Serious: Tales in Unova

[Ditto616]

"Aw, shoot! It's late! Wake up, Machoke, we gotta git goin'!" The door slammed as the rushed trainer left the room. Ditto came out of the bathroom with a toothbrush in his mouth and foam almost dripping down the sides of his face. "Hmph?" Ditto spat the foam into the sink as he finished brushing his teeth. "He must've not realized I was in the bathroom. Finish up Riolu. We hafta leave soon. Unova's legends and secrets await!" Riolu was washing himself in the bathtub, half swimming around. That thing was like a small pond to it.

You could tell that Ditto was in a good mood. He had a sing-song type of quality to his voice. He approached the counter of the PokéMart before he left so he could get some supplies. He came with plenty of money, just in case something needed to be bought. He handed a list to the clerk of the items he calculated he would need. It consisted of a few potions, and the medicines that cured status ailments. Then he saw it. His eyes lit up like a Meowth in a pile of coins. A blue watch, that somewhat looked like a Pokétch, but it wasn't. He was always fascinated by new technology. If Pokémon was his main interest, technology was a close second.

"Excuse me, but what is that on the shelf up there?" Ditto inquired. "That's an Xtransciever. You could compare it to a Pokégear's phone function, except it feeds video as well. It's 70,000."

"70,000?" grumbled the trainer. He had brought 100,000 from his savings, but it just seemed like a lot of money. He knew he would have buyer's remorse in about 30 minutes, but he believed that this would be an excellent investment. "I'll take it." Ditto handed the money to the clerk. It almost physically pained him to throw that much money away at one time. Riolu could sense the pain in Ditto's aura and growled slightly. "It's alright Riolu... I'm fine... mostly." The clerk handed Ditto the items he requested. "Thanks for your business! Please stop by any of our other locations again!"

"Too bad I never got a Pokétch..." he mumbled on his way out. "If I did, I could have gotten the Call app for it."

Ditto approached the exit of the city. The nature was different than the setting of the town, not what the trainer was used to. At the same time, it was comforting to both Riolu and Ditto. They approached tall grass, and saw a particular spot rustling. "What's that?" They saw the pink head of something poke out of the grass! "Our first wild battle of Unova! Use Quick Attack, Riolu!" Riolu did as commanded, and hit the object, knocking it out of the grass. It was an Audino. "What's that?" Ditto said, pulling out his Pokédex. The Pokédex chimed and chirped as it quickly booted up. "Audino, the Healing Pokémon. Its auditory sense is astounding. It has a radar-like ability to understand its surrounding through slight sounds.".

BATTLE! Ditto vs. Wild Audino!

"Riolu, Force Palm!"

Riolu got close range to the Audino, and hit it square in the forehead. It was weakened quite a bit by the first attack, and it looked to be paralyzed. The Audino then enveloped itself in a soft, green light, and its paralysis was disappated!

"Agh, must be Refresh. Riolu, try a Blaze Kick!"
Riolu obeyed the command, and leaped up into the air, with his foot ablaze with fire, hitting the Audino in the gut. It slightly staggered backward, but retaliated with a Pound, knocking Riolu back a decent amount.

"Dammit, almost! Riolu, finish it with a Quick Attack"

Riolu ran towards the foe, almost untrackable. It moved so fast that it created afterimages for about half a second after it moved. it struck the Audino and knocked it out.

"Nice Job, Riolu." Ditto said, complimenting his partner. "That's the best I've seen you battle. It was excellent." They continued down Route 1, until they saw a familiar face. It was Pisclin, of course. It looked like he had been out a while training from the looks of him. "Pisclin! Looks like I caught up to ya!"

[Alakazamaster]

"...like I caught up to ya!"

Pisclin, exhausted from all of the hard-training that had conveniently been missed by Ditto, turned around and saw him looking truly cheery. Pisclin's eyes then fell to Ditto's newest high-tech and high-priced commodity, the Xtransciever. Ditto was making it awfully hard for Pisclin to not be filled with boiling rage whenever he saw him, as Pisclin knew how outrageously priced that piece of technology was. And showing it off right in plain sight? How tacky!

"Oh... hey there Ditto. I sure hope that you slept well. Tentacool and I have been out here training."

The pile of unconscious Patrat and Lillipup glowing noxious purple from Tentacool's poison got this message across rather clearly, and did not require Pisclin's explanation.

"Er... well anyway, there is a Gym in the town right after this one, so I suppose one can't help but start training a bit early. It is of no help that none of the Pokemon I have seen have looked very appealing either... it puts a lot of pressure on Tentacool. He may have to go solo against the first Gym... that would not be ideal."

Ditto took a look at Tentacool, just as exhausted as Pisclin from the morning training session. "Well... who is to say that Tentacool would have to fight alone?"

[GrassPokemonFTW]

"Professor Juniper, Professor Juniper, help!" Kashiwa called. He quickly pushed open the door to the lab and saw Professor Juniper wide awake, with Lite sitting on a nearby couch. He seemed very tired, and confused. Ivyivy lay rather limp in Kashiwa's arms, still fainted.

"Kashiwa? I thought you came back from your training a while ago." Professor Juniper said, confused as well. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"That's an understatement! I went into the wild grass in Route 1, when suddenly..." Kashiwa spun his arms quickly to express the physical presence of the windstorm, "I was picked up by this huge tornado! Then, a beam of leaves hit me out of nowhere and sent me flying into the nearby river! I swam out, and I heard voices coming from the direction I got attacked in! In the night, I got lost on my way back here, and..." Kashiwa stopped telling his story to notice that Professor Juniper was laughing.

"Is something funny?" Kashiwa asked, somewhat annoyed that Professor Juniper didn't take him seriously.

"No, no, that's not what I meant by it. However, Kashiwa, I say you must have had some sort of strange nightmare! Are you sure you're not tired anymore? You could go for another rest, you know."

Kashiwa pouted, irritated. Why didn't she take him seriously? "Eh, whatever, frankly, I could care less...good morning, Lite. Did you sleep well?"

[AuraKshatriya]

Aura awoke to the sound of chirping Pidove, light delicately permeating the Pokemon Center's main lobby. Beside him were the two trainers from the night before, seemingly wide awake. "They must have woken up earlier than me.....I never was good with that sort of stuff.", Aura thought to himself. Now that I think about it, Treecko and the others haven't been out of their Poke Balls in a while, I suppose it'd be a good time to let them all out for some fresh air before they head back.", he decided. Reaching for the assorted Poke Balls hanging from his belt, Aura proceeded to release his entire team in a flash of light, somewhat startling Eliana and Adam, who evidently hadn't noticed he had woken up. As the light dissipated, the forms of six Pokemon, varying in size, became visible. Out came an Aron, Absol, Dusknoir, Walrein, Salamence, and Treecko. The sudden arrival of such fierce Pokemon (well, some more than others) seemed to surprise even Nurse Joy, who commented on their rarity in the Unova region. "Well, now's the time to say goodbye, everyone. I know you've just gotten out of your Poke Balls, but like always, it's time to start anew once again.", Aura said, disappointed. Salamence gazed at Aura carefully, as if to ask if he was sure. Aura simply responded "Don't worry about it, if the need ever truly arises, I'll definitely call on you. I'd like to use only Pokemon native to this region to better understand the species here, but I'll never forget the Pokemon I already have. Be sure to say hello to Aggron and the others for me when you get back.", Aura assured Salamence, who responded with a prideful nod, being proud of the confidence it had felt from Aura. Adam and Eliana just stood by, awestruck, as Aura nonchalantly sighed, and then proceeded to return his Pokemon to their Poke Balls one by one. He then walked towards the counter. Nurse Joy, do you happen to have a Pokemon Transfer System I could use?. She pointed towards a terminal in the top left-corner of the lobby, which Aura begun to approach. Dialing the number for his home, Aura's mother picked up the phone. "Hello, nice to see you Rai-", she begun to say, before noticing Aura's hand gestures, which indicated he did not want his name spoken aloud. His mother nodded in acknowledgement, continuing, "How are you? I heard that the ship you were on had exploded, so I was a bit concerned.", she said. Not too far behind, Eliana and Adam overheard the conversation, curiously. Evidently, the concern, or rather, lack there of, from Aura's mother was quite surprising to them, given their expressions. "I'll be sending everyone over except for Treecko, hopefully I didn't catch you at a bad time.", Aura said, his mother shaking her head in denial, responding, "Not at all, I was just reading about a Bug-type Pokemon that used to live in Unova in ancient times. Unlike in many regions today, where Bug-type Pokemon are statistically quite weak, it appears that in ancient times, Bug-type Pokemon were very powerful. Perhaps the Pokemon in Unova have stayed closer to the evolutionary roots. Be sure to let me know about the Bug-types you meet there, I'll be curious to find out.". Aura replied, "Yeah, count on it. I plan to come across every species of Pokemon in this region, and any I catch will definitely be heading your way. Well, I'll speak to you at the next town, I'd better be heading off. The earlier, the better. Sending everyone over now.", Aura finished, placing 5 of his Poke Balls into the PTS docks and pressing the "Transfer" button. "Alright, seems everyone's arrived safely.", Aura's mother said, after releasing all the Pokemon from their Poke Balls on the other end. "Alright, goodbye, be sure to say hello to the good doctor for me as well.", Aura said casually, referring to his Father. His mother nodded, ending the call. "Well, looks like it's just you and me, Treecko.....", Aura said, reaching for his remaining Poke Ball, when suddenly, a hand quickly reached out and grabbed it. Aura looked up, realizing the hand belonged to a member of Team Plasma. "Team Plasma doesn't give up so easily. You trainers may be powerful with your Pokemon, but without them, you're just weaklings, especially children like you.", he said, before making a run for it through the back entrance. "This is bad.....Treecko will be fine on it's own, but tracking it down may be a problem.", Aura said pensively. "Well, first thing's first. I'll be sure to teach that Plasma thug a lesson with my own two hands, but as for his Pokemon, I'll need some of my own for that.", Aura thought out-loud. "Granted, catching Pokemon often requires your own to battle them, but, I wouldn't want to injure any of the wild Pokemon with the others from back home.....what a dilemma this is. I suppose it requires a bit more deliberation.", Aura concluded.

[RotomGuy]

"Yes, let's go."

Jakob wrapped up the picnic while Litwick and Pidove scoffed a few more berries.

"I hear the first gym has three leaders. We are going to have to train for them, but I want to meet up with James again first. You two, stop fighting."

Litwick and Pidove were fighting over a Cheri Berry, finally Pidove seized the berry out of Litwick's hands. The Route was small and finally the two trainers reached Accumula Town. Crashes could be heard from inside the Pokemon Centre.

"That doesn't sound good. Let's go."

They ran through the door to find a strange person in Middle Age garments and three pokemon backing James into a corner.

"Hey! What are you doing? Leave him alone!"

"You monster! You are also keeping two pokemon in captivity! Go, Lillipup, Woobat and Patrat!"

"Uh-oh. Dell! You're Machoke is going to have to work with my pokemon to stop them!"

Dell nodded, but Litwick and Pidove scowled at each other.

"Guys! We don't have time to fight each other! We have to fight them!"

Litwick and Pidove continued to throw frowns at each other.

"Please?"

Then the Pokemon stared at Jakob then nodded.

BATTLE! Jakob & Dell vs. Plasma grunts!

"Alright! Litwick! Hex on Woobat and Pidove use Gust on Lillipup!"

Machoke attacked the Patrat on Dell's command. Hex landed a critical hit on Woobat, and Pidove lifted Lillipup into the air with a gust of wind.

"I-Is that all you got? Go! Trubbish!"

"Four pokemon? Now that's just downright not fair"

"Anything to liberate pokemon from trainers! Go PLASMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Trubbish threw Gunk at Litwick and Pidove, rendering them stuck to the ground and helpless. Jakob had to think this one through.

"But, aren't you technically catching pokemon too?"

The Plasma grunts backed away.

"He's... right"

"He is! But... I love my Trubbish!"

"And I love my Patrat!"

And with that, the two grunts bolted out the door, holding on tight to their pokemon.

Battle won, Plasma grunts retreated.

"Well, that was easier than I thought."

[JC]

A few minutes later after the battle in the Pokémon Center, James awakened and seen a big mess. "Ugh, that hurt." James ran towards Eevee and Murkrow, "You two ok?" Though bruised and beaten, they both had a look in their eyes that said to James that they were ok.

He made Murkrow return to it's ball, and put Eevee on his shoulder.

James looked around and seen Jakob and Dell, where the two Team Plasma Grunts stood, and then he heard some commotion going on outside.

"Joy, is the machine ok? I need to have my Pokémon healed."

Nurse Joy looked at all the equipment, "Yes, the machines are just fine, we are grateful of you and those two did." Then James gave Nurse Joy his Eevee and Murkrow, and a few minutes later, he got them back, "I hope you come back to this Pokémon Center, look as what you tried to do, here have some Poké Balls, Potions, and Revives."

"Thank you, Joy."

Then James rushed outside, and he seen an elderly looking man, red eyes, long green hair, and a robe with the Team Plasma insignia. "Team Plasma's Goals are to liberate Pokémon from their trainers, if the trainers don't release them, they will be despised by everyone, My name is Ghetsis, and I am one of the Seven Sages of Team Plasma."

James looked at the seven other men and they were all wearing the same knight-like uniform as the two that he fought inside the Pokémon Center.

As James came closer to the speech, Ghetsis saw James's Eevee, "Hmph, I see you brought a Pokémon that didn't wish to be in Unova."

"Who says he didn't wished to be in Unova, you're a fool for thinking this "liberation" is going to prove a point." James started to become a bit angry as Ghetsis sarcastically chuckled.

"I see that you didn't get taught about freedom when you were younger"

"I was taught that not all Pokémon respects their trainers if they're weak, from my many years of watching, I've seen these Pokémon to go as far as attacking their trainers."

"You see, you proved one of my points--"

"I'm not finished, then I seen other Pokémon to protect their trainers without being told to, or even trained to do so. I don't know where you get this twisted idea of having Pokémon forced from their trainers, but it's the Pokémon's choice, not yours."

Then Ghetsis had an angry look in his eye, "Seize that man!" and the Team Plasma Grunts started chasing James.

James started running towards the north of town, "Oh man, it's getting to tense here." and then James saw the Route 2 gate, "There we go, we need to get to next town anyways." While running James looked at his PokéGear, "Sweet, the map's finally updated, lets go Eevee." and as they were getting chased by the seven Team Plasma Grunts, James and Eevee finally made it through the gate and James looked back, and seen that Team Plasma were going back to Ghetsis, "Whew, Eevee that was close, I wonder why they stopped, maybe their his bodyguards or something." and then, a young man passed by James, the man's discription, he had a Black Hat, White Shirt, Brown Pants, and long Green hair, longer than Ghetsis's hair even. "Hmm, I wonder who that was." And then James proceeded into Route 2.

[Idno58]

Dell saw a guy with an Eevee dash out the door. "Hey, Jakob, wasn't that the guy we're lookin' for?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. That was James. I wonder where he caught that black bird pokemon, though...

"Shouldn't we go after him or somethin'?

"Huh..? A-ah! You're right! But first, we should heal our pokemon.

"Ya took the words right outta my mouth."

They walked over to the counter and healed their pokemon, then they walked out the door, passing by quite a few strange characters with green hair.

"We'd better stay outta their path." Dell whispered to Jakob, and they briskly walked past them without trouble.

When they reached route 2, Dell noticed that the route was much bigger than route 1, with many more trees and twisting paths. Then something caught his eyes. There was a big flash in the grass, and then a zebra-like pokemon dashed out of it.

"It.... that pokemon is... the structure... the anatomy... it's beautiful.... I must have it! He turned to Machoke. "Alright, Machoke! use your Bullet Punch!"

Machoke's fists glowed with pure energy and shone with a metallic luster. With a battle cry, it charged up to the Zebra pokemon with great speed and punched so fast its entire arm was a blur. The pokemon sprawled out on the ground and spun a bit.

"Now's my chance!" Dell exclaimed. He took out a poke ball that looked similar to an ultra ball, but had strange machinery on the sides. When he threw the ball, it captured the pokemon and the machinery whirred and clicked. Without a single twitch, the pokemon was caught. He picked up the ball and threw it. The pokemon was still weak, but Dell used a potion. and it was good as new.

"Now, lessee what kinda pokemon you are..." he mmbled and took out a strange device that scanned the pokemon with an ultraviolet light. What showed up on the screen was a 3D representation of the pokemon with text and graphs to the sides. on the top of the screen said the words "Virga Levitas," And under it, "Blitzle"

"I see..." Dell mumbled. "That's definitely a keeper!"

Jakob was a bit confused. "Wait. What are those things you're using?"

"Hm? Oh, this here poke ball is a modified version of an ultra ball I made back at the battle zone. It has electronic clamps on the sides so the chance of the pokemon staying in the ball are almost tripled."

"And what's that... PDA thing? Is that like a pokedex or an Xtranciever?"

Dell chuckled. "Nope. This here is one of my prized inventions. It scans the pokemon and gives me its stats. It even scientifically names it and gives me the given name. This here pokemon is called Blitzle. But my invention calls it 'Virga Levitas,' which means 'Striped Lightning.' "

"Well, what do you call it?"

"Huh?"

"Your invention. What's it called?"

"Huh? Oh, I call it the Leonidas. He himself classified all sorts of stuff."

Dell patted Blitzle on the head and looked at Jakob. "Well, shall we git goin' once again?"

[The Tropius of Tropiuses]

(Sorry about being late- had many things to do over the weekend.

Stu didn't know what to do. He was told not to go anywhere, but he wanted to help- but he should folow what he was told. But he just met this guy- Cheren, was it? Why should he trust him? He did save him from a Pokemon, but....

"Oh, Seedot, I don't know WHAT to do- Seedot?"
Stu looked all around him. 'Where could he be? He was right be side me a second ago...' Stu felt panic creeping up his back.
"SEEDOT! SEEDOT?!" Stu called with all his might.
Stu heard a hit sound, and then heard Seedot's cry.
"Seedot!"
'Oh no!' Stu thought. 'Is Seedot hurt?'

Stu saw Seedot next to the grass and picked him up. "Seedot! Are you ok?!"

No response.

"Seedot?"

Still no response.

'Seed-'

Seedot burst out of Stu's arm and rushed into the grass, where a dog-like Pokemon was standing. "Seedot, wait!" Stu called. Stu noticed that Seedot was glowing. 'What's going on...?' Stu pondered.

Seedot hit the dog-like Pokemon, and it yelped. Obviously it was in pain.
Stu pulled out his Pokedex.'What Pokemon is that?' Stu thought. "Lilpup, the puppy Pokemon. The long hair around it's face provides an amazing radar that lets it sense subtle changes in it's enviorment."

"It's called a Lilpup, eh?" Stu said, still a bit confused. 'Hm... is this a Pokemon battle? Using your Pokemon to battle others?'
That idea didn't sit right with Stu. there was something about it he didn't like.

The Lilpup came right back and hit Seedot, forcing him back. "Seedot!" Seedot squeled in pain. "Oh no, Seedot!" Stu called. He didn't know what to do, again. He was still new at fighting. 'Mabey... just mabey...'

"Seedot!" Stu called. "Use that move again- the glowing one!"

'Hopefully he'll know what I mean...' Stu thought with an equal amount of hope and worry.

Luckilly, Seedot did! Seedot glowed agin, and as soon as Lilpup hit him, he hit it back!

"Allright! Go Seedot!" Stu called.
'My first Pokemon battle...'

