Chapter 10 - Goldenrod City

"Hey Quennel," Silver said as we exited the forest, "what the heck is that thing?"

Bella looked at it and cocked her head. "Yeah, what the heck is that thing?"

"I'll tell you what it is," Cecelia said before I could speak. "It is really creepy."

"You know," Gideon said, "I think I have heard of those."

"Really?"

"Yeah. My flock of Pidgey's used to see some as we flew around."

"Hmmm," Bella said. "So what are they?"

"I think my dad called it a sleepy."

I chuckled. "Actually, it is a Drowzee, the creepy hypnosis pokémon. I've seen it on TV a couple of times." I pulled out my pokédex and nodded. "Yep. Drowzee."

Bella looked at it in mild disgust. "Do we have to catch it?"

"Well...I would like to."

Randal, DROWZEE (male)

Insomnia; Adamant (+Atk., -Sp. Atk.)

Lvl 12, Route 34.

We continued down the route and had a couple of tough battles, but nothing too troubling for my team. We got to a house oddly situated on the route. A old man was standing outside and, from the north, Lyra approached. She waved to me as the old man looked back. He then looked at me and smiled. The three of us were about even after Lyra and I had continued toward each other on the route.

"Hi Quennel," she said. "And hi Grandad."

"Well well," he said, "is this Quennel? We have heard about you."

Silver smirked. "Really?"

"Indeed. Lyra has told us quite a bit."

"Someone has a friend," Timas said, winking.

"Oh you two hush," I muttered at them.

"Grandad! Be nice to Quennel. He may have some pokémon for you to raise?"

"You guys raise pokémon?"

"Yep," he replied to me. "Me and my wife raise pokémon for trainers at our daycare. We can also breed them too."

"Interesting."

"Come on inside, we'll show you around."

Lyra and I followed him inside, where I saw his wife, a kind looking old lady sitting at a counter. They had a nice looking playpen to the side and Lyra's Marill hopped out and jumped the fence to play around inside. Silver shrugged (how does he do that with no shoulders, I wondered later...) and flew on in and the two started playing a bit while the rest of us talked. Gideon and Bella soon joined them during our conversation.

"So are you thinking of leaving pokémon with us?"

"Maybe later," I said. "Right now, I just want to get to Goldenrod city."

Lyra looked at me quizzically. "Why are you headed there? Going to the gym?"

"No," Lyra's grandmother said before I could comment, "I bet he is going to the department store. He looks like he wants to buy some TMs."

"I bet he'd rather go to the Casino," her grandfather said. "You get better TMs there, after all. Plus, you can get pokémon there too."

"Or he could be heading to Bill's house. Though I think he is out of town..."

"Another great stop is the radio station. You can get a radio card for your pokégear."

"Actually," I said, "while I may do those things, the main reason I am going there is for the gym."

Lyra smiled "Told you."

"Can any of you guys tell me about the gym?"

"The leader," Lyra's grandmother began, "is a user of normal types. However, the gym members pick their pokémon based upon how cute they are..."

"But they are powerful still," Lyra's grandfather said. "Do not underestimate them."

"Okay," I said. "Thanks for the info."

Lyra decided to stay with them for the night, but I decided to make the final legs of the trip to Goldenrod. After collecting my pokémon from their playing, we headed out and made it to the city a handful of minutes (and one pokémon battle with a vision-impaired police officer) later. After healing my pokémon, we stayed at the center for the night and then went out to see the sights.

The department store was closest, so we went there first. I didn't want to use my limited funds on any TMs, so, while I bought some supplies, I stayed away from the TMs. I could always come back after getting some of my money from my mom anyway.

On the top floor, there was a woman who was handing out free TMs. I got in line and watched as she turned away some of the people before me. They and their pokémon went away looking sad. When I got there, she took a moment to look at me and then studied Silver.

"You have an exquisite Togetic."

"Thank you ma'am," Silver and I both said at the same time. He then shook his head as I chuckled.

"Have you thought of making him a Togekiss?"

"A what?" Silver looked at me, but I could only shrug in response.

"They are rare pokémon indeed. You need a Shiny stone to evolve a Togetic, and since Togetics themselves are rare, Togekisses are even rarer."

"Okay," I responded. "Why do you ask?"

"Hmmm...well, I think I have a Shiny stone somewhere at my house. If you come back in a few weeks, I can give you one. Seeing a Togekiss is reason enough for me."

"Why...thank you very much."

"But for now, just take this TM." She handed me a shiny TM. "It is Return. The move has more power when the pokémon using it likes its trainer very much, as I can tell your Togetic likes you."

"Thank you very much," I said. "And we'll be sure to return in a few weeks."

