A/N: Hello this is Alana Catherine Sky. Been awhile since I posted here, and yeah life hasn't been too kind. Got some encouragement from some close friends to continue this. This chapter is only part 1 of the whole Mt Moon story though so stay tuned for the next part. It won't take this long for part two I promise. Without any further delay let's get into this. Once again thank you for reading and leave any commets or criticisms in the reviews.
The sun rose and shone against the soft snow shining brilliantly creating a beautiful scene. It was a beautiful ocean of white, a luminous portrait of crystals. Melody smiled, snapping as many photos as she could. She hadn't been in Kanto for very long, but it was worth all of the time it took to get here. Traveling through this region has been an amazing journey so far! This was something that she could never see back home. After getting her pictures, Melody drank in the scenery one more time before returning to the cave she'd taken shelter in. There was a lonely sheet of paper chilling just by her tent. There was a smoking pot, which she walked up to. She leaned down and stirred it a couple of times then sipped it. Her body shuddered as warmth rose in her body, making her feel tingly inside. Melody put the ladle off to the side and entered her little tent. Eve and Bubbles were curled up next to each other sleeping together. The Squirtle was retracted into his shell snoring softly, while Eevee was curled up using him as a makeshift pillow. Ah, they were so cute together, but they needed to get up. She gently shook the two, waking them up slowly. Eve let out a lazy-sounding grunt, which earned a pouting expression from Melody.
"Eve, you wanted 5 more minutes 30 minutes ago! It's time to get up. You too Bubbles, it's almost breakfast time."
Bubbles shot out of his shell and darted out of the tent towards the pot, depriving Eve of her pillow and exposing her to the cold floor. Eve whined, but slowly uncurled herself giving Melody an annoyed look. In response, Melody picked her up and took her from the tent. The enclosure that she had picked was spacious with plenty of room for her little campsite. Some geodudes were rolling around doing their thing, but she mostly had the cave to herself. Melody herself had dressed for the weather. She was wearing a heavy blue coat with a floral design, matching gloves, and black snow pants. To top off the outfit she had black boats on as well. She took three small bowls from her bag and distributed the soup between them. She clasped her hands together for a couple of moments. After the quick prayer, she attacked the savory soup that she'd made. Drinking it down she let out a happy sigh. It was so refreshing! She made a mental note to thank Alana for providing her with the recipe.
While she was enjoying her soup she heard a small fluttering above her. Her curiosity caught hold of her causing her to look up. It was a Zubat? She'd seen a ton of them on the way here… but not one that looked like this. Instead of the normal purple, this one was green! They always seemed to travel in groups… Melody looked up and around the cave for the rest of its pack. That was strange, not another Zubat in sight. It seemed to be interested in the soup that she'd made. It fluttered around Melody, then the pot, then pulled up away towards the ceiling, and back to the pot. Melody prepared a fourth bowl and offered it to the Zubat. It fluttered back and forth for a bit, but ultimately wouldn't fully approach. In response, she stood up and walked about a foot and a half away from where her team was sitting. She set the bowl down and returned to her food. The Zubat cautiously approached the bowl, flying around it before it began to dig in. Melody chuckled lightly, finishing her food. After doing this, she packed the rest of the food into a thermostat and started packing up the camp. She gestured to Eve and Bubbles and they came running. Eve took her place on Melody's head, and Bubbles elected to walk on his own.
Melody took them deeper into the cave scribbling on a piece of paper. This cave had several paths leading to various dead ends. The paper she was holding had a layout with multiple paths leading to dead ends. Melody came to a fork in the road and tapped her hand on her head.
"It's your turn to pick a path, Eve," Melody said.
Eve closed her eyes and randomly picked the left path. Melody drew a line to where they were according to the map and took the left path. The way down that path was steep and going down which Melody noted. She hoped this wasn't another dead end. It would be so taxing climbing back up this path. Man if only Alana was here, maybe she wouldn't be lost here. Well, at least the mountain was beautiful. She'd need to upload all of the pictures to her personal box after she got to Cerulean City, she was running out of room on her phone.
"Oh hey, are you a trainer?"
Melody's head whipped towards the voice. Just in front of her, a trainer had walked up. Another person! That had to be a good sign. She was making some progress.
"Yeah, I'm trying to get to Cerulean. Haven't had much luck."