BATTLE! VERSUS WILD LILPUP!

"Seedot, use that glow move again!" Stu called. Seedot did, and hit the Lilpup after it hit him. Stu knew this wouldn't end good. The Lilpup was faster, and beacuse of that, it meant Lilpup could beat Seedot easier.
"Seedot!" Stu called. "Use another move!"

Seedot shook up and down, which meant "Ok." Seedot, this time, stiffined his muscles instead of attcking. Although, the Lilpup still atacked.

Seedot was getting weaker and weaker. Stu paniced. "What to do, what to do...."

Seedot used the same move again, and then the Lilpup attacked again.

"Seedot!" Stu cried. Seedot stood still for a few moments. Then he started shaking, and then finally colasped.

"Seedot! Get back!" Stu put him back in his Pokeball and stood there for a moment. He was lost. Sure, there was the town behind him, but a ship just blew up. He couldn't go back, it was too dangerous. He could go straight foward into the next town, but there were still lots of more Pokemon garuding it.

Then he heared a ring in his bag that was on his back.

[Ditto616]

"Well... who's to say Tentacool would have to fight alone?" Ditto queried "I thought Lite, you, and I were going to take it on together, unless I dreamed that. I don't think I did."

"Uhh... Yeah..." Pisclin had forgotten all about that pledge that the three of them had made. It was made late at night, or rather very early morning, after all.

Pisclin suddenly remembered that he HAD made a pledge, but did not want to look stupid as he had so many times before! "Well... I think you MAY have dreamed that, but I'd be happy to fight with you and Lite!" An awkward situation was narrowly avoided.

They continued on Route 1 and eventually arrived at Accumula Town. The first stop naturally was Pokémon Center. It looked as if there was quite a tussle. The two trainers walked up to the counter and handed their Pokémon to the resident Nurse Joy. "Excuse me, but could I inquire as to what happened here?"

"There was a fight between a trainer with some foreign Pokémon and some people dressed like medieval knights. It's all taken care of now. We just need to clean up a bit. Your Pokémon should be back to full health in about 10 minutes" The nurse replied

Sounds rough. Thanks. Ditto walked towards the Phone while Pisclin went to the couch. He called up his mother.

"Hey mom... Yes, everything's fine... Yeah, Riolu's alright too... Yeah, I've made a few new friends... Yeah. I was wondering if you could wire me some money from my account... 70k... Yes, I'm sure... I got an Xtransceiver. Here's my number... Thanks, love you too. Bye." The phone clicked off the line and he walked over to the counter and looked up at the shelf.

"Sonuva... I'll be." He pointed to an item on the shelf and asked for it to be packaged up. He handed the clerk 35,000 for the purchace. He then went over to his friend sitting on the couch and handed him the box. For you. He said with a big grin on his face.

Pisclin opened the box to find a shiny, new Xtransceiver.

[A'bom]

Adam watched as Aura ran out of the pokemon center, pursued by another one of those era-confused hoodlums. "I... guess he won't be joining us, then. Well, that is, if you were planning on going to Juniper's lab. That's where I'm headed."

"Okay, sure." Eliana replied as the two of them made their way out of the pokemon center. "Oh, hang on. I need to pick up my egg from the nurse."

"Alright." Adam said as he turned to the sales counter. "Fifty pokeballs and an xTranceiver, please."

"You're the second person to buy an xTranciever today." The clerk said with a smile. "Thank you for your business. Here's a pemier ball to go with your purchase of all those pokeballs."

"Thanks." Adam replied as he dumped the new pokeballs in his backpack and hooked the xTranceiver to the left strap rather than to his wrist as Eliana returned with the egg. "Okay, let's go."

Eliana led Adam down a short road to a good-sized building with a windmill to the left. "This is it." Upon entering, Adam saw two boys talking. The older one was the one from earlier that acknowledged his existence at the pokemon center earlier.

"Welcome back, Eliana." Professor Juniper said as she walked over. "Did you forget something?"

"No. This guy needed help finding his way here."

"I see." Juniper said with a smile. "And you are?"

"Adam. I... uh... I'm here for a pokedex and a starter pokemon."

"You already have a quilava." Juniper replied.

"Yeah, well, he never leaves me, y'know? I want to start fresh here while still having some part of my past adventures with me." Adam replied as he pet Quilava. "It was hard enough to send back my other three... I couldn't leave behind my buddy."

Juniper smiled and led him over to a table with two pokeballs on it. "It's always refreshing to meet a trainer that cares so much about his pokemon. Alright, you have two options: Oshawott and Snivy. Tepig was already taken by another young man." she said as she let out the two pokemon. "Snivy is a--"

"That one." Adam said as he pointed to the diminutively-statured oshawott. Professor Juniper looked at him with a mix of confusion and astonishment. "But I didn't even summarize them for you." Adam held his hand out palm-side-down to the small water-type, who shrunk back a little at first before slowly inching forward. "He's strong and has a fighting spirit."

Juniper frowned slightly. "But I can't even get it to participate in various training exercises. Not only that, but it appears to be the runt of its litter, so to speak. It's a good six inches shorter than most other oshawott."

As soon as the oshawott had warmed up to his hand a bit, Adam reached out the other and picked him up from under the arms, eliciting a small squeak of surprise. "Even better. Do you have anymore pokedexes?"

A confused smile grew on Juniper's face as she chuckled. "Yes, right here." She said as she opened a desk drawer. "I hope you're able to get that oshawott to cooperate better than I did." Adam gently scratched under Oshawott's chin. "I don't see any problems coming from this little guy whatsoever. He just needs some tender loving care."

The phone began to ring.

"Oh, excuse me for a moment." she said as she walked across the room to answer the phone. "Hello, Professor Juniper speaking. ... Hello, Bill! I haven't heard from you in a--... You've got to be kidding me. ... I'm not so sure the the two events aren't related. ... Yes, I understand, but I'm a researcher, not a trainer. ... Hey Bill--... Bill, hang on. I've got four pokemon trainers here. Maybe they could head to Accumula town and check it out for me. One of them has an xTranceiver. Hang on..." Juniper turned to Adam. "Adam, I know this is sudden, but there has been an incident at the Accumula City Pokemon Center. Would you check it out for me and call me on your xTranceiver when you get there?"

Adam's eyes narrowed as he craddled Oshawott in his left arm and stood straight up, saluting with his right arm. "Yes Ma'am!"

"What about the rest of you?" Juniper asked before receiving affirmative answers from the other three. "Okay Bill, I've got four trainers on their way to check it out. It--... uh-huh... yeah. I'll do that. I'll talk to you later." Juniper hung up the phone and quickly walked over to Adam, entering her number on the xTranceiver. "I really appreciate the four of you doing this for me on such short notice. Here's Oshawott's pokeball, and here's the pokedex. Call me when you get there."

"Okay." Adam said as he turned and followed the other two trainers out the door. "I hope your mom doesn't freak out when you call from a pokemon center that's half-destroyed." Adam said to Eliana.

"Destroyed?!" Eliana replied with a start. "How do you--"

"I heard Bill talking over the phone. I may be almost blind, but my hearing is very acute."

"O...kay?" Eliana said before quickening her pace to catch up with the other two trainers. "We'd better get a move on if we don't want to get left behind."

[RotomGuy]

"Yes, let's go. Look, I think I see James"

It was true. James and his Eevee were both noticable higher up the route. The two walked on together, when they soon came trudging through some grass. Then, like a flash -

"GAH! STOP WHERE YOU ARE!"

Dell was so startled he fell backwards, and Pidove made a loud squark, which could surely of been heard as far as Nuvema Town. It was a Plasma member, but his clothes seemed more red than usual Plasma members.

"Ah, gee, shut up you stupid bird. Now where was I. Oh, yes! Stop where you are!"

"Hey, who are you? You like you are from Team Plasma."

"Haha! That's because I am! I am this close to getting promoted to a sage! I was sent here to guard, so that no one could get out, everyone should be listening to Ghetsis's speech!"

"Who wants to free their pokemon anyway? It's not going to get to anyone."

"You don't understand! We will awak- oh wait! Speaking to much! That's nothing for you to know. Back at headquarters, I go by the name, Captain, no wait, Imperial Peter!"

The grunt turned to look at us.

"Oh? OH? Laughing at my funny name are you? I'll show you what for! HUZZAH!"

He threw a pokeball in the air, and when it hit the ground, a great burst of red light appeared, and a round rock pokemon came out. It had a small spike on top of it, and a dent in the middle where the eye seemed to be.

[LiteTheIronMan]

"Good mornin', Kashiwa! We didn’t get that much of a rest, since Team Plasma raided the ship over at the docks. An' I'm not much of a morning guy, either. But I’m surprised ya didn't hear it. We caused quite a ruckus, after all," Lite said, throwing a Revive toward Kashiwa so that he could heal Ivyivy. Kashiwa rubbed his head nervously, saying, "I guess…I was really tired…I guess."

Lite chuckled and took no more note of it. "Oh, so what was all that goin' on outside and stuff? Was there a problem?" Kashiwa nodded, and asked Professor Juniper if they could go to out on their adventure now, since everyone else seemed like they were gone already. Professor Juniper nodded, smiled, and wished the two good luck. Kashiwa assured Professor Juniper that they’d be fine, and that Kashiwa would contact his sister at Striaton City, once they arrived.

Lite walked outside, squinting his eyes at the great sunlight that was shining. Kashiwa walked outside, right behind him, and called out, "MAN, it’s good to finally be out on my own!" Lite smiled. It was good to see him so excited. He walked over to Kashiwa, placed his hand on his shoulder, and pointed up at the sky, like he did at the end of their battle the previous day.

"All right, Kashiwa! Ready, kid? This is where our journey begins! We’re going to see it all, do it all! And we'll get to the moon itself! It all begins now!"

Lite and Kashiwa walked down Route 1, using the one Max Repel Lite had. The route was relatively short, so they arrived in Accumula Town in no time.

"So, kid, are you from 'round here originally? What’s your backstory? I'll tell you mine if you share." Lite asked, suddenly. Kashiwa suddenly blushed a deep red and nervously laughed. Lite looked at him, worried. He didn’t think he said anything weird, but something seemed to have struck his nerves. Lite tried to press on: "C'mon, what is it?" Kashiwa rubbed his head, his uniform way of showing his nervousness. He tried to speak, but only croaked out the word "well", before silencing himself. Eventually, Kashiwa took a huge breath and began to speak.

"Well, I used to live in a far off town in Unova called Anville Town…lived there since last year, when Professor Juniper brought me to Nuvema Town. I…I have a fraternal twin sister, named Sakura, and she's quite literally the best friend I’ve ever had…of course, we have our arguments like regular siblings. I’ve had Ivyivy for a long time now, he was the family pet before. My parents, they…um, well…" Kashiwa stopped and looked up to the sky. Lite looked inquisitively at him and said, "Your parents what?"

Kashiwa rubbed his eyes, coughed and said, "My…my parents nothing. They’re just businesspeople. That’s…that’s it." Lite could sense something was wrong, but he was sure that Kashiwa wouldn’t say anything more. He didn't seem like he wanted to talk anymore.

"Well, my story, I was born and raised in the Hoenn region! Mossdeep City, awesome place, and my buddy Warmachine here, came from the ex-champion of Hoenn himself, Steven Stone! It’s been an awesome buddy, so I insisted it come with me to take on the Unova region. Let's see... Mom died a while after I was born, but no big deal. My big bro, Darc, took on the Hoenn League and lost... Met a good friend who moved away... And that’s 'bout it. Eventually I decided to follow in that Stone guy's footsteps and become an explorer. Which is why I came all the way out here!" After a brief pause, Lite said, "I suppose we'd better get movin' again…" Lite pondered a moment and suddenly a thought struck him. "Hey, so what were you tellin' Juniper about last night? You were attacked?"

"That’s…that’s what it seemed like," Kashiwa said. "I’m not sure who it was…it could have been that Team Plasma Professor Juniper warned me about…" Lite clenched his fists, muttering, "I swear, if I ever catch those creeps, I’ll teach 'em a thing or two…"

Upon arriving in Accumula’s town square, there seemed to be a crowd watching a group of people in some sort of demonstration. Most of them were dressed in strange, medieval clothing while they frantically took orders from a man, who wore some sort of strange robe that made his figure appear to be a massive, balloon-like stature. The citizens either watched in awe or fright at the group, but a tense air gripped everyone.

"Who…is that? That man…" Kashiwa muttered. He looked beside him and he saw Lite clenching his fists even tighter than before. Under his breath, Kashiwa could hear him say, "It’s them…that blasted Team Plasma…" From the massive crowd, a man with long green hair and generic street clothes walked up to the two. Something about the two seemed to amuse him, as he could clearly be seen chuckling, though he tried to keep it stifled.

"What’re you laughin’ at? Somethin’ funny?" Lite asked sternly. Kashiwa, sweating, hoped to avert an argument. The man continued to chuckle.

"How naïve you two are…do you think your Pokemon actually enjoy this? I heard you back there…" the man walked close to Kashiwa, who nearly stepped and fell backwards in fright. The man gazed upon him, smiling. "You say that this," the man said, pointing at Ivyivy, "was a pet? I see. You’re one of those kinds of people."

“W-what do you mean!?” Kashiwa asked, trying to prevent himself from leaning too far back and falling over. The man said nothing more to him and walked to Lite.

"And this Pokemon…not a Unova-native one. You say he was acquired…not by capture? Ah, there are plenty of those kinds. Seem to trade away their memories, and for what? A new Pokemon? A Pokemon to replace the one you lost? Or maybe even…nothing? Hah, I suppose this Steven Stone character must be more of a fool than I had imagined." Lite was resisting every urge to punch this guy in the face.

"Look, guy, if you don’t like it, then tell it to someone else, but nobody, but NOBODY talks crap 'bout my mentor, Steven, and if you wanna bad-mouth 'im all you want, fine, but you’re gonna have to get past me first!" Lite yelled. Kashiwa wished dearly that he could just hide. The man frowned and shrugged.

"Well, well, it’s a shame. I thought you had promise too."

"What did you say!?"

Soon enough, the older man in the oversized robe came over and placed his firm hand on the younger one, and said, "N, that’s quite enough of that."

"Ah, father, I meant nothing with them. Just arguing on a particular issue, it’s no problem at all. If my interrogation irritates you, however, I’ll stop." N’s father smiled and said, "That’s my boy."

The man then turned to Lite and Kashiwa, and smiled. "I apologize for my son, he can be a bit…argumentative. Nonetheless, let me introduce myself, my name is Ghetsis. I am one of the Seven Sages of Team Plasma, the organization striving for Pokemon’s justice." Kashiwa’s eyes widened, and Lite glared angrily. Ghetsis took no note of their reactions and said, "I see you travel with Pokemon. There are so many like you who I strive to reveal the truth. Pokemon are not to be confined in these machines, not to be used to our own devices. They require freedom, and until every Pokemon realizes this dream, we of Team Plasma will not stop!"

Lite’s anger seemed to be peaking. He began shouting, "Idiot! Dumbass! Pokemon are friends to humans, and humans are friends to Pokemon! It makes no difference whether or not a Pokemon is confined to a Pokeball, it’s the friendship and the faith that the Pokemon and Trainer have in each other that counts!"

Ghetsis chuckled. "Friendship, you say? Interesting. How exactly does a friendship grow by constantly forcing Pokemon into battle and hurting them? My Pokemon and I have a bond that no one else can share…a bond that no one can understand except for those of us at Team Plasma! You’re no less abusive of your own Pokemon as anyone else I’ve met! One must treat Pokemon above all, and allow them to be free! It is sad to know that you don’t understand it."

Lite’s anger finally broke free. "Fine, then if you’re so confident, then beating me in a battle should be a total cakewalk! C’mon, Kashiwa, you and me against N and Ghetsis!" Kashiwa had nearly backed against the wall during this entire time. He tried to deny, but it seemed like he didn’t have a choice, as the crowd was already dispersing to watch the battle. Kashiwa walked reluctantly beside Lite, who glared angrily at the two Team Plasma officials. N smiled as he produced his Pokeball, while Ghetsis pulled his out as well. Ivyivy and Warmachine were already set to go on the battlefield.

"We gotta win this…you ready, Kashiwa?" Lite asked. Kashiwa nodded nervously.

Thus began their first battle together in the Unova region, and all eyes were on them.

[AuraKshatriya]

Aura considered his options, now that Treecko had been taken away. "Well, fighting some Pokemon head-on would be an interesting experience, but at the moment the equipment I'd need for that isn't exactly ready.....is there a means of obtaining a Pokemon without fighting with it? Approaching one and hoping it'll just decide to help me is a bit presumptuous.....", Aura thought, perplexed. "Wait a minute, there's a Pokemon Laboratory not too far from here. If Unova still follows the trends from other regions, than the Professor there should have starter Pokemon. Perhaps I could get one of my own, despite not technically being a beginner.", Aura concluded. He promptly asked a nearby pedestrian which direction the Pokemon Laboratory was, and headed there. Upon reaching the building, he knocked on the door, and was greeted by a relatively young woman. "Hello, would you happen to be the Professor for this town?", Aura asked. "Yes, my name is Professor Juniper. Can I help you?", the woman replied. Well, under other circumstances I'd probably like to discuss your research, but at the moment, I'd like to request a Starter Pokemon come with me on my journey through Unova. Granted, I'm no beginning trainer.", Aura made clear. "That's fine, though, two trainers already came today to receive some. There's only one left, Snivy. It's a Grass-type Pokemon.", Professor Juniper said. Grass-type? What a coincidence, my starter Pokemon from Hoenn is also a Grass-type. The two should get along well if they ever meet.", Aura said enthusiastically. He then proceeded to enter the next room with Professor Juniper, towards a desk with a single Poke Ball on it. Professor Juniper handed Aura the Poke Ball with a smile on her face. "Wait, what are you doing?", Aura asked, a surprised look on his face. "What do you mean? This is the Poke Ball with Snivy in it.", Professor Juniper responded. "Yes, but that wasn't what I was referring to. You'd just give a Pokemon to me without even seeing if it was okay with it?", Aura replied with dismay. "Oh, well, I suppose not.", Professor Juniper said, instead releasing the Pokemon from it's Poke Ball. From it came a green snake-like Pokemon, it's gaze both dismissive and analytic. "Interesting, so this is a Snivy. That look in your eye tells me that you definitely have your own views on things. So, let me ask you this, are you willing to come along with me on my journey through Unova? You won't be my very first Pokemon, but I'll be sure to give you the same respect as all the others. Though, I suppose in the end, whether what I'm saying is truthful will be up to you to decide.", Aura said, intent on receiving Snivy's response. "And what if it refused? You'd just forget about your journey all together? You can't be a Pokemon trainer with a Pokemon of your own. Or would you just use one of the Pokemon you've already caught?", Professor Juniper asked. "If it refused, I'd accept it, but I wouldn't need to give up on journeying. My goal isn't to be a Pokemon trainer, it's to be a human being who is able to work together with Pokemon to accomplish what neither may be able to on their own. The only way the Pokemon I travel with are mine is as my comrades. Whether they end up battling, competing in Pokemon Contests, Musicals, or anything else is up to them.", Aura said, a determined look in his eyes. Snivy grinned to itself before giving a nod to Aura, and extending it's hand in agreement with his request of journeying together. "So you've accepted? Alright then, pleased to meet you.....", Aura begun, before slowly kneeling down on his knee, closer to Snivy's height, before whispering to Snivy "My name is Raines, though for the most part I generally go by "Aura", so you may not hear it much.", Aura said concluded, before taking the Poke Ball and returning Snivy to it. Before leaving, Aura requested from the Professor a Pokedex for the Unova region, which she happily gave him. As he left, she thought to herself, "That boy.....is different from most trainers I've met, even myself. Whatever he ends up doing, I'm sure it'll be quite interesting.".