"I look forward to seeing you again. And if you have another pokémon then, a new one who likes you just as much as your Togetic here, I'll give you another Return TM too." She shook my hand and we then left, the line moving along after us.

We left and I let Silver hold onto the TM while I walked to a quaint-looking flower shop, hoping they sold berries.

"Can I learn Return now?"

"Sure," I said. "But you know what this means?"

"What?"

"Oh Timas," I said, calling him to my side. "Remember how you questioned the use of headbutt?"

"Oh great. You're gonna make me learn that now too, aren't you?"

"Soon, once we get back to the forest. But first, let's look inside here."

Once inside, I noticed that there was not much here. There was, however, a sign about a free squirt-bottle, so I went to the counter to ask about it.

"Well," the lady at the counter began, "we do have one, but not everyone can use it. It might be too dangerous to let just anyone use it."

"Too...dangerous?" Timas looked dumbfounded. "How the heck can a squirt-bottle be too dangerous?"

Bella shook her head. "Maybe if you use it on Cecelia?" She wasn't even joking.

"Hey," Cecelia said, hopping out to respond, "nothing that puny could hurt a pokémon like me."

"Anyway," I said, looking back to the clerk, "how can I prove to you that it would not be...dangerous...for me to use?"

"Oh, well I'm sure anyone with the badge from our city can use it well."

"Okay then. I'll just get that badge then and come back."

"Yeah, that'll happen," she said as we walked out.

(Another...) NEWS BULLETIN

Hey everybody. I just wanted to tell you all about some things.

First of all, I am working on chapter 10. It is a bit difficult, mainly because all the events in Goldenrod (not that I have even gotten there yet in writing) are proving difficult to split up for pacing reasons.

On that note...I am still on the hiatus, chiefly because of the plethora of flying-types I still have and not knowing what I want to do. I think I have come up with a reasonable solution, but it will have to wait anyway since it relies on one of my (newly caught) pokémon learning a move that it will not learn until 29 (so guess away, if you wish...). I can assure you though, I will likely have a huge party change in between Morty and Chuck (or right before Morty [or both]) and another in between Chuck and Jasmine, chiefly because one needs certain pokémon for certain things and my plethora of flying types could (probably) safely destroy Chuck. Anyway, I am still using the hiatus to try and party plan, not that I can plan well around the possibility of pokémon fainting...

However, the hiatus will forcibly end after I write about the Goldenrod gym (and when this happens, I will take a break from writing this so I can get more than half a gym ahead...). The reason is simply because I cannot plan pacing if I do not. Since I haven't even trained for Morty yet, let alone fought him, I could, at best, put out four (very stretched) episodes before I would be at my current point. However, depending on what happens in training, the pacing could be off.

So here is the deal. At worse, I will stop after getting to Goldenrod and doing one or two specific things (such as visiting the department store or radio station or other points of interest in the city). At best, you'll see me beat the gym and maybe challenge Sudowood (again, depending on how pacing works) before going to Ecruteak. This would be between 1 and 3 episodes, probably two, before I go back to playing (and figuring out how the heck I am going to fit a certain pokémon or two into my party).

Another thing...no one ever responded about the party assessment thing, which is fine. I'll keep it as I had planned previously (which you'll find out when I use it again sometime in Goldenrod). However, I want to know how you feel about my fight scenes. For those of you who don't know, I am not a fan of writing fight scenes. I sometimes wish I could draw well simply so that I could write everything else, but draw the fighting. In this, I have tried to stick to a very straightforward and pokémon-esque approach. Do you like it, or should I make them more action-y? Or should I skip that and just give a base battle log or something? (If you choose that, know that I won't be able to fully start until the Morty fight.)

If you have suggestions, whether for the story, game or both, and want me to try to implement them, just ask and I'll see if it is feasible. For example, your suggestion could be "give pokémon x more screen time or pokémon y less," which would be something in the writing realm whereas a request like "train pokémon z" is in the game realm. Any would be appreciated and will be considered, though not necessarily followed.

Thanks and I thank you all for reading.

Chapter 9 - Into the Woods

"So," Bella said as we were leaving the gym, "where to now?"

"Well, I heard that the charcoal man in town can give us the Cut HM, so we're gonna chat with him. But first, I think it is time to bring Timas back. Would anyone mind being in the box?"

"I'll go," Luna said. "Gideon and Silver can do for now and I'll be there if you need me."

"Okay. Thanks Luna."

"We'll miss you while you're in the box," Gideon said.

We went to the pokémon center to switch Luna for Timas, and then we went to the charcoal man's house. However, he simply spoke of his apprentice in the forest with his Farfetch'd, so I guessed it was time to head back there. We were interrupted by a familiar voice, however, when we tried to leave the town.

