Giving half a smile, he finishes adjusting his "cap" as he starts heading off. Leading the way back down the river bed, he stops for a moment when he hears something behind them. Glancing back they see all the pokemon seeing them off. He smiles, waving goodbye before walking once again.

They finally manage to make it back to the road as Xero takes in a deep breath. Taking in the "free air" of finally returning back onto the road after all that had happened. Most likely due to the events that they ran into, they managed to avoid any other trainers along the rest of the way. Most likely the officers letting people know of what happened and making them worried of anymore of those men being on the route. With the sun already starting to set, the sight of Viridian City begins to form in the distance. Reaching into his pocket, Xero pulls out the digital map of his as he looks at details of the small city.

"Viridian City. One of the small cities within the Kanto Region. Not really much here except for the city's Gym and a place known as the Pokemon Academy." He glances through the details on the academy before looking over at Raine. "Hey, maybe this place is just right for you. It says here it helps teach new trainers the basics." He chuckles, teasing her a bit.

As they slowly enter the city, a group of trainers talking by the gate spot them coming in. They gave a rather odd look as they came in through Route 1 until one of them finally calls out.

"Hey, you two! Did you really just come in through Route 1?" Xero gives the male trainer a confused look. Looking over at Raine in hopes that she might know what he was going on about before looking back to reply.

"Yeah we did. Why do you ask?" His reply just made them all glance at one another in surprise.

"Didn't you hear? Some criminals were caught on that route."

"What? Those two weirdos?" Xero replies to them, not seeming at all surprised by their announcment.

Raine paused to wave at the Pokemon that were seeing them off. Then she turned to follow Xero as he went back to the main trial they had been following the day before. She stayed close, looking over his shoulder at the digital map as they walked. It was small, but at least it had a Pokemon gym; it would mean there was something to look forward to in the city. She stuck her tongue out at him when he teased her.

"You're a new trainer, too! Besides, I think I can manage without visiting a Pokemon Academy." She hesitated, though, as she saw a group at the entrance to the city. She returned their odd looks with a curious one of her own. Why did it matter that they just came from Route 1? Wasn't that the only way to reach Viridian City from Pallet Town? And, as the trainer talked with Xero, it became a little clearer; apparently other people had heard about the two they had run into in Route 1. There were a few girls among the group, and they seemed to be whispering among themselves, looking curious themselves.

"You mean you were there? You saw the criminals? You saw everything happen?"

"You didn't happen to help in their arrest, did you?" Raine looked over them carefully. They seemed nosy. She hesitated, thinking; why would this bother her? She decided it didn't; she was just tired, was all.

"We helped...a little..." The girls didn't seem to pay much attention to her; not as much as to Xero, anyway. One in particular, though, moved just a little closer.

"I could show you around the city; maybe you could tell me about it along the way?" Raine frowned. She hadn't come across someone she didn't like, aside from those thugs with guns. She wasn't quite sure about this girl, though.

Xero steps back from the girl's offer, giving a slight nervous look. He wasn't used to someone just going up to him like that, except for Raine. It was an odd experience for him.

"Um...sorry but we kind of have to go. Besides, we didn't do much." Xero replies back in defense to them declaring them helping with the catch of the criminals.

"Didn't do much? We heard that two trainers were there. Some of the officers mentioned you two when they came back and your the only trainers that have gone through the route ever since." The group started drawing in closer as Xero was clearly getting awkwardly embarrassed by it all. He wasn't used to so much attention and they were pushing on for even more details on what had happened yesterday on the crime scene. They continued to ask questions about his pokemon, how long he's been a trainer, and even just random personal stuff.

For the first time, Xero was left unable to know what to say or do.

Raine was somewhat pleased that Zero had back away from the girl...despite the fact that she looked irritated that he hadn't answered. She joined in the questions, though most were personal. Raine watched the group move closer, all asking questions. Some of which they had no business asking. Xero also looked very uncomfortable. He almost looked embarrassed, she thought. Clearly the officers had told a good deal of the story, and so they had a lot of questions.

