The Johto Leagues Fate

Chapter six-Battle for the badge

After winning his battle against Gregory a boy he now considered to be his rival Scythe had finally reached Violet City. "Alright finally! It's time for my first gym battle!" He joyfully yelled as he began to sprint to the pokemon center to heal Chukapis and Pidgey.

As Scythe walked through the front door of the pokemon center he felt a feeling of acheivement for everything he had pushed through. "Hi may I heal your pokemon?" the Nurse Joy said to Scythe as he approached the front desk. "Uh yes yes you can." Scythe responded as he handed her his pokemon.

"Alright this will just take a moment!" She said with a smile as she put Scythes pokeballs on a machine and turned it on. "Do Do Do Doo Doo" the machine sounded as it lit up around Scythe's pokeballs. "Ok all better!" she proudly smiled as she handed the balls back to Scythe.

"Thanks Nurse...but would you happen to have anything for headaches?" Scythe questioned the nurse. "Why no, we strictly have medication for pokemon, why are you alright?" She asked. "Ya, i've just got this migrain following me around." Scythe answered as he rubbed his head. "Oh well there's a super market down the road they might have some." She happily mentioned. "Eh i'll be ok, but thanks!" Scythe told the nurse as he walked out the door.

"Ha it's time for my battle!" Scythe roared as he darted for the gym. As he approached the door's of the gym, Scythe stopped for a moment.."Ok Chukapis and Pidgey you guys gotta do the best you can...I know we can do this!" he said as he raised his pokemon's pokeballs. He than pushed the front door open and entered the gym.

"Hello?" Scythe yelled in question form as he entered the gym. "Yes yes calm down i'm here!" An older man with a cane said as he got up out of a big chair from across the gym. "Uh your the gym leader?" Scythe asked the old man with a odd look on his bed. "Yea I am...my name is Falkner!" Falkner yelled out with pride.

"Well Falkner i'm Scythe and i'm here for a battle!" Scythe yelled back with a nervous look. "Well then we have no time to wait, you will be my final battle of the day...now let's not waste time." Falkner said. "Alright come on out pidgey!" Scythe exclaimed as he sent out Pidgey to start the battle. "A Pidgey huh? Well this should be interesting...let's go Pidgeotto!" Falkner boomed as he sent out an evolved form of Scythe's Pidgey.

"Pidg?" Pidgey cried in question as it looked at the bigger version of itself. "It's ok Pidgey I know you can do it!" Scythe yelled to the bird pokemon. Pidgey listened and than turned around to look at Pidgeotto again.

"Ok Pidgeotto use quick attack!" Falkner commanded of his pokemon. "Pidgey stop it in it's track with Gust!" Scythe hollered to Pidgey. "PIDGAAAA!" Pidgey chirped as it began throwing wind into the face of Pidgeotto.

"Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiidgoooootoo!" Pidgeotto exclaimed as it pushed through the gust and slammed a wing into Pidgey. "Ah Pidgey!" Scythe burst out as Pidgey begins to take a nose dive. Pidgey snapped out of it and caught itself before it hit the ground.

"Ok Pidgeotto use Whirlwind!" Falkner then commanded. "Pidgey use a sand attack!" Scythe hollered to pidgey. Pidgey kicked the sand towards Pidgeotto but it was to late the torando of dust pulled Pidgey in.

"Pidgey use gust to get yourself out of there!" Scythe begged Pidgey. Pidgey obeyed and began to move air towards the ground thrusting it out of the whirlwind attack. "Pii PIiidg!" Pidgey weakley cried as it got out of the top of the whirlwind. "Pidgey use tackle to finish it!" Scythe ordered.

"Pidgeotto use quick attack!" Falkner said with force. "PIDGAAA!" "PIDGOOOOTooo!" the bird pokemon chirped as they flew full force at each other. As the two bird pokemon hit into each other Pidgeotto just stopped and Pidgey slammed into it with the tackle attack. "PIIDDDGAA....aaaa" Pidgey cried as it fell out of the air and into the ground.

"Pidgey no!" Scythe yelled out as he saw the pokemon was down. "Pidgey is unable to battle, this round goes to Pidgeotto" the judge exclaimed waving a red flag at Falkner. "Grrr ok Pidgey good job now take a rest." Scythe said as he returned the bird to it's ball.

"That was a good idea using it's evolved form against it." Scythe commented to Falkner. "It was just good strategy, but you're Pidgey did a commendable job!" Falkner complimented Scythe. "Hmm thanks..but this battle is just getting good." Scythe excitedly said as he sent out Chukapis.

"Pi!" Chukapis happily yelled as it emerged from the ball. "Hmm an electric pokemon huh? Let's see how he does!" Falkner said. "Chukapis use quick attack!" Scythe commanded. "Ha Pidgeotto use quick attack again!" Falkner yelled out.

"Pika!" Chukapis exclaimed as it zipped speedily towards the Pidgeotto. As the two came close to contact Scythe yelled out, "Chukapis jump over and use thundershock!" Scythe quickly commanded.

Chukapis did a back flip over the attacking Pidgeotto than turned around in the air as it shot a bolt of electricity flying at Pdigeotto. "PIDGOOOTTOOO!" Pidgeotto yelled as it fell to the ground unconcious.

"Pidgeotto is unable to battle, this round goes to Pikachu!" the referre roared out waving a green flag at Scythe. "Good plan! Now let's finish this Starravia!" Falkner laughed as he sent out his next pokemon.

"STARRAAAAAA!" Starravia exclaimed as it soared into the air. "Chukapis use thundershock again!" Scythe commanded the yellow mouse. "Starravia use double team!" Falkner yelled out to his pokemon. Starravia began to split into multiple versions of itself. Chukapis's thundershock went right through one.

"Now Starravia use quick attack!" Falkner yelled to the multiple Starravias. "PI? PI?" Chukapis worridely cried out as it looked for the attacking Starravia out of the circle. "Chukapis look out!" Scythe screamed out to Chukapis as Starravia slammed into Chukapis causing it to fly forward and roll into the wall.

"Chukapis are you ok?" Scythe questioned the little pikachu as it slowly got up from being upside down. "Starravia use double team again!" Falkner ordered. Starravia split off into multiples again.

"You'll never win now! Starravia use quick attack and finish it off!" Falkner boomed as Chukpais slowly stumbled to its feet. "Chukapis it's coming from behind you...turn around and use thundershock!" Scythe screamed to Chukapis.

Chukapis turned around and thundershocked the attacking Starravia which stopped. "Now Chukapis while its down jump on it's back and use thundershock one more time!" Scythe yelled out to Chukapis.

"Pi!" Chukapis said as it darted over and jumped on the back of Starravia. "Starravia get up and shake it off in the air!" Falkner said.

Starravia began to fly up into the air with Chukapis on it's back. "Chukapis before it throws you off finish it!" Scythe yelled up to Chukapis. "PIKKKKACHUUUU!!!" Chukapi growled as it sent sparks all around the Starravia below it.

"STARRRAAAA!" Starravia helplessly cried as it fell to the ground with Chukapis on it's back. "Starravia is unable to battle, the match goes to Scythe Rainer!" The judge announced as he waved a flag towards Scythe again.

"Alright Chukapi way to hang in there!" Scythe congratulated Chukapis as he returned it to it's pokeball. "Well congratulations on the victory Scythe. Here is your badge to prove you won!" Falkner said as he handed the badge to Scythe. "YAAA I did it i got the Zephyr badge!" Scythe exclaimed with joy as he exited the gym.

Falkner watched as the boy walked out the doors and than said to himself, "Man I can't believe I lost every battle today! but atleast I can't lose anymore now that the day is over." Falkner frowned and than chuckled as he walked into the back room of the gy,.

"Well it's getting kinda late I wonder what I should..AHHHH AHHHH...AHHHHH....damnit my head again...what the he..l..AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Scythe yelled once again as he held his head and thrusted back and fourth.

As the yelling stopped Scythe began to walk away from the gym...

4 hours later

"Ahhh..huh? Where am I?" Scythe questioned as he woke up from his phone ringing. "Hello?" Scythe answered as he picked up the phone. "Are you okay?!?" Elms voice shouts into the phone. "Professor Elm...whats going on?" Scythe yells into the phone as he hears an explosion and looks outside the window of the room he is in. Scythe realizes the connection on his phone fell through and than a huge flash appeared through the window.

"Woah...what the hell is going on and where am I?" Scythe said with an unsettling feeling. As Scythe stared around the room he wanders how he got there and what exactly is going on..

Tim0789: Awesome post and battle, I'm starting to wonder whats up with the headaches and blackouts? anyways Scythe received the Zephyr Bage! Pikachu grew to lvl 17! Pidgey grew to lvl 14! Pidgey learned quick attack! Now finish the chapter...

As for everyone else who is caught up here is your new chapter!

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Part 1
2 posts
A few days have passed since Falkners death, and the Johto region has all but shut down for the time being. Gym leaders were forced to hide while the Johto League Council makes a decision on what to do now.. It has been about four days now and you and the other trainers have taken up camp in the pokemon center. Everyone has pitched in to help clean up the ruble that used to be Sprout tower. But nothing has erased your feelings toward these cloaked men, and the death of Falkner.. You start to wonder what there plan is. Then finally on the fourth night Elm arrives in Violet City and gathers you all together the very next morning.

Elm is looking very tired from his long trip but instead of taking time to relax he rushes you into the pokemon center conference room. You all sit around a circular table with Elm at the front. You start to wonder if this may be the end of your journey, is the Johto league being shut down? He then begins to speak..

"Well, I honestly can't say much about the previous happenings… But I have spoken with the council and they feel that the incident may have just been a scare and they are reopening the gyms" He says looking over each of your faces..

"I am glad to see all of you are okay, it is truly remarkable, they were able to take down Falkner but none of you, anyways I brought you all together for one important reason… I have received another letter from my close friend and colleague who I thought had been captured on Mt. Silver" He then pauses for a second taking time to breath..