"Well if it isn't Quennel, the weakling."

"Hello Lucius."

"I heard Team Rocket returned. Do you know anything about that?"

"Well...yeah. They were making havoc in Slowpoke Well, but left after I beat their leader."

"After you beat their leader?" He started laughing, and then looked back at me. "Oh, you're serious. But how could a weakling like you beat them? No matter. I bet you can't even beat one of my pokémon!"

"Hey," Silver said, getting out in front of me, "no one, and certainly not some red-haired brat, insults my trainer and gets away with it."

"Silver," Timas said, "just stay out of this. You don't want to encourage him, after all."

"That's it," Lucius said, "no more playing around. Let's see just how tough you are."

He sent out his Gastly first. It used Mean Look on Silver, but he wasn't trying to escape. One hit with Extrasensory and his Gastly went down. He next sent out Zubat, another new addition. It used Supersonic to confuse Silver, but he refused to go down without a fight. Two Extrasensorys and his Zubat was down, even if it had confused Silver and made it flinch a time or two with Bite.

Finally, he sent out his Quilava, the evolved form of his starter. I had Silver take a rest while Cecelia went to mop the floor with it.

After having beaten him, he shrugged. "Team Rocket is a bunch of weaklings," he said. "They think they're tough, but they just use cowardly tactics. And I hate everything weak. That includes weak pokémon, weak trainers and Team Rocket." He looked me in the eye. "And you'll be no different if you get in my way." He then walked back from whence he came, presumably to heal his pokémon. I went that way to heal my pokémon as well, but he must have been quick, as I didn't see him.

Afterwards, we went to the forest and helped the charcoal man's apprentice. Both Farfetch'd had gotten loose and he needed my help to grab them. Afterwards, the charcoal man himself came and thanked me by giving me Cut (and his apprentice gave me a hunk of Charcoal as well). It was evening by the time Bella had learned Cut and we had hit the main part of the forest. I saw another woman in a kimono as we went through the forest. She looked as if she was lost.

"Can we help you?" Timas asked.

"I seem to be lost."

"I believe," Silver said, looking around, "that the exit is that way. We came from this direction and I think that path just loops around."

She looked around and then nodded. "Thank you." She then headed her way while we checked the path that looped around. On it, we found a man who was running at trees.

"What are you doing?"

"I am head-butting trees."

"And why," Timas said, "would anyone in their right minds do that?"

"It is great exercise, of course. Well, that and you can find hidden pokémon."

Silver looked intrigued. "Can I try it?"

"Of course you can!" And so the man taught Silver Headbutt.

"Where can we try this out?"

"Well," I said as we walked away, "if we go back to Azalea, we can possibly find a new pokémon to join us."

"Cool. Can we do that?"

"Sure."

Pierre, AIPOM (male)

Pickup; Modest (+Sp. Atk., -Atk.)

Lvl 8, Azalea Town.

With that out of the way (and our pokéballs from Kurt), we headed back into Ilex Forest.

Chapter 8 - Hive Badge

The next morning I prepared for a long day of training. "Okay ladies and gentlemon, let's chat." I had my party out and in front of me. "As much as we may love to do so, this gym we don't need to rely on Cecelia for the entire time. I want everyone to level 15 before we take on that gym leader. Gideon and Luna - you two will have to be ready, because I hear this leader has three different pokémon and, if all goes well, you two will join Cecelia and each tackle one."

"But...I just learned Uproar," Luna said. "I don't know Tackle anymore."

"Yeah," Jenna chimed in. "And wouldn't you want them to use their super-effective flying-type moves anyway?"

"Gals," Gideon said, "I am pretty sure he meant tackle in the figurative sense."

"Oh..." they said (in unison).

"Yeah, that makes more sense now," Luna said. Jenna nodded.

Silver took a moment to look at me. "Your team isn't always the brightest, is it?"

"Well yeah," Luna said. "Timas did just forget Flash, so of course we aren't bright."

*facepalm*

I first dealt with rounding off Jenna and Bella, since I wasn't planning on using them. Since Bella had learned Rock Smash, Union Cave was a great place to train. Jenna was easy to train as well once she learned Bite. After them, I focused on raising Silver a handful more levels. I figured I would round him off once I had beaten the regular trainers in the gym, but I wanted him to a usable level anyway.

After that, Cecelia gained a few more levels before Gideon, Luna and I stormed the gym.

Or, rather, tried to.

The floor of the gym in some parts had been removed. It was replaced by strands of "webbing" and odd, Spinarak-shaped vehicles were placed to transverse this webbing. We soon crossed and dealt with the trainers within. None of them provided us with any real problems - Gideon Gusted and Luna Pecked until we had dealt with them all except for Bugsy. They each still needed another level (and Silver needed a few) so we headed back to rainy Route 33 to round them off.

