» A Friend in Need is a Friend in Deed [Ajax & Nadia] «

[Rin]

► Ajax nodded. "Okay, Xavier," he said, happy to use whatever name the Litwick wanted. Litwick - the name fit the appearance of the Pokemon well. "Of course!" he responded positively to Xavier's decision to stay with them. The small candle Pokemon hadn't just done them a great favor, he was clever for his idea as well. Despite the stock that Ajax put in strength, he understood that a good strategy and quick wits could easily be more valuable than physical brawn. Meanwhile, Weedy, hearing the friendly chatter around them, opened his eyes and looked around. "Um, hiya! Good to meet you, Xavier! And Cora. I'm so sorry I didn't say anything back in the forest, I was so terrified of all those sca-a-a-ry ghosts!" The Horsea wiggled his snout dramatically. Once he wasn't terrified anymore, the Horsea was quite talkative. The blue seahorse planted a huge smooch on Nyx's metallic crest and then jumped over onto Ajax's head, nestling himself among the red spikes of the Scizor boy's hair. Ajax scowled good naturedly at this - he was gradually becoming more used to Weedy's affectionate nature. "You must be so brave if you grew up there, Xav-xav!" Ajax chuckled - Weedy sure loved his pet names. «

► They walked out of the forest as Weedy chattered away and before them soon stood what Xavier called the Dragon-type area. So this was it, Ajax thought with excitement. As most young boys do, he loved dragons - they were tough, powerful and so cool, and he would be kidding himself if he said he didn't want one on his team. Garchomp, Haxorus and Salamence were his favorites, but the others were pretty cool as well. There had never been a Dragon Pokemorph in the small island kingdom where he had grown up - the had never managed to get their volatile DNA to work with a human's - neither Ajax nor Nyx had ever met anyone, Pokemon or human, affiliated with dragons, and both were eager to meet one in real life. The normally stoic Nyx's eyes shone with eagerness and determination, ready to take on any challenge put out to her or her human. «

► Ajax listened carefully to Xavier's speech on what he knew about the dragon types. "Wow. That sounds awesome," he said with some reverence, looking with awe at the sheer cliffs and caves along the side of the rugged hill. Although, his Pokemon were only around level 20...it would be hard for him to win against a middling-evolution Dragon-type. The easiest thing he could do to show his "strength" would be to break things with his claw, but some part of him wondered if that would be enough. And while both he and Nyx would love a dragon on the team, they didn't want someone who would destructively rampage around. But the challenge would come later - for now, they would have to actually find a dragon. "Should we explore for now?" he asked, pointing to the hill and practically bouncing on his heels to race up there and get a closer look at it. Nyx nodded in agreement, flying up into the air and doing a small loop-de-loop to show her enthusiasm. Even Weedy was leaning forward, interested to see what lay ahead. «

[Shiny]

"Xavier... that's a nice name," Nadia commented. She wasn't entirely sure what to say to the ghost type, but she did feel bad when he said his tricks weren't very good. And she felt good at the same time. Perhaps she should tell him that - it might make him feel better... right? "I... I'm usually really scared of ghosts - I mean, you saw, I'm scared of them. But you helped us, and I really hope this wasn't all some elaborate kind of trick. I think you're great at escaping, and, to be honest... I am too."

Rafe looked up at her as she finished speaking, then turned to the litwick. "That's a lot, coming from her. Trust me."

"Rafe!" Nadia yelped and blushed, but it was true. She was usually far too intimidated to speak to pokemon, let alone ghost types. Perhaps this journey was already doing her some good, even though she had only just started. She then turned to face Ajax, his pokemon chattering a mile a minute. Clearly they were all starting to calm down as they walked to the next area, Xavier in tow.

Xavier knew about dragons, apparently, and he thought that would be a good area to explore next. Nadia wasn't so sure, but she had pretty much exhausted her faculties of speech, so she just walked alongside her corsola as Cora stuck quite close. She took in the marshy landscape, and listened to Xavier's words, but she wasn't so sure she was able to try anything else. She was feeling pretty overwhelmed, and eventually just sat down on a rock. Rafe and Cora followed her. "Go ahead, Ajax, Nyx, good luck - I think I'm going to sit here for a bit. Xavier, you're welcome to join me," she said, and blushed. Why was she being so friendly to this odd ghost type? Then again, the litwick was odd, and she was pretty odd too. Perhaps they could be friends, after all.