"He is keeping a close eye on Johto now.. and if anything should happen again then we will be initiating a new plan, one that I believe, and he believes will help Johto and.. the world.. as for what to do now I say you put all of this behind you and continue your journey I mean your no good to anyone just sitting around instead of getting stronger right? I have the utmost faith in you" Elm stands there saying all of this, but behind what he says you can tell he feels upset to send you back out there.. and you feel he knows more then he is telling.. But no matter what secrets or lies he is telling he leaves you to your thoughts and journey… (You can chose to interact with other Rpers here if you'd like!, just talk it over with them first)

You then decide the next move is to heal up your pokemon, and then you head off towards route 32! On your way you stop to pay a visit to the newly built statue of Falkner now standing next to the remains of Sprout tower.. Finally you reach Route 32: Here you can catch a wild pokemon or battle a trainer your call!

Wild Pokemon:

Mareep:
Lvl 9-11
Moves: Thundershock, growl, tackle
Common

Buneary:
Lvl 9-11
Moves: Pound, defense curl, endure, foresight
Common

Lotad
Lvl 9-11
Moves: Mist, nature power, absorb, growl
Common

Sunkern:
Lvl 9-11
Moves: Ingrain, mega drain, growth, absorb
Uncommon

Pichu
Lvl 9-11
Moves: Thunder wave, Tail whip, charm, thundershock
RARE

This first half of the chapter is what me and Timeless are now going to call a freedom posts! After your talk with Elm you can do whatever you want to on route 32 catch a pokemon, battle a trainer, train your pokemon in some different way, or anything exciting you can think of. Add your characters and his pokemons personality into these two posts!

Part Two
After a long day with your pokemon, and just enjoying the atmosphere of Route 32, you cant help but feel maybe all of the events were just coincidence and that you may not encounter anything like that again… As your walking across the route you are all quickly interrupted by a huge breeze, it almost feels like a tornado is about to start up, you then run for something soild or some kind of shelter to protect yourself from it… (make something up, hid behind an overhang of the side of a rock, trees, a small dug out area in the the side of a hill, use some imagination) As you sit there watching the wind pick up, it stops all to suddenly as quick as it came, it was gone.. You hear a faint voice behind you… As all of you are approached by a DIFFERENT cloaked trainer in white.. You then ready your pokeball at your side, before the man starts to speak..

"Tsk, Tsk, Tsk… I just wanted to talk, no need to get your pokeball ready" The man says..

You then yell back asking what he is doing here he takes his hand and removes something from inside his cloak… It was a small letter wraped with a black bow… Your not sure weather to open it up or not until the man speaks again… "It's to bad though.."

You ask him what he means by that.. "Oh you'll find out when you read that letter… that is, if you live that long" he says before releasing his pokemon.

Trainers pokemon:

Spiritomb Lvl 20
Moves: Hypnosis, Dream eater, faint attack, shadow sneak.

After you defeat the trainer he just laughs hysterically for some strange reason and leaves.. You then hurry to open up your letter... but as you start to open it up you feel a strange feeling on the back of your head and blackout.

END OF CHAPTER!

The skies above Violet City were a clear blue, nice white clouds dotted on it. The city was recovering from the Sproute Tower incident just four days ago. Falkner, was murdered, which shook the entire region. He was one of the oldest and wisest gym leaders, the entire Pokemon League Council had a giant meeting. Both Kanto and Johto League councils had a conjoined meeting to discuss the matter.

In Violet City, the rubble was gone for the most part, random people helped as they lugged the large boulders away.

Damion helped clear the rubble with Taro's helpful Rock Slide technique, launching the boulders in the large trucks which were taking them away. Hoot helped by putting random pokemon to sleep if they tried to intefere, wild Geodude and Graveler tried to hide in the rubble and attack the workers. Hoot quickly used Hypnosis to put them to sleep.

He now sat in his Pokemon Center room, he stared at the mirror. A cold face stared back, red eyes and jagged hair. A hood covering the lower half of his face, a cold boy...no fun. That's what the local pallet kids said, a lonely boy with no friends except his grandpa.

Damion clenched his fist and quickly changed into his pajamas, his clothes were stained with dirt. That's what hard day of work does to a person, the boy wiped the final bits of dirt off of his face as he looked at his PokeGear.

Prof. Elm had called him a couple of minutes before, informing him of a meeting tomorrow morning. So he had to go to bed early,

"Goodnight guys." He said plainly to the two pokeballs on the desk with the rest of his clothes. He quickly shut his eyes and trailed off to sleep, his pokemon doing the same.

The dance was magnificent. The girls moved together as though they were one being. Kenneth smiled happily, sitting back in his chair and watching the performance. He sat alone at a large table cluttered with bowls of food. The aroma was amazing; surely he would thank the cook later. Down by his feet Lily and Miles ate their own food. He tied a handkerchief around his neck and reached for the first plate…

Sprawled out on his back in bed, Kenneth snored. The covers were a mess and the top sheet was awkwardly wrapped around him, binding him down. It didn't matter to the boy of course. He was oblivious to anything happening in the real world. A line of drool crept from his mouth making a wet spot on his pillow.

Above his head, Miles slept. The blue and black cub was curled up, looking more like a weird shaped hat than a pokemon. Every once and a while, he would unconsciously sway his tail and tickle Kenneth's nose and gain an incomprehensible growl and tongue talk. None-the-less both trainer and pokemon were comfortable and neither responded when a loud rock song started playing from Kenneth's pokegear.

'So sacrifice yourself and let me have what's left! I know I can find….'

Song kept playing as the pokegear started to vibrate. However to two remanded unresponsive and would have if it hadn't been for Lily. The tadpole pokemon was sound asleep in her pokemon, until it began to shake rather violently. She woke up in a fury and slammed her tail into the wall of the pokemon. It popped up and she found herself standing on the dresser next to the bed.

She looked over at her trainer and teammate, sleeping away without a care. She took a breath and shot a Water Gun at the two.

3.

Kenneth sat up, loudly speaking in tongues and whipped from side to side looking around the room. Miles too jumped, but instead of wildly looking around he seemed disappointed at the sudden wake up call.

Kenneth finally looked over at the dresser; hearing is pokegear ring and saw Lily. She pointed at the pokegear and Kenneth grumbled snatching it from its place and answering.

"Who the…"

"Thank god you answered!!!" Kenneth blanked, his grumpiness fading away as he recognized to voice to be Prof. Elm's. He sounded worry, which only put Kenneth in a state of confusion. "Professor?"

"Are you alright!?" Kenneth blinked again and halfway laughed. "Prof. what ar…" Kenneth stopped as a large boom sounded off and a bright light flashed through the window, momentarily blinding Kenneth. As he rubbed his eyes the room shook, adding more to his confusion.

Deciding that later was the time for questions Kenneth took off, ripping the door open and storming down the hall. His pokemon followed, worried as well.

Kenneth arrived outside only to be welcomed by chaos. People of all ages were running around, screaming their heads offs with tears streaming down their faces. He winced and covered his ears as he felt a headache coming on. "Why can't I just one night of peace!"

"The tower!" A random person yelled rushing pass Kenneth. He blinked.

"We've got to help Falkner! To the Sprout Tower!"

"I can't believe this! Who would do such a thing?"

Kenneth felt his heart drop hearing the yells. He turned and looked over in the direction of the town's tallest tower…

2...

Only to see that it was no longer there. In its spot was a large pile of rubble.

He stared at the spot for a second, then another, and another. A smile crept up his face and he began to laugh. He wasn't modest with it, he was laughing out loud. A crazy laugh like one that usually came from people who had lost all sanity.

It was too much. Everywhere he went there always seemed to be something going wrong. And finally when he thought that he would get a good night's sleep, it too was interrupted. The result: Kenneth was on the border line between madness and sanity.

With nothing else to do, he began to run in the tower's direction. His pokemon followed close behind. Not only were they worried about their trainer's health or the situation, but also the many Rattata and Gastly that made the tower their home.

Not long after Kenneth passed a group of people. However he was pulled back at once. He looked back to see a couple of the villager's who were looking on ahead.

Up ahead, Falkner stood, both hands clutched to his cane. Not far from him were a bunch of trainers in white cloaks. Kenneth's eyes widened. He remembered the trainers from the time they attacked him and the others at Prof Elm's. He balled his hands, his mouth shut and clenched.

It seemed to be a battle ragging between the leader and the trainers and Kenneth could tell that Falkner was on the losing side. He took a step forward, ready to assist him, but stop when Falkner turned to look at him. The old man gave him a firm look that beckoned him to get the crowd and run away. Kenneth nodded, respecting the man's wishes and turned.

"Staravia!" He froze. Slowly he turned back to the scene to see Staravia fall to the ground, defeated. He watched as Falkner fell to his knees, his hands still clutched to his cane. Right in front of him a shadow rose from the ground. It swirled a bit, a mass of nothing, and then it took on a human shape. It formed a man in a black cloak.

Kenneth almost took the man for the one that was in his dreams. However, to his great relief this man wasn't the same one. He wasn't giving Kenneth that feeling of complete hopelessness and ruin. The man walked up to Falkner.

"What are you planning?" The man smiled.

"Oh, we're planning something…far too big…you to understand…our plan to succeed…rid Johto…strongest trainers…Leader's included…" Kenneth was struggling to hear what the man was saying but he got the gist of it.

The man summoned a Charizard as Falkner said his last word. "Never!"

"You fool; you have no say in this! Charizard, do it now!" The large orange-red dragon roared and gathered flames in his mouth.

Everyone watched in shock as the large dragon fired off a blast of fire that engulfed their leader, ending his life on the spot.

1…

Everything was silent for a moment. Time seemed to slow down and Kenneth began to feel lightheaded. He doubled over as the crowded rushed past him towards the tower and the stop where Falkner once stood. He held his head and stared at the spot as tears stung his eyes. He was gone. Just like that the Gym Leader that he had faced earlier that day, the one who had wished him luck, a man full of energy even for his age who was just standing there, alive.

'Don't let the past…become the future.'