After finishing training Gideon and Luna, I switched to Silver. He went out and, after a few battles, he turned to me.

"You know," he said, "I think I'm really starting to get the hang of this."

"That's great," I said. "I'm glad to see that you are doing well. I hope you are enjoying yourself too."

"Of course," he said, "but it is more than that. I think I am finally understanding what Jenna said yesterday."

"What do you mean?"

"She was talking about how Bella and Cecelia fight because they both want to be there for you. And at first, I didn't understand that. I mean, I thought you were supposed to be here for us and that was about it...but now I understand. It is our job to help you in whatever way we can. Even if we can only learn a few HMs, that is still helping you. And I finally understand that it is about more than just fighting for you, be being there for you, appreciating you, accompanying you, being your friend. I finally get it." As he said that, he started to glow. His head raised up from his body and he grew a neck. His body grew larger and his feet became more profound, as did his arms. He sprouted wings and finally stopped glowing. His shell had now become a part of his body, pattern and all. He looked much stronger and and capable now.

"Hey," he said, "I just evolved."

"Indeed you did."

"But...umm...how..."

"I think you must evolve based upon our relation."

"Ah. But...um...I do have some bad news for you."

"And what might that be?"

"Judging by these wings...I think I am another flying type."

"It could be worse..."

It was finally time to challenge Bugsy.

We entered the gym and rode the spiders to him. He saw our determined faces as we neared him and greeted us joyfully when we arrived.

"Welcome to my gym. I hope you enjoyed the ride getting here, but beating me won't be as easy as riding those spiders."

"Don't worry," Cecelia said. "We would hope as much."

The battle started with Bugsy sending out his strongest first, his Scyther. I, of course, did the same by sending out Cecelia, who took him out with one throw of a rock.

Next he sent out his Butterfree, so I sent out Luna. She took him on happily as she Pecked Butterfree away. Finally, I sent out Gideon to face his Beedrill. His Beedrill, however, was not as prepared as we and fell quickly to a few Gusts.

The battle was over and Bugsy looked at me happily. "You certainly fought a very good fight, so I have no regrets in giving you this Hive Badge!" He handed it to me and then pulled out a TM. "And this," he said, handing me TM 89, "is a favorite of mine. It is U-Turn, which allows your pokémon to come back to you after attacking."

"Thank you very much."

"By the way," Bugsy said, "thanks for taking care of Team Rocket. Where are you headed next?"

"I figure that we'll head through the forest to get to the next gym."

"Okay. Good luck."

"Why do you say that?"

"The next gym leader...well...she is not an easy fight. Not by a long shot."

"Oh joy..."

NEWS BULLETIN

NEWS BULLETIN

We are sorry for interrupting your program, but we have a special report.

So, first I would like to point out that I have changed the progress tracker to do both that and (minimal) news. That being said, I tend to get a bit wordy, which is why I am making this post. I did not want that to become post-worthy length, and so we have this.

Next thing to point out is that episode 8 is on its way. In fact, it would be done now, but I cannot decide where I want to end it/start the next episode/start the following episode. Tis kinda annoying...but alas, it will be done by tomorrow night, I can assure you.

Okay, and now to more news-ish news.

I am taking a short break from playing. There are a couple reasons for this.

First and foremost, I would like to explain something.

I really dislike grinding. I am not a fan of it, at all. But I always make sure to grind my pokémon before important battles and now I certainly must do that or I won't be using that pokémon any more. I can assure you that I could beat Morty right now, quite possibly with no casualties. That being said, I would like to use more than 1-2 pokémon and would like a bit of insurance in case that Gengar of his is able to score a lot of hits with Hypnosis. Thusly, in SS, I am grinding.

I am also grinding a handful of pokémon in Fire Red (or would be, if I were playing that) and Pearl (again, if I were playing that game that much). And I am grinding A LOT of pokémon in Colosseum, which I am playing right now.

Thusly, I am taking a break from all forms of grinding for a short while. I kinda want to play some games where I am NOT just fighting the same trainers or wild pokémon again and again and again. Instead, I am playing games where I duel the same duelist again and again...expect that isn't for grinding purposes, technically speaking. And I am playing more games than just Stardust Accelerator...

I also want to do two other things in this break. I want to get to Goldenrod in writing and I would love to plan my team out some. Considering I have four flying types in my party currently in the story and, in the game (minor but predictable spoiler alert), I have only moved one of those four out of my party (end minor but predictable spoiler), I don't think that team planning is that bad an idea. I have some nice pokémon in the box now (especially with two newest additions) and planning on how I could fit them in would be a great idea. Those who I do fit in would then need to be raised to gym level as well and...well...you see where this starts to get tedious and you can see why I wanted to take a break.