She had to find some way to get out of there, so they'd leave him alone. She glanced around; there wasn't too much she could see, unless she could manage to use the Pokemon Center as an excuse. But even then, they could follow them there. So maybe she couldn't find something to use as an excuse to get them both out of that situation. Finally, she shook her head, raising her voice, hopefully loud enough to be heard.

"Leave him alone already; he's not used to so many people! Go away." She pulled on his arm, away from the group. She wasn't used to being irritated, and didn't know how else to get them away. First that girl that wouldn't leave him alone, and then they all want to ask questions. It was a bit much for her.

"Come on, Xero; we can look around on our own..." The girl gave Raine a brief glare, but quickly wiped it off, replacing it with a fake smile of her own.

"But he hasn't answered any of our questions yet; surely he could at least try to answer a few?" Raine shot the girl a brief glare. It was quickly replaced by a look of confusion; she had't felt the need to glare at anyone before...so why now? She shook her head.

"He already said we need to get going. We'll find out own way around, and I would appreciate you leaving us alone!"

Xero was confused as Raine pulls on his arm to get him out of the crowd. True he was uncomfortable, but this sort of reaction wasn't really normal for her to begin with. He could feel Mew stressing out with the situation on his head. He knew he had to cut this situation off now.

"Ok that's enough." Xero says as he begins to push Raine the rest of the way. "Sorry but my partner is a bit stressed out. We want to get some rest before it get's dark." He says, quickly coming up with the excuse as he shoves Raine ahead, farther from the group.

"Ok..mind telling me what that was all about?" He mutters to her as he stops pushing her and just walks beside her now. "Your not one to just flip out like that. Did being reminded of those criminals stress you out or something?" As he asks her with much concern, Mew also gives off a cry of agreement with him from on top of his head.

Raine looked at Xero when he started to speak, and then started pushing her away from the group. She glanced back at the group, then ahead as Xero finally stopped pushing her and started to walk next to her. And she had thought, for a moment, that she might actually get them out of a situation. Well, Xero had always done that from the start, anyway. She didn't look up at him, though, when he asked her questions. She hesitated to answer.

"...I'm not stressed about those two; they're locked up and nothing to worry about now. I just...I don't know. They just irritated me..." She left out the fact that the girl irritated her more than the rest of the group. She only had a guess as to the reasoning behind that, and she wasn't about to go talking about that too much. After all, how strange would it be if she had actually been jealous? It wasn't like Xero had accepted the offer, after all. And besides, telling him that much might just sound like some sort of confession...and she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to talk about it just yet.

"I wasn't stressed, just irritated. Can we just avoid them? Please?"

"Was never planning to go back to them in the first place." He replies, shrugging a bit to her request as he just cast his wondering of what was wrong with her aside. They arrived to the Pokemon Center, going through the traditional checking of newcomer's Pokemon to make sure they were in top health. While at the desk, he looks into the information on a place to stay. Glad to learn that Pokemon Centers have upgraded over the years to have rooms for trainers to stay in over the night as well. Heading back to Raine, he tosses her a card key to catch.

"I managed to get two rooms; one for each of us. I'm going to go on ahead and rest up. I recommend you finally give your mom a call so she at least knows your still alive."

Raine was glad he just let the subject drop. She wasn't sure how to explain it just yet. At least she hadn't had to lie, though; just keep certain pieces to herself. She looked around the Pokemon Center when she had a chance, though most of the time was getting her Pokemon checked over. Xero was taking care of the rooms, she was sure, so she let her mind wander a little bit. She hadn't thought they'd go through so much in just a couple of days! And then she had to address the issue of that female trainer at the gate; to herself, anyway.

She looked up as he started to walk back towards her, tossing a card at her. She only barely caught it, and looked over it; a card key. So he had already gotten the rooms taken care of. She looked back up at him as he started talking again. She hesitated, thinking. That was something else she had to take care of, too. She didn't really want to be yelled at, though. Still, though, she nodded.

"Yeah; I probably should. I'll just...call her from the room." That was the whole point of the cell phone, anyway. Sure, she might have to charge it...though she thought she had turned it off before so she wouldn't have to listen to her yelling. And now she felt stupid. She didn't have to run all the way to Viridian City on her own; she could have called for help! She shrugged it off; it was over and done with, after all.