"Hey kid, something wrong? Does a cat have your tongue?" Kenneth glared up through the bangs over his eyes at a white cloaked man, who had two pokemon beside him. "Oh, you're crying for that old geezer? Heh, what a crybaby you must be. It was time for him to go, no need wasting you're tears."

It'd be best if you run….

Kenneth was shaking now, terribly. He was taking deep breath breaths, his nose constantly flared. His hands were balled up so tightly that his knuckled had turned white and if he had had longer nails, his hand would probably bleed. He started to grind his teeth as his mouth was clenched shut. An extreme amount of adrenaline caused his heart to beat faster, each beat bring him closer and closer to exploding.

"Still not talking? So then I'll take it that you're made." The cloaked bent over a bit, trying to look into the boy's eyes. When Kenneth's head snapped up, tears streaming from his eyes that glared back, the man took a step back. He was at a loss for words. The kid was letting off an awful vibe, like something out of a nightmare.

"I see, but things aren't going to end up like last time." The man's pokemon moved in front of him ready to battle. Kenneth grabbed his pokedex and pointed it at the two.

Kadabra, the Psi Pokemon. It possesses strong spiritual power. The more danger it faces, the stronger its psychic power.

Duskull, the Requiem Pokemon. A glare from its single scarlet eye makes even burly grown-ups freeze in utter fear. It is a nocturnal Pokémon that roams about under the cloak of darkness.

"No, this won't be like last time." The response was cold, coated thick with malice and something incomprehensible. Stating from the words the cloaked man deducted that the kid obviously remember him from the Lab. And though the kid agreed with his statement he felt a shudder go down his spine.

"Lily…Miles…" The two pokemon looked at the trainer, angry at the pokemon and what they did but at the same time scared at their trainer. A light shined in his eyes as they stayed focused on the man and the two pokemon. "Kill them!"

The man was taken back but the kid's decision and the pokemon went as commanded sharing Kenneth's feelings.

"Kadabra, teleport! Duskull, Astonish!"

"Hypnosis. Charge."

Kadabra raised his spoon as Duskull opened his mouth to let out a starling yell. However, before the shocks waves could leave its mouth it closed it, hit with the hypnotic waves emitting from Lily's spirals. Kadabra was able to make its escape teleporting behind Miles as he gathered electricity within his body.

"Now, Confusion!" Kadabra held his hand out and Miles glowed blue. He slowly raised the pokemon off the ground, but before he could finish off his attack a blast of water sent his skidding in the ground. Miles fell back to the ground. He stood and shook himself off as Kenneth called for a tackle attack.

"Shinx!"

The cloaked man stared over at the boy still in a state of shock. He then scowled. "Fight fairly!"

"Oh no. I'm going to give you a taste of what you've done! I'm going to make you feel the terror of being jumped without mercy!" Kenneth answered, still commanding his pokemon, who continued their assault on Kadabra.

The poor pokemon was taking the beating of its life. After being hit head on by Miles' tackle he found himself under the wrath of Lily's Doubleslap. Being a physic type, it couldn't defend well against physical attacks but it did its best.

"Teleport and Confusion!" It disappeared in a flash of light again and appeared behind Lily. Its eyes glowed red and its power washed over both Lily and Miles. It then began to repeatedly throw them into the ground and trees. The cloaked man smiled.

The attack continued until Kadabra was tired failed to hold the attack any longer. It feel to one knee, exhausted from the amount of power it used to substain confusion for a longer period of time and the damage it had already taken. That was its first and last mistake for as soon as Miles and Lily had recovered Kenneth order a Leer and Doubleslap.

Kadabra jumped back as it came face to face with Miles. The young shinx's eyes glowed and intimated Kadabra on eye contact. Scared its defenses were let down just as Lily jumped up from behind Miles and attacked with her tail. It was instantly knocked out as it flew into a tree, hitting it pretty hard.

The man gulped, looking over at Duskull, who was still asleep. His only relief was that it seemed that the shinx didn't know any other moves besides tackle, leer and charge, meaning that only the Poliwag could attack it. Still he turned back to the boy, barking, "What's the big idea? Don't want to fight fairly!"

"Now you care about fairness? Where was the fairness when you and your [insert colorful word of choice] groupies jumped Falkner? Where was it when you allowed another one to join in and kill him? There was no fairness then!" Thinking about it only made Kenneth angrier and the only thing that could make him happy was seeing the man before learn the meaning of pain.

"Lily, use Water Gun. Full Power! Miles, stand back and be ready to offer any assistance if needed."

The blast of water struck its target right in the face and sent the ghost floating backwards. It awoke with a start and looked around. "Disable!" Duskull's eye began to glow and sent off rings at Lily.

"Miles!"

"Shinx!" Miles called as he charged Lily and pushed her away with tackle. He froze for a second, taking the attack, and then shook himself. "Now, Water Gun once more!" Another direct hit made the Duskull fall back and a third soon followed the second ending the battle.

The man in the white cloak recalled him pokemon, astonished. "You'll pay for this kid…" He called out disappearing in a flash of light.

After seeing him leave, Kenneth felt himself calm down. He looked around to see that the other trainers were also there, each finishing their battle with the other cloaked trainers. He bit his lip and lowered his head, wanting to cry.

'Why? What…what have we fallen into…?'

The next few days were rather torturous on some people. The entire town was left grieving. All of Johto was stunned into silence with this occurrence. The region had been shut down from the inside. Gym leaders were vanishing in a forced attempt to hide by the Johto Pokémon League Council. They were making a very important decision; whether or not to continue on with the gyms and such in Johto.

So now here we were. Sahib silently sat on his bed in the Pokémon Center. He wasn't wearing his shirt—it was torn and ragged, so he had just taken it off. There was another black one in his bag that he was going to wear anyway. Sentret and Quilava were at his feet, staring up at him with worry. He had been silent most of the days, minus the second day when his parents called for him.

"Are you alright?" Was the first question out of his mother's lips.

Sahib wordlessly stared at her face, almost unable to believe that among this disaster he was able to speak with them. He saw the familiar face of his mother's Arcanine in the background. "I-I'm fine," Sahib sputtered, involuntarily reaching out and skimming his fingers lightly over the monitor of the phone. He swallowed heavily. "I just…I mean I got the badge, and then he just goes and…well…"

"Sahib," his father said softly, "what is it?"

"I almost moved in front of him. If it hadn't been for Quilava…" Sahib trailed off. Quilava suddenly hopped up on his lap, peering at the screen curiously. His parents took note of their son's evolved Pokémon with pride, yet they were rather worried about what he had said.

Sahib cut his memories off there, shaking his head bitterly. He, for some odd reason, felt like he had a slight…connection with Falkner. Then again, Sahib thought, every trainer probably does. He's the first gym leader…your first real gym badge, Sahib mused. Sentret tugged on Sahib's pants, staring up at his trainer with worry evident in its eyes. Sahib smiled slightly and patted Sentret on the head. Quilava cocked his head to the side and then called its name happily, attempting to at least make his trainer laugh. Sahib chuckled, though it came out cracked and hoarse.

"Hmm…maybe we should go grab some breakfast," Sahib mumbled, looking down at his Pokémon. With a small sigh, he pushed up from the bed and grabbed a shirt from his pack. He tugged it on and then glanced outside his window. You could see the rubble from his room. Sahib shook his head and then once more looked at his Pokémon. "Well, I suppose we better go now, huh?" he questioned to them. They nodded excitedly. Sahib had to admit that he loved having them—it never felt like he was alone.

Before they could leave, however, Sahib's phone began to ring. He blinked and picked it up, seeing Professor Elm's name flash across the screen. Debating on whether or not to answer it, he finally did.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Sahib," Professor Elm began. "If you don't mind, could you meet me and your fellow trainers? It's in the Pokémon Center's conference room. If you don't know where it is, just ask Nurse Joy." Elm questioned, and then waited for a response.

"Sure," Sahib said immediately, forgetting about breakfast. He snapped the phone shut without waiting for a reply and then looked at his Pokémon. "Change of plans, guys," Sahib said. "I have to go meet my…fellow trainers." His Pokémon looked at him curiously. "So breakfast will have to wait until later. C'mon, back inside you go," Sahib said, grabbing their Pokeballs. He recalled them and then looked around the room. Deciding that it would be best, Sahib grabbed his pack just incase something were to happen.

When he arrived at the meeting spot Elm had informed him of, Sahib took a seat next to a girl that he faintly remembered standing at his side yesterday. Thinking nothing of it, Sahib set his chin in the palm of his hand and waited. The desk actually made a rather nice elbow rest. As he was sitting, Sahib began to brood on his journey. He hoped this wasn't the end of it, but then again…

"Well, I honestly can't say much about the previous and recent happenings," Professor Elm began, "but I have spoken with the council…they feel the incident may have just been a scare. This, in short, means that they are reopening the gyms." He looked around over at each of them.

"I'm glad to see all of you are okay, it is truly remarkable. They were able to take down Falkner, but none of you." Elm paused and then his lips twitched into a slight smile, though he looked haggard. A second later said smile was gone. "Anyway, I brought you all together for one important reason…I have received another letter from my close friend and colleague whom I thought had been captured on Mt. Silver." Elm paused once more for a moment to take a breath.

"He is keeping a close eye on Johto now. If anything should happen again then we will be initiating a new plan one, that I believe and, he believes will help Johto and…the world. As for what to do now I say you put all of this behind you and continue your journey. I mean, you're no good to anyone just sitting around instead of getting stronger, right? I have the utmost faith in all of you," Elm stated.

He stood as he spoke, but behind what he said Sahib could tell he felt upset to send you back out there. A slightly suspicious feeling broke over him as he narrowed his eyes at Elm, feeling as though he knew more than he was letting onto. Sahib shook his head, deciding that no matter what secrets or lies he was telling he would push on. With those final words, Elm left, leaving each of them to their own thoughts and feelings.

Sahib stood up, deciding what to do next immediately. He went to the Pokémon Center and got his Pokémon healed just incase. After that, he handed Nurse Joy the room key and made sure he had everything. I'm going on to Route 32, Sahib thought immediately. Once he was sure everything was packed, his Pokémon were ready, and his own mind was ready, then Sahib set off.