[JC]

As James continued forward in Route 2, he found a cat-like Pokémon, James checked his PokéDex, "Ah, so you're called a Purrloin, ah Dark-Type." Then James, sent out his Murkrow from its Poké Ball, "Murkrow, we need more members on our team, I do believe this one wants to join us on our journey, are you ready?" Murkrow nodded, "Good, let's go!"

BATTLE! vs. Purrloin!

Then Purrloin jumped at Murkrow, but Murkrow saw that attack and evaded that attack, "Murkrow, Peck." and Murkrow did as it was ordered, and pecked Purrloin, Purrloin cried in pain, but still watching Murkrow as it was going to make another pass. "Murkrow, I do believe it's planning something, hold back." Murkrow stopped at it's second pass and flew back into the air. Then Purrloin looked at James, and then Murkrow saw it's opportunity to strike and dived onto Purrloin.

Bruised and battered, Purrloin looked like it was about to give out, but then it attacked the Murkrow with a scratch attack, "Murkrow, we need to take it out, use another peck on it." and Murkrow did as it was ordered.

Then James threw a Poké Ball at Purrloin, "1, 2, 3, Ah there we go!"

Purrloin Captured!

Then James returned Murkrow to it's Poké Ball, "Thanks old friend, I know that you aren't used to battling yet, either." then James picked up Purrloin's Poké Ball. "Looks like we need to see if Bill will enjoy this Pokémon's company."

Then James looked at his PokéGear, "Come Eevee, Striaton City is a little further." James walked on the route's path, and Eevee closely followed him.

[A'bom]

Adam made a repulsed face as he overheard the rash young man with the beldum shouting some rather vulgar language at a fashion-impaired man with pasty green hair. "What is it with this region and the medieval wardrobe? Come on, Eliana. Let's get some space between us and them before something escalates."

"Sounds like a good idea." she replied as she followed along behind him. "We need to check out the pokemon center for Professor Juniper, anyway."

Adam nodded. "That medieval man with the green hair--I think he called himself Ghetsis or something... what in the world kind of name is that? Anyway, he said having pokemon battle is abusive and that a friendship between people and pokemon is impossible through battling. It's kind of hypocritical of him, seeing as he himself is a pokemon trainer. That aside, I see his point. Forcing pokemon to battle isn't right. It's different when the pokemon want to battle, however. Do we call contact sports like football and boxing abusive? No. The athletes do it because they enjoy it... well, either that or they enjoy the money it pays. Then again, they could like both. Tangents aside, I think they honestly think they are doing what's right, and I agree that battles are not how pokemon and people bond. Will I release my pokemon? Only if a gun were held to my head, and even then I would do it only confident in the fact that they would return to me once we were safe."

"... you overheard all that?"

"That and the fact that he and that one guy with the beldum are planning on engaging in some fisticuffs." Adam said as he pet Oshawott between the ears. "Oshawott's not ready for that kind of excitement yet. Where do you think the pokemon center is?"

Eliana pointed to her right. "I'd say it's probably the building that looks like it's been damaged. It's also the only building with a red roof."

Adam took the xTranceiver from his backpack strap and called Professor Juniper, who picked up almost immediately. "Adam? Hello?"

"We're in Accumula town and we're on our way to the pokemon center. I'll hook the xTranceiver to my backpack strap so you can see roughly what I'm seeing."

"Alright."

"Let me know if Oshawott gets in the way. I'm carrying him around rather than leaving him in his pokeball." Adam said as he reattached the device to the right strap."

"It doesn't look too bad from here." Eliana observed as they approached the building.

"We'll find out soon enough." Adam said as he cradled Oshawott in his left arm and pushed the door open. The inside was a wreck. There had clearly been a significant struggle recently. The nurse and sales personnel were hard at work trying to pick up the scattered merchandise and overturned furniture.

"Hello, and welcome to the pokemon center." The nurse said in a somewhat despondent tone. "I'm sorry about the state of the place. There was a fight not too long ago. If you need your pokemon healed, I'll be with you in just a minute."

"Actually, uh... the incident is what I'm here to check out. Uhm. Professor Juniper sent me. She's on my... uhh... my xTraneiver right now. First, though, are there phones here, and do they work? This girl needs to call her mom."

The nurse nodded and pointed to a section of the wall that had somehow managed to remain untouched. "Yes, right over there."

"Thank you." Eliana said as she made her way over to the phone. She picked up the phone and dialed home.

"Hello?"

"Hi Mom, it's me."

"Eliana? Is something wrong?"

"No, Mom, everything's fine. I reached the next town, that's all."

"Already? I wasn't expecting you to be there so quickly."

"It wasn't to far away, and we went kinda fast."

"Oh? Why was that?"

Eliana hesitated. She hated lying to her Mom, but she didn't want her freaking out. She bit her lip, trying to decide.

".. Eliana? Are you there?"

Eliana jumped a bit. "Yeah, I'm here."

"Is something wrong? You got quiet."

"No, nothing's wrong."

"Are you sure? Did something happen?"

Eliana pursed her lips. "There was some sort of fight at the Pokemon Center earlier." She said finally. "I wasn't here when it happened, so I'm not sure how it went, but half of the Pokemon Center is destroyed."

The line was silent, aside from the sound of children's voices coming from somewhere in the background. Probably Eliana's siblings.

"Mom?"

"... Destroyed? The Pokemon Center was destroyed?"

"Not all of it. Just some of it."

"What happened?"

"I don't know. Like I said, I wasn't here when it happened."

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, Mom, I'm perfectly fine."

Eliana heard her Mom sigh.

"Mom, I know you're worried about me, but I can take care of myself. And I'm not alone. I have my Pokemon with me."

"I know, sweetheart. I'm still worried for you. I can't be there if you need me."

"Mom--"

Before Eliana could continue, she heard shouting from the other line. She heard her Mom sigh exasperatedly, and say, "Both of you, stop it! I'm sorry, Eliana, I have to go. Call me when you reach the next town, okay? Bye."

Her Mom hung up before she could reply. Eliana stood there for what seemed like forever, though it couldn't have been more than a minute, then sighed, and hung the phone up, and turned to re-join Adam.

[RotomGuy]

"Don't expect to win against Roggenrola! He has skill! That's right! Skill! Which none of you posess!"

Litwick rolled his eye. Pidove yawned, either a natural one or a fake one.

"OooH! Those pokemon have some nerve! Lemme take 'em on! Come on! Show me what you got!"

At this point Jakob was quite angry. The sheer stupididty of this Team Plasma Member seemed double the amount that Ghetsis possessed. Litwick looked at Jakob. Asking him to fight.

"Are you sure? This guys a nutter..."

Litwick nodded.

BATTLE! Jakob vs Plasma Imperial Peter!

"Roggenrola! Use Rollout!"

The pokemon began spinning, faster and faster. Then it hurled itself at Litwick. Litwick took heavy damage.

"Hmph. Use Hex!"

Litwick enshrouded itself in magic gas once more. This time when the Roggenrola came round to attack again, it hurt itself too. Litwick still wasn't done though. He began fanning the gas towards the pokemon to damage it. And damage it was taking.

"Don't let that thing beat you! Rock Blast! Now! NOW!

Roggenrola chucked several rocks at Litwick. After the assault was over, Litwick fell to the ground. He got up again, then collapsed.

"Good job Litwick, come on back. Now! Go Pidove!"

"I'm gonna destroy this bird! He almost deathened me! DEATHENED ME! Ya hear?!"

"Pidove us- "

Pidove already seemed to know what he was doing, and whipped up a gust of wind. Roggenrola was not lifted upwards however. It was to heavy. Instead, it threw some more rocks at Pidove.

"Ha! HAHA! Take that! I told you that you couldn't beat me!"

"Come on Pidove, get back up! For me!"

Pidove got back up quickly, and began the process of Roost. Roggenrola began throwing rocks again, but the bird was healing faster than it was taking damage. Then it used Gust again, this time carrying the rock high above the ground. In the air, it threw rocks at Pidove. Pidove was blown backwards, as was the Roggenrola. Then they threw one last attack at each other. Then, they both collapsed.

"What was THAT? Did I win?"

"I think it be called a draw. Do you know anything about fair play?"

"I'm in Team Plasma! I don't play fair!"

Battle over. Draw.

[Idno58]

Dell witnessed the battle. "I sure hope that there wasn't yer last pokemon."

"huh-?" Peter gasped.

" 'cuz you ain't gonna beat my pokemon all by yerself."

"Y-you coward!" Peter stuttered. "Hiding behind your pokemon so you can pick on innocent people-"

"I would skip the chit-chat if I were you. An almost-sage's gotta have more than one pokemon, right?"

"H-heh. Lucky for me, you're correct. Go! Woobat!"

Dell took out Leonidas and scanned the Woobat. "Mm-hmm... Alright, I see. Go, Blitzle!"

Blitzle sprang out from behind Dell and barked. (Is that the sound what a Zebra makes..?)

Battle! Dell vs. Plasma Imperial Peter!

"Woobat! Use confusion!"

With mysterious power, Woobat lifted Blitzle high in the air.

"Heh. You jus' made yer first mistake! Blitzle! Retaliate with Shock wave!"

Blitzle unleashed a shock of lightning so fast it could chase down a quick attack. Without knowing what hit it, Woobat was badly electrocuted until it touched the ground and lost focus. Blitzle descended to the ground.

"Now! Finish 'im off with flame charge!"

Blitzle's hooves burst into flame as it sprinted into woobat, who was still twitching on the ground. If there was any doubt that woobat had fainted, it was gone now. It flew into a tree so hard it left a dent.

Battle over. Dell wins.

"A-ah!" Peter screamed after he returned his pokemon. "Th-this isn't the last you've heard of Imperial Peter!" He stuttered and turned around, running. "PLAASMAAAAA!!"

Dell had pretty much ignored Peter since the battle had ended, taking his time to tend to Blitzle. "That there was some fine work." he added.

After the battle ended, Dell and Jakob had lost sight of James, but had reached Striation city. "D'you see him, Jakob?"

"Uh... not yet. Maybe we should look around."

"Good Idea. First, let's go to the Pokemon Center."

[The Tropius of Tropiuses]

Stu took off his bookbag and put it on the ground while looking for what was making the ringing sound. He noticed his mother had put a lot of things in his bag, from star-shaped things, to purple bottles labled, "Potiosn". Fianlly, in the bottom-left part of his bookbag, he found the ringing noise. It was coming from what looked like a phone- but on a wrist band. He saw a glowing red button on the side an pushed. His Mother appered on the screen of the "phone".

"Mom?!" Stu said in awe when he saw his Mother on the screen.

"Yes, Stu, it's me. I just wanted to check on how you're doing," said Stu's mother in a s oothing and calm voice.

"Oh, I'm doing fine," Stu lied, as he didn't want to get his mother worried on his well-being.

"How's the Pokemon Prof. Birch gave you? Is it okay?"

"Yes, it's fine, although it just faint-" Stu caught himself before he said "fainted".'Oh, no! Mom's gonna ask what I was about to say, and then she'll get worried-

"What did you say, Honey?" Stu's Mother said, just as he predictied.

"Uh-er- nothing."

"Stu." she said in an impatient tone. "What were you going to say?"

"Uh- fainte-"

But, before Stu could finish his sentence, Cheren came back from Nuvema town.

"Stu!" Cheren said.

"Oh, who's this?" Stu's Mother asked.

"Oh, this is Cheren. He said he was going to help me to with my Pokemon."

"How nice! Cheren, I'm Stu's Mother. I think it's very nice that you're helping him with his Pokemon." Stu's Mother told Cheren.

"Oh, it's no problem at all, ma'am. I was just training here, anyawys." Cheren told her.

"Oh, allright. Now, bye, Stu! Stay safe!" she said before hanging up.

'Bye, Mom!"

Stu then clicked and the Phone turned off.

"So, what was going on, with the explosion?" Stu asked Cheren.

"Apperently, a group called 'Team Plasma' destoryed it. They wanted to save Pokemon or something." Cheren informed Stu.

'Team Plasma.' Stu shivered at the thought of the name. He also had a strange feeling about them.

"So, do you want to start training now?' Cheren asked Stu.

"Uh, now, I suppose," Stu said, remembering the events prior to this.

[Alakazamaster]

"For you." Ditto said with a grin, holding out the shining Xtransceiver.

Pisclin was shocked! He simply did not know what to make of this sudden act of spontaneous generosity. While he certainly was suspicious of Ditto's seemingly random gift, it was hard to be suspicious of someone willing to buy such an impressive present for a new friend... Pisclin's opinion of Ditto would be unaffected by this act of kindness, but he would be sure to keep a sharper eye on him.

"I... don't know what to say! Thank you so much, this is-"

Pisclin was having trouble expressing what he felt, but Ditto seemed to understand perfectly based on Pisclin's impression.

"...Oh! I just realized we have been here a while. We'll never get any Gym Badges if we just stand around here doing nothing all day! I think... we should head on over to the next town as soon as possible. You don't want anything from Route 2... do you.?" Pisclin asked pensively.

"Hmmm... well, I certainly didn't INTEND on catching any-"

"Great! I mean, yeah, that's good. No need to waste any time. Tentacool and Riolu are ready to go, so lets just head off now!"

Pisclin's enthusiasm was really shining through, mostly from the gift that he just received, so he dashed out of the PokeCenter with Ditto by his side, both ready to tackle their first Gym! They nearly forgot about the final member to their Gym trio, Lite...

[GrassPokemonFTW]

“L-lite, I’m scared, c-can’t we just…” Kashiwa stammered. His utter fright from facing the two intimidating Team Plasma members was starting to get to his head. Lite, completely confident that they could win, spat on the ground and scoffed.

“Ha, and let those guys win!? Over my dead body!” Lite yelled, making sure N and Ghetsis could hear them. N and Ghetsis made no reaction, except they both looked at each other and broke into a fit of laughter. The laughter only proceeded to irk Lite even more.

“Alright, Warmachine, here’s the plan…” Lite whispered to his Beldum. “I want you to concentrate. If we lose this…in fact, don’t think about it! Just win! This is one of those vital battles that we can’t afford to lose. You got that, buddy?” Warmachine made a movement that seemed to be a nod. Lite smiled and smirked, “All right then! Let’s kick some serious Plasm-ass!”

Kashiwa was a lot less than confident. Rather than pondering a strategy, he planned on ways he could get out of this mess. He looked to other for help, but others seemed to want to watch the battle unfold, including these two trainers back at the dock. One was a young man a lot older than Kashiwa was, and the other was a girl about his age. Kashiwa wanted to ask them for help, but some sort of impulse told him it was a bad idea. He thought no more on how to escape and decided there was no way out. Everyone else seemed to be finished with their preparations.

BATTLE! N and Ghetsis Harmonia vs. Kashiwa and Lite!

“Well, then. Let’s see what you’ve got!” N called, smiling. “Go, Purrloin!” N thrust his Pokeball into the battlefield, and out came a purplish cat. Ghetsis produced his Pokeball next.

“Let the purification of these foolish trainers begin!” Ghetsis called to his adoring fans, which seemed to consist only of people who wore the medieval outfits. He thrust his Pokeball in as well, calling, “Hydregion! The time is here!” Out of the Pokeball came a large, 6-winged dragon, who roared fiercely and gave a menacing gaze at its two opponents. Ivyivy began to cower in fear, and Warmachine was starting to levitate a little lower than normal.

“Hey! Warmachine! Don’t let that Pokemon get to you! Now, start off with Iron Head on Purrloin!” Warmachine nodded, fired itself straight toward its target, but Ghetsis’s Hydregion was exceedingly fast; before the Beldum was halfway across the battlefield, the Hydregion had successfully intercepted the attack, took not much more than a scratch, and fired a Focus Blast at Warmachine. Warmachine flipped backwards and fell to the ground, lodged completely in the hole it created.

“W-what!? Warmachine! Get up!” Lite shouted. The Beldum weakly floated up, its eye gleaming with rage. N decided to attack now, having Purrloin attack with Scratch, targeting Ivyivy.

Kashiwa found his mind briefly from within all the fear and blurted a command: “Ivyivy! U-use Grass Pledge!” Ivyivy formed a sphere of leaves around it, and fired it at the advancing Purrloin. It was sent backwards, taking considerable damage. Purrloin weakly stood up, wincing at the pain. Ghetsis now burned with rage.

“How dare you! That little brat snake is going to pay for that! Hydregion, burn him with Fire Blast!” Hydregion swiftly flew straight in front of Kashiwa and Ivyivy, formed a ball of fire in between its two head-hands, and fired it straight on the ground, exploding and producing a great plume of fire that expanded quickly. The flames swallowed Ivyivy and Kashiwa, who, completely frightened, held his arms up and covered his head. Within all the flames, Kashiwa could hear Lite screaming and Ghetsis laughing. N’s menacing chuckle could be heard as well.

“You…YOU!!! Warmachine, get Hydregion with Headbutt, AND SHOW NO MERCY!” Warmachine nodded, and blasted towards the Hydregion at breakneck speed. N’s Purrloin attempted an interception of the attack, but the Beldum blasted completely past it, knocking Purrloin out of the way. Warmachine continued to blast towards its target, almost connecting to its target, but before it did, it came to a sudden stop. Realizing where it was, Warmachine struggled to break free from where it was: caught in Hydregion’s mouth! Ghetsis laughed at the amusing scene; Lite just stammered. Meanwhile, the smoke from the fire plume had cleared; Kashiwa took his hands away from his head, and saw Ivyivy on the ground, fainted. Kashiwa tenderly picked him up, and Ivyivy gave him a weak smile before closing its eyes and going somewhat limp. Kashiwa began to cry again. Ghetsis saw his tears begin to form.

“You had it coming to you. The way you treat your Pokemon, and the way I’ve exposed this truth to you…it makes defeat all the more bitter, doesn’t it? You had every clue in your hands to prevent this, but your headstrongness and your idiocy made this a terrible experience for you, hasn’t it?” Ghetsis teased. Kashiwa began to really sob now. The sour remarks and hurtful accusations that Ghetsis had made were too much for Kashiwa to endure. Lite clenched his fist and roared.

“DAMN YOU, GHETSIS! YOU AND YOUR DAMN ORGANIZATION!” Lite shouted, totally infuriated. Ghetsis chuckled.

“And you…you’re too proud and conceited to admit defeat or wrongdoing. It’s your kind of persona that I hope to obliterate with Team Plasma. Don’t you realize it? You refuse to believe that you’re fallible. If you did, you could have learned the error of your ways long ago. Face it, you’re no better than anyone else, and you’re scum if you believe that you’re going to take Team Plasma with you!”

“That may be! I might be some reckless rash loser, but even THAT doesn’t change the fact that you guys are total freaks and idiots!” Lite lashed. “I told you once, and I’ll tell you again: losing to you!? OVER MY DEAD BODY!”

Ghetsis chuckled, flicking his hair. “That can be arranged…”

Lite was bellowing now. “Warmachine! Iron Head, now! Get yourself out of Hydregion’s mouth!” Warmachine began glowing in a silver light and began to blast itself into Hydregion’s mouth. Hydregion gurgled with fury, flinging its head around in a fleeting attempt to remove the Pokemon from its mouth.

