"Seriously dude, how are you still the last to be ready? You were up a few hours before any of us." Raz stared at his best friend Zion's door while waiting for the boy to finish getting ready. He remembered how this was the same as last time, only his clothes were different. He still had his old black pants and boots, but now he had a silver hooded T-shirt with a gold pokeball symbol on the chest and silver fingerless gloves.

"I'll just be a few more minutes." Zion was on the other side of the door looking at his clothes. He had finally settled on some blue swim trunks that were long enough he could wear them normally. He also had on a dark blue shirt under a light blue button-up shirt that he had tore all the buttons off of. His goggles were in their usual spot holding his hair up. He looked almost the same as usual, except when he looked at his feet and saw his new shoes that he was gonna wear. His sandals were so worn out, his mother refused to let him take them. His eyes still watered as he still packed them.

"I'm going downstairs then. Hurry so you can eat before we go." Raz turned and went down the stairs to the kitchen where everyone else was, except Rayne and Zion. She was on her way from Pewter so they could leave quicker since the boat they were taking was leaving Pallet Town. Nami had said they had no need to worry, it would wait for them. Raz figured it was really just one of hers that she would have take them. He sighed and sat next to his wife. Kira smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Ready hun?" He smiled at her as he nodded. He saw that her new outfit was still the carbon-copy of his in color. She was wearing a gold T-shirt with a silver pokeball symbol on the stomach. She also had on gold shorts under a silver and black striped shirt and her old black boots. Her hair-clip was in it's spot holding the hair off the right side of her face. They kissed tenderly, but stopped as a giggle started from their other side. They looked and saw their daughter Kir on Gardevoir's lap.

"You think it's funny when we kiss little girl?" The child giggled again and shook her head, making her green pigtails whirl and smack her in the face.

"I like it when you and mommy kiss. It's sweet." She began fidgeting with her dress as she answered, almost like she was embarrassed by the question. She looked down at the new dress and smiled a little. Nami had had it made for her with her choice of colors and everything. It was really a normal dress that went to her knees. It was white with black stripes down the sides. She also had some black pants on under it with white shoes. Her hands and arms were also covered as she wore a pair of white elbow length gloves with a black stripe down the back. Gardevoir sighed and grabbed Kir's hands.

"Stop being so nervous. You'll do fantastic. Have you decided which one you want?" The attempted distraction worked as the girl thought for a second and nodded.

"Yep, I know exactly which one I want." The group stared at her for a second before she shook her head. "It's gonna be a surprise."

Sara sighed and leaned back against the bar. Ken just laughed as he looked out the window. This always confused Raz about his blind friend. He had traded his tan cloak, pants, and shoes for black ones. His shirt and eye-cloth were still a lavender color. He had hit Zion for calling it purple one day, so everyone called it lavender to keep from the same fate. Only Sara still called it purple just to annoy him, but she knew he wouldn't hit a girl, he was too noble to. She had changed her clothes completely, losing the jogging suit. Now she was wearing black shorts with an orange T-shirt with the sleeves cut off. Her black boots were the only thing she kept.

"Rayne is here." Ken turned and listened as the door opened and his sister came in. Almost instantly, everyone gasped in shock. She was wearing a white sleeveless shirt and white shoes. She also had on blue jeans and looked pretty normal. Her hair was what made everyone gasp. The last time they had seen her the week before, her hair was down to the middle of her back in a ponytail. Now it was cut into a punker style, barely touching the top of her ears. It was also spiked up and back.

"What?" Her temperament was almost angry until she saw Ken's confused look. She put an arm over her brother's shoulder before explaining. "I wanted something different. I like it." The others shrugged and went back to their own little conversations while ken felt her head and laughed.

"It works on you." She hugged him before turning to the sound of something falling down the stairs. Everyone turned and saw Zion at the bottom, still pointing at his girlfriend's head with his eyes wide in shock.

"What happened to your hair?! It looks like something attacked you!" The boy quieted when he saw how angry his comment made her. With fear for his life, he ran as she chased him back up the stairs.

"Leave it to Zi to do something stupid. You'd think he would have learned by now." Raz sighed and shook his head. Kir and Gardevoir just laughed at their friend as the pair ran back down and out the doors.

"Sorry!" Rayne finally caught him halfway down the yard and almost started on him. She had her fist raised but didn't bring it down. She sighed and got off of her boyfriend.

"No your not." He could see her pouting lip as she sat there next to him. Instantly, his heart dropped.

"I am. I never meant to hurt your feelings. You know me better then that. If thats the hair you like, then I'm just gonna have to get you to like your old hair better and grow it back." She stared at his comment and began laughing as a look of confidence crossed Zion's face. He really would try to get her to grow it back.

"Don't count on it." He shrugged and hugged her while they went back to the house. Raz and the others were already getting their stuff on their backs. Kir was almost bouncing with anxiousness at getting her own Pokemon partner and competing. She had been practicing with Raz since he and Kira had returned the week before. The thought made her remember their last practice match.

--

"Alright, time for our last practice with my team. Next time, it'll be your first partner against me. Let's go." Raz watched as Kir nodded and threw the ball up, releasing his Houndoom, Grim. She had a fondness for the dog as they often played together.

"I'm ready daddy." Her confidence radiated as her adoptive father tossed his ball up and released Bellossom. She almost giggled as her partner had the advantage.

"I wouldn't be so overconfident. Sweet Scent." The Grass poke started dancing and releasing a red powder that swirled around the field. As soon as Grim caught a sniff, he started to wobble and walk toward the opponent.

"No Grim! Use Flamethrower!" The poke didn't listen as he got to the foe and nudged her with his nose, making her giggle as she pet his head.

"Practice over. That should be something you remember. If a Grass type, goes first and gets Sweet Scent off, your gonna have a hard time coming out of it. Grim can't resist the urge to make her happy so the scent continues." As soon as he finished, the little girl recalled her partner. He did the same and they went inside to get ready to leave the next day.

"I'll make sure to not forget everything. I'm gonna be the best one day, just like you." She hugged onto Raz as he smiled. She did have the talent to be great, he could see that, but at what was still up in the air.

--

"You ready?" Raz looked down at Kir as the group left the house. She looked up to see everyone looking down at her. She let a smile cross her face as she nodded. They walked down to the main road and headed for the ocean near the city. They could see a massive ship already there, and they knew this time, they didn't have to worry about sneak attacks or anything. This time, they could enjoy themselves.

"Let's go win some badges then." They started running toward the ship. Gardevoir scooped up Kir and the pair dashed along with the others as they felt the pure excitement this trip was already full of.

--

"Welcome to the Hoenn region. Our stop will be in 10 minutes at Petalburg City." Raz finished getting everything together as the announcement ended. The others were still finishing breakfast with most of the other passengers.

"What is this feeling of dread? We beat Ian and Team Rocket. Somethings wrong, but what? Maybe I'm just paranoid from having so many run-ins with them. This trip will be different. We will have fun, for Kir's sake." He sat on his bed as the thoughts came out. He didn't even notice that he wasn't alone anymore. Kira sat down next to him and put her arm over his shoulder.

"It will be fun this time. No more worries about Rocket or the past." He smiled and kissed her before nodding.

"Whatever you say boss." They both laughed as the ship announced they were almost to their destination. "Time to have fun and not worry."

--

--

A/N: Hope this is a good begining. I'm going to do this story at a much more leisurely pace since I think the last one wasn't as good as it should have been. So as the group heads to get Kir her first Pokemon, they begin questioning. Who will be challenging the gyms and whose doing contests? Which will Kir decide? And whats the new way to challenge the gyms? Find out some of this next time. See ya later.