He only walked a short ways, coming to a stop in front of the large memorial that was built for Falkner. Sahib stared at the giant statue as well as the flowers and little things around it. Sahib pressed his hand against the cold statue, simply staring at it for a moment. As cold as their hearts, Sahib mused as he took a step back and looked up briefly. Without a word spoken, Sahib slowly turned away from the tower, stuffing his hands in his pockets and silently walking away.

After a fair bit of walking along Route 32, Sahib stretched and looked around. He glanced over his shoulder feeling like someone was following him. With a small shrug, Sahib came to rest under a rather large shade tree. He leaned against the base of the tree and summoned his Pokémon, watching silently as they appeared beautifully out of their Pokeballs.

"Lava!" Quilava cried happily. It rolled over on the grass, taking in the fresh scent of the woodland area. Sahib smiled. Sentret was doing the same, obviously enjoying the surroundings itself.

"So guys, wanna do some training or just relax?" Sahib asked, peering over at his Pokémon from his spot resting against the large tree. Quilava easily answered his question. He trotted up to Sahib and lay down against him, resting his blue head on top of Sahib's leg. Sentret was having fun playing around with the branches on the trees, quite like a monkey. "Sheesh," Sahib commented softly, "you'd think I have an Aipom instead of a Sentret!"

During their little period of relaxation, Sahib couldn't help but feel like they were being watched. He scratched the side of his neck uneasily. Only when Quilava looked up abruptly was when Sahib stood. He glanced around, hands balling into fists just incase someone was looking for a fight. The bushes next to the tree rustled, and then suddenly a familiar face poked out. It was James. The same black haired, brown eyed kid from earlier. Sahib blinked.

"Finally!" James cried, flopping down on the ground with a huff. "Do you know how hard you are to find? I mean seriously, you're like…a friggin' giant, yet you disappear so fast!" James exclaimed, attempting to emphasize his story from the ground.

Sahib crouched down and looked at him. James shot him a wide, toothy grin. "You know," Sahib replied, "maybe I didn't want to be found. Why are you here anyway?" For some reason Sahib's voice had suddenly grown colder. He still wasn't that great around people yet. Pokémon were more his forte.

"'Cuz you're gonna be my teacher, duh!" James proclaimed as if it were obvious. "Then someday I'm gonna kick your butt!"

"Uh…huh," Sahib said slowly. His eyebrow arched. "And why, exactly, would I "teach" you?"

"Uh…" James trailed off, rather unsure of what to say. "Fine! I'll just be your rival!" James stated. "And guess what? I've already got a challenge thought up!"

"Really?" Sahib asked.

"Yup! See, I got a new Pokémon with me. It's my very own Squirtle!" James said proudly. "My parents gave it to me when I told them I wanted to go on my own journey around Johto! So with Squirtle, Caterpie, and Pidgeotto I'm going to conquer Johto! Well, and you, of course."

"You're an eccentric little thing, aren't you?" Sahib retorted. "Look, how old are you? Ten?" James nodded. "You shouldn't get involved," Sahib said. James rolled his eyes. Sahib stared at him silently. "Fine," Sahib said. "But I'm not taking you with me."

"Oh yeah? What if I challenge you?!" James shouted. "Let's see…" he trailed off, looking about. Finally, he spotted something. "There!" he stated, pointing. Sahib looked over his shoulder, seeing a herd of Mareep. "If I can catch that Mareep before you do, then I can come with you! If I can't, then you can decide whether I can go or stay!"

Sahib looked from James to the herd of Mareep blandly. Huh…he mused. "Fine, I accept. I'll use Sentret. What're you gonna use?"

"My Squirtle!"

"You know," Sahib began, "you have no brains."

"Huh?"

"Squirtle is going to be weak to that flock of Mareep there," Sahib said.

"So? That doesn't matter! We've got spunk. Duh!" James said. Sahib's eye twitched, but he didn't reply.

"Wait a minute," Sahib said. He looked back at the Mareep and pointed at the obvious leader of the flock. "Don't go after that one. We don't want their whole group to be cast into chaos if we take away their leader. I don't care what anyone says. No order can cause death among the entire flock," Sahib said. "At least, that's what I think. You have a problem with that?"

"No, sir!" James shot back. He pushed up off the ground, wiped his nose, and grabbed his Pokeball. "So how exactly are we gonna do this?"

"It's your challenge," Sahib pointed out.

"Oh…right…well…I mean…" James sputtered. He looked at the flock. "Alright. We'll start from over there," he began, pointing to a tree a ways away, "and run to 'em! You know, battling our way there! Then you have to obviously battle the Mareep and catch one before the other person!"

"Alright," Sahib replied easily. "Ready to go, Sentret?" he questioned, glancing up at the tree. Sentret hopped down and landed on Sahib's shoulder.

"One..." James began to count once they had reached the tree. "Two…three…GO!" he cried, sprinting ahead and tossing Squirtle's Pokeball.

"Sentret, quick attack," Sahib commanded, walking forward slowly. "Follow that up with a defense curl, and then even it out with fury swipes." He grabbed his Pokedex quickly and took information both on James' Squirtle and the wild Mareep. They were looking over at the battle without much interest.

Sentret flew at the unsuspecting Squirtle as James attempted to have Squirtle dodge it. The order came too late, allowing Sentret to smash into Squirtle. The Pokémon rolled backwards, but soon stopped and bounced back. Sentret leapt up and rolled into a ball as Squirtle unleashed a stream of water that Sahib recognized as a water gun. He was suddenly glad he didn't choose Quilava for this challenge. Sentret almost looked as if it were taking a bath. When the attack was over, Sentret shook himself and then sprang towards Squirtle. The claws struck quickly, scratching Squirtle.

"Sentret, move towards the Mareep more! Once you're close, forget Squirtle and use fury swipes on a Mareep." Sahib watched as he carefully inched towards the flock slowly. They were now paying close attention to him, horns slowly beginning to zap with the electricity.

Sentret attacked Squirtle slowly, but also began to sprint towards the Mareep. James ordered Squirtle rather nicely, blocking Sentret's attempts to get there once or twice. Suddenly Squirtle broke away on command, launching a water gun directly for one of the Mareep. Sentret hopped over Squirtle (smacking it on the back of the head with his tail as he went over) and slammed into that very same Mareep.

"Hey!" James shouted, "that's my Mareep!"

"It wouldn't be a challenge if it was," Sahib retorted. "Now Sentret, get that Mareep with another quick attack. Follow with fury swipes, but be careful it doesn't shock you," Sahib called over the rush of water Squirtle suddenly let flying towards Mareep.

Now, the Mareep didn't care about one Pokémon attacking it. No, in fact it wasn't so bad. It could've handled the Squirtle easily and maybe even Sentret. Sahib knew that as he watched the Mareep, it was chagrining. He was waiting for the moment it would unleash the charge, because he knew exactly where the charge would hit. He had it all planned out, so when Mareep unleashed the thundershock it didn't surprise him in the slightest.

"Dodge," Sahib stated. Sentret paused in front of Squirtle briefly, and then dodged the attack, causing Squirtle to take the full brunt of the attack. "Now quick attack and fury swipes to finish it off," Sahib said. He looked over and saw that James was glaring at the Mareep with his fists clenched.

"Oh yeah?!" James asked. "Well I'll show you…" he grumbled. He returned Squirtle and grabbed a Pokeball.

Sahib looked at Sentret and saw that it had just finished the fury swipes. He hurriedly grabbed his own Pokeball and tossed it at the same time as James. Sentret leaped suddenly, knocking James' Pokeball away as Sahib's hit Mareep right on the mark. It engulfed the Pokémon, and the Pokeball slowly began to shake.

To be honest, Liliana had quite some troubles getting out of her bed. Fact number one: It was a very comfortable bed. Fact number two: Her muscled ached… A lot… Fact number three: She didn't have a lot of motive to come out of bed either. Fact number four: She needed to get out of bed, she had promised herself she would.

Liliana had only been coming out of her room to help the people of Violet City to clean out the rubble that was once Spout Tower. She had helped them carry big builders, more so than she probably should have carried. No wonder of her sore limbs. She had also come out of her room occasionally for food and a drink. Both for her and her two companions. The rest of the time she had spent in her room, mostly sleeping or pretending to do so. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but the happenings had definitely gotten to her a lot. Falkner… He seemed so nice. Old and wise too.

She had more nightmares. Not like the one she had a few days back, nothing like that. But she couldn't count on her fingers how many times she had relived that unfaithful night. Wondered what would have happened if she hadn't. What if she had decided to move on instead of spend the night there. What if Falkner hadn't told her she looked like a wreck and ought to get some sleep? What would have happened then? Would she have seen the flash and rush to see what had been going on? Or would she have walked on thinking it was a power outage or whatever?

She simply didn't have the heart to answer these questions, so she tried not to think about it. And to be honest, she also felt guilty about contemplating the power thing. Her Pokémon were constantly trying to get her out of bed. Trying to get her to move again, to go out and do something. But she wouldn't. Not until she got the call from Elm. He had told her he needed to speak with her and the others the next day. And she had promised herself she would go. She would hear what he had to say.

And so here she was, getting out of bed. Her limbs didn't hurt quite as much as they had before. She untangle the braid she had been wearing for the last couple of days, and brushed her hair painfully. She didn't put it up or in a braid as she usually did, and just let it wave down her back. She put on a pair of dark knee length shorts and a white blouse and comfy sneakers and went out into the Center.

She was early with entering the conference room, but she didn't say anything nevertheless. She just sat and waited for the others to arrive. She didn't really look at any of the others, her attention was solely for Professor Elm, who was also waiting for the last ones with a worried expression on his face. Finally he started talking.

"Well, I honestly can't say much about the previous happenings…. But I have spoken to the council and they feel that the incident was just a scare and they are reopening the gyms," He said, although he didn't sound like was entirely agreeing with their decisions. Lili wanted to jump up and object. Just a scare?! Someone got killed! The gym leader got killed, and they openly announced that the same was going to happen to the other leaders! But she didn't say what she wanted to, instead she silently kept listening.

