Entering the city of confusion.

Clare threw open the gates hardly containing her excitement. Before her sprawled the largest city he had ever seen, twice the size of Vermilion. A giant tower sat in the middle of the city with tall building to the left and right. On the opposite side of the city she could barely make out an impressive looking building which was most likely the gym. Even with the grandness of the city something about it felt a little off. She tried shoving the feeling off of her and turned to James. "So, where are we going first?" She was ready to explore every inch of this city and was feeling much better now that the salty sea air was well away from her.

Hakudoshi walked into the city after Clare, taking in the sights around him. It was truly an impressive metropolis, with a large population of people moving about as they went with their daily lives. Clare asked about what they should do first, and Hakudoshi was interested in getting some straining from Sabrina. "I'm interested in getting some training from Sabrina so let's stop by the gym first" he said to Clare with a determined, serious expression. Karei nodded her head in agreement, very excited about the prospect of becoming more powerful.

James grinned. With the late afternoonn sun, the city would practically be glowing. While the golden sheen was there, to an extent, it felt... off. When Hakudo mentioned Sabrina, James wrinkled his nose. "She's probably going to be upset if I don't show up soon, so... yeah, let's do that." James walked in the direction of the Gym, and wondered what it was that was bothering him.

Hakudoshi followed after James towards the Saffron City Gym, adopting a serious expression on his face as he got closer to the Psychic-Themed Gym. He hoped Sabrina will be willing to train both him and his precious Ralts in their Psychic abilities as Hakudoshi wanted to get stronger so he could become a legend. Karei wanted to become a Gardevoir, and the most powerful Gardevoir on the planet, so the two of them had some personal goals to achieve.

Clare followed James and Hakudoshi almost tripping multiple times. She was to busy looking up at the tall buildings and distracted by all the architecture or decorations or even the different fashions she was now seeing, to her all of this change from one city over was mind blowing.

James saw Clare tripping out of the corner of his eye, and thought it best to pretend he didn't. When they got to the front, the doors read, "Closed for the afternoon." However, while James read the note, the doors slowly creaked open. Jumping back, James sighed. "She knows just how to creep me out... Come on, and stay close. You never know when she's just gonna turn off the lights, or something." James led the way, and was surprised that Sabrina didn't pull anymore tricks as they made their way to her. Sabrina adressed James as she always did. "Hello, little explorer. How are you doing today?" James sighed; he would always be "little". "Great, actually. I've got some new friends. This is Clare, and this is Hakudo. He wants his Ralts, Karei, to become strong enough to help him become legendary. I told him you might be willing to show him a few techniques..." Seeing Sabrina glare like that made him trail off. "You know I don't accept students. Even those as gifted as yourself, Hakudo. I can help you gain control of your own psychic power, but that is all." The last bit was telepathic, and only heard by Hakudo. "As for you, James... how is he?" James bit his lip. "Well... better, I think. He finally got clearance to leave on his own journey, he was sure happy about that. The last I heard, he was saving an Omastar in Mt. Moon from some idiotic Trainers and Officers who wanted to hurt the poor thing. I was on an emergency call in Vermilion, or I'd have gone to see him... my bet is that he'll come through here after he beats Brock."

There was a pause, James's last words hanging in the air. "You are that sure of him?" James grinned. "Izzy is the strongest kid I know. Those scars motivate him, not belittle him. That day haunts him, without a doubt, but he'll use it as fuel until he's strong enough to prove to you that he can help those who need it, and that he won't be one of them any more." Sabrina nodded, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "It helps to have such... loyal... friends. I will take your friend into the next room, walking him through some simple excercises, and in the meantime, I suggest you go elsewhere." Sabrina motioned to Hakudo to come with her as she walked through the door behind her.

Hakudosi looked at Sabrina while she was busy conversing with James. While the two were conversing, he suddenly heard Sabrina's voice in his head, causing him to jump in surprise. He turned to look at her with a curious expression, realizing that she was using telepathy to speak with him mentally. He pretended like he didn't hear anything for now, at least while James was here, and then followed Sabrina into another room when she motioned for him to follow her.

Sabrina closed th door behind him using telekinesis. "Psychic powers take quite a bit of pracitce to develop, and even more to control them fully. You're lucky in that your Ralts awakened your abilites, but you still need control of them. I'll walk you through a few simple meditation excercises that will help with that, as long as you are consistently doing them." Sabrina explained the process to him, detailing it with mental imagery when words could not. "You're a qiuck learner... but don't let that go to your head. You still need repetition to succeed. Now, show me Karei. I can tell you how strong she may become, if trained correctly, and if there are any TMs or moves you need tutored, I suppose I wouldn't mind doing those as well." Sabrina waited patiently for Hakudo, now interested in this young man's potential.