Did people like the "Party Assessment" I did at the beginning of episode 7? I had been planning that for a while (in the game, I mean), which is why Timas was already at 15 (gym level) when he was taken out. In case you were wondering, Cecelia actually spent time in the box for Silver's egg, but I couldn't have that in the story (or, rather, didn't want to have it that way) and so I guess you could imagine that Luna or Gideon was out instead.

If you did like it, should I do it again and, if so, when? Every time I switch up my party? Before gyms/other important fights? Should I have more info on it? Did you need to be reminded which pokémon was which?

If you did not like it, why not? Should I abandon the idea altogether or just fix it up some and re-implement it?

Should I have something like that for the progress tracker (or somewhere else on the site) so you can see who is currently in my party during the play-through, or would that be too many spoilers?

After a couple more chapters, I am thinking of doing a recap chapter. The purpose of this chapter would be to go back through the highlights, point out lucky or unlucky catches, remind people who is who and what their evolutionary stage is and, if someone dies, recount how it happened (and perhaps in-game detail of how I let it happen). Do you think this is a good idea? If so, how often should I do this?

Currently, the plan is to do one after gym 3, gym 6, E4, gym 12, gym 16, all gym re-fights and E4 re-fights. Then the only things left would be Mewtwo, Red and any straggler legendaries I want to fight.

Soon I will be looking for someone to trade with me so I can evolve some pokémon. Cecelia will certainly be evolving once she reaches gym level, and it wouldn't be a bad idea to evolve Spook then too if I decide to train him. Without getting into any spoilers, there may or may not be other pokémon I want to trade, but it is undetermined as of yet.

Trade related question arises though. If I have an item to evolve a pokémon in Pearl but not in Soul Silver, am I allowed to trade that pokémon over to Pearl, attach the item and then trade it back? This counts for trade evolutions that might require items I do not have. I ask because last run-through of SS, I did this to make my Seadra a Queendra (because I had a dragonscale in Pearl) and to make Togetic a Togekiss (because you cannot get Shiny Stones until after the national dex and, even then, one of the few ways to get them is Bug Catching Contest, which I cannot possibly win more than once per the rules of Nuzlocke). Currently, Silver is the only candidate for this since all other evolutions can be attained through means I can access (such as trade or findable stone, albeit difficult to find them...). If I do this, what am I allowed to do with the pokémon in the other game? Could I take it to the move re-learner (since he is in Blackthorn in SS) and, if so, do I need a Heart Scale from SS? I want opinions on this as well. It is not as pressing a matter, all things considered, but I would love to know, for party-planning purposes, if I will have a Togekiss who can (re-)learn Aura Sphere or not and things of that nature (since it could also re-learn magical leaf before becoming a Togekiss thanks to move re-learner and yadda yadda yadda...).

For some less than news-ish news...

I really wish the TM system from Black and White had been implemented earlier. I mean, yes, the earlier TM system bolsters the strategy element of the game because you can only use a TM once...but in SS, I cannot go back to Dark Cave because I don't want to waste my money buying another Flash TM. In Pearl, I cannot decide what pokémon I want to teach Steel Wing, and I really just want it as a training move. The BW system is very nice and makes training pokémon at least somewhat easier. I have a wealth of TMs that I can use in case I acquire a pokémon with a horrible move set. I cannot do that at all in other games, especially Colosseum, which is where I need it the most!

Speaking of BW, the Dream World is awesome. I just got a Kangaskhan last night with a better(ish) ability that knows Drain Punch. Awesome, right? I just wish you could see natures when befriending a pokémon, because I have some that have horrible natures from the DW.

Also, I want a Yanma with Compound Eyes. Not for SS, but in general. I want a Yanmega with Tinted Lens (since I am working on getting one with Speed Boost, a.k.a. grinding even more in Pearl). And I'd rather not breed for one because both of the Yanmas in my possession have Speed Boost (and one of those Yanmas is stuck in Colosseum...) so I don't have grand chances breeding a different ability.

Um...I do believe that is it. Thank you for tuning in to this special report. We now bring you back to your previous program, already in progress.

Chapter 7 - Silver and Proton

Upon study, Silver looked rather...odd. He looked as if he hadn't even left his egg. It was as if his shell was stuck to his body. The tips of his feet and his stubby little arms came out of the egg, and the top of the egg was broken off completely for his head that looked almost like he had spiky hair the same color as his head. I could see why Elm would want to examine him. He looked like nothing I had ever seen, and I had seen a lot of pokémon on TV or in magazines with their trainers before I had ever set out on my own. He looked very different, but also very innocent. Very sheltered. Very...squishy. I decided to keep him in my party.

