Growing by Lileeps and Bounds

[wrongway]

"I think we should return to town. It's up to you what we do next after that. We could climb the mountain as we originally intended, or we could go see that gym leader."
Cecil was a bit distracted; he kept wondering whether he had made a mistake in dealing with the woman. As they walked away from her back out of the tunnels, he suddenly realized they hadn't even asked for her name.

He responded to Shannon's questions. "Yes, my Pokemon are both reanimated from excavated fossils. I believe the fossil Valter came from might have come from this very area, now that I think about it. Imagine, millions of years ago, Pokemon such as mine might have been commonplace around here. Now, only probably a small handful even exist, the species revived from the dead in laboratories. We know almost nothing about them."

[balian]

We can climb the mountain if you want that would be cool, but since we are going to town first lets at least talk to the gym leader. Who knows what she can tell us about it or anything else going on around here. Shannon stops speaking and a silence hangs briefly.

Sorry that lady went so crazy about your friends. But I think the fossil thing is pretty cool. How many types of fossils are their? Do you want to find more and 'reanimate' them too? Do all of them come from rocks? How does it even happen? Which one of them might be from around here?  How do....
Once she was able to initially bring it up, her questions come in rapid fire, fast enough for even her to not to remember all of them. 

[wrongway]

"I really don't know much of anything about the process. I was only brought in after the Pokemon were already revived. I know there are a number of known species of extinct Pokemon that have already been successfully brought back in laboratories, but I couldn't tell you the exact number; more are discovered periodically. I think most of the ones discovered tended to live around the same time period; maybe fossils from that era are better preserved for some reason. Because of that, though, I wouldn't mind taking in another fossil Pokemon or two; I would be curious to see how they would interact with each other."

Cecil did wish he knew more about his Pokemon, but honestly, he probably knew as much as anyone he had ever met, at least; the fact was that it was difficult to study Pokemon like this. Also, he knew that there was no way of knowing how this modern world interfered with their development. It's possible the Pokemon revived from fossils today acted nothing like those of the same species millions of years in the past.

[balian]

Well, I think its pretty cool whichever way they interacted in the past. And maybe one day if you visit that island they might know something that would be useful. Who knows, Shannon says as the party continues walking towards Cerulean.

Wow, Cecil said he didn't know a whole lot, but he seems real smart, Shannon thinks to herself; glad im traveling with such a smart person.

[Micah]

You guys make it back to town. The trip is a lot easier going this direction than it was getting to Mt. Moon. When you arrive back in town it only takes a few minutes to locate the gym and step inside. The large building seems to be almost entirely swimming pool, with a number of board walks crossing one part of the pool, leading up to a chair where a girl a bit younger than Shannon, with bright red hair is sitting, looking out over the pool and at a few battles that are going on in the water. Behind the girl their is a large area that looks like a water based arena. Along the maze of ramps are various trainers, some dressed for swimming, others less so. To your right their is a small desk, with a young woman behind it who says, "Welcome to the Cerulean Gym. Are you interested in battling, swimming lessons, watching some of our water shows or perhaps challenging for the badge?"

[wrongway]

Cecil was impressed by the design of the gym. It seemed like the perfect place for water battles between trainers. If he was right about the way his Pokemon enjoyed the battles they were in before, it might be good to get in on something here. At least this way, the battles would be more controlled; he really did not want to see either of them get hurt. Really, he would be happier if they had no interest in it at all, but he wanted to support them if they did.

He looked to Shannon. She was the one who really wanted to come see the gym leader, so he would let her decide what to do first.

[balian]

(sorry, in the middle of a cross country drive by myself. I can post for continued conversations, but not on my computer till Tuesday; so might as well wait till then to do the battle cause my phone can't do the dice rolling.)

Amazed at the size of the gym, Shannon's body jumps at the receptionists words, but she quickly recovers and replies, Um, what? Oh yea, we were hoping to speak to the gym leader about the area and how we could help out people and stuff. Maybe she will have any ideas about how to do that. We are pretty new here. And our pokemon could enjoy some time in this amazing water it that's alright.
And, well, she continues while scanning the gym again, a battle would probably be a good idea, at least for me. I'm new to battling and going up against someone with so much knowledge would probably be a good thing. Maybe if I win I could challenge for the badge if we have time to stay in town.

Then looking to Cecil, Do you think that about covers it?

[Micah]

"It doesn't look like the gym leader is currently engaged in a challenge so feel free to approach her with questions. She only accepts challenges from those who have proven themselves at another gym or have shown her their skill in some other way, so you probably won't get to battle Misty, but their are plenty of other great water trainers in the gym that would be happy to battle after you finish talking to Misty. As for using the pool, as long as you stay out of the way of battles you are free to use it, and there is another pool that in which battle is not allowed, in the basement if you want more room."

[wrongway]

Cecil was interested in how Shannon would do here. He was still a bit uneasy about battling, but he was thinking if there was space, he would let his Pokemon out to watch her battle. First, though, they wanted to talk to the leader, so after approaching her, Cecil introduced himself.
"Hi. My name is Cecil, and this is Shannon. This might sound like a strange request, but we are interested in helping others. We're still new to this area, so is there anything you can tell us about it that would be helpful to know?"

[Micah]

As the pair of you walk along the board walks to the gym leader, you see her turn to look at you. Her gaze is very sharp, one of those that makes you feel like the person gazing is analyzing you for weaknesses. When you reach her and speak however she softens a bit before returning to deadly seriousness. "If you are interested in helping out, there is something that you might be able to do. Several days ago, a scientist disappeared while searching the hedge maze for a new type of pokemon that one trainer had reported seeing in the maze. Yesterday, two trainers entered the hedge maze to look for the scientist. I sent my starmie with these trainers to help them out. Neither the trainers, the starmie or the scientist have made it back to town."

[balian]

(End of no internet and mega traveling, again sorry)

Excited by the opportunity to do something and help people, and possibly not adding up all of the dangerous aspects hinted at, Shannon replys with rapid speach saying "we'll bring them all back and maybe even find the pokemon the scientist is looking for to boot. Cecil is really smart and me and my team are real good in the wild." As she speaks she points at her thumb at Cecil then folds her arms in a non chalant but in control of her situation manner.

[Micah]

"Excellent," says Misty and she gives you the descriptions of the two trainers along with the scientist.

[balian]

"You wouldn't happen.to have an item of any of the three or your starmie that my growlithe could get a scent with? It might end up being useful, you never know."

[wrongway]

This whole exchange was making Cecil a bit nervous, but Shannon seemed really excited, and if there was a chance they could help, it wasn't like he could turn his back, either. He hoped they were all OK.

[Micah]

Misty grabs one of the pokeballs on her belt and says, "This is Starmie's pokeball, if you want to bring your Growlith out to sniff it, please feel free."