"Well, I could point ya in the right direction… if you're willing to battle me for it."
"We've already crossed our eyes haven't we?"
"Good point, go Geodude!"
"Eve-"
She was cut off as Bubbles jumped forward instead. He turned his head back towards Melody and flashed a thumbs up to her and Eve. Bubbles had been hogging all the battles lately. To the point, he'd even evolved recently. From a Squirtle into a Wartortle. He was catching up to Eve fast. She contemplated calling him back but decided to just roll with it. If he wanted to battle more she wouldn't stop him. Eve didn't seem to mind very much either. She seemed to be enjoying the atmosphere of this mountain a bit more.
"Geodude use Rock Throw."
"Bubbles counter with withdraw."
Wartortle retreated into his shell as a rock flew right into him. The attack did little damage, this guy wasn't nearly as tough as Brock's Pokemon. Melody realized that this guy was probably a rookie trainer, and felt a bit bad for accepting his challenge so readily.
"Bubbles use water gun."
A blast of water came shooting from the shell colliding with the Geodude. That experience battling Brock was paying off. Unfortunately, this guy didn't seem to be as good as Brock was. His Geodude was a lot slower and didn't seem as tough. The Geodude was shot back by the force of the water gun colliding with a wall.
"Bubbles keep up the pressure with bubblebeam."
Bubbles popped out of his shell and unleashed a swarm of bubbles at the Geodude. The kid had no chance. The attack made contact with it and quickly knocked it out. Bubbles ran up to Melody and jumped up for a high-five. She smiled and clapped hands with her partner. The boy sighed and returned his Geodude to his Pokeball. Melody smiled and approached him. He grumbled and passed Melody a bit of poke. 57 poke wasn't a ton, but it would add up after a while. She'd already made about 400 so far. Pretty good for about two weeks traveling through this place. It seemed like most people on the mountain used rock types up here.
"Well, I should have expected that from someone with a badge. Maybe you're good enough to take on Misty. I'm on my way to Pewter City, I've got a better chance of winning over there."
"Ah, that? It's no big deal. There are a lot tougher trainers out there. I'm not even the best person I know. So where am I heading?"
"You were on the right track. Just keep following this path and you'll end up at a little camp set up by the Nurse core." The boy said rubbing the back of his head and smiling. "Oh and watch out. There's another pretty strong training going through the mountain near here too. He wiped the floor with me a bit earlier too."
Melody smiled and waved toward the guy before carrying on down the path. While she carried on the green Zubat from before peeked out from behind a wall fluttering after Melody from above. She would hum to herself as her little pal followed her from above. She reached up to her head and stroked Eve's head.
"Thank goodness. No chance of getting chased down the mountain by a group of Geodudes." She said in a sing-song tone.
Eve and Bubbles gave Melody a deadpanned look which caused Melody to laugh awkwardly, blush, and put her hand on the back of her neck.
"Hey in my defense it felt like a pretty comfortable look, and you guys didn't help much. I'm pretty sure they didn't appreciate getting drenched Bubbles."
It was Wartortle's time to blush as Eve and Melody had a bit of a laugh at his expense. It took a while to make it to the camp but she was super happy to see a place she could hang out safely. The camp was pretty basic all things considered. There was a clearing to pitch up tents, and a small natural spring to get water. There seems to be a couple of people there at the moment that Melody guessed were other trainers. The last thing of note was a red tent with a Pokeball symbol on it. That must be where the main nurse was. As she walked towards the tent her little tag-along followed until she went inside. It hummed lightly before floating to the ceiling.
"Hello anyone in there?".
"I don't recognize that voice. You another new trainer? Come on in any way. The main nurse is out, but I can help you out." A voice called out.
Melody entered the tent and looked around. It was stocked with various medical supplies like potions, antidotes, berries, and the works. She could see some basic food as well and a small healing machine too. Sitting on the ground was a guy in a windbreaker-style coat and snow pants. There was a Jigglypuff beside him with what looked like a microphone in its hand. He made eye contact with her and smiled.
"Name's Wilson. Training to become a nurse. This is my partner Puff. Nice to meet ya." He says in a friendly tone.
"Call me Melody. I'm just traveling around the world trying to see all the mysteries of the world. These are my partners Eve and Bubbles." Melody replies with a wave. "Heading towards Cerulean City to get the Cascade badge from Misty."