"I am glad to see all of you are okay, it is truly remarkable, they were able to take down Falkner but none of you, anyways I brought you all together for one important reason… I have received another letter from my close friend and colleague who I thought had been captured on Mt. Silver" He seemed proud of them for a little bit, before continuing on.

"He is keeping a close eye on Johto now.. and if anything should happen again then we will be initiating a new plan, one that I believe, and he believes will help Johto and.. the world.. as for what to do now I say you put all of this behind you and continue your journey I mean you're no good to anyone just sitting around instead of getting stronger right? I have the utmost faith in you" Professor Elm tried to sound like he believed in his own words, but it wasn't quite convincing. It was obvious that he didn't feel comfortable having them around the country during these happenings. She also felt like there was more, like he was about to tell them more, then caught himself.


Continue her journey. It sounded crazy, almost suicidal to a certain point. But he did have a point, there was nothing they were really doing here. There was nothing she was doing here, just staying in her room. She swallowed and started packing after leaving Nala and Djali with the nurse for a little bit. Last moment check-up. Somehow she managed to get her thoughts straight again and out of the strange haze. She managed to temporarily push the happenings away from her mind and start her journey again in a bright light. The human mind is really a wonderful thing.

---

Just before she left for the plains otherwise called Route 32, she decided to visit the new statue that was dedicated to Falkner. It had partially been built with collected rubble from the Sprout Tower. Liliana let her hand rest on the cold stone, she couldn't help but touch it. After that she turned around to forget about everything and be a normal trainer again. She was going to catch a Pokémon to strengthen her team and then try to reach the next town as soon as possible.

The route was bright and sunny, almost too bright. Liliana found herself wishing for some sunglasses. The route was dotted with Pokémon and trainers, and she made a mental note to battle one later on. She saw a flock of Mareep grazing behind the shade of the trees. A couple of sunkern were hiding in the bushes and some Lotad were resting in a puddle. There was also a pier for fishers. It was quite a rocky area, lots of great hiding places for creatures and lots of shade everywhere around.

She had been walking quite a bit, hiding in the shade for most of the time. She had Djali out of her Poké ball and she was busily jumping around. She finally let her guard down just a little bit to let that curious nature pour out. She almost jumped on a Lotad, which spurted her angrily with a water gun. She almost electrified it with a charge but Lili interfered quickly. Djali was also antagonizing a Sunkern along the road, jumping them playfully. The Pokémon also did not appreciate this, but it just went on sunbathing.

Lili would have reigned in Djali a little, if it weren't for the fact that she was finally showing her real self, and not just the nervous little thing she portrayed herself as normally. But one thing Liliana had to admit, Djali was a good fighter and very good at following commands. Unlike Nala who lets herself be persuaded by anger sometimes and acts on her own.

After walking through about half of the road, Djali and Liliana sat down at the first bit of stream she could see. She filled a water bottle with water and Djali drunk some too. She gave him a few bits of Pokémon food and ate a sandwich herself. During their little lunch a tiny creature came to say hello. Liliana herself had never seen quite such a small Buneary before. The creature was about as long as the distance from her wrist to her elbow, which was not long. It had both of its ears coiled up and it crept closer innocently.

"Why, hello there, uhm, want some food?" Liliana assumed that was what the Buneary was after, and she assumed right. The thing gulped up a little bit of food, before reaching for the rest of the bag.

"No, you've had enough, I can't give you all," Lili told it sternly, but the Buneary didn't seem to like that answer. She jumped up as if to pound on Liliana with her foot, but Djali quickly tackled it away from her. But the Buneary quickly uncoiled one of her ears and hit Djali right in the jaw.

"Okay, this isn't even funny. Djali, let's go, use tackle!" Djali hit it again, but the Buneary just puffed up in anger and tried to recoil the other ear, but Djali quickly jumped away. If eyes could shoot sparks, well, than hers would. But still she stayed calm and waited for Lili to tell her what to do.

"Djali, I want you to charge yourself and tackle again, you know what to do," and Djali did know what to do. She summoned all the electricity in her body at the moment to surface. In the end sparks flew everywhere around her, that move was even more powerful than it had been the first time, and she seemed to glow. After that she ran toward the Buneary and tackle it, well tried anyway, but the buneary simple side-stepped it and used another ear-pound on Djali.

But the side affect to Buneary's smart move was that Djali's entire body was static, and so it got quite a shock from it too. The thick hair on its body puffed out statically, and the Buneary was now trying to get it to look normal again. Typical for that type of Pokémon, they didn't like to looks strange at all. Djali made use of this moment to tackle it and the Buneary cradhed against a rock.

This time it was the Buneary's time to shoot fire out of its eyes. It performed a rapid Quick Attack at Djali, who wasn't ready for it and so fell into the river. An understatement would be to say that she really wasn't happy with the way things were going. Djali didn't like water a whole lot.

"Come on, Djali, you can do better than this! Get out of the water and use charge!" The wet fur all over Djali's body started to spark angrily, multiplying the effect of the charge. This was something Liliana mentally wrote down in a note book. Water + Charge =Supercharge. But the Buneary wasn't going to get a shock the second time around and refrained from attacking Djali. Djali however, was very eager to hit the annoying little thing.

She ran toward the Buneary, but it dodged quickly. Djali followed however, and tried to tackle again, but once again Buneary dodged. This could go on for a long while, it was basically to see who tired first. Liliana knew that Djali was very stubborn and could go on for hours, but that Buneary seemed to have her own share of stubbornness too. In the end buneary decided another tactic and used Endurance. Djali slammed into her and electrified her. The endurance ended up failing, Buneary just couldn;'t handle so much electricity going through her body. Djali was now as dry as he could be and nudging the fainted Buneary. He sent out a howl of victory before running toward her trainer.


LIliana got out a Poké Ball and pushed the little button to make it bigger. But before she could throw it a concerned voice rose up from behind her.


"There you are Buneary! Oh... who did this to you?!"


"Is that your buneary?" Liliana asked stupidly."


"No, I'm just randomly talking to the first Pokémon I meet. What did you do to her?!" The trainer had bright blonde hair, and hourglass figure and clothing that showed a lot of skin. She definitely wouldn't be what Lili expected the trainer of the stubborn Buneary to look like. She didn't look at all like a trainer.


"Your Pokémon attacked Djali here, so she's got to thank herself for this. She tried to steal my food and when I wouldn't give it to her she tried to pound me. If I were you I'd give her some discipline training. Trust me, she needs it."


"Right of course she needs it. Because some newby trainer couldn't recognize a Pokémon that already has a trainer. Why would I believe you? And dear, put away the Ball, it's useless," the trainer turned around after calling Buneary back into her ball and marched away angrily. Liliana was left staring in anger at the girl until she was gone. Then she grudgingly gave Djali some more food.

Finally it came to a stop. Sahib's lips twitched as he walked over and picked the Pokeball up. James was staring at it open mouthed. Then he sighed and hung his head, looking down at his feet. Sentret hopped up onto Sahib's shoulder and looked at him curiously. Sahib glanced at Sentret and then walked over to James. He kicked the dirt and then sighed.

"Guess I should go back to Violet City now," James mumbled. "Sorry for bothering you."

Sahib blinked, unsure of what to do or say. He really shouldn't go with me, Sahib thought, staring at the captured Mareep. But…Sahib sighed heavily and rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Fine." James looked up hopefully. "You can come with me," Sahib began. "Just one condition. Don't get in my way too much. And I'm not going to teach you. But I guess having a companion wouldn't…kill me, exactly," Sahib admitted in a grudging way. James' face lit up brightly.

"I won't disappoint you boss!"

"Sahib."

"Huh?"

"It's called a name," Sahib called over his shoulder as he brushed past James. "So what are you planning to do now?" Sahib questioned. He sat down on the ground at the base of the tree once more. Quilava hopped over to him and inspected the new Pokeball curiously.

"Well…I'm going to head to Violet City," James began. "Then I'm going to get some more Pokeballs and heal my Pokémon. Then I'll meet up with you sometime again! And once we do, I'll be stronger and we'll battle again!" James stated confidently. Sahib eyed him silently before slowly nodding. James smirked, picked up his pack, and then ran off into the distance, heading back towards the looming town of Violet City.

"Well, things are sure always interesting with him around," Sahib mused to Quilava. Quilava nodded and then looked at the Pokeball again. "Oh, right," Sahib said. He pressed the circular button in the middle. Suddenly a Mareep materialized from the ball in a flash of white light. It looked around curiously before resting its gaze on its new trainer.

"Lava?" Quilava questioned, cocking his head to the side.

"Yup, a new edition to the team. What's say we keep going on the Route and see if we can't find anyone to battle?" Sahib asked, more to Mareep than to Quilava. Mareep nodded slowly, looking rather shy. Sahib smiled softly and walked up to it. Mareep stared up at him, backing away slightly. Kneeling down, Sahib held out his hand. "We're friends now. I'm not going to hurt you. Neither will Quilava or Sentret," Sahib said. Quilava and Sentret chirped in agreement. Mareep set its nose in Sahib's hand, looking slightly happier.

After that was over, Sahib stood. He recalled Mareep and Quilava, but allowed Sentret to stay perched upon his shoulder. He slung his backpack on his opposite shoulder and glanced around. Once he was sure he hadn't forgotten anything, Sahib began the trek towards the next city. He occasionally spoke to Sentret, earning a soft "Sen!" or "Tret!" in reply.

Soon they came to a nice sized river. Sahib stared at it as he mused. It would be nice if I could somehow teach Quilava to be water resistant, Sahib thought, but I dunno if that would even be possible. Besides, I'm not going to break his trust now. Sahib instead decided to fill his water bottle after making sure the river was safe to drink from. Once this was done, he stood and began to walk once more. Sentret eventually fell asleep on his head, but Sahib didn't mind too much.

"Hey!"

Sahib whipped his head over and saw a rather angry girl stomping towards him. He blinked, unsure of what exactly she wanted. She marched right up to him and poked him square in the chest. Sahib blinked once more and simply stared down at her, eyebrow arched. Sentret looked at the girl in confusion as well.