Hakudoshi looked up at her with a serious expression, nodding his head in agreement with her. While he was mostly a disrespectful brat, Sabrina was willing to train him in his Psychic abilities, as well as help him with Karei, so it would be the stupidest thing he could by acting disrespectful. Without speaking a single word, he placed Karei down on the floor and the Ralts flipped back her green hair as she looked up at Sabrina with a determined, but still slightly snobby expression as she started to glow with a blue aura. Karei was determined to impress this powerful Psychic Trainer and she was going to allow the Saffron City Gym Leader to think she was weak.

Clare looked over at James. "C-can we get out of here? Its kind of scary?" She asked James looking around half her to start floating or something. She slowly started backing off towards the door.

((Sorry on the delay guys, my internet has been... wonky, as of late.))

James sighed, and nodded. "Yeah. Sabrina's probably gonna spend a couple hours, so let's get our tour of the city out of the way." He turned, retracing his steps to the door.

Sabrina looked down at the little Ralts. The blue aura was for show, mostly, but she could see beneath the exterior. In reality, Karei wasn't the strongest Ralts she'd ever seen. Not by a long shot. However, much of Karei's power seemed to lay dormant. Sabrina pulled her eyebrows together. "Karei... is strong. Not overwhelmingly so, but still strong. To awaken more of her power, you absolutely must include her in your meditations. The constant growth of your own abilities should serve as a model, as well as help support her own growth. For now, however, we shall see if she can keep pace with my Abra." Sabrina calmly released Abra from his pokeball, knowing this would be a perfect challenge for the young Trainer and Pokemon."

Clare burst out of the gym shielding her eyes from the sudden sunlight and looking over the giant city again. "So what are you going to show me first?" She asked turning towards James

Hakudoshi looked determined as he nodded at his Ralts. Karei nodded back as she glared at the Abra across from her. Hakudoshi glared at the floating Abra and looked down at his precious Ralts, determined to start this off. "Karei-Chan, start this off with a Double Team and fire a Thunderbolt at the Abra" he ordered his precious childhood friend. Karei nodded as she utilized a Double Team and then blasted a powerful Thunderbolt at the floating Abra.

Sabrina looked calmly at the attack. "Abra, Teleport." Abra teleported across the room, well away from the Thunderbolt. "Now, use Mind Reader to determine which of these is the real Karei." A glowing blue eye shape opened on Abra's head, and looked around before focusing on the real one. "Not bad, but to defeat Abra, you'll need to be faster."

James squinted in the bright light. "Well, we could start with Silph Co. Biggest building in Kanto, it's like, over a hundred floors or something ridiculous. Or we could go see the city's hotel, where we'll be staying. The restaurant on the roof is cool, and the ballroom usually has some kind of performance. Then... well, I've got one more thing, but it's a surprise, for Hakudo, too. That'll be just before dinner. Oh, and of course, there's the mall. Not quite Celadon Department Store-sized, but it's more spread out and pretty fun. So, what do you want to start with?" They had a long couple hours ahead, with a ton of walking. Hopefully she wouldn't trip trying to run from place to place too often.

Clare looked around easily spotting Silph Co. The building was massive towering the rest of the sky scrapers in the city. "Lets go there!" She pointed at the massive building in the distance. "What do they do there? Oh, do you think they will let us on the top floor, that would be amazing!" Clare got behind James and starting pushing him towards the building before he could answer any of the questions. She returned both her pokemon as they walked. "Wouldn't want either of you getting lost!"

James started laughing. "At this rate, you're the one who's going to be lost... Silph Co. deals with most of the technology you see around you. They specialize in research and development, and they tend to be strict on visitors. Even as a Ranger, most of the floors are barred to me. I can check out the stuff directly relating to Pokémon's health and the environment, but that's about it. We might be able to request a view from the President's office... but good luck. He's not easy to impress." James began walking next to Clare, instead of being pushed; he wasn't a huge fan of being touched.

"Wow, so they are a big business not just a building to show off. Anyway, who isn't persuaded by by Vixie and Swablu? They are to cute to say no to!" She looked up, the building was now close enough that you had to crane your neck to see the top, even then it was hard.

James considered being realistic with Clare, but decided to keep his mouth shut. Instead, he pushed the doors to the building open, leading her through them. James turned to the receptionist, showing off his Ranger I.D, and asked her, "Would you do me a favor and take my friend and me on a small tour? We'd be super grateful..." James crossed his fingers as the lady looked at him over the desk, tapping her pen."You're lucky, we just finished a new thermal energy harnessing generator, and we need you to make sure it won't bother any Pokemon. We'll have someone come down to show you around, would you mind waiting a moment?" James shrugged, and walked over, sitting on the edge of the fountain that made up most of the lobby.