"Oh, another one taking the gym challenge. There's a nice guy staying at the camp here on his way there too."
"Hey, Wilson! Bulbasaur just evolved! Had to show you as soon as I could."
"Speak of the devil."
Jackson busted into the tent with a huge smile on his face. An Ivysaur, Nidorina, and a Geodude followed him in. He stopped looking confused at another person being there for a moment, but he quickly went back to smiling as he greeted Melody. While he was doing that Ivysaur excitedly ran up to Wartortle finally reuniting with him. The two ran off together to catch up as their trainers did as well.
"Hey, Melody! Didn't think I'd meet you here. Thought you'd be closer to Cerulean by now. Alana said you'd gotten a couple of days ahead of me."
"Well uhh." Melody deadpanned and looked off. Memories of getting lost over and over flashed into her head. Seems like she'd lost a couple of days up here. Well, there goes her little lead over everyone. "I got a little lost up here."
"Oh, you didn't get a map at base camp?"
"I did, but it got blown away on my way up. I've just been winging it, to be honest."
"Hehe looks like it. Don't worry, I got lost pretty bad in Viridian's Forest delayed me pretty bad." Jackson said snickering. "Well, we're pretty close to the summit now. Want to go the rest of the way together?"
"Sure! I'm down to travel with you for a bit. Specially if it would make getting down this mountain easier." Melody said with a grin. "Actually this is pretty nice. Wanted to you to come along in the forest. We can get to know each other."
"Ah but first, you still owe me a battle, Melody. Don't think I forgot that." Jackson pointed directly at Melody. "You're battling the future champion of the Kanto league. Better hold on to your socks 'cause I'm going to knock you right out of them."
"Alright, Jackson I'm game. Let's heal up our teams and go at it."
"Please don't battle in this clearing. It's a no-battle zone." Wilson interjected. "If you're going to battle please leave the encampment for now. Of course, you're welcome back after you're done. Good luck Jackson."
After a quick healing of their respective teams, the two young trainers quickly bolted out of the camp and a bit deeper into the cavern. After running for a bit they stopped and faced each other. Even though she was at a bit of a disadvantage here Melody stayed confident. She was going to have fun with this. But who should she start with? She'd need to guess what Jackson would start with. On his team were a Geodude, Nidorana, and his Ivysaur. He led with Nidoran last time, but that was probably because he was anticipating for Alana to lead with Fefnir. So naturally… she picked one of her balls from her waist and Jackson did the same. The small green Zubat from before fluttered into the cave and perched itself above the two. Rearing back the two threw their balls at each other and they met in midair. They opened to reveal Ivysaur and Eve. Melody pumped her fist excitedly.
"Alright let's do this Jackson. Eve's my oldest partner! Let's get this started go for the classic rushing boost." Melody said.
Jackson seemed confused by this command while Eve quickly rushed forwards kicking up sand to obscure his and Ivysaur's vision. While this happened, Eve boosted her stats with work up. Realizing the potential danger of letting his opponent obscure his vision, Jackson moved to disrupt her play.
"Ivysaur, I know we can't see her but try to disrupt her strategy with Razor Leaf. Spread the attack thin."
Ivysaur nodded then shook its body creating several leaves. They flew through the sand cloud cutting through the area. Despite not being able to aim directly at Eve a couple of the leaves did end up slashing her due to his tactic. Dang Jackson adapted pretty fast. Melody silently signaled Eve to keep boosting herself up and repositioned herself to get a better angle so she could attack Ivysaur easier.
"Alright Eve time to go on the offensive. Use Swift, aim straight ahead of you."
"Get out of the way Ivysaur."
Eve gathered multiple stars and shot them toward the grass Pokemon. It nimbly hopped out of the way, but to Jackson's surprise, they curved in midair and started to follow him. Ivysaur also seems pretty surprised by the move as well.
"Gotcha. Eve use quick attack. Cut off his escape options."
"Ivysaur counter with stun spore."
Melody flinched. That was a pretty good counterplay. Melody's pincer attack worked perfectly dealing critical damage to Ivysaur and sending him flying in the air, but Eve was paralyzed in the process. That wasn't going to be very good for the rest of the battle, but she did have a way out. She'd like to deal with Ivysaur first. A 2 vs 1 was more manageable than a 3 vs 1 after all.
"Ivysaur follow that up with vine whip, tie Eve down to reduce its movements. Then use razor leaf."