"You stole my Mareep!"

"Huh?" Sahib questioned. "No I didn't. It was wild. You can't steal a wild Pokémon."

"So?" she shot back. "That was the one I was going to catch!"

"You just seem like you're looking for a fight," Sahib replied.

"Oh yeah? So what if I am, tiny balls?"

Sahib simply stared at her with a blank look in his face. It was one good thing that he got from his father; he didn't get completely pissed and freak out if someone said he had little or no balls. Instead, he blinked at her and opened his mouth. He shook his head and shut it. "At least I'm allowed to be flat chested," he spat back.

The Mareep Girl's face went beat red. "Shut up!" she shouted, grabbing two Pokeballs. "I challenge you to a double battle! Let's go…now!" she hissed, glaring at him angrily.

"Look little girl, I don't have time," Sahib stated. "Plus, I'm not going to have a double battle even if you wanted one without acting like a psychotic maniac."

Her eyes narrowed at him. She opened her mouth, but there was a rustle from the bushes. Sahib looked over his shoulder and saw that same girl from earlier walk up again. She blinked at him as realization spread across her features. She pointed to Sahib and stated, "You're the one from that night! Right?"

"Yeah," Sahib stated.

She walked up to him and then looked at the Mareep Girl. "So what's up with this?" she questioned.

"Dumbass over there thinks I took her wild Mareep," Sahib said, rolling his eyes. "Right…I'm Sahib, by the way," Sahib said. She replied with her name; Liliana.

"But if it's wild," Liliana began slowly, "then why is it hers?" Sahib opened his mouth, but she pressed on. "Did she pee on it or something, marking her territory? Wrote her name on its head?" Liliana questioned very sarcastically. She was eyeing the Mareep Girl like she didn't like her terribly much. The Mareep Girl stuck her tongue out at her. Liliana looked at her like she had sprouted five heads.

"I sure as hell hope not," Sahib said. "In any case, she wants a battle. Quite frankly, I'm not going to give her a double battle. The only issue is that I doubt she'd let me pass otherwise."

"Uh…we could sort of…team up, I guess?" Liliana offered.

"Yeah! Do that, you ball-less freak!" the Mareep Girl shouted.

"I'll bet he has more balls than you have boobs!" Liliana shouted across the field.

Sahib blinked. He wasn't sure whether to be flattered or not. Some random strangers are arguing about my balls, he thought slowly. Now…wouldn't most guys like that? He mused to himself. Sahib shrugged, finally deciding that he was just going to act like an immature guy and enjoy it.

That's when the Mareep Girl tossed her Pokeballs up in the air. In two flashes of light, two Pokémon were suddenly before them. One was a monkey like one, and the other was like a little…squirrel. Sahib recognized them as a Pachirisu and an Aipom. He glanced at Sentret who was still on his shoulder. With a sigh, he nodded towards the battlefield. Sentret leaped off his shoulder, taking a stance opposite of the Aipom. Liliana brought out her Pokémon next; a Shinx. Sahib faintly remembered it being called Djali from their battle. He had heard her say the Pokémon's name.

"Sentret, attack Pachirisu with fury swipes," Sahib commanded, opening the battle. He glanced at Liliana out of the corner of his eye. "You can take care of the Aipom." She nodded slightly.

"Djali, we're taking on the Aipom. Let's start with a bite attack," Liliana called out to Djali. Djali quickly went to work, charging at the Aipom. Sentret sped towards Pachirisu and scratched at it, causing the Pachirisu to get more annoyed rather than hurt. Djali's attack hit properly as her jaws snapped shut around Aipom's large tail.

"That's just little kid stuff!" the Mareep Girl shouted. She smirked. "Alright Aipom, shake off that little kitty with a scratch! Pachirisu, you get rid of Sentret with a spark!" she called.

Aipom did just that. It scratched Djali so that Djali was forced to get go unless she wanted to get injured further. Pachirisu, on the other hand, began to charge up energy. Sahib called for Sentret to break away, but before it could it got a slight jolt of electricity. Sentret cried out and flung himself away from Pachirisu, glaring at the offending Pokémon angrily. The Mareep Girl giggled. Sahib's eyes narrowed, what the heck is she laughing at? It seemed that was along the same lines as what was on Liliana's mind as they observed the girl.

"You two have no idea how to work as a team, do you?" she giggled. "Show them real teamwork! Aipom, use tickle on that Shinx! Pachirisu, follow up with a quick attack on Shinx as well! Once that thing is out of the way, we'll go for Sentret.

Sahib glanced around, wondering what he could do next. The best he could do was knock Pachirisu away, which is what he planned to have Sentret do. So as Aipom charged at Djali, Sahib waited patiently for Pachirisu to make its move so he could have Sentret attack. What Sahib didn't realize, however, is that he probably should have let Liliana in on this plan.

A few things happened in a very short amount of time. First, Aipom charged at Djali. Liliana ordered a charge to keep Aipom away, and Sahib thought nothing of it. So when he ordered Sentret to use a quick attack, he didn't quite realize what would come next. As Sentret charged at Pachirisu from one direction, Djali charged from the other. Then Pachirisu leapt up, effectively leading to Sentret and Djali smashing into each other, resulting in a rather nice mess. Epic fail, Sahib thought, eye twitching.

"What did you go and do that for?" Liliana shot back at him. "I had it all under control, you shouldn't have interfered!"

"It's called a double battle," Sahib snapped back. "So pardon me for attempting to help you!" He then turned his head back towards the field. "I'm growing tired of this—Sentret, finish that Pachirisu off with a quick attack."

Just before Sentret's attack could hit, however, Aipom knocked Sentret away with its large tail. Sahib growled under his breath. He looked over at Liliana pointedly. She met his stare.

"Oh fine! How about we attempt to work together this time?" she snapped to him. The Mareep Girl seemed to find this amusing, because she was almost giggling her eyes out. "Djali, use bite on that Aipom to hold it still!"

Djali did just what it was told. It bit down on Aipom, not allowing the Pokémon to move except for a wiggle here and there. Sahib saw his chance, so he quickly had Sentret use a repeated quick attack. Sentret smacked against Aipom so hard it went flying out of Djali's jaws and skidded to a halt on the ground, completely out of it. The Mareep Girl's mouth dropped. Sahib smirked. Liliana looked on confidently at the battle. Pachirisu began to charge up, looking rather angry.

From that point on, they finally began to work more as a team. Though they weren't perfect (and Sentret and Djali almost crashed into each other one more time), the battle went much smoother, but the Pachirisu was still fairly strong. In the end, it just wasn't strong enough. Soon both Djali and Sentret managed to take it down. The Mareep Girl began to cry as she stalked away through the forest.

"Bet she's not giggling those eyes out now," Liliana declared. She smirked a bit and recalled Djali, proud of his work.

Sahib's eyes flitted over to her. "Yeah, I suppose she isn't." Sentret trotted back up to him and hopped up onto his shoulder. "Well…I suppose I'd best be…er…going," Sahib finished rather lamely, unsure of how to go about this.

"Well, Sahib, we'll most likely see each other again so I guess I'll see you then," Liliana stated.

Sahib blinked. He was suddenly thankful she wasn't one of those weepy and clingy girls. "Yeah," Sahib muttered. He turned and walked away from her then, just following the trail.

A few days had passed since the death of Violet's Gym Leader, Falkner and the town was busy trying to rebuild itself. The people, after holding services for their beloved leader, started with the most destroyed place, Sprout Tower.

Kenneth stayed in town along with the other trainers to help in the rebuilding. Lily helped out, using her DoubleSlap to loosen large boulders for others to move. Miles offered his help with tackles to loosen rocks and amazingly the young pokemon was able to push boulders over to the trucks.

If the two weren't helping move rocks then they were searching for any surviving pokemon from the tower. Over the first two days they were able to find a few Rattata, who were immediately taken to the Pokemon Center for treatment. The Gastly seemed to be okay and eventually migrated to Dark Cave for the time being.

Kenneth stayed at the tower, working with others as they loaded the boulders up onto trucks. It was hard work since there was a lot of rubble, but the Kenneth didn't mind. He just stood there, quiet, and worked until it was time for everyone to head home for the day.

Back at the center Lily and Miles would collapse as soon as they got into the room. They slept hard, not waking no matter how loud Kenneth was when he was taking a shower or changing clothes. He found it to be a mood lightener.

At night the boy laid in his bed, both pokemon snug into his sides. His mind always wondered back to Falkner's death and the cloaked trainers. Every time he cringed as he remembered how he reacted to Falkner's death. In that moment something had snapped within him. Under the stress of constant battle added with the lack of a decent night of sleep and the death of a Gym Leader, someone that Kenneth held with the utmost respect, he just imploded.

Though that didn't justify his cruel actions and once he had regained himself he apologized constantly to Lily and Miles. That is until he was pounce by Miles who bit him hard on the arm while Lily whacked away at his head with her tail. He got the feeling that they were telling him that they had already forgiven him. But it would be a while before he forgave himself.

Kenneth also thought about the other trainers. He wanted to talk to them, but they seemed distant. In fact, he didn't see any of the talk to each other despite the fact that they had all faced the cloaked trainers again, here in Violet where they were all gathered together again for the first time.

He sighed and turned onto his side, pulling his covers over his head. The gyms had been closed so there was no point in continuing his adventure. He decided that he would head home then, with Lily and Miles in tow. It sounded nice, just to go home where he felt safest. Back to the Breeding center where he spent his days caring for eggs until they hatched and to his home where his father would tell him and his siblings of the days when their father was a trainer and how he met mom.

Then he remembered that Prof. Elm was coming to talk to him and the others trainers in the morning so he couldn't leave. He wandered what the Prof would say. He also wondered if he would take back the pokemon since they couldn't complete their journey. He hoped not. In the short time that they've been together be had become rather attached to Lily and Miles. They were like family to him.

The next morning Kenneth was woken up by a knock at the door. He squinted his eyes as the room was bright and lazily rose from the bed when a second knock was heard.