Ghetsis seemed ready to end things. “Hydregion, finish that fool off with Dragon Pulse.” Hydregion nodded, and formed a blue sphere in its mouth. The sphere enveloped Warmachine, and when it exploded, Warmachine was sent flying backwards, and onto the ground. Warmachine made no other response; it had fainted.

Battle over. N and Ghetsis win.

Lite and Kashiwa gazed over their fainted Pokemon. Lite was still trying to comprehend what had just happened; Kashiwa was all too familiar with this result. The crowd dispersed, except for the two trainers who he had seen before in Nuvema Town. The girl beckoned them to follow them to the Pokemon Center. Not sure what to do at this point, Lite and Kashiwa ran in pursuit of them.

Lite and Kashiwa eventually reached the Pokemon Center. The young girl motioned for them to come inside. When the duo walked in they noticed that the whole place was a huge mess, as though someone had torn up the lobby area. The girl was standing besides a couch containing a man who appeared to be older than both Lite and Kashiwa. Lite approached the young girl, as the man seemed to be reclusive and moody, and asked her, "Miss, who exactly are you?"

"My name is Eliana." She said. "I'm a new trainer from the Hoenn Region. May I ask your name?"

Lite nodded, motioning to himself and Kashiwa. "Pleased to make your acquaintance. My name is Lite Kyler. I'm also from Hoenn. I was born and raised in Mossdeep. My friend here is Kashiwa. He's native to Nuvema Town." Kashiwa gave Lite a peculiar look- this was not his normal speaking manner around him or anyone else. It reminded him of how Lite spoke to Professor Juniper.

"It's nice to meet you two." Eliana said with a smile, holding her hand out to them. Lite shook her hand, pleased to meet another girl from Hoenn. Kashiwa hesitantly reached out and took Eliana's hand, and feebly shook it.

Lite then beckoned to the older boy on the couch. "Might I ask who your friend here is?"

"I'm Adam." He replied as he continued to pet his Oshawott with one hand and his Quilava with the other.

"Ah. Well, hey there guy. Nice to meet ya." Lite offered his own hand out to Adam.

Adam looked at Lite's outstretched hand as though in thought for a moment. "So, how'd that fight with the green-haired guys go?" he asked as he returned his gaze to the top of the Oshawott's head.

"..." Lite paused, almost baffled by Adam's lack of etiquette. Upon mention of N and Ghetsis, Kashiwa shied away and stared off into space. Lite responded, "What's it to you how it went? We lost, if it means anything."

Adam shrugged and flicked some of Oshawott's fur from his hand away from the group. "Just asking. The way you were yelling at him was, well, kind of offensive at some points. It's not a good idea to go picking fights with others."

Lite folded his arms. Kashiwa could tell Lite was losing his nerve, and desperately wanted to leave. Lite said to Adam, "How'd you feel if someone questioned the bond 'tween you and those Pokemon on your lap? Pokemon you've grown up with and become best friends with. Those guys were at the explosion in Nuvema Port yesterday, and the speech they gave then pissed me off too, which is why Warmachine and I clocked their goons a good few fists! Anyone with the wrong idea about people and Pokemon piss me off." Lite's fury was boiling at this young man's smug coolness.

It was almost as though Adam truly didn't notice Lite's anger. "The bond between you and your Pokemon is your own. He doesn't know what you and your Beldum have been through. If you've been through as much as Quilava and I have, there's nothing that could separate you two." he said matter-of-factly, still focusing on Oshawott's head. "But the green hair dude had a point, I think. People and pokemon don't grow closer through battling, but rather the time they spend together preparing for battle, in a sense. There's more to it than that, but I don't want to waste your time."

Lite tilted his head. Now he was really curious. "So you're telling me the relationship between humans and Pokemon isn't universal? I'd say it is. Me and Warmachine, you and your Quilava there, Kashiwa here and his Ivyivy. You all share the same bond of friendship, right? In fact, I'd say you care more about Pokemon than people. The iron bond forged by fighting spirit applies to every good Trainer and their partner Pokemon. Those Team Plasma morons don't see that people and Pokemon grow closer together- they think of themselves as liberators of Pokemon. They're just stealing people's friends and partners from everyone!"

"Yeah, all of us have close bonds with our pokemon, but, unfortunately, that's not always the case." Adam replied as he turned his oshawott around and lifted him into the air a bit, causing a noise reminiscent of a giggle from the little pokemon. "I do tend to get along better with Pokemon than I do with people, though. It's hard to explain, but I understand what they want, just by looking at them--something that doesn't happen with people, for some reason."

Lite dropped his arms down at his side. His fury begun to subside. "I guess I see what you're sayin'. I've met a few not-so-nice Trainers. 'Course I've also met trainers who love their Pokemon. And these are the people Team Plasma will also separate their friends from, not just the bad Trainers. And sorry if you don't think this way, but hell if I'm going to stand by and watch those jerks steal Pokemon from good people. People like... Kashiwa here." He beckoned to Kashiwa, and upon hearing his name he perked himself up from his nervous daze and said, "What was that?"

"I'm not saying what they are doing is okay. I think their intentions are good, but they just fail to realize that some Pokemon don't want to leave their trainers." Adam said as he glanced over at Kashiwa.

Lite nodded. "I agree. And that's what I'm gonna show 'em. I don't care if Kashiwa and I lost today, we're gonna grow stronger and show them the true iron bonds of people and Pokemon." Kashiwa looked on at the conversation in curiosity. Was this how Trainers from all over felt about people and Pokemon? If so... Kashiwa looked down at the Poke Ball containing his fainted Ivyivy. He whispered to himself, "Ivyivy...I promise you, I'll grow stronger for you."

Adam looked at Kashiwa, a little confused. "I'm sorry, but... how does the trainer being strong have anything to do with the strength of a Pokemon? In all my years as a trainer, the only part of me that's gotten stronger is my legs from all the walking I do."

Kashiwa gasped and blinked in surprise. How could he hear that? "M...me?"

Adam smiled a little. "I'm just pointing out that the Pokemon do all the work in a battle. All trainers do is spout commands."

Kashiwa stuttered for a moment and opened his mouth to speak. "Well... it's like what Lite's been telling me. If the Trainer believes in their Pokemon, and their Pokemon believes in their Trainer, that fatih makes them both stronger..."

Adam looked down at Quilava. "If only that's really how it worked. Yeah, supporting your Pokemon and believing in them will let them get stronger, but them believing in you doesn't really do much. At least, that's the way I see it. Ultimately, it's up to the Pokemon whether they want to get stronger or not."

Lite stepped in again. "Yeah? Tell that to me and Warmachine. The iron bond forged by the cast off flames of our ever burning fighting spirit makes us stronger with every passing battle! The faith the Pokemon has in the Trainer is also important! If your Quilava didn't believe in the decisions you made, would it trust you and get strong?" Lite thought back on the lessons taught to him by Steven. This Adam character obviously didn't have much faith in other people.

Adam chuckled. "Quilava thinks I'm insane half the time, but he listens anyway." he replied as the fire-type looked up at him. "If I'm not mistaken, he listens to me because I take care of him and love him, not because he thinks my commands will pull through." His expression changed to one of sadness. "My plans don't always work so well, though, as some of my other Pokemon can attest. For me and my pokemon, it's not the fighting spirit that strengthens our bond. It's the time we spend together."

Lite grinned and laughed. "You think by fighting spirit I just mean battles? There's more to life and Pokemon than battling, you dumbass!" Lite pointed into the air. "Warmachine and I are going to explore everything under the sun! By conquering all the Pokemon Leagues, I figure that means we've seen everything on the face of the Earth! And once we're done with that... we'll head to the moon itself!" Kashiwa looked on at Lite. It astonished him how, despite the horrible loss he just experienced at Ghetsis and N's hands, he could already be up and positive at a moment's notice.

Adam set Quilava on his shoulder and stood up, cradling Oshawott in his arms. "Nice mouth you have there." he said as he walked past Lite and over to Eliana. "If I were as brash as you, I'd fight you as well... but I think this building would become structurally unsound, and Oshawott isn't ready for a real battle yet."

Lite grinned wide. "Thanks! I try. Anyways, I'm not up for a battle now, since Warmachine is beat and Kashiwa and I only really came here to get our Pokemon healed. I guess our little conversation's over." He motioned to Kashiwa to follow him to the Nurse's desk. "Nice talkin' to ya by the by." He waved at Adam, not bothering to have his hand refused again, and instead offered it to Eliana. "Farewell. It was nice meeting a fellow Hoennite. Hopefully I'll see you around."

"Likewise." Eliana replied as she shook his hand. "Good luck out there."

Kashiwa also made a gesture of farewell to the two. "Uhhm...bye, I guess." He nodded his head at Adam politely. He then stepped forward to speak to Eliana. "Err, yeah, what Lite said. We're both traveling together, so it'd be nice if we ran into each other...?"

"I suppose so, as long as those two don't get at each other's throats." She whispered in reply.

Kashiwa smiled. "Yes, I suppose so. Alright then, till later."

Later that day, with Pokemon fully healed, Lite and Kashiwa walked outside. Lite seemed awfully quiet, and Kashiwa was as quiet as he usually was. Lite eventually broke the silence.

"Kid, there's a few things I want to talk to you about."

Kashiwa blinked and asked, "What exactly is it you want to say? Is it about those guys we fought?"

Lite shook his head. "No, it's not really about them, but it sort of is at the same time. It's about some things I wanna tell you. Things I'm gonna try to teach you while we travel." He raised his fist and pointed his index finger upwards. "Lesson one. 'The iron bond between people and Pokemon is forged by the ever burning flames cast off by their fighting spirit.' This is what Steven Stone taught me. I think it means somethin' like this. If you believe in your Pokemon, they'll believe in you, and vice versa. This also applies to people and other people, and Pokemon and other Pokemon. That belief in your partners and friends will drive your fighting spirit to immeasurable limits. Faith in your Pokemon is the ultimate strength, and that's what keeps you goin'."

Next, he raised his middle finger so that his two fingers formed a V. "Lesson two. It's important to fight for what you believe in. If somethin' makes you angry, you've gotta let it show, and you've gotta defend your beliefs. Team Plasma sorta has this right. They fight for the freedom of Pokemon. But even though they might think it's a good cause, they're doin' it all wrong, and that pisses me off. There's better ways of doin' it than the way Team Plasma's got goin'. I mean, I got all uppity at those guys because they questioned my bond 'tween me and Warmachine. Our iron bond is unbreakable, and anyone who tries to smash it will get smashed themselves."

Finally, he raised his ring finger, so his hand resembled a W. "Final lesson. Not all people are like that Team Plasma. Most other people I've met are nicer than those creeps. Don't let those guys scare you off, ya got me? Along our journey, I'm sure we'll meet more nice people like that guy and that chick we just talked to."

Kashiwa thought for a moment. Is this what drove Lite to fight those evil, scary men undeterred in the first place? His fighting spirit, his unwavering resolve in his beliefs, and his positive attitude. Kashiwa admired these qualities- he wished so desperately to be as outgoing as him. He nodded and said quietly, "I think… I got it."

Lite nodded. After a minute or so, he spoke again, saying, “It’s a damn shame we couldn’t beat those two…of all people we could’ve lost to…” Lite muttered. “…but you know what? I don’t regret a damn thing. I think we made our point clear; we’re not gonna let them do anything as long as we’re here to stop them. Right, Kashiwa?” Kashiwa nodded slowly. Lite then pointed to Route 2.

“I suppose we should head this way now. This should take us to Striaton City, where we’ll have our first gym battle! So I guess we should head out on our way, right?”

“Right…let’s go, Lite. We don’t have any time to waste…” Kashiwa muttered, as the two walked out of the city, with the experience of fighting evil in their back pocket.

[Arceus is Epic]

While Ark passed through the not-so-tough Route 2, he came across a Purrloin.
"A Purrloin, eh? These guys aren't so tough, aren't they Zorua?" Zorua nodded in agreement.
"Don't you remember that Purrloin that always trained with us? I can remember its features: a slightly darker color than other Purrloin, and a scratch near its left eye. Now that I look at it, this is that same Purrloin! How've ya been, buddy?" The Purrloin purred in acknowledgement.
"How about one last battle for old time's sake?"

WILD POKEMON BATTLE: ZORUA VS. PURRLOIN!

"Well, this is gonna be fun. Zorua, use Fury Swipes!" Zorua's paw glowed bright while its paws scratched Purrloin all over.
"Good, now weaken it some more with Shadow Ball!" Zorua created a large dark-purple ball from its mouth and shot it at the Purrloin. Purrloin fell over but Ark knew something was off.
Ark whispered to Zorua,"I have an idea, Zorua. You run over, being full aware of its trick, and I catch it." Zorua barked softly in understandment. Zorua creeped up behind Purrloin and Purrloin turned around towards Zorua. The moment that happened, Ark tossed a Poke Ball.
"One, two, three.... Alright! I gotcha, Purrloin! Now come on out and meet Lillipup, too!"
The two Pokemon stared at each other for awhile until they nodded to each other.

END BATTLE: PURRLOIN HAS BEEN CAUGHT.

"Great, now that we're all accquainted with each other, lets go to Straiton City and say hi to my old teacher and even challenge the Gym! But we have to train more first to get you all into top strength. Zorua, I know you're doing well enough already, but you still need to perfect your form. As for you two, Purrloin and Lillipup, I need to understand a bit more on how you battle." The four kept training in Route 2, not noticing they were being watched by Team Plasma...

[JC]

As James walked up an hill, he saw people, buildings.

"Eevee, whew we made it." Eevee looked at James "Vee!" "Yeah I know my friend, We'll battle Striaton's Gym Leader after we take a short nap in the Pokémon Center, I don't think Joy would mind that at all." James looked at Eevee seeing it was exhausted, "Little buddy, why don't you take a rest." and James took out a white PokéBall, "Eevee Return." and Eevee went inside it's PokéBall, "It's not needed for you to keep up with me if you're tired." And James started walking to Striation City.

A few minutes passed and James was at the border of the City. "What a gorgeous city, it feels relaxing." As James went down the path he was seeing vendors and shops alike. "Hey, Sir." James looked at who was talking to him. "Over here, sir." then James saw a short elderly man, "Who, me?" James was confounded.

"Hey look, you're a trainer right?" The man asked.

"Yes I am, I'm exploring Unova, and will be participating Gym Battles." James said confidently.

"Ah, you should be looking for a restaurant, that's you're gym that you'll be looking for."

"Thank you, sir, but I really need to look for the Pokémon Center."

"It's down the street to the left, it's pretty close to the gym in fact."

James walked down the street, and seen the Pokémon Center, then James starting talking to his white PokéBall "Eevee, we'll need to give our first Unova Pokémon to Bill, and let him see how strong it actually is."

James walked inside the Pokémon Center, and seen that the layout was slightly different, then he walked up to the main counter, "Joy, I need to you heal this Pokémon, I have a phone call to make anyways so I'm be over there."

"Okay then." taking Eevee's Ball.

James walked over to the Phone and called Bill's number. "Hello Bill speaking, oh hello James."

"Hello Bill, I have a Pokémon from the Unova Region, I need to see if can analyze it's overall strength."

"Will do James, by the way, it appears that Team Plasma was in Accumula Town a few moments ago, a couple of trainers were battling this elderly man, they say there were two trainers but the camera focused on this man." Bill shown an image of Ghetsis.

"That man right there is known as Ghetsis, I figure he's the leader of that little team of theirs."

"Ah just like Giovanni and Team Rocket."

"Well sort of, it's more of focus of forcing Pokémon to be "liberated" from their trainers."

"I see"

"But how that man acts, I figure he's hiding something."

"So about that Pokémon"

"Ah yes here," and Purrloin's Ball got transfered to Bill, "It's called a Purrloin, actually quite vicious, when they want to be."

"I see, could I keep ahold of it for an hour or two?"

"I don't mind, anyways I got to go, Eevee should be healed by now." and James hung up the phone, and started walking to the main counter, "Joy, is my Eevee healed?"

"Oh yes, You're not from Unova are you?"

"No ma'am, I'm from the Johto Region, Goldenrod City to be precise."

"Well, thanks for telling me that, here take good care of it."

"Trust me lady, it's my best friend, I will be taking good care of it, btw, could I take a nap on your couch here in the Pokémon Center, the Center in Accumula got damaged pretty badly, nobody was seriously hurt though."

"Oh, that's not good, and yes, you may take a nap on the couch."

"Thank you for you're time, ma'am."

And James walked over to the couch, "Well Eevee, come on out, lets take a nap together." and Eevee came out of it's PokéBall, and then James just realized that he wasn't in Johto, people we're eying him and his Eevee, "Sorry about that people, I'm just so used to it being out of it's PokéBall, I don't like it being in it in there anyways." James nervously chuckled, "If you have a problem with it, then go to Johto if you'd like." then James and Eevee lied down on the couch and started sleeping.

[RotomGuy]

"Do ya think he might've taken a rest in the Pokemon Centre?"

"I don't know. He might of challenged the gym leader. When... um... if I challenge the leaders, my pokemon are going to have to be trained."

"Trained? The best place to go is the Dreamyard! Home to the mighty pokemon Munna!"

Litwick snickered behind his back.

"Um, thank you. Dell, if you want to come with me, feel free. You might even want to challenge the gym leader."

And then Jakob walked in the direction of the Dreamyard. Upon arriving, the first thing that was heard was loud screaming

"OOOOH! Little monkey! Come back! Oh where are you? Please come back!"

"What's wrong? What are you looking for?"

"Oh co- hello! I'm looking for my monkey's. Pansage, Pansear and Panpour. Pansage is going to be hard to find in the woods, but someone like Pansear should be easy to find!"

"I'll find one of them. I would find them all but i'm busy."

"Oh thank you so much! My name is Penny Thiredrop, just so you know."

Suddenly a rustling sound could be heard in a tree. Jakob turned. Then a Pansage leaped out, jumping to another tree.

"We can't reach that... Pidove! Go after it!"

Pidove flapped it's wings and flew at top speed towards the tree.

[Idno58]

"Hm... now,I don't think y'all kin reach him without hurtin' him, can ya, Machoke?"

"Choke..." Machoke sighed and went off into the woods.

Then, something caught Blitzle's eye in a body of water. With a growl and a bark, it unleashed a shock wave. Several fish pokemon floated to the surface, unconscious, and among them was a blue monkey pokemon.

"Woah, there, Blitzle!" Dell exclaimed. "Now, why'd ya go an' do that for?"

"My Panpour!" Penny shouted. "Thank you so much! It would've taken me all day to coax him out of there."

Suddenly, there was a yellow flash in the woods, followed by a white explosion of snow. Machoke came back, slightly charred, holding an exhausted and shivering Pansear from the back of the neck.

"You got Pansear, too... Thanks, mister!"

"Please, I didn't do nothin'. 'Twas mah Pokemon who did the job. Now, we'll hafta leave gettin' that pansage o' yours outta that tree to Jakob's Pidove." He said as he fished out Panpour from the pond and analyzed the two monkeys with Leonidas.

[The Tropius of Tropiuses]

Stu and Cheren began their training. Cheren showed Stu how to catch Pokemon, what were Potoins and how to use them, what types are good against these types, and many more things. As they were about finished, Stu asked Cheren what he should do about how slow Seedot is.

"Hm. That could be a problem," Cheren said as he thought of an answer to the problem. "How about you use some Potoins when the going gets tough? Unless you get a critical hit, you should be fine." Cheren told Stu.

