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chapters so far

- chapter 1 : ROUTE 30
- chapter 2 : ROUTE 31
- chapter 3 : VIOLET CITY
- chapter 4 : RUINS OF ALPH
- chapter 5 : ROUTE 32
- chapter 6 : UNION CAVE
- chapter 7 : AZALEA TOWN part 1
- chapter 8 : SLOWPOKE WELL
- chapter 9 : AZALEA TOWN part 2
- chapter 10 : GOLDENROD CITY​

Melody Hughes with Christina Langley

Goldenrod City

Chapter 10-1 | Welcome To The Big City

Current Party:

Melody sighed as she led the way out of Ilex Forest. Christina, Blossom, and Sindy were all close behind as the warmth of the afternoon sun touched down upon her skin. Glancing over her shoulder, the shorter of the two girls huffed as she put a hand on her hip. It felt like they had been walking around inside of Ilex for months and now that Goldenrod City was finally within reach, Melody definitely wanted to pick up the pace and get there by there nightfall.

"How much longer do you think it's gonna take to get there?" Melody asked, pointing ahead to the city's skyline. "We already wasted enough time today with how you insisted we stop those monkeys from taking the Pichu group's berries..."

"I couldn't exactly just leave the Pichus to have their food stolen, could I?" Christina commented, the red-haired girl picking up speed a bit to get up besides Melody. "Besides, this guy was caught in the crossfire."

She reached up to her shoulder, where a Joltik had nestled snugly against the fluff of her vest. Picking him up, she lifted the palm-sized Pokémon up in front of her, the bug blinking its eyes while skittering happily, wriggling its behind, causing Christina to smile lightly. "Look at that. You can't just turn your back on a face like that, could you?"

Melody rolled her eyes. "I thought you were afraid of bugs... And besides, when we had to chase down those monkeys we ended up getting lost for like, an hour. All it ended up being was a waste of time..."

"I'm not afraid of bugs!" Christina huffed, her cheeks reddening slightly, the Quilava sharing a glance with Melody's Bayleef. "I'm not scared of them, I just think they're horribly disgusting and should burn." She shrugged casually before lifting a hand to nuzzle the Joltik with a finger, much to its chittering enjoyment. "I dunno, I guess Eddie's just... too fuzzy to look like an actual bug." She paused, glancing at Melody again. "... Okay, maybe I did get us a -little- lost. But we got out in the end, right?"

"Yeah, but only because of that Ralts we bumped into," Melody replied. The shorter girl glanced down, looking at the Pokéball which had been resting in her hand throughout their conversation. Inside, that very Ralts she had been speaking of was kept inside of it. "At least she was useful in getting us back on the right path. A lot less trouble than some fuzzy-butt spider, too."

Rolling her eyes, the taller girl flashed a grin as she stepped up besides Melody, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Come on, Melody... could you say no to him...?" She reached out with her other hand, holding the little, yellow spider up in front of her, which was performing a tap-dance like little skitter in place.

Melody did not look very amused as she quickly pulled herself away from Christina. "Look, can we just get going, already?!" the girl snapped, her eyes widening right after the rather hateful tone slipped past her lips.

Blinking a little as the shorter girl pulled away, Christina's brow furrowed. She leaned down and placed Eddie on top of Sindy, who seemed to enjoy his new, warm ride. Standing up again, she moved back up besides Melody, sending her a worried glance. "Mel, you've been acting a little... agressively today. What's going on...?"

"It... I'm just... There's someone I'm planning on meeting up with in Goldenrod," Melody quickly replied. "And I don't have long before he's supposed to leave for...wherever he decides to go next. I have to get there before he has the chance to leave."

The redhead gave Melody an odd, curious glance. "It doesn't sound like someone you -want- to see, though." She paused, weighing her words before simply offering the girl a smile, picking up her pace as they moved through the dirt-road leading from the forest to the city. "Come on then, Mel. We'll need to get you rested up before then. Hopefully the center'll have a room left."

Melody seemed hesitant for a moment, before she began to follow behind Christina. She felt a small prod at her side, the girl turning to see Blossom nuzzling up beside her as she walked. She wished Christina was right, and that she had time to rest and gather herself properly before she met him, but the truth of the matter was that she was going to have to find her father and challenge him more or less as soon as she reached the city. Of course, she would stop by the Pokémon Center to heal up her team... but time and rest were luxuries she really could not afford at the moment.

"I... don't really want to meet him," Melody admitted. "It's something I have to do."

"But it's something you have to do, mmh?" She glanced down by her side as Sindy caught up with them, merrily trotting along, Eddie keeping a lookout from on top of Sindy's head. Christina smiled softly before looking back to Melody, as a guy on a bike came rushing past on his way down to the forest.

"It's okay, Mel. If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to. Just... you know." She lifted a hand to pat the girl's arm. "Don't let it bother you too much, okay? If you need to talk you have my number."

"Yeah... Okay, then..." Melody responded, putting a small smile on her lips. Deciding to change the topic to something else for the time being, if only to cut the tension, Melody continued on. "So... What's your plans for when we get there?"

Smiling in return, Christina tucked her hands into her pockets, tilting her head back to look up at the orange-hued sky. "You know, I haven't really thought about it. I've never properly been -in- Goldenrod before... I guess I'll spend some time and see the city. Definitely challenge the gym..." She paused, peering sideways again. "What about you? Aside from the obvious."

"I dunno... I haven't really put that much thought into what I'm gonna do next," Melody replied. "I mean... I guess I could try the gym..."

Blossom bounded up in front of the girls and smiled proudly. "I haven't gotten to fight in a gym yet, Melody! When is it gonna be my turn? I know I can handle it super easy!"

Eddit chittered excitedly from the top of Sindy's head. The Quilava glanced over at Blossom and then up at Melody. "Being in a gym battle's a really serious thing. But I'm sure Blossom's ready for it."

Christina nodded her head with a cheerful grin. "It's one option, at least! Although I've heard some pretty scary stories about the leader's Milktank..." she added, biting her lower lip before shrugging. "Should be -alot- to do in the capital of our region, in any case." She sent the shorter girl a mischievous little grin. "Could even try and sneak into the Game Corner~"

Melody pouted, glancing up at her taller friend. It was that height that made her realize one thing. "I think... it might be easier for some than others..."

"Pffft." Christina snorted, waving a hand dismissively. "You just need to make yourself look older! Like... you know." She motioned at her chest. "Little bit of padding, and I'm sure no one would notice a thing!"

Sindy looked up at Christina with a disapproving huff. "Should you really be encouraging her to break the law...?" To which Christina smiled and shrugged. "It's just a bit of harmless fun."

Melody stood there quietly the entire time, her face beat red as she watched Christina's antics. "...It... probably wouldn't work anyways," she explained to Sindy. "I... sorta tried it before back when I was still going to school with my sister. She... kinda got lucky in that regard, she kept growing while I just... suddenly stopped for some reason."

"Oh, you've tried it before? I haven't, yet. Had no reason to-" Christina suddenly paused, looking back at Melody with a look of shock. "You have a sister?"

"Y-Yeah... She's my twin. Wait, I never told you?" Melody questioned.

She paused, kneeling to the ground before slipping her backpack off her shoulder. The brown-haired girl began to rummage about inside of it, gradually digging out a framed picture. The image inside the frame showed two girls, both of whom at the very least shared the exact same face. One had her hair pulled up into two, rather long pigtails while the other had shorter, brown hair in a pixie-cut style. She appeared to be a good head taller than Melody with a bit more... developed body. There was also an older woman behind them, her mother.

"That's her. My sister," Melody explained, pointing to the girl beside her. "Her name's Emily. She's back home studying to be a teacher."

Leaning down with her hands on her knees, Christina peered down at the picture, a warm smile spreading on her lips. "That's your sister? Wow... you look -exactly- like each other."

She stood up again, eyes still on the picture, head tilting to the side. "Do you talk to her alot?"

Melody nodded, taking a moment to put the picture away. "Yeah, we're really close. I make sure to call home to talk to her and mom at least once per town..."

"Mmh..." Christina nodded a little, taking the momentary break to lean down and scratch Sindy's neck, making the Quilava murr happily. "... Maybe I should call my mom and dad and see how they are..."

"I'm sure they'd like that a lot," Melody replied. She felt a small twinge of jealousy over Christina's mention of her father, but did her best to push it off as far behind her as she could. "You guys get along good?"

"Oh... yeah, sort of, I guess." Christina shrugged her shoulders a little and stood up again, stretching her arms over her head, twisting her torso a little left and right in order to stay limbered up, avoiding Melody's gaze as well. "You know, we get along. I like them. Just..." She paused, shaking her head. "Anyway, let's get going. It's going to turn dark, soon."

The duo and their Pokémon continued their trek across the route. As evening faded into night, Melody and Christina arrived in Goldenrod City. It felt like stepping into another world compared to the previous towns they had visited. The night sky was lit by various signs and buildings, as opposed to that of the moon and stars. The illuminated glow of the city was so bright that it was difficult to even make out those stars and the moon. Melody herself was awestruck by it all. This was the first time that she had ever set foot inside of Goldenrod and while she had seen pictures of it, seeing it all in person was a completely different feeling.

"Whoooa..." Christina gaped as they walked along the smooth pavement, slowly turning around herself while taking in the bright lights, the taller buildings towering over the Center-sized ones she was used to, and the constant murmur of people walking back and forth, talking, laughing and shouting. "This is -amazing-! I'd heard alot about Goldenrod, but..."

"So... You've never been to a bigger city like this one either...?" Melody questioned, glancing up at her taller friend. "I dunno why, I always pegged you for a city person."

"Well, when I was younger, my mom brought me for a trip on the S.S. Aqua with my dad and brother. She works there as a chef, so she got the tickets for free, basically." She smiled fondly at the memory, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear while they walked into the city proper. "I don't remember much about it, though. I was, like, eight at the time."

