//eye of the tiger// b u r n i n g heat\\

[jaxamar]

Jaxamar was running. His powerful legs dug into the sand, sending up huge clouds of dust with each stride, but he didn't tire.
Held in his arms was his Vulpix, Furnblaze, and around his neck was Gareth.
"Hmm?" he muttered, looking at the figure ahead of him. He skidded to a halt next to her, raising a huge cloud of dust.
"Gah!" he exclaimed, covering his face with his arms. Furnblaze jumped lightly to the ground as he did so, covering his own eyes with a paw.

"Sorry," he said after a moment, disoriented by the cloud of dust, "My bad."
"You really should be more careful," Gareth said, leaving Jax's shoulder and transforming into his Flygon form. "That's better," he said after a moment, "It's more comfortable to be in this form while in this desert."

[Birdybot]

Sulteron, still ringing from the happy buzz of catching the Trapinch, was even happier to see another trainer. Jizu became a Phampy, a Ground type to suit the desert. He gave a little trumpet noise of greeting. Sulteron waved to Jaxamar. On one side of her was a shiny Absol, in front sat a very cheery Blaredog, and on her right side... a Suicune? The Suicune bowed in greeting and respect to the newcomer. She looked like she was recovering from an injury, so wouldn't be battling, of course.

Sulteron spoke to the stranger, introducing herself and her Pokémon. After all, he and his Vulpix looked friendly enough. "Hey there. I'm Sulteron, and my daemon's Jizu. These are Tayeko the Absol, Lenyi the Blaredog and Segonami the Suicune." she said. She hadn't seen many Vulpix before, and this one looked quite cute. "I wonder if we'll find anything out here at this time of night?" she wondered aloud.

[jaxamar]

The cloud of dust settled, revealing the Blaziken morph, his Daemon, and the vulpix.
"Hello, Sulteron," Jax said, bowing, "I am Jaxamar Flameheart, Pokemon Trainer. This is my daemon, Gareth," he waved at the daemon, who was in his Flygon form, "And Furnblaze," he indicated the Vulpix at his feet.

He smiled, and pulled his Pokeballs off his belt. "All right, Duskull, Tailow, Cyrus! Come on out!"
"Skull!"
"Taillow!"
"Bi!"

The Duskull, Tailow, and Celebi hovered in place for a moment, before Cyrus flew to Segonami and landed on his head.
"Ribibi!"
Jax laughed at this, then nodded to Sulteron. "There are plenty of Pokemon that only come out at night," he said, "For example, I bumped into Duskull when I was setting up camp for the night."

[Saitoshi Hanazuru]

The fact that there were many different Pokemon out and about at night was true and not all the Pokemon that were out were necessarily nocturnal. Some where just younglings, probably just way from their parents, and looking for adventure or interest or at least that was true in the case of this little mouse like Pokemon and the reluctant clay doll it called its friend. With their tannish-brown hides they blended into the sand very well, though that didn't matter much when they were traveling mostly beneath them. Oh, well it provided excellent camouflage when they did travel on the surface, which would probably be soon since they heard other above then and poked up out of the sand, right in the middle of the group of trainers and Pokemon.

One was a Sandslash, named Rafu, which it had heard means rough and took the name due to its hide. The next was much more timid looking Baltoy, named Ozu, which was supposed to mean scared. While the Baltoy nervously looked at the group, the bold Sandrew hoped out of the whole and stepped infront of the nearest trainer, which happened to be Jax.~You seem odd, haven't seen you or ones like you around here before!~ He said inquisitively, looking up at the Blaziken 'morph with interest. Oposedly, Ozu, the Baltoy, stare at Sulteron, curiously, yet causiously.