'Critical Hits?'
Stu thought.'Oh yeah. That's when the Pokemon gets an extra boost when it attacks.'
"Yea. That would work."
"Thanks."

"No problem.
Well, looks like I have to get going on to Striaton City." Cheren said, looking foward into the next town.
"Striation..City?" Stu asked, wondering why Cheren needed to get their so fast.

"Yes, Striation City. It's a city past Accumla Town, the next town over," Cheren said, pointing at the town ahead."It's where the first Gym is."

"Gym? Like a place to train?"

"Sort of. Ecxept it's a place where your don't hone your skills, you test them," he explained. "You see, there are 8 gyms in Unova. Most trainers try to beat all 8, and when they do, they enter the Pokemon League, where you fight the Elite Four and then the Champion, and try to become the most pwerful trainer of all!" Cheren said with alot of exitment."That's what I want to bcome. The Champion... of Unova."

'The Champion? Of all of Unova?' Stu pondered.

"Well, I need to get going. See ya, Stu, Cheren said, and then he went off.

"Oh. Allright. Thanks, Cheren!" Stu said as he waved goodbye to Cheren.

Stu turned to look at seedot, who was fully healed by Cheren."Well, whadya say, Seedot? Want to take the challenge Cheren was talking about?" "Seedot!" Seedot replied, eager to battle. "Allright, Seedot, let's go!" Stu said, as he burst off into the grass, which was a wrong thing to do, beacuse a Pokemon came out of the grass, and stopped him right in his tracks.

"What the-?! Hey, Seedot, look! It's the same Lillpup as before! Stu ecxlaimed. He figured it was the same Lillpup baecuse it had some scratches and was very angry.

" 'Kay Seedot, you ready for your first REAL battle?" Stu asked Seedot. Seedot then confronted the Lilpup and the battle began.

Rematch! Vs. Wild Lillpup!

As ecxpected, the Lillpup attacked first. Seedot flew back, but then got back on his feet. "Allright, Seedot, use Bide!" Stu ecxlaimed (He learened the real name of the move from Cheren). Seedot started his Bide, whil Stu looked for the Potions his Mother packed. The wild lillpup came back with a Tackle to seedot, and Seedot rebounded with his charged Bide. "Woohoo! go Seedot!" Stu yelled, filled with encouragment. The Lillpup stayed in one spot for a few seconds, as it was already weak from the last battle, and came back with an attack, and seedot started his Bide.

'Hm... Mabey I should catch it, as Cheren showed me to.' Stu thought. Stu saw Seedot use his Bide, and saw him getting weaker. Stu grabed a Pokeball and said, "Allright, here goes nothing!" and then threw it. The Pokeball hit the Lillpup, a flash of blinding, red light came out and the Lillpup was caught in the Pokeball. 'Now, for the shakes...'

One...

Two...

Three...

The Pokeball clicked, and that meant he caught it. "Aww yeah, I caught the Lillpup!" Stu said.

Battle- Over. Lillpup Caught by Stu.

"C'mon, Seedot, let's get going!" Stu said after he healed Seedot, and then they both went on their way.

[AuraKshatriya]

Aura sighed, as he slowly entered Striaton City, worn and tired.

:Well, now that I've got a full team, I suppose I'll head to the Pokémon Center. After I head to the Striaton Gym, I suppose I may deposit all of them, depending on what other Pokémon are here in the area.....:, Aura thought out-loud, having caught 5 new Pokémon on Route 1 alone. Aura slowly walked through the city, numerous skyscrapers piercing the sky. It didn't take too long to notice a nearby Pokémon Center, which he walked towards hastily, hoping to get some rest, as he had been moving about near-constantly as he traversed Routes 1 and 2. After the subsequent healing of his Pokémon, Aura headed towards a nearby Pokémon Transfer Machine and called home.

"Hello? Oh, hello Raines.", Aura's father said. Aura had plugged his headphones into the PTS, not realizing it had a headphone jack in the Nuvema Pokémon Center, which meant his father could speak his name freely.

"So, if you're calling so soon, this must mean you've caught some new Pokémon, I imagine.", he said.

"Yeah, I've only evolved one of the six I currently have on me, but the others are looking pretty strong as well. I'm not entirely sure I've caught every species found in Routes 1 and 2, but I suppose I could always backtrack later if need be.", Aura said.

"I also plan on taking on the local Gym, it'll be interesting to see how the Gyms of Unova differ from those of Hoenn. I'll be transferring two Pokémon over to you for now. It'll give them a chance to get to know all of you and feel more comfortable knowing they have a home to go to when need be.", Aura said, placing two Poké Balls into empty indentations on the machine.

"Alright, I'm looking forward to seeing what they're like. I'll be sure to give them an extra checkup to make sure they're not injured or sick, you can never be too sure these days.", Aura's father said, as the Poké Balls disappeared in a flash. "I'll call again soon after I take on the Gym, hopefully. And hopefully I'll be able to defeat the Gym Leader as well.....", Aura ended with, as his father said goodbye and the call ended.

"Well, looks like you four will be coming with me to the Gym. Let's see if we've spent enough time together to make a good team.", Aura said.

"Team Plasma's base of operations must be somewhere in this region.....I'm sure that's where they take all the Pokémon they claim to "liberate", which would include Treecko. I'd better hurry things along if I want to meet up with him.", Aura thought to himself, as he left the Pokémon Center and headed towards the Striaton Gym.

[A'bom]

"What do you think about that one, Quilava?" Adam asked as he strained to see the somewhat distant purrloin as it clawed at the trunk of a tree. Quilava muttered its name quietly and shook its head. "Yeah, it looks kind of frail to me, too... well, what about the one hiding behind that rock? The one that--oh my..."

Adam covered Oshawott's eyes as he watched the afore-mentioned purrloin savagely claw an audino into submission before stealing its oran berry and eating it almost mockingly in front of the unfortunate victim. Adam looked down at Quilava with a sickened look on his face. "Even for a dark type, that was pretty brutal and heartless." he reached into his backpack and took out a pokeball. "Let's catch it."

Quilava shook his head and smiled before crouching into a striking position.

"Do you have a clear shot?"

Quilava's eyes narrowed as he nodded.

"Fire at will."

Battle: Quilava VS. Purrloin

Purrloin turned snickered to herself as she took another bite out of the oran berry. She was quite proud of herself; not even a sensitive-eared pokemon like audino could detect her. Just as she was about to take the last bite of the berry, a loud blast made her drop it and spin around to find a ball of fire on a collision course with her. She leaned back as far as she could, just barely evading whatever was attacking her.

"Don't hit it too hard, Quilava! Remember, we're trying to catch it, not kill it!"

Her eyes widened for a moment before narrowing as a smirk grew on her face. It was just a human; she'd delt with them before--most other pokemon weren't smart enough to figure out that it's the human they need to attack and not the pokemon. Once the human was taken care of, their pokemon had no idea what to do.

Adam pushed his glasses up before setting Oshawott on the ground and taking off his backpack, getting into a fighting stance as the purrloin ran for him. "Come and get it." he muttered to himself.

Purrloin lunged for him, only to be smacked upside the head by the large object the human had just taken from its back. She was completely unprepared for this--all the humans she'd ever encountered before panicked and fled when she attacked them. This human was more gutsy than the others and was prepared to defend itself if it had to.

The satsifying thud of the purrloin hitting the ground made Adam smile. "Doesn't feel too good, does it? I'm sure that audino felt the same way when you attacked it." he said as he glanced over to see that the injured hearing pokemon had fled. "Quilava, a gentle ram should get the job done."

Quilava reacted immediately, tackling the dazed cat pokemon before it had a chance to regroup.

"Yeah, that's plenty." Adam said as he hurled the pokeball, missing his target by a good ten feet or so. "... Quilava?"

Having done this many times before, Quilava retrieved the pokeball and dropped it on the fallen purrloin on his own. After three wiggles, the pokeball burst open. Startled, Quilava stumbled back a little before getting his footing back. Purrloin's back was arched as she hissed savagely and leapt forward, clawing at Quilava's face.

"Oh wow." Adam said to himself as he dug out another pokeball. "This is a feisty one!"

Quilava turned his back on Purrloin and let flames blast out of the spots on his rear. Adam gasped and ran up to the pokemon he intended to capture as it lay on the ground, burned and motionless. He knelt down and put his hand on her face. As a result, her eyes opened slightly and she began to struggle.

"Don't worry. You'll get used to us in no time." Adam said as he pressed the pokeball against Purrloin's forehead, drawing it into the pokeball, and allowing it to bounce around in his hand until the distinctive ping sounded. Oshawott waddled over and sniffed at the pokeball before looking up at his trainer.

"Yup. She's with us now." Adam said, handing the ball to Oshawott before picking him up. "I didn't expect to find such a strong purrloin so quickly. Let's head on back to the Accumula Town gate and wait for Eliana to finish having a look around."

Battle over: Purrloin Captured

[Ditto616]

Ditto and Pisclin were halfway out of the door before an idea dawned on Ditto

"Hold on a sec." Both trainers stopped. "I'll be right back."

Ditto ran into the Pokémon Center and quickly came back out and tossed a small can at Pisclin. "Repel," he said. "If you want to go through routes quickly, it's a good idea to have some."

Pisclin was impressed with Ditto's quick thinking. Why hadn't he thought of something so clever! Oh well, it really was not that important. Pisclin took it gratefully, and the two headed to the gate outside of town. The town seemed a bit empty, as it seemed everyone decided to head inside for the morning. Saying good-bye to the town, Pisclin and Ditto reached the gate and headed on to Route 2, ignoring the news sign displaying the headline "Team Plasma Demonstration in Accumula City!"

As they walked into the new route, they sprayed on the Repel, a vile smelling substance it was. "No wonder this stuff keeps Pokémon away! Just smell it..." Riolu popped into Ditto's backpack due to the nature of the smell. "Is it really that bad, buddy?" Riolu didn't respond. "I guess so," Ditto said, shrugging.

They continued down the route, Riolu popping its head out of Ditto's backpack once in a while, and Pliscin adjusting the Xtranceiver he received from Ditto. Occasionally, they ran into trainers, but they took them out, switching each time one wanted to battle. After the training they had, it was a piece of cake. They eventually came onto the gates of Striaton City.

Pisclin was astounded by the city! It was far more impressive than where they had just been, which, admittedly, was not saying much. "We had better head to the Center, huh?" Ditto asked. Pisclin was knocked out of his daze and responded with a vague, "Yeah... I think that's a good idea. Then maybe we can try and find Lite... if he is even here, that is..."

The duo headed to the Pokémon Center where Tentacool and Riolu's injuries were treated. The two really were growing closer! As the nurse tended to the two Pokemon, Pisclin and Ditto got to thinking. "Well... unless Lite is here already, we'll be waiting for him for a while. Unless he forgot about the promise..." Pisclin wandered off, able to believe someone as brash as Lite may forget about something like that in the rush that he was in.

"Well..." Ditto said as Pisclin trailed off, "If I had gotten the watch before he left," he pointed at the Xtranceiver. "I could have gotten his number. I hear they're compatible with Pokégear, PokéNav, and the call app on the Pokétch. But we didn't..." Ditto was lost in thinking of how to get a hold of the third part to their crime-busting trio. It dawned on him. He asked the nurse at the desk. "Excuse me, but have you seen a teen come in with a Beldum by chance?"

"No I haven't." The nurse replied. Ditto continued with another question. "Do you think you could give him something if I left it here for him? He's bound to be coming this way."

"Of course I can. If you'd give me what you need delivered, I can give it to him for you." Ditto smirked as he pulled out a pen and a piece of paper. He wrote down a note addressed to Lite giving Ditto's Xtranceiver number and a brief message saying to call him. "Thank you so much." He handed the note to the nurse. "It's no problem. I'm happy to help. Your Pokémon are fully healed." She handed a tray with Riolu's Pokéball and Tentacool's Pokéball to Ditto. He took the two Pokéballs and tossed Tentacool's over to Pisclin. Upon having Ditto's hand on Riolu's, it popped out, shaking its body from the dislike of the emission of the Pokéball.

Pisclin now had Tentacool back with him, and found himself thoroughly exhausted from the time spent battling through Route 2. Eying a nearby couch, Pisclin told Ditto that he needed a break from all of this walking. "Heck, I might even see Lite if he comes in here... and since I have an Xtransceiver now, I can call you up if he DOES come in here." Pisclin added. Ditto had more energy than Pisclin, though, and as Pisclin headed over to relax, Ditto headed out the door.

---

Ditto walked around the city, enjoying the sites. It didn't have the same port city smell, but the buildings reminded him of Canalave. Riolu was happily napping in the main pocket of Ditto's backpack. They soon passed a fountain in the west side of the city. It seemed as if it was a nice little park. Red and Blue Basculin would jump out of the ponds nearby every once in awhile. Near there was the gate to Route 3. "I wonder what I could find that way..." he pondered aloud.

He headed toward the gate, stepping into the route. With no call yet, and seemingly no call coming any time soon, he decided to explore around a bit. It wasn't too long before he stumbled upon a daycare and preschool. It seemed to be recess time, as all the little children were outside playing. He didn't want to intrude on the tykes' playtime, so he went toward the daycare instead.

There were plenty of Pokémon outside there. They were frolicking in the sun, playing, napping, or what seemed like conversing in their own language. An old man approached Ditto. "Why hello there young trainer!" The old man said heartily. "I run this daycare with my wife, and my daughter runs the preschool. How may I help you?"

"Oh!" Ditto was caught by surprise. "I was just admiring the Pokémon playing. I'm waiting for a friend to get to Striaton City. I decided to look around, and the route caught my attention." Ditto went back to watching the Pokémon intently.

The old man watched Ditto observe the Pokémon. He saw the intentions in Ditto's eyes. He went inside quickly and grabbed a glass cylinder and came back out. Inside was an egg. Ditto was too absorbed in watching the Pokémon to notice. By this time, Riolu had joined in too.

"Excuse me," the old man interrupted Ditto's watchful eyes. He turned to the old man, eying the cylinder. "I would like you to have this. This is a Pokémon egg. The trainer whose Pokémon this came from did not want the egg, and my wife and I are not trainers. I think it would be better off with you."

"Wha?" Ditto was bewildered. He had just met this man and he was giving him an egg. Was he insane? This seemed to go against all the common sense he could think of. The old man was concrete in his decision though, no matter how Ditto tried to protest. All Ditto could do was take the cylinder and say thank you in the most polite way he could think. With his new egg in his hands, and Riolu back in his backpack, he decided to head back to the Pokémon Center to show Pisclin his new "catch," and to see if Lite had made it there yet.

[SpikyEaredPichu96]

“Maranda, come on! We should be heading back, now!”

Maranda disentangled herself from the two wild Lillipup that she had been playing with, said a quick goodbye, though to her trainer’s ears, it was simply “Mudkip!”, then ran back to where Eliana was standing. Eliana couldn’t help but smile as she looked down at the small scratches and the grass stains covering her partner.

“Did you have fun?” She asked.

Maranda nodded eagerly.

“I’m glad to hear it.” Eliana said, kneeling down to pet her. “We’ve been out here for a while now, though. Adam’s probably found his Purrloin by now. We should head back to the Town Gate, don’t you think?”

Maranda nodded, and Eliana lifted her on to her shoulder.

“Alright, let’s go… um… which way goes back to the town gate?”

Eliana slowly turned in a circle, trying to find some sort of path leading back, but she couldn’t see anything. She looked at Maranda, but she didn’t seem to know, either.

“Okay, no need to panic.” She said, still looking around. “I… I think it’s this way.”

She started walking in a random direction, hoping she would get lucky. She hadn’t walked very far, however, before Maranda suddenly jumped down from her shoulder. The fin on the top of her head was quivering slightly, and she seemed to be concentrating. Eliana knew that a Mudkip could use it’s top fin like a radar, sensing subtle changes in the air and in water, so they could sense danger. Before Eliana could ask what was wrong, Maranda suddenly tensed up, making a sound that was somewhat like a growl. Then a voice came from around the corner.

“Now, now, there’s no need to be alarmed.”

Eliana looked in the direction of the voice, and saw a man in a Medieval-like outfit, coming closer. He looked a lot like one of the people who had blown up the ship.

“What do you want?” She asked him, tightening her hold on her egg case a little.

The man eyed Maranda, and then the egg in Eliana’s arms. “What I want, is you Pokemon. And the egg, of course.”

“And why would I give them to you?”

“Because we are Team Plasma! We are here to liberate Pokemon from-“

“Um…’We’?” Eliana asked, “There’s no one else here.”

The Plasma Grunt rolled his eyes. “Just give me your Pokemon, you little brat!”

“No!” She nearly shouted, taking a step back. Maranda started backing away as well, though a little slower.

“Well, if you’re going to be this way about it, then you leave me no choice.” The Grunt took a Poke Ball from his belt, and sent out a Purrloin. “Purrloin, use Fury Swipes!” He commanded, pointing not at Maranda, but at Eliana. The Purrloin jumped up and lunged at her, claws extended. Eliana turned away, more to protect her egg, then to protect herself. The Purrloin managed to get one good swipe on her cheek, and might have been able to do more damage, had not Maranda grabbed on to the other Pokemon’s tail with her mouth, and yanked her away, extracting a yowl of pain from the Purrloin. Maranda promptly smashed the cat-like Pokemon into the ground, before taking a step back, barring it’s way to her trainer. The Purrloin didn’t appear to have taken very much damage, however, and it quickly got back up again. Eliana looked first at the Pokemon that had attacked her, then at her partner. Maranda’s eyes were burning with anger, and she stood firmly. Eliana knew that, at this point, a battle was inevitable.

“Alright then, Maranda, let’s go!”

Battle! Eliana VS Plasma Grunt.

“Alright, Purrloin, use Fury Swipes!” The Grunt ordered. The Purrloin lunged forward again, it’s claws outstretched.

“Dodge it, and then use Tackle!” Eliana ordered. Maranda ran forward, as though to meet the Purrloin’s attack, then ducked at the last second, dodging the Fury Swipes attack, then rammed herself into the Purrloin, sending it back several feet.

“Wha?! Purrloin, get up and use your Sand Attack!” Purrloin got up slowly, then began to swipe at the ground, sending sand towards Maranda. The attack hit her full in the face, and she was blinded by the sand. She rubbed at her eyes, trying to clear them. Eliana could feel her panic.

“Stay calm, Maranda. Try using Water Gun!” Maranda shot a blast of water, in one direction, though it missed Purrloin by several feet.

“Ha! Nice try. Purrloin, use your Fury Swipes again!” Purrloin lunged forward again, getting four solid swipes in, before it retreated back a few steps. Maranda got up slowly. Eliana could tell that she didn’t have much strength left. Looking at Purrloin, though, it seemed to have taken just as much damage. Maybe one more hit would to it…

“Let’s finish this, Purrloin! Use Fury Swipes again!” Purrloin started forward again. Eliana watched intently, counting down in her head. 3…2…1…

“Maranda, use Water Gun, straight down!” Maranda seemed a little surprised by the command, but she shot the attack straight down. The powerful blast of water sent her straight up into the air, effectively dodging the Purrloin’s attack. Both Purrloin and the Plasma Grunt were surprised at the sudden dodge. Eliana saw this, and was almost certain they had won.

“Alright, Maranda, finish it with Tackle!” Maranda leaned forward as she descended, building up speed, until she crashed down hard on the Purrloin, who hadn’t tried to move out of the way. When Maranda moved away from it, it was clear that it had been Knocked Out.