A look of disbelief was on Melody's face. Christina talked so casually about taking a trip on a cruise ship, like it was no major thing at all. The shorter of the two girls seemed somewhat hesitant to continue on with the conversation, but decided to press on anyways.

"That's... pretty cool, yeah!" she said, keeping her eyes peeled for the Pokémon Center as they walked. "I never really got to take any family vacations when I was growing up... Things were a bit too tight."

"Heh, it wasn't really much of a vacation. Mom was working the entire time and my dad just spent the entire time reading. And Marcus-" She paused, shaking her head, wafting a hand dismissively. "You can just think of -this- as a vacation!"

"Heh... I guess that's one way to think of it," Melody replied.

The two continued to make small talk for sometime, eventually reaching their destination in the form of Goldenrod's Pokémon Center. However, even the center seemed to be of another world compared to that of Azalea Town's and the others the two girls had been to so far. The roof was a much more vibarant hue of red compared to the rest of the centers, not to mention the fact that it was lit up in an extremely similar manner as the rest of Goldenrod City. There was even a huge, rotating sign notifying everyone that the building was in fact the Pokémon Center, as if the building itself was not enough to do so.

"With all this flash and flair, I hope they don't charge us to use the place," Melody mused. "This place gives me the feeling that EVERYTHING costs money..."

"Yeah... it's pretty overwhelming. But at the same time, it's kind of exciting too, no?" She nudged her friend with a grin before stepping through the sliding doors, Sindy and Eddie sticking -very- close due to the high number of people milling about, even at this hour. "Besides, I think it's like, a global rule that centers are free. They're paid for by the league, right?"

"Yeah, that's true..." Melody replied. She too kept Blossom close as she and the Bayleef stepped inside the doors of the center. Much to her surprise, the inside was quite similar, if not identical to that of the center in Azalea Town. "Still, you can never be too sure. I've heard that cities like this are prone to try to pull the Mareep wool over your eyes, you know?"

"Ah, you worry too much, Mel." Christina smiled as the two stepped up to the desk, having to wait behind a very drunk man trying to get his Pokémon back, while the nurse kept refusing him and telling him to go get sobered up.

Eventually, they got up to the desk, where Christina smiled at the slightly flustered woman who'd just managed to convince the man to go get a nap. "Good evening, girls. What can I do for you?"

"My friend and I just arrived! We were wondering if... the center's free, even though it's in a big city?"

The nurse giggled and nodded her head with a smile. "It definitely is. Although, due to the large amount of people travelling through here, we're unable to provide breakfast and dinner for free. But you can still buy it relatively cheap."

Christina turned to Melody and flashed the girl a wink. "See? What'd I say~? So! Wanna get a room, then?"

Melody nodded, "Yeah, yeah... Sounds good to me. I'm pretty bushed, so I think I'm about ready to turn in." She paused, remembering how busy the city was and turned her attention back to the nurse. "Um... there are still rooms available, yeah?

"Oh, let me just see..." The nurse pulled out a book and trailed a finger slowly along the page. "Occupied... taken... hmh... oh! Here, on the second floor. We have just a few rooms available, but I'm afraid I'll have to couple you in together. Is that alright?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Melody replied. "We're pretty good friends, so that shouldn't be a problem, right Chrissie?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah! Mel and I've been through a bit of everything together. Sharing a room shouldn't be that tough." the red-haired girl agreed, flashing a grin.

The nurses nodded with a smile and pushed a pair of keys across to the girls. "Well, there you are then. Room seven on the second floor. It'll last until this time tomorrow, unless you renew it." She paused before adding. "Although I'd suggest taking advantage of the night. The city's nice in the day, but it's at night when it -really- comes to life."

Reaching out to take the key, Christina nodded a little, offering the nurse a smile. "We'll keep that in mind. Thanks!" With a wave, she stepped away from the desk again, peering at Melody. "Maybe we -should- go enjoy the city for a bit. Now that we're here, I'm kinda itching to go see it..."

Melody recalled Blossom to her Pokéball, before handing it and the rest of her team over to the nurse so they could be properly treated. She gave her friend a somewhat tired looking smile, a yawn slipping out of her lips in the process. "It'd be cool, but... I'm really pretty tired... Maybe you could give me a tour tomorrow night if you still wanna look around...?"

"Awh. That's okay, Mel. You need your energy for... whoever it is you're meeting tomorrow. Maybe you can tell me about it, then, if you feel like it."

The redhead smiled and stepped closer to wrap her arms around the shorter girl, giving her a squeeze. "Promise I'll be quiet when I come back. Sleep well, alright Mel?"

"Sure thing," Melody replied. "Have a good time, Chrissie."

Giving Melody a wave, Christina turned to Sindy and Eddie, flashing them a grin. "Come on you two, let's see what this city's about!" She made a dash out of the door, followed closely by Sindy and Eddie, clinging tightly onto the top of the Quilava's head.

Melody watched as Christina and her Pokémon made their way out of the center and out into the nightlife of Goldenrod City. Once they were out of sight and her team had properly been treated, Melody thanked the nurse before receiving the key for the room she and Christina would be sharing later that night. That said... she only had plans for stopping in there for a little bit.

Once Melody made her way into the room, she quickly shut and locked the door behind her. The girl was quick to make her way towards one of the beds in the room, tossing her backpack on the floor beside it to claim it for herself. Melody then hasitly took the pillows off the bed, stuffing them under the blanket to make it look as if she were sleeping underneath of it. Once all this was set up, Melody took the balls holding her team off of her belt, quickly releasing them all into the room. Every single member of her team looked confused as to why they were being called out in the middle of the night, all of them turning to give Melody their full attention.

"Melody...? I thought you were gonna go to sleep," Blossom questioned, tilting her head in confusion.

"We've got something to take care of is why we're not sleeping," Melody answered. She glanced back and forth at all five members of her team. "My old man is somewhere in this city right now, doing some stupid public appearance. We're gonna challenge him and beat him, right here... right now."

"Old man...?" Blossom questioned, the Bayleef clearly missing the meaning of the term.

"My dad," Melody answered. "That's what my whole journey has really been about. I saw he was gonna be here back in Azalea Town during a tv commercial. I'm not letting him get out of this city without letting him get what's coming."

"Shouldn't you have told Christina, though?" Blossom asked.

Melody shook her head. "She'd have probably tried to stop me. She might have even wanted to help. This is something I gotta do on my own though. It's not gonna be easy, but... I think you guys can handle it. We can handle it. Team Rocket, Bugsy, Falkner... Every battle we've had we've won. So let's not stop now."

Blossom still looked a little unsure, but the sudden pat of reassurance from Napoleon and squawk of affirmation from Hawk seemed to have offer her a bit of reassurance. Even Venus, her newest addition to the team seemed to be ready for whatever Melody was planning. Giving her team a nod and a smile, Melody recalled her team to their balls and made for the door of the room.

"Just you wait, Cliff Hughes... I'm coming for ya..."

Morgan // Goldenrod City - Part I


badges:
in pc:

CURRENT ATTIRE:

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Illex Forest. No way he was going to go back there. The winding maze of wildlife produced all sorts of headaches for the young man, and it reminded Vincent of despite his less than stellar upbringing in the concrete jungle that was Goldenrod, part of him still preferred tall buildings to thick canopies. The mid morning light was nearly blinding, as the sun barely poured through the wall of leaves that consumed Azalea's neighboring parade of trees. It took Vincent's dark eyes a few moments to adjust, but before he knew, he could see Goldenrod's skyscrapers in the distance.

"Home," Vincent muttered to himself. "I still can't tell if I am happy to be there or not." There were no Pokémon at his side to respond, but Vincent, in this particular moment, preferred it that way. He left Goldenrod alone. It was only appropriate that he return "alone." Though, he wasn't alone. And he was hardly the same person. Things happen, and people changed. Vincent, unfortunately, couldn't figure out if he had changed for the better. His temper has certainly be tested and tempered. His willingness to help others inflated. But his rage at those who wronged him had exasperated. He traveled through Illex alone, with only his thoughts to truly accompany him. While he did take his frustrations out on a number of Pokemon and even caught a new friend in a small unassuming Pichu, the accomplishments and pride in that was minimal. He still couldn't get the vision of his father out. He couldn't shake the fear that he was all too similar to him. It was haunting and torturous really. They do say that time heals all wounds, he remembered a wise man once telling him. And I'm calling bull****.

Vincent wondered how that old man was doing, and it was that moment he knew where he was going to go first. Navigating the streets of Goldenrod couldn't be easier for Vincent; in fact, he could have done it with his eyes closed if he wanted. Sadly, he had no one to show off to. His first stop was the Pokémon Center, to heal up his team. The center was flooded with people of all walks of life. He could tell just from the way they talked, and walked. Even the way, they just carried themselves was painfully obvious. Tourists, he thought to himself. I never liked tourists. It was jealousy, really, even if Vincent never cared to admit it. They had money and prestige that Vincent could only envy.

After getting his Pokémon healed, Vincent made his way to the slums of Goldenrod, stopping at a local market in the city's heart as a quick detour. The slums resided on the outskirts, practically a short bus ride away from the heart of the city. Here, where was the old city fell to the ruin. Local businesses had old faded signs that needed an update. Apartment buildings were hinging on derelict and needed much repair to be livable. Even the roads and sidewalks were consumed by potholes that needed a fresh coat of pavement. The air reeked of poverty, but Vincent embraced it for what little it was worth. It was home, and there was little he could do to change that.

Vincent quietly approached his building, the crumbling brick building that crawled to a fair height with small dark windows dotted along the 4 sides of the building. He fiddled with his bag, removing his keys to the normally locked, but hardly secure door and inched his way into the building. On any other day, Vincent would scale the steps up a couple of flights of stairs to Room 3C, a relatively small two bedroom apartment with semi-functional everything. But today wasn't any other day. Instead, Vincent veered to knocking on Room 1A.

"Yeah, yeah," an elderly, but still strong voice said. "I'm coming." The door opened a crack, and peering through was a blue eye.

