Time is but a Gentle Stream, the Past Still at its Murky Depths

As Evangeline managed to catch one of the containers, Mirage stifled a laugh when she saw that one fell on the floor and splattered all over Evangeline's face.
"Whoops." She managed to say without bursting into laughter. The sight was truly funny. Letting Evangeline take some of the food in her arms, Mirage tried to think of what to do next.
"We could rest here for the day, if you'd like." She didn't seem unhappy about the idea at all. After all, she didn't exactly have anywhere to go.

Dark looked at Evangeline when she spoke, him turning his head away. "After I was left alone and without a trace of you being nearby," he asked. "Or after you smacked me with a frying pan..." He seemed a bit upset, him staying where he was. He smelt food, but he didn't turn his head around to look at it.

"Sounds good," Evangeline nodded to Mirage. Nev seemed to have already gotten that idea, he was already passed out and snoring on one of the spare cushioned chairs in the room. Evangeline set her load of food onto a small desktop and turned toward Dark as he spoke.

"You jumped to conclusions without thinking," she said to him in a slightly irritated, but rather calm voice. "We were in the same building waiting for you to get up, and that frying pan was a last ditch effort. Would you rather still have your evil side in control?" She actually wasn't sure she wanted to hear his response, and regretted uttering the question. As if wanting to divert his attention, she changed the subject. "Want something to eat?" She gestured to the large variety of foods now in their room.

Mirage let the food spill out of her arms and onto the bed next to Dark. She wiped some sweat away from her forehead, and grabbed one of the water bottles on the bed. Drinking some in large gulps and wiping her mouth, she felt much more refreshed. Azuxme and Emon had decided to lie down on the bed and take a nap.
"Why don't we plan where to go after this? We don't exactly have anywhere we need to go, after all." Mirage asked while taking some food and beginning to eat. She held a fork in her hand and on the fork was an Octillery-shaped sausage. Putting it into her mouth with a wide smile, Mirage chewed slowly and savored the meaty and salty taste.

Dark turned his head to Evangeline. "At least my other side can smother my sadness," he said to her, not giving her the direct response she may have wanted. "Then I could've at least had happiness, as if there's anything I can be happy about." He didn't answer Evangeline about the food, him turning his head back to looking in front of himself.

Evangeline turned away from Dark and picked up a small carton. "I guess I don't make you happy," she muttered, "I wasn't aware of that." She picked Nev up off from his chair and sat in it, placing him back in her lap before starting to eat a few onigiri out of her container. In between bites, she answered Mirage.

"That's actually a very good question," she said before taking another bite. Swallowing, she continued. "I haven't had much of a goal in the first place, I've just been wandering with Nev, so I'm not exactly sure what to do next. Another bite. "What do you want to do?" she asked with a mouth half full of rice.

Mirage seemed a bit surprised by the question. Evangeline wanted to do what she wanted to do?
"Well, I have always thought about going to Pokemon Contests and things like that..." she muttered while holding her fork tightly. It was slightly embarrassing, but as a kid, Mirage had always dreamed of being on stage and becoming a coordinator. She had frequently watched Pokemon Contests, well before she was kidnapped anyway, and enjoyed seeing them. But then again, Pokemon Gyms were always intriguing as well.
"Oh, but I also thought about going to Pokemon Gyms."
She groaned in frustration as she couldn't decide between the two. Putting another sausage into her mouth with rice, Mirage chewed fiercely and thought hard about what to do.

Dark had heard Evangeline, and she had taken it the wrong way. She was the only thing that made him happy, and he put his head on her shoulder as if a dog. "That's a lie," he said to her, being a bit sorrowful since she seemed down now. "The only thing that's ever made me happy since I left home was meeting you."

Evangeline smiled wryly toward Dark, "now that's the Dark I know and love," she said, tossing him her last onigiri. Her hand absentmindedly started stroking Nev, and he made a very Un-human purring noise and stretched to a more comfortable position. "A little...to the left," he murmured sleepily, earning an amused smile from Evangeline.

"Any of those sound like a good plan," Evangeline replied to Mirage, "I find that every time I make a plan it gets sort of... smashed into a million pieces, but they're usually good pieces eventually," she looked to the others in the room, "I'd have never met you guys if it wasn't so." She leaned back and closed her eyes, "I guess I'll just see what the world has in store for me."

"Okay then! Why don't we do both?" Mirage asked with a smile.
I can't exactly choose between the two, so why not just do both? she thought. It seemed like a good idea. Pokemon Contests were held in many different towns, and the towns also usually had a Pokemon Gym. It would be 'killing two birds with one stone'!

Dark was a bit absentminded. After he heard Evangeline talk, he kinda got stuck on the statement "that's the Dark I know and love..." He scratched his head lightly before he caught the onigiri, setting it down not necessarily hungry after hearing Evangeline. "L, Love," he asked Evangeline calmly, him showing her his attention completely ignoring her and Mirage talking. "I haven't heard that word in a long time, I think..." It was clear Evangeline had knocked his train of thought into oblivion. "Last I heard that from was mother... I think." His ears twitched a bit in slight embarrassment, him wishing he would stop saying "I think."

(Hey, is it alright if I join back in from Shade with the girl?)