PARTY ASSESSMENT

Timas (lvl 15) --> Box

FOR

Silver (lvl 1) --> Party

PARTY

Jenna (lvl 12)

Bella (Lvl 12)

Cecelia (Lvl 13)

Gideon (Lvl 11)

Luna (Lvl 11)

Silver (Lvl 1)

It was time to head back to New Bark Town to show Silver to Elm anyway, so we set out. As I was taking a different part of Route 32 north than I had taken south, I noticed a group of fisherman. One was kind enough to give me the Old Rod, whereas the rest just wanted to fight me. While I continued my trip, Cecelia watched over Silver. She acted as if she still wanted to use him as a meat shield, but I doubt he minded. He was just thrilled to see the world.

In Violet City, we made a short detour West, at Jenna's insistence. We had heard about an odd tree that was blocking the route and she wanted to see it. As we looked at it, I couldn't help but think that something just wasn't right about it. However, before I could inspect it closely, a man came up from behind me and asked if I was having trouble with rocks.

"Hey," Cecelia said. "He lets me follow him by choice."

"Umm...Cecelia," Jenna said, "I don't think he was talking about you."

"Why do you ask?" I replied to the man.

"Well, I just so happen to have a handy HM that will let you smash rocks."

"Woo boy, Rock Smash," Cecelia said. "I better not have to learn that."

"Don't worry," Bella said, cutting in. "I would be delighted to learn that move."

"You just want that in case I turn on you."

"No. I would never think such a thing. My meat shield would never even think of turning on me. Quennel wouldn't allow it."

"Oh yeah? You think so?"

"Girls, girls," I said, "please stop. We're supposed to be headed somewhere expeditiously so that we can get back to help Kurt, remember?"

"Oh...yeah..." Cecelia looked at me. "Sorry about that..."

"It's fine. Don't worry."

I walked a bit ahead and the two of them continued bickering quietly, Gideon trying to calm them down. Silver, whom I was holding, looked up at me. "Are they always like that?"

"No," Jenna replied before I could. "Sometimes they are worse. But that's just because they want to be here for Quennel."

"Okay..."

"Don't fret about it Silver," I said. "We'll be seeing Elm soon anyway and finding out what exactly you are."

When we got back to New Bark Town, Elm informed me that Silver was indeed not something from this region. "In fact, I have no clue from what region he even is. There is no data on any pokémon like him being indigenous to any region, not even the far-off lands of Hoenn or Sinnoh."

"Are there any others like him?"

"A few, but they are far between. Apparently, some eggs have been spotted in parts of the world, and there are some other Togepis and even Togetics, his evolved form, around. But none in this region."

'Hmmm. Well, thanks for the info. You said you had an awesome item for me?"

"Indeed. I have an amazing item that lets you prevent pokémon from evolving."

"Wait...is it an everstone?"

"Why, yes it is!"

"Oh joy..."

After leaving Elm's lab, I visited my mom. I told her about some of my travels and she looked at my pokémon, taking a particular liking to Silver. She also suggested I test out my fishing rod by the stream headed East out of town. And I did.

Rose, MAGIKARP (female)

Swift Swim; Lax (+Def., -Sp. Def.)

Lvl 10, New Bark Town.

We then quickly made our way back to Azalea. I was about to head into the well, but Gideon stopped me.

"Since Silver is in the party and not Timas, I think it might be wise if Luna and I got a few more levels before we take on the rockets. Just to be safe."

"Alright. I won't argue, and there is this nice forest here, even if we cannot go far in it yet."

I trained Gideon and Luna a level or two, figuring I could round them off at the gym once the rockets were gone. I also found a new friend.

Harry, ODDISH (male)

Chlorophyll; Mild (+Sp. Atk., -Def.)

Lvl 5, Ilex Forrest.

We then headed over to the well. When we hopped down, we saw that Kurt was sitting in the entrance.

"I startled the first guy, but then when I tried to come down here I lost my footing and I fell. I threw out my back, I think. Can you go and start dealing with them while I recover?"

"Sure. I figured I may have to anyway."

"Thanks young man."

For a well called Slowpoke Well, there were an awful lot of Rockets and Zubats and very few Slowpoke.

Suzette, ZUBAT (female)

Inner Focus; Docile (N +Def., -Def.)

Lvl 5, Slowpoke Well

I fought some rocket grunts, but none of them seemed to happy to be down here. One said that it was an order from an executive, but he felt it was a really low thing to be doing. I soon met this executive.