[jaxamar]

Jax jumped back, startled. He fell into a fighting stance for a moment, before straightening.
"There aren't many quite like me in the world," he said, switching easily, almost unconciously, to the Pokemon language; this was one of the up sides of being part-Pokemon.
"I had settled as a Bagon when Jax was transformed," Gareth supplied, "But when he was changed... I transformed erratically for a few days, before regaining control of the ability."
"Is that how it happened?" Cyrus asked, hovering nearby.
"So you were human once?" Furnblaze asked, recieving a nod from Jax.
"Birdman is better than human," Duskull said cheekily, "Even if you still can't fly."
"Hey!"

[Birdybot]

Sulteron could see a Baltoy watching her curiously. A Baltoy? They had a totally awesome moveset! Then she heard the Sandshrew. A Sandshrew! She knew they were pretty common and that she'd been bound to see one on this route, but she was still overjoyed. Sandshrew were one of her favourite Pokémon! In fact, catching a Sandshrew was on her list of goals she'd set herself!

The Espeon Pokémorph knew that Baltoy would actually make a stronger team member, but she desperately wanted to catch the Sandshrew. Still, she didn't want to randomly start a fight, so she decided to join in the conversation. "Most Pokémorphs were human once, right? I wasn't. My parents were thrown in a lab by my grandma, and their Eevee genes got through to me. Later on, I evolved." she explained. Jizu smiled, becoming a Bagon and grinning mischeviously at Gareth.

Sulteron rolled her eyes at her daemon's childish behavior. "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. Sandshrew, Baltoy, my name is Sulteron. My daemon's name is Jizu, and my Absol is Tayeko, my Blaredog is Lenyi, and my Suicune is Segonami, or Sego for short." she quickly added. She spoke in Pokémon toungue as well, purely to make things easier and more comfortable for the wild Pokémon.

[Saitoshi Hanazuru]

Rafu, listened with interest to the Pokemorph's story. He'd seem a couple morph in his time but he'd never been this close, let alone talked to one. It was actually quite nice, he noted, to be able to walk up to trainers without being swept automatically into a battle. The Sandshrew sat on the ground at the Blaziken morph's feet and yawned. It was getting a little late, not that he had a bedtime or anything like that. ~I'm glad that I can sit here and talk without you instantly trying to attack me like most trainers. I'm too tired to battle right now.~ He said, yawning again. ~Oh, by the way, I'm Rafu.~

Ozu, the timidly little Baltoy had, manage to climb out of the burrowed hole and wandered over to where the rest of the group was talking. Balancing on his one foot, he wondered how he should begin a conversation, if he began to talk at all. ~H..hi, my n..name is O..Ozu.~ The clay doll said, looking at everyone and making sure that no one was behind him. He slowly moved next to Rafu, his Sandshrew buddy, as he spoke. ~It late for him to be out. He really should be sleeping right about now.~ The baltoy spoke softly, indicating the Sandshrew, who only gave an embarrassed ~HMPH!~ and turned away.

[Birdybot]

Segonami smiled at the two, bowing her head. ~Hello, Ozu and Rafu.~[/color] she said gently. It was obvious the Baltoy was nervous, and she didn't want to make him any more nervous. Sulteron nodded at Rafu. Tiredness was understandable. It was late, and she was quite tired, too. "It's all right, Rafu. I'm tired too, and most of my Pokémon are sleeping in their Pokéballs. Hey, I know! I've just come from some abandoned burrows, we can sleep there! Come on!" she announced, racing off back towards where she had caught the last Trapinch of a set of Vibrava and Flygon.

When she arrived, she looked around to see if the others had followed. Had they decided to follow her? The burrows would offer protection from any weather, and hide them from stronger, less friendly wild Pokémon.[/size]

[jaxamar]

Jax followed readily, having to chuckle at the Sandshrew. Duskull floated along behind him, Furnblaze walked by his heels, and Tailow decided to perch on his head. Cyrus, as always, vanished beneath Jax's cloak, but poked his head out to watch.
"You got any Gym badges?" Jax asked, looking a bit sheepish, "I lost my first Gym battle, but I've got my contest ribbons on me if you want to see them."