(It's up to Fang, she's his NPC creation o3o)

"Well, I'll at least spectate you, I don't want to put Nev in any harm," she replied to Mirage. Truthfully, she wasn't quite sure how the PC healer and other Pokemon's effects would affect him. She knew his Pokemon body would act like any Pokemon, but his human mind could be altered by it. This was her fear. She glanced down at her first friend, who was now limp and passed out in a deep sleep.

"Don't worry Dark," she said, swiveling her head back toward him, "the only love I've ever gotten is from you. That's the downside of being born from a test tube, you don't really have family," this brought a bit of sorrow to her, she had never experienced the gentle touch of a mother or the tremendous pride of a father, and she never would. "Well, I guess Nev is my family, but he thinks love is gross," she laughed.

"Oh, you don't have to worry at all about Nev getting hurt. You don't have to enter any contests or challenge any gyms if you don't want to," Mirage replied with a smile. She understood that Nev was 'special' and that there was some reason for Evangeline to not want Nev to get hurt. Mirage took some more bites of her food, then listened as Evangeline and Dark began to speak. She tried not to smile, as the conversation was sort of... 'Personal', and it would make nice gossip. Deciding against getting them angry at her for telling anyone, Mirage stayed silent, and would keep this conversation to her grave.

[I don't really care if you join back or not. Anyone remember the posting order from before? o3o]

Dark looked at Evangeline, him trying to hide his embarrassment before he hugged her. He wasn't sure what else to do.

(Somewhat remember it XD)

Shade looked at the girl, with them both still by the tree.  "Listen, about what happened...Nobody really wanted it to happen at all...Oh, and I brought back some fruits to eat too."

(From what we have, I think it should just be me, Card, Fang, AJ)

Evangeline took Dark's enneads and reciprocated for a moment, before shifting just slightly. "Just don't try to kill me again," she chuckled before looking around the room. "So, uh, what's our next plan of motion? I'm not too sure those labs are gone for good, but I don't want to dwell on what's not an issue at the moment. What should be our next move, where should we go from here?" She honestly had no idea herself, and with a pang, realized she never went to the Lake of Rage like she had promised Nev she would. Not wanting to speak up about it now, she would work a visit there somehow from what the others decided.

(Sorry it's been a while since I posted XD My computer is lagging soo much I don't feel like posting much)
"Well... There's not much we can do. If we want to take on the Pokemon Gyms in order, we'd have to travel all the way to Violet City. We could try and take on Blackthorn City, Cianwood City, or even Mahogany Town's gyms if we'd rather getting the badges out of order." Mirage stated after some thought and looking at a Town Map.

Dark looked at Evangeline, him hugging her tighter. He didn't know if someone could squeeze another person's organs out, and he was hoping that it wasn't possible, because he was hugging her a bit too tight. "I won't try to if I can keep myself sane," he said to her, shivering a bit.

The little girl looked up at Shade, her blinking a couple of times. "I don't even remember it," she laughed a bit. [because honestly I forgot]

"Yeah, well, that's actually a pretty good thing. Anyway, I wonder if we should try to find the others soon..."

"Which ever you want to do I'm fine with," Evangeline replied to Mirage before reciprocating Dark's tight hug. "And I won't let you go crazy again," she murmured quietly to him. With that, she took her empty food cartons, careful not to wake Nev while she stood, and tossed them into their room's waste basket. After that, she stretched, wings and all, happily. "Well, it felt really good to relax," she said, "but I'm pretty awake now. Any of you want to go do something?"

"Well... Truth be told.. I'd rather if we went to all the gyms in order. That way, I don't have to worry about opponents that are much stronger than myself." Mirage replied while scratching the back of her head. She didn't like losing much. Emon and Azuxme appeared to have woken up; both stretching and yawning. They looked at Mirage as if to ask 'What's happening?' and Mirage explained what the plan was.
"Since Evangeline-san seems to be okay with travelling to Violet City, that's where we're headed. We can make rest stops at each town/city we arrive at before Violet City, then set up camp in a forest near Violet City."

Dark watched Evangeline and Mirage. He heard them talking about gyms, and it made him want to facepalm. He hadn't paid attention that much to what they had even been saying, having been focused on hugging Evangeline and saying he wouldn't be an idiot. He'd just have to ask her later what exactly everyone was talking about. He just stood up, walking to Evangeline and grabbing her hand. It was pretty obvious that where she went he was going to go without question. As if his mind was completely blank, his thoughts turned to when he was a bit insane thinking Evangeline had left. It just caused him to hold her hand tighter, him looking over at Mirage hoping to hear someone talk about something that would distract his mind.

The little girl looked up at Shade. "It's up to you," she said, her turning her head away wit hthat. she was inspecting the surrounding area, thinking of what she wanted to do, but probably wouldn't be able to do.

"Well, just tell me when you're ready, and we can go look in town." Shade sat sown, knowing it probably wouldn't be long until they looked.

"Sounds fine by me," Evangeline replied to Mirage, gently shaking Nev awake as she did so. He blinked tiredly a couple times, grumbled about needing more sleep, and turned away from Evangeline, falling quickly back into his heavy slumber. Sighing, Evangeline plucked him from the chair and put his limp body on her head, so she at least had her arms free.

"So it's decided then," she said, casting a big grin toward Dark, "we get out of this dinky little town and head to Violet." Of course, she added in her mind, I'll have to sneak away to the Lake of RGe before we go.