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The Original Word Doc (Automatically Updated): Steps to Simplicity (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/47236506/Steps%20to%20Simplicity.docx)
(If I continue writing the story, all future posts will have a notification to download the document!

Chapter 1: Green Town Entrance

    I remember right after my twelfth birthday, I had something extraordinary happen to me. I was visiting my dad in Lilycove City for my birthday. My parents divorced when I was four, so I got to visit my dad for my birthday and Christmas. We always had so much fun, since the city is right on the water, like Seattle is. We'd visit the beach, get on my dad's Lapras and go water skiing and then go swimming with the Mantyke and Horsea. As I was leaving to go home, my dad said something. "I know you may have not done many things like the kids your age are doing now," he told me. "Your time has come. The government lets you go on a journey from leaving school at the age of 10, but you mother and I just wanted you to study. I will entrust you with this Poké Ball." He gave me a Poké Ball, but it wasn't like a normal one – it was purple on the top half and white on the bottom half, with two pink mounds on the top of it, with an "M" embossed on the top. "Now, don't lose this ball," my dad told me. "It is extremely important. Also, when you arrive home, there might be something great in store for you, if you can deliver this ball unharmed to Professor Oak." "Gotcha dad!" I replied. He went up to the ticket counter and got my ticket. I gave my father a huge hug and waved bye as I entered the security checkpoint at the airport.

   I was sitting in Lilycove International Airport, waiting for my flight to Viridian City to begin boarding. I looked out the window into the deep blue ocean, so calm, so tranquil.  Nothing could stir the ocean in its stillness. It would be my last glimpse of Lilycove City in a long time (not to mention, I'm a sucker for a good landscape). I took out the Poké Ball and looked at it. In the United States, Poké Balls are illegal to be carried on a plane and Pokémon are not allowed on a plane unless they are classified by the Global Pokémon Body as a Normal Type and contain a Pokémon less than 50kg (meaning no Snorlax), but here, Poké Balls are locked from use while in the air. I opened my pack to find a book my dad put in there. I read the title: Pokémon and Modern Society. It seemed to be interesting; I always wanted to know how Pokémon made it to the rest of the world. I opened the book into Chapter One. It was titled The Verdant Republic.

 Basically, Pokémon were discovered in the Verdant Republic, a group of five large islands, called regions, as well as smaller archipelagos. There are six main regions: Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Merin, and Unova. Kanto and Johto are on the same island, Isla Kanto. Hoenn is a smaller island to the southwest of Johto, which is on the west side of Isla Kanto, Sinnoh is a large island to the northeast of Kanto, Merin is west of Sinnoh and north of Johto, and Unova is northwest of Hoenn.  Before 1870, the people of the Verdant Republic spoke Fushigidane, a now-dead language, a variant of Japanese. The Japanese were the only outside people who were in contact with the six Kingdoms (each region was a Kingdom).

In 1850, Vermilion City was discovered by French explorer Marquis Jacques de Verdant. In 1910, the English took control of Goldenrod City. There was a massive battle between the two forces which resulted in the English taking control of the entire nation. Unlike the Western European countries, the then-Kingdom of Kanto was technologically advanced compared to England, launching their first human into space in 1843 from the Mossdeep City Spaceport. It seems so interesting, to learn about a complete civilization that wasn't eradicated. When the English took control of Goldenrod City, the entire nation was split in two, with Johto, Hoenn and Unova going to the British and Kanto, Merin and Sinnoh to the French (as well as the Orange Archipelago and the Sevii Islands). Actually, for about a week, the British controlled the entire group of islands, but French resistance made them relinquish possessions (with help from the Americans, of course). In 1945, after World War II, the British withdrew power from the area and the French stayed in control.

The three regions under British control were then sovereign and formed the Verdant Republic, recognizing their roots of discovery, with a capital centered in Rustboro City. The French "Départment d'outre-mer: Merin" with its capital in Carnelian City, in Merin. The French finally offered their territories sovereignty in 1972, and they combined with the Verdant Republic, calling them the latter and centering at Goldenrod City. English and French became the official languages of the Republic, though French is rarely used. This was all interesting history; I never learned this in school. I wasn't like most people, I was born in the United States and we moved to Pallet Town when I was eight because my mom's then-boyfriend wanted us to go there. We decided to stay, except with one thing we didn't know about. These were the animals we call Pokémon

   Pokémon have always lived in the Verdant Republic with no threats from outside countries. Lavender Town, in Kanto is only 324 miles west of Perth, Australia. A plane ride from the Verdant Republic's main airport in Goldenrod to Perth is only under two hours. The airport in Jubilife City is only about 45 minutes. The only flights to the United States directly are from Goldenrod City, and they go to Los Angeles and Seattle, and they just opened these routes with the introduction of the Boeing 777-200LR, because the flights are over 9,000 miles and takes almost 18 hours. So, we are close to civilization of what these people call the "civilized world". Even though Pokémon have existed since the dawn of time with man, there are still many discoveries about them as we progress in time and have major technological breakthroughs.

   The laws in the Verdant Republic are similar to the laws of the Western World, but there are some slight variations. Back on Constitution Day, in the Gregorian calendar, March 9, 1427, Pokémon had to be considered in the laws since they were with humans for the most part of their lives, and interacted with them daily. People are only allowed to carry six Pokémon at a time, unless they are a Pokémon Professor or Researcher, then they can carry 10. If one leaves the country jurisdictions, one can only take two Pokémon off the approved list. If one fails to break these laws, the Poké Balls will be transferred to the storage system at their regional professor lab or Pokémon Center. Poké Balls are an enigma of machinery. They [Poké Balls] are registered to a certain person, they can teleport anywhere within the Verdant Republic, they can collapse (even with a Pokémon inside) and they can hold any size Pokémon. They are either by two companies: Silph or Devon, or made out of certain fruits called Apricorns. Other laws protect children and their Pokémon. Children are allowed to apply for a trainer's license at the age of 10. If they pass a test, they are given a Pokédex and a starter Pokémon, only available in that region. They are allowed to participate in their regional league. I wasn't allowed because my parents wouldn't let me and wanted to stay in school. I finally realized their decision was the right one, and I may move back to the United States when I go there to attend College.

   In the Verdant Republic, training with a Pokémon is considered a diploma from a Secondary Education School, though it offers and education system similar to the one in the United States. When a person turns 18, they are given a Secondary Education diploma, given that a student spent their last year studying for college. Pokémon are part of the average daily lives of everyone in the Verdant Republic. I looked up, next to the gate agent was a Mr. Mime collecting boarding passes for the Rustboro flight. For example, people use Fighting types for building (like Machoke), Grass Type Pokémon for plant care (like Rosrade), and Water Types for swimming instruction (like Staryu), or a Meowth for Noodle Shops.

   A voice came on the PA, "Now Boarding all rows for Flight 219 to Viridian City. Please show all Poké Balls to the gate agent for inspection." I got up and stood in line to get on the plane. People had to show Poké Balls just to make sure that their manifest was correct with the amount of Pokémon travelling with a person and that it matched their tickets. I arrived to one of the gate agents. "How many Pokémon do you have with you?" she asked me. "I don't own any," I replied. "I do have this Poké Ball for Professor Oak, though." "Oh, yes," she stated. "The ticketing counter told us about you. Thank you! Please give your ticket to the Machamp ahead. Have a nice flight!" "Thanks!" I added. I got on the plane and I realized where I was sitting; I had a First Class ticket! I was excited; this was a first for me.

   After the plane took off, I just sat and read the magazines from the seat in front of me. After I got bored of that, I looked out the window. I could see off in the distance, two Pokémon; one was red, the other was blue. I wondered what they were doing all the way up here, but then I thought they were just lost bird Pokémon. I looked down and we were flying over Mossdeep City, and it was pretty this time of day. The flight in total took a little under two hours. I picked up Pokémon and Modern Society and began the next chapter. This chapter was entitled The Magic of the Poké ball

   In the world, there are twenty-one variants of a basic Poké Ball. There are others, ones used of tourneys and events like in the Safari Zones of the various regions. When a Poké Ball is bought or received, the trainer encodes his ID into the ball by waving the "Read Poké Ball" sensor on the Pokédex and pressing "Encode ID" on the touchscreen. This sensor also is used to determine the moves known by a Pokémon and its nature all from within the Poké Ball. As I mused before, an invisible airwave teleportation system exists within the borders of the Verdant Republic. With this in place, the airwaves know when one exceeds his/her limit of carrying Pokémon, and will transfer Pokémon to the Regional Professor or their Hometown storage facility (it all depends whether you received your first Pokémon from Nurse Joy or a Professor). I turned the page and it gave a pictorial description of each ball, its catch rate and its special uses (if applicable). I took out the ball my dad gave me and I looked to find it in the book.

Before I could look at the name, the man sitting next to me said, "So, you've got a Master Ball." "Uh, yes," I replied. I looked at the man; he was tall, with grey hair and seemed kind of intimidating. He spoke with a deep voice, and for some reason I felt like he would just steal the Poké Ball from me and hold it above my head, making me jump for it and beg. "How did someone your age get a hold of one of those?" he asked me. "Those balls take about 3 months to produce one. Devon and Silph only release about eight a year, between the two companies." "I didn't know that!" I answered. "The ball, however, is for Professor Oak. I'm just on my way to give it to him. Just what exactly does this ball do?" "This ball can catch any Pokémon without weakening it. It's the perfect Poké Ball. These aren't even sold; they are given to special people." "Wow, so these are really rare," I answered. "Indeed they are," the man noted. "How'd did you get ahold of the ball in the first place?" "I was here visiting my father. He went on a trip to Rustboro for three days and came back with it. He then gave it to me to take to Professor Oak," I said. "Do you know Professor Oak well?" the man said. "He's my neighbor, so of course!" I retorted. "When I turned 10, he pressured my parents to let me go on a journey with a Pokémon and enter the Indigo League, but they both disagreed." "So, you have past age 10 without gaining a Pokémon?" the man said. "That's right," I answered.

I looked out the window and saw a larger city beneath us with a tall tower and a big clearing that has a bunch of rubble in the middle. On top of this tower, I saw a gold looking bird, just enjoying its day and eating something. "The great thing is," I continued while looking out. "There's something big waiting for me when I arrive home." "Well, congratulations, on whatever it is," the man replied. "I forgot to ask. Who exactly is your father?" "Oh," I responded. "His name's Alex Norman." "Wait, THE Alex Norman?" the man questioned. "Is he the Alex Norman that is the Chairman of the Devon Corporation?" "That's him alright," I answered. "He goes to Rustboro about 3 days a week. You know him?" "I do, but not from his work at Devon," the man responded. "He and I go way back. He used to be the Sinnoh Elite Four Champion he passed it down to Cynthia." "What's the Elite Four?" I asked. "You don't know?" The man said as he looked at me as if I asked a stupid question. "You'll find out soon enough." The man then got up and went towards the back of the plane. "Attention passengers," one of the flight attendants came on the PA system. "We are beginning our descent into Viridian City. Please make sure your seats are upright for landing. Thank you for flying Air Verdant." I looked my window; I saw a large plateau with a bunch of stadia and a few towers. I always wondered what that place was. It was pretty built up for not being that populated. I know someday, I'll find out what that place is. Whenever I asked the question to Professor Oak, he would quickly change the subject.

The plane landed around 4 PM, and I looked outside at the trees engulfing the airfield. It wasn't the largest airport, but it was the second largest in Kanto after the Saffron-Celadon-Cerulean Airport. Viridian was about a 3 hour drive south from Pewter, and it usually took us about an hour and a half to get home in traffic. I walked into the main terminal where my mom stood with a Happiny standing next to her. I ran with open arms (though I had a backpack on and bags hanging on to my arms) and gave her a huge hug. "Welcome home, Drew," my mom said. "How was your dad's?" "It was fun," I remarked. "I want to see Professor Oak immediately when I get home." I looked around for the man who I talked to on the plane. "Ok, let's go home!" my mom replied. "There are some people who want to see you!" "Who?" I asked. Just then a Growlithe and a Skitty came running up to me and knocking me to the floor. "Growlithe! Skitty! It is so nice to see you two again!" I exclaimed. Growlithe then proceeded to lick me like crazy. "Growlithe, stop," I said. "Not until we get home." I stood up and Skitty jumped up on my shoulder. "So, mom, how come you have a Happiny?" I asked. "Professor Oak gave him to me," she answered. "He thinks I may need her to help around the house." "Sounds cool, let's get home!" Happiny then proceeded to take all the bags and go out to the car.


Here's Chapter 2. There's a Cliff hanger at the end.

Chapter 2: You Mean What?

       I was so excited to return home, though I love spending time in Hoenn. I wanted to see what this huge surprise my father was talking about. I clutched the Master Ball in my hand waiting to see what was going to happen. I burst out of the car the instant my mother pulled into the driveway. "I'll be back soon!" I yelled running down the road to Professor Oak's lab. By the time I reached the top step of the flight of stairs that led to the Professor's lab, I was exhausted beyond belief, using my arms to pull me atop the landing at the top. After waiting a few minutes, I got enough strength to pull myself up and get to the door. I rang the bell and I heard a fast scurry on the inside. By now, the sun had set behind the hills to the east and the Velbert and Illumine came out lighting the warm June night, making light patterns off in the distance.

 A light next to the door turned on and the door flung open. Professor Oak stood at the door perplexed. "You're not Chinese food..." the Professor said scratching his head. "I have something for you," I stated. "Can I come in?" Before Professor Oak could say anything, I ran right inside toward his den. I came to a screeching halt when I saw what I saw. The man who was sitting next to me on the plane was sitting on Professor Oak's couch. He looked somehow a little different than on the plane. "Professor, I have a present from my father," I said. I handed him the Master Ball. "It has been many years since I have seen one of these," the Professor answered as he gazed mysteriously at the Poké Ball. "Professor, I don't mean to alarm you," I began. "But the man sitting in your den was this mysterious man that sat next to me on the plane and asked my lots of questions." "Oh, I was going to wait until tomorrow, but what the heck," the Professor said. "Come!" I followed the Professor into the den.

The man stood up. He was wearing a white lab coat, similar to that of Professor Oak's, but with a gray S on the right sleeve. "Drew, this is Professor Rowan," Professor Oak said. "He is a colleague of mine, the regional professor from the Sinnoh region." "It is finally a pleasure to introduce myself, Drew," Professor Rowan replied. "Professor Oak and I do have a surprise for you, but it will have to wait until tomorrow, since we aren't finished with it yet." "But I've been waiting all morning," I complained. "Trust me, we can't unveil our surprise until everyone is here," Professor Oak responded.  "Now go on home, and get some rest. Come back at 8 AM tomorrow." "Ok, then," I answered. I bolted out of the lab and ran straight home. I quickly got into bed because of all energy I burnt when I ran back home. I didn't even bother to take any article of clothing off, not even my shoes. 
I woke up just a few minutes before 5 AM. I shot out of bed and flipped on all the lights. Skitty came walking out from her little kitty house with that dazed look in her eyes, not knowing what happened. She let out a big cat yawn and walked toward me. "Today's the big day Skitty," I said. "I just can't focus." I sat down on the couch in our living room and sat there for almost half an hour just petting Skitty and wondering what this huge surprise was: A brand new Pokémon, a change to go to Sinnoh or even Merin, a PokéDex... so many possibilities. Then, to pass the time, I took out the book that my dad gave me and opened to Chapter Three: The Pokémon League
In the Verdant Republic, there are six Official Pokémon Leagues, and an unofficial one. Each region has their respective league, including the Orange Islands with the seventh and unofficial league. To participate in the league championships of each individual league, one must visit and win in each of the Eight Gyms located throughout the region. After all eight "Gym Badges" are obtained; one may enter in the Pokémon League of their respective region. What makes this a fool proof system is that the badges are hand made by the Gym Leaders themselves, and are given a special serial number and embedded chip to prove their authenticity. They can only be stored in League approved cases, because when applying for the championships, they must sit in the case and run through a scanner to prove entrance into the League.

 If a trainer attains eight Kanto Badges, they enter the Indigo League and face other trainers, if they arrive in the top four, they will be permitted to face the Four Heavenly Kings, or Elite Four for short. These four trainers are the strongest of their specific Pokémon types in the region. If one manages to beat all four, then the person has an opportunity to face the League Champion. Only skilled trainers make it this far. The guidelines apply to Johto's Silver Conference, Hoenn's Ever Grande Conference, Sinnoh's Lily of the Valley Conference, Merin's Chrysanthemum Conference and Unova's White Conference. If one travels to the Orange Islands and collect all four badges, then they can face the Orange League Champion and be inducted into the Hall of Fame if they beat the Champion.

I closed the book after the end of the chapter. I mulled over the Elite Four and Champion many times. Professor Rowan said my father was the Sinnoh League Champion before he handed it to Cynthia. I shook my head in disbelief. My father was from Austin, Texas and he had no connection to Pokémon until we moved to our first house in Azalea Town. And by the time we moved to the Verdant Republic, Cynthia was the Sinnoh League Champion. After spending countless minutes trying to figure out the connection and how my father was the league champion. After collecting my thoughts and returning to reality, it was already 7:30 AM and before my mom could say good morning, I ran out towards Professor Oak's, but forgetting to open the screen door. Let's just say, there is a Drew-shaped hole in my mom's screen door. I ran all the way to the lab, which was about a little less than a half a mile down the road.

The morning was crisp and cool, unlike the uncommon balmy summer weather that occurred last night. I looked above me to see flocks of Pidgey, Starly, and Tallow fly overhead. They were enjoying the morning as much as I was. There were only a few streets in Pallet Town that consisted of the major residents and the main small shops. I had to run down the street I lived on and make a right turn to go south toward Professor Oak's Lab, which sit upon a hilltop on the outskirts of the town. If I ran further down the road, I would reach the bay that leads south towards Cinnabar Island. There was a long path laden with oak trees leading up to the stairs of the Oak Lab. The Pokémon Range, Professor Oak's private area to study the Pokémon that the trainers from Pallet Town and Viridian City catch and return to Professor Oak. The kid down the street, I think his name is Ash, just left for Johto for a journey, leaving 25 Tauros at Professor Oak's for study.

I got there around 7:50 AM and I pounded on the door. A tall woman with long red hair and glasses answered the door. She was wearing a lab coat and a knee length skirt, but her coat was similar to Professor Oak's, but with an orange M on the side of her right sleeve. "You must be Drew," the woman said. "Please enter." "Thanks!" I replied. "I am Professor Magnolia," Professor Magnolia stated. "I come from Shamrock Town, in Merin." "What's this all about?" I asked. "Just come with me," the Professor said. In Professor Oak's Den, there stood Professor Oak and Rowan, with another woman and a man. They all looked at me and then had a look on their face that showed "that they weren't quite ready". "Professor Elm, Professor Juniper, I would like you to meet Drew," Professor Oak said pointing to me. "Hello Drew, I'm Professor Elm, from Johto," Professor Elm answered. "And I'm Professor Juniper, from the Unova Region," Professor Juniper responded. There was still something not right amidst all the Professors.