Battle Won, Plasma Grunt defeated.

“P-Purrloin!” The Grunt cried, coming forward and scooping up the fainted Pokemon. He slowly backed away. “This isn’t the last you’ll hear of Team Plasma!” He shouted, before turning and running away. Eliana ran up to Maranda.

“Are you okay, Maranda?” She asked, kneeling next to her. Maranda looked up and nodded. It didn’t appear to be blinded from the sand anymore. Eliana carefully set down the egg, before picking Maranda up and hugging her.

“You did it, Maranda!” Eliana said happily. Maranda smiled, then looked worriedly at the scratch on her trainer’s cheek. “I’m fine, Maranda. It’s just a scratch.” Eliana reassured her. She put Maranda on her shoulder again, picked her egg back up, then looked around. To her surprise and relief, she could see the Accumula town gate not too far away. She started towards it, moving quickly, so as to avoid any more battles.

[The Tropius of Tropiuses]

Stu walked into Accumula Town without any casualites. There seemed to be a commtion in the middle of the Town, with a bunch of people gethered around, but Stu didn't care. He really wanted to see the gym in Striation City. But, a big biulding with a red roof caught Stu's attention. It made him think of something....

'A big biulding with a red roof...' Stu thought.

"..Of couse! A Pokemon Center!'' Stu said out loud, making Seedot jump. "Remember these, Seedot? The people here will heal your Pokemon! For free!" Stu said to Seedot. Seedot jumped with joy at the idea of being fully healed. Stu and Seedot walked into the Pokemon Center. "... See, Seedot? That's the Pokemart, that's the PC, and that's the healing machiene... just as Cheren described it!" Stu said, pointing to the things listed"Let's get you and Lilpup healed."

Stu walked up to the counter. "Um, excuse me? I heard that here you can get your Pokemon here," Stu said to the nurse. "Yes, this is where we'll heal your Pokemon," said the Nurse. "I'll take them for a few moments." Stu put Seedot in his Pokeball and gave the Nurse his Pokemon. She put them in the tray, then there was a few bleeping noises, and then she handed back Stu's Pokemon. "Thank you!" Stu told the Nurse. "No, thank you! she responded. "Also, would you like to stay here for a night? We still have extra rooms open beacuse of the recent explosion." the nurse told Stu.

"Hm... I suppose. It is getting late, said Stu looking up at the starry night sky throught the windows. "Does it cost anything?""Nope! It's all free!"
"Ok, thanks!" The nurse gave Stu his room key and he went up into his room.

It was very sunny when he woke up. Stu got his things and went on his way. When he entered Route 2, he thought about the gym more. 'Will it be hard? Easy?So-so? I wonder-' Stu's thoughts were inturupted by something moving in the grass. "What the..." Stu said to himself as he sent out Seedot. "Seedot?" the Pokemon said, confused at where they were. "Seedot, get ready,"Stu told Seedot. "Something's about to attack."

Stu's heart was racing. It was still in the Route. Almost as if time itself had stopped. But then, a weird man, clocked in white, jumped out of the grass and stole Seedot! "PLASMAAAAAAAAA!" the strange kidnapper yelled. "Hey! Seedot! wait up!" Stu cried, running after the man. The man stopped in the middle of the Route, and sent out two Pokemon! "Go! Purrloin! Patrat! Protect this poor creature!" the man said furiously. "Uh-oh! Go, Lilpup!" stu said, throwing out Lilpup. "Lilpup!" It said with a gleeful cry, before noticing it was in danger.

Battle! vs. ???

"Patrat! Use Hypnosios on the trainer! Purrloin, get it's Lilpup!" 'Did he just say ON THE TRAINER?!' Stu thought. Yes, yes he did. Stu quick stepped to the right to avoid getting hit. Lilpup got hit directly, and flew back. "Lilpup! Use tackle on the Patrat!" Lilpup hit the Patrat head on, landing a critical hit. Both Purrloin and Patrat hit back, and Lilpup could barley stand up now. "Damn idiots... the man said. "Treating Pokemon like slaves! Patrat and Prrloin! SHOW NO MERCY!""Are you crazy? Who's treating Pokemon like slaves? I'm treating them as friends! "Then why is you Lilpup fighting for you?" said the man with a smirk. Stu thought about this, but drove it out of his mind. "Lilpup! C'mon, you can make it! Use tackle!" The Patrat hit first, then Lilpup retailated. The Purrloin missed it's attack.

Again, Stu was lost. Lilpup was almost gone, and sure, he could use Potions, but not forever. The man had Seedot right beetwen his arms and it wasn't like Stu could just make Seedot return to it's Pokeball form there. stu slapped himself on the head. Of couse he could do that! "Seedot! Get back! Stu said, reteriving Seedot from the man's arms. "Wha-what?!" the man said in shock. Stu healed Lilpup and the battle REALLY began! Seedot charged his Bide, Purrloin attacked, Lilpup reatileated, and Patrat attcked Seedot. " 'Kay! Seedot! Lilpup! finish them off with Tackle and Bide!" Sedot and Lilpup did as said, and knocked the other Pokemon instantly.

Battle over! Won by Stu!

"Gr... next time, you won't be so lucky! the man pulled back his Pokemon and reatred. "...Phew. Glad that's over, huh?" Stu said and looked at Seedot and Lilpup. They both replied, happily.

[LiteTheIronMan]

"Route 2, here we are!"

Lite and Kashiwa stepped out of the Accumula Town gate and into Route 2. The spring trees swayed in the light wind, and the tall grass shook, teeming with frolicking wild Pokemon. Lite could see Trainers battling other Trainers and wild Pokemon along the route- it was a somewhat longer trail than Route 1. Lite tapped Kashiwa on the shoulder and said, "If it's alright with you, kid, I'm gonna go ahead and ignore all these trainers and the Pokemon up ahead." Kashiwa slowly nodded in the affirmative, and Lite pulled out two Super Repels from his bag and sprayed himself and Kashiwa with them. They both then proceeded to walk through the grass.

As the two pressed onward through the green fauna, Kashiwa's thoughts began drifting towards his new friend and "teacher", Lite. Even after that horrible one-sided match up against those two scary Team Plasma leaders, Lite was able to pick himself up and hold his head high. This amazed Kashiwa. Eventually, he pushed his nerves aside, spoke up, and asked Lite, "Uhmm… Lite. Can you tell me a little more about… Steven Stone and your family?"

Lite looked down at Kashiwa. On what impulse would Kashiwa want to know these sorts of things? Lite shrugged and pushed his thoughts aside; he could tell this kid anything. "Well, the thing about Steven Stone is that in Mossdeep City he was my mentor. He gave me my first Pokemon, Warmachine here. Stone was the guy who taught me about people bondin' with Pokemon. The whole 'iron bond' thing? That's the main core lesson he taught me. But yeah. Stone 'ventually left Mossdeep and Hoenn on a random whim. I never found out he was the Champ of Hoenn till a bit after he left." Lite chewed on another thought. "I only found out cuz my big brother, Darc, took 'im on and lost. Then even HE went off and traveled about. Last my pops heard, he went to go train under the new Champ. 'Ventually, I decided I was gonna go set out too. Pops let me go on the next passenger ship, and here I am."

Kashiwa turned away. So Lite began traveling because he wanted to follow in the footsteps of the stronger people before him. Is that where he himself drew his strength? Kashiwa then looked back at Lite. "And… what about your parents? Your mom died, right…?"

Lite nodded. "Yep. I was like two. I don't really remember her, but my brother did. He misses her a lot, I think. My dad told me she was beautiful and loving and a great Pokemon Trainer. But I think my dad did a great job of bringin' up me and my bro."

Kashiwa contemplated this. Lite was able to deal with the loss of his mother… how? Even now, Kashiwa's dead parents were still on his mind. Maybe it was because Lite's mother died when he was younger and Kashiwa knew his parents. Even so, Lite must know or be able to sympathize with the feeling of loss. Maybe it was okay to tell him about his own parents? But just as Kashiwa opened his mouth to speak, Lite shouted out, "So, Kashiwa! Your parents, they were businesspeople, right? So what do they do as businesspeople? Aren't you home by yourself quite often?"

Kashiwa stammered, thrown off balance. At second thought, Kashiwa didn't really want to tell him yet...something seemed off. He wasn't ready, and he didn't resolve his previous little entanglement with his deceased parents. So decided to forge a story.

"Uh, well, my parents are in a place called...I think it was called Nimbasa...living in Anville Town most of my life, they often were out of contact, so me and my sister were home by ourselves quite often..."

"Really? You have a sister?" Lite said. "Do you two get along?"

"Y-yeah...my sister's like my best friend. W-well, human, anyway," Kashiwa stuttered, adding his second line after a glance from Ivyivy. Lite began to laugh, catching the little humorous act. After catching the joke, Kashiwa giggled nervously and continued. "My sister's my fraternal twin. So I've always have sort of a connection with her...yep, she and I used to do everything together..."

Lite nodded. It reminded him of his simplistic past when life was quiet, peaceful, and always cheerful. He remembered the old days when he sat at home, watching the calm ocean waves rock back and forth in an incessant rhythm, thinking of Pokemon and friends and Steven and being a hero one day. He remembered the old days when he sat at home with a smile on his face as he chased his brother around the house, when his father would call them to stop before they broke something or hurt themselves or gave him a heart attack or Arceus-knows-what. They were great days, and if he had the chance, he would go back and relive them all over again, even if just one day.

Kashiwa continued. "She loved taking care of Snivy with me, but of course, we had our arguments, like any two siblings would. At least that's what my mom told me."

Lite nodded, thinking of his own arguments with Darc. "So, how did your parents react when they said you wanted to head out to Nuvema Town? I mean, that was how it went, right?"

Kashiwa began to speak, and then stopped. If he said anything, he wouldn't be able to escape the trap hole that was his parents' death. He kept a stiff upper lip and continued to fake a story. "Well...I, uh...they were OK, but...uh...they thought it might be hard....by myself, you know...uh...but they said okay, in the end, so...yeah..." Kashiwa sighed and prayed that he had averted a catastrophe. He felt bad for keeping a secret from Lite. He began to ponder; would it be so bad if he told him? Lite began to start talking to him about his daily life back in Mossdeep City, but it soon became apparent to him that Kashiwa's mind was focused on some other task.

"Hey, Kashiwa, you in there?" Lite waved. "Striaton City is coming up! C'mon, the first gym's comin' up!"

Kashiwa lost his train of thought, but then shrugged and decided that Lite didn't need to know about his parents right at this moment. He followed Lite through the gate and entered a small city, with crowds of people hustling about through the tall apartment buildings. Amidst all the residences and stores, one big building stood out amongst them all- a giant restaurant with a large stylized Poke Ball insignia displayed across the front.

"That must be the gym building! You ready, Kashiwa? Now our journey really begins!!" Lite released Warmachine from its Poke Ball and pointed it in the direction of the Gym. Warmachine's eye widened in excitement and anticipation. "Yeah! Me too, buddy! Now c'mon, Kashiwa! Let's go!"

Kashiwa looked down at his feet, then at his partner by his side. Ivyivy looked up at Kashiwa with a peculiar look. "Uhm. Ivyivy… we're going to be taking on our first Gym Leader. Are you excited? I'm really nervous…" Ivyivy shook his head and smiled at Kashiwa; that was his way of letting his partner know that everything would be alright. Kashiwa's lips formed into a smile as well. "Alright! If you think we'll do good then I guess we will. Now let's go."

[RotomGuy]

The tree was rustling violently, every now and then a wing of fist popping out the leaves. After a while Pansage fell out of the tree into a bush, with Pidove following. The fighting went on, then a small, red bug-type wandered by. It must of been worried, and let out a full Venoshock on the bush, then hid behind the tree. The two fighters dribbled out of the bush.

"Oh! Oh! Pansage! Are you OK? Don't run off like that again!"

Jakob looked at the frightened pokemon behind the tree. He had never used his pokédex before, so he scanned the pokemon into the machine.

Venipede

Its bite injects a potent poison, enough to paralyze large bird Pokémon that try to prey on it.

"Pidove must of frightened it...."

The Pokemon hid behind the tree some more. Jakob tip-toed slowly towards it.

"Hello. Don't worry, i'm not going to hurt you."

The Venipede crawled quickly into the bush, only it's small head peaking out.

"Want some food?"

Jakob handed out a Leppa berry to it, and it ate it whole. It began to come out of the bush. Jakob fed it some more. Eventually the pokemon was eating out of his hand. After it had finished, it looked up at Jakob, not as worried as before.

"There, there. Do you want to travel with me? I have lots more berries."

Venipede "nodded" and Jakob got out his last pokeball and rolled it to the bug. It was a successful capture because iit didn't try to escape.

"Thank you very much! I can't look after monkeys like these... so I shall sell them!"

"Alright Penny. Me and my friends might go and challenge the gym now."

And then Jakob walked out of the dense forest.

[The Tropius of Tropiuses]

After the fight, Stu withdrew both Lilpup and Seedot, worried he might loose them again.

Stu kept thinking about the strange man and the battle. Who was that man? Why did he steal Seedot? What was he trying to acomplish. Stu thought about what the man had said. "Damn idiots... treating Pokemon like slaves... Then why is your Lilpup fighting for you? Patrat! Use Hypnosis on the trainer!" One part made him really think. "Treating Pokemon like slaves...." Stu looked at the Pokeballs holding his Pokemon. Did they really want to fight? Or did they want to play, and live peaceful lives? Stu thought about the man again. 'What word did he say when he stole Seedot...

..Oh yeah. Plasma-'

Then it hit Stu. "Isn't that the name of the people that blew up the ship!? What did Cheren say... '..Some group called 'Team Plasma'. Trying to save Pokemon or something...'
'So that guy was a member of Team Plasma!

..Now on to why he stole Seedot...'
Stu was so lost in his thoughts he hit a sign. "Day-Care Center" it said. 'A Day-Care Center? Like for children?' Stu thought. He looked around. he did see children playing, but also saw some Pokemon in the supposed "Day-Care Center". Stu walked up to a man standing near the Pokemon. "Uh, ecxuse me? I'm just wondering- what is this 'Day-Care Center' about? Stu asked the man. "Ah, yes. The Day-Care Center. This Day-Care center is actually for Pokemon. We let them play, eventually raising them up levels," The man explained. 'Huh.. a Day-Care Center for Pokemon.'

"So, I suppose you're going to Striation City?" The man asked. "Uh, yes, actually. How did you know?" Stu asked. "Well, it looked like you're ready for an adventure of sorts!" He said.
"I also guesed beacuse of the Pokemon you have," the man told Stu, gesturing to the Pokemon. "Ah, yes..." stu said. "Well, I better get going. I need that Gym Badge!" Stu said, then went on his way.

[Idno58]

"Alright, Jakob. Let's go to that gym." Dell proclaimed. "But, uh... Thing is, we need to find someplace to eat. I'm starvin!"

"Well, we have plenty of berries, so..."

"Berries nuthin' Jakob, I'm a big guy. I need more food, an-" Dell stopped to see a large building in front of him.

STRIATON CITY GYM
Leaders: Cilan, Cress, and Chili
A place where hot entrees and pokemon battles are served fresh!

"Well I'll be!" Dell exclaimed.

"This looks like the Gym."

"I ain't worried 'bout no Gym! Look! It says they serve food here! Le's go!"

As Dell and Jakob walked into the Gym, they were quickly greeted by a man with sunglasses.

"Welcome to the Striaton Gym, fellows! You two look like aspiring Pokemon trainers!

"Yes, we're here to cha-"

"Are you the waiter? Could you be so kind as to seat us? I'm famished!"

"Now hold on there," the man said. "I'm no waiter. My name's Mr. Clyde. I'm a representative of the pokemon league. Now, as protocol, it's my duty to give you these Fresh Waters. Use them to heal your pokemon. and speakin' of that, here. Let me restore your pokemon's health while I'm at it."

"Uh.. Gee, thank you, Mister!"

Dell had dashed off to the table and was already eating a plate of spaghetti as Mr. Clyde told Jakob the rules of the gym. In an incredible display of speed, Dell was able to finish and pay the tab before Mr. Clyde finished.

"Okay, so each leader has a different type, and the person you battle depends on your favorite pokemon. Thank you!

"No problem, kid. It's in my job description. Now, go get yourselves that badge!"

(I would continue here but it's late at night and I need to go)

[Alakazamaster]

While Pisclin was seemingly lounging on the Pokecenter's couch, he was actually closely watching Ditto exit the building. Once Ditto had left, Pisclin got up quickly balancing Tentacool on his shoulder as he so often did.

"Come on Tentacool... no one gets us a fine gift without getting repaid! However, there is no way we could afford something that could trump this fine piece of technology..." Pisclin admired the beauty as he said this, when suddenly an idea found its way into his mind.

"Hmmm... I wonder... yeah that would work! Tentacool, it is our job to find Ditto a second Pokemon for his party! With only a Riolu he is going to have some trouble ahead of him, and he hasn't even caught a second Pokemon yet..."

Tentacool stung Pisclin impatiently.

"Right right enough rambling, let's go find Ditto a Pokemon..."

Pisclin ran out the doors of the Pokecenter, and realized there were two ways out of town. One road headed towards a beautiful garden, while the other lead to an abandoned lot. Ditto seemed like the sort who was smart enough to follow the more peaceful and safe road, which meant that Pisclin was to head into the overgrown lot outside of town in hopes of finding a Pokemon. And so he did.

On the way there he passed a tough-looking trainer with a Machoke, as well as his timid co-hart following close behind.

"A Machoke already..." Pisclin whispered to Tentacool. "We should probably keep away from them for now..."

Tentacool nodded in agreement.

As the duo arrived at the wrecked lot, they were thoroughly unimpressed with the Pokemon in the grass.

"More Patrat and Lillipup? No no this just won't do. Where are the impressive Pokemon? Something uncommon..."

"I may have what you want." a shrill voice suddenly interjected.

Pisclin jumped at the surprise, as he had not seen anyone out here.

"OH! Er... hello there. You said something... about a Pokemon?"

Tentacool was poised protectively as Pisclin stepped back nervously.

"You don't need to worry. Really. I am a trainer too... but not a very good one." A sigh. "You see... I got some Pokemon from my uncle, and, well I don't really feel like they want to be around with me, and maybe I am not trainer material..."

A pity, to be sure, but Pisclin was interested in repaying Ditto.

"Hmmm you may be right about not being fit to be a trainer... so what Pokemon do you have?"

"Oh... well, here they are..." The mysterious trainer released three Pokemon: Pansage, Pansear, and Panpour.

Pisclin was genuinely unimpressed with the cowardly-looking Fire-type and the Water-type. Tentacool was all the Water that the world needed right now. But the Grass-type, Pansage, was something else...

"That Pansage... it is impressive to say the least. I... wouldn't mind buying it."

"Well, I've never really done this before... how much would you pay for it?"

Pisclin was very much used to bartering. He has spent his whole life in Sunyshore, where he had gone to markets quite often. Heck, a sea market is where he had bought Tentacool!

"Well... 2,000 Pokedollars seems like a fair price. It is quite small, after all..."

"It is? Well, if you say so I suppose I could sell Pansage for that much."

Pisclin was bursting with joy! He had paid nearly triple that for Tentacool, so he was quite impressed with his own bartering skills! Ditto was guaranteed to be thrilled with this generous gift of kindness.

"Why thank you miss, I promise you that Pansage's owner shall be kind."