Clare let out her Swablu and Vixie who looked around the room in confusion before settling next to clare who was now on the side of the fountain opposite of James."That was lucky of us, to come at such a good time." She looked over at James which gave Vixie and Swablu a chance to walk away. They started playing underneath the receptionist desk, nipping and tackling each other.

Hakudoshi narrowed his eyes in irritation when Abra escaped Karei's Thunderbolt. "Power up a Thunderbolt, but don't use it yet" Hakudoshi ordered his trusted Ralts. Karei did as she was commanded to do and powered up a Thunderbolt, but held it in so she could wait to fire it. 'Teleport to the Abra and fire it at close range' Hakudoshi ordered his Ralts through the power of his Psychic abilities. Karei teleported to the Abra and fired a Thunderbolt at it while it was still close to her.

Sabrina nodded. "That's more like it. Abra, Light Screen!" The small Pokémon put up a protective bubble-like shield around itself, temporarily weakening the damage dealt by Special attacks. At point-blank range, however, the attack still sent Abra flying. "Abra, use Teleport, then Energy Ball!" Abra Teleported to the ceiling, where it fired off a green ball of light at Karei.

"Yeah, I guess... it means I have to leave briefly, however. I'll probably take the journey tonight, and be back by morning." Realizing that Clare would have no idea WHY he was leaving, he immediately began to explain. "My boss prefers that we deliver our reports of these technologies directly to him, with their paperwork. Pierro can make the trip there and back in one night, but it's gonna suck to miss out on sleep. Flying asleep is never a good idea," James admonished, before glancing over at the receptionist's desk, where Clare's Pokémon were playing, and smiling a little.

"Pierro?" Clare looked at James with a questioning look. She continued to follow his gaze over to Vixie and Swablu silently praying that Vixie does not use an Ember attack anytime soon. "Eh, Vixie, Swablu come play over here, we don't want to get in the ladies way when she gets back." The two walked over to Clare continuing to play "You could always sleep wherever it is you need to go, I wouldn't mind staying in the city for an extra day, besides im not in a hurry and it sounds like your not to excited about rushing either.

James nodded. "Pierro. My Skarmory. Kind of obnoxious to people he hasn't met before, which is why I haven't introduced him to either you or Haku. I kind of picked him up accidentally... He was really hurt, and after I nursed him back to health, he wouldn't stop following me around. I was SUPPOSED to leave him there, in his home environment, but after one of the senior Rangers saw how obstinate Pierro was being, they told me just to capture him. He's awesome for getting around, but he's still pretty young and can't carry more than one person yet. Oh, look, I think that's... our... guide?" James was having a hard time putting words together, since the person that had been assigned to give them a tour was a stunningly attractive teen. James closed his eyes, opened them, then closed them again. He began to mutter about how much he wished he was as young as he looked, then opened them. "I really wish they wouldn't have done this. I wanted to be able to focus on the tour." He stood up, and brushed the imaginary dirt off of his pant legs. He gestured towards Clare, as though she should lead the way.

"Hm, Skarmery, thats the big steel bird right?" Clare asked James before a lady came over to them, James noted it was probably there guide. Clare grabbed James's hand dragging him towards the girl, letting go as they neared. "Comon Swablu, Vixie!" Her Pokemon stopped tackling each other and followed her to the girl. The guide was very pretty and around Clare's age. "Hello, I'm Clarise." Clare put her hand in front of her in greeting.

James knew it was pointless to resist Clare dragging him around. The girl shook hands, and replied, "Hi, I'm Kayla! I'll be guiding you today!" Looking around, she made a pouting face, as if she was missing something. As she glanced at James, however, it went away, and a look of comprehension replaced it. "Oh, you must be the Ranger I was told about! You look kind of young to be in uniform, though..." James blushed, and started stammering an explanation. "I... uh, I'm really 15, I just, you know... look younger... I'm James, by the way. It's... ah, nice to m-m-meet you."

Kayla smiled a little at his reaction, and said, rather softly, "Well, isn't that... impressive... It's nice to meet you, James. Now, let's get started on the tour. Starting things off, we'll be headed to our medical R&D area, we have a series of Pokémon Center healing machines currently in development that can allow nurses to heal multiple Trainer's Pokémon at the same time. After, we'll head to the energy department, we have a generator that gains 43% more energy from geothermic sources than the leading model. Of course, we also have to show you the most important thing here... a new drill that doesn't affect the Pokémon around the cave or tunnel we're digging. It removes nearly all of the friction, resulting in much less sound and vibration. If you'll follow me..." She stepped into the elevator, and when James stepped inside, he went to the far left side, allowing Clare to step between them, or to the far right, on the other side of Kayla, if she wished.