Just at that instant, there was a large screech outside and the slamming of a car door. Professor Elm went to the window and came back. "He's finally here," he said sarcastically. I went to the hallway looking at the front door. The door slammed open and in came a large figure going at full speed, which ended up tackling me. "Professor Birch!" I exclaimed, being crushed by the Professor. "Drew, it is finally nice to see you again!" Professor Birch replied. Professor Oak clapped his hands together and said, "Now that everyone is here, we can get started!" As Professor Birch walked into the den, he handed Professor Oak a white paper bag with the top folded off.
I sat in a lone, lazy chair with all the Professors standing in a half circle in front of me. "Why do you think you're here?" Professor Magnolia asked. "Well," I said. "I'm going to be given my first Pokémon and set off on a journey?" "You are somewhat right," Professor Elm answered. "So, I'm going to enter the Indigo League?" I inquired. "Not necessarily," Professor Juniper responded. "You are going to do something even better," Professor Oak added. "About three weeks ago, there was a new Pokémon League Formed. It is called the Verdant League..." Professor Birch then butted in, "Instead of facing eight gyms throughout a region and facing off in their championship Conferences..." "And then facing their Elite Four, and if you're luck, their Champion," I finished what Professor Birch was saying. "The Verdant League is a whole lot different," Professor Juniper began. "You can only start out with one Pokémon, and the League requires for you to visit specific gyms in specific regions. Only the Unova Region is not participating in this league, since the Elite Four there didn't allow it." "So, then why are you here?" I asked. "I am to be your designated Pokémon Professor for the League!" Professor Juniper replied. "There's more," Professor Magnolia stated. "You are allowed to keep your one Pokémon, but how the league works, when you arrive in a region, you must catch Pokémon of four different types and train them as you go visit the five Verdant League-designated gyms in that region. You will start here in Kanto, go to Sinnoh, then Merin then Hoenn and end in Johto. It is then you will hear of the place where you must travel with all the Pokémon you've trained." "When you arrive in each region," Professor Rowan said. "Each Professor will give you a starter Pokémon given to each trainer when they begin their journey. You will have to make sure that the next four Pokémon you train are of a different type, and at any given time while in a region, you are only allowed for one Pokémon to share a secondary type with another. The Pokémon you choose here is exempt from the rule."

As each Professor was telling me a different aspect of the League, my eyes were filled with a glimmer. I knew I was going to do great, since I was the son of a supposed League Champion. "The League Champion of each region," Professor Elm began after a long silence. "They will give you a special badge after you have completed the requirements in their respective region, but since Kanto is without a Champion, Lorelei will give you your badge of passage!" "One last thing," Professor Oak added. "You go straight to face the Elite four if you collect all five Region badges." "I should mention that this League is harder than all the others," Professor Juniper said. "Only select trainers are selected by the Regional Professors for this League." "Wait, you want me," I began. "With absolutely no battling experience and no experience training a Pokémon. I know my father was the Champion of the Sinnoh League, but..." Professor Oak instantly flared up, "Who told you that?" "Professor Rowan did, sir," I answered. "And then he passed it down to Cynthia. But, what doesn't make sense is how did my dad become the Champion if he said he spent his entire life in Austin?" All the professors began to look around the room like I didn't say anything. After a long silence, Professor Birch broke the silence and asked, "Do you accept the Verdant League challenge?" "Let's go!" I exclaimed. "I'm ready for a challenge!" "Now follow me," Professor Rowan said.

He walked into the room behind the kitchen and then down some stairs into the research lab. The other Professors followed me. "Now, this is where you will meet your first Pokémon," Professor Rowan said. "We have been authorized to give you the League Starters, which aren't conventional starters to a normal league. They are higher level, much stronger Pokémon, since the trainers entering the Verdant League are usually highly skilled trainers." All the Professors stood behind a respective Poké Ball, except Professor Juniper, who stood next to me. "Each Poké Ball contains a Pokémon found commonly in their region, even though they are probably found in others." "Professor Oak held up a photo and the other professors did the same. They were pictures of Pokémon, but I had no idea what they were. "This is a Lapras, a Water/Ice type Pokémon, it can be quite docile at times, and is a powerful opponent," Professor Oak said. "This is a Heracross, a Bug/Fighting type Pokémon, it is strong-willed and not easily able to be put down," Professor Elm said. "This is a Torkoal, a Fire type, it has a hard shell and its Fire and Ground attacks can really pack a wallop," Professor Birch added. "This is Spiritomb," Professor Rowan stated. "It is a Ghost/Dark type Pokémon that is sure to leave its opponents scared out of their wits." "That leaves Tropius, a Grass/Flying type; it takes the grace of flying types and combines it with the power of Grass types, not to mention the fruit that grows on it is delicious!" Professor Magnolia exclaimed.

I walked up to each Pokémon's picture and glanced at the pictures of each. I kept scratching my head trying to choose which one I wanted, and then I weighed the balances of each Pokémon. Every Pokémon was great, extraordinary in every way I could imagine! I stepped over to Professor Rowan, and then Professor Elm and then stopping for a moment at Professor Magnolia. I went over to Professor Oak, stood there and though again. Professor Birch leaned over to Professor Elm, "Kids usually don't take this long." "I didn't know about what Pokémon were being offered," I retorted. I stood back in the center of the room next to Professor Juniper and said, "I choose..."


=End Chapter 2=

Coooool!

This makes me want to post my own chapter two, which involves Will, Karen, and Aaron picking their starter Pokemon. I think Aaron is my favorite of the three...

Oops, sorry, I could rant on about that forever.

Anyway, about the topic - this is good, but I think that chapter one was best so far. I can't wait to see some of the really good chapters (like six and seven, if you're correct). This strikes me as more of a filler/explanation chapter rather than one that contributes heavily to the plot.

Chapter 3: Off in Kanto

        “I choose Lapras!” I exclaimed. “Why did you choose it?” Professor Araragi inquired. “If you are travelling on land, what is the point of it?” “Lapras can be a powerful Pokémon when it can be, according to Professor Oak,” I replied. “Plus, It is strong against so many types with its Ice/Water combination, with all the different moves it can learn, too. Also, this country is laden with lakes and rivers, and ocean, too!” “You always give great explanations to things that may seem like a horrible choice, and make it seem good,” Professor Oak added. “Now come with me.” I followed him into the next room. “You will now begin you journey through Kanto,” Professor Oak began. “You can choose between Bulbasaur, the Grass type, Charmander, the Fire type, or Squirtle, the Water type.” “This is an easier decision,” I answered. “I’ll take Squirtle.” “Why Squirtle? Don’t you already have a water type Pokémon?” Professor Oak asked. “Squirtle can grow into a Blastoise, which has a much greater Defense stat than Lapras and knowing Blastoise with all the training, it’ll become stronger than Lapras,” I stated. “Very good deduction about Blastoise,” Professor Oak responded. “That is quite correct.” Professor Oak handed me the Poké Ball containing Squirtle. “Wait until we get outside until you let him out,” Professor Oak said. We walked back into the room where the other Professors were.

   Professor Elm walked up to me and said, “Here is your PokéDex, it is state-of-the-art technology that can… What can this do? I know it identifies Pokémon, but what else… hmmm...” “It can also register your Poké balls and identify everything you need to know about your Pokémon: moves, nature, gender, etc,” Professor Oak added. “Oh, yes, that’s right,” Professor Elm said embarrassed and walked into the kitchen. Professor Birch then walked up to me and began, “Here is a set of 20 Poké Balls:  2 Net Balls, 2 Dusk Balls, 2 Nest Balls, 2 Timer Balls, 2 Quick Balls, 5 Poké Balls and 5 Ultra Balls; All of these are standard issue for the Verdant League. They have been registered to you already, so no need to worry about registering them.” Professor Rowan then walked up to me and stated, “Here is 5,400 Poké Dollars, standard Government monetary issue to all new Verdant League trainers. Good luck, Drew!” Professor Magnolia walked up to me and said, “Here is a Poké Gear, a cellular device that also has a map of the entire country and a radio. I can’t wait to see you in Merin. Oh, all of our numbers are registered in there, just in case you have trouble.” Professor Araragi was last and began, “Here is a backpack. It is loaded with the basic Pokémon products for the Verdant League challenger: Hyper Potions, Revives, Full Heals, and various berries for your Pokémon.” “There is one more thing we must tell you,” Professor Oak said. “You must not travel with anyone. It is a League rule. Usually we encourage travelling in groups, but the League wants to look at your training style, and how original it is. You must not tell any other trainer what league you’re training for; simply just tell them you’re training for the league of the specific region you’re in. The Verdant League is very secretive and the government hasn’t announced its existence yet.” “Now, there are a couple of things I’m going to do,” Professor Araragi said. “I will call you sometime after your next gym battle to tell you what gym to go to next. Also, I will be travelling with you in the Sinnoh region, conducting Research there, so I will meet you when you arrive in the port at Canalave City.” “I do have a question,” I asked. “Can I use Growlithe as a Pokémon for the League?” “I don’t know,” Professor Araragi answered. “I’ll call Cynthia.” “Right now you should go outside and meet your Pokémon for the first time,” Professor Birch said.

   I walked outside out to Professor Oak’s lake. “Let’s go!” I yelled throwing up the Poké balls. “I’ve always wanted to do that,” I muttered to myself. Lapras and Squirtle came straight out of their Poké balls right into the lake. Lapras looked like she was happy to get out of its Poké ball. Squirtle, on the other hand, just went nuts in the water. He swam around the lake in circles. I could tell Lapras was going to be annoyed with having to put with the energetic Water Turtle. “Squirtle!” I yelled. “Can you please get over here?” Squirtle, even though being a new Pokémon to a trainer, obeyed my command, which was hard for some Pokémon. One of my neighbors had a hard time getting on the same brain wave with his brand new Pikachu, who didn’t really trust him until my neighbor sort-of beat Brock in a fluke. Squirtle relaxed when it got out of the water. It just sat there, staring at its toes, like it got into the cookie jar and feels remorseful. “It’s ok, Squirtle,” I knelt down and whispered. My dad once told me, when talking to a Pokémon, get down to their eye level and speak to them from the heart. “I wasn’t yelling at you,” I continued. “I just wanted your attention.”

        I stood back up and Lapras came over from the middle of the lake, recognizing what I did. “Hey Lapras!” I exclaimed. “You, me, and Squirtle are going on a journey together! Do you want to come along?” Lapras didn’t even shudder. Then after a long silence from her, she moved over to where I was. Then, out of nowhere, she opened her mouth and moved her neck down toward me, bit the top of my jeans, and began to elevate me above the ground. “HELP!” I screamed. “Lapras let me go!” I tried wriggling around to get Lapras to drop me! I saw Professor Elm and Professor Rowan appear in the window, both holding cups of coffee and both staring at Lapras and me. Then, Lapras moved me around to the other side and set me on her back. “You weren’t going to hurt were you?” I sighed in relief. Lapras nodded and set her head on top of mine and messed up my hair. “Lapras, why did you do that?” I asked with a happy inflection in my voice. “C’mon Squirtle, its ok,” I motioned to Squirtle. I then proceeded to wave to Professors Elm and Rowan, which startled Professor Elm to the point of slightly dropping his coffee mug and then juggling the mug to get his grasp back on the handle. Professor Rowan just shook his head and walked away. “Lapras, can you put me back on land, please?” I asked. Lapras picked me up and dropped me on the ground. “Are you ready to go?” I told Squirtle and Lapras. They all cried out in agreement. Squirtle even jumped up. “Ok then, let’s go,” I replied. I took out the Poké balls and returned Lapras and Squirtle to them.

        I walked back inside to find all the Professors just sitting in Professor Oak’s dining room, just talking about their daily things that they do. “So, can I bring Growlithe,” I inquired. “Cynthia said it was fine, as long you didn’t have another fire type travelling with you,” Professor Araragi said. “So, it’s ok.” I clenched my fist and moved my arm back and whispered a loud “Yes!” “May I see your Poké Gear?” Professor Araragi queried. I handed her my Poké Gear. She pressed a few buttons and handed it back to me. “What did you do?” I asked. “Check your map mode,” Professor Araragi responded and winked at me. “All I see is the map of Kanto and a red line eventually ending up in Celadon City,” I replied confused. “It is the first gym you’re heading to. Follow the path and you’ll end up in Celadon city, no problem,” Professor Araragi said. Something on her wrist made a couple of dings and she said, “I have to head back to the Isshu region, something about a Pokabu that is out of control.” She ran right out and took her car and floored it to Viridian City. “Professor Araragi forgot to give you one thing,” Professor Magnolia replied. “Here is a Pokétch, a watch for Pokémon trainers. It is usually used in the Sinnoh region, but you can use it globally, just some apps may not work, as they are specifically for Sinnoh.” “Uh, thanks,” I said without the slightest clue about all the stuff I’ve been given. “Now, go run home and say goodbye to your mother and pick up Growlithe,” Professor Birch said. “We’ll meet you at the town entrance from Route 1. “Ok, sounds great,” I hastily answered.

        After running back home, I slammed the door open. “Mom, I’m back!” I yelled. “Now, where’s Growlithe? He’s usually here at the door when I get home,” I thought to myself. I shut the door and walked into the living room. My mom was in the kitchen making lunch. “Hi mom!” I exclaimed. “Welcome back,” my mom answered. “It looks like I’m finally going on a Pokémon journey,” I stated. “I know,” my mom said. “Your father and I thought it was finally time. Professor Oak told us about this new league, and we thought it might be a challenge for the top graduate from Viridian Secondary.” “Is this why Professor Oak got you a Happiny?” I asked, knowing the answer. “Yes,” my mom replied with a downcast face. All of a sudden, an object came charging at me and knocked me to the ground. “Growlithe!” I yelled with a smile on my face. I turned around to find Growlithe holding a Poké ball in his mouth. “It looks like Growlithe wants to go with you,” my mom pointed out. “I was planning on taking him anyway,” I answered. “You wanna go with me, boy?” I said in a cutesy voice. Growlithe nodded and I put him back in his Pokéball. I then took out my PokéDex and registered Growlithe to me. “I have to go meet Professor Birch and the others at the town entrance,” I said. “Where’s Skitty, I wanna say goodbye.” “She’s sleeping in your room,” my mom answered. I ran into my room. “Skitty!” I exclaimed. Skitty stood up and arched her back, stretching after her delightful catnap in the sun rays. “I have to leave for a long journey,” I said picking her up. “You stay good for mom, okay?” I gave her a big hug and set her down. I ran out into the foyer to find my mother standing there with a large pile of laundry. “Drew, you are gonna have to take some of this stuff with you,” my mom said. “You can’t just live in one outfit.” My mom quickly took my backpack off and with lightning speed, packed a lot of stuff in the bag, including some extra things like a pop-up tent and attached a sleeping bag to the bottom of the pack. “I put in a lunch for you. Good luck, Drew!” I gave my mom one last hug and left the house.

        I ran all the way to the town gate where it was laden with some townsfolk and the Professors. “Hi Professor Birch,” I called out. “I’m back!” After catching up to them, Professor Rowan said, “We have one last parting gift for you.” The professors moved out of the way to show a bicycle. “You are going to need to travel places fast,” Professor Elm said. “There’s a spot on the back of the bike for… what is it now. Oh, it’s for a Pokémon to sit if they want to come out and ride with you.” “Thanks Professors!” I exclaimed. “I can’t believe this is happening to me!” “A couple of last things,” Professor Oak said. “Stay off the carriageways and stick to the bike paths and trainer passages. We don’t want to see you getting scraped of K1.” K1 was the main motorway between Viridian City and Pallet Town. Every region has a prefix of the letter of their region and the number of freeway corresponding to the route(s) it passes through.

        “Also,” Professor Magnolia added. “Here is a phone number. Don’t call this person until you are presented with the Kanto Badge by Lorelei. They will give you further instructions on what to do next.” “Uh, ok,” I replied and stuck the piece of paper in the front pocket of my filled-to-the-brim pack. “Let’s go Growlithe!” I yelled throwing up his Poké ball. “Want to ride with the boss?” He nodded and got on the back of the bike (which I already mounted). “You need to go all the way up to Diglett’s cave, outside of Pewter City,” Professor Oak said. “Don’t stop in Viridian City unless you absolutely have to. And when the road splits before the forest, take the route leading around the forest. It’s a more direct and faster route to the cave. Good luck Drew!” “Thanks for everything Professor Oak. Professor Elm. Professor Magnolia. Professor Rowan. Professor Birch. Thanks,” I answered. I pushed my foot down on the pedal and I was off onto Route 1.

        Route 1 was a beautiful route. I could feel the breeze as my bike zoomed toward Viridian city. The bike route was far from the main road, and I could experience the beautiful nature of Kanto. The path was laid with trees and shrubs; it was definitely manicured for the traveller on foot (or bike). I looked above to see a bunch of Starly flying overhead, which prompted Growlithe to bark at. “Growlithe, quiet,” I snarled. Growlithe then let out a whimper and stopped barking. “Sorry Growlithe,” I replied with a sorry inflection in my voice. “You can bark at things when we stop for lunch!” I smiled back at Growlithe. I continued straight ahead on the route, going over bridges and through the tunnels so I don’t have to bike over the hills. All I had was Growlithe and a music player to keep me company.
 
        After about three hours on the road, and about 10 miles outside the Viridian City, I stopped at a river to have lunch. “C’mon out everyone,” I said throwing up the Poké balls. Lapras and Squirtle landed in the water. “Hey guys!” I called out. “I want you to meet Growlithe; he’s going to be joining our team.” Squirtle came up to Growlithe and gave him a hug. “That’s very nice of you Squirtle,” I answered smiling. I searched in my pack for Pokémon food. I found some cans and opened them up and fed them to everyone. I laid back on the bank looking up at the sky, feeling really relaxed with everything that just happened, because those professors with constantly saying things required me to constantly listen for what they were saying. I sat back up, diving into the sandwich my mother made. Everyone was calm, Lapras was bathing in the water, Squirtle was eating berries off a tree near here and Growlithe was rolling in a dirt pile.