While he was flying through the air, Ivysaur quickly recovered and shot its vines out toward Eve. She tried to move out of the way, but the paralysis kicked in causing her to trip. The vines wrapped her up restricting her further. Melody bit her lip, she couldn't rely on Eve's speed here. She inspected Ivysaur's condition, he landed with a slight limp and took a little time to start up his razor leaf. The combination attack had been mostly successful. Maybe one… no two good hits. Seeing Eve's condition she could still take quite a bit of punishment. Well, time for a game of chicken. The leaves battered Eve doing moderate damage and she turned to Melody for direction and in return, she smiled. Turning back to the battle Eve kicked up a plume of sand to obscure Jackson and Ivysaur's vision again while Melody quickly repositioned herself again.
"Eve attack with swift again," Melody commanded.
Jackson saw the sand attack go up again and his expression went serious. Obstructing the vision of an enemy trained was a good tactic. He'd have to consider that for his future battles. He couldn't see anything at this angle and Ivysaur needed direction as well. So Jackson also moved locations to get a better view as well. Albeit, a bit late. The stars slammed into Ivysaur through the sand. The vines came loose, but Ivysaur managed to hang on. One more attack should do it now.
"Eve finish Ivysaur off with Tackle."
"Ivysaur poison powder."
Oof that was one more status condition, and poison to boot. That would only make Eve suffer more the longer she stayed in battle. It was a pretty good tactic using the spores as reactionary defenses. He must have been training a lot since his loss to Alana on Route 2. It was exciting. Eve managed to fight through paralysis and ran up to the grass type. She crashed into him but got a face full of poisonous spores. Eve would be poisoned, but Ivysaur would be knocked out cold. Jackson would return Ivysaur to his Pokeball after commending him for his work. He paused and tossed out his second Pokeball. It was his Geodude. Melody smiled excitedly. She'd been working on this move for a while! She raised Bubbles ball to her hand and gave him a nod. Bubbles nodded back and got ready.
"That strategy with the sand was pretty cool Melody. Geodude use Mud Sport. Aim for Eevee's eyes." Jackson commanded.
"Eve now use quick pass." Melody countered.
Fighting through paralysis Eve jumped forward with a burst of speed. Jackson's eyes narrowed, what was she planning? Geodude's defenses were too good for a quick attack to do much damage. Keeping Eve out wouldn't be too smart with the condition she was in. One more solid shot should do it here.
"Geodude counterattack with rock throw."
Jackson looked up to check Melody's expression and instantly felt that something was off. Her expression still seemed confident. She seemed happy. A chill went down his spine. He must have miscalculated. Lo and behold just before Eve and the rock connected she disappeared back into her Pokeball and in a flash of red light Bubbles came out of his ball instantly blasting Geodude with a powerful Water gun attack. Unable to react the rock type was KO'd in one move. Jackson punched the air with excitement.
"Holy… what type of move was that? That was awesome!" He said shouting.
"Well, it's not really a move, but it's a tactic that I learned from my family. It's a move called baton pass which passes on boosts to another pokemon. It's a surprising tactic for most." Melody explains.
"Ah, so that's what you were doing in that sand cloud. That was a killer strategy. Totally didn't see it coming… anyway looks like we're down to our last Pokemon."
"Yep, I don't intend on holding back either."
Jackson threw out his Nidorina to face off against Bubbles. There was a moment of silence as the four-faced off. Finally, Bubbles started with an enhanced bubblebeam, while Nidorina countered with protect. Moving in closer she followed it up with Fury Swipes which prompted Bubbles to retract into his shell with Withdraw. His legs popped out after he was pushed back and he launched himself right into her head. Melody and Jackson were calling out commands and cheering on their respective pokemon. Alas, her strategy to boost Bubbles paid off in the end. Nidorina finally ran out of energy and collapsed to the floor. Jackson rubbed the back of his head and commended her for her performance in the battle. On the opposite side, Melody high-fived Bubbles passionately. That had been a rousing success!
"Dang and I was on a bit of a winning streak there," Jackson said sighing. He reached into his wallet and handed Melody two hundred Poke. "Though using multiple moves in tandem is a pretty good idea… wagh!"
