A New League to Explore Part Two The only thing related to a Pokemon that I have that's my own are two fish, two cats and one dog . . . so evidently, I don't own Pokemon. I do own the Cian Islands, Shadi, Capt. Kinar, Armond, the Cian Island Pokemon, cianballs and anything else that has to do with the Cian Islands. On the first part of this, I accidentaly wrote in the wrong author. I wrote Bronze, well, you know that's wrong. I have the name Bronze on a different site and, as my english teacher would say, had a blonde moment (I am not blonde, she is, but hers' is brownish. No offense meant to anyone who is blond and would take offense!). R&R! *** "What's going on?! I thought the ship was going in the ocean!" May yelled, sounding paniced. "Don't Worry! You want to go to the Cian Islands, don't you?" I asked back with a huge grin. It felt great to be back in the air again and the air around as rapidly thinned. We slowed down and I could see the group of teenagers start to get woozy from it. They would need to get small amounts of 'thick' air until they could stand to survive in the islands. "Oy, Shadi! Get those kids under the deck before they faint!" firstmate Kenida scolded. She gave me a 'duh!" look and turned to walk away. "Sorry, Kenida. I forgot!" I smiled at her and picked up Togetic. When Misty made a protest I explained, "Misty, Togetic can't sit on you like Pikchu can Ash. You guys will get weak from breathing alot of thin air when you aren't used to it, you wont be able to support her and she is weak from lack of air to.. Take deep, deep breaths and we'll head back towards your cabin." With Togetic perched on my head and Mantra on hers, I started down the ladder. Very slowly Ash followed, the Misty, May and Brock. I let Togetic float around Misty once we reached the elagently carved stairs, which I led them slowly down and into their rooms. Everyone made it without much trouble and they all collapsed onto chairs and coaches. I walked to a cabinet and opened the doors. Inside was small, clear patches that could be put under the nose of a person and they would breathe amounts of are that would slowly decrease and run out in two hours. The next patch to put on would have even less air and so on and so on until they didn't need it. They were kind of like those stop smoking patches. I instructed how to use them and then sat down next to May. In amatter of ten minutes after putting the patches on, they were better, all light headedness had vanished. Then they asked questions. "About the crew, you said they're pirates?" May asked first. "Yes." I answered, waiting for the real question. "Um, I thought pirates were bad people who stole and stuff?" she asked timidly. I could tell she didn't want to offend me and I was touched, wether I should have been or not. "Some pirates still steal from small island villages that are seperate from the main town on each island, but most pirates here are good and rent out their services like Kinar and her crew. Others just travel all over the place for fun and to dee the sights." I answered. It was truly a pitty how little some people knew about Cian culture. "Next question?" "Why did we take off into the air? Aren't the Cian islands, you know, islands?" Misty inquired. Islands floating in water was the typical response to hearing 'Cian Islands' but that wasn't true of these islands. "Most islands are what you would call 'normal' islands but the Cian Islands aren't. You probably pictured something like the Orange Islands, right?" They nodded. "You would be wrong." There faces got more perplexed. "the Cian Islands are floating high in the air in the south. You have to have a Pokemon that knows fly of hire a ship like this one to take you." "Well, that explains it . . ." Ash said, thinking it over. "That's definatly different. I never heard that part before." Brock muttered. "Okay, how many islands are there? Do you have Pokemon Centers? What about breeding?" God, he was full of questions. "Woah, lets see if I can answer in order. There are fifteen islands in the area that are part of the same government. The first one was Viana, so that's where the Pokemon professors lab was built. Other islands may join in the future. Of, course we have Pokemon Centers, what would we be without them? Who would take care of *our* Pokemon? Breeding . . . Hm, we have excelent breeding around here. A place on Kais has a 'farm' that breeds and raises Pokemon of all types. Basadai Island have breeders that raise excelent Inyte and Nymphite, among a few others, mainly psychic, ice and ghost types. Those breeders will raise a certain pokemon for you, if they can get there hands on a male and female of the type. Is that good enough? When you go to those islands, visit the placed and tell them Shadi sent you." I hoped that was enough information because I didn't know much else on the subject of breeding, it had never intrested me. "That's good. I'll definatly visit there!" Brock got an excited look in his eyes. "How many badges do you need to collect? How many gyms? How many gymleaders?" He had added the last question because he had remembered Liza and Tate, the psychic gymleaders from Mossdeep in Hoeen. "What alot of questions at once! You will need to collect ten badges. There are ten gyms and twelve gymleaders. Two gyms, one of the first and the last, have two gymleaders each. For them you will have to do a two-on-two battle." I hoped the questions came one apiece after that. "What about contests?" May asked looking really worried. I remembered then that she was a Pokemon Co-ordinator. "We have them. We have he five increasingly hard contests that Johto has and a final contest on one of the islands, the same one with the Trainer Tower on it. The Trainer Tower is where the League finals are held. We also have festivals. There are three in different towns. One is for talents, one is for art and the last is called the Festival of the Aqua Dragon. It is different each time