        Out of nowhere, a lone Pidgey came running to where we were, and though it passed us, Growlithe took notice and chased it into some bushes. “Growlithe, get out of there!” I yelled. All I could hear was barking and Pidgey making bird calls. I thought to myself, “Maybe I could catch this Pokémon?” I went over to where they were and Pidgey was using a peck attack. “Growlithe, torch it!” I yelled. He knew what I meant and flames came out of his mouth, striking (and slightly charring) the Pidgey. I threw a Poké ball and it caught the Pidgey. “Good job Growlithe!” I exclaimed. Come back to where the rest of us are!

        So now I have a Pidgey, a bird that can be kind of weak, but if given proper training, it can be one powerful bird. When I got back to the site, I analyzed the Poké ball with my PokéDex and it said, “Pidgey, Nature: Serious, Moves: Gust, Sand-Attack, Aerial Ace…” It continued saying stats, but Aerial Ace… that was a move I never heard of. I looked up in a move field guide that somehow made its way into my backpack. “Aerial Ace is an attack that never misses because the foe won’t know where the Pokémon is until the last second.” “That must be one powerful attack,” I thought to myself. I looked at my Pokétch... “4:10 already!” I yelled. “We need to go!” I brought everyone back to their Poké balls, but I wanted to analyze Lapras before we left, so I know what I could do to train her. The Pokédex stated, “Lapras, Nature: Calm, Moves: Surf, Ice Beam, Water Pulse, Psychic…” “Psychic?!?” I thought flabbergasted. “How can a Lapras know Psychic? Did the Professors know about this?” After learning this, I was shocked and sort of happy, because it can be a pretty strong move if used right. I put Lapras’ ball on my belt and cleaned everything up. Growlithe sat up on my bike and I was on my way into Viridian City.

=End Chapter 3=


exactly! cause how can at one point leave pallet town with three pokémon and show up in celadon with 4 and an evolution of one of them... it doesnt make sense! (and im not saying who evolves... yet, you can probably figure it out)

I'm guessing Squirtle.

I can't wait to post chapter two tomorrow! My only regret is that it's fairly short. :P

And then I'll wait till Wednesday to post my slightly-longer chapter three.

In chapter four, they meet their rivals... and Karen has a bad night.

No details here, though, as I'm still writing chapter four.

This is gonna be good. :) Both yours and mine.

nope. that REALLY narrows it down.

and im excited too!

I'm in the middle of writing a scene which could possibly lead Karen to her doom... though of course it won't, because I'm the writer and I control these things.

and she goes into the elite four, you know!... you can't break canon!

Yeah, yeah, whatever... I've already twisted reality a bit with the Elite Four thing - I don't think a small death would hurt much. ;)

... but its KAREN, kill off Phoebe or someone unimportant (Glacia for example)

I'm not killing off Karen, either - the only way I would is if I do an "epilogue" many years after G/S where she dies.

ok... phew. i think i may finish chapter 4 tonight! woo, and i should be finished with chapter 9 of my book by monday night

PUT YOUR ENTIRE STORY IN ONE THREAD.

OK THEN!

In Chapter 1, you read a little about the Merin region. Well, I have completed the map, so here's the region. Feel free to ask questions. There's a map legend below

(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi756.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fxx209%2Fnkontrimas%2FFSX%2520Photos%2FIMG_4294.jpg&hash=31be01c07d89ca22dd901c1e6ac94673ea9e8569)
(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi756.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fxx209%2Fnkontrimas%2FFSX%2520Photos%2FIMG_4305.jpg&hash=cb2c382eb0325cf97a57ce8454ad4a71c30c9810)

...That is hardcore nerd right there.

Me and my friend used to do this type of thing... we never named the region though. :3

I know. But it is needed for travel and understanding when I write that section of the story!

Oh, I know. Not like I'm mad at you or anything. ;D

I know... ive been called a nerd in the past. Maybe because I got a 4 on AP Chemistry and did really well in AP Physics... and am an Econ prodigy!

NEW CHAPTER!!!

Chapter 4: I'm Celadon Happy

        I finally reached Viridian City about another forty-five minutes later. The sun was beginning to set over the hills to the west and lights began to show around the city of Green. Viridian city has an outer loop for trainers to go take their bikes or walk to avoid the city. Before I started on that trail around the city, I stopped to rest. “Well, Growlithe,” I sighed. “It’s Viridian City!” Growlithe jumped up and down happily, full of energy. “C’mon out Squirtle and Pidgey,” I yelled. Squirtle and Pidgey came out of their Poké balls. Pidgey was still a little tired from being caught and the battle that preceded it. “Are you feeling better Pidgey?” I asked. Pidgey nodded, though. It wasn’t used to being caught. “You’re going to have lots of fun on this journey!” I called out. “How are you doing, Squirtle?” “Squirtle-Squirt!” Squirtle exclaimed. “Look at Viridian City, guys,” I stated. “It looks nice in the sunset. We really need to head further north before it gets darker.” I pointed a Poké ball at Growlithe and put him back in his ball. “Hop up Squirtle,” I called out. “Let’s Go!” Pidgey took himself into the air and Squirtle and I went on the path around the city
   After another two hours on the road, with the fork in the route about another 10 miles ahead, the moon was beginning to get blocked by clouds, thus making the roads darker, though there are occasional lights coming from the roads when it curves toward the path we are taking. “Hoot! Hoot!” A loud bird exclaimed. “Squirrrtleee!” Squirtle cried in fear. “No need to worry, Squirtle,” I assured him. “It’s probably a Hoothoot or Noctowl. Anything up there, Pidgey?” I called out. Pidgey shook his head. “Coo! Coo!” Pidgey called out pointing its beak up ahead. “Uh-oh! The Fork!” I whispered to myself. There was a split, one leading straight into the Viridian Forest and the other leading around. Both looked pretty spooky, but I don't get scared that easily.
   I decided to follow Professor Oak’s advice, which was replaying in my head, and went on the route around the forest. It would have been best because K2 went on the other side of the forest, so there would have been no light inside and lots of bug Pokémon live in there.  After spending ten minutes on the road, not knowing where I was going, I decided to check on my Poké Gear. Unbeknownst to me, Pidgey continued flying ahead. It looked like we were another 25 miles from Diglett’s Cave, which meant another 3 hours, more or less, and it was already 7:20, so that would mean about 10:30. “Squirtle!” Squirtle yelled to get my attention. “What?” I asked. Squirtle pointed to the sky. I looked for what Squirtle was pointing at, but he wasn’t pointing at something that was there, he was pointing at something that wasn’t there. I then looked around in circles, looking for Pidgey, who had disappeared from the night sky. “Pidgey!” I cried out. No answer. “Pidgey!” I cried out again. No answer. “How could this happen?” I told Squirtle. “On the first day I become a new Pokémon trainer, only knowing type effectiveness and some moves, nothing about raising a Pokémon.” Squirtle got up on the bike to give my arm a hug. “Thanks Squirtle,” I responded. “Let’s go find Pidgey!” “Squirt-Squirtle!” Squirtle replied.
   After racing ahead to find Pidgey, and having no luck for the next 5 miles, I stopped again. “Pidgey!” I yelled. Squirtle yelled along with me. After about 15 seconds of silence, we here faint coos coming from the woods to the left of us. “Let’s go Squirtle!” I motioned running toward the sounds. The we were running into the forest, with thick trees and spider webs as far as the eye can see, except it was just slightly pitch-black outside, so my vision was distorted to an arms length in front of me. After running for what seemed like an hour, we arrived at a clearing dimly lit by the stars, exhausted and panting trying to catch our breath. Luckily for us, we arrived at the right place. Right above us, there was Pidgey, encircled by a group of angry Spearow. Each Spearow was trying to land a peck attack, but Pidgey kept dodging it. “Squirtle, they don’t know we’re here,” I whispered. “We can use this to our advantage.” I took out my Pokédex and selected the Move Knowledge Base and put the camera lens on Squirtle. “Squirtle belongs to Trainer Drew Norman, knows moves Water Gun, Bubblebeam, Withdraw and Rapid Spin.” “Professor Oak really trained you well, didn’t he?” I said at the awe of Squirtle’s attack knowledge.
   â€œOk Squirtle!” I said. “Get up a little closer and aim your Bubblebeam at a Spearow and then move your head and try and get others. I’ll do what I can from here and I have a secret weapon anyways.” Squirtle nodded and I sidled along the tree line, away from being seen. I screamed, “SQUIRTLE, NOW!” The Spearow redirected their attention from Pidgey and Squirtle launched a powerful Bubblebeam that took down half the Spearow. “Pidgey! Use Aerial Ace!” I yelled again. The Spearow were confused with what was happening and one by one, the rest of the Spearow were hit with Pidgey’s Aerial Ace and some flew away in fear. After about 10 minutes of battling and taking out 15 Spearow, Pidgey fell out of the sky in exhaustion. “Pidgey!” I yelled, running to catch Pidgey.
   I caught Pidgey right in the nick of time. “Pidgey, are you okay?” I worried. “Coo!” Pidgey said faintly. Just then, it began to glow an opaque white, brightening up the entire clearing area. I felt it moving considerably in my arms, like it was changing shape or something. By the time it returned to normal, Pidgey was no longer its old self, it changed into some other bird. I pointed my Pokédex at this new Pokémon, “Pidgeotto, the Pigeon Pokémon, with razor sharp talons and a large wingspan, Pidgeotto can attack its prey and leave quickly.” “Well, it looks like it evolved, eh Squirtle!” I said. “Squir-tle!” Squirtle replied. After Pidgey evolved, it regained some health and though still weak from when I initially caught it, Pidgeotto knew that I was a good-natured trainer, and I saved its life, and therefore evolved to show its contentment with today’s events. “Let’s go guys!” I said. I returned Pidgeotto to its Poké ball. “You deserve a nice, long rest!” I said. The moon came out from behind the clouds once again and we found my bike quite easily. I hoped on and left up the road. After about another two hours, we arrived at the entrance to Diglett’s Cave. I decided to wait until morning to continue, and I pitched my tent and took a well-deserved sleep with open arms.
*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
   It was a tough day for me, spending almost five hours in a cave, trying to get places with my bike wasn’t wonderful. I woke up early to get a move on into the cave and spent the arduous journey training Growlithe and Squirtle. Around noontime, I arrived outside a cave and went toward the city to the right of me. It was a coastal city, fresh with a perfect sea breeze. I opened my Poké Gear, and discovered I was in Vermilion City, the main port for Kanto. I biked my way through the city and turned north on my way out of the city. I had to keep a schedule and I had to get to Celadon City. Once I got out to Route 6, I felt more at ease with the time. It was another three hours to Saffron City and then another hour to Celadon City. The Route on this side of the Viridian forest was quite different, it was more flat, with seldom trees. The air was colder and the breezes were faster, like a valley between two mountain ranges, except there were hills off into the distance. Growlithe was enjoying the breeze and was just sitting there moving his head around, feeling the breeze come in contact with his face. I was just pedaling away toward Saffron City. It was a beautiful day to be outside. On my way up to Saffron City, I passed various trainers looking for battles, and I accepted some of them. I wanted Growlithe to get stronger. While in one of our battles, he learned Flamethrower, which is more powerful then Ember, and that made both of us happy. We had a fighting chance against Erika now! If Growlithe could withstand four battles with trainers and still want to fight, we were ready for what was ahead.
   After passing through Saffron City and making our way west on K7, the only Route with the trainer path and actual road were combined. We were making our way up in elevation, and my legs were beginning to feel like loose rubber sheets, rippling in the breeze. I decided to call Professor Oak, and tell him where I was. I pressed his number on the Poké Gear and Professor Oak appeared. “Hi Professor!” I exclaimed. “Hi Drew,” Professor Oak replied. “Have you reached Vermilion City by now?” “Well, we were there earlier,” I answered. “We’re almost to Celadon.” “Celadon? You mean Saffron, right?” Professor Oak answered confused. “No, we’re almost to Celadon,” I responded. “We passed through Saffron about 20 minutes ago. You can see that the tree line is growing again and we are going up in elevation a little bit.” I showed the Poké Gear around the path. “You’re already on Route 7?” Professor answered perplexed. “My, I thought it would take you a couple of days to get to Saffron. Have you caught any Pokémon, or stopped anywhere for that matter?” “I caught a Pidgey, which evolved into a Pidgeotto last night, and Growlithe learned Flamethrower!” I exclaimed happily. “But we did stop to battle a couple of trainers on Route 6 and I haven’t eaten since the little noodle shop in Vermilion City.” “Wow, so have you even been to a Pokémon Center yet?” Professor Oak inquired. “Nope, not yet,” I responded. “We’ll stop at the Pokémon Center the moment we arrive in Celadon.” “You need to give your Pokémon periodic rest, or they’ll be too tired to fight. â€"ding dong- That must by my pizza.” Professor Oak ran off the screen and came back with a large pizza. “Mmm! Anchovy, Pepperoni and Onion, my favorite! Oh, sorry Drew, I’m going to have to call you back!” Professor Oak disconnected the line. “Maybe I’m turning into a prodigy,” I thought to myself. “I’m traveling in an unknown area and I am doing extremely well as a brand new trainer. Maybe I may be able to beat a Champion someday!” I rode off into the now darkening horizon.
   I arrived in Celadon City right around five, and the sky was beginning to throw its darkening cloak over the world. The city was definitely smaller than Saffron, but I was still pretty big. There were plazas all over the place and the main road entering Celadon lead straight to this huge building with balloons on the roof and signs saying “SALE” written in huge block letters. I finally found the Pokémon Center a few streets ahead.
   I walked into the building and went up to the counter where a Chansey was shuffling through papers. “Hello,” I said. The Chansey looked up at me. “Is there someone here I can talk to?” Chansey smiled and went somewhere. I looked around the room. The sitting area was empty and there was no one in sight. I heard footsteps and Chansey returned with a red-haired woman about my height wearing a hat with a red cross printed on it. “Can I help you sir?” the woman asked. “I just arrived here from Vermilion City, and I need to heal my Pokémon, but I’ve never been to a Pokémon Center before, so I have no idea what to do,” I replied quickly. “You’re telling me you battled three gyms without healing your Pokémon?” the woman said slightly angered. “Oh no, I haven't battled gyms yet. I came from Pallet Town before Vermilion,” I answered, trying to save myself from being yelled at. “You came all the way here? From Pallet Town?” the woman replied. “Then that still makes you a beginning trainer?” “Yes, I just became a trainer, and I am here in Celadon to battle Erika,” I answered proudly. “Don't you need three gym badges to battle her?” the Woman responded perplexed. “She and I go way back,” I lied. “She’s going to help me get started as a trainer.” “Well that’s nice of her,” the woman answered relieved. “Well, I am Nurse Joy of the East Celadon Pokémon Center.” “Well, I’m Drew, from Pallet Town, Enchanté,” I replied. “There are two Pokémon Centers here in Celadon?” “Yes,” the Nurse answered with a sigh. “The Government passed legislation about a year ago making two Pokémon Centers in cities with over 100,000 people. Goldenrod is the largest, with slightly under 600,000 people. So, now this Pokémon center is less busy than normal. My sister, Nurse Joy of the West Celadon Pokémon Center, took over that one and people like it better over there.” Nurse Joy sighed after saying all that. “Well, cheer up,” I said joyfully. “I’m here and you can attend to my Pokémon!” “That would be my pleasure,” Nurse Joy said. “Chansey can lead you to the dining room for dinner.” I handed over my Poké balls to Nurse Joy and headed off with Chansey to get food.
   After filling up on the best Teriyaki Chicken and rice I have ever had, Nurse Joy came in with my Poké balls and sat on the other side of the table. “How come you’re traveling all alone?” Nurse Joy asked. “I am doing something special for Professor Oak,” I answered. “This is only my second day on my journey, though.” “And you already have four Pokémon?” Nurse Joy replied. “Well, I left Pallet Town with the Lapras and Squirtle Professor Oak gave me and the Growlithe was my mom’s pet who wanted to go with me,” I answered. “Your Pokémon seem to really love you already,” Nurse Joy stated. “They can sense your intentions in your heart. They know if someone is pure and kind-hearted.” “Well, thanks, but I don’t think I’m that kind-hearted,” I replied. “Well, everyone is different, unless you’re like my family, and everyone is identical,” Nurse Joy replied. “Really?” I answered stunned. “That’s strange. I come from California, so that’s my strange trait.” “You’re from the United States?” the Nurse said shocked. “I’ve always wanted to go there!” “It’s ok, I guess,” I answered. “I really need to get some sleep for tomorrow. I’ve been up since 6 AM when I entered Diglett’s cave outside of Pewter City.” “Wow! You’ve must have traveled almost 100 miles!” the Nurse said amazed. “Let’s get you a room,” She said smiling.

Cool! Nice chapter! :) :) :)

Combining reality with fantasy is not an easy task, but you pretty much have it nailed.

It's my specialty. I'll put up Chapter 5 later today. I think it may be better than Chapter 5!!