The weird-colored zubat divebombed Jackson darting in and out of his reach bumping him on the head multiple times. Jackson swatted at the Pokemon multiple times yelling as he tried to get the bat away from his body. Melody couldn't help but burst into a fit of giggles. While the Zubat mauled Jackson one of his pokeballs came loose from his belt and fell to the ground. Melody stopped giggling long enough to reach down to grab it. On closer inspection, there was a Pokemon in there. The bat finally stopped attacking Jackson and fluttered over to Melody excitedly. Melody leaned forward towards Jackson with a sly smile.
"Did you hold back on me so I'd win Jackson? Didn't know you were the type."
Jackson froze when he saw the ball in Melody's hand. She handed it off to him and he placed it back on his belt. He reached into his pocket and produced a comb, fixing his frazzled hair.
"Uhhh that guy is a special case. I can't really use her up here." He said blushing and laughing nervously. "Bought her off this guy that said he was selling a super rare Pokemon. Turns out she can't fight on land and the jerk ran off with my money before I could say anything. What's with the weird Zubat?"
The Zubat didn't seem to like that statement very much. It screeched in an annoying tone at Jackson, but a couple of head pats from Melody calmed it down.
"I don't know. Think it's been following us for a bit. Just noticed it this morning and we shared breakfast. Hey little guy are you lost? Do you have anywhere to go back to?"
The bat-like Pokemon didn't answer. Instead, it quickly flew away back towards the ceiling. Must be a shy little guy. Jackson and Melody made their way back to the small camp to get their respective teams healed. After checking in with the nurse in training the two sat by the small spring. Their Pokemon played together as they chilled. The small Zubat would occasionally swoop down to play with the assembled crew.
"So I'm journeying to be champion, but why are you traveling around Melody?" Jackson asked breaking the silence.
"Oh me? I'm just journeying around to see the world." Melody said staring off into the lake wistfully. "Wanted to start my journey somewhere unfamiliar and Kanto was the closest."
"Heh didn't have you pegged for a foreigner. That means you come from Johto right? Where are you from?"
"A place called Ecruteak City. I grew up in a theater. That's how I first met Eve." She said smiling in her direction. "I raised her from an egg. We've been together for years. She's my closest friend."
"A theater huh? You battle like a champ though."
"Heh, flattery will get you nowhere Jackson. I'm not that good. At least compared to my mom and aunts. They're really strong." Melody informed him. "Ecruteak City is a deeply mythical city. I grew up hearing so many legends about the world. I want to see if they're real or not. Maybe pass down my own tales someday."
"So you're in it for the journey huh? That's cool but not as cool as my dream." Jackson said closing his eyes and tilting his head up. Melody's face twitched in annoyance at his general dismissal of her explanation. "To be the very best like no one ever was. That's where I'm going. It's such a rush when you're matching wits with an opponent exchanging blows and strategies. That's why battling is so fun."
Melody stayed silent to Jackson on his dream. Sure battling was fun, but just being the best without any other goals? It honestly seemed a little boring in her opinion. Way more generic than what she'd expected. She couldn't knock his enthusiasm and passion though. That was infectious. The way he battled was pretty great too. Reminded her of her dad's old friend back home. She briefly wondered if he'd visited while she was away. Missing a potential visit hurt, but she was on her own journey now. Her thoughts floated to the possibility of seeing him at some point. She snapped back to reality and flipped up to her feet. Enough thinking about stuff like that. It was time to get on the move.
"You all rested up? Cause I'm ready to head out. I'm sure you want to get to Cerulean for your next badge right?"
The two would start their descent of Mt Moon after restocking their supplies. They covered a good distance working together. The scenery in the caves they passed through was was gorgeous. Black crystals covered the ceiling sparkling with the splendor of the night sky. Melody's eyes sparkled as she drank in the sight and she took her camera from her back to snap a couple of pictures. She was going to have so much material for her scrapbook. While she was enjoying the scenery, Jackson's eyes picked up on something else. A group of familiar people in black uniforms scouting around. He roughly yanked Melody behind a rock to her general annoyance.
"What the hell?
"Shhhhh."
Jackson pointed in the direction of those people. Melody gasped sharply. It was Team Rocket! The blazen R's on their chest gave them away. She remembered running into two of them in the forest with Alana. What were they doing all the way up here? Probably getting into trouble or something. Still, they were dangerous. It was best to just steer clear of them entirely.