He was waiting for me at the back of the well. He had an odd looking hairdo but a somewhat menacing face. "My name," he said, "is Proton. I am an executive of Team Rocket and have oft been labeled the scariest and cruelest guy in the entire team. You will regret facing me."

He was, of course, little trouble for Cecelia, Bella and Gideon, but that didn't stop his boasting.

"Yes, it's true," he said, as if talking to himself. "Team Rocket disbanded three years ago after that kid thoroughly thrashed us. But we are back now. And we will find Giovanni. And you," he said, turning to me, "are only a small obstacle in our way. You shall not be able to stop our underground operations. Be afraid of what is to come, little boy." He then left, with his rockets in tow, as Kurt came into the area.

"You beat him by yourself? You must be very strong. Come now, let us retire to my place. It is late, after all."

We went back to his house and he informed me that he made pokéballs out of apricorns. He told me that it takes a bit to make them, but he would be happy to do so for what I did. As I left his place to head to the pokémon center, I noticed that the town was now free of Team Rocket's grasp. I felt accomplished. And now, I could go to the gym.

Chapter 6 - Team Rocket Appears

"Before you go," Falkner said as we turned to leave, "you may wish to know that the next gym is to the south in Azalea Town."

"What type might we find there?"

"I know not. All I know is that I need to heal up my pokémon and train harder for my next challenger."

As we left, I got a call from Professor Elm. "Hey Quennel," he said, "do you remember that egg that you delivered to me from Mr. Pokemon?"
"Yes, I think I do..."

"Well, we would like you to keep it with you. It should hatch and then we can see what it is!"

"Okay...so should I head back to New Bark Town?"

"No, I sent my aide your way and he will give you the egg. He'll be in the pokémart."

"Okay." I hung up the phone. Cecilia looked up at me.

"Instead of this badge, can I keep the egg?"

"...why?"

"Meat shield."

"No."

"But..."

"The man said no," Bella said. "And besides, you are my meat shield. And meat shields don't get other meat shields."

"Aww..."

As we headed to the pokémart, Bella poked me in the stomach, asking if I knew what it was.

"He has no clue,"Timas replied for me. "We barely got a glimpse of it. It was wrapped up in an odd spotted tarp or something."

When we got to the pokémart, Elm's aide happily handed us the egg. It was white with some odd red and blue spots and circles.

"Or maybe," I said to Timas, "it was not wrapped up but merely just odd looking."

"Whatever..."

We exited the shop and saw a woman in an odd-looking (but very ornate) dress. She spotted the egg in my arm and began to mutter, but I couldn't catch most of what she was saying.

We hit Route 32 at about midday. Some grass was by the entrance and I searched for a new friend.

Wayne, HOPPIP (male)

Leaf Guard; Calm (+Sp. Def., -Atk.)

Lvl 6, Route 32.

"Well...I don't think we'll be using him either."

"Hey," Bella said, getting a bit distracted, "what is that?"

A Mareep hopped out and Bella took it on and won (her first solo fight). We continued down the route, finding a few trainers and battling them. When we got to the south end of the route, we found a pokémon center and a man outside. He was selling Slowpoketails. How very disgusting...

I didn't even hear the price before telling him no. After healing the party, we went into cave just south of the center.

Justin, RATTATA (male)

Guts; Lax (+Def., - Sp. Def.)

Lvl 4, Union Cave.

Inside the cave, we saw a variety of odd people. The hikers were certainly expected...but there were people dressed up in bright red and yellow suits. They called themselves firebreathers and they used interesting fire and poison-type pokémon. There was also a guy in a green costume that looked like some sort of green Charmeleon. He called himself a collector. None of us were sure about these guys, so we sped out of the cave and onto the rainy Route 33 as soon as we could.

Cyrus, EKANS (male)

Shed Skin; Lax (+Def., - Sp. Def.)

Lvl 7, Route 33.

We saw a well on the edge of town. Two men were talking in front of it. One was an old-ish man dressed normally, but the other looked to be dressed in all black. He spoke of something called Team Rocket and said something about them coming back to pursue Giovanni's ambitions. The old man ran into town and the man clad in black stood guarding the well.

When I entered the town, I heard people talking about these Rockets. I could tell that the one blocking the well was a member, for more of the black clad hoodloms were dotted around town too, blocking the gym even. I heard one man say that someone named Kurt could stop them. I decided to find him.

As I walked to Kurt's house, Bella chatted with me. "Didn't that one guy in Violet City say something about a Team Rocket?"

"Yeah...something about them being disbanded."

"Hmm...I guess he was wrong."

We got to Kurt's house and he informed me that he would indeed handle it. He said that he would go to the well and discover what was going on, but he wouldn't mind my stopping by as back-up.

As I followed him to the well, I got a bit distracted. The egg Elm had given me was hatching.