So here's Chapter 5! It's a good one!
Chapter 5: From Grass to Water
I woke up the next morning to a big slurp by Growlithe, who was sleeping next to me the entire night. “Good morning, Growlithe!” I said wiping the slobber off my face. “At least you’re better than Skitty. She’d dig her claws into me!” I quickly got dressed, packed up my gear and ran into the lobby, my legs restored from sleeping for ten hours. Growlithe quickly trailed me from the room. Nurse Joy was sitting at her desk reading a book. “Thank you so much, Nurse J-“ I said running toward the door while looking at her. I ran straight into the door before it could open. “A little patience goes a long way!” Nurse Joy stood up with a grin. “Uh, thanks,” I replied. I stood in front of the door and it opened after a small delay. “Good Luck today, Drew!” Nurse Joy yelled out the door.
   I decided to walk. It was a beautiful day and I wanted to experience the city to its full extent. I walked down the street I came in on and turned left at another big street. Luckily for me, Nurse Joy gave me directions, so I didn't have to search around. As I headed south toward the gym, there was a building on my right with flashy lights and guys dressed as clowns standing outside. “Try the new Card Flip slots… they are really explosive!” Once clown yelled. “The payout on the Card Flip is shocking!” The other clown said. I continued down further; I was on a mission and I didn't want to diverge from my path. I turned left at the next big street and saw another large crowd standing in front of the building; right across the street from it was a sign for Celadon Gym, so I decided to stop and see what the fuss was about. “… Come one come all,” the guy standing on the platform said. “Eat all you want, and if you win, you don’t have to pay for your food and you get a year’s worth of free food! Step right up.”
“You know, I came all the way from Sinnoh just to participate in this,” a voice said next to me. I looked over. It was a woman slightly older than me with short, pink hair. She had a band-aid on her nose, which was a little strange. “I don’t know, it seems tough,” I answered. “Tough, you don’t know tough!” the girl replied. “With all the training I go through just to put up with trainers these days.” “I don’t think trainers now are THAT bad,” I said not knowing anything about most trainers. “I like you kid,” the girl replied. “I’m Maylene, from Veilstone City.” “I’m Drew, from Cali- Pallet Town,” I answered. “Were you just going to say California?” Maylene asked all excited. “Yep, but I’ve lived here for four years. I’m about to challenge Erika.” “Oh, well, you don’t want to keep her waiting,” Maylene replied. “Here’s my number, if you’re ever in Sinnoh, or Veilstone City for that matter, stop on by. Good Luck!” Maylene pushed her way through the crowds and joined the contest. “That was kind of strange, Growlithe,” I said. “Let’s go beat Erika!” We continued through a grassy passageway and followed a trail between sets of trees. We turned right onto a long, manicured path with small streams and ornamental trees lining the path until we reached a large building that looked like a Vileplume.
I walked into the gym, where the lobby was ornamentally decorated with vines and flowers and a large rainbow, sun-like object hung above the front desk. I looked around and saw that this entire gym was filled with women. A tall woman with brown hair came up to me and asked, “Are you lost sir?” “This is the Celadon gym, correct?” I inquired. “It is indeed,” the woman answered. “I have a battle appointment with Erika,” I proudly said. “And you are?” the woman asked. “I am Drew, from Cali- Pallet Town… I have to stop making that mistake,” I said and then whispered. “Erika is expecting you… Drew from California,” the woman said with a chuckle. “You think that’s a joke?” I yelled pulling out my US Passport. I flipped it open like an FBI agent would show their badge. “Laughing now?” I sarcastically asked. “Oh, I’m sorry,” the woman apologized. “People here want to vacation so much there now that flights fly to Los Angeles. Please follow me.”
I followed the woman down a long corridor and into a large room with stadium seating and a huge roof; light was coming in from the roof. She led me onto a large, basketball court-esque dirt field. “Please stand over here,” the woman said pointing to a box on one side of the field. “Ok, Let’s go Growlithe!” I answered. The woman clapped twice and the doors on the other side opened, yielding a tall woman with black hair, held up tightly with a pink band, wearing normal clothes with a green apron. She stepped to the other side of the court. “Please forgive my appearance, Drew,” the woman stated. “I was just tending to my plants, caring for them. I am Erika, Gym Leader of Celadon.” “Pleased to meet you, Madame!” I answered. “The Verdant League is certainly tough to compete in,” Erika said. “This will be a 2 vs. 2 battle, elimination round. Meaning, we can’t recall a Pokémon and we can’t switch. Once a Pokémon faints, then the Pokémon remaining is recalled and two new Pokémon are entered into battle. Is this fine with you?” “Bien sur, Madame!” I replied politely! Erika blushed, “No trainer is ever this polite!” A woman showed up on the side, holding two flags, “Let’s prepare for battle!”
I called out Pidgeotto first to combat Erika’s Bulbasaur. The battle was neck and neck for a while, with Bulbasaur’s Razor Leaf holding back Pidgeotto’s Gust attacks from hitting it. Once Pidgeotto used Aerial Ace, it was all over for Bulbasaur. “My, your Pidgeotto is powerful,” Erika yelled after Bulbasaur fainted. “This next one won't be so tough!” I called back Pidgeotto and sent out Growlithe. Erika followed with her Gloom. She was right. After attacking a couple times with Mega Drain, Gloom used Sleep Powder. I wasn’t able to land a single attack, and Gloom kept using Mega Drain. Luckily, since Growlithe was a Fire type, it barely affected him. Once he woke up, Growlithe launched a Flamethrower that sent Gloom flying against the gym wall. “Gloom!” Erika yelled. “This battle is over,” the woman on the side yelled. “Drew is the winner.” I ran up to Growlithe and gave him a hug, “You did great, buddy! Let’s go check on Erika.” I continued to run where Erika was on the ground where Gloom fell. “Is Gloom alright?” I knelt down next to Erika. “She’s going to be fine,” Erika looked over at me. “It was a tough battle for us. For a new trainer, you’re stronger than a person who went to face Brock, Misty and Lt. Surge.”
“I’m just training my Pokémon to how I see fit,” I answered. “I can tell. Your Pokémon know you show genuine care for them and for others,” Erika looked down at Gloom and blushed. “I know you’ll go far.” I helped Erika back up. She walked me over to a little box and sifted through it and found a miniature version of the rainbow, sun-esque symbol from over the front desk. “This is the Rainbow Badge,” Erika placing the badge in my hand. “This shows that you have defeated me and proves entrance into the Verdant League when you acquire all 25 Badges.” I placed the badge in the thin, pharmacy pillbox like case. I closed it and on the lid, there was a Poké ball and it said “Verdant League â€" Kanto”. “Thanks,” I said to Erika. “I want to give you one more thing,” Erika said handing me a CD like object that was green in color. “It is TM19,” Erika stated. “It contains the move Giga Drain. You just touch it to a Pokémon for them to learn the move.” “Well, thank you again, Erika,” I answered. “You’re probably busy, so you may leave now. I will never forget this battle. Good Luck on your journey!” Erika offered her hand for a shake, but I gave her a flat out hug, which made her blush again. “Thank you, Erika!” I whispered in her ear. “May our paths cross again.” I walked out of the gym with her assistant. “Erika is never this friendly with people,” her assistant stated. “If you’re ever in Celadon again, Erika would probably want to see you.” “Here’s my Poké Gear number,” I said handing her a slip. “She can call me whenever!” I waved good-bye and left for the Pokémon Center.
I ran straight for the Pokémon Center, and right into the doors, yet again. Nurse Joy got up from her desk and came right to the door. “This glass door must have a thing for you or something,” Nurse Joy said snickering. “Yea, thanks,” I answered. “How’d the thing with Erika go?” Nurse Joy asked. I searched in my pack for the badge case. “I beat her,” I proudly said showing her the badge. “Well, congratulations!” Nurse Joy exclaimed. “I just finished lunch, if you want to join Chansey and I.” “Glad to,” I said smiling. Just then, my Poké Gear rang. “I’m going to have to take this call first,” I told Nurse Joy. “Hello?” I pressed the button on the Poké Gear. “Hello? Drew? This is Professor Araragi,” Professor Araragi said. “I heard you beat Erika in one try, congratulations. “Well, I did have a type advantage,” I answered. “So, maybe that’s why I won.” “Don’t be modest,” Professor Araragi replied. “Erika said her Gloom usually beats Fire types with no problem.” “Well, then, I won fair and square,” I answered to please the Professor. “I have your next gym assignment,” Professor Araragi said. “It’ll be on your Poké Gear and Pokétch when you hang up. Good Luck, Drew! I’ll call you after you beat this gym leader.” “Bye!” I exclaimed. She hung up and my Pokétch had a couple of beeps and I looked at the map. It seems like I was going to Cerulean City next.
I walked into the dining room to enjoy Nurse Joy’s lunch consisting of sandwiches and salad. “Thanks Nurse Joy!” I said wiping my mouth. “The food was delicious.” “Why thanks Drew,” Nurse Joy replied. “Can you heal my Pokémon from the gym battle?” I asked. “Of course,” Nurse Joy responded, taking my Poké balls. “I’m going to have to pack up and leave soon, if I’m going to reach Cerulean by nightfall,” I said. “You’re leaving so soon?” Nurse Joy asked disappointed. “I’m afraid I must leave,” I answered. “I may come back through Celadon if I have to go down to Fuchsia City.” “Well, go pack up!” Nurse Joy said.
After getting my Pokémon back from Nurse Joy and giving her and Chansey a hug, I set off back towards Saffron. After leaving the city limits, back on K7, I sped up a little going back down in elevation. “You know Squirtle,” I said. “I just wish I was able to get Lapras out of her Poké ball. She has been cooped up in there since we stopped for a bit when we battled those trainers on Route 6.” “Squir-Squir-tle,” Squirtle nodded in agreement. After going faster than normal, we could see the Saffron skyline come into full detail after about 15 minutes. About a mile from the city gatehouse, for those traveling on foot or by bike, I hit a bump, which caused me to swerve and fall down. “Ow,” I thought to myself after I landed on grass. “Are you ok, Squirtle?” I asked him. “Squirtle!” Squirtle gave me a thumbs-up while scratching the back of his head. “What was that back there?” I asked out loud. I walked back to find a turnip looking Pokémon, but extremely tiny. “Odd-“ the Pokémon said. I pulled out my Pokédex and pointed it at the Pokémon. It was an Oddish, a grass Pokémon. I returned to my pack and took out a Super Potion that I just bought in Saffron on the way to Celadon. I picked up the Oddish and sprayed the Super Potion. “It’s going to sting a little bit, but you should be fine,” I said assuring it. I surveyed the area more. It seems it was hiding behind the rock I hit and I bumped its head with my rear tire. I set it back down and returned to my pack. By the time I was ready to go, the Oddish was standing behind the bike, which Squirtle pointed out. “Do you want to come with us?” I asked the Oddish. The Oddish jumped up next to Squirtle. I took out a Poké ball and Oddish happily jumped inside. “Ding!” the Poké ball went. I opened it back up and put the Oddish in the front basket of the bike and headed into Saffron City.
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   â€œHelp me!” a woman was crying out in front of us. I already turned onto Route 5 heading towards Cerulean. There was a woman being chased by three black characters and three Zubat. “Squirtle, use Bubblebeam!” I yelled. The three men turned around wondering what the sound was. Squirtle knocked all three Zubat out of the air, knocking them out in the process. “Don't mess with us kid,” one of the men said. “Don’t make us have to fight you,” the other said. “Just continue on to Cerulean City.” “No,” I answered. I threw up one of my Poké balls and said, “Growlithe, torch these suckers.” Growlithe came out and used Flamethrower to attack the Koffing that they all sent out. After knocking out the Koffing, the three men fled. “Are you ok, Madame?” I asked the woman. “I’m fine, thank you so much,” she answered. “Are you heading to Cerulean City?” I inquired. “Yes, in fact I am,” the woman responded. “Would you like a ride?” I asked. “No, it’s fine, thanks any way,” the woman said. Clouds have been slowly rolling in, and they look like rain was about to fall any moment. “It looks like it’s going to start raining,” I said. “Oh, fine then,” the woman replied. I recalled Squirtle and Growlithe to their Poké balls. “Ready Oddish?” I asked. “Oddish!” Oddish exclaimed. “Hold on tight, madam,” I told the woman. I continued forward, though it took a little longer to pick up speed.
   We arrived at the Pokémon Center just about it was about to rain. I put Oddish on my shoulder and we ran inside. The Nurse stood up at the front desk. “Nurse Joy?” I asked. “Yes, I’m Nurse Joy,” Nurse Joy responded. “And you are?” “Nurse Joy, its me, Drew,” I responded perplexed. “Remember? Celadon City?” “Oh, I am sorry,” Nurse Joy said. “My niece would think this would be strange. I am the aunt of the Nurse Joys in Celadon City. We all look alike.” “That explains a lot,” I answered. “Can you heal my Pokémon, please?” “Absolutely,” Nurse Joy smiled. “It’s my job.” I handed her my Pokémon and Oddish jumped on to her counter. The woman came up next to me and removed the hood she was wearing. It was a girl. “Hi, I should introduce myself,” the girl said. “I am Liza, from Mossdeep City. I was running an errand for my parents with the gym leader in Saffron City.” “Well, I’m Drew, from somewhere far,” I replied. “Somewhere far?” Liza questioned. “I am from the United States,” I responded. “But, I’ve been living in Pallet Town for the past four years.” “Wow, I’ve always wanted to visit the United States,” Liza answered. “But we can’t bring any of my Pokémon there, so it’s hard to leave them at home while I’m out having fun.” “That’s the downside to traveling outside the country,” I answered. “I really thank you for what you did back there,” Liza said. “I want you to have this.” She took out a Poké ball and handed it to me. “Wait, is that a Pokémon?” I asked. “Yes, it is,” Liza answered. “I found it while I was here in Kanto outside of Lavender Town. It was strange that it knew the moves it knows. I have no use for it, so you can train it to be strong!” Liza took out her Pokédex and pressed a few buttons. “What’s your trainer ID?” she asked me. I handed her my card and she put it in her Pokédex. “It’s all yours now,” Liza said. “I have to leave now. If you’re ever in Mossdeep City, come and visit!” “Bye, Liza!” I waved as she put her hood back on and hailed a taxi. I held the Poké ball in my hand, wondering what the Pokémon inside was.
   I threw up the Poké ball out came a Pokémon with its eyes sealed shut and it had a long tail and it just sat there, like it was sleeping. I opened my Pokédex and it said, “Abra, the Psychic Fox Pokémon. It sleeps 18 hours a day and it can sense danger coming from a mile away. Nature: Gentle, Moves: Teleport, Psychic, Shadow Ball.” “That’s strange?” I asked myself. “A Psychic Pokémon knowing Shadow Ball?” I shook my head. I had an idea. I picked up Abra and brought it outside into the lightly sprinkling rain and set it down. “Abra, use Shadow Ball on that bush,” I said. A large ball of energy appeared in front of it and it released it on that bush. “I guess you do know Shadow Ball,” I clapped my hands together. “This is great!” I returned Abra to its ball to let it sleep some more. Nurse Joy was sitting at the counter when I came back. “Here’s another Pokémon for you to take care of,” I said. “The girl I was with gave it to me.” “Ill put it with the rest of them.” “Do you happen to have a pool here?” I asked. “My Lapras hasn’t been outside its Poké ball in two days.” “It’s closed for the night,” she told me. “It’ll be open in the morning. Come to the dining room, Chansey made pizza tonight.” “Oh, yum,” I said.
   After enjoying a delicious dinner, and preparing to the next day, Nurse Joy and some other trainers staying at the Pokémon Center sat in a living-room style area in front of a fire, and I decided to join them. “Why hello Drew,” Nurse Joy said putting down her book. “The rain is making the place feel colder, so we started a fire.” “It seems cozier here,” I answered. “Why are you here in Cerulean?” Nurse Joy inquired. “Is it to battle the gym here?” “Yep,” I answered. “It’ll be my second badge. Who’s the gym leader here?” “It all depends,” Nurse Joy answered. “There are three of them, well, there usually is four, but one is traveling in Johto.” “They’re all sisters,” one of the trainers said. “Are you going to face the gym too?” “Yep, I got first badge in Celadon City and then I’m here,” I replied. “But don’t you get your first badge in Pewter City?” the trainer asked. “Yes, but I’m doing things differently,” I responded. “I’m going to try something different. I’m going to fight this gym leader with a water Pokémon.” “That’s going to be tough, and its going to take a while,” the trainer replied. “Not with what I’m thinking. Good Night everyone!” I replied. I walked to my room and went to sleep.
   I woke up at seven in the morning to a cloudy day, but that wasn’t dampening our spirits. I ran out back to the pool and threw up Lapras and Squirtle’s Poké balls. “Good Morning Lapras!” I said Squirtle was still rubbing his eyes from the abrupt wake up in cold water. “I’m going to use you in a gym battle today,” I continued. I gave Lapras a hug and assured it. “Squirtle, would you like to practice with Lapras?” Squirtle, though still tired, nodded. “Let’s go Squirtle, use Bubblebeam on Lapras!” I called out. “Lapras, use Psychic to counter the Bubblebeam!” Lapras’ Psychic held the bubbles in mid air, which stunned Squirtle in amazement and shock. “Lapras, use Ice Beam!” I yelled out. “Squirtle, block it with Water Gun!” Squirtle’s Water Gun was powerful, but it was no Hydro Pump. He was able to block the Ice Beam for a while and then it froze him solid. “Oh, no Squirtle!” I yelled. I dug into my pack for an Ice Heal and unfroze Squirtle. Squirtle was fine after that, not taking that much damage from it. “Lapras, use Surf. Squirtle, block it with Rapid Spin,” I said. Lapras made waves in the pool and Squirtle began spinning around. He was able to divert the water away from him, but managed to leave me soaking. “Squirtle!” I yelled. “Squirt-le,” he replied, with the sorry look on his face. “It’s fine,” I replied. “Let’s go get ready!” After returning inside, letting Lapras stay outside enjoying the water, I got changed and ate breakfast. “Is that your Lapras outside?” one of the trainers asked. “Yep, I’m going to use her to battle the gym leader,” I proudly replied. “That’s going to be an easy battle then,” the trainer replied. “That’s one powerful Pokémon. Where’d you get it?” “The Pallet Town Bay,” I lied. “The Lapras are there this time of year,” the trainer replied. “Well, I am afraid I have to leave now,” I said standing up stuffing my face with the rest of the food on my plate. I ran outside and got Lapras in its Poké ball and left the Pokémon Center.
   I ran straight to the Cerulean gym since it was just to the right of the Pokémon Center, about half a mile down the road. I went in to find a large hallway surrounding the circumference of the building, with aquariums galore. I let Growlithe and Squirtle out of their Poké balls and I went into the doors in front of me. There was more stadium seating, like the Celadon gym, but here was a pool instead of a dirt battlefield. There were three girls standing at the corner with their backs turned to me. “Um excuse me,” I said walking in. The three girls turned around. “Un, can we help you?” one girl asked asked. “I’m looking for the gym leaders,” I answered. “We are the gym leaders,” another girl said. “Well, I’m here looking to challenge the leader here,” I said putting my foot forward. “For the Indigo League?” the third girl asked. “No,” I retorted. “Hello Drew,” the first girl said. “I am Daisy, and I accept your challenge.” “How do you know my name?” I asked. “I just know!” Daisy winked at me. “Let’s get started,” Daisy replied. “Other trainers are going to be coming soon and they can’t witness this battle, since it isn’t Indigo League sanctioned.” “Alright then,” I replied. One of the other girls led me to a box on one side of the pool. “Here we use water Pokémon,” the girl said. “I am Lily and I’ll be officiating this match. You’re going to use one Pokémon for battle. Are you ready?” “Yes,” I proudly replied. The final sister walked up to me, just noticing Squirtle and Growlithe. “Oh your Squirtle is soooo cute!” the girl said, squeezing Squirtle, who was pretty uncomfortable. “I actually want to start the battle now, Violet, if you don’t mind,” Daisy yelled. “Oh, sorry,” Violet replied and quickly ran next to Lily.
   After Lily yelled all the technical stuff, Daisy threw Seaking into the water. I threw up my Poké ball. Lapras came out and floated on the water. “Go!” Lily yelled. Seaking swam around trying to land a drill peck on Lapras, but Lapras just moved around the pool like it was just out for a leisure ride. I instructed Lapras to use Psychic and it raised Seaking out of the water. Seaking was able to free itself after a bit and land some Water Pulse attacks. Lapras then used Ice Beam and froze Seaking in a solid block of ice, floating in the water. Lapras delivered the final blow to Seaking by using Psychic and launching it down on to the gym floor, thus ending the match.
   â€œGreat job Lapras!” I jumped up and went to check up on the Seaking. Right when I got there, Daisy said, “Seaking is going to be fine. He had a tough battle, and we let our guard down, because we weren’t expecting those powerful Psychic attacks.” “We worked on that before we came here,” I replied. “Lapras finally is getting Psychic down.” “Well, I have some stuff to give you,” Daisy said. “This is the Cascade Badge, showing you have beaten us here and TM03, which contains Water Pulse. It may cause confusion in opponents, but it didn’t affect Lapras that much.” “Well, thanks Daisy,” I replied. “This was a tougher battle then with Erika, and that’s because I didn’t use Pokémon with a type advantage.” “Those always make the best battles, though,” Daisy answered. “You’re welcome to stay the day, if you’d like. You can watch the rest of the battles and your Lapras is just loving it here.” “I can’t just pack up now, can I?” I replied. “So, yes?” Daisy inquired. “Yes!” I smiled.