the judges do it." The festivals were something I enjoyed. "What about Pokemon?" they all inquired at once, leaning forward, towards me. "There are one hundred and seven ones here that are not found in any other region. The Cian Islands have some Pokemon found in other regions. In fact, Pokemon originated on these islands, but when the weather heated up, most left and never came back. Any other questions?" "None that are to important." Brock replied. "Yeah." Misty and Ash agreed. "Any details you'd like to add?" May asked of me. "Well, at the beginning and end of each tournament at the Trainer Tower, there are balls. The first one is a masqureid ball, the other is just formal. On some islands, they hold street festival periodicaly. If you can catch one, I suggest you check it out. There are lots of cool games, rides and food. Oh, it's gotten late. I'll leave you to yourselves. Do you want me to bring you some food or just tell you were the dinning room is?" "Uh, could you bring it to us?" Ash asked, deciding to take up the offer. He didn't want to risk the thin air, anyway. "Ash! Don't be so lazy! We don't want to impose. You probably have something better to do." Misty shot Ash a death glare, and, if looks could kill, Ash would be dead for sure. "It wouldn't impose. I'll bring you food and then go hang out with my Pokemon." I turned and left. Mantra was feeling ignored and my last comment made her happy again. "Mantra ant tr tr an!" Alright! I want food, too! She zipped all around my head before settling on the very top and giving of bright red and orange sparks. I giggled and scolded, "Mantra! You know not to do that! You don't want to draw attention to us." the sparks Mantra had sent off, sparkled all over my skin, but it didn't burn. Her fire power heat was beyond anything I had ever seen and would burn the ship around us if I hadn't caught all the sparks. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a vial. In went the sparks along with a host of others who had already been there. "Maantraa!" I'm sorry!. She looked upset so I petted her head carefully. She was like a human in so many ways, but still deffinatly a Pokemon. Her cat-shaped nose, pointed ears and fur proved that. Sometimes she seemed to act like a human, too. She was my best friend and had been the first thing to trust after . . . well, after. "Anyway, just don't do that here or around anyone else. No one needs to know and *he* doesn't need to find us again." That thought brought back memories of a girl my own age. She was from the past and I hadn't seen her since I was fourteen. It had been almost nine years since we had run away from the compound. We had seperated and vowed to forget. We each doubted we ever would by we had to try. We had been together since we were five and we shared a few very important things in common and they were what we wanted, what we needed, to forget. Heat started to spred through my legs and I knew I had to hurry and hide, preferably someplace with water. But it was already to late. Someone was behind me. MAntra got ready to attack, knowing what was going on within me. It was May. Mantra used Ember Powder and I released my Kilara and ordered a Water Gun on my legs, the only part that had started to change. When my legs were drenched with water and the heat had receded, I drew Kilara back into its cianball. Mantra showered my legs with heat in order to dry them. Just in time, too. May unfroze as I turned to face the other direction. "Shadi!" I turned to face her then. "Yes?" I hoped she would leave soon. I needed to go away from everyone. "Do you need help getting the food? Ash and Misty are fighting again and I find it so sick!" May asked, her face drawing into a funny smile-grimace. "Sure, you can help!" What was I gonna do, turn her down? That would seem alittle suspicous. "Why do you find that sick?" It was an innocent enough question and it would keep her away from they heat I knew must still becoming from my legs. We had turned and started walking towards the kitchen. Mantra layed on her stomache on my head. "I don't find it sick exactly, more like pathetic. They both like each other so much, everyone can see that, well everyone but the opposite person. But if anyone brings up the topic, they bite your head off. That's why Misty was chasing Brock earlier, he had made some comment about them being a couple. Ash had made the mistake of calling her scrawny, that's why he was on the floor." That was one speech. Maybe I could help them somehow. "It does sound pathetic. Oh, here's the kitchen." We entered the bright room and the cooking crew smiled when they saw me. "What can I do for you, Shadi?" the head chef, Armond, asked me. He had a a tall chefs hat on that looked out of place with his pirate attire. "She need food to feed four people and a host of Pokemon. I need a sandwich." I answered and began filling up a large tray. It had fruit and breads and jams and meats on it plus pop, juice, water and alot of other stuff. On a smaller tray sat a special mix of Pokemon chow. "Thanks, Armond. I'll see you later." I carried the larger tray with Manrtas' amazing strength helping me, but it was out of sigh of May. I didn't want any of my charges knowing anything about my Pokemon. They would learn on their journey. Opening the door to number three, Misty was sitting on the coach, panting, while Ash and Brock were on the floor, slumed over. "They're still alive, if it wasn't illegal they would be dead," Misty muttered between breaths. "Hey, guys. Foods here." I left them soon after that to go to my own room. I had picked up my sandwich and was munching it, thinking about my life. I knew I wanted a change of pace, but what to do? Should I go on my own quest or take trainers on theirs? All I would need in either case was a boat. As soon as I lay down I fell asleep, Mantra lay above me, in the small window, the moonlight etching her small features. I sighed and that was all I remembered. ***