Silver TOGEPI (male)

Hustle; Careful (+Sp. Def., -Sp. Atk.)

Recieved in Violet City.

Hatched Lvl 1, Azalea Town.

Elm called me again. "It hatched, didn't it?"

"What the...how the heck did you know?"

"I have a sixth sense about these sorts of things. Anyway, you should bring it to my lab so I can see it and make sure it is healthy!"

"Umm...I'm kinda in the middle of something...can it wait?"

"Well...I would rather it didn't, but I guess it is your choice."

"Okay then, I guess I'll just finish up my..."

"But you should come here soon anyway. I'm sure your other business can wait."

"And if it can't?"

"Well...I'm sure it can. And I have a reward for you too..."

"FINE! I'll drop everything and follow your bidding!"

"Thank you." He hung up.

"You know," Timas said, "you really yield too much."

"Shut up before I find another Flash TM to use on you."

"But I just forgot it..."

Chapter 5 - Zephyr Badge

"Hey Quennel," Bella said as we left Sprout Tower, "I have a question."

"Yes Bella?"

"Well...what are you going to do if we meet any ice types?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Well...you have 7 pokémon and 5 are weak to ice."

"Hey," Cecilia butted in, "I am not weak against ice."

"Learn a rock-type move," Timas said. "Then we'll talk."

"As you were saying Bella?"

"Well...the two who aren't weak are Spook and me. You said you don't like Spook's nature and...well..."

"What?"

"I'm...I'm not that useful, am I?"

"Stop right there," I said.

"Yeah," Timas said, "don't think such things. You evolved, so you should be happy. Right?"

"Well...I guess...but I don't feel that useful."

"Nonsense," I said. "You can be very useful. You'll be a valuable pokémon."

"Yeah," Timas continued. "And, if nothing else, you can be a partial HM slave."

"Speaking of which," I said, opening my bag and grabbing my new TM, "you, Timas, are the only one in the party who can learn flash..."

"Oh, you wouldn't dare..."

"My friend, you would be surprised about the things I would dare to do."

I got all of the team out. "Ladies and gentlemon," I said, "we must train before tackling the gym. Even though I doubt I will use any of you other than Cecilia, I want you all ready, just in case."

I received a handful of nods and we got to training.

I quickly set about preparing the party. Luna and Gideon went back to Sprout Tower while Timas (and Spook) trained a bit in Dark Cave. Bella needed little training, as did Jenna, but they did their minimal training outside of Dark Cave. Meanwhile, Cecilia and I were preparing for the gym by battling near Cherrygrove. We finally were prepared, so Cecilia and I went in.

"My," she said, "look at the platforms up there..."

The gym had an empty floor and a small elevator leading to a raised pathway on which stood trainers and the leader. We hopped on the elevator and went up to their level.

"Look, there is a transparent path bordering the main platform," Cecilia pointed out. "We could skip all the trainers."

"But think of all the hard work they put in preparing for this! Wouldn't we just be disrespecting them if..."

"Oh shut it. You just want the experience from them."

I paused. She looked at me and I looked back at her.

"Yeah..I just want the experience."

"Well, me too. So stop gabbin' and start battling!"

And we did. And Cecilia destroyed. We soon made it to Falkner after disposing of the other two trainers (and after Cecilia learned Rock Throw).

"Welcome to my gym," Falkner said. "I inherited it from my father." He appeared to look of into the distance for a moment. He then looked back to me. "People say that electricity clips the wings of Flying-type pokémon. I simply will not allow such insults to my pokémon."

"Hey dude," Cecilia said, "I am a rock. How about that?"

"So shall we battle?"

"Can you even hear me? Can you even see me?" She looked at me. "Does this guy even see me?"

"I think not..."

"Then can I kick his ass?"

"Sure Cecilia..."

And kick his ass she did.

His Pidgey stood no chance against Cecilia and Pidgeotto fell quickly as well.

"Well...I cannot believe I let my father down."

"Now will you teach one of your pokémon Steel Wing?"

"Hey," I said, looking at Cecilia, "don't give him suggestions. We may have to fight him later."

"As proof of your victory, you get the Zephyr Badge. And this TM." He handed me a new TM. "This is Roost. It let's your flying-type pokémon take a rest and gain some health."

"Well, that's great for me..." Cecilia muttered.

"Hey, it might be nice for one of the three flying-types..."

"Of which I am not one."

"Oh hush. You got a bunch of experience. Isn't that enough?"

"Well, since you asked, NO!"

"Fine. Keep the shiny badge too..."

"Ooohhh...shiny..."

"My goodness..."

"Don't worry, it could be worse," Timas said.

"How?"

"We could ALL be like this..."

"True..."