And with that he took Pansage's Pokeball, patted it on the head wishing him good luck with his new trainer, and that the two of them would be seeing each other quite often. He shook the woman's hand, put Pansage in its Pokeball, and sped off making sure to make it back to the Pokecenter before Ditto. All without getting the woman's name.

[Idno58]

(Continuing)

"Alrighty then, let's start this gym battle!" Dell said, and walked over to the back of the room. There was a curtain with a picture of a flame.

"So what's this all about?"

"We're supposed to say which type is strong against the type pictured on the curtain from the floorboards."

"Huh? Well, that's easy." Dell said as he studied the buttons. "Everyone knows Water beats Fire!" He then stepped on the Water button.

The fire curtain opened to a small stage where three young men stood. One had Green spiky hair, one had blue hair that covered half of his face, and one had bright red, wavy hair.

"Welcome to the Striaton Gym." Blue-hair said. "We are the Gym leaders here. They call me and my brothers the Triple Trouble. My name is Cress, user of the water type."

"My name's Chili." Red-hair chimed in. "I like the Fire Type."

"And, uh... I'm Cilan." Green-Hair continued. I uh... battle with the Grass type. Nice to meet you, and stuff..."

"So which one of ya am I gonna face?" Dell asked.

"Depends." Chili answered. "What're your pokemon?"

"Well, I've got here my machoke and my Blitzle." Dell introduced his pokemon.

The three brothers looked at each other and huddled.

"But we don't have any pokemon resistant to the Fighting Type!"

"Well, one of us has to battle him..."

"We don't have any resistant to Fighting, but we do have one resistant to Electric."

Chili and Cress looked at Cilan.

"Huh.. me?" Cilan looked confused. Oh yeah, electric isn't very effective against grass, is it..."

"So're you three gonna battle or are ya gonna play some Rugby?" Dell seemed a bit annoyed.

"We've decided who will battle you, guy!"

"Your opponent will be Cilan." Cress announced.

"Uh, okay. Here I go... Go, Lillipup!"

Cilan threw his pokeball and the small puppy pokemon named Lillipup jumped out.

"Alright. Let's do this! Blitzle, show 'em what'cha got!"

With a happy yelp, Blitzle bounded to the front lines.

Gym Battle! Cilan vs. Dell!

"Lillipup, use work up!"

Lillipup jumped up and down and wagged its tail. Its power seemed to be rising.

"Knock 'im off with a flame charge!"

Blitzle's hooves burst into flame and it speedily tackled Lillupup mid-jump.

"That's how ya do it! Now turn around and give 'im a spark!"

Blitzle tried to turn around, but it was going so fast its legs got tangled up and it toppled over. By the time it could get up and use the spark, Lillipup could easily dodge it.

"Okay! Now, uh... U-use your tackle!"

Lillipup easily threw itself at Blitzle at point-blank range, sending Blitzle sprawling halfway across the stage.

"Finish him off!"

Lillipup jumped up and seemed to plan to pile-drive Blitzle into the ground.

"Now, Blitzle! Shock wave!"

Without getting up, Blitzle unleashed a shock wave that was probably would be non-lethal if the opponent was on the ground. However, since Lillipup was in the air, the electricity jolted back and forth through it until it finally hit the ground, unconscious.

"No, Lillipup!" Cilan yelled as he returned Lillipup into his pokeball. "Well, now I guess I'll have to use my trump card..." He took out another pokeball. "Go, Pansage!"

"Well, Blitzle, looks like it ain't over yet. Try to get up and use flame charge!"

Blitzle got up and charged at Pansage with flaming hooves.

"Pansage, dodge it and use Vine whip!"

Pansage deftly cartwheeled to the side and shot a vine around Blitzle's front legs. Like a fork in bicycle spokes, Blitzle yelped and flipped forward, landing hard on its back. It wasn't hard to see that it won't be battling much for now.

Pansage jumped up and down and chattered happily, before its vine caught fire and scorched its hands.

"You're up, Machoke." Dell said. You sure ya want to do this?"

Machoke didn't answer. Its eyes were full of rage as it walked up to the front.

"Let's do some advanced practice." Dell whispered. "You think you 'kin do order 100?"

Machoke seemed excited. It wanted vengeance for its fallen teammate.

"U-uh.. use work up?"

Pansage crouched down and went into a sideways pose. It radiated an aura of pure energy. Just as it did, Machoke's left and right fists became fire and ice.

"Now! Execute!"

Machoke dashed toward Pansage tried to dodge, but was stopped short with Machoke's angry glare. The No Guard ability was working. Machoke unleashed a flurry of Fiery and Icy punches, with quick flashes of hot, cold, hot, cold, fire, ice, fire, ice. Finally, Machoke hit Pansage with an uppercut that sent it straight up to the ceiling and back down to be greeted by a flash of hot steam created by disagreeing elements touching. When the mist cleared, there was no doubt Pansage could not battle.

Battle Over. Dell is the Winner.

"Heck yes!" Dell celebrated. "I've never seen you so aggressive before, Machoke!"

Machoke was not celebrating, but praying over Pansage in sympathy and regret.

"Now don't you worry, buddy." Dell patted Machoke on the shoulder. "All of the pokemon hurt here'll be healed at the pokemon center."

It was then when the three brothers confronted Dell.

"Congratulations." Cress said. "We now present you with the Trio badge."

Dell obtained the Trio badge!

"And here, take this. It's a Technical Machine we like to use. It's called work up. It gets your pokemon all pumped and increases their attack."

Dell obtained Work Up!

"Now you, other kid. You wanna challenge us?"

[A'bom]

Oshawott waddled back and forth between two trees as fast as he could, hauling a bag of rocks behind him. It was an unorthodox method of training, but Adam preferred it over fighting wild pokemon. "Just a few more, Oshawott. Then you can take a break."

Eliana watched quietly, her expression slightly amused, but she said nothing. Maranda, who was sitting beside her, cheered the little Oshawott on every so often. He would holler back something to her from time to time as though the two of them were keeping track of the number of laps he'd made. By the thirtieth lap, it was quite evident that the little otter pokemon was worn out.

"Okay, bud. You look like you're about to fall over." Adam said as he plucked the sack of rocks from the top of Oshawott's head.

Eliana smiled over at Oshawott. "You did great, Oshawott!" She called out to it. Maranda shouted something in agreement. Oshawott muttered a sizable string of various syllables of his name as he fell flat on his back.

"Oh, come on. It wasn't THAT bad." Adam said as he tossed each rock into the distance. Oshawott muttered a short response that made Adam smile a bit. "Yeah, but I'm a human. We're weak and powerless by nature."

Eliana looked at him curiously. "You can tell what he's saying?" She asked. Maranda looked over at Oshawott, jumped into Eliana's backpack which she'd set over by a different tree, came out with an Oran berry, and gave to the little otter pokemon.

"Not exactly, but I get the general idea by the way he says it and the look in his eyes." he replied as he smiled and picked up his pokemon, petting Maranda on the top of her head as a thanks for the oran berry as he did so. "They don't make noise just for the sake of making noise... usually. They're smarter than everyone gives them credit for."

"Oh, I see." Eliana said, looking at Maradna, who was smiling up at Adam as she was being pet. "They are very smart. In some ways, maybe even more so than we are."

"Well, it depends on the pokemon." Adam replied. "Just like people, some are smarter than others. In general, though, humans tend to have a bit of an edge mentally and creatively. That's my theory as to why trainers are as involved as they are with battles. That is, if you consider all the yelling they do 'involved'."

"Yeah, that makes sense." Eliana replied. She watched Maranda as she wandered around curiously, looking up into the trees. She was struggling with an idea, but she was almost afraid to ask Adam what he thought, worried that she might sound ridiculous. After a minute, she took a deep breath and asked, "Do you think Pokemon and humans are connected with one another when they battle?"

"That depends on what you mean by 'connected'." Adam replied as he sat down a few feet away from her. "Some sort of other-worldly connection? No, I don't think so. Connected in the sense that they are both focused on the same goal? Yes."

"Well..." She floundered with it a little, "When Maranda and I were battling the Plasma Grunt, we seemed... Close, I guess. I could feel how she was feeling." She remembered how well she could sense Maranda's anger when the grunt's Purrloin attacked her, and the panic when she'd been hit by the Sand Attack. "It was almost like we were... I don't know. Like we were thinking with the same mind, almost." She continued watch the water Pokemon, one hand absently feeling the scratch running along her right cheek. Finally, she shook her head. "I probably just imagined it."

"Not necessarily. You were doing what I do to understand pokemon. You were observing their behavior and determining what they were feeling--you just didn't realize you were doing it."

Eliana looked at him and smiled a little. "Yeah, maybe that's it." Maranda came up to her and sat in the girl's lap, looking at the egg through the protective case holding it. Eliana looked down just as the Mudkip pressed her face against the glass case, trying to get a closer look at it. When she saw her trainer looking at her, Maranda made a few silly faces while it was still pushed up against the glass. Eliana giggled, and began to pet her. Adam looked at the mid-morning sky for a few minutes and sighed. "Well, I already caught a purrloin. I thought that was going to take all day, and Oshawott tired out rather quickly."

Eliana looked at him, still petting Maranda. "Well, Maranda could use some training too. I don't have any other Pokemon, though, and I don't think running around with a bag of rocks is going to help with her battle skills. No offense intended, but I don't quite see how it helps."

"It builds endurance in a way that no one gets hurt." he said as he pet Oshawott on the head. "It might be beneficial for Oshawott to watch your mudkip practice water gun. Quilava would be happy to help, I'm sure."

Before Eliana could reply, Maranda jumped up and nodded several times in agreement, excitedly repeating the two syllables in it's name several times. Eliana smiled. "Just a shot in the dark here," She said jokingly, "but I think Maranda would like that. As long as Quilava is okay with it."

The volcano pokemon looked up at its trainer. "Yeah, he's fine with it."

"Alright. Then let's get started!"

[JC]

James found himself on the couch, kind of groggy, seen Eevee on his chest looking directly at him. "Well Eevee, looks like we have finally got enough rest, even though I still hurt, we'll continue with our adventure."

Eevee jumped onto the ground, "Eevee, I need to return to your ball." and Eevee, went into it's ball.

Then James looked around, and seen Nurse Joy walking towards him "I see you're feeling better."

"Oh, and hello to you, Joy."

"What happened to you earlier?"

"Team Plasma wrecked the Accumula Center, Eevee and Murkrow tried their hardest, but it wasn't enough."

"I hope nobody was hurt."

"Me neither, I need to use the Video Phone real quick.

"Sure, go ahead." and James found himself walking toward the Video Phone, and dialed Bill's number.

"Hey James, I see you doing a bit better."

"Yeah, I'm a bit better, any news on that Purrloin?"

"Actually, it's not the best Pokémon to use to battle, it's more like for a pet more than a battler."

"I see, you can keep it out if you'd like."

"Thanks for the gift, you need you're next Pokémon yet?"

"No, not yet, how about I get two badges before I use it."

"Ok, do you have your first badge yet?"

"No, I'm going to look for the gym."

"Excuse me, gentlemen, if this trainer wants to battle the Straiton Gym, look for it at the Straiton Restaurant."

"Oh thanks, James you heard her, they're at the Straiton Restaurant."

"I'll go now, Thanks Bill."

"No problem, see you later."

And the Video Phone got disconnected, and James found himself running to the outside.

[The Tropius of Tropiuses]

(Note: [not part of rp] I made a HUGE plothole in my last post. I will try to fix it in the next few posts, by going backwards.)

Stu walked into Striaton City. He saw people playing in the streets. He also noticed a big castle-like sturcture with PokeBall statues in front of it, and all of the other biuldings, scruntched together.

But, of course, Stu didn't care.

He was still thinking about the Pokemon, and Team Plasma. 'Do Seedot and Lillpup really want to fight?
...mabey I should "ask them about it" '. Stu thought, sending out his Pokemon. "Seedot! Lillpup!" The Pokemon cried, coming out of the PokeBalls. They looked up at his trainer and noticed he was sad. "Hey, guys..." Stu said, feeling silly about trying to have an actual conversation with Pokemon. "... I was wondering... Do you guys want to fight?"
The Pokemon were puzeled. "Seedpup?" The Pokemon said at the same time, as if they were asking Stu about the subject. "I mean, do you want to fight, and travel with me, or run around, living peaceful lives with no violence?" Stu asked, trying to get the subject through more clearly.

The Pokemon looked at each other. They then looked at Stu, and said, "Seedot! Seedot, Seedot, Seedot! See-DOT!" "Lillpup! Lilly,lilly, Lillypup!"
"...It's hopeless!" Stu said. He couldn't understand what they were saying, so he'd never know their true feelings! But, just then, a policeman walked twoards Stu.

"Hello," He greeted Stu. "I'm a Policeman from Castelia City, and I'm currently investigating Team Plasma. Have you heard anything about them?" "Team Plasma? Yea, I just fought I guy who worked for Team Plasma," Stu informed the Policeman. "You did? What happened? What were his Pokemon?" The Policeman asked. "Well, the man first came to me and stole one of my Pokemon. He ran off further in the route. I then caught up to him and fought, in which he used a Patrat and Purrloin. I won, and got my Pokemon back." Stu told, reciting the events that happened not too long ago. "Hm.. what happened next?" He kept on going, into this city," Stu said. "Hm.. allright," he said, writing down some things, "Thank you for the help." He thanked Stu, and rushed off.

Stu sighed. Stu thought about the man again. "Treating Pokemon like slaves..." the sentnce whent through his head. "Hey, wait a minute!" Stu yelled out loud. "I'm not treating my Pokemon like slaves! I'm taking care of them, keeping them healthy, right guys?" He said, looking at the Pokemon. The Pokemon nodded, and spoke, "Seedot! Lillpup!", almost as if they were saying that from the start. "Yeah guys! C'mon, let's go get that gym badge!" He said, and the Pokemon nodded, again.

[LiteTheIronMan]

"Eh? This is a gym? Looks more like... a restaurant."

Lite folded his arms and he and Warmachine tilted their heads (Warmachine's head?) to one side in confusion. What sort of theme did these guys have going on? The rich aroma of foreign food wafted through the air. At one of the tables Lite could see wing man with another boy around Kashiwa's age, but he paid them no mind. Kashiwa himself stumbled into the building with Ivyivy, and he too looked around his surroundings in wonder. "H-hey... that smells... pretty good actually. Do you think we can eat here?"

Lite frowned. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't eaten since he got off the ship, hadn't he...? "Oh man, hasty me thinking with my fist. My stomach's suffering from hunger pangs. We'll eat after this I guess..." Lite scanned the room with his eyes. "But man! You'd think that with that sign out front there'd be a Gym in here-"

"What was that about a Gym?"

Lite and Kashiwa turned around. Three butlers, one with green hair, another with red, and a third with blue appeared before them. The one with red hair spoke again, folding his arms behind his head: "My name's Chili! Good to meet you two. We overheard you mentioning a Gym Battle so we thought we'd come over here to see you."

The blue one piped up this time. "I guess that ship brought a lot of challengers to face us. Today sounds like a fun day! My name's Cress." He offered his hand to Lite and Kashiwa, both accepting it.

The green one stepped forward now. "Ah, and that leaves me, I suppose. I'm Cilan. Good to meet you."

Lite and Kashiwa nodded at the trio, and Kashiwa started, "Uhm... if it's not too much trouble... I suppose you know about the Gym this town's supposed to be host to..."

Chili laughed. "Kid, you're in it! We're a restaurant but our speciality is a three-course Pokemon battle!"

Lite's expression was mixed and confused. "Wait, so this place is a Gym? Well can we eat here too? We're starved!"

Addressing Lite, Cress offered him a menu and said, "Well, yes, but seating's limited so if you're here for a battle you're going to have to get started quickly."

Kashiwa was torn. He knew Lite wanted to battle, but he was nervous... that and he wanted to eat. He looked up at Lite; Lite saw the look in his eyes and said, "Don't worry, kid. I'm hungry too. I'll get us both a table and a hot meal on me, and you can kill time by fighting the gym leader here." He then turned back to the trio of waters and asked, "Speakin' o' which, who's the Gym Leader?"

All three butlers grinned, with Cilan speaking up. "The answer to that is... All three of us. Depending on our type advantage, we pick whoever you yourself will be fighting." Cilan observed the duo's Pokemon. "A foreign Steel-type, and a Snivy. So you both fight Chili. Or is only one of you going first?"

Kashiwa's eyes widened. Grass against fire? He would surely lose! But Lite patted him on the shoulder and reassured, "Don't worry, kid. In battle, type advantages don't always determine everything. It takes a lot more strategy than just hitting with hard moves like I do. Just believe in your Pokemon and he'll believe in you!" He smiled. "Besides, win or lose you'll have a hot delicious lunch waitin' for ya!"

Kashiwa gulped loudly, then looked down at his partner. Ivyivy looked eager for a good fight. He then looked back at Chili and said, "Okay... I accept! I'll take your gym challenge."

"That's it! That's the fighting spirit I'd expect from our very own Kashiwa!" Lite cheered. "Now remember, don't worry about anything, and when you're done lunch'll be ready, got it?"

