Welcome to Gaia! ::

Seth had to admit, for a recluse away from civilization, Lugia's Whirl Island home was very impressive - it could probably hold two New Bark Town's stacked together . . . but this thought was soon cut short, as Lugia emerged from behind the water wall, the powerful water parting like a curtain to let the legend through.
Seth and Diego almost instantly began to bow, Lugia practically radiating royalty, but they quickly decided that, if the Diving Pokemon was addressing Seth by his first name and was speaking to him rather like an equal, that might offend him a little, so instead they simply stood, and listened. At Lugia's command, the trainer blinked down at the Silver Wing he still held in his hands, the shine of before gone now that it had lead the boy to the Diving Pokemon - he turned the object over in his hands for a moment, before nodding to himself and ascending the altar, pressing the downy wing into the indentation as softly but as firmly as he could manage.

:: Pokemon Roster ::

Seth quirked an eyebrow as the sound of running water reached his ears, only for him to look down and notice the water beginning to encroach his feet. He cursed, realizing only now what Lugia was apologizing for, and it was as his mind began to whirl (no pun intended) looking for ideas, whilst Diego clambered on top of Seth's head and watched fearfully as the water continued to rise. "Lugia, I swear, if I die, I'm going to kill you."

There was no real malice behind the threat, only an increasing sense of panic which Seth was struggling to quash even as the water reached his chest - he eventually decided that if he was going to get out of this alive, he'd need his cards on the table, and so he plunged a hand underwater, grabbing Toby's Poke Ball; one press of a button later, and the Totodile had leaped onto Seth's shoulder, watching in alarm as the water continued to rise. By now, Seth was having to use his legs and arms to keep his head from submerging, but he had plenty of time before he got too tired to keep up - though most of that time would be spent drowning, as the water level continued to rise.

'OK, OK . . . water comes in through the cracks in the walls, meaning that the water is coming from outside - meaning that if I can break through the wall, I can get out!' This thought gave him purpose, and with that purpose, he swum over to the nearest wall, kicking at it to see how solid it was.
Too solid. And the water had nearly filled the chamber by now.
If Seth hadn't been so focused on a plan to get over to the other wall, he might have noticed that Toby was glowing.

Instead, the young trainer had ducked his head underwater, finding it easier to swim submerged than with his head poking in the air, and he got about halfway before he had to come up for air again - what precious little was left, anyway. There was about six centimeters of space left before the cavern filled completely now, and he gulped as much air as he could before ducking down again - but the cavern was wide, impossibly wide, and he could feel his lungs beginning to burn just a few meters away from the wall; before he felt his arm being seized by a powerful hand, and he was pulled to the wall. His vision was beginning to go, but he could see something blue, yellow and red . . . but Toby wasn't yellow . . .

His eyes widened as he took in the sight of the Croconaw grinning at him with all forty-eight of his teeth, and Seth still found time to send the Big Jaw Pokemon a thumbs-up (which the croc returned) before he start kicking at the wall, Diego overcoming his own breathing problems to throw a few Hi-Jump Kicks and Cross Chops at the wall, before finally the rock gave way with what looked like a Thrash attack from Toby - the water flooded out, and Seth was left coughing for a good few minutes, lighter coughs informing him that Diego had the same problem, whilst Toby was admiring his new form, gnashing his teeth together quite happily.

:: Pokemon Roster ::

Evolves --> Into

Seth had just about finished clearing his lungs of water - Diego had finished a while ago, and had knocked him on the back in an attempt to help - when Lugia appeared in front of him; or perhaps his vision had only just returned to normal? Either way, he could only wave at Lugia's praise - if he hadn't done well, he'd be dead by now, so there was little point in congratulating him. However, he supposed that was being rather selfish - Lugia did have to make sure that he wasn't carrying dead weight, i.e. some trainer who didn't know the first thing about working with his Pokemon, and that was one way to do it.

Toby puffed out his chest proudly as Lugia mentioned his evolution - he was quite impressed with his new form, and while his old body had been cuter, he thought he looked quite bad-boy with his mohawk and such, so it all evened out. Diego, meanwhile, just looked at Lugia with awe in his wide eyes - he was still processing the fact that he was face-to-face with Lugia. Seth, however, had no such obstacle, and so staggered to his feet, ready to throw some rather angry words at the Guardian of the Sea, when the Diving Pokemon continued to say Seth had proven himself. Seth blinked.

Then he blinked again, before nodding at Diego (who clambered up to hang on to Seth's neck, though quite lightly - his hands and arms were still rather small, after all) and considering Toby, who eventually deflated a little as he realized he was now too big to tag along on Seth's shoulder, before letting out a "Croconaw!" as goodbye to Lugia as he was recalled. Seth inched closer to Lugia, not quite sure where to get on, before eventually deciding to just wing it and climbed on, making himself as secure as he could, gripping onto the Guardian's neck to gain some extra support - he didn't doubt he'd need it.

:: Pokemon Roster ::