"Who is it?" He mumbled as he rubbed his eye and opened the door. He stared at the form of Prof. Elm on the other side. He looked tired and Kenneth knew that the trip was hard on him. He opened his mouth to invite the Prof. in, but instead he was yanked from his room and dragged down the hallway to a conference room.

Inside he saw all the other trainers sitting around a round table and looks of confusion and wonder on their faces. Kenneth quietly took a seat. He took a deep breath. Was this finally going to be it? Was the adventure he only started a few days ago, was it finally over? He lowered his head. 'What about all my friends? They got to go around Johto and challenge all the leaders! And what about surpassing my dad? If it all stops here, I won't see my friends again, I'll never be able to surpass my father and then I'll never be able to show that I'm qualified to take over as the Gym Leader of Ecruteak.'

"Well, I honestly can't say much about the previous happenings… But I have spoken with the council and they feel that the incident may have just been a scare and they are reopening the gyms."

Kenneth blinked as he looked up at the Prof. Was he serious; the gyms were being reopened even after a Leader had just been killed? He didn't know whether to be happy that his journey would continue or sad because the other gym leaders' lives could be in danger.

"I am glad to see all of you are okay, it is truly remarkable, they were able to take down Falkner but none of you, anyways I brought you all together for one important reason… I have received another letter from my close friend and colleague who I thought had been captured on Mt. Silver."

Kenneth felt a little pride inside, as if he knew that Falkner was proud of them for taking down the cloak trainers and protecting the town from further destruction. It lifted his spirits a bit when he thought of things that way.

"He is keeping a close eye on Johto now…and if anything should happen again then we will be initiating a new plan, one that I believe, and he believes will help Johto and…could possibly save the world. Though, as for what to do now I say you put all of this behind you and continue your journey. I mean you're no good to anyone just sitting around instead of getting stronger right? I have the utmost faith in you."

'So, we're to help with this plan of theirs? Was this planned from the beginning? No, it can't be. Prof Elm wouldn't use us like that. Dad said that he's a good man, rather clumsy and unorganized, but still a good person with a big heart.'

Kenneth then noticed the sad expression on his face. 'Why do I get the feeling that he knows more than he's letting us know? It seems to be bothering him to let us even continue on with the ways things have been.' He shrugged the thought off. 'It's probably best to wait. He'll tell us when he's ready.' Figuring that was all, he stood to leave.

Kenneth returned back to his room in a hurry. He seemed to be back to his old cheery self as he got ready for the day. He finished by strapping his pokegear onto his left wrist and woke Lily and Miles.

After he checked to make sure the room was straighten up, he returned the keys to Nurse Joy and headed out. The sun was shining brightly for early morning and he took it as a sign of a good day. As he headed out for Route 32 he waved at a couple of kids who he recognized from a few days ago when he was on his way to New Bark Town.

On his way out he stopped by the area where the Sprout Tower once stood. All the rubble was gone and in its place stood a statue of Falkner. Kenneth smiled up at it and held the Zephyr Badge up to it. The small wing-shaped badge shined, reflecting the sunlight.

"Thanks! I'll do my best!" He bowed and turned to leave.

It didn't take long for him to reach Route 32. Instead of going around through the Ruins he took the path just south of Violet. He began to punch buttons on his pokegear, bringing up the map.

"Whew, this is a long Route." He looked down at Miles and Lily. "There's a lake further down this Route," he began to walk.

"We'll rest once we get there."

A few hours passed until they finally reached the lake. It was huge! There was even a pier. Along it there were a few fishermen. They seemed pretty laid back, sitting in chairs while their rods were set in-between cracks on the pier. Sometimes the line would tugged and the fisherman would jump up and reel in their catch, with a short battle following.

A bit down the lake there were a bunch of people diving in a swim zone. They seemed to be having a party of some kind.

"Alright, we've made it!" He turned to look at Lily and Miles with a large grin. "I know it's been a while since we've actually put some training in, but for this one time let's just sit back and relax today, with no worries."

He threw his bag to the ground and took his shoes and socks off. He walked over to the edge of the lake and dipped his feet in, sighing in relief. He sat, making sure that the ground was firm enough so he wouldn't slip and leaned back onto his hands.

"Ahh, this feels really nice. I think I may go for a swim later on." He turned to Miles and Lily and smiled. "Feel free to do what you want. In an hour or two…hmm maybe three as good as the water if feeling, we're going to find us another teammate. So make sure to be back in time by then." He turned back, basking in the sun as he stared at the lake.

ONE BADGE TO RULE THEM ALL!

Cairne had finally relaxed himself as he made his way into the small town known as Violet. When he entered the town the first thing that caught his eye was the gigantic Sprout Tower standing proud over the town shadowing it and bringing it even more majesty. The second thing that caught his eye of course was the gym, today was the day he took his first gym challenge! Cairnes grandfather spoke very highly of the gym leader here, Falkner was his name and he was an expert in bird type Pokemon. Supposedly he was quite the challenge.

Cairne smiled as he approached the glass pane doors of the gym. They slide open and Cairne walked into the cool room. There ahead of him was a middle aged man with graying hair and a confident expression on his face.

"I'm here to challenge you to a battle!" Cairne said with confidence staring at the man. Falkner laughed and pressed a button he held in his palm and a loud clank noise went through the gym.

"Somehow I had guessed as much." He pulled out a Pokemon ball and tossed it on the ground as the ceiling of the gym opened up compleely and the sunlight filtered into the gym. Cairne tossed out Ledybas ball and his Pokedex as well.

Cairne was forced awake by the loud ring of his Pokegear and yawned allowed as he pressed the talk button.

"Are you okay!" Cairne heard the familiar voice of Elm yell into the phone.

"What the hell are you talking about... Elm.. Its like.." Cairne checked his watch, "3 in the morning!" Cairne yawned again.

"Why dont you go outside and see for yourself then mister wise guy!?" Elm yelled and hung up.

Cairne woke his Pokemon up and the three went outside. He wiped his eyes and then his mouth fell agape as his eyes rested on the ruins of Sprout Tower. The structure that was once a sign of endurance and perseverance was now completely left in ruins. Cairne realized that Falkner was standing among the ruins in battle with 4 other trainers in white cloaks. His staravia fell to the ground and He began runnning away as fast as he could. A fifth man come out of no where directly in front of Falkner where he was running and stopped him in his tracks.

"What are you planning!??!?" Falkner yelled as he stumbled unto his back. The man let out a deep and evil laugh.

"It's no concern of yours, all you need to know is that were going to need to clear the world of its strongest trainers, and that includes gym leaders." The cloked mans head tilted downward and Cairne could tell he was grinning down at Falkner.

"Never..." Falkner said before a gigantic Charizard blasted dark flames at him. The cloaked man turned his head and looked at Cairne directly and all he could make out was a grin. All of a sudden he dissapeared and a different cloaked trainer appeared right in front of Cairne. He tossed two balls up in the air and sent out two of his Pokemon.

The ball continued to fumble on the floor, soon it clicked. Damion grinned,

"Haha! No one shocks Damion Sugimori and gets away with it." The boy snickered as he picked up the ball, he peeked inside to see the Mareep angrily thrashing inside. Small sparks starting to seep through the ball, shocking Damion's hands.

"Ow! Calm down Mareep!" The boy shouted, this pokemon was rather mischevious. Taro happily clung onto Damion's right shoudler as he began to walk down the road once more. Hoot and Mareep were nestled in their pokeballs.

"So Taro, I hope you know this, but...we need to get stronger." The boy frowned, Taro nodded his head. Damion continued to walk down the road, his eyes closed as he listened to his music.

Damion began to input information of Mareep into the pokedex. He picked up the pokeball to see the Mareep still thrashing inside.

"What's with this thing?" The boy quizically looked inside the pokeball. Damion got used to the tiny sparks shocking his waist and hand, so it didn't bother him as much any more. The boy finally stopped walking when he reached the southern end of the route, he sighed and recalled Taro.

"Okay, now. We're gonna give this a shot." Damion said, with a press of a button, Mareep was out of its pokeball. The pokemon immediately stuck its nose in the air away from Damion, the boy proceeded to crouch down to get eye level with the pokemon and just squinted his eyes.

"Alright, we're companions now. Alright? Which means we need to work together." Damion spat out. The Pokemon continued to not notice the trainer, the boy sighed.

"Either way, we need to work together. Or else you get hurt, and you don't want that...do you?" The boy raised an eyebrow at the pokemon. The Mareep's eyes opened wide and it sweatdropped,

"Ha! Alright then, we're a team." The boy grinned, "As a team member, you need a name...Sprink! Alright, your name is Sprink!" The boy snapped his fingers.

"Oi! Trainer boy!" A petit girl called out to Damion. He looked up to see a small girl climbing up from the rolling hill that was ahead. She had dirt splashed on her face and on her clothes, she obviously was on a journey.

"Umm. Me?" Damion pointed at himself, the Mareep scoffed at the presence of the girl. Damion chuckled slightly as the girl came up to him, she wore a nice matching green and gold outfit with nice brown hair and blue eyes.

"My name is Camper Lizzy! I'm gonna challenge the Violet Gym, so I need some battles. AND YOU'RE GONNA GIVE THEM TO ME!!!" The girl shouted out.

Damion was taken aback, this girl seemed very...high maintenece.

"Ha. Don't worry about it, I'll be happy to oblige. I'm Damion." Damion snickered, the girl pointed at Damion.

"Good, cause when I win I'm sure you won't be happy anymore!" The girl was very confident, a braggart of a girl.

Lizzy grinned. Damion stared back wordlessly, Lizzy threw her pokeball into the air. It exploded, revealing a spiky, purple-shelled, Shellder. The pokemon's abyss-like head, with its sunken eyes and pink tounge, was very stunning. It lumbered a few steps forward, stopped, and cried melodiously.

"SHELLderrrr…."

"Go, SPRINK!!!!"

What!?!

