High and Dry, Second Stop: Zephyr City

[Shadow Slayer]

"Well then, let's head on back if you really want to!" The woman said, and she pulled down on the lever, lifting the balloon back in the air. You were headed slowly through the air back to the starting point of the trip.

The sky was partially filled with clouds today and the sun was shining brightly down on Zephyr City. The wind wasn't blowing too hard, but it was there, and shivers went down your spine when you felt it. It was very cold up here!

It was taking a little while to reach your destination. You flew past the academy once more, and could see little people down below either walking happily to the Zapdos Dorms, or running at top speed to the Articuno Academic Building for class.

You then passed over the gym once more, but this time you didn't see the gym leader or a challenger present. You weren't sure who had won the battle either.

You passed over the pokemon center you had visited in town once more, and could easily recognize the red roofed building out of all of the other buildings you've seen in town so far. You then passed by another group of small brown houses that you had partially visited the night before, meeting this woman here, and also watching as your Flanoche evolved from Fladia after stealing your royal pendant.

You finally saw the open field where the other balloons existed, and with a quick descent from the air, you landed safely in the field. The woman hopped out of the balloon, with her Drifloon and Drifblim floating next to her, and offered you a hand to get out.

You climbed out of the purple balloon with the brown basket, and watched as a couple of other workers tied the balloon down so that it would not fly away or fall over from the wind. You wondered if they had ever had that problem before.

The woman smiled at you and said, "So, what did you think of the trip? Great huh?"

[Seiji]

It was a good thing that he had a fleece hoodie on at that moment, but Seiji could still feel the breeze hit his neck. It caused a shiver alright, especially since he wasn't used to being at a height like this. The trip back was rather quiet, but it gave him a moment to look down at the gym grounds, but it was empty now. I wonder who won.

The sights of everyone just walking around to their individual destinations was really different from up there, but he could see why the pilot seemed so enthusiastic over her job. Even landing the balloon was just clockwork. All in all, he didn't feel any sort of hesitation or fear during most of the trip, with the obvious exemption was the battle with that Pidgeotto.

"Yes, it was great. It really helped me get a handle on the city, now I have a lot of options on where to go. Thanks again." He was also keeping an eye out to see if that person who was looking to catch a Pidgeotto before he left on his tour. Probably not likely, but at least he had an idea on what he looked like.

[Shadow Slayer]

The woman waved goodbye to you, and you saw around you that the other two balloons from before were missing. There were also different people around, you could see an older man with his young daughter, a girl and a guy who looked like they went to the academy, and a little girl who looked lost. The person who wanted the Pidgeotto didn't seem to be around.

What would you do?

[Seiji]

"Hmm... guess they're elsewhere." It wasn't surprising, it wasn't like people just stayed at the same place every time and every day. But more then anything, he was just happy to be on solid ground again. Though, as he stretched his legs , Seiji looked up to see a girl looking lost, and most likely needing help. "Excuse me, are you looking for someone?" He asked, after walking over towards her.

[Shadow Slayer]

"Y-Yes..." The little girl said to you, looking incredibly nervous. She shook a little, and then looked up at you saying, "My big brother and his friends went on the balloon ride a couple of minutes ago. I was too scared to go, so i'm waiting here. Its k-kind of cold." She said, and shivered again.

Huh. =P

[Seiji]

And they just left her behind? Seiji listened to the little girl, but he had to feel sorry for her. It's not right of a sibling to leave them behind, especially for a whole hour. "Well, if you want, I could take you back to your home, or wait and make sure nothing happens?"

[Shadow Slayer]

"Oh, no, I'll be ok mister. I have my Eevee with me!" She said, and opened up a pokeball, which revealed a level 11 female Eevee. The normal type pokemon shivered a bit, but then jumped into her owner's arms. "I'm fine waiting, I need to make sure they come home too! Mom told me to!"

[Seiji]

"Well... ok, if you're sure you're fine." Who was he to judge, it wasn't like that was his sister or anything. Besides, with the Eevee that she had, something came back to Seiji's mind. "Well, I should go then. Try to stay warm."

As he was leaving, he released not only his Eevee, but Flanoche as well, and pulled out an Ice stone from his bag. "Ok Eevee, I thought a lot on this one, and I decided that I'd like for you to be a Glaceon. I've got a lot of decent physical attacking Pokemon, but after that trip I took, I realized that I needed one that could really use some special moves as well.

Eevee nodded like he understood, and tapped the stone with his paw once Seiji placed it on the ground before him. Flanoche however... "Ok you, I saw the gym while I was on that tour, so I figured that since it's a flying gym, it might be for the best if you get a chance to battle there. But, I'm going to have to start you on some special training for it." Reaching into his bag once again, he pulled out the training weights that he had been carrying, and placed them before Flanoche. "Your training, involves battling while carrying those." Flanoche just looked at the weights, then looked at Seiji like he was insane. "No, seriously, I have a plan here, this should work."

[Shadow Slayer]

Flanoche still gave you the "you're insane!" look, but lifted up the training weights with his feet, and you could see that he was having a tough time holding them up. He began to flap his wings and move around the area you were currently flying in, but you saw that he was moving slower than normal. That must have been the cost of using these training weights...

Eevee touched the ice stone with its paw, and suddenly the stone began to glow, causing Eevee to glow. The stone's energy zapped itself into Eevee's body, and Eevee began to change shape and form. It grew a foot and a half taller, got a little heavier, and its tail became longer as well. Its two ears grew a little longer as well, and a separate pair of "ears" hung down from the pokemon's head, which had a bulge on it (otherwise known as a sherpa).

The light disappeared, and before you stood a new pokemon; colored icy blue instead of brown, and had a dark patch on its tail, back and on the sherpa. The Glaceon blinked, and then looked at you, wondering what was next.

What would you do now?

[Seiji]

Oh yeah, Flanoche's skepticism was still there, but at least he gave it a shot. Granted, he was flying much slower them before, but Seiji had hunch on that happening. Glaceon though, at least he looked anxious to start whatever Seiji had in mind for him. "Flanoche, you should try to get used to that slow speed, Glaceon, let's look for a battle or two for you."

[Shadow Slayer]

The big black bird began flying around in the air with the training weights at hand, or feet, attempting to get used to how they felt. You watched as he began descending in the air but forcing himself by flapping his wings as hard as he could.

Glaceon spotted a Snubbull, level 12 and female, eating out of a nearby trash can. When she was done, she kicked the trash can away into an alley, which scared away a couple of rattata. The normal type pokemon then looked over at you, and growled, wanting to battle.