"Speaking of lunch, let me direct you to a table for two while Chili and your friend begin their match."

~~~

BATTLE! Kashiwa VS. Chili!

Kashiwa kneeled down and whispered in Ivyivy's ear. "Okay... so he's obviously got the type advantage... try to avoid his fire-type attacks. Pelt him with Aerial Ace between counterattacks. Do you think you'll be okay?"

Ivyivy nodded, flashing a smile and a thumbs-up, and then stepped forward to face down Chili's Pokemon. Chili procured a Poke Ball from his belt and threw it into the air with a hearty "Go! Pansear!!" and out burst a small red monkey with a tuft of fur on its forehead.

Kashiwa yelled. "O-okay Ivyivy! Aerial Ace!" Ivyivy lunged at Pansear with lightning speed, striking Pansear in the stomach with his claws. Pansear cried out with a shrill and flew back, then retaliated by firing a burst of flame at Ivyivy. Kashiwa instinctively knelt down to protect Ivyivy, but Ivyivy needed not his protection- instead, he jumped to one side, deftly avoiding the flame. Observing this, Kashiwa smiled. Ivyivy... Maybe I CAN win this! Determined, he gave another order. "Attack! Aerial Ace again!!" Just like before, Ivyivy rushed at his opponent and struck him, baring his sharp claws down upon it. This time, however, instead of countering the move with that peculiar flame, it reached out with its own claws at Ivyivy. Fury Swipes! Pansear slashed at Ivyivy three times before Ivyivy avoided the fourth swing and leapt back. He didn't appear to have taken much damage, but it was a close call. And Kashiwa wanted to avoid close calls. He decided to lead with the same strategy that almost led him to victory against Lite:

"Ivyivy! Swagger! You know what to do!" Ivyivy smiled and nodded. He then turned to Chili's Pokemon and taunted it with several gestures and rude-sounding noises, which enraged the fire monkey. It then charged at Ivyivy, preparing another fireball, only to leap up and attack the floor, injuring itself! Kashiwa clenched his fist in excitement. He had the upper hand! "Alright, Ivyivy! Keep at it! Double Team!" Ivyivy acknowledged this, and proceeded to quickly run around Pansear, creating after-images with its speed. Pansear, both confused and unsure of which Ivyivy was the real one, continuously attacked fakes and hurt itself.

Chili clenched his teeth and yelled out another command. "C'mon, Pansear! Get him with Incinerate again, quick!"

The still-confused Pansear hardly acknowledged this command, but indeed charged at Ivyivy again with a fireball in its mouth. Not to be deterred, Kashiwa beckoned and called out, "Don't worry, Ivyivy! Fight back! One more Aerial Ace!"

Just before Pansear could fire a shot, Ivyivy jumped out and sliced at Pansear. It yelled out in pain before being propelled backward again, and with a thud, hit the floor. It attempted to get up from the ground and continue the fight, but its efforts were useless. The fire monkey had fainted.

Battle End! Kashiwa Wins!

Chili dropped to his knees, picked up his Pansear, cradled it a bit, and then recalled it to its Poke Ball. He then addressed Kashiwa, saying "That there was more of a fiery battle than some of our menu's spiciest dishes. You and that Pokemon, my friend, make one outstanding team."

Kashiwa's mouth gaped in amazement. He won! He had actually won! Against a Gym Leader no less!! He reached down, scooped up Ivyivy and hugged him tightly with elation, with his Pokemon returning the lovely gesture. "Did you hear that, buddy? We... we're a good team!"

Chili smiled. "That's not all, though. Since you beat me, I have to present you with this Badge. League's rules." From his vest's breast pocket, he reached in and pulled out a shiny multi-colored badge and presented it to Kashiwa. "This is the Trio Badge. It's proof that you've beaten this Gym! Congratulations." Kashiwa gratefully accepted the badge, and pinned it to his jacket. Chili then continued, "Also, here's something we just give out to winners out of courtesy." He pulled out a CD-looking device encased in a box- Kashiwa recognized it as a TM from his memories of his father and Ivyivy. "This TM contains Work Up. It's a move that boosts your Pokemon's power." Before he could say anymore, a loud voice rang out in the restaurant:

"Hey! Kashiwa! Congratulations kid! That's some serious fighting spirit! Now come over here and let's chow down!" Lite was sitting down a few tables away and calling Kashiwa over to eat. Chili chuckled. "Looks like your friend bought you a victory dinner. Come on, I'll walk you over there." Chili and Kashiwa walked over to Lite's table. Kashiwa pulled a chair from the table and sat down on it. Chili then spoke to Lite, saying: "By the way, when you're finished, would you like to challenge me as well?"

Lite shook his head. "Nah, not right now. I wanna relax a bit, and take Kashiwa to the Pokemon Center to rest his partner up. I'll be back tho- ack!" Lite spoke too fast and chewed too fast. He choked on a slightly large piece of steak. Warmachine, clearly unamused by his partner's lack of proper etiquette, slapped Lite on the back several times to clear up any blockage. Or so it seemed. "Ow! Warmachine! I got it, okay, guy? Small bites."

Kashiwa smiled. Even though the day opened horribly, spending the rest of it with his new friend, winning a Pokemon battle, and eating a good meal made up for it...

~~~

"Congrats again, kid. I knew when I first saw you. Your fighting spirit and your love for Pokemon are gonna take you places," said Lite as he opened the Pokemon Center door for Kashiwa. Kashiwa looked up at him and grinned. Lite was proud that his psuedo-student was making progress. He was also pleased that Kashiwa seemed to be more... upbeat wouldn't be the proper word, but definitely more energetic and positive.

"Hello! Trainer at the door, with the Beldum?"

Lite's train of thought was derailed. The Nurse at the counter called out to him. Or was there another person in Unova with a Beldum? ...In that Pokemon Center? He and Kashiwa approached the desk.

"Young man, do you know a tall boy with glasses and a Riolu for a Pokemon partner?"

Lite thought back. Ditto? Has he been here already? Lite nodded. "Well," she continued, "he left you a note, expecting you to show up here." She took a note from under the desk and then handed it to Lite. Lite turned to Kashiwa and said, "Ah, Kashiwa kid, why don't you wait for me in here. I'm gonna go outside and read this."

Lite stepped back outside the Pokemon Center and opened the letter. The note was signed "Ditto." Did he leave Lite behind after challenging the Gym? Lite began reading.

Lite

If and when you read this, meet Pisclin and me at the Gym. It's in the motif of a restaurant.

Later,
Ditto

Lite crumpled up the letter. Ditto was a bit late on that- he had just been to the restaurant and neither Ditto nor Pisclin was to be seen. Lite sighed, and he and Warmachine went back inside to go get Kashiwa and look for the dynamic duo.

[Alakazamaster]

Pisclin continued sprinting towards the Poke Center, Tentacool bouncing up and down on his shoulder, gripping for dear life. Pisclin held the Pokeball containing his newly purchased Pansage tightly, for fear he might drop it and Ditto would be stuck with only one Pokemon. Pisclin was gasping and panting for breath, since physical exercise wasn't one of his strong points. He kept running, though, since he knew he had to get to the Poke Center before Ditto got back from his outing.

As he entered town, he skidded to a halt near the Poke Center's entrance, chest pounding and breath fast. It took Pisclin a bit to notice that there was Lite and his Beldum standing at the door, both staring at Pisclin with looks of confusion. Pisclin jumped back a bit upon seeing them, and with his breath finally caught, uttered a brief, "Oh... hello."

Lite still had a bizarre expression on his face, and upon noticing the crumpled piece of Ditto's special stationary in his hand, Pisclin knew that he had some explaining to do.

"OH... well I assume you read Ditto's letter then? Yes... well we thought you were going to be a bit, er rather you were goign to ARRIVE a bit late, so Ditto headed out and of course having nothing else to do I did as well..."

Lite saw the Pokeball that Pisclin was holding so protectively and was about to ask about it when Pisclin began spewing out more answers and ramblings.

"Oh yes, I just headed out and bought a Pokemon for Ditto... as a thank-you for this Xtrasceiver that he bought me."

Pisclin showed it off a bit.

"So I was hoping to get here before him, which I guess I did... but I suppose it is us both waiting for him, ha ha. As I'm sure you read we two are both ready to challenge the Gym... er, or rahter we WOULD be if he were here. Which he isn't. So here we are. Waiting. For him."

Pisclin was getting shaky, since he knew that this was going just as horribly as he had expected. One could even say it was... a train-wreck. Upon thinking that he saw Kashiwa, Lite's apprentice, inside.

[AuraKshatriya]

Aura walked into the Striaton Gym only to find a large restaurant waiting for him, to his surprise.

"Well, I definitely walked into the building which was meant to be the Gym. If this is how Gyms are in Unova, I think I'm going to like it here a lot. Though, I'm pretty hungry.....I suppose I could eat after the battle.", Aura thought to himself. He approached a nearby waiter so as to enquire about the wherabouts of the Gym Leader.

"Excuse me, would you be able to tell me where the Gym Leader may be right now?", he asked.

The blue-haired waiter replied, "Yes, actually. Myself, along with my two triplet brothers happen to be the Gym Leaders here. However, if you've come for a battle, we're already expecting someone, so you may have to wait until after theirs. My name is Cress, by the way, and they are Cilan and Chili.", Cress introduced, as a green-haired and red-haired waiter both approached them, dinner platters in their hands.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Cilan, as my brother already mentioned.", Cilan proceeded to say, followed by Chili, saying "And I'm Chili. I'm looking forward to battling you.....then again, I don't really know what Pokemon you have, so maybe you'll end up taking on Cilan or Cress. Here, the one who battles the challenger is determined by whoever has the type advantage. I just battled a trainer who used a Snivy with my Pansear, for example.", Chili explained.

"Interesting......I think I have something in mind we could try, but I suppose that'll have to wait until after one of you battles the trainer you're all expecting. In the mean time, I'm fairly hungry, I take it this Gym is also a full-time restaurant, as well?", Aura asked.

"Why yes it is. I can show you to a table for one right away, if you'd like. We serve a variety of dishes and are confident we can cater to anyone's specific tastes.", Cress said both elegantly and politely as he lead Aura to a table. Aura was thoroughly impressed by both their kindness and courtesy, which made him even more excited to order a dish.

"Oh, how rude of me. My name is.....well, I just go by Aura. Pleased to meet all of you. I'm looking forward to both the meal and the battle. Perhaps if I'm lucky I could watch the match between one of you and that trainer while I eat.", Aura said gladly, as he scanned over the entrees to begin.

[JC]

Due to my inactivity going to come up shortly, please ask the Global Moderators to edit the first post, I'm pretty much leaving as is, and James disappears for some apparent reason...

another words, I'm done.

[Ditto616]

Ditto stepped back into the gates of town and started to pass through the park. He looked at the time. "He should be here by now..." he muttered to himself.

As he wandered back into the city part, he yet again awed at the buildings. he just noticed that the architecture of the buildings were slightly different than the ones in Sinnoh. Slightly, but barely noticeable.

While admiring the buildings, attention away from where he was walking, he bumped into someone, knocking them both off of their feet. "Oh! I'm so sorry!" Ditto got up to his feet, brushed himself off, and offered a hand to the other person that was knocked down. "I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going. I apologize again. Is there any way I can make it up to you?"

"Oh, that's alright. I wasn't quite paying attention either." The passerby responded. She got up with the help of Ditto. She was dressed in a lab coat, and had very long, darkish colored hair, accented with a flower hair pin. "You look like a Pokémon trainer, especially with that Riolu that just popped out of your bag." Riolu was sitting on the ground, rubbing its head. It must've fallen out when they fell. "My name is Fennel, and I think you CAN help me... You see, I've been researching Pokémon and their dreams, and I need a special item from the Dreamyard called Dream Mist. It's only produced by Munna and Musharna, you see." She continued. "I can even give you something else in return."

Ditto's Xtranceiver began to vibrate. To his surprise, it was a text message.
"Lite made it to the Pokémon Center. Come here as soon as you can. Pisclin"

"I hate to be rude, but I need to meet some friends at the Pokémon Center. We're going to try and take on the Gym after that. After our challenge, I'll go to the Dreamyard, alright? I hate to take off running, but I need to meet them as soon as possible. Nice meeting you!" Ditto scooped up Riolu, and started running and waving good bye. Fennel returned the gesture.

Ditto walked to the Pokémon Center doors to see Lite and Pisclin talking to each other. He walked over to initiate conversation.

[RotomGuy]

There was a long silence.

"Well... I... you see, I have-" "Sure he does!"

Dell gave a gentle push to Jakob.

"Now then, kid. What pokemon do you have?"

"I... Litwick, Pidove and Venipede, sir"

The brothers looked at each other then huddled together again.

"I'll lose in a blink of an eye. I'm weak to all of them!"
"I could take out Venipede!"
"Yes, but I could take out Litwick, which seems to be his main pokemon."
"Fine then."

"Alright! I'll be your gym battle then! Come on, show me what you got!

[The Tropius of Tropiuses]

(Time: 5:30 PM)

Stu walked deeper into the city and found what looked like a mansion, or a castle(At least, to him). Stu walked into the mysterious place and found out it was a restaurant! There was also a curtain a few steps ahead of him. "Wow, Seedot! Look at the restaurant! It looks so... fancy!" Stu said. "Seedot," his Pokemon replied. "I'd love to get some food, but it looks pretty full.... maybe it's near lunch?"(Aside from not knowing what time it was, he still wasn't used to the time change) Stu said. He and Seedot left the restaurant and went to look for things to do while they waited to get some food. Stu saw a little passage on the left side of town that led into a new area. "Hey, Seedot!" Stu cried, getting Seedot's attention. "Look! There's a little passage that leads into another place! You wanna go in and see what's there?"said Stu. Seedot nodded and they both went in.

Stu and Seedot walked into the new place. 'It looks like an abandoned factory....' Stu thought. 'I wonder why-' Stu's thoughts were interrupted by a child. "Hey, you! Wanna have a battle?!" The child obnoxiously asked."Uh, no thanks, I'm-" "Well, we've locked eyes, so we HAVE to battle!!!" "Wait... because we've locked eyes, we have to battle!?!" Stu asked, annoyed. "Yep!" The child said. "My name's Joey! And I love to battle!" Joey yelled, obnoxiously, and then threw his Pokemon out.

Battle! Vs. Youngster Joey!

Joey threw out a Patrat. "A Patrat, huh? Well, Seedot, you wanna battle?" Seedot got into battle and used his signature move, Bide. The Patrat hit him with a scratch, but Seedot got back at it with his fully charged Bide. Thanks to a critical hit, the Patrat went crashing down!
"I'm not done yet!" Yelled Joey, throwing out another Patrat. "Hey, Seedot, let's give Lillpup a shot!" Stu said. Seedot nodded, and then Stu withdrew him and sent out Lillpup. The Patrat scratched Lillpup, making it do a small cry in pain. Lillpup shook it's head and then charged at the Patrat with a tackle! Lillpup dodged Patrat's attack,and then did a tackle, finishing off. "Oh! I'll get you for that!" Joey yelled, sending out his last Pokemon, a Lillpup. "Hey, look! Another Lillpup!" Stu noted. Both the Lillpups charged with a tackle, hurting Joey's, but fainting Stu's. "Lillpup!" Stu cried, withdrawing it. "Take a good rest..." Stu said, then throwing out Seedot. After a tackle, Seedot beat the Lillpup with a Bide.

Battle over! Stu wins!

"Allright, we've one!" yelled Stu, ecstatic. "Wow, you're really good. Hey, how about you check out the gym?"
"Gym? Where?" Stu asked, confused.

(Time: 6:11PM)

[Arceus is Epic]

(5:00 PM)

"Geez, you guys are really doing well! How about we go to the Gym and challenge it, okay?" Ark's three Pokemon nodded in agreement. After about a half hour of fruitless searching, Ark gave up.
"This searching is really making me hungry. In fact, I haven't even eaten since after we got off of the boat! You guys hungry, too?" All four of their stomachs, large or small, rumbled in agreement. Ark, Zorua, Lillipup and Purrloin all rushed to the fancy restaurant just at the end of the street. Once Ark found an empty table, he was about to order when someone said, "Hello, can I take your order?" Ark stared up at his waiter in amazement.
"Cilan, is that you? Wow, it's been 2 years since we've seen each other!"
"Wait a sec, I know that voice! Ark? Is that really you? How've you been faring after that incedent?"
"Well, I'm not as scarred as before but I'll manage. Do you know where the Gym is around here?"
"Lucky you, you're in it. And in even more luck! You're looking at one of the Gym Leaders!"
"One of the Gym Leaders? How many are there? And who are they?"
"You know them as well, you see, my brothers and I are the Gym leaders."
"Really: you, Chili, and Cress? Nice! How do you decide who fights the challenger?"
"We choose whoever has the type advantage over the challenger's Pokemon. Considering that you're going to battle us, which Pokemon do you have?"
"I have Zorua, Lillipup, and Purrloin." Cilan sighed deeply. "Is that good or bad?"
"That's bad because we have Fire, Grass, and Water types here." Ark moaned in disappointment. "Don't worry though, because we went to the Trainer School together and we're such good friends, I'll let you battle me even though there'e no type advantage either way. So, do you want to start before or after dinner?"
"Can I eat first? I haven't eaten in awhile. Neither have my friends."
"Okay, take your time. It isn't fair to fight a weakened opponent. I'll tell Chili and Cress that you're here and ready to challenge the Gym, too. I believe they'll let us break the rules on this occasion considering that you were friends with them as well." Ark opened his mouth to say something else, but Cilan beat him to it by saying, "I'll tell them you say 'Hi' as well."Ark closed his mouth and nodded.
(6:18 PM)

[SpikyEaredPichu96]

(12:15 PM)

Adam looked up at the towering buildings as he fiddled with Purrloin's pokeball.

"That was some training session. Too bad I forgot to go back and heal Purrloin at Accumula town. She didn't seem too happy when I let her out."

Eliana nodded. "Yeah. It's also too bad Oshawott didn't learn Water Gun." She smiled a little, "I think Maranda would've liked it if he had. She likes to have water fights with other water pokemon."

Oshawott looked up at Adam attentively upon hearing his name. The trainer patted him on top of the head and looked down the street. "I think I see the pokemon center down there. Let's let Maranda and Quilava rest up and get Purrloin back up to health... in retrospect, I probably shouldn't have swatted her with my backpack, but better that than have my face clawed off."

"Yeah, I guess so." Eliana replied, looking a little surprised. She started to walk towards the Pokemon Center, but paused. She looked down at the egg in her case. Had it just quivered a little? She shook her head, shifting the case in her arms a little, then continued walking.

"I think your egg is making noises, Eliana." Adam said as he looked down at the case. "It's hard to tell with it being in that box, though."

Eliana looked down at the egg again, then carefully set it on the ground in front of her, removed the top of the case, and then, very carefully, lifted the egg out of it. It was making noises. It quivered again, a little more violently this time, and a small crack appeared along the top. Eliana stared at it, her eyes wide. "It's hatching!" She exclaimed. The egg quivered again, more cracks appearing on it's surface. It suddenly shone with a bright light, and Eliana shut her eyes to shield them from it. When she opened them again, she was holding a small, pale-yellow pokemon in her arms. It had two small, pink spots on it's cheeks, a few black markings around its neck, and a small black tail. Its ears, which seemed almost as large as the pokemon itself, were diamond-shaped, aside from a small tuft of fur on the left one, which made the ear look almost 'spiked'.

"How exciting! You should probably run ahead to the pokemon center to have her looked at to make sure she's healthy." Adam said as he held Purrloin and Quilava's pokeballs out to Eliana. "If you wouldn't mind, could you drop these two off when you get there? Oshawott and I will have a look around town."

Eliana nodded, taking the Pokeballs from Adam. "Alright." She replied. Then, carefully holding the little pokemon in her arms, she hurried on towards the Pokemon Center. When she got inside, she went straight to the front desk.

"Hello, and welcome to the Pokemon Center. How may I help you?" The nurse asked.

"My egg hatched just now." Eliana replied, gesturing to the little pichu in her arms. "Would you mind checking to make sure she's healthy?"

"Of course, that's what we're here for. If you have any Pokemon that need healed, I can take care of those for you, too." Eliana reached into her pocket and pulled out the Pokeballs that Adam had given to her. The nurse took them and then reached out to take the little Pokemon in her arms. The pichu seemed reluctant to leave Eliana's arms, but in the end, she let the nurse carry her into a back room. "This will only take a few minutes." She told Eliana before heading around the corner. Eliana looked around, and saw the phones lined up against one wall. She walked over to them, and dialed home. Her Mom answered:

"Hello?"

"Hi Mom, it's me."

"Oh, hi Eliana. Good to hear from you. How have you been?"

"Been doing great." Eliana replied. "The egg Michelle gave me hatched."

"Oh, really? What was it?"

"A pichu."

"Oh, how wonderful! Is it healthy?"

"She, Mom. And the nurse is checking right now."

"That's good."

The line was silent for a long time. Eliana was about to ask if her Mom was still there, when she heard the nurse calling her name.

"I've got to go, Mom."

"Oh, alright. Will you call me when you get to the next town?"

"Yes, Mom."

"Be careful out there, okay?"

"I will, Mom."

"I love you."

"Love you, too."

Eliana hung up the phone, then went to the front desk again.

"Your pichu is healthy as can be." The nurse said to her when she reached the desk. "And the Pokemon you left with me have been restored to full health." An Audino with a nurse's hat came around the desk, wheeling a stretcher. Pichu was on it, sitting next to a small tray with two Pokeballs on it.

"Thank you very much." Eliana thanked the nurse. She picked up the Pokeballs and put them in her pocket, then reached to pick up pichu. The little electric Pokemon jumped up into her arms, greatful to be back with her trainer. Eliana smiled and walked over to one of the couches, and sat down to wait for Adam to return.

(1:03 PM)