=End Chapter 5=

Next: Chapter 6 - Have You Ever Tried Zen Sludge?

So here's Chapter 6, the longest chapter. The long awaited Chapter 7 is up next!

Chapter 6:Have You Ever Tried Zen Sludge?
After having a lovely day with the Cerulean Sisters, watching trainers challenge the leaders, most not having much luck with winning. Squirtle was the only one not pleasant since Violet was constantly hugging him. It was an enjoyable evening with sushi for dinner and a phone call from Professor Araragi telling me to head to Fuchsia City for my next gym battle with Poison type leader, Janine. She took her father’s job after he went to the Elite Four for the Johto Region. As a matter of fact, there is only one person who holds two Elite Four positions, and that’s Bruno, a Fighting type trainer who is the master trainer for Kanto and Johto. Before heading to bed, I decided to do some light reading from the Pokémon book my father gave me. Chapter Four: Pokémon and Berries.
   Berries are a basic element in training Pokémon. They can heal them, make them more beautiful in the eyes of some, make them friendlier, and even weaken certain attacks. They can be made into blocks, Pokéblocks, and they are made into cakes, called Poffins.  These are used for Pokémon Contests (see Chapter Five). These two edible objects are made to assist a certain element: Cool, Tough, Smart, Beauty, and Cute in Pokémon Contests. Pokémon like certain flavors: Spice, Sour, Bitter, Dry and Sweet according to their nature (see Reference section for a Nature/Flavor chart). Berries can be planted throughout the Verdant Republic, and need special soil to grow. Most Berries found in the Verdant Republic aren’t found elsewhere, but they show striking similarities to berries found in the world. Berries are used for other products, too. Bluk berries are used to produce fireworks and Ganlon berries are used in lotions and perfumes as a base; there are even elements of Chople berries in rocket fuel to provide a quick burn for liftoff (NASA/RFSA/JAXA/ESA still haven’t acquired the technology to incorporate this into their fuels). Berries found in the Verdant Republic are still wrapped with an enigma on uses, but we know Pokémon and humans alike love them!
   My phone began to ring. “Hello?” I inquired. “Who was calling at this hour?” I thought. “Hello Drew, this is Erika, did I wake you?” Erika calmly asked. “No, I was just reading,” I answered. “I heard you got the Cascade Badge, congratulations,” Erika stated. “I know, it was definitely a much harder battle,” I responded. “I used my Lapras, but we still overcame the obstacles.” “That’s awesome!” Erika yelled. “Where are you heading off to next?” “Uh, Fuchsia City,” I answered. “So I will be in Celadon tomorrow afternoon.” “You will? That’s great!” Erika yelled again. “We can meet in front of the Department store, if that’s ok?” “That’s fine,” I replied. “Just have Nurse Joy of the East Celadon Pokémon Center meet us there, too. I have a package from her aunt that I need to get to her, a rather big one.” Maybe I forgot to mention, but the Nurse Joy up here gave me a Pokémon egg that she found with her Chansey and wants her niece to take care of it; since I was heading in that direction, I offered to take it. “Ok, just call me right before you reach the city,” Erika answered. “Good night, Erika!” I exclaimed. “Good Ni-“ Erika replied right when I hung up.
*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   
   â€œGood-bye Nurse Joy!” I yelled running out the door after breakfast, on my way to Fuchsia City. “Good Luck, Drew!” Nurse Joy called. “Protect that egg for me!” I sped out of the city back onto Route 5 in 15 minutes flat. Since the egg was tied down to my bike, only Pidgeotto and Oddish were able to be out of their Poké balls. On my way to Saffron City, I ran into a trainer from Pallet Town and we had a battle. It was so intense, that to save us from winning, Oddish evolved into a Gloom to deliver the final blow to her Pikachu. I continued to Saffron City another half hour later to find that they were tearing a bunch of houses down to make way for a Goldenrod-Saffron train line with a stop in Viridian City. The sign said it could go between Goldenrod and Saffron in less than two hours. It was basically a plane on land. I got a phone call from a trainer that I battled on Route 6 who wanted a rematch, which I accepted, but he had to meet me by the south gate to Saffron City. We had a nice battle, two on two, which caused Squirtle to evolve into Wartortle and for Gloom to learn Energy Ball (well, after the trainer taught it to Gloom).
   After scurrying around the Saffron City vicinity, and making a quick pit stop at the Saffron City Pokémon Center for Lunch, I headed out to Celadon City. I now had some slightly unstable Pokémon, especially Gloom, since it wasn’t used to its new body. After about fifteen minutes on K7, I called Erika to tell her where I was. “So, I’m almost here Erika,” I said. “Yay! I’ll meet you in the plaza, the one in front of the Department Store, remember?” Erika said, sort of hyperventilating. “Make sure Nurse Joy is there, too,” I answered. “I will, bye Drew!” Erika responded. Erika forgot to hang up the phone, and just I was about to hang up the phone, I overheard her humming. It was Wagner’s Lohengrin, or to the layman, the Bridal March. “Gloom, do you think this kimono will make me look fat?” Erika asked her Gloom. “No, you’re right. I should go with the jeans and apron. He is an American after all.” I decided to hang up after that. “Well, Gloom,” I said. “It looks like Erika has the hots for me.” Gloom just smiled, knowing full well about the conversation.
   I arrived in Celadon City about fifteen minutes later, just the way I left it (well, it was only a few days ago). I saw Maylene leaving in a cab towards the airport and I waved to her. I continued into the center of the city, where there was a large plaza with a large fountain in front of it. I saw Nurse Joy and Erika sitting on a park bench waiting for me. I pulled into the plaza, which prompted Erika to stand up and come running toward me with open arms. She nearly pushed me over when I got off the bike. I was able to release from her hug and greet Nurse Joy. “This is the package from your aunt,” I said handing the egg to Nurse Joy. “It is great to see you again,” Erika said. “I wanted to give you something else, but you left in a hurry.” Out of her apron, she handed me a mini treasure chest. She opened it and it was a rock. “You wanted to give me a rock?” I asked showing signs of disgust. “No, silly,” Erika replied. “This is a Leaf Stone. It can evolve certain Grass types into a final evolutionary state.” “Well, I should at least show you one of my new Pokémon,” I stated.
I went back to my bike and took Gloom out of the basket. “I caught it when it was an Oddish, but it evolved into Gloom about three hours ago,” I continued. “Oh, this Gloom is soooo cute!” Erika said squeezing Gloom, thus waking it from its nap. Gloom was just about to shoot off a Stun Spore, but I stopped it. “Gloom, meet Erika, a Grass Pokémon trainer, she means no harm,” I said. “Erika, you woke Gloom from its nap.” “Oh, I’m sorry Gloom,” Erika said holding Gloom up. “I’m guessing you want to go back to sleep now, right?” Gloom nodded and Erika put Gloom into the basket. “If you use the Leaf Stone on Gloom in the future, it can become a Vileplume,” Erika told me. “Not to mention a stronger Pokémon,” Nurse Joy piped in. “I’m afraid I must leave for Fuchsia City, now,” I said. “It’s an hour ride down cycling road and another 30 minutes to the city. “Well, go on then,” Erika pouted. “Erika, I’ll be back up here soon before you know it,” I reassured her. “Now, a word to the wise,” Nurse Joy said. “The Fuchsia City Nurse Joy can be pretty grumpy at some times. She is my mother, so that may be the reason.” Nurse Joy chortled after saying that. “Good Luck, Drew!” Erika said. She gave me another big hug and I hugged Nurse Joy, got on my bike and continued on. Pidgeotto led the way to the route heading towards the Cycling Road.
   After spending ten minutes trying to find the Route leading to Cycling Road and another fifteen minutes reaching the road, I arrived on the road, slanting downhill slightly towards the bottom about twenty miles up ahead. There were small rest stops spaced out along the bridge area, since the bike path was level with the ground, whereas the road for cars was closer in the bay, with a direct line into Fuchsia City (which only took fifteen minutes by car to reach). I began heading straight down the path. Gloom was enjoying the breeze like Growlithe was when we were heading to Saffron City, but this one was artificial. Pidgeotto was finally able to go fast, and I could see it making maneuvers to go faster. After spending half an hour on the bike path, there was a rest stop and the bridge split into lanes. There I battled a trainer with Abra (since they used Poison types), needless to say, Abra attacked perfectly and listened to my commands perfectly. After a tough battle with the trainer’s Weezing, Abra evolved into Kadabra, and ended the battle with a newly learned Psybeam attack. Before arriving into Fuchsia City, there was a roadblock with three bird trainers, saying I had to beat them to pass into the city. “Usually, idiots like these guys don’t block roads in California, they just usually shoot at the police,” I thought to myself. They thought they were hotshots until I pummeled them with Wartortle and Pidgeotto (who unfortunately fainted in the second battle). Pidgeotto tried his hardest, but up against a Fearow, I had no chance of survival. I still took care of them for other trainers in the future.
   I arrived in Fuchsia City a little past six and I came to see a huge shock. Fuchsia City looked closely similar to my hometown in California. It was a city nestled in the hills leading out to the ocean further away. The Pokémon Center, located next door to the gym, was hidden in a hill to the right of the main road in. Once I got to the Pokémon Center, the view out to the ocean was stunning, and the perfect foreground for the setting sun in the back. I walked in to the Pokémon Center and headed directly to the counter. “Hello, Nurse Joy,” I said. Nurse Joy looked up at me and went back to her book. “Could you please heal my Pokémon,” I asked nicely. “Oh, you just had to ask,” Nurse Joy said. “I’ll take care of your Pokémon for you. Is there anything else you’d want me to do, your majesty?” Nurse Joy said sarcastically, ripping the Poké balls from my arms. My stomach began to rumble. “Do you perhaps have any food?” I asked holding my stomach. “Chansey!” the Nurse yelled. After Nurse Joy left, Chansey popped her head out from behind the counter. Chansey left the desk area and motioned me to follow her to the back. There was another woman shuffling through papers and writing stuff down. Chansey led me to her and exclaimed, “Chansey!” The woman looked up. She was a police officer.
   â€œGood Evening, Drew,” the officer began. “I am Officer Jenny, the Police Chief of Fuchsia City. Please excuse Nurse Joy, she’s always been this grumpy, but she gets the job done!” “Her daughter warned me about her,” I answered. “But how do you know my name?” “Just as I was getting to leave, I got a phone call from Nurse Joy’s sister in Cerulean City saying that I was coming here and to wait up for me, so I could tell you about Nurse Joy here in Fuchsia,” Officer Jenny went on. “I guess you’ve made an impression on the Nurse Joys throughout Kanto.” “I guess I have,” I shrugged. “Just to let you know, there were three bird Pokémon trainers that stopped me from entering Fuchsia City a while ago, if that is something worth of a police problem.” “I thought I told them to lay off travelers,” Officer Jenny. “Did they have a Doduo, Fearow and a Spearow?” “I’m going to kill those guys!” Officer Jenny said running out the door. “Listen to Chansey!” the officer yelled back.
   I sat down at a table and Chansey served me some pasta and meatballs. “Thanks Chansey,” I said. Chansey walked back into the kitchen while I ate. Nurse Joy walked in with my Pokémon. “Your Pokémon are all healthy again,” Nurse Joy said. “Just don’t let it happen again.” She sat down at the table next to me and Chansey served her. The entire room was silent, until I brought out Wartortle and Growlithe. I put Growlithe on my lap, but he was more interested with what was on my plate than what was going on. Chansey brought out some Pokémon food for them. “Thanks Chansey,” I broke the silence. “Here, Growlithe, you can eat this. You guys need to be healthy for tomorrow!” “Wartortle and Growlithe dug into the food before Chansey even set the plates down. “Don't worry Chansey!” I assured her. “They just love food, a lot. Ever since Wartortle evolved, he’s just been a Snorlax in consuming food!” I continued eating. “Are you guys ready for tomorrow?” I asked. “Wartor war!” Wartortle exclaimed. “That’s good to hear!” Wartortle was waving his plate. “I think you’ve had enough!” Nurse Joy looked over and laughed. Chansey’s eyes opened further after Nurse Joy laughed. “I’ve never seen a Pokémon so happy about eating. Usually Pokémon don’t like the food here. I make it myself, and I try for every type of Pokémon, but most just don’t like it.” Wartortle was nodding along. “Maybe it’s an ingredient,” I answered. “There must be something in there that is making a Pokémon not like it.” “That could be the case,” Nurse Joy said. “But when my mother made the recipe, it was the most popular Pokémon food in the region. This has been irking me for the past twenty years.” “I might be able to take a look and see what you might be doing wrong,” I answered. “But it will probably have to be tomorrow.” “Ok,” Nurse Joy said. “For the sake of making me feel better and Chansey happier. Chansey was my mother’s Pokémon, and she always loved the food my mother made.” “Well, until tomorrow,” I replied standing up and heading outside with Growlithe and Wartortle.
   â€œOk,” I said taking out the TM Daisy gave me. “Wartortle, I want you to learn this new move, and forget rapid spin, ok?” I tapped the disk on Wartortle’s head, causing him to glow a deep blue and he returned to normal. “Ok, Wartortle, use Water Pulse on that bush over there!” I exclaimed. Wartortle shot out large rings of water at the bushes. “Yay, you learned Water Pulse!” I yelled. “You can now really get in there with a battle now!” We walked back inside and went to bed.
   Running outside after having a peaceful and assuring conversation to help Nurse Joy kept her in a happier mood. Next-door, Japanese birch and maple trees shrouded a long path leading up to a wooded area and a Japanese pagoda styled building. I opened the gate and ran up the path. I sensed something was following me and I kept looking behind me, and nothing. Once I arrived in the building, it was empty and faded, like there hasn’t been a human here for decades. Then a shadow appeared in the corner of my eye, and I turned around to find a small shread of fabric sticking out of a wall. I tugged on the fabric, thus opening a secret passage and causing a person to fall out. “Ahhhh!” the person cried out. The person landed on top of me. The person got up, who revealed themselves to be a girl. “Who are you and what are you doing here?” the girl asked. “I’m here to battle the Fuchsia gym leader, Janine,” I replied. “You’ve certainly come to the right place,” the girl said. “Follow me.” I got up and followed her through a series of secret doors leading to a gym battlefield. “I am Janine,” Janine revealed. “Well, I want a battle,” I persisted. “Fine, you want a Soul Badge?” Janine held up a heart-shaped badge. “You gotta come and get it. This will be a three-on-three battle, you ready?” “Uh, where’s the officiator?” I asked puzzled. “This is a Verdant League battle, there isn’t a need for one.”
   Janine sent out a Golbat and I sent out Growlithe. Growlithe was able to move around quickly and use some powerful Flamethrower attacks. Goldbat sent out one Supersonic attack, confusing Growlithe. Growlithe was still able to land a last Flamethrower attack, knocking out Golbat. Next, Janine sent out a Weezing. Growlithe was able to use Take Down, but after Weezing used Sludge at a close range, it was the end for Growlithe. I sent out Lapras next and Weezing quickly used Toxic on Lapras, poisoning it. Lapras was able to get in one Psychic attack before fainting with Weezing, and both were knocked out at the same time. That was the most intense part, dealing with a poisoned Pokémon. “You’re going to feel the wrath from this last Pokémon,” Janine called out. Janine sent out Arbok and I sent out Kadabra. Kadabra immobilized Arbok with Psybeam and confusing it. After dodging its attacks from going off at random times, Kadabra used Psychic, thus knocking out Arbok and I won the battle. “Well done, Drew,” Janine congratulated me. “I confer on you the Soul Badge and TM06 containing Toxic, a powerful poisoning attack. It worked quite fine on your Lapras.” “Well, thanks,” I replied. “I have to go heal my Pokémon now, they put up a pretty tough fight.” “Very well,” Janine answered. “I will be down there at the Pokémon Center later today.
   After running back to the Pokémon Center to heal my Pokémon, I took a look at the recipe cards for Nurse Joy’s Pokémon food. “Let me see you make it,” I instructed her. I read the recipe card as she was making it. “No, Nurse Joy, you chop the vegetables first before you sear them in the pan,” I pointed out. “They get flavor better if separated from the larger entity.” Nurse Joy continued cooking. “Before adding the chicken, you need to make sure you have pulverized the meat in a blender. It will mix better with the vegetables when placed in a food processor together,” I instructed again. Nurse Joy finished the recipe. “Now is when you separate the dough and wrap it around the vegetable/chicken mixture. Then you bake it! Don't forget to add the hint of Oran Berry in there, too,” I instructed lastly. Once the Pokémon food was finished, Chansey tried it and collapsed from how good the taste was. She continued to eat half the batch we made. “I’ll put the notes I gave you on the recipe card,” I said writing. “Don’t forget these!” “Oh, I won’t,” Nurse Joy replied. “I am elated that I can now cooking something right for once!” “Well, I must run to the Pokémart and pick up some supplies,” I said running out the door.
   After returning from the Pokémart with some Hyper Potions, Dusk Balls and some berries, I got my next phone call from Professor Araragi. I was to wait in Fuchsia City for three days and then head to Saffron City and challenge Sabrina, the Psychic type leader, so I decided to just explore the city a bit, and possibly hit the beach. Janine came in to the Pokémon Center after dinner and was surprised to find a cured Nurse Joy running things smoothly yet again.
*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
   The past three days were pretty amazing. Janine took me to visit the Safari Zone. I caught a Nidoran that would eventually evolve into a Nidoking under the right circumstances, a Dratini and a Scyther. All of them were sent to Professor Oak, since I was unable to hang on to them. Also while out on the town, there was a kid who wanted to evolve his Haunter, so I traded him my Kadabra and then traded back the newly evolved Gengar. I received an Alakazam in return. I was finally prepping for my last two gym battles. At the end of the third day, I left Fuchsia City to take in some nightlife. I left the city around eight at night and enjoyed a cold, cloudless night ride up the steep cycling road bridge, since the top is almost three hundred feet above sea level, but the bottom is almost two feet above sea level. The bridge is broken in two to three mile spans between islands, so there are multiple bridges, but everyone calls it a single bridge. I arrived into Celadon City around ten at night. The city was illuminated like Las Vegas, the lights were shining on the Department Store, and the Casino-esque place was playing loud music and flashing lights every which way. Then again, it was a Saturday night. I just cruised through the city, trying to avoid to be seen by anyone, namely Erika, who would just cling on to me like a magnet onto a common refrigerator.
   I breezed through Celadon and arrived in Saffron just before midnight, though I just had to stop on Route 7 and just sit out with my Pokémon for half an hour. The instant I walked into the Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy came out in a nightgown, rubbing her eyes and shaking her head. “Do you know what time it is, young man?” Nurse Joy scolded me. “I just arrived from Fuchsia City. I thought I would be here at ten,” I lied. “Well, come and get into a room, so I can go back to sleep,” Nurse Joy said. “Yes, Madame,” I answered jumping into an open bedroom. I laughed after I closed the door and went to bed.
   I woke up the next morning later than usual, at eleven in the morning. I haphazardly put on my clothes and ran out into the main hall, now illuminated by the bright sun. “Good Morning, Drew,” Nurse Joy said. “I have a message for you from Professor Oak.” “Thank you, Nurse Joy,” I replied ripping open the envelope. “I heard you have three badges,” Professor Oak’s message began. “Don’t underestimate this next gym leader. It will be the hardest you’ll encounter in your journey here in Kanto. Just make sure your Pokémon are quick and ready to rapid-fire attacks at her Pokémon. Good Luck, Drew. We’re all rooting for you here.” I put the letter in my room, grabbed my pack and walked outside. I turned around and Nurse Joy looked at me strangely, causing me to return inside. “Yes?” I asked Nurse Joy. “Have you forgotten something?” Nurse Joy reminded me. “No, not that I can recall,” I answered. Nurse Joy opened one of her hands flat in front of her and clenched her other hand into a fist and then rapidly brought her fist between her open palm and her mouth. “Oh, right,” I remembered. “Where’s the dining room?” Nurse Joy directed me to a corridor to the right, which led me to elevators and took me to the dining room on the top level. I ate lunch and set out, yet again.
   Arriving at the Saffron City gym was a little strange. The gym looked odd, and I felt a presence that was… strange from normal. Right before I approached the gym doors, they flung right open. “Enter!” a voice beckoned me to go inside. I walked down a long corridor into a battlefield, with a woman sitting in a chair. “Welcome Drew,” the woman said. “I am the Saffron City gym leader, Sabrina. Welcome to Saffron City, I sensed your arrival. Let us battle.” A man came out from a concealed door and stood at the center of the battlefield. Sabrina gracefully walked to one side of the field. “We will use one Pokémon, ready?” Sabrina asked. “Let’s go!” I exclaimed. Sabrina tossed out a single Poké ball containing Kadabra. I sent out Alakazam. “This is surely interesting,” Sabrina pointed out. Sabrina told Kadabra to use Confusion, raising Alakazam off the ground and confusing Alakazam. Alakazam was able to use Psybeam, confusing Kadabra. So, there stood two Pokémon, dazed and confused and waddling about the battlefield. I instructed Alakazam to use Shadow Ball and Alakazam instantly snapped out of confusion to attack, landing a direct hit on the Kadabra. Kadabra was knocked from being confused and Kadabra used Psychic, immobilizing Alakazam in midair. Alakazam attacked with Shadow Ball after forcing itself out of the Psychic’s grasp. Alakazam knocked out Kadabra, thus ending the battle. “Congratulations Drew,” Sabrina. “You seem to know what to do. Erika was right. Your genuine care for your Pokémon shows through your battling style. I confer on you the Marsh Badge and TM 02, which contains Calm Mind. It raises Special Attack and Defense for Psychic types. Go to the Pokémon Center from which you came, someone is waiting for you there.” “Thank you for a great battle Sabrina,” I answered. I left the room, entering a now illuminated hallway with portraits of trainers and a Pokémon. Right before I was going to exit the building, I saw something that looked familiar. I saw a younger version of my father standing next to a Gengar. I took picture in mind as I ran off to the Pokémon Center with Alakazam at my side.