"Then I'll probably get some rest after that." That was, if she could manage to get some sleep after being yelled at.

"Alright then. Well good night." He replies as he walks past her, ruffling her hair a bit in a tease as he heads down the hall to the rooms. Going ahead of her, he uses his card key to open the door and stretching as it closes behind him. Almost forgetting about Mew, he was startled when his cap leaps off his head and transforms back into Mew.

"Haha, you scared me a bit there." He chuckles at Mew as he reaches up to pet it's head. "Tired?"

Mew replies with a sleepy cry before floating over to the bed, snuggling down onto one of the pillows. As Mew got itself all cozy, he sets his bag down and readies some extra clothes to change for the night. Cleaning himself up before getting into bed over the sheets. He wasn't going to sleep just yet, waiting for Raine to finish her call in case she wants to talk afterwards before heading to sleep.

Raine stuck her tongue out at him again, but then hesitated, debating. Finally, she sighed and walked to the room she would be staying in. She stretched, but sat on her bed, pulling out the phone and staring at it for a few moments. Finally, she sighed and called her mothers number. Chances were, she was getting her younger brother ready for bed, but really, Raine was sure that would wait as soon as her mother knew who was calling her. And, of course, she picked up fairly quickly.

"Why didn't you call sooner? Where are you? Why did you take off with..."Raine bit her lip. Of course those would be her main concerns; not how many Pokemon she had caught, not how she was getting along with Nitzan, no; it was how dare she run off when her mother didn't approve of her partner. Not even if she was alright!

"Well, we made it to Viridian City...and I've caught a Sentret now..."

"That's not what I asked!"

"Oh, I know. Look; I didn't call cuz I didn't want to be yelled at for something so stupid! I can't understand why you don't trust Xero; he's been my friend for a while now, Mom. And, obviously, I'm still fine. I don't know how many times I've had to explain; I find trouble, and Xero drags me out of it. Anyway, it's a little late; I'll be fine." There was silence on the other end. She knew there was nothing her mother could do; it wasn't like she could just suddenly get up and head for Viridian City; she had a younger child to take care of. And her father was too far away, and her sister would be too busy with her friends to do anything about it. So, knowing her mother, the next step was a change of subject; she hated losing arguments.

"...But you are planning on entering contests, right?" Raine sighed; always back to the contests. That was the one thing she never could drop.

"...I was thinking about trying one, I guess. But only one; if I don't like it, I'm not doing it again!"

"Alright, fine; but you will enjoy it, at least a little. ...Well...it is getting a little late; I guess you need sleep."

"Yeah, and you need to finish getting Aaron ready for bed. I'll...try to remember to call you when we reach the next city. ...Pewter, I think. ...Night." Raine ended the call, watching the phone. She hadn't even bothered to mention everything that had happened; running into the Raticate nest and dealing with those thugs. But with good reason; she didn't need her mother to worry anymore than she already would. She sighed, getting back up to clean up before bed. She allowed herself to fall back onto the bed and laid there for a moment before pulling the blankets over herself and snuggling into the blankets.

That was one thing taken care of. Now, however, she had one more little issue; why had she been so jealous? She decided that could wait; it wasn't like she wouldn't have chances to talk with Xero along their journey, after all. She'd just sleep for now, and try to figure it out later.

Xero had ended up dozing off the night before despite his effort to stay awake. The following morning was fairly quiet in his room as he remains fast asleep. A scratch then comes from the door, followed by a tapping of sorts as both sounds grow louder and impatient. But Xero still remains fast asleep on the bed. However, Mew was awoken from the sound at the door as it floats off the sheets to the door. Mew calls out from behind the door in a curious reply to who was making such noise.

Pyro and Gale can be heard on the other side, apparently having woken up some time ago. Pyro had followed Xero's scent to his room and the two were trying to get in. For a short while the three spoke to each other from the door before Mew caught on what was going on. Floating up to the controls for the electrical door, Mew examines it with a slight tilt of its head. Slowly reaching forward, Mew touches the panel as the door finally opens to let Pyro and Gale inside. Once they went in, the door closes behind them.

