[/h1][/center]

	A soft breeze blew through Petalburg City, ushering in the coming of a beautiful day. Theo sat upon a blanket at the edge of one of Petalburg City's lakes. The crystal clear waters, soft whispering of the wind, and the gentle warmth of the rising sun all made him feel like falling back asleep. When he yawned his Jigglypuff, Melody, shifted from her comfortable position on his lap to stare up at him. Theo looked down and saw himself reflected in her big green eyes then smiled. [color=B95DF0]"Oh don't worry, I'm not too tired to practice-- you'll get to sing this morning as usual,"[/color] he reassured her, [color=B95DF0]"And you too, Harmony."[/color] He watched the Whismur's ears perk up at the sound of his name. Harmony had been lounging on his side, staring toward the lake but, upon hearing his name, he rolled over to face Theo. With a surprised brow raise, Theo asked Harmony, [color=B95DF0]"Have you finished your berries already?"[/color] While Theo knew that Harmony's appetite was large, he hadn't quite expected him to finish off three Pinap berries in under half an hour. As Harmony wiggled his nubby little arms as excited confirmation, Theo began to wonder what exactly the implications were of Harmony's increased appetite. Was Harmony getting close to evolving?
	
	Theo tilted his head to the side as he rested on this question, which didn't last long, due to Melody's sudden moving about. She skittered over to Theo's backpack, which contained the remainder of berries he'd purchased this morning, then pulled another Pinap berry out. While he didn't move to stop Melody from giving the berry to Harmony, Theo still sighed helplessly over the fact. [color=B95DF0]"Well, if you think he needs it,"[/color] Theo said as he got to his feet, [color=B95DF0]"Who am I to stop you?"[/color] Shrugging, Theo gave Melody an approving thumbs up, then moved toward a set of heavy saddlebags. Idly he wondered where their carrier, Nick the Skarmory, had go off to. A thoughtful hum left him as he kneeled down to the bags, most of which contained extra sets of clothing, music supplies, and miscellaneous souvenirs, then began unclipping his instrument case from the lot. Both Melody and Harmony made noises of excitement when Theo began walking toward them with his violin case in hand. Jokingly he told Harmony, [color=B95DF0]"Now now, don't talk with your mouth full."[/color] 

	Truth was, Theo was just as eager as they were. His two favorite things in the world were his Pokemon and music-- he would die for both of them without regrets. He unzipped the padded violin case, then unlatched the inner hardshell case, revealing an old but well taken care of violin. Theo stood up, violin and bow in hand, and immediately began playing a few warm ups. Theo watched Harmony gobble down the rest of his berry, as Melody seemed to urging Harmony to finish. A smile came to his lips as Melody began to warm-up alongside Theo. Harmony wasn't far behind joining in. After a brief moment of making, what seemed to be noise, the three halted abruptly on Theo's mark. He took a moment to take in his surroundings, listening to the distant calls of Bird Pokemon for a moment, feeling at peace. After a long quiet moment passed, he put his bow to the strings, waited a moment more, then counted the three of them in.

	[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUPFtgIlgZQ] First came Melody, singing out in place of a piano lead--[/url] the song chosen from memory. Once Theo got a hold of which song she wanted to start, he joined her on the violin. Harmony joined in soon after, rather cutely beat-boxing in places where percussion should have been, or singing notes to complete a particular harmonic structure. Together they played, standing before the lake in Petalburg City, the music greeting the ears of passerby and Pokemon alike. A few Taillow landed nearby and watched the concert with interest that was, until Nick the Skarmory came speeding across the lake.

	The waters parted as Nick flew just above the surface. With a sharp turn upward, Nick directed himself into the air above Theo, sending the Taillow scattering in the updraft. Heavily, Nick landed in the soft grass before Theo, with a light thunk and rending of the soil. As Nick lifted his head and glance about in a jittery avian manner, Theo played out the final note of the song, arching his brow curiously. Sun gleamed off of Nick's golden polished body with every turn of his head, flutter of his wings, and shift of his posture. [color=B95DF0]"You're anxious, Nick,"[/color] Theo pointed out needlessly as he lowered his violin, [color=B95DF0]"What's the matt--"[/color] An off pattern gleam caught Theo's attention. Clutched in Nick's beak was a cord attached to a small blue metallic device-- a memory chip.