Scythe ran outside to the pokemon center to find people going crazy and running around screaming.. Then he saw what they were screaming at.. Sprout tower the landmark building of Violet City had been reduced to rubble... But who could have done this he wondered to himself before seeing Falkner and his Staravia facing off against four trainers cloaked in white.. All at the same time he looked beside him to see the trainers from Elm's lab standing there in line, just like the first day...

"What the heck... did they plan this?!" he said under his breath before hearing a faint cry from Falkner.

"Staravia!!" Falkner shouted before falling down to one knee and keeping his head down... Then the four cloaked trainers backed up as another cloaked trainer materilized from the ground, this one was wearing black, but you could not fully see his face as it was covered. Falkner then lifted his head to the man...

"What are you planning" Falkner screams.. He slowly walks up to Falkner…

"I have to help him!" Scythe shouted reaching for Chukapis pokeball but Falkner turned his head as if telling him to get away.

"Oh were planning something big.. and in order for us to succeed in our plans we must rid this region of it's toughest trainers, and that means the gym leaders" The cloak man says as Scythe can barely make out what he said...

"Never" Falkner says with that tone of dissapointment.. knowning he has been defeated.. The cloaked trainer someones a Charizard and the huge orange dragon spews black enourmous flames at the famed gym leader.

"FALKNER!!!" Scythe screams as the whole town watches there leader be destroyed like nothing.. As the cloaked trainers dissapear all that remains of the sprout tower and Falkner are ash and rubble..

Scythe starts to take off towards it but is stopped when a cloaked trainer in white appears in front of him and summons his pokemon Kadabra and Duskull!

"YOU CAN"T GET AWAY WITH THIS!!" Scythe shouts as he sends out Chukapis and Pidgey.

The trainers Kadabra starts waving the spoons back and forth in its hands, as Duskulls eyes start glowing bright red.. Scythe then looks down to find his two pokemon fighting with each other..

"Ahh he's using confusion! Chaukapis snap out of it and jump on the pidgeys back and wait for my command, Pidgey fly in with quick attack! GO GO GO" Scythe shouted as pidgey took off into the air and then darted straight for Duskull.

"Now Chukapis jump off and hit Kadabra with Thundershock!" Scythe shouted as he watched blots of thunder rain down from his flying pikachu right onto the spot of Kadabra but when the smoke cleared Kadabra was gone.. Not to mention Duskull dodged Pidgeys attack by using foresight.

"Ahh whered Kadabra go" Scythe said looking around then to his surprise he teleported right behind chukapis.

"Pidgey sand attack to blind him!" Scythe shouted before Kadabra could get an attack off his was blinded by the sand.

"Now Chukapis Thundershock on both duskull and Kadabra!" Scythe screamed as he was growing tired and angry of this battle.. Chukapis leaped into the air and started shooting bolts of electricity from his body once more this time hitting the two blinded pokemon directly, badly hurting and stunning them.

"Now Pidgey hit them with quick attack!" He shouted as Pidgey fly into the air and then directly through both pokemon knocking them out for the count.

"Great job guys!" Scythe shouted as he returned his team and then looked to the cloaked trainer who seemed to not be phased at all by these loss.

"Haha we accomplished our goal here anyways" he says before vanishing into the ground..

Scythe then looked around as the other trainers from Elms defeated each cloaked trainer... Scythe stood there for a minute looking around stunned at what is going on... and what he got himself into... Another migrain slowly starts to come over him..

Route 32 was a long, winding path. A rough, mountainous road dotted with the ocassional patch of rough grass. Damion now walked down the path, his trusty pokemon resting in their pokeballs.

"Huh?" Damion poked one eye open and peeked at his belt, a pokeball fiercly shaking as tiny electrical bolts whizzed out.

"Geez. What's with you?" Damion picked up the pokeball and looked into it. An angry Sprink staring back, his guess was that she didn't like him.

The boy sighed as he continued to walk down the road, he spotted the docks and grinned. "Finally, we've reached the south end of the route. We should take a rest." Damion suggested, his pokemon were relieved.

They've been traveling for about two hours now, the journey through Route 32 started to take a toll on them. They earnestly sat down at the end of one of the wooden walk ways. Damion sat down and released his three pokemon, who instantly all huddled in a ball and started to rest.

"Haha. I guess that battle took more out of you than I thought." Damion chuckled as the pokemon all nodded in unison.

"No problem. Thanks to my PokeGear's Itemfinder, I've got a couple of Potions. So here you go." Damion quickly brought out three small purple and grey bottles of Potion. He pressed the purple handle to release a sticky substance out of the nozzle, he sprayed each of his pokemon.

Taro quickly rubbed his eyes and grinned, Hoot ruffled his feathers, and Sprink pointed her nose in the air.

'Hopefully we won't have any more trouble along our journey.' Damion thought to himself.

'These guys deserve a nice and peaceful journey.' He looked at his three pokemon who were playing tag. His eyes began to fall as the boy releaxed.

"I really hope..." Damion said as his clothes started to ruffle. His hair swaying hard as the wind started to pick up, the tiny waves that were in the lake next to them started to grow. Until finally the water crashed against the wooden dock and slapped Damion in the face,

"Gah! What's going on?!" Damion quickly arose from his half-slumber and darted his head around. The clouds above him started to gather into dark gray clumps of cotton, the grass blades and water started to shift wildly in the winds.

"Ah. It could be a tornado, Taro! Use Rock Slide on the cliffs there to bring down several boulders. Form them into a small shelter!" Damion struggled to make his voice audible over the harsh winds. He quickly pressed the button on his pokeball which he picked up from his belt, releasing Taro. The Larvitar nodded his head and quickly tore the cliff into small pieces, launching each boulder into the floor. The bolder quickly formed an arch way of some sort, Taro made sure they were placed against the hill-side for support.

"Good work, now come back!" Damion shouted as he quickly threw his pokeball at Taro, Hoot, and Sprink. The pokemon were sucked into the balls as Damion dashed into the shelter, he quickly grabbed the balls as they floated back to his hand.

Inside the shelter, the winds seemed less harsh. As for outside, the tree were being uprooted as the lake was spewing collumns of water onto the land. Damion watched as the sudden storm tore the route apart, but the harsh winds suddenly stopped. The grass blades were still, as was the lake.

Damion quickly made his way out of the shelter and looked around, puzzled.

"What the-" Damion started. From behind he heard several footsteps and the boy quickly released Hoot. In a puff of light smoke, the Hoothoot readied itself.

The man didn't seem to budge one bit, he chuckled even. He wore a large white hooded cloak which covered his entire body and face, a shadow casted over his mysterious face. The man held up his right sleeve, no hand was visible.

"Tsk,Tsk,Tsk...calm down there. Hehe, there's no need for a battle." The man slowly made his way around Damion and sat down promptly, on knee up as he rested his arm on it. A relaxed pose,

"I just wanted to have a little talk.." The man chuckled as Damion's eyes widened. They soon turned back to anger,

"I'm not falling for any of your tricks! You killed Falkner!!" The boy shouted.

"Not neccessarily. I didn't kill Falkner, just my team." The man chuckled as he reached into the front of his coat. Tai braced himself, thinking it was some sort of weapon.

"Calm down there kiddie."

"KIDDIE?!" Damion glared. The man chuckled as he held out a small, pale envelope. The evelope was wrapped neatly in a dark, black bow.

Damion simply stared at the letter and examined it.

"You're a really strong trainer, kiddie. I just saw your battle back there about half an hour ago." The man smiled, "It's too bad though..."

Damion looked up, "W-What do you mean?"

The man chuckled, "You'll see...if you live to see that day..."

With a puff of smoke, a small gray stone appeared. The stone started to violently shake as a purple gas emitted from it. Green orbs began to fly around the smoke as eyes and even a mouth formed.

"Spiritomb."

"Hoot!!"

The already released Hoothoot braced its single leg for battle.


"Hypnosis."

"Peck."

Both trainer's calm demeanor was a sight to see. Spiritomb's eyes glowed a pale blue as it released a large ring that rocketed towards the bird. Hoot simply chuckled and flapped its wings as it launched itself through the ring. The energy floating past the bird,

"What?"

"AHH!"

The man was shocked that the attack didn't effect it. Damion quickly jumped out of the way of the Hypnosis attack, he rolled on the floor and looked up. Hoot had succesfully landed a powerful Peck attack on the pokemon. It's body launched back a few feet.

"Thanks to Insomnia, Hoot can't fall asleep." Damion chuckled.

The man grunted, "There goes my strategy."

"Foresight!"

"Shadow Sneak!!"

Hoot quickly aimed two red beams that shot at Spiritomb. The ghost pokemon swiftly dissapeared into the floor, but its shadow still present. The shadow rocketed at the bird, from the floor popped out the Spiritomb.

Hoot flew into the air as Spiritomb launched into its body.

"Gah. Foresight, again!"

Hoot launched two collumns of red energy that scanned the enemy, Damion grinned.

"Tackle!"

"Faint Attack!"

Hoot launched its body at the ghost pokemon, as Spiritomb began to swiftly float its way towards Hoot as well.

The bird pokemon quickly tilted its body in order to smash into the side of Spiritomb, causing it to flip like a coin due to its circular body.

Damion snapped his fingers, "Hehe. Didn't see that coming, did you? Now, Peck attack!"

Hoot quickly fluttered up to the ghost pokemon's level and dug its beak into the gastreous body of the ghost. Spiritomb shreaked in pain as its body vanished back into the stone, the lone stone fell to the ground with a thud.

The man in a hood launched the pokeball to recall his pokemon,

"Hehehe. Hehehe...HAHAHAHA!!!" The man started to laugh madly,

"What are you laughing about!!!" Damion demanded, but the man's body began to fade away. Until he was completely gone. Damion looked down at the letter and gripped it tight, he quickly recalled Hoot and thought to himself.

'Should I read it?' He thought, with a few moments of thought he unwrapped the bow. As he opened the evelope a piercing pain engulfed the back of his head, he winced at the pain. He dropped the letter and fell to his knees.

He began to pant, his eyes widening. He gripped his head and screamed,

"GAAAAAHHH!" With that final scream, he completely fell to the floor. The letter a few inches away from his hand..


► TO BE CONTINUED