On the bed, the three of them stood around Xero as he lays with his arms and legs spread apart. Glancing at one another, they seem to discuss of a means to wake up. Pyro takes the initiative and walks over to Xero's face, taking a deep breath. Gale and Mew realize what he was going to do as they both do their best to cover their ears.

"Charmander!" Pyro growls out loudly right at Xero's face as the young trainer suddenly stumbles off the side of his bed, falling face first into the ground in surprise. Groaning in pain, he looks up from the floor, between his dangling feet, as he sees the three of them looking down at him from the bed.

"Please...don't wake me up like that..." He mutters in frustration. Pyro seems rather proud of himself of having woken him up while Gale and Mew let out a sigh at Pyro's additude.

After getting dressed and set, Xero finally exits his room, adjusting his "Mew Cap" on his head as Gale and Pyro follow him out. Making his way to the main lobby, he checks around to see if Raine had woken up yet.

Raine woke up fairly early, but sat in her room for a little while, just to lie there comfortably. She knew they wouldn't always have a chance to sleep in a comfortable bed; they had already spent one night camping, after all. That would probably be the norm. Finally, she sighed and sat up. She took her time getting ready, and eventually left the room, to the main lobby. It looked like Xero was still asleep.

She made sure the first thing she did was get her Pokemon. Nitzan appeared to be sleepy still, though. Cynward was wide awake, however, and kept glancing around. Apparently it was a little more skittish than Raine would have hoped, but that was the way things were, she supposed. At least, that was the way Cynward was going to be. At least they had gotten this far, and they were both just fine. The Pokemon had healed very well, too, so everything was fine. She found herself a spot to sit and waited, glancing around the area to see what other trainers and Pokemon might be there.

She paused when she saw Xero, though. He was finally awake, then? She stood up and approached him. Cynward started to follow, but turned back to wake Nitzan, who had fallen asleep again. After it had woken up, they both followed Raine.

"Morning, Xero!" she said, cheerfully.

Xero let's out a loud yawn as he waves in return to Raine.

"Morning." He says as Pyro climbs up onto his left shoulder, Gale flying up onto his right. On his head, Mew almost reveals itself as Xero feels his cap slightly lifting up off his head. In quick reaction he reaches up and grabs Mew before a scene with a floating cap was shown in the lobby.

"I think Mew says "hi" as well." He chuckles nervously with a worried look on his face. Once Mew settles once again on his head, he let's the cap go and walks once again up to Raine.

"Slept well?" He asks her as he takes a quick glance over at Nitzan and Cynward behind her.

Raine watched the Pokemon climbing or flying to get up on his shoulders. It was a little funny, how they all wanted to climb on him. She had wanted to carry Nitzan around, but she couldn't do that all the time. She'd tire herself out far too quickly if she did. She blinked at the cap as it started to lift up, floating a bit before Xero pulled it back down, holding the Mew on his head. She glanced around quickly; it didn't seem like anyone had really noticed the almost-floating cap. That was a good thing. She glanced back to Xero again, giving a small shrug.

"I slept fine, I guess. The call wasn't quite as long as I thought it would be, so I had plenty of time to sleep." She gave another small shrug. She had worried, before calling her mother, that she wouldn't be able to sleep, that her mother would still be upset and yelling when she hung up. But everything turned out alright; sleep hadn't been too hard for her to find.

"And what about you? How did you sleep?" she asked.

"For the most part, yeah. Had a rather rude awakening though." He replies as he looks over at Pyro on his shoulder. Pyro looks back, scratching the back of his head with a bit of embarrassment at how rude manner of waking Xero up earlier. Shaking his head, Xero looks back at Raine.

"Well anyway, what do you want to do now? As I see it we got three options:...", he lifts his hand to count them down with his fingers. "...Head over to that school to see what it has to teach, head out of town to train and catch any other pokemon, or just go right for the gym here in town. What do you want to try first?" He asks her as he lowers his hands, waiting for her answer.