	Holding his hand out toward Nick, Theo beckoned him forward saying, [color=B95DF0]"Who gave that to you?"[/color] Melody and Harmony bounded forward to stand at Nick's feet, chattering anxiously to him as if filled with questions. Without response, Nick lowered his head and deposited the memory device into Theo's hand, then straightened his posture back out. Quietly, Theo turned the memory chip over hin his hand, then stared up at Nick. There had obviously been some urgency in Nick's approach but, that only served to make Theo a little anxious. He knew Nick wasn't one to rush unless something was truly urgent, so all sorts of possibilities rushed through Theo's mind as he turned to retrieve his computer.

	It was times like these when Theo wished he had one of those Trainer Gauntlets. With one of those, he wouldn't have to lug around a laptop computer, and could easily plug things like this into it to read them instantly. Sure, he could probably just walk into a Gym and earn one, but that wasn't exactly something he was keen on doing, no matter how much his Pokemon always urged him. While the three of them wanted to compete-- even Melody who was known for her fearfulness-- Theo wasn't too keen on the idea. Why would he needlessly place his Pokemon in danger? Now, there had been times when, over the course of his wandering, that they were all in danger but, Theo was in danger [i]with[/i] them. Putting them in a Gym and making them fight was different.

	Heavily, Theo sighed as he placed his violin down atop the blanket, then moved to retrieve his laptop from Nick's saddlebags. He was content to keep them from Gyms and engage them in safer activities. Matter of fact, all three of them had won a few contests, and Nick had won a race in the Kanto region. Why they constantly pushed him toward Gyms was a mystery-- wasn't winning in other ways enough? Answerless and confused, Theo opened his laptop up, then plugged the memory chip into it. After a moment of loading, the chip became accessible. [color=B95DF0]"The news?"[/color] Theo mumbled as he opened up a file. The first headline read:

[u][i][center]Mauiville Blackout!
Terrorists Lay Siege to City![/center][/i][/u]

	Startled at the words, Theo moved to sit back on his blanket. He read the report, looked over the pictures of Mauiville City's damage, then shook his head. Melody moved to squeeze herself onto his lap and get a better view. She made a curious noise, looking from Theo's concerned expression and back to the laptop, then poked him several times. [color=B95DF0]"Yesterday Mauiville was attacked,"[/color] Theo told her, [color=B95DF0]"Which means... none of you are getting massages from the Pokemon Reflexology center."[/color] Sighing deeply, Theo moved his glasses out of the way, then pinched the bridge of his nose. He hated when big changes happened to his plans and if the power in Mauiville city was out? Well then obviously all of their services would be canceled until further notice. Then there was the fact that, more than likely, the city itself still wasn't safe-- terrorists? No way was Theo going to put himself so close to danger like that. Sighing, he opened up an E-mail application, then began to type out an apology letter to the Reflexology Center as he canceled his appointment.

	Now what was he supposed to do? Theo closed his laptop then looked up to see Nick staring back down at him. [color=B95DF0]"Well. Up for a trip to Rustboro City? I hear it's nice there at this time of year,"[/color] Theo spoke up. Without a noise in response, Nick leapt toward his saddlebags, landing lightly, then began to lift them into place upon his back. Harmony squeked and wiggled toward Theo, begging his trainer to pick him up. Melody, being the responsible one, picked Theo's violin up then went to put it in his case. [color=B95DF0]"Guess that's a yes, then,"[/color] chuckled Theo. After a bit of packing, they would soon be headed to Rustboro to... do what, exactly? While Theo didn't actually know, he also didn't particularly care. More than anything, the journey was the activity itself, and he looked forward to the trip. After all, he'd only just made landing out of Route 105 last night. Hoenn was one of his least explored regions as well, so it was ripe for adventure, as far as Theo was concerned. He couldn't wait to see what adventures he and his Pokemon would have here.