"That is not funny," Gareth said irritably when the other daemon transformed into the form he had settled as, "I'm much happier now."

[Birdybot]

Jizu seemed to find it funny, but all the same leapt into Sulteron's arms as an Eevee, yawning widely. He was tired, so of course Sulteron was tired, too. It was pretty late, and since they'd just had a battle, they were even more tired. It would be good to get some rest. She found a nice spot and set down her foam mat and on top of that her sleeping bag. Segonami, Tayeko and Lenyi settled down around it, ready to sleep.

Sulteron nodded at the question, proudly showing Jax her badge case. It contained a single badge; Silav Town's badge. "I trained all my Pokémon at the Training Centre ready for the next gym, too. Now they're all on level twenty, except for Tayeko, who battled a Trapinch and is now on level twenty-three. Did you say contest ribbons? Like, plural form? How'd you get more than one if we've only passed one town?" she asked, curious.

[jaxamar]

"Here's what I mean," Jax said, taking out his case and opening it; inside were five contest ribbons, from Hoenn, and a Grand Festival Runner's Up ribbon.
"They're a momento of my travels in Hoenn," he explained, "I'm a Trainer this time around... and like I said, I lost the gym battle."

[Saitoshi Hanazuru]

Rafu yawned, he stood for a mintue before nodding to his clay buddy, Ozu, and following Sulteron. It seemed easier for the to trust these two since they were pokemorph, making a part of them polemon even if they didn't act the part. He yawned again and padded over next to the shiny espeon morph's sleeping bag.~You don't mind a if we sleep her with you all do you?~ He asked to be polite, but honestly her felt safe here.

Ozu just listened to the conversation that was going on and stay close to the entrance of the cave, looking as if he was trying to guard it or something. Every sound caused hims to twitch and he began to worry as he felt vibrations deep within the earth. Taking a deep breath, he tried to convince himself that it was just some pokemon traveling underground and there was nothing to worry about. But something just seemed off...

[jaxamar]

"Ribi!"Cyrus exclaimed, his hands on the ground. "Something is down there! I can't say what it is though; the feeling is too faint."
Growling, Jax got to his feet, "Stand back," he advised Sulteron, "You and you're Pokemon are tired. I at least have Duskull."

There was a click as Jax settled into a fighting stance, breathing slowly and deeply in preparation.

[Birdybot]

Sulteron, being an Espeon Pokémorph- a Psychic type- could sense a vaugue presence, comfirming what Ozu and Cyrus thought. At first she agreed with Jax, but then she shook her head. "No, that's not true! One of my Pokémon is nocturnal! Taya, come help us!" she said, releasing a Pokémon from her Pokéball. If something down there posed a threat to them, they would need all the help they could get. Her Pokémon were at a high level, and so could be a big asset. With Ozu, Rafu, Duskull and Taya working together, they stood a chance.

Taya formed from her Pokéball. She was a Noctowl. She blinked her large red eyes and shuffled her long wings. ~Is something wrong, dear?~[/color] she asked, a little concerned at the sight of all the worried faces. Sulteron nodded, then shrugged. "Well, Cyrus, Ozu and I think we can sense something down there somewhere. I released you for protection." she explained. The Noctowl nodded, and they waited to see if anything would happen. Meanwhile, Segonami, Tayeko and Lenyi fell asleep.[/size]

[jaxamar]

"Furnblaze," Jax said, glancing at the Vulpix, "I know you don't like Pokeballs, so I want you to stay back with Sulteron. Cyrus, Tailow, return!"

As the two mentioned Pokemon vanished into their Pokeballs, Jax shifted his stance, placing a palm on the ground. He closed his eyes to concentrate on his palm.
"Vibrations," he confirmed, "Faint, but there... Odd, but they seem to be continuous, not anything you'd expect from a Sandslash or other burrowing Pokemon... Except maybe Onix or Steelix."