Hi, guys. I'll be posting today and tomorrow, but after that, I probably won't be able to post again until next Sunday.

Man, I hate it when summer activities make plans go all wonky...

Chapter 26 - Lunch Break

"Now!"

"Leaf Storm!" Khrista exclaimed, summoning a flurry of leaves from out of nowhere and hurling them at her target in a swirling mass. The dummy Sharpedo was instantly shredded by the attack, causing the stuffing to come poking out of multiple holes.

Leaf, who was sitting nearby, gave a nod of approval. "Not bad for a first try. Your charging time could be a problem if you're planning on using it in the near future, but with practice, you should be able to master it in no time."

"Right," Khrista agreed, nodding, she relaxed her stance, and her shirt changed from green to the usual dull red. A moment later, however, there was a bright flash on her chest, causing the brown-haired teen looked down.

"Uh...that wasn't there before," she noted.

"No, it wasn't," agreed a Flareon, coming over with Vapor and a Jolteon. He looked up at the sphere that had appeared on Khrista's shirt. "It looks like a Master Ball."

"But it's yellow," the Jolteon pointed out.

The Flareon turned to face his Electric-Type counterpart. "Does it matter what color it is?" he demanded, sounded angered.

"Hey, calm down," Vapor stated, placing his tail on the Flareon's back. "The color of a sphere isn't what matters." He looked up at his Trainer. "What does is why it appeared in the first place."

"It looks like it might help in telling whether or not I'm using my powers," Khrista guessed, frowning. She looked over at the Flareon curiously, then felt her gut shift as her mimicking ability became active.

A moment later, her shirt shifted into a brighter, more vibrant red, and the yellow Master Ball vanished in a flash.

"Yup." The brown-haired girl gave a nod. "Looks like it makes a difference between Fire and when my abilities aren't active." Khrista turned her blue eyes in the Flareon. "What do you say? Can we work on my Fire attacks next?"

The Flareon nodded. "But we're going to need lunch first - follow me!" He took off towards the cave tunnel, running past Red and Pika. The rest of the Eeveelutions followed after the Fire-Type, leaving Khrista behind.

"Flare's right," Red called out through the cave. "You're probably not going to be able to do much with Fire-Type attacks on an empty stomach."

Khrista opened her mouth in order to respond, only to hear a growling noise come from her stomach. The teen's blue eyes drifted down, and she blinked as her shirt shifted back to the dull red.

A sheepish smirk came over her face.

"Yeah, I guess so," Khrista remarked, looking back up at Red. "Which way to the food?"

Red gave a wry smile, then took off into the tunnel.

Khrista, momentarily thrown off by his sudden burst of speed, became panicked and took off after him, yelling, "Hey! Wait up!"

Red's laughter echoed through the tunnel ahead of Khrista, but the teen soon caught sight of the back of his red jacket and managed to pour on the speed in order to catch up with him. The two took a turn in the tunnel that Khrista hadn't seen before, and a moment later they came out into another cavern that looked identical to the one Khrista had entered when she had arrived in Deep Coronet.

Only, this room had tables scattered around the cavern instead of one large long table, and there was food everywhere. Trainers and Pokemon alike were gathered around the tables, and mulling around the cavern, eating and chatting with one another.

"Wow..." Khrista murmured, looking around the cavern. She turned to look at Red and ask him something, but the Trainer had already taken off for a group of waving figures.

This left Khrista standing alone with a somewhat bemused expression on her face.

The teen let out a sigh and shrugged. "Well, food's food," she remarked. With that, she trotted over to an empty table, found a clean plate and loaded it with a couple ham sandwiches (well, it looked like ham, at least), a couple Oran Berries (just to try them out of curiosity), and a small, plastic bottle of water.

"Now to just find out where to sit..." Khrista turned slowly, looking around the room in order to find a place where she could sit near friends - or, perhaps, possible friends. If she didn't find anybody, she'd just sit down at the empty table she stood by now.

"Hey, kid! You look like you're looking for something."

Khrista stiffened when she heard the voice echo in her head, and she turned sharply in order to find out where the source of it was. Her eyes widened, and she tilted her head back in order to see who it was that had spoken.

"Rayquaza?" Khrista asked in awe, looking up with wide eyes.

The green dragon gave a sharp-toothed grin. "I've been going by Ray for a while, now - there are a lot of Rayquaza in the area already, and someone needs to be able to tell us apart." Ray's head came down, and the dragon looked Khrista over with one eye. "I heard you've got more to you than when we last saw each other."

Khrista gave a sheepish grin. "Did news travel fast?"