Raine glanced over Pyro; he seemed embarrassed. Pyro had woken Xero, then? That was thw rude awakening? Now that she thought about it, Pyro had done that before; woken them up with a loud cry. She paused, and took a moment to think about their options for the moment. If they went out of town, they could catch more Pokemon, but they'd just have to come back, anyway, to challenge the gym. They could challenge the gym, too..but were either of them ready? Well...maybe. After all, they didn't quite know what to expect from a gym battle, since neither of them had ever challenged a gym before.

"Well...maybe we'll learn something about the gym at he school? That way, we'll be better prepared for the gym battle. ...Right?" she answered, tentatively. She wasn't so sure it was a good idea; what if it only taught the basics, that they already knew? But maybe there would be things they didn't know there; things that would make battling easier for them, so they could have a better chance in battles. That was always a good thing. And if they only learned things they already knew...well, at least it wouldn't waste too much time.

"We can always challenge the gym afterwards. And maybe we'll have a chance! I mean...we always have a chance, but maybe a better one if we can learn something new..."

"Well, knowing you, I'd say the basic might be a good thing to review." He chuckles at Raine as Pyro and Gale get off of his shoulders and head over to Nitzan and Cynward. "Why don't we go and take a look at what subjects they have, see if we can learn anything new, and then go for a bit of training before the gym?" Xero walks over to the front desk to return the keys to the room as he speaks with Raine.

As he heads off, his two Pokemon head over to the others as Gale shakes his head at Pyro.

"You know, you really shouldn't make the way you woke him up a habit." Pyro tilts his head at his words.

"What are you talking about? It worked, right? Besides, he wouldn't wake up. What's a bunch of noise going to do to him?" Pyro shrugs the comment off before looking over at the other two. "So how did you two sleep?"

Raine frowned for a moment. She wasn't that bad! She didn't need help with the basics! ...Well, okay, so maybe she hadn't done anything like this before; so what? the training was what was really important. Cynward flinched as Xero's Pokemon approached, while Nitzan only looked over them, perfectly calm. Raine watched Xero return the room keys, and followed as he left the building.

"I don't need that much help with the basics! I can learn it on the road! I was only thinking of the training; that's it!" Nitzan and Cynward followed the pair, Cynward doing his best to hear everything around him, While Nitzan seemed to barely pay attention to anything. Both looked towards the other two at Pyro's question; Cynward jerking, while Nitzan looked over the pair calmly.

"Well, I slept fine. Except for this one jumping and freaking out over every little noise, anyway," Nitzan answered, with a slight nod towards the Sentret. Cynward frowned at Nitzan.

"But...but it could have been anything! It could have been someone looking to steal food, or for a fight, or-wait, what was that?" He was sudden;y distracted, hearing the doors open again as they left the building, another trainer walking into the Pokemon Center. Nitzan shook his head.

"He was like this all night..."

"Well then we'll train. But nothing is without study. We'll both go to that school and read up on things. A second time around can bring out some things one doesn't know." He chuckles at her as he looks over at their Pokemon. "Our Pokemon seem to be having a good time with one another. Why don't we leave them here to relax a bit at the center while we read up at the school? Might let Mew play with them while in hiding as well." He suggests while on his way over to the Pokemon. His "cap" fidgeting in liking the idea it heard.

"Twitchy should have been your name then." Pyro laughs at Cynward's constant alertness before Gale's wing hits him in the back of the head.

"Enough already. At least he's not quick to blurting out what's on his mind like you are." Pyro rubs the back of his head, giving Gale an annoyed look.

Raine pouted, but nodded. she supposed, if she wasn't the only one doing the studying, then it was alright. Well, it was better than doing it on her own, anyway. She glanced at the Pokemon at Xero's suggestion, thinking for a moment. Sure, they wouldn't be able to battle while the Pokemon were left behind, but it would be good for them to relax a bit. She gave a smile.

"Okay; yeah, that sounds like a good idea! They can get to know each other better, too." And Mew would get to play around with them, too. She was sure Mew was tired of being stuck as a cap on Xero's head, unable to move and play like the other Pokemon could.

Cynward briefly gave the Charmander a glare, but turned away quickly at another sound. Nitzan shook his head at the Pokemon.

"I'm sure there's a better way to get your point across than hitting him. This isn't a battle, after all. Anyway, he wasn't wrong; Cynward is a little too...cautious?"