"Crap, well there goes the shortcut. Think we'll be able to double back and find another path forward?" Melody whispered to Jackson
His head whipped around at Melody giving her a look of utter shock. As if that was the most absurd thing that he'd heard all day. Jackson's eyes narrowed to scan Melody to see if she were serious before widening after realizing that she was. His expression hardened a bit till he turned back to gazing at the Rocket operatives.
"That's Team Rocket. They're a bunch of thieves and smugglers. They're causing all sorts of trouble around the region. We can't just let them do whatever they want."
"Yeah but it's none of our business. They could just be traveling themselves. Besides, that's a job for the police." Melody reasoned. She remembered how much trouble two grunts had given her and Alana in the forest. If they had lost Eve, Bubbles, Fefnir, Kitty, and Dragna would all be gone. Running into a direct confrontation with them like this was just stupid.
"Can you get a signal up here? Besides, do you really need a reason to stop bad people from doing bad things?" He asked, turning back to Melody. "Team Rocket goes around hurting Pokemon and Trainers for their benefit. They're the worst type of people."
Melody opened her mouth to protest, but her thoughts were cut off as she heard a distressed screech. The trainer's heads whipped back towards the operatives. During their little argument, the operatives had noticed the off-color Zubat that had been flying around. It fluttered around crying out as they aimed several attacks at it. Melody placed her hand on Eve's Pokeball but paused to access the situation. There were two operatives, one with a Geodude and the other with a Ratata. She could probably down the Geodude in one hit-
"Ivysaur Razor Leaf," Jackson said cutting Melody's thought process short.
Jackson throws his Pokeball straight toward the grunts jumping out from behind the rock and rushing to confront them. His Ivysaur flew out of the container summoning several leaves to pelt the Geodude dealing critical damage to it and surprising the grunts. Melody sighed and through Eve into the fray as well.
"Eve back him up and take out that Ratata."
The Geodude went down, and the Ratata was now occupied with Eve so it couldn't help its trainer who was quickly being wrapped up by vines coming from Ivysaur. The team rocket grunts struggled furiously while the Eevee made quick work of their remaining Pokemon. She quickly jumped back up on Melody's shoulder rubbing her cheek against her affectionately. Jackson walked up to the grunts and kneeled. While he was doing this she focused on the Zubat. Melody reached into her pack and produced a small potion spraying it on the pokemon's wounds. In just a few seconds the bat was up and flying around energetically again. The off-color pokemon buzzed around Melody's head excitedly.
"Calm down, calm down are you okay?"
The bat pokemon fluttered spastically all over the ceilings earning a small giggle from Melody. Yeah, it seemed to be alright. She was a bit relieved, but still, Team Rocket was a bit worrying. They tried to steal from other trainers and assaulted Pokemon in the wild? That was bad, she was surprised that she hadn't heard of them before Viridian Forest. They must be localized to Kanto or something. It was a bit strange there were a ton of gangsters sharing a single banner. Jackson walked back over with Ivysaur in tow. The two grunts were tied up and sleeping, he probably had his Ivysaur put them to sleep with sleep powder.
"Alright so apparently these guys are scouts. They said something about us regretting messing with them. Their boss is in the mountain somewhere looking for ancient fossil Pokemon. We gotta stop them!" He said holding up two communicators. "I think we can track their movements with these, or you know hear what they're up to."
Melody just kind of stared at Jackson with a deadpan expression. Stop them? Hadn't they already done enough just taking out the two of these grunts? However, Jackson had a point. There was no way any officer could get up here in time, and they were actively hurting wild Pokemon. That was just unforgivable. People were supposed to live alongside their Pokemon as partners. They were supposed to dance with them, connect with them, and generally just live the ups and downs of life alongside them. People who'd intrude upon that were villains. She hesitated for a second but looked at Eve. She would be heartbroken if she lost her. She remembered how scared Alana looked when those two grunts attacked them in the forest. Other people and pokemon must have been feeling like that. Melody swallowed her reluctance and took the small communicator from Jackson.
"Alright, just this one time. Let's do this."
A/N: Alright that was part one of the Mt moon adventure. Now we're going to have the dynamic duo of Jackson and Melody facing off against team rocket in part 2! Sorry for not posting for awhile, been busy with a new job and just establishing myself in a new place, but I'm sure the next chapter won't take as long to put out. Well with that out of the way this is Alana signing off.