=End Chapter 6=

Please comment... still expecting rocks being thrown

Coming Soon, Chapter 7: One Ampère to Go

Slow, this is a reminder for you!!


To everyone else: Chapter 7 should be done by Tuesday!

Yay! An evil father!

I mean, possibly good. I don't know. I really don't know what to think of this chapter...

Either way, great job.

Quote from: SlowPokemon on August 08, 2010, 11:46:18 AMYay! An evil father!

I mean, possibly good. I don't know. I really don't know what to think of this chapter...

Either way, great job.

evil father? from what?

I associate Gengar with evil, sorry! :D

Ahhh... I see

Story will be up in less than a minute!

So, I finally finished this chapter... probably one of the better ones. I'm not going to highlight it out, but the title's namesake is in this chapter. This was such a joy to write.

Chapter 7: One Ampere to Go
   I ran as fast as I could to the Pokémon Center, avoiding oncoming traffic and pedestrians on the sidewalks. Alakazam ended up beating me there, because of teleport and I braced myself for the worst. It wasn’t the worst sight I could see. Professor Araragi and Nurse Joy were chatting in the foyer of the Pokémon Center. I dashed into the entrance and nearly fell over as I passed the threshold of the building. “Why, hello Drew,” Nurse Joy chortled. “You’ve been making quite the impression of people here in Kanto,” Professor Araragi added. “People are beginning to know your name. They’re calling you the ‘American Wonder’.” “You’re already a sensation,” Nurse Joy said. “People in Vermilion are forming fan clubs.” “Really?” I was astonished. “I’ve only been at this for a little less than three weeks. Am I really that good?” “You’re better than good,” Professor Araragi said. “You could possibly beat the Champion of the Verdant League. You are beginning to come out better than your father.” “So, I’m beginning to get a following, huh?” I said sarcastically. “Then explain this whole Erika situation. She had something to do with it, I can feel it.” “Well…” Nurse Joy looked at the Professor. “She started the fan club in Vermilion,” Professor Araragi laughed at what she said. “So, now I have to deal with a gym leader who’s twice my age, falling for me?” I asked. “I’m only 12.” “You are a sensation!” Professor Araragi said. “Unfortunately, your next gym battle is in Vermilion City in three days. Everyone knows about it.” “Ok, that’s cool,” I answered. “Everyone’s going to watch you,” Professor Araragi added. “They will have to judge it like an Indigo League battle, but use Verdant rules.” “Verdant rules?” Nurse Joy asked. “Don’t worry about it,” Professor Araragi answered. “We just need to get you ready for this.”
   The next two days I spent in Saffron City, preparing and battling trainers on the outskirts to the south. Once such battle taught Wartortle Hydro Pump, and another Pokémon pushed him too hard, so he evolved into a Blastoise. Pidgeotto saw a bunch of battles from trainers wanting to test the “American Wonder”, and an arduous battle with a Magneton caused Pidgeotto to evolve into Pidgeot. Growlithe was in the last battle before my gym battle in Vermilion, and he just kept getting stronger. The night before we all left to go down into Vermilion, I sat out on Route 6 by a pond with all my Pokémon. I gave them a nice pep talk and everyone was excited. I decided to teach a move to Blastoise that under the right circumstances may inflict tons of damage. After spending six hours with Blastoise, we perfected Earthquake.
   After waving good bye to Nurse Joy, Professor Araragi put a disguising hat on me and drove the hour down into Vermilion City. There were small crowds hanging around the gym when we passed it going to the Pokémon Center, and no one noticed me. “So, what do I do now?” I asked. Professor Araragi held up her finger as she looked at her now ringing Poké Gear. For a moment, she stepped into the other room and came out with a smile. “So, once Nurse Joy is done healing your Pokémon, you’re coming with me out to the docks. You’re going to get on Lapras and head to the back of the gym to avoid the crowds and then you can have your battle without anyone watching, under full Verdant League rules.” “Sounds great,” I answered. I knew I was going to be terrified if there were hundreds of people in the gym. Nurse Joy came out to hand me my Pokémon and I left to the docks with Professor Araragi.
   â€œGood Luck Drew!” Professor Araragi yelled as I was sailing toward the gym. I kept the hat on and took Lapras away from the sight of the crowds. There were two people standing outside a door at the gym, and they came up to me after I disembarked Lapras. “Are you Drew?” the woman asked. “Yes,” I answered. “Come with us,” the man motioned. I went inside and the gym was a dome with pillars conducting rings of electricity. “Welcome to the Vermilion Gym!” A voice boomed over the loud speaker. After I walked onto the battlefield, a man in army fatigues came out of a side door and approached. “It is finally an honor to be battling with another American,” the gym leader. “I am Lieutenant Surge of the US Army. As you can tell from my surroundings, this is an electric type gym.” “Well, the honor is all mine! I’m ready when you are,” I said. “Ok, kid,” Lt. Surge answered. “This is your last battle in the Kanto portion of the Verdant League. We’ll use one Pokémon each.” Surge ran to the other side of the gym. Gym personnel came out from side doors to guard main entry ways and the woman from earlier stepped to the side of the field, explaining the rules of battle.
   Lt. Surge proceeded to send out a single Raichu. I couldn’t think of what Pokémon to choose, and then I had a light bulb moment. I threw up Blastoise’s Poké ball, and out came Blastoise with a nice little tremor in the ground. “You got to be kidding, kid,” Surge called out. He had Raichu use Quick Attack, landing on Blastoise, but not really inflicting much damage. Surge then had Raichu use Thunderbolt, which was semi-blocked by a counter Withdraw. Surge kept on attacking with Quick Attack and Thunderbolt, that it was just inflicting some damage, but nothing significant. When Raichu was close to Blastoise’s cannons, he used Hydro Pump, sending Raichu flying to hit a wall behind Surge. Raichu was affected more by the crash into the wall then the actual attack, though it did leave some damage because of close range. Raichu came charging with a Quick Attack, but Surge changed it to a Thunderbolt at the last minute, striking Blastoise while he was out of his shell, stunning him after a large loss in energy. Then, Surge instructed Raichu to use Double Team, and copies of Raichu encircled Blastoise. I told Blastoise to “hit it” and he used Earthquake, raising Surge’s eyes and hitting the true Raichu with an upheaval from the ground, knocking out Raichu. It was a pretty powerful attack. Blastoise learns things quickly and he uses true power to make it even more powerful.
   The gym assistants just stood there while Raichu just laid there on the ground, fainted and motionless. After a few moments, Raichu regained consciousness and stood up. Surge walked over to my side of the arena and told me to hold out my hands. He reached in his pockets and placed a set of keys, a wallet, and some receipts. “Uh, sir?” I questioned. “Let me just find you a badge,” Surge replied. Surge finally found a small badge that looked like a sun, but with a garnet in the middle. “Here ya go,” Surge handed over the badge. “I’ve never seen a battle like this one. This final badge allows you to move right on to Sinnoh. Someone should be waiting for you in the Pokémon Center when you return. Just try and avoid the crowds!” “Sure thing, sir!” I answered. We shook hands and I exited the building out of the front entrance. There were about fifty people who all turned around, became quiet, and looked at me. About three quarter of them were girls, and they let out a big scream of elation after they saw me. I ran away from the crowd, with some of them following me through the streets of Vermilion City.
   After taking side streets trying to lose the crazed fans, I returned to the Pokémon Center where Nurse Joy, Professor Araragi and another woman was standing. I entered in and Professor Araragi took me over to this woman. “Hello Drew, I am Lorelei, a member of the Kanto Elite Four,” Lorelei said. “You have definitely run amuck with all the battling you’ve across this Kanto region.” “I know,” I answered. “As I progressed through the region, everything just kept on getting easier and easier, and ideas became simpler and simpler. Training my Pokémon became a clearer as I got to know them better.” “Well, that is a great thing to hear,” Lorelei answered. “Follow me!” Lorelei began walking to the back of the Pokémon Center and then into a room that had a steep staircase. Lorelei reached the bottom step; a long hallway appeared, illuminated by ornate wall sconces and chandeliers adorning the ceiling. The floor was marble, with a purple carpet leading to another room about 200 yards ahead. As I got closer to the end of the hallway, portraits of people and their Pokémon appeared on the walls and stone slabs hung beneath them.
Lorelei placed her hand on a screen to the right of the door and a large room appeared from behind the doors. It was a sizeable dome that had a large fountain in the center and an all glass roof, with the rays of sun pouring in. Outside, I could see Diglett’s Cave and open fields and trees surrounding the building. On the otherside of the room there was a cement mixer and a large computer screen with Professor Oak standing next to a device meant to hold Pokéballs. “Welcome to the Verdant League: Kanto Region Hall of Fame, Drew,” Professor Oak said. “You have done so much to get to the position you’re in, now. Now, I would like to formally induct you into the Hall of Fame for Kanto. May I have your Pokémon?” I handed over my Pokémon to Professor Oak and he placed them on the machine. “Now, I need your Pokédex,” Professor Oak added. He slid the Pokédex into a slot and my picture and my Pokémon’s pictures appeared on the screen.
The computer began, “Welcome to the Kanto Hall of Fame for the Verdant League, Drew!” A slot opened on the computer, next to where my Pokédex was inserted. Lorelei picked up the large disk from the tray. “As the Kanto Elite Four representative for the Verdant League, I hereby confer the Kanto Verdant Badge on you Drew,” Lorelei said. “Please open your badge case.” Lorelei pulled out a hidden tray from the side of the case and placed the badge inside, and handed it back to me. “Now let’s get the prints done,” Professor Oak said. “Call out your Pokémon, Drew.” All the Pokémon came out and the cement went into a tray and one-by-one each Pokémon added their hand prints to the slab. I added my hands last and then Professor Oak wrote in the cement “KANTO VERDANT CHAMP: DREW NORMAN WITH POKEMON: LAPRAS, BLASTOISE, ALAKAZAM, GROWLITHE, PIDGEOTTO, AND VILEPLUME.” Next Lorelei motioned me to stand in front of the fountain, and placed my Pokémon beside me. She and Professor took out a camera on a tripod, and took a picture of all of us. “We’re gonna print this on canvas,” Lorelei began. “This concrete slab and picture will be displayed in the hall outside and another copy will be sent to the Kanto Wing at the Verdant League HQ.” “Each region has a different process for inducting Pokémon trainers into the Hall of Fame,” Professor Oak said. “Our last confirmation upon you for the Kanto Verdant League is this…” Professor Oak pulled out a pouch out of his pocket and handed it to me. I opened it and it contained a Master Ball. “This is the same very ball that your father had you deliver to me,” Professor Oak continued. “Your father saw something in him that he saw in himself many years ago when he rose to be the Saffron City Gym Leader. Use this ball wisely, as it can catch anything out there.” “I will take extra special care of it,” I answered.
Lorelei came up to me and said, “I have something to give you, too.” She reached into her pocket and took out a little Lapras doll. “This is from my personal doll collection. Let this doll remind you of your travels here in Kanto and your growing bond with your Lapras. Return to Nurse Joy and the Professor above, as you are sent to leave for someplace else,” Lorelei ended. I began to walk outside. “Wait, Drew,” Professor Oak said. “I’ll need to take the Pokémon you caught here in Kanto, including Growlithe. You and Lapras must continue alone.” “Here, Professor,” I responded, handing him the rest of my Pokémon. “They will love my ranch, and if you want to talk to anyone of them, just give me a call. I’ll bring Growlithe back to your house to be with Skitty and Happiny!” “Thanks Professor,” I replied leaving the room. I returned to the surface at the Pokémon Center to find Nurse Joy sitting at her desk. “Where’s Professor Araragi?” I inquired. “She has already boarded the boat to Canalave City,” Nurse Joy answered. “She left your ticket here.” Nurse Joy handed me a ticket. “Head to Dock 17A to board the SS Wave to Canalave!” “Thank you, Nurse Joy… for everything!” I exclaimed. “Don’t mention it!” Nurse Joy blushed. “Come back if you’re ever in Vermilion again!” I waved as I left the building out onto the street.
Right before I stepped onto the main sidewalk leading to the docks, I realized I had to make a phone call to a number that Professor Magnolia gave me. I punched in the number and let the phone do its thing. “Hello?” a woman’s voice came on. “Hi, I’m Drew,” I answered. “Professor Magnolia told me to call you after I completed the Kanto segment of the Verdant League.” “Yes, I’ve been expecting your call,” the woman replied. “Your trip in Sinnoh is going to be much different than what you’re used to. I have recorded your number. Call me every time you defeat a gym leader in Sinnoh.” Before I could reply, she hung up the phone. “That’s odd,” I thought to myself. I just shook my head and left for Dock 17A.
“Hurry Up!” a man was calling out to me as I was going to the dock. The sun began to set and it was getting extremely close to departure time. “Hello sir,” the man said. “You must be the last passenger. Professor Araragi said you might cut it close.” “Uh, sure,” I answered. “Go up the gangway and head down to A-Level, Room 241,” the man replied handing back up my ticket. I ran through the maze of hallways on the A-Level and eventually made it to Room 241. Professor Araragi was having tea when I barged in. “You finally made it,” Professor Araragi clapped her hands together. “I had to make a phone call,” I answered. “Ah, so I figured,” Professor Araragi responded. “It’s going to be another 14 hours until we reach Canalave City. Why don’t you join me for tea!” I nodded and had some tea. I decided to go exploring and went to the café on B-Level to enjoy some food, since I haven’t eaten since I woke up this morning and by now, the sun had already set and we were nearing the south of Fuchsia City. There was a girl sitting next to me, with long, flowing, light-purple hair, who was enjoying some coffee and the same thing I ordered: a Hamburger with a side of Fish Tacos.
“What a coincidence,” the girl said. “You must have a good taste in food!” The girl smiled. “No,” I laughed. “I’m just REALLY hungry.” “I see what you mean,” the girl replied. “All you Pokémon trainers are always hungry!” “Well, you have to understand we’re out on the road 24/7 with little time to eat,” I sarcastically retorted. “I was once in the same situation,” the girl replied. “I’m Winona, by the way.” Winona extended her hand. “I’m Drew,” I answered. “What is bringing you to Sinnoh?” “I’m taking the second leg of my vacation,” Winona said. “I was vacationing on the Cerulean Cape and now I’m heading to the Resort Area, east of Snowpoint City. I work at the gym back home, and some kid came in with his Ampharos and ruined the ground, so I’m on vacation while repairs are being made. And you’re heading to Sinnoh because?” “Oh, I’m going to challenge some gyms in Sinnoh,” I responded. “I wanted to leave Kanto for once; I mean I have lived there for the past five years…” I began to rant. “So where did you live before Kanto?” Winona interrupted me. “Oh, I lived in California,” I answered. “California? Really? Get Out!” Winona was astonished. I took out my American passport and showed it to her. “I’ve gotten used to all the sudden outbursts when people find out I’m from there,” I continued. “I can see what you mean,” Winona replied. “You have to realize flights from Goldenrod City to Los Angeles got cheaper and a bit shorter since we didn’t have to connect through Melbourne, Sydney, Tokyo or Hong Kong.” Winona stood up and moved over to a window. “Look at that!” Winona pointed out. She was pointing to the Media Tower in Lavender Town, how its lights pierced over the hills surrounding the town. Winona slipped me a slip of paper and said, “Here’s my number. If you’re ever in Hoenn, feel free to give me a call.” She began to walk away and I answered, “Well, that’s our last glimpse of Kanto, and mine for a long time.”


==End Chapter 7==

Coming Soon: Chapter 8: A Frigid Welcome

Heh heh heh.

Sinnoh's up next!

you read this in four minutes? WTF?

So, comments?

Fast reader, unfortunately. ;P

Comments -

Everything is happening fairly quickly. Like last chapter he had a Squirtle, and now he has a Blastiose. Same with Oddish... I don't think you meant to rush though, and it;s not necessarily a bad thing.

Well, I didn't want to draw out for another two or three chapters... since everyone is probably getting a little bored of Kanto!

This next chapter is going to be new for me, describing Sinnoh for the first time!

I changed up my writing style just a bit... I hope this chapter is as amazing as chapters 1 and 2!!

Chapter 8: A Frigid Welcome
I woke up the next morning to find rays of sun penetrating the stateroom and I moved to the porthole and glimpsed outside, rubbing my eyes to adjust to the sunlight. I saw a large city off to the east of the ship. Professor Araragi walked in wearing a bathrobe and slippers. “Good Morning Drew,” she said startling me, as I was wearing just a T-Shirt and boxers. I quickly grasped for a blanket to shield myself from my “indecent exposure”. “Don’t worry, Drew,” the Professor said. “It’s all good!” “Oh, ok then,” I answered. “What city is that out there?” “That’s Jubilife City, the largest city in Sinnoh,” Professor Araragi responded. “So that’s Jubilife City!” I finally put the name with a visual. “So when will we be in Canalave City?” I inquired.  “Oh, probably in an hour or so,” Professor Araragi answered. “Come, let’s go get breakfast.” I quickly got dressed and went down to the C-Level Restaurant to eat a buffet style breakfast. Yum!
*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
WHACK!  As I exited the boat’s side, I was greeted with a strong, frigid wind. I love the cold, but when you forget a nice jacket, I had to improvise, which meant I had to wear my University of Texas Longhorns sweatshirt. Once we hit the dock areas of Canalave City, I took out the bright orange sweatshirt, causing some heads to turn. Professor Araragi motioned me over to a waiting car. “Where are we heading to?” I asked. “Oh, a smaller town to the south-east of here,” Professor Araragi answered. We were driving through the streets of Canalave City, a city that looked very similar to the French city of Reims, but with a port. The buildings were made of granite, limestone and other rocks to make it look like it was a small port town situated in Provence. The cars here were different, too. In Kanto, everyone drove imported cars from Germany and Japan, here many cars were made by Renault, but there were lots of Mini Coopers and various other French vehicles. Sinnoh had a much larger French influence on it than Kanto did. As we neared Route 218 and the S218 freeway, I noticed something not found in Kanto, bilingual signs. “Did we somehow arrive in Canada?” I thought to myself.
After crossing the Pont de Joliberges, and another 20 minutes, we arrived in the bigger metropolis of Jubilife City. This city was definitely a change of pace from the rustic Canalave City. Jubilife City was suspended on a large concrete foundation that contains the power grid and other forms of communication. According to Professor Araragi, the city is run by a single underground generator, and the exhaust pipes are small openings on the side of this platform. Professor Araragi pointed out the Pokétch Tower and the Sinnoh Now! Television Station as we drove by. Next, we passed a large dome used for contests and for the famous Jubilife Cooking competition and hidden behind it was the Global Trade Station, the headquarters for sending Pokémon to people outside of the Verdant Republic’s borders. Just before leaving the city, there was a traffic holdup. Around Jubilife, there is a train that runs on the fumes released from the holes in the side of the concrete foundation.
After experiencing the small coastline forests along S202 and passing a few towns, we arrived in a larger town located about a mile away from a beach between to ranges of hills. The town was surrounded by open fields and the tallest building was a tower with a windmill. Up ahead on S201 was a forest heading to a much quainter, little town. “Welcome to Sandgem Town, Drew,” Professor Araragi opened my door. “What’s in this little town?” I asked. “You shall find out,” Professor winked and then gallivanted around the car. She continued moving quickly until we reached a building that looked like an overturned bowl next to the large windmill I saw earlier. Professor Araragi led the way inside and I followed, walking in instead of choosing the Professor’s mode of skipping. I walked down a hallway and entered a large room that contained a lot of equipment and a large computer screen. Professor Araragi was standing next to Professor Rowan when I walked in.
“Hello Drew,” Professor Rowan said. “It is great to see you again.” “You, too Professor!” I answered. “So, let’s get you on your way here,” Professor Rowan replied. He threw up three Poké balls. Out came three little Pokémon: A Penguin-esque Pokémon, a Monkey with a fire tail and a Turtle with a leaf growing out of its head. “Drew, meet Piplup, Chimchar and Turtwig; these are the beginning Pokémon in the Sinnoh region,” Professor Rowan continued.  “Now, Drew, if for any reason you don’t want any of these starters, now or in a future region, you are welcome to use any starter from Isshu,” Professor Araragi added. “No, I think I will give one of these little guys a chance,” I responded. I knelt down to the three Pokémon just standing there. I picked up Chimchar, who instantly hated being lifted off the ground and then scratched my arms to force me to drop him, thus causing him to run around trying to get rid of the pain. Turtwig just stood there, bored and slow. I picked up Piplup, who enjoyed it. She instantly jumped on my head and gave it a hug. “Well it looks like Piplup chose you,” Professor Rowan said. “I think you’re stuck with her now.” “I guess so,” I answered. “Luckily for me, I have already trained a water Pokémon from this early age.”
Professor Rowan returned all the Pokémon to their Poké balls and scanned my ID into the Poké ball, making Piplup my first Sinnoh Pokémon. I scanned Piplup’s ball to find out what moves it knows. The Pokédex began, “Piplup: The Penguin Pokémon. Piplup has a Relaxed nature and knows Water Pulse, Peck and Waterfall. Below is a list of moves Piplup can eventually learn.” The Pokédex displayed all moves. “Since when could my Pokédex do this?” I asked. “Since Professor Oak stuck your Pokédex in the Kanto Hall of Fame machine with your badges,” Professor Araragi answered. “It updated the firmware on the Pokédex to give it a much more fluid description. It can now display your Pokémon’s strengths and weaknesses against other Pokémon. It’s a pretty nice feature.” “That’s pretty cool!” I responded in amazement. Professor Araragi and Professor Rowan started talking, which escalated into a debate about the Fragmentation of the Artificial Development of the Pokémon Psyche and the Evolutionary Chain by Simple Means. While they were off making their arguments, I decided to call Professor Oak. â€"ring- -ring-.
“Good Afternoon, Professor,” I exclaimed as Professor Oak waved. “Hello Drew,” Professor Oak answered. “Where are you calling from?” “From Professor Rowan’s Lab,” I responded. “Oh, you’re already there?” Professor Oak was shocked. “I AM traveling with Professor Araragi, now,” I chortled. Professor Oak laughed along, “Oh, that’s right. So, did you pick a Pokémon for starting out in Sinnoh.” “Yessiree,” I answered, tossing up Piplup’s Poké ball. Piplup instantly landed on my head. “You chose Piplup, huh?” Professor Oak pointed out. “Well, she chose me,” I replied. “Well congratulations,” Professor Oak answered. “It is great to see new Pokémon are helping the rest of our research throughout the Verdant Republic.” Professor Oak took notice to the two professors arguing about their work. “What are they talking about?” Professor Oak inquired. “Oh, it’s just The Fragmentation of the Artificial Development of the Pokémon Psyche and the Evolutionary Chain by Simple Means,” I answered in one breath. “They’re discussing this WITHOUT me?” Professor Oak became annoyed. Professor Oak moved over to a screen closer to the two professors, and joined the conversation. “You know, Piplup,” I said. “Those guys must REALLY love their work.” Piplup nodded in agreement.
I went out back to the pond, and brought up a chaise lounge to the water’s edge. I let out Lapras into the pond and Piplup dove right in. “Hey Lapras!” I exclaimed. “Piplup is our newest team addition here in Sinnoh.” Lapras got all excited. Though she was fairly new to being a trainer’s Pokémon, she adapted as a maternal figure for all the younger Pokémon, especially when Squirtle was just beginning in battling. Piplup instantly took a shining to Lapras and began playing with her. I laid back on the lounge, drew my hood shut and took a nap.
   I woke up to Piplup pecking at my forehead. I instantly sat up rubbing my head and looking around. The bright scene turned into a twilit orange and the sun was sinking its rays behind the hills and trees that lined the lower half of Route 201. “What’s going on Piplup?” I asked. Piplup was moving around, spinning and it looked like it was trying to balance on something, but all I thought was “how’d I get so dizzy?” After a moment, I realized I wasn’t busy and I saw Piplup standing on top of her Poké ball. “Ok, I think you’ve had enough fun for today,” I said. I tried to return Piplup to her ball, but it wouldn’t let me. I tried returning Lapras, and the same thing happened. I decided to open the Poké ball and see what was inside. A Pokémon jumped out of the ball, it was nothing like I’ve seen before. It was kind of chubby with large eyes, and when it caught sight of Professor Rowan’s berry orchard to the side of the lab, it instantaneously ran towards the trees, grabbing all the fruit in sight. After nearly clearing out all the fruit, it collapsed under a tree, full from its escapade attacking the poor trees. Piplup and I ran over, and I grabbed my Pokédex at the same time, and it began to describe the Pokémon, “Munchlax, the Big Eater Pokémon, it wolfs down its weight in food once a day, swallowing food whole with almost no chewing. Munchlax has a Quirky nature and knows the moves Zen Headbutt, Lick, and Flamethrower.” “Flamethrower?” I questioned and Piplup looked at me the same way, it was like I was looking in a mirror and I was a penguin. I returned Munchlax to its Poké ball and scanned it to make sure it was mine, and it was.
   After collecting my things and letting Lapras continue her spelunking of the Rowan Pond, I entered the main lab. “It looks like you had a nice nap,” Professor Araragi said. “It was lovely, actually,” I answered. “Except for this one thing.” I threw up Munchlax’s Poké ball. Munchlax came out, confused about where it is. “Munchlax here somehow made it into one of my Poké balls, and when I discovered it, it ate about 90% of your berries,” I explained. “Oh, not to worry,” Professor Rowan answered. “This Munchlax is a regular visitor here. I’m glad it found someone. They love people who like what it likes best: eating and sleeping.” “But I don’t eat and sleep,” I replied. “Munchlax can sense what you REALLY want to do instead of be out here on the road,” Professor Rowan retorted. “I guess you’re right,” I answered. “But, what is really strange, Munchlax knows Flamethrower.” “He must have learned it in the forest,” Professor Rowan said. “Wild Pokémon can learn strange moves.” “It seems so, Professor,” I responded. “So, Professor,” I asked. “Where are we off to after here?” “Well, we’re due in Eterna City in a week, which is where your first gym match will be,” Professor Araragi answered. I opened my Pokétch, which received a whole lot more applications that worked the moment I stepped foot in Canalave City. The map showed where Eterna City was in terms of us here in Sandgem Town. “Isn’t that a bit far?” I asked. “Nope, not for beginning here in Sinnoh,” Professor Araragi winked. “Plus, I know a short cut!”
*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
   I woke up the next morning to Professor Araragi banging a pot from the doorway. I instantly sat up and hit my head on the bead above me. “Don’t you ever get enough sleep?” She asked. “Trust me, if you saw how I went about everything while I was alone in Kanto, you would think otherwise!” I retorted back. “I already packed your things, and the ship company delivered the bikes from Vermilion,” Professor Araragi answered. “I took the liberty of taking your bike aboard the ship so you can use it here.” “So, that’s where my bike went,” I let out a sigh of relief. I quickly got dressed and left with Professor Araragi anxiously waiting outside. She wasn’t dressed in her usual lab coat. She was in really short shorts (for someone her age, she had pretty nice legs) and wearing a T-shirt with another button down shirt that was half-buttoned over it. She also exchanged her heals for hiking boots. “So, what are we doing now?” I asked. “We’re going to bike to Jubilife City and eat lunch on Route 202.” “But what about breakfast?” I asked. “There’s this nice place in Sandgem that Professor Rowan recommended,” Professor Araragi answered.
   After having a delicious breakfast consisting of fruit rolled crepes and yoghurt, we left on the road towards Jubilife City. On Route 202, the highway is ground level, with bike trails going through the woods and then into some small clearings. I liked it a lot. It reminded me of when my mom and I would visit my grandparents in Long Island every summer. We would fly to 3 places before even arriving at this tiny little airport. We had to go to Sydney, Los Angeles and then either Cincinnati, Atlanta or Philadelphia before arriving at a small town out in the middle of the island. The Long Island Expressway, when going through the Pine Barrens felt just like this bike trip, and even the drive down. I felt it was quite uncanny how these two regions are extremely similar. After biking for two hours, it was almost noon and Professor Araragi was about 30 feet in front of me and she finally pulled off to a small clearing by a small lake and got off the bike. “Lunchtime!” she yelled as I rode by. I was starving and Piplup was anxious to get off the back seat. Piplup instantly ran towards the pond and dove in head first. Professor Araragi untied the basket from the back of her bike, took out a huge blanket and spread it on the grass. “Go ahead and eat,” Professor Araragi said. “And there are some berry trees behind you, so Munchlax can go eat those.” I let out Lapras into the pond and fed Piplup and her; Munchlax ran for the berry trees to chow down. I ate some sandwiches and some of the other snacks the Professor packed. The Professor also let out two of her Pokémon: Pokabu and Pachirisu.  “I just caught this little guy last week when I was here making preparations,” Professor Araragi said rubbing Pachirisu’s ears. “This Pokabu has been with me since I left Isshu last month. No trainer wanted him, they all wanted the Grass and Water Pokémon, and so this guy is traveling with me.” “I would have taken him in a heartbeat,” I answered picking up Pokabu, who in turn licked me just like Growlithe did. I continued to eat my lunch and Piplup was playing around in the water until it came floating up on bubbles. “Piplup, what did you do?” I called out. A small fish popped out of the water and when it caught Professor Araragi’s eye, she instantly ran over with a notepad in hand.
   After watching Piplup interact with the annoyed fish and Professor Araragi study it, and after watching Pokabu and Pachirisu talk and eat, I decided I wanted another sandwich. When I opened the basket and the last Roast Beef sandwich was gone. “Did you guys take the last Roast Beef sandwich?” I asked. Pokabu kept on eating its Pokémon food and Pachirisu pointed off into the distance. “Very funny Pachirisu,” I scolded Pachirisu. He then pointed again, and now I was compelled to turn around. There was a blue and black cat eating the sandwich about five feet from the blanket. “Did you steal the sandwich?” I asked the Pokémon. It looked at me with a blank stare, and continued to finish the entire sandwich. It then moved over towards Pachirisu and then sat next to him. “Are you guys friends?” I asked Pachirisu. Pachirisu let out a cry in affirmation and continued to eat. I took out the Pokédex and scanned the Pokémon, “Shinx, the Flash Pokémon, said to resemble a lion cub, this Pokémon uses electricity to fend off enemies.”
“Come here Shinx,” I called out. It listened to me and came over and sat on my lap. “You’re a good kitty, aren’t you?” I said, using what I always said to Skitty when it came over to me. Shinx yawned and laid its head down. Professor Araragi came back, soaking wet with Munchlax in hand. “You Munchlax likes to get into mischief,” Professor Araragi said annoyed. “Your Munchlax came up behind me while I was studying the Finneon in the pond, startling me and shoving me in the pool. Luckily for me, Lapras grabbed me before my notes got really wet.” She instantly changed her mood when she saw the Shinx on my lap. “Did you catch a Shinx?” Professor Araragi asked, completely ignoring her wet clothes. “Nope,” I replied. “It is a friend of your Pachirisu, though.” “Really,” Professor Araragi looked at Pachirisu. “Maybe you should catch it!” “You really think so?” I asked. “Sure,” Professor Araragi answered. “Then it’ll be able to hang out with Pachirisu and grow into a powerful Pokémon.” “Would you like to travel with us Shinx?” I asked. Shinx looked at me for a couple of minutes and nodded. I put it in an Ultra Ball (because I had no use for them at the moment) and let it back out.
I pointed my Pokédex at it again, “This is Shinx, notice its paws. If there was blue on the hind paws, it would be a female. Your Shinx has a Bold nature and knows the moves Bite, Spark, Iron Tail and Night Slash.” “Well, Shinx, you’re a pretty cool Pokémon,” I answered to what the Pokédex said. “Come here Munchlax and Piplup. This is Shinx, and he is going to be joining us on our journey through Sinnoh.” Piplup gave Shinx a hug and Munchlax licked the sandwich crumbs off Shinx’s face. After more introductions, I put Shinx on the back pedestal on my bike and placed Piplup in the Basket as “Chief Lookout”, a job which she took quite seriously. Munchlax and Lapras were sitting comfortably back in their Poké balls. By two in the afternoon, we were navigating the streets of Jubilife City, with Professor Araragi constantly looking around for something.

==End Chapter 8==

Coming Soon: Chapter 9: The Moors of... Sinnoh?

Really good chapter!

It's kind of creepy though, as Professor Araragi is like in her thirties, I'm guessing...

And Drew is...twelve?

Either way, I suppose that doesn't matter. It's your story. Good job.

well, Drew is getting older... HIS birthday will come up while in Sinnoh. But guys begin to notice these things at this time... and im making Professor Araragi in her 20s... (was that because of the legs remark?)

And what did you think of the writing? Worse than chapter 3-6? Better or worse than 2 and 7? Better than Chapter 1?

Believe it or not, I like chapter one the best! :D

But the others are also really good!

Ok... whats your second favorite?

I don't know, why are you drilling me?!?! :D

I like them all! Which is what authors hate to hear, I know! But now I see why people say it!