"Surprise, old man," Vincent said, raising his bag from the market. "I come bearing gifts."

The eye widened, and the door promptly closed before swinging open again. The man was a sliver taller than Vincent, with salt and pepper hair. He carried a large frame, honed from years in the military. His most distinguished characteristic, though, was the pair of warm blue eyes. Those eyes were the ones that Vincent trusted the most. More than anyone else in his scattered family. "Vince! I wasn't expecting this. Terrell and Kiara are going to be so happy to hear this!"

"Let's not jump to that, Troy," Vincent quickly said, holding his hand up in a calming gesture. "Mind if I come in for a bit?"

"Oh, yeah, of course," Troy replied, moving to the side and allowing Vincent to walk in. Vincent shuffled in, and shifted into the kitchen. He dropped the bag on the counter, emptying the contents bit by bit. Troy spent a few moments, locking up his door (a requirement in the slums) and walked down the hallway. As Troy came into view, Vincent tossed a bottle to the older gentlemen. "It's cheap, but I know sometimes you aren't picky."

Troy smirked as he successfully caught the bottle: "You know I am trying to kick the habit, right?"

"You aren't my mother, so you can have a bit," Vincent commented, as he leaned up against the counter. "How are they by the way?" Vincent asked.

"They are fine. They are going to school, and I'm helping with anything they need. Just like you asked me to. How are you doing?"

Vincent paused, collecting his thoughts. "I—I'm doing fine," he said, lying through his teeth.

Troy wasn't dumb. He could see through Vincent better than almost everyone. "Right, of course," he mumbled, letting it slide. "So what brings you here? I know you didn't come here to complain about your mother. And if you aren't here to say "hi" to your brother and sister…what's the occasion?"

"No, I, uh, I did come here to see them. I just can't do it right now," Vincent finally admitted. "I…I saw him. I saw…'Dad' in Azalea Town."

Troy silently nodded. He knew all about the family problems. It was why he was so willing to help out Vincent when he expressed his desire to runaway and take up the Pokémon journey as almost every young man and woman does. "I'm sorry that happened, Vince." He took a few steps toward Vincent, and placed a hand on the shoulder. "But, I think it was bound to happen. You told me all those weeks ago that you wanted to be something for them. You took on this whole thing for them. It's a noble thing. But, confronting your father, that's something for you. I know you are probably beating up yourself about a bunch of things right now. That's okay. That's a part of growing up and making mistakes. You just need to remember that you aren't father. You haven't the same mistakes he did and you don't need to, either." Troy paused and placed a finger on Vincent's chest. "In here. In here all the reasons you need to fight. You can make something of yourself, Vince. You can be the role model you want to be for those little guys up there."

Vincent's eyes didn't match Troy's. He looked away, looking for something to say. "Umm," he began, but was soon bailed out by a ringing in his pocket. "Can I take this?"

Troy hardly objected. Vincent plowed through Troy's door and walked outside, flipping the phone open. "Hello?"

"Hello! It's Professor Pine! How are you holding up?"

"Oh, uh, hi," Vincent basically repeating his own words. He was more than caught off-guard. "I'm, uhhh, doing fine. I guess."

"Great!" It seemed to Vincent that she hardly cared about him. She was likely going to ask about his Pokémon. That's what these professors do.

"How's your little Froakie doing?!" There was the energy she was expecting.

"Hanzo? Well, he evolved. I see a bit more personality coming out of him now too," Vincent admitted.

"That's great! He didn't seem to take a liking to you earlier, so I was a bit worried if I am being honest." Her voice was booming through the phone, and Vincent could feel his ear getting sore.

"I think he is doing quite well," Vincent observed. "He was amazing in my battle with Bugsy. I feel I can trust him and I think he is beginning to really trust me," Vincent continued fondly.

At the moment, Vincent swore he could see Pine smiling. "That's fantastic. Listen, I have a friend of sorts who is currently visiting his relatives in Goldenrod. If you near the area, which I have a feeling you are if you are talking about beating Bugsy, you should stop by. His name is Bill Masaki. He is a renowned Pokémon collector. I think talking to him will help you a lot, Vincent."

"Right, I'll check it out. I'm sorry but I gotta go," Vincent said.

"Oh okay, b-" And Vincent hung up.

"Well, well, looks like I got something to do," Vincent said to himself. He looked over to the building. "I'll be back."



​

Inventory:Pokemon:
Wiping the sweat off of his brow, Caelan gave an impressed whistle. He had heard much about the expanse of Goldenrod City, but now that he was seeing it in the flesh, the tales of its grandeur were absolutely justified. While the other cities that he had visited thus far definitely weren't tiny villages, they couldn't even start to compare with the size of this place.

Having been told by Bugsy that he was one of the last trainers to pass through Azalea Town, Caelan had begun to pick up the pace as soon as he hit Ilex Forest. While he isn't one to be very competitive, he didn't want to be completely left behind by his fellow trainers. However, while he certainly moved much quicker than he had been, he made sure to take the opportunity to train up Vulcan. By the end of their trek through the forest, the bug and grass type pokemon were cowering in fear of the little Darumaka.

The rookie trainer's first order of business was to head for the Poke-Center to heal up his pokemon and secure a place to rest for the night. Because he was arriving in the early afternoon, he snagged a room for himself rather easily. The nurse attending to the center had told him that while Goldenrod's center was accommodated to fit the many trainers and travelers that visit the city, rooms were often a hard to come by, especially if one arrived later in the day.

That didn't come as much of a surprise considering just how crowded the streets were. The swarms of people making their way around the city was certainly something that he hadn't ever seen before. While Cianwood had a pretty large population, everyone was much more spaced out and there were never any crowds like this. Instead of letting Vulcan walk around out of his ball like he had done in Ilex Forest, Caelan had to keep him perched up atop of his head to keep him safe from being trampled by the masses.

The rest of the day was spent travelling around the city, taking in the various sights and sounds. The trainer's first stop was the Goldenrod Department Store, a towering skyscraper filled to the brim with various goods for sale. Since he'd been sending a majority of the cash he made back home, Caelan didn't have much money to spend on shopping there. He bought a soda pop for a little girl on the roof that was thirsty, but otherwise he abstained from purchasing anything.

After deciding that he had done enough sight seeing for the day, he headed to Goldenrod City's gym. Just as he had heard quite a bit about the city, he had heard quite a bit about the gym leader, Whitney. Apparently she was quite the obnoxious extravagant person, and her signature Milktank was a nightmare for unsuspecting trainers. After losing his first match with Faulkner, Caelan had defeated the flying-type gym leader in a rematch and then beat Bugsy on his first try. Wanting to keep the hot streak alive, he decided to challenge the gym before any further training.

As he went to open up the gym's doors, a young woman walked out right through them, cutting him off from entering. Before he could muster up an apology, the platinum blonde girl spoke up.

"If you want to challenge Whitney, she's not here right now. She's probably out and about, but you might be able to find her at the Radio Tower." With that the woman disappeared into the crowd of people walking down the street, before Caelan could even say a word.

Slightly taken aback by such a strangely brief encounter, Caelan tapped the Darumaka sitting atop his head. "I guess we should head over to the Radio Tower then, I doubt we'd have any luck finding her in this sea of people." He paused to take a look around his surroundings. Numerous skyscrapers and buildings took up the afternoon sky, but down the bustling street he could make out a tower that stood out quite a bit from the rest. The antennas at its highest point made it instantly recognizable as the Radio Tower.

"Well I guess that's our next stop."​

Melody Hughes
Featuring Morgan Wilson

Goldenrod City

Chapter 10-2 | Unpleasant Run-In

Current Party:

Melody sighed as she took a seat on one of the many benches located on the sidewalks of Goldenrod City. The search for her father was turning out to be rather fruitless up to this point. The girl had been wandering around the city for what felt like hours, looking in any building, alley way, or street corner she possibly could. However, each attempt turned up empty and it was not like the city itself was easy to navigate around. In fact the more Melody looked, the more Goldenrod City seemed to just stretch on for miles. If the brown-haired girl didn't know any better, she would have sworn that the city was actually growing in size while she was walking.

"You would think that they would at least give tourists a map or something," Melody sighed, taking a moment to gaze upward at the night sky. That said, there really was not much to see. The warm glow of the street lights, neon signs, and buildings were blocking out most, if not all of the stars in the sky. "It's gotta be like, almost 9:30 PM at this point. Back in Azalea and Violet City, most of the people were starting to go to bed and stuff... Heck, in the time I've been walking, I could have very well circled Azalea twice!"

Turning her attention back to the city before her, Melody watched as many people shuffled and rambled about. An annoyed huff slipped past her lips as the teenager hopped off the bench. She took part in a quick stretch before making her way towards one of the many Goldenrod residents.

"Excuse me, ma'am!" Melody called out, trying to get the attention of a tall, rather curvaceous woman in a shiny, red dress. Much to her dismay, the woman did not even bat an eye at her. The trainer then spotted a tall, somewhat imposing bald man walking in a black leather jacket with an Arbok stitched on the back. "Hey, sir! Sir!"

The man glanced over her shoulder, sending her a rather annoyed looking sneer. "Screw off, kid."

Melody glared at the man, grumbling under her breath. Even the people in the city were different than those from the other towns of the region. Outside of the nurse from the Pokémon Center, it was like most of the Goldenrod City inhabitants were too busy being jerks to even give the girl the time of the day. Still, the rudeness of the girl did not stop her plans. Reaching down to her belt, the girl took hold of one of the Pokéballs on her belt to get a little bit of help with her cause.

"Alright, Hawk! Come on out!" Melody shouted, releasing the Swellow out of his ball. The Swellow squawked loudly as he emerged, stretching his wings as he did so. He flapped his mighty wings slowly, coming to sit on the back of the bench and look around at all the sights. "Alright, Hawk... Here's the deal. I'm not having any luck at finding the old man. So, we're going to do this another way."

Hawk lazily looked over in Melody's direction as she spoke, his eyes dull and almost lifeless, as if he could not have cared less about anything the girl had to say. "I need you to look around and see if you can find him. There's supposed to be a big, huge gathering somewhere in the city where he's making an appearance. If you find a big crowd of people, it's probably gonna be him!"

Hawk did not reply with a nod or even a sign that he was paying attention. The Swellow merely yawned, shaking his head for a moment before closing his wings and... falling asleep. Melody sighed, grabbing the Pokéball of Hawk before calling him back in. Someone had to be getting a laugh out of this, but it certainly was not her.

Suddenly, the buzzing of Melody's Pokégear caught the girl's attention. Taking hold of the phone, she examined the number, trying to remember where she had seen it before. The brown-haired girl more or less drew a blank, however. Figuring at the worst it could have been a wrong number, Melody decided to answer so she could at least tell them.

"Hello," she finally answered.

"Melody! I'm glad I was able to reach you! I was starting to think that maybe you were already asleep for the night," a familiar voice replied.

Melody's eyes widened as she recognized the voice. "Professor Pine...? I... don't remember giving you my number..."

"Well, that's because you didn't! I got your number from Emily," Pine responded, her voice sounding rather proud of her accomplishment for some reason.

"I-Is that so? Well, that was nice of her," Melody responded, rubbing her forehead in annoyance. It was not the first time that her sister had given out her number before. Something told her it probably would not be the last time either. "So, what can I do for you?"

"Well, I just thought I'd check up and see how your journey was going so far," Pine answered. "How's your Chikorita doing? Has she been a good partner to you?"

Melody nodded in response, regardless of the fact that Pine could not see. "Yeah, we're doing pretty good. She evolved a while back while I was traveling to Azalea Town. A lot happened since we left Cherrygrove and got here to Goldenrod, including..."

Her voice trailed off, thoughts drifting to her Bayleef and the events that transpired back in Azalea Town. Melody had almost told her about Blossom suddenly gaining the ability to speak, but the girl suddenly found herself debating about whether or not that was a good idea. There wa always the chance that Professor Pine might want Melody to bring Blossom back to her lab in Cherrygrove so she could examine her or something of the sort. Needless to say, that would put quite the hindrance on her goal in several ways.

"Including...? Including what...?" Pine inquired, concern in her voice about how Melody sort of just trailed off in mid-sentence.

Blinking slowly, Melody was quick to respond. "Including... getting some badges. Yeah, we took on both Falkner and Bugsy's gyms and managed to beat them both pretty easily. Well, not alone, of course. The rest of my team helped out along the way."

"Well, that's great to hear Melody!" Pine responded, her voice very enthusiastic about Melody's progress. "It seems I made the right choice in pairing you and that Chikorita together. It makes this next suggestion of mine very easy to deliver to you."

"Suggestion...?" Melody inquired.

"Yes, that's right. Since you're in Goldenrod City already, I was thinking that you might like to meet an aquaintance of mine. He's a pretty famous Pokémon collector by the name of Bill Masaki," Professor Pine explained. "I've told him about you and the other trainers, and he seemed very interested in meeting you. I was thinking that since he is quite the collector of rare Pokémon, he might even be able to share some interesting things with you. How about it? Are you interested?"

Truth be told, Melody could have cared less about meeting this Bill person. However, the girl also had the feeling that declining Professor Pine's request was probably not in the best of her interests either. Rubbing the back of her head with a small, thankfully unheard sigh, Melody agreed to Professor Pine's request.

"That's the spirit!" Pine cheered. "I'll send you the directions on how to get to where he's staying in the city. Take care, Melody!"


Morgan meanwhile was filing her nails casually, yet grumbily as her supposed new superior, Whitney,paced back and forth in the Pokémon Center. They've been searching for new trainers all day long, when it eventually became nightfall. With no success so far, Whitney was beside herself.

"Kyaaaaaa... this is so annoying, Annie!" she grumbled to her assistant. "Not a single cutie trainer in sight! Were they scared off by some huge monster... pokémon?"

"Yes, I can definitely think of one monster who could of scared them off," Morgan replied, resuming to file her nails. "Better luck next time?"

"Aw, it's too early to give up, Annie!" Whitney declared with more passion. "And we won't! We'll find the perfect lil'cuties anytime now!"

"I'm sure we will..." Morgan said, rolling her eyes. It was then that her PokéGear started to rang. She pardoned herself to quickly pick up. With a hastened voice she answered, "Talk to me."

"Ah, Morgan!" a friendly, yet familiar voice answered. "It's great to know that you're doing okay!"

"Heeeeey, I know that voice!" Whitney addressed, leaning towards Morgan, putting her heard on her shoulder. "Professor... Professor... Professor Pie!"

"Pine," Morgan corrected, getting her attention back to the call. "Yes, I'm doing fine, Professor. Everything here is... peachy. Or as peachy as one would think."

"Well, I'm very glad to hear that!" the good Professor replied. "Most Pokémon trainers in your position would have a harder time along the road, especially with Team Rocket on the prowl, but it seems as though you're cruising along just fine with your Pokémon! By the way, how are your Pokémon? Especially Combusken?"

"She's also doing okay," Morgan responded. "Cleaning her feathers is a huge pain, but she always do love a shiny coat. I've also had a Mareep who evolved into a Flaaffy when--" she stopped herself. The memory on when she encountered Team Rocket... it was too painful to recall right now. "Er, well, Flaaffy is doing great regardless!"

"Very good!" Professor Pine said impressively. "As you progress your journey, remember, you'll always meet Pokémon who has many personalities alongside humans. Always remember to be open minded about them, okay?" Morgan responded with a brief 'uh huh'. Honestly, she was the pickiest when it came to befriending Pokémon, but the Professor's advice was worth thinking about, she thought. "By the way, have you heard of Bill Masaki?"

"Bill Masaki?" Morgan repeated. "Sorry, but... no?"

"I know him!" Whitney whispered. "Silly Billy is a famous Pokémon collector! When it comes to rare Pokémon, no one knows better than him!"

"Yes, that's right," Professor Pine responded. "He actually is staying in Goldrenrod right now, so, why don't you go visit him? I'm sure it will be worth your while! I've even contacted some of the other trainers too, so, maybe you'll bump into some of them, and catch up!"

"Yay..." Morgan cheered with grief and with sarcasum. "I'll even bake them brownies while I'm at it and sing them a love song."

"Teehee, don't be shy on getting to know more people Morgan," Pine reccomended. "At any case, I'll talk to you later, okay? Have fun!" She then hung up, leaving Morgan to only sigh. Whitney smiled as she grabbed both of Morgan's hands and clasped them together.

"That sounds like a blast! Lucky you, Annie!" Whitney cheered. "Why don't you go? Don't worry about little ol'me! I'll hang around a bit to look for more trainers!"

"Whatever..." Morgan said, releasing Whitney's grip on her, leaving the center with Whitney waving 'goodbye for now!' to her. It was going to be a dreadful, boring night.


About twenty or so minutes later, Melody found herself wandering down what she figured one would call a neighborhood. Truth be told, it was more like a cluster of houses that were just thrown into one of the corners of the city. Melody was not exactly sure who in the world designed the city to be like this. It felt like the idea of people actually living in Goldenrod was more of an afterthought to the city being built in the first place.

"Hmm... Left on Vine Road, third house on the right..." Melody muttered, reading the last bit of the directions on her phone sent by Professor Pine. "I guess it should be around here somewhere."

"It should be the third house on the left..." Morgan meanwhile muttered to herself, reading the directions on her PokeGear. "I think that's not too far off..."

She took her hood off, with the slight breeze flowing through her hair. The city of Goldenrod was indeed the most interesting place she visited in Johto so far, but she could do with less crowding. She took the next turn on the street, while looking down at her PokeGear.

Melody continued staring down at her phone as she walked. Her attention completely focused on the Pokégear, it was completely unsurprising what happened next. Without warning, Melody found herself plowing into something... or rather, someone. Causing her to stumble backwards and fall right onto her backside.

Morgan fell backwards onto her own backside from her bumping into something, probably because she wasn't paying attention. She rubbed her head grumbily. "Watch where you're going you little--- wait, you're--!" she opened her eyes to the person she bumped into.

Melody glanced up at the voice, the girl preparing to apologize... until she realized who it was she actually bumped into. She frowned, quickly looking away as she grabbed her Pokégear off the ground. "I hope I didn't damage my phone."

Morgan also frowned and looked away to her own phone. "I think my own phone is already damaged beyond repair," she muttered. "It might of caught the dork virus..."

"More likely it got crushed under those fat fingers," Melody muttered, giving a quick glare in Morgan's direction.

"No, I'm pretty sure it was your fat head," Morgan responded, getting up to glare in Melody's direction. "Miss Geek, isn't it your bed time?"

"I dunno... Isn't it a bit early for Halloween, Princess Jerkbag?" Melody replied, climbing up to her own feet in the process.

"Well, you've certanly got your costume all ready," Morgan retaliated. "You're going out as Queen of the nerds, yes?"

"Do your parents know you're not wearing your bag over your head?" Melody sneered, taking a step closer to Morgan. "You might give kids nightmares if you don't put it back on. I know I'm gonna have some now."

"You don't say?" Morgan responded, stepping closer to Melody. "At least children don't vomit when I'm at their presence, because I'm about to get sick."

Melody opened her mouth to respond to Morgan's last insult toss, when suddenly a porch light flicking on caught the girl's attention. She turned to see a young man stepping out of the front door of the house, giving a curious glance in the direction of the two girls. He looked to be in his early 20's at the latest. He was dressed in a purple, polo-styled shirt and brown slacks, his chocolate-brown hair was so curly it was almost poofy.

"Is... everything alright out here?" the young man inquired. "It was starting to get rather noisy out, so I thought I'd see what the commotion was all about."

"Hmph," Morgan pouted, closing her eyes in disgust and crossing her arms. "Peachy."

"More like *****y..." Melody muttered quietly, thankfully the comment being missed by the man. "Everything's fine. This girl just bumped into me while I was looking for a Mr. Bill Masaki!"

"I guess we both are," Morgan addressed. "I was on my way here too, when this girl bumped into me. Professor Pine sent me."

"She sent me here too," Melody admitted.

"Well, you've come to the right place!" the man responded, a bright smile flashing across his lips. "My name is Bill Masaki. Professor Pine just called and told me to be expecting you both! Please, come in."

Bill stepped aside, holding the door open for the two girls to come in to his house. Melody glanced over at Morgan, giving her a smirk as she made the gesture for her to go first. "Age before beauty."

"No no, I insist," Morgan responded. "Monsters before humans."

"Maybe I should just go," Melody replied. "Bill might not like wild animals in his house."

"Sure, go ahead," Morgan agreed. "After all, I'll step in to save Bill once he passes out."

"The only thing that'll make him pass out is your body odor," Melody replied. "It's enough to make a Lillipup puke."

"Ladies...? Are you coming? Bill questioned.

Without giving Morgan a chance to respond, Melody quickly began to make her way towards Bill's house. That said, she was quick to send her fellow trainer a quick, one-fingered gesture from behind her back as she walked. Morgan could only chuckle at a kid's attempt to redicule her as she followed suit inside. As she passed Bill, Melody flashed Bill a small smile, making sure to thank him in advance for his hospitality.

Morgan curtseied, thanking Bill for his hospitality as well, once she got inside. The house itself was humble, but pretty cozy. Morgan heard the door creaking as Bill closed the door behind them.

.

"What do you mean I can't come in?! Those other guys just walked right past you a moment ago!"

The large guy stood in front of the doorway to Goldenrod's game corner, which was marked by massive, multi-coloured neon letters, shining against the pitch-black sky above, shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest again. "I didn't get this job because of my bad eye sight. Try again in a couple years, kid."

"Kid?! Listen here, buster..."

Christina raised a finger at the man, about to go off on him when she caught something out the corner of her eye. Turning her head, she arched her neck. It looked like... someone she knew. Sindy, who'd been by Christina's side throughout this entire time, gave the girl's leg a nudge in order to try and get her to stop trying to sneak in.

Sending the large man another stink-eye, she hurried off down the road to the less crowded area, away from the sights, bright lights and constant buzzing of people talking. It didn't take long for her to get completely and utterly lost.

"... Damnit. I thought I saw..." She muttered, coming to a stop as she turned around herself a couple of times. The dark street was lit up by the streetlights, which did their job, but still had most of the street and especially the alleys covered in shadows.

Sindy let out a worried murmur, and Christina had to recall Eddie earlier, due to the worry that the Joltik might get scared by all the people, or even run off. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder and let out a shriek of surprise, spinning around with her hands raised. "Not a step closer! I'm gonna-!"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down." The woman dressed in a blue uniform held up her hands, offering the redhead a smile. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You looked lost, and we've had some trouble around these parts, lately." She paused, scratching her cheek. "Or well, more trouble than usual, I should say..."

Breathing out in relief, Christina lowered herself down to pick up the Quilava at her feet, giving Sindy a little squeeze before peering at the police officer in front of her curiously. "Trouble? What kind of trouble?"

"Ah... it's nothing much. We've just had reports of some guy who hangs around in the Underground who's been selling Pokémon. We have no hard evidence, but we think they might be stolen from their owners when they're out on the town."

Jenny blinked her eyes, possibly surprised at the fact that she let this sort of information slip to a teenager. And at a closer look, this said teenager had her eyes narrowed, squeezing her Quilava a little tighter. Offering the girl a smile, the officer planted her hands on her hips.

"Well, it's none of your concern anyway. We'll catch him sooner or later. Do you need any help getting back to the main street?"

Christina glanced down at Sindy, the Quilava giving the girl a suspicious glance before she smiled up at Jenny, shaking her head. "We'll be fine, thank you. Just going to visit a friend of mine."

The officer didn't exactly look convinced, but she nodded. "Very well. Shout if you get into trouble, there should be an officer nearby. But try to stay out of trouble, mmhm?"

With that, she turned around and walked down the street, Christina lowering Sindy to the ground. "... Christina, you're not planning on doing what I think you are... are you?"

Pressing her lips together, the girl jutted out her chin, folding her arms across her chest. "Having you taken by Team Rocket was the single-worst experience of my life. If that's happening to other people..." She shook her head as she turned and began walking down the street, glancing down the alleyways. "We have to stop him. But first, we need to -find- him..."

Meanwhile, in one of the alleyways, Vincent was navigating through the shortcuts to the city center. It was getting dark, but maybe he could catch this Bill guy before nightfall if he hurried. Bolting around corners was always tough, but luckily, he still had his skateboard on him so he rolled through the alleyways pretty fast, especially if anything was propped on a hill. Skating through a main street, Vincent caught wind of a woman in a blue uniform and immediately curved into an another alleyway. He tucked himself into it, hiding as best as he could. "Pretty sure I am still wanted around here," Vincent mumbled under his breath. "Best to wait for that to blow over." Hooking his skateboard on his bag, Vincent took a breath and sighed. "Great."

While Vincent was distracted by keeping out of Jenny's sight- and hearing range, a voice behind him called out. "... Vincent? Vin! It's you!"

Hearing his name from behind him, Vincent got a whole lot more alert, and spun around. It was Christina. Oh praise the maker! If it was a cop, Vincent would have to get a lot more resourceful. But wait! She shouted his name. If an officer even heard a fragment of his name, he would land his ass in a cell for more than a couple of days. That would ruin everything! Vincent bolted towards Christina, grabbed her by an arm and covered her mouth his free hand, tucking the both of them behind a dumpster. "Don't move a muscle," he whispered.

Completely taken aback by Vincent's action, it wasn't until they were well behind the dumpster that she pulled against his grip and let out a muffled, disgruntled protest. "Hhy, whdd hllh yhh dhnnh?!" Sindy had quickly followed behind them, but considering Vincent hadn't actually seemed hostile, she didn't see a reason to act.

A moment later, the light from a flashlight shone down the alleyway, prompting Christina to freeze in place. A few seconds went by as the light searched the dark alley, and whoever was on the other end of it, left.

With a breath of relief, Vincent let Christina go. "Phew. Alright, please don't make a habit of shouting my name. I'm not exactly popular with the local enforcement."

Swatting his hand away, she stood up and pulled on her shirt, smoothing it out. "Well, how was I supposed to know that?!" She huffed out and folded her arms before her expression eased and she offered the young man a smile. "Hey Vin. It's good to see you. Although I... didn't exactly picture us meeting anywhere like this."

"Yeah, same to you," he returned. "And the feeling is mutual. What the hell are you doing in this part of the city at this time of day? Didn't anyone tell you that Goldenrod isn't all it is cracked up to be?"

"I dunno, I kinda liked it. At least until I got... uh." She paused, giving him a curious glance. "... Hey, you know alot about this city, don't you...?"

"Well, I am from here," Vincent replied rather bluntly. 'Why do you ask?"

Sindy gave the girl a cautious little look, murring under her breath as Christina smiled, reaching up to pat Vincent on the shoulder. "Well, see, there's this -guy- I'm looking for. Apparently he's trying to sell off other peoples' Pokémon that he stole. And I... well, kind of want to beat his face in for it. Figured someone as knowledgable about the city as you, would know where the 'Underground' is...?"

Vincent raised an eyebrow. "Most people know what the Undeground is. It's a shopping district under the city. It's got a bunch of stores and what not. But, if you know the right places to look, you can find the real Underground, where the less than legal stores are. That's the Undeground you'd find that guy," Vincent nodded as he spoke.

"Perfect. That's where we're going, then." Christina replied, undeterred by the fact that they'd literrally be walking into a rogue's den. Instead, she grabbed Vincent by the arm and pulled him along, out of the alleyway, peering down either street before giving him a nudge. "Alright, where to, Vin?"

Vincent first freed himself from Christina's grasp and motioned with a finger to never do that again. He was a strong independent man, so he didn't need to be motivated or guided by someone else. "Just follow me, and act normal. Oh, and don't say my name. Seriously. At least not until we get to the Undeground."

Christina held up her hands in front of her defensively and nodded quickly. "Gotcha." As Vincent began leading the way, Christina moved up besides him, casting a glance his waay. "... What about Sam, then?"

Vincent looked at her with the most deadly side eye: "Do I look like a Sam to you?!"

Taking a moment to eye over Vincent, she wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "Maybe more of a Terry, then. Oh, I know, Xander!"

Sindy let out a murmur, nudging Christina's leg. She peered down at the Pokémon, noticing the uncertain look in her eyes. A pang of worry shot through the girl, reaching out to give Vincent's arm a pat. "Hold up, Vi- Xander. I don't think I should bring Sindy with me to this place. She's a bit too... attention-making."

Fishing out Sindy's pokéball from her pouch, she gave the Quilava a smile and a pat on the head. "It'll be okay, Sindy. I'll be careful." With that, the Quilava was sucked back into the ball, Christina breathing out as she hopped to her feet again. "Right. Ready!"

"Uh, why would...Sindy be attention making? She's just a Pokémon? They are everywhere ya know?" Vincent said with a scoff, leading Christina down the street. He pointed up ahead, towards an archway in the center of a city block. "That's the entrance to the Underground. It's basically a big mall, but certain "stores" are less desriable than others if you catch my drift."

Christina nodded slowly as she watched the place pointed out to her. "Sure seems pretty seedy. I'm glad I've got you with me, Xan." She smirked a little before giving him a small nudge with her elbow. "And Sindy's a -shiny- Pokémon. I mean, you might not think twice about it, but shiny Pokémon are pretty rare, apparently."

"A Pokémon is a Pokémon to me," Vincent reiterated. He really did not think twice about it. She was right about that much. He remembered something that before, but it was more affirmed. Stronger. He seemed to have lost that spark since meeting him. A lot of his convictions were cast in doubt now. "So, just stay quiet while I do most of the talking. I may have a connection or two that still likes me. At least I think I do. I burned a few bridges when I left."

"I'm getting happier that I ran into you by the minute." Christina replied with a flashed smile before her expression became stern, nodding swiftly. "Right. We just need to find this creep who's stealing and selling Pokémon to people. Or maybe just get some evidence to show to Jenny or something."

Vincent nodded. It was nice to know what the end goal was. Either Christina was just as focused (or more likely, completely devoted to this lille job) or she knew what Vincent preferred to hear. The Underground, at this time of day, was beginning to wind down. People were doing their last minute shopping, assessing their hauls of the day, and chattering mindlessly about nonsense things. Hours and hours of shopping and the everyday person still found things to talk about. Truly mystifying. Vincent scoffed at the passerbys as he darted through the maze of people and walked down what appeared to be a sketchy passage. It was as sketchy as narrow, leading down some stairs to the older stores. The real Underground.. Vincent knew exactly who to ask to find the problem Christina was digging into. The one guy that tried going clean before Vincent did.

Vincent and Christina came up to an old collectible store. It sold mostly plushes, figures, posters and various decorations for a variety of rooms, while packed into a small tight space that was hardly more than a stand with a roof, a door, and a small glass counter. The items were almost entirely Pokémon themed, since that is what trends with all age markets. Where you are struggling on your own, you have to meet the costumers halfway. As the two walked in, a small bell rung above them. "Hey, sorry, we are closed for the d--Vince?"

"Long time no see, Mal," Vincent said. Mal was only a couple years older than Vincent, but looked a bit older with a patchy beard, sunken eyes and tired countenace. His pale skin did not help matters. The tall, yet lanky man walked around his counter and embraced the younger man, before catching an eye on Christina.

"Well, well, what do we got here? What's your name, babe?"

Blinking her eyes, Christina turned away from a couple of plushies hanging on the nearby wall to glance over at Vincent and his acquaintance. She then looked over her shoulder at the door and back again with a bewildered expression, which was quickly turning wary. "... Uh. Christina. And you're... 'Mal'?"

"Mal-"

"That's enough," Vincent said, outstreching his hand between the two "lovebirds". Vincent stared daggers at Mal and the taller man conceded with a sigh.

"Man, Vince. You always get the pretty ones. Does your girlfriend have any cute single friends?"

"Wait, you think that Vince and I-" The red-haired girl snorted and sent Vincent a wry smile, giving him a nudge before going back to studying the Poké-plushes.

"Nevermind that," Vincent said, tossing the issue aside. "I need some help and you are probably the only person will talk to me to offer that...kind of help."

Mal's eyes widened as Vincent spoke. He took a few steps back and leaned on the counter. "I don't do that anymore. I went clean long before you went on your tirade."

Vincent was getting visibly frustrated, and looked around the shop. Mal did go clean, but he clearly wasn't very successful given the condition and location of his shop. "Look, you know people, Mal. So throw me something. It doesn't have to a person, but at least a direction."

"Fine. What do you need? I'll point ya. But I'll warn you too, Vince. What you did, many of the guys remember. Even the upper guys," Mal continuned.

"They won't deny a paying customer," Vincent countered. "They apperciate money more than loyalty last I checked."

Glancing over her shoulder, Christina's brows furrowed a little, giving the younger of the two men a small look. She turned back to the rack, bending down with her hands on her knees to take a look at the ones lower down, ears still perked.

Mal shook his head with a smile. "I won't argue that point too much. What do you need?"

"Pokémon," Vincent quickly said. "Too lazy to catch them, and I hear Whitney is tough. So I want to...ya know...collect them some other way." Mal's face twitched, and Vincent could clearly see that Mal knew what Vincent was leading to. Mal was silent though, lips seemingly tight. "You aren't gonna make me say it are you?"

After a second, Mal waved his hands up: "No, no. I know what you mean. There's a guy who's been...offering what you are looking for a price."

"Where?" Vincent said sternly.

"He wanders from place to place, but he tends to work around her in the old city," Mal said plainly. "I don't know his name, but he tends to wear less than covert trenchcoats. Ironic really, but it helps carry the product."

"Trenchcoats, huh...?" Christina muttered, standing up again, leaving the Girafarig plush in its place, turning back towards the two, arms folding across her chest. "That's not exactly a 'good' description. How'll we know it's him?"

Mal shrugged. "The guy is part of a network, so he's probably on a phone. He also likes to stick to corners, so the deals are on the down low. We here in the Underground are not exactly creative, but we don't need to be. The cops here aren't viligant."

"Corners, trenchcoat, phone... right." The female trainer wrinkled her nose a little at the mention of the slacking police before nodding firrmly, glancing at Vince with a smile. "Well, that should give us a pretty good idea of where to go, right Vin?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Mal," Vincent said, offering a hand to shake. "Want anything while I'm shopping?"

Mal smirked. "Business? Send your friends here. We have Bidoof plushies! Who doesn't love Bidoof?"

"I think no one likes that thing," Vincent muttered as the two shook hands. "Let's get going Christina. We got a Pokémon to buy."

"Hey, I happen to like Bidoof. It's very adorkable." She gave Vincent a pretend-pout before glancing back at Mal, giving him a nod. "Thanks for the... uh, help, Mal. You just keep on... being... you, yeah?" She aimed a fingergun at him and hurriedly backed out of the store.

"Yeah, yeah," Mal said, as they left, making sure to give Christina a final elevator-look.

As the door closed, Vincent turned to Christina. "So, how do you want to find your culprit?"

Breathing out slowly as they got back out into the chilly night air, Christina stretched her arms out over her head. "Mrh. I guess we just look for him wherever you think it makes the most sense?"

She paused, glancing up and down the streets, not caring much about meeting the glances of the somewhat shady people shuffling around here and there. "Hrmh... it's pretty late. Maybe he's closing up for the night? So maybe we could follow him home..."

Vincent shook his head: "No, this is where business would start picking up. Less witnesses, less chance of getting caught. Or he may be even stealing a Pokémon right now."

Clenching her fists, Christina frowned, nodding slowly. "All the more reason we need to stop him. I don't want anyone else to experience what I did."

"Right, right. I remember," Vincent nodded in agreement. She probably forgot one of his was stolen too, but no need to bring that up. Violent agreement or not. But then, a lightbulb clicked in the young man's head. "I think I know where to go," Vincent said. "Follow me."

Vincent bolted down a corridor to a path in the Undeground that few people bothered to go. It was where a bunch of less popular shops and stands where at, and places that tended to close up a bit earlier than the rest. It was also a place that Vincent often called home before his father ran off. As they got closer, Vincent halted his pace and hugged the wall that turned left into another corridor. He held his hand to halt Christina and looked around the corner.

Christina stumbled to a halt, after sprinting after Vincent due to his sudden departure. She managed to catch herself before falling over, giving him a confused glance before peeking around the corner with him.

"He's there," Vincent whispered, gesturing with his head. Down the hall, a smaller man was seen shouting into a phone. His dark grey trenchcoat scraped the ground and he wore a black baseball cap as well, hiding the features of his face from Vincent's eyes. "Got any ideas?"

"... You think that's him?" She muttered, squinting at the guy. She couldn't see his face, but he -definitely- looked shady, and he had a few pokéballs attached to his trenchcoat. Biting her lower lip, she watched him for a while before nodding to herself. "We'll follow him. If we can find out where he lives, there's bound to be evidence."

Vincent shook his head. "No, I have a strange feeling he'd catch us before that. There are only so many places to hide in the city," he replied. "But I have a better idea now that I think of it. His phone. Nab his phone and you have his contacts. The cops can take it from there. It would also ruin his business for a couple days until he got a new one."

"Nice! I like it!" Christina pointed at Vincent with a grin before returning her glance to the man babbling away on the phone, a small frown twisting her lips downwards. "But how're we going to get a hold of it when he's jabbering like that?"

"Not sure," Vincent admitted. "Probably gotta make him drop somehow. Spook him or something."

"Spook him, huh...?" Christina pondered, watching the man's flailing arm gestures. A wry smile played on her lips as she took a step back. "I think I've got just the guy for the job."

Reaching into the pouch on her hip, she pulled out one of her pokéballs. Flicking it open, the light faded to reveal Shade, her Haunter, who promptly slicked his 'hair' back and made fingerguns at Vincent.

"Really?" Vincent said in disbelief before looking over to Christina.

Christina waved off Vincent's comment and focused on her Pokémon. "Shade, I need you to scare the guy around the corner. We need to get a hold of his phone, so it has to be a -really- good scare. Okay?"

Blinking his eyes, this was the first time since she'd caught him that she saw the Haunter without his trademark grin or smirk. He just looked... stunned, at being asked to do just about his favourite thing in the world; pranking.

Rubbing his hands together, the Haunter grinned and slowly turned invisible, disappearing from sight. Breathing out slowly, Christina nodded to Vincent, leaning out from around the corner to peer at the man again. "Alright... here goes."

"No, I'm telling you, I can get it! I just need a day or two, to find someone with one. Yeah, yeah, as long as you bring the money." The man growled into the phone. As he was receiving another reply, a loud bang of a trashcan falling over sounded from down a nearby alley.

The man spun around, eyes wide as he stared down into the darkness. "... Hello? Who's there?" After receiving no answer, he reached for one of the pokéballs by his waist. "Maybe it's a wild Pokémon..." he muttered.

He felt a sudden tap on his shoulder and spun around again, faced with nothing but the vaguely illuminated pathway he was standing on. His head snapped left and right to see whoever had poked him, as he received another one, from behind him again.

"Gah! What the hell's going on here?!" he cried out as he turned again. Just as he did, he blinked, looking down. His trenchcoat was... moving. Slowly, he reached up to grab at its flaps and pull them aside, revealing... nothing, save for his shirt, with a skull logo on it. The weird thing was, that he didn't remember putting a shirt with a logo on today.

As he watched it, the skull began exiting his shirt, floating up in front of him and turning black, twisting and morphing, while he just stared in terror, phone dropping from his hand. The skull's mouth opened and let out a screech right in his face.

The man shrieked in fear and spun around, sprinting down the street, as fast as his legs could carry him. After a moment or so, the skull shifted fully back into the Haunter, hands behind his head, floating on his 'back' with a sly grin.

Christina grinned and lightly punched Vincent's shoulder. "See? Told you!" She snickered as she moved out from their hiding spot towards the phone.

"Alright, you got me," Vincent said. "I'm impressed." Vincent walked over and picked up the phone on the ground before inspecting it briefly. "Well, good news and bad news," Vincent said as he flipped the phone open. "It isn't protected, but its a burner. Means the phone will have some contacts and information, but it was a temporary phone. Not too much work with it, in other words."

Frowning a little, Christina folded her arms across her chest, Shade floating over to rest his hands on Vincent's shoulders, peeking at the phone from behind him. "Well, I guess it's better than nothing, right? At least there should be fingerprints on it!"

Vincent shrugged, first to Christina's response and second to shake off Shade. "Maybe? Assuming the guy has any priors, he'll be in the database. Unless he's a clever rookie, then the fingerprints mean shit."

Shade huffed as he was shaken off, instead slowly moving his finger up to Vincent's ear, wiggling it ever so slightly closer. Christina nodded her head, shrugging her shoulders. "Well, he didn't seem all that bright. So fingers crossed. It's the only lead we have anyway. Let's go tell the officer!" And on that note, she turned on her heel and began walking down an alley, as if she even had a clue where to go.

"Um, Christina? It's quicker to go the other way..."

Blinking, the redhead came to a stop, turning around to look at him. Narrowing her eyes at him for a moment, she then marched in the opposite direction. "... I'm so glad I've got you with me, Vince." Shade nodded in agreement, his finger halfway inside of Vincent's ear at this point.

"Oh, knock it off, Ghostie!" Vincent growled before guiding Christina back to the police station. Shade did not knock it off on their way back.

It was about a half hour's walk back through the bustling city before they reached the police station, which was just as lit up as everything else in Goldenrod. Christina hopped up the steps to the interior, where the officer she'd run into earlier was talking to someone in a lab coat.

"Officer! I've got something you need to look at, and I think you'll be -very- happy."

The woman blinked, glancing at the red-haired girl before muttering to the man in the coat, who then took off down a hall. She turned to Christina and smiled, planting her hands on her hips. "Well well, I see you found your way back to main street. What do you have to show me?"

"I think we've just caught ourselves a Pokémon-nabber." She grinned proudly, folding her arms across her chest. Behind her, Vincent came trudging into the police station, with Shade doing his very best to annoy the boy.

"... Well, well. I knew you were a bad egg, but -Pokémon nabbing-? Didn't honestly think we'd see you in here again, Vincent."

"Oh, yes. Totally. I've moved from minor vandalism and loitering to Pokémon stealing. Just a natural progression, officer," Vincent said, with his hands up.

"Uh, actually." Christina jumped in, raising a finger. "Vincent helped me find the guy. And alot more than that, too." She glanced back at Vincent, motioning for him to give the woman the phone. Shade had meanwhile taken an interest in jump-scaring whoever walked into the building.

Cautiously, Vincent reached into his pocket and dropped the cell phone onto the desk. "It's probably a burner, but you will at least have a few leads to follow up on. If the police bother to follow up this time around," he muttered.

Raising her brows, the woman picked up the phone, opening it and flicking through it a little, before glancing back down at the two teens, Christina smiling broadly at the woman. "... Hmh. Didn't think I'd ever get to say this, but... good job, Vincent. And... girl."

Christina was about to open her mouth to correct the woman, but she held up the phone in front of them. "I'm going to show this to the chief. You may be called in for questioning, so stay -right- here, for now." She said this while looking at Vincent, before walking off.

"... Sheesh. Police officers are so strict." Christina commented, folding her arms across her chest.

"Preaching to the choir," Vincent said. "They also don't trust me in particular, since I used to run with the gangs in the city, especially after...well, nevermind that."

The red-haired girl turned to leaning against the desk, watching Vincent thoughtfully. "You ran with a gang? I mean, I kiiinda know about how you grew up, I guess, but...?"

"I ran with a handful. More of a drifter really. Anything to make a little extra cash when mom and dad weren't pulling their weight," Vincent confessed, crossing his arms and reminiscing about the past in one swoop. "But then I threw a bunch of them under the bus when I got caught one time too many. Hence why, I only have so many connections left in the Underground. Mal is the only one if I am honest with myself, since he went clean a little before I turned a bunch of the smaller gangs inside out."

Nodding her head slowly, the girl watched her friend for a moment, shifting a little in her spot. "Why did you do it? I mean..." She paused, lowering her gaze as she was reminded of their first meeting, breathing out through her nose as she looked up again. "Was it about money? Or was there something else?"

Vincent sighed and leaned up against the desk too. He refused to make eye contact, or even look in Christina's direction. He never expected to get into this deep conversation about himself. He was tempted, more so obssessed with the idea of deflecting the conversation. It seemed more right to do that, especially considering his problems were his problems. Only Bugsy and Melody knew the heart of his struggles. "Money was a big part of it," he eventually said. "There was some other stuff going on, I'm sure. But I told myself it was about the money."

Christina watched him quietly, the usually cheery attitude temporarily boxed away. She looked out through the open entrance at the loud, busy, brightly-lit city. Eventually, she smiled gently and placed a hand on Vincent's back. "Listen, Vince. I know we haven't known each other for that long, but... you're a good guy. You've got some issues showing that you care, but I know that you do." She breathed out through her nose and retracted her hand again. "If you -ever- need anything... you let me know, okay? It's what friends are for."

Before Vincent could reply, the officer came walking back, with a look of distate on her face, carrying two small bundles. Christina gave Vincent a little glance before smiling, giving his shoulder a small bump with her own, as she stepped away from the counter. "So! What'd he say?"

"He said-" She began, in a rather agressive tone of voice, taking a moment to recover. "... That you both did a very good job, so you deserve a reward." She held up the bundles, the frown becoming even more prominent. "... If you promise not to look into this matter any more, and leave the matter to the police."

Vincent turned to Christina and whispered: "It means they won't actually investigate much more." Smirking with confidence, he refocused on the officer. "So what's our reward then?"

The woman huffed a little, not happy with Vincent's assessment. Whether he was rright or not, they weren't sure. She held out the bundles to the two. "Don't spend it all in one place." She nodded and headed off.

Christina gave Vincent a curious look and a quirked brow, as she unwrapped the cloth, eyes widening. "Holy sh... edinja! There's so much money here!"

"Well, this will be helpful. Thank you, officer. Never imagined I would say that and actually mean it," he said with a strange smirk.

The woman waved over her shoulder as she walked off. Christina quickly counted the money before firmly bundling them up again, tucking them into the pouch by her side. She stretched her arms out over her head and let out a small groan. "Nrrh. Phew. What a night! Thanks, Vince. I couldn't have done it without you." She turned to smile at the boy.

"Yeah, no problem. I guess. I'm going to head over to the center now for some shut eye," Vincent said aimlessly as he took his half of the reward. "So I'll see you around or something. If you need a guide, just let me know. I'm probably more useful than a cop in this city."

"I'll keep it in mind, Vince! See you!" She headed out of the police station and gave him a wave and a smile before taking off, down the street.

​

Morgan ft. Melody Hughes // Goldenrod City - Part II


badges:
in pc:

CURRENT ATTIRE:

Melody Hughes

Goldenrod City

Chapter 10-3 | Reunion

Current Party:

A yawn escaped Melody's lips as she turned yet another corner of the winding and seemingly endless streets of Goldenrod City. The brown-haired girl had lost track of just how much time had past since she had left Bill's house with her new Eevee and once more resumed her search for her father. While receiving a new partner (One as adorable and rare as an Eevee of all things...) would normally call for a celebration, Melody managed to keep herself focused solely on the task at hand. In a sense, it was like watching something out of science fiction movie, one of those that focuses on an android hunting down the fate of humanity with no regard for anything or anyone else going on around it. Heck, Melody had not even taken the time to let the Eevee out of its ball, much less name it.

"Melody...?" a familiar voice called out, belonging to none other than the girl's Bayleef. Blossom had come out of her Pokéball sometime ago during the girl's seemingly endless wanderings of the streets. The grass-type was starting to get more than just a little worried about Melody's intent on finding her father. "I don't think we're going to find him tonight... Maybe we can go back to the Pokémon Center and rest up? Start fresh in the morning? I'm sure Christina will be worried if we aren't back be-"

Melody shook her head, quickly turning to face the Bayleef. "We're not going back, Blossom! Besides, we don't have time to do that, anyways. The television commercial said that the old man was only going to be in the city for one night... tonight! That means that he'll probably take off after this interview or whatever it is, and our chances of seeing him go down the toilet after that. Johto's a huge region... if he even stays here! If I'm going to do this, it has to be tonight!"

Blossom looked less than assured by Melody's determination. She glanced around, taking in the sights of the multitude of people still shuffling about the city sidewalks. "But... This place is so big. We've been walking so long, I don't even know where we are anymore."

Melody flashed her Bayleef a quick, yet bright smile. "Relax! I know exactly where we're going! Just keep moving!"

Without waiting for Blossom's response, the teenage trainer resumed her walk through the city streets. Truth be told, the longer they wandered about, the more worried Melody became. Goldenrod City was starting to become like a maze to the girl. They had taken so many twists and turns, that Melody honestly doubted if she even could find her way back... At least, not alone. There was always the chance that she could use Hawk to help find her way back. The only problem was that the Swellow's behavior since it evolved after her battle with Bugsy had been so strange, that Melody wondered if she could even rely on Hawk for that much. Regardless, there was no way that the trainer was going to let Blossom know about all that. The last thing she needed or wanted was to cause the Bayleef to go into a panic over the situation.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE!" a booming voice suddenly called out, managing to snap the trainer from her thoughts.

Melody glanced around, looking for the source of the sound when she noticed a rather... busy gathering across the street in what appeared to be a small park of sorts. Raising an eyebrow, Melody quickly took off running across the street. The sudden speed at which the girl took off surprised Blossom, causing the Bayleef to call out to her as she tried her best to catch up to her trainer. It did not take too long at all for the duo to arrive in the park. A stage of sorts had been constructed in the middle, where a man stood shouting into a microphone, doing his best to get the crowd excited.

"I know you've been anxiously awaiting this moment for sometime now! Well, your patience is about to pay off! Taking some time out of his busy schedule, we are pleased to present you with one of our region's most illustrious and esteemed trainers! Hailing from Cherrygrove City, this man is a true inspiration to behold! From humble beginnings, he climbed his way up the ranks and challenged the Champion himself! He has taken part in many tournaments and contests, never failing to show the world just what it means to be a Pokémon trainer! Of course, I speak of no one, but the one and only... CLIFF HUGHES!"

The crowd began to roar with excitement, many of them jumping up and down, waving there arms and shouting the man's name. Melody merely stood in the back of the crowd. Her eyes wide as the man's name left the announcer's lips. She was here. She had finally found her father. The search had finally come to its end, and yet... Melody could not bring herself to move forward. It was as if her legs had turned to jelly. Blossom seemed to be aware of this, the Bayleef glancing towards the stage and then back to her trainer. A worried look was in her eyes as she noticed the increasingly strange behavior of Melody.

"Thank you, thank you all!" a deeper, somewhat cocky male voice called out over the screams of the crowd. It was a voice from the distant past. It was a voice that Melody had only heard in her dreams for the past ten years. "It's an honor to be here in Goldenrod City... A magnificent, strong city that fills me with so many memories of the past..."

Snapping out of her trance-like state, Melody clenched her fist before suddenly diving into the crowd. Once more, her Bayleef was doing everything in her power to call out Melody's name and get the trainer's attention. Once more, the calls fell onto deaf ears. Melody shoved her way past countless people, ignoring their looks of confusion and glares as she wormed her way to the front of the crowd. The stage was now perfectly in view... He was now perfectly in view.


He was tall... even taller than Melody remembered. The man stood at an impressive height of 6'2". His build was solid, a sign that despite the fame and fortune he had taken into, that the man still took care of himself. His hair was a light shade of brown, matching that of his beard. Not one strand of gray hair could be seen in it. His eyes were a deep, piercing, sapphire blue, reminding Melody of her sister's eye color (and the only thing outside of height they seemed to be different in). A confident smirk graced the man's lips, a cigar hanging out as he took a satisfying puff while waiting for the crowd's fainting echoes and cheers to die down. A green collared shirt with red necktie graced his torso, covered by what appeared to be a rather fancy and expensive black, leather coat. With just as impressive boots and slacks, it was clear to Melody that this man was doing very well for himself.

The crowd's cheers gradually died down and the man began to address them all once more. "For those of you who don't know... which means I can only assume you're up past your bedtime or lived under a rock, my name is Cliff Hughes. I make my living as a professional Pokémon trainer... And as most will tell you, I'm one of the best damned ones in the business. I've taken on countless trainers, novice and veteran alike! I've challenged gym leaders, the Elite 4, and even gone toe to toe with the Champion!" His smirk seemed to grow wider and wider as he bragged, all while Melody's eyes formed a rather sharp, piercing glare. "But it was not easy... well, at least at the start! I had to climb my way to the top where I am now. It was a long, lonely road... filled with countless sacrifices and hardships. I was just a normal man when my journey began. No friends, no money, no family... but despite it all, I never gave up! It was with raw determination and intense work that I made it to where I am today! And tonight, you have the privilege of knowing some of my great secrets on how to become a success! That's right, you're going to learn some of the finer points of being a trainer, that people such as the Champion and gym leaders don't want you to know!"

The crowd began to roar with excitement and cheer the man's name once more. Melody simply stood there, watching Cliff speak with such energy and pride. It was disgusting. Alone...? No money? No family? All of it was nothing more than a pack of lies! While they were never rich, the money he made as a typical trainer and her mother's money as a Pokémon Center nurse were more than enough to get by! Not to mention all the support her mother, herself, and Emily gave to him before he took off and disappeared for ten years! Melody could feel her anger rising from just looking at the man. Her fists were clenched as she looked down at the ground.

"Y... You... You damn, dirty liar!" Melody suddenly shouted out.

The area around her was suddenly dead quiet. Melody's eyes widened at the realization of the words that had just left her mouth. Her face suddenly felt quite hot, as if every eye in the crowd was suddenly drilling into her intently. Slowly, gazing up towards the stage, she found Cliff and the announcer both staring at her strangely, as if she was some alien that just beamed down from the stars and threatened to blow up the planet.

It was Cliff that finally broke the silence. "...Can I... help you, young lady...?"

Melody felt herself tense up nervously. She had rehearsed this in her head for so long. She had often had dreams about how she thought confronting this man would go. However now that the moment she had been waiting for finally arrived, Melody found herself wanting nothing more than to disappear back into the night and hide. Her lips were dry, her hands shaking in anticipation as after what seemed like hours, Melody finally lifted her head and met Cliff's gaze with her own. Olive-green eyes were staring intently into those piercing, sapphire-blue.

"I... I said... you're a liar... A liar!" Melody snapped. "You... You left us... You just took off and said the hell with anyone! All you did for the past ten years was think of no one, but yourself! You abandoned mom... Emily... me... All so you could line your own damn pockets with money and fame! Well, I'm putting an end to that right here and now!"

Cliff raised an eyebrow. "And just who are you supposed to be...?"

"I'm your daughter!" Melody snapped back.

Her words echoed across the park, the silence still spreading across the crowd. Those words seemed to float through the air forever, until Cliff suddenly chuckled....which then turned into a full on laugh... which caused the announcer to join in... which caused the crowd gathered around the stage to join in. All of them laughing at the brown-haired trainer.

"That's a good one, kid... A real knee slapper!" Cliff taunted. "There's just two problems with that... Number one, I'm not married. Number two, if I had a kid...? It wouldn't be some scrawny runt like you! Someone come pick this kid up! I think it's past her bedtime anyways!"

The taunts from Cliff caused the crowd to laugh even more at Melody. This did little to help the trainer with her rising anger, which was so high at this point she was practically boiling. Crossing her arms over her chest, Melody narrowed her gaze at Cliff into a full-blown glare.

"The only thing that's a joke around here is you," Melody snapped back. "I bet you couldn't train your way out of a paper bag, much less battle!"

The crowd once more fell silent. Cliff simply stood there, staring down at the girl in silence. This time, it was the announcer who broke the silence. The man took a few steps forward, glaring down at the noisy girl.

"Young lady, I don't know you are... but you're quickly becoming a bother! These fine people came here to see a true star, not some rude brat who needs some severe discipline!" the announcer shouted. "Security, get her out of here!"

Before she could even react, two tall and bulky Machoke appeared and grabbed hold of Melody's arms. The two muscle-bound Pokémon effortlessly lifted the short trainer off the ground and began to carry her away from the stage and the crowd. Laughter once more filled the air, but Melody ignored all of it. The trainer was much more focused on trying (and failing) to escape the grasp the Machoke security guards. Thankfully, they did not manage to get too far before a familiar face managed to get in their way. Blossom had finally managed to make it up to where Melody was, the Bayleef quick to slam into one of the Machoke, causing it to lose its grip on the girl.

"Wait a moment!" Cliff suddenly called out. Silence once more washed over the crowd. Cliff stared down at Melody and her Bayleef. The smirk once more graced his lips. "Kid, is that Bayleef yours?"

Melody nodded in response. "Unlike you, I'm a real trainer!"

"Why you..." the announcer began again, only to be silenced when Cliff merely raised his hand.

"So... you're a trainer then..." Cliff muttered. "How about we make things a bit more interesting...? An exhibition battle, if you're interested?!"

"M-Mr. Hughes, you can't be serious?!" the announcer stammered out. "You said it yourself, she's nothing more than a scrawny little brat. I doubt she even has a badge!"

Cliff merely shook his head at the announcer. "A kid that young wouldn't be out in the middle of Goldenrod City this late unless they had... some grasp of training Pokémon. Besides, I think it would make this show much more interesting if these fine people got to see me in action, yeah?"

Taking note of the confident smirk on Cliff's face, the announcer nodded. "Yes... Yes, you're right! The ratings would go through the roof..." He paused, turning his attention back to Melody. "What do you say, kid? Care for a battle against the great Cliff Hughes?!"

Melody remained silent, letting everything that just happened so quickly process through her mind. It was time. It was finally time. She had left for this journey with this goal being in mind, to battle and defeat her father... to humiliate him and punish him for his sins against her family... And yet... she found herself to be filling with more unease.

"Come on kid, do you wanna battle or not?!" Cliff called out this time.

Melody finally returned to reality, slowly nodding her head. "Y-Yeah... Yeah! I do!"

The announcer quickly too back the microphone and began to excitedly shout into it once more. "And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen! A special exhibition match has just been arranged between our guest of honor and this young girl! I hope you're as excited as I am, because I get the feeling we're in for a special treat!"

The Machoke let Melody go as the crowd began to cheer in excitement once more. Roars and applause began to echo out through the park, sending waves of adrenaline rushing through Melody's body. Blossom slowly made her way close to her trainer, the Bayleef not sure how to feel.

"Are you sure this is a good idea...?" Blossom whispered to the girl. "...I don't think he's going to be like anyone else we've battled so far..."

"We'll be just fine," Melody replied, her eyes never leaving Cliff as she began to make her way back towards the stage. Blossom was close behind as she walked, anticipation growing with every step. "Everything we've worked for comes to a point right here... Cliff Hughes... I will defeat you!"