Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Yes sir, Mr. Caughtem!" The class once again said in unison, just the slightest hint of mischief in the tone of some of them. The majority of them though seemed really excited and ready to get going.

There was about seven children per each Pokemon, however they were young kids and it took about three of them to make a grown male adult so it was an easy transport for all of Ryan's Pokemon, as far as weight went. The children were understandably excited and as the Pokemon ferried them across the water they would splash around, a pair would try to climb up Aysu's neck, another accidentally pulled one of Theia's antenna while playing with it and several of them kept trying to command the Pokemon to use moves.

They were halfway to Slug Isle and already the kids were becoming a handful.

Undine's song would get the group's attention but didn't have the same startling effect as last time, perhaps because they were more used to it but it had the intended affect to get them to pay attention to Ryan. Several of the children would apologize and others would look down in shame. Either way they would calm down and sit down for the rest of the trip to Slug Isle, which was just coming into view.

Slug Isle was barely an island its self, a small sandy circular shoal with a salt water pond at the center, making the entire isle one big donut. The pond at the center was where the young Shellos hung out, protected by their Gastrodon parents until they were strong enough to defend themselves in the ocean. Samson Oak theorizes their Ground typing stems from the need to keep their young further inland for protection, allowing them to journey onto land for short bursts.

The kids seemed to listen to Ryan better this time, each of them taking out their notebooks and starting to proceed with their assignments as they watched the Shellos and Gastrodon from afar. A few of them did ask if they could get closer but of course Ryan wouldn't allow it. After about fifteen minutes of peaceful observation a young girl would approach Ryan, a look of concern on her face.

"Mr. Caughtem? My friend Sarah is gone." She flat out informed him. "She went to catch her paper after it blew away and chased it over that sand bank but she hasn't came back." The girl said, pointing in the direction of the pool, a small bank of sand between them and the pool which created a blind spot. She must have gotten by Ryan's Pokemon while some of the other kids were fighting over a colored pencil and accidentally released their rambunctious Crawbler. It took awhile to get it back in its ball after all.

Ryan's Pokemon had the kids under tight watch and control, even the few that dared to run off were quickly snatched back by Rin Jin. No other stranglers would get by.

Ryan and Undine would make it over the sand back where they would find themselves with an excellent view of the pool below. Fifty or more freshly hatched or several days old, Shellos were frolicking around in the pool, enjoying this new gift of life and figuring out how to work their bodies and the world around them. Their Gastrodon parents, a single bonded pair that appeared to have claimed the isle for themselves this year, were ever vigilante, standing on either side of the pool, keeping a close watch.

That was when they spotted the one thing that stood out, a tiny Shellder partially buried in the sand with just its tongue and the top ridge of its shell poking out. Ryan's training and experience with such creatures would tell him that this wasn't a hunting pose but rather a frightened one. Something scared this little guy and he attempted to hide away but for whatever reason failed to completely conceal himself, likely due to inexperience.

"Shellder!" The shellfish Pokemon chirped as it popped out of the sand, looking up at Ryan with a look of relief. By how quick it was to reveal its self and not flee deeper into the sand told Ryan that this Pokemon was certainly accustomed to humans and thus belonged to the little girl he was looking for.

"Shellder shell shell! Der shell!" The Shellfish frantically told Ryan. Thankfully as part of being a Water Channeler he could make out what it was trying to convey, even if he didn't exactly get the 'words'. From what he gathered the girl released her Pokemon to get the paper for her however a Gastrodon came along and ate it. Next thing the Shellder knew the Gastrodon tried to attack it then grabbed his trainer and took off with her heading towards the pond at the center of the isle.

The Shellder would instruct Ryan on which way the Gastrodon went however by observing the tracks in the side it was obvious the path it took after Shellder got them started in the right direction. Eventually Ryan would come upon the pool, a raise ridge of sand wrapping all the way around it, clearly made by the Gastrodon for protection but for them it provided excellent cover to hide behind while also allowing them to peek over and observe the pond below without being seen.

From here he could see all the little Shellos happily playing in the water with their siblings, several Gastrodon hanging out in the out rim of the pond to keep a close eye. It would take but a second for Ryan to pinpoint the missing student, dressed in a pink and white dress with her hair done up in a bun and wrapped with a pink ribbon. A Gastrodon of the 'West Sea' variant, that is the pink one, was insistently trying to get the girl to go into the water despite the crying child's protests.

That's when it dawned on Ryan, why the Gastrodon took her, due to her outfit and the Gastrodon being in peak breeding and parental mode it mistook her for a Shellos youngling.