They're all very well written.

You're actually serious. I prefer criticism to praise  ;D Go ahead and roast me!

I will, eventually...

Like a MARSHMALLOW.

like the one from ghostbusters??? hahah

C'mon, besides grammar, whats wrong with some chapters in this story

I've had this chapter done for a while... the next one is definitely MUCH more funny (if this one is funny at all). I did another 180 and added more of the "Real World" into this and the subsequent chapters. I hope you guys like this!

Chapter 9: The Moors of … Sinnoh?
   After Professor Araragi found what she was looking for, this makeup store off Pont Avenue, we continued east out of the city. Right when we exited the city, there was a guard booth with a gate going across the road. There was a chairlift-esque thing behind the guard station, but there were just metal bars instead of chairs. The chairlift thing continued up over the hills. “What is going on?” I asked the Professor. “Bikes aren’t allowed in the Oreburgh Gate,” Professor Araragi answered. We stopped at the gate, and Professor Araragi talked to the gate attendant, who then proceeded to stop the lift, attach tags to our bikes and sent them on the lift. We walked through and continued on to this “Oreburgh Gate”.
   Walking was definitely a hassle. I liked to go fast and get to my destination, though I did love to stop occasionally. We walked along Route 203, it was pretty peaceful and calm for being outside of the biggest city in Sinnoh. There were trees, like along Route 2, but not as dense. The sunlight shone on the walking path, weaving along through small meadows and clearings. Trainers were out playing with their Pokémon or battling with them. You could the Starly up in the air, enjoying the day and the Bidoof napping by the small ponds interwoven throughout the Route. After walking for about two hours, and about ten miles inward, we began to go up in slight elevation. The cars had it easy; they had a concrete overpass to help them go into the valleys between the hills up ahead. We had to go up countless switchbacks until we were above the trees below. By the time we arrived at a cave entrance, with a sign saying “OREBURGH GATE”, the sun was beginning to set and we were exhausted from the hike up.
   I sat on the cliff’s edge, with my feet dangling below as if I was sitting a dock staring into the clear waters of French Polynesia. We were up high enough to see across the distance the tree tops and the lights were beginning to come on in Jubilife City, some 20 miles away from us. Professor Araragi joined me. “We still have a little ways to go, and we’ll stop in Oreburgh City for the night,” the Professor said. “Look at the world out there, Professor,” I answered, completely changing the subject. “It is calm and content from a distance, yet bustling and distraught when one comes too close for comfort.” “I think you’re right,” Professor Araragi answered confused, but effectively answered me in my daze. I let out Munchlax, who proceeded to look around quickly, but then sighed and sat down. “It looks like Munchlax couldn’t find food,” Professor Araragi laughed. I brought Munchlax in close, and Piplup stood on my shoulder and Shinx was purring peacefully in my lap. “This is how Pokémon and trainers strengthen their bonds, by being close together in harmony,” I thought to myself. Professor Araragi got up and went over to feed Pokabu and Pachirisu.
   After returning Munchlax, so he wouldn’t cause more trouble if we run into something with food, we entered the cave. The cave was dimly lit by the moon light peeking in through small holes in the cave roof, and there were fire-lit lanterns on the cave walls. There were hiker guys standing along the cave walls, playing with their Geodude and Machop. Many came up to me and the Professor, asking if I was challenging the Sinnoh League, and I said no. There was this one Camper who wouldn’t let anyone pass unless they battled him. I easily took out his Budew, with Munchlax, who needed convincing it wasn’t food. Munchlax was happy when I gave him some berries I picked up on the way that I hid from him. He almost bit my hand off, but that’s the price one pays for a Munchlax! Professor Araragi and I continued forward, and then we exited the cave; the bright lights of Oreburgh City came streaming upon us. The city smelt of coal and there was a bunch of machinery off into the distance, south of the city. We arrived at a small kiosk that was the other end of the chairlift thing that took our bikes after a couple of miles walking to the north-west of the town. After getting our bikes, it was only 5 minutes to the city center and we arrived at the Pokémon Center just in time for dinner.
   After settling in and scarfing down dinner, much to the disgust of the Professor, I decided to get away from the swarms of people wanting to ask Professor Araragi a question. I went out back to practice with Shinx and Piplup, to make them stronger. I wanted to teach Piplup and Shinx how to dodge attacks effectively. After spending three hours taking a one-on-one approach in hit-and-miss attacks, Piplup was able to dodge a Thunderbolt and Night Slash using a technique called Jump-n-Spin. It works and will expose a weak point in the enemy Pokémon with a Water Pulse attack. Next, I was able to teach Piplup how to use Bubblebeam using just a little dish soap Nurse Joy happily gave me. When I walked back into the Pokémon Center with Piplup’s brand new move and the lights were dimmed slightly, I knew it was late. I just noticed the illuminated signs were in French and English. Most of the signs here were that case. “Oh no,” I thought to myself. “I’m in Canada.” I proceeded to my room to discover a snoring Professor Araragi and I quickly got into bed and fell asleep.
   By morning, I only acquired about 7 hours of sleep and when I woke up at 7 AM, I finally was able to rub it in Professor Araragi’s face that I was up before her, so I decided to splash a little bit of cold water on her face, causing her to instantly get up and let out a screech. “Good Morning, Sunshine!” I said sarcastically, repeating the very words she said to me earlier. “I was having a nice dream,” Professor Araragi answered. “You know it is 7 AM, right?” I asked. “Really?” Professor Araragi looked at the alarm clock on the table between our beds. “AHH! I’m late!” Professor Araragi yelled out, quickly ran into the bathroom and in 5 minutes, she was in her lab coat running out into the hallway. I later found out that she was supposed to call Professor Oak at 7 AM and was late. Anyways, after we ran through breakfast, we walked outside. The equipment I saw when we were coming in to Oreburgh was now in full action, and some smokestacks were giving off a pitch-black smoke that would certain give you lung cancer if you inhaled a small concentration of it.
   After getting on our bikes with Piplup and Shinx, we made it out to Route 207, and after learning to ride a bike up a muddy hill, we arrived on top of a flat hill, with a road that led straight into a mountain some 10 miles east and there was some houses and then a large bridge containing S206 and the bike road between differing directions of the roads. I wanted to venture down below the roads, since there were some ponds that looked kind of cool. I wanted to let Lapras out for an hour and Piplup enjoyed the water, too. Professor Araragi found some Pokémon and took out her notepad and began writing pages of information. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw some flames behind a bush, yet the bush wasn’t on fire. I took Piplup and decided to check it out. It was a horse, with flames for a tail and mane, as well as a large flame extending from its forehead that went behind its ears. “It’s a Ponyta,” I whispered to Piplup. Ponyta was just minding its own business and was eating some berries. I wanted to catch it and Piplup came running towards the Ponyta using Water Pulse. Ponyta then caught its eye on me and then stayed for a battle. Piplup used Bubblebeam after avoiding a Flamethrower and then a quick Stomp attack. Piplup was able to weaken it, and by the time Piplup used Water Pulse again, it was confused.
I decided to catch it with a Nest Ball, since Piplup has leveled up immensely since I got it from Professor Rowan. The Nest Ball shook and the sealing light turned off and Ponyta was mine. By the time I returned to Professor Araragi and Lapras, she was feeding the rest of my Pokémon and hers. “Well, Professor,” I said walking towards her. “I caught another Pokémon.” “Ooh,” She answered. “What did you catch?” I threw up the Poké Ball and out came Ponyta, exhausted and somewhat annoyed. That was fixed once I gave it some Oran and Sitrus Berries, as well as spraying some Super Potion on it to ease some of the wounds it incurred from those Super-Effective Water attacks. Ponyta instantly warmed up to me after I took care of it. I took out my Pokédex and it told me this,” Ponyta: The Fire Horse Pokémon. It has a Hardy Nature, and knows the moves Stomp, Flame Wheel and Flamethrower. Ponyta loves to bask in the sun.” “Well, congratulations!” Professor Araragi clapped her hands together. “But we must get on to Eterna City. We have some stuff to do, even though your Gym Battle won’t be until tomorrow.” “Oh, alright then,” I replied. I returned all the Pokémon except for Piplup, who was riding in the front basket while we went up the cycling road. The view from the path was amazing; you were able to see the hills, trees and even the trainers practicing below.
After an hour on the road and the sight-seeing below, we arrived in the quieter city of Eterna City. There were buildings that weren’t as tall as the ones in Jubilife City, but they were sizeable. It was probably the size of the city I lived in back in the United States, around 100,000 people. What I saw here was extremely awkward. Apple Computer, an American based computer company has expanded its Retail store here into Eterna City, making it the first in the Verdant Republic (and the people there say there are five more throughout the country). I guess Apple wanted to sell their stuff here, even though the computers are much more technologically advanced from US technology, though back in 2002, it was mandated that computers ran on a global OS with the established OSX or Windows programs. Linux is illegal and Silph’s computer division went bankrupt after their PokéOS was deemed illegal. Google, a computer conglomerate, is submitting a petition to allow their new OS to be used in the Verdant Republic, and Chancellor Collins will bring it to the National Assembly and the Senate for a vote in five months on April 2nd, that is, if it is approved by voters in January.
The store had a huge line leading out of it, and Professor Araragi and I continued on to a small building. We went down a couple of hallways where we arrived in a small office and a large conference room, with some businessmen sitting, and the first slide of a presentation was being show. “Now, Drew,” Professor Araragi said. “I have to give a meeting, but you can go train your new Ponyta or go to the Eterna Apple Store. Just go check in at the Pokémon Center, first.” “Alright,” I said. I went back into the streets of Eterna City and found my way to the Pokémon Center using my Poké Gear. The moment I entered, Nurse Joy ran from behind her desk and greeted me with a hug. “Hello, Drew,” Nurse Joy said. “It is great to finally great to meet you.” “Uh, Likewise,” I answered shoving her away from me. “Can you take a look at my Pokémon?”  â€œOf course I can!” Nurse Joy exclaimed.
After a few minutes, I got my Pokémon back and got a key for a room. I took Piplup and Ponyta and I went out to a park a few blocks between the Apple Store and the Pokémon Center. I told Piplup to act on her own and start pummeling attacks and I commanded Ponyta. She dodged Piplup’s constant attacks and even landed a few Flame Wheels, but they hardily affected Piplup. After spending an hour practicing, Ponyta and I were finally able to get acquainted with each other and were prepared for battling. After two full hours of practicing, I picked up my stuff and went to the Apple Store. The long line was still there, but I just walked up to the bouncer, showed him my iPod and he let me right in. The store was fairly packed, but Piplup and I found an open iMac and we just took some pretty funny pictures and sent them to Professor Rowan and Professor Oak, who just responded, “You do THIS in your free time?” After having some fun for an hour there, Professor Araragi walked out of the building across the street, and I met up with her. We continued back to the Pokémon Center, and I got some early shut-eye.
The next morning, I got up bright and early and I got my Pokémon back from Nurse Joy and I marched down to the Eterna Gym. The door flung wide open when I arrived there and inside was a similarity to the Gym in Celadon City. It was filled with trees and shrubs that added a calming aura over the place. There was a girl standing on the grass battlefield, playing with some Grass Pokémon. “Are you the gym leader?” I asked. “Yes,” She answered. “Are you the guy that cut in front of me in line at the Apple Store?” “Well, uh, yes,” I answered. “I am here to challenge you to a battle.” “Sorry, I can’t do that right now.” The girl replied. “I have some things I have to do.” “Well, is the thing you have to do is battle a guy who is having his first match for the Sinnoh portion of the Verdant League?” I answered. “So you are the Drew that everyone is talking about,” the girl said. “I am Gardenia, the Eterna Gym Leader. I accept your challenge.” “Nice to meet you Gardenia,” I answered. “Let’s make this interesting. How does a three-on-three battle work out?” Gardenia asked. I nodded and she ran to one side of the battlefield.
 I sent out Lapras first and she sent out this little Pokémon, about 2 feet tall with roses for hands. “This is Roserade,” Gardenia yelled. “I’m just going to start out powerful, here.” I told Lapras to use Ice Beam, but not on Roserade. Soon, the field was covered in ice, making it easier for Lapras to move and made Roserade slip. Roserade tried to use Grass Knot to stop Lapras from sliding around, but the ice was thick. I told Lapras to use Psychic, to elevate Roserade. Gardenia told Roserade to use Mega Drain, but it couldn’t attack either. Lapras used Ice Beam on the floating Roserade, surrounding it in ice and then hurling it to the gym wall, thus knocking out Roserade. The ice on the battlefield was beginning to melt, which gave it an ease for her next Pokémon, Turtwig. Turtwig looked small, but since the ice was beginning to melt, it was able to land some quick Razor Leaf attacks and landed some Energy Ball attacks from afar, needless to say, Lapras was hit with constant attacks that she was knocked out pretty quickly. I sent out Munchlax next, who chased Turtwig, trying to nibble on the leaf growing out of its head. Well, once Munchlax came to its senses and I told it to use Flamethrower, it was all over for Turtwig. Lastly, Gardenia sent out a Pokémon resembling Cherries. It was called Cherubi. I decided to recall Munchlax and give Ponyta a fighting chance. Ponyta was unable to dodge the Grass Knot attacks that came up on the battlefield, but when Ponyta got close, she used Stomp and then quickly came back with a Flamethrower. Cherubi was still able to hang on and use a Leech Seed attack that took some of Ponyta’s energy and restored some of its own. Ponyta was able to land a final blow using Flame Wheel and I defeated Gardenia.
Gardenia walked over to my side of the gym. “You know, you never got the full battle experience!” Gardenia told me. She reached into her pocket and took out a remote and pressed a button on it. The roof of the gym dome began to open and the sun shone right down into the gym. “Cherubi, use Synthesis,” Gardenia called out after it rested for a little bit. Cherubi seemed close to what it was at the beginning of the battle. “Well, I must confer upon you the Forest Badge,” Gardenia said. She handed me a badge box in the shape of a large triangle. “Here in Sinnoh, the official Verdant League box is a triangle, symbolizing the three major lakes that are found here.” “Thanks so much!” I exclaimed. “Just next time, let me go with you into the Apple Store,” Gardenia winked. She also handed me her phone number so we could have a rematch next time I was in Eterna City. I waved good-bye and I exited the building. On my way back to the Pokémon Center and there was a much greater line in front of the Apple Store. I walked up to a guy and asked, “Why is there such a big line?” “Yesterday, a guy came in with this new product that we haven’t seen before and now Apple is releasing it here.” “Is it an iPod Touch?” I asked. “Why yes,” the guy replied. I just nodded, thanked him and continued on.
On my way back, I dialed the number of the strange person I called before I was inducted into the Kanto Chapter of the Verdant League Hall of Fame. “Hello?” the voice answered. “Hi, it’s me again,” I answered. “I beat Gardenia.” “Well, congratulations,” the woman answered. “Gardenia certainly has the fighting spirit, but this next gym leader has even more of the fighting spirit. You shall find out soon enough, and maybe you may even meet me at some point on your journey. Viel Glück, Drew.” She hung up after she said that. “What a mysterious person,” I told myself.
Professor Araragi was sitting down to lunch by the time I arrived back at the Pokémon Center. She packed up all of our stuff and was ready to go. I handed my Pokémon to Nurse Joy and joined her. “So, how was your battle?” Professor Araragi asked. “Oh, it was great,” I answered, elated. “I got the Forest Badge!” “Well, congratulations,” Professor Araragi replied. “We are making our way over to Veilstone City, next.” “Why are we rushing over there?” I asked. “You are due to battle the leader over there in two days, and then you can take a couple of days to train before we leave for the next city.” “Sounds fine with me,” I answered. After barreling down half of a pizza, we left for Route 211, which lead to the north entrance of Mount Coronet, the highest peak in the Verdant Republic (it is even taller than Mount Whitney in California). After passing through some caves, we continued on Route 211 and arrived in a small town, called Celestic Town. After stopping for dinner, we continued onto Route 210, and by nightfall, we were walking in tall grass, laden with fog. We couldn’t see either direction for more than 10 feet. Ponyta’s flames were no help and we almost set some grass on fire trying to get rid of the fog. We found a small clearing and set up camp, not knowing what the weather conditions would be like in the morning.
==End Chapter 9==

Coming Up: Chapter 10: A Stone Cold Feeling

Rather funny stuff! :)

I like Munchlax in the story despite the fact that I hate Munchlax in real life. xD

Well, I don't hate it. But my brother likes it, and we're sworn rivals.

I've been making him the main antagonist for Professor Araragi!

(Oh, and I'm posting this from my IMAC!!!!!)... It looks so dignified!

You will really like the next chapter. There is an unnamed person who will make an appearance (you will have absolutely no idea who it is!!!)

And do you want chapter 10 now, monsieur slow?

Umm.

Oui!

(One of the few French words I can name without looking up)

you can just go to translate.google.com

its so much easier pour toi!

Or you can just stick to english!

I'll put up chapter 10 when im done with this computer setup, D'accord?

This was a fun chapter to write, especially since it has some humor in it... moreso than previous chapters!

Chapter 10: A Stone Cold Feeling
   By morning, the fog was still just as bad. You could see a bright light above the grass, which was probably the sun. Luckily, my Pokétch was active, so we were able to avoid any large cliffs (if they were any) or any lakes or ponds that we perhaps may just walk into. Everything was so damp, even my clothes feel like they have been hanging on a clothesline after being only ten minutes out of the washer. Professor Araragi was silent the whole time we were in the fog, just riding her bike slowly ahead of me (even though I was navigating). After spending almost 5 hours, we finally progressed out of the fog to find a small restaurant. We stayed there for lunch and all I could do was look out the window. The landscape on this side of Mount Coronet was amazing. It was in stark contrast to the other side of the mountain. The climate on this side was much warmer, the grass was a lighter green and there were rolling hills instead of the large hills and the pine trees to go along with them. The bad thing was that this side also was much more humid than in Jubilife City, but that could be because we were basically on this Bayou type of pond and maybe it was just the area at the Route 210/215 Junction. The waitress told me that Veilstone City is up in the hills, so it should be cooler and at if I ever reach Pastoria or Sunyshore City, I should feel differing climates. She also told me that it rains much more on this side and it usually gets the snow last, because the climate is usually cooler than the rest of the country, with Hoenn having more tropical weather. It was the beginning of December and it has been unusually warm, but they did get snow in the beginning of November. We continued on to Route 215, where rain storms began after going about ten of the thirty miles to Veilstone City.
   The route was definitely leading to an alpine city. The route gradually introduced the coniferous trees and the scents that came attached to it. It made me think of Christmas, and all I needed was a fire, some hot chocolate and a bunch of blankets. The elevation