"Among Pokemon - I don't know if the Trainers are aware of it yet."

"Well, they might soon." Khrista sent a sidelong glance in Red's direction; the Kanto Trainer was talking animatedly. "Red was watching me while I was working with Leaf. Her Flareon brother is going to be next."

Ray gave a nod. "Get the basics out of the way first. Not a bad idea."

"You can thank Vapor for that. He gathered other Eeveelutions so that I could get them out of the way first." Khrista gave a smirk, but that soon faded. "Thing is, though, that doesn't cover all the Types, and while Gangrene did teach me about Ghost-Types, that pretty much covers my 'outside the Eevees' training." Khrista shrugged. "There's a lot of stuff that I still have to cover before I've gone through all the Types."

Ray retracted his head so that he could look at Khrista with both eyes. He cocked it to one side. "I think that I can assist you in that."

Khrista looked up at the Dragon/Flying-Type in surprise. "Really?"

The Rayquaza gave a nod. "Yes. Once you've gotten the other Types out of the way, then I can show you how to use Dragon attacks...and Draco Meteor."

A large grin broke out on Khrista's face. "Thanks, Ray! I'll make sure to look for you as soon as I finish with the others."

Ray gave a nod, then turned his head slightly as though he had heard something. "I'd better get going. Drake's Druddigon is causing problems again."

Khrista gave a nod in return, then watched her Rayquaza fly off. Then, suddenly remembering that she was holding a full plate and bottle of water still, she sat down at the empty table and started eating.

As Khrista was getting through her first sandwich, a voice behind her asked, "Mind if I join you?"

Khrista looked up and almost choked on her mouthful out of surprise, but resisted the urge in order to keep from ruining the other's appearance.

"Not at all," she responded after swallowing.

"Thanks!"

A girl in a dark green dress that matched her eyes plopped down next to Khrista. Her pink puffball - a Jigglypuff - took an open seat next to the red-haired girl.

After giving an Oran Berry to the Pokemon, Green asked, "You're Khrista, right? The girl who got away from the torture building up there?"

Khrista nodded, her surprise increasing. "How did you know?"

The Kanto Trainer smirked. "News of your arrival has spread faster than a Charizard running from a rainstorm. Almost everybody knows already."

"Really?" Khrista was intrigued. "And who'd you hear it from?"

"Misty and her Pokemon have been spreading the news around for the past hour. I didn't think that the Water-Type Trainer could be such a gossip." Green's smirk widened into a grin. "The Pokemon are certainly excited about meeting someone who knows White."

"Might know," Khrista corrected. "I'm pretty sure that there isn't anybody in my neighborhood who goes by that name - as far as I know." She took another bite of her sandwich when a thought occurred to her. "How did you guys get this much food down here? Wouldn't that be a bit difficult living underground?"

"The Exploration Teams and Elite Four groups have been raiding nearby towns, so food isn't a problem." Green picked up a sandwich from her plate and nibbled on it a little. "What exactly were you doing with all those Eeveelutions, anyway? You know you can't take all of them as a team wherever you go."

"I know that," Khrista responded. "They're just helping me out with something."

"And you need all eight?"

Khrista smiled nervously. "News'll probably spread of why soon enough. Red and Pika have seen me working already - maybe you can try and get it out of him?"

Green frowned. "There's no way he's going to talk."

Khrista shrugged. "Well, sorry, but he was the one who wanted to see why I needed a place to train by myself." She gave a wry smile out of embarrassment.

"But you are the last kid through." Green pointed the crust of her sandwich at Khrista as though it were some accusing finger.

Khrista gave a nod, then took a bite out of her second sandwich and swallowed. "Yup. That's what I've heard, anyway. Ash said that they were planning on using me to get to White, but they'll never get a chance now." She grinned.

Green grinned back and was about to say something else when a Pokemon's call echoed through the cavern.

"Khrista!" the Flareon bellowed. "Are we gonna train or are you gonna sit there and talk?!"

Khrista looked over in the direction of the Flareon, then called, "I'm coming, Flare!" She grinned at Green. "Gotta go. Can't keep the Pokemon waiting."

"Good luck with that," the Kanto Trainer responded, smirking.

Khrista gave a nod, then got up from her chair and jogged towards the tunnel, finishing off the sandwich with one hand and carrying the Oran Berries and water bottle in the other.

Green exchanged glances with her Jigglypuff as Khrista ran off. Both looked somewhat confused, but knowing expressions soon followed as they turned to look in the way Khrista had gone.

"What is that kid?" Green muttered.

I know it's short, but...there really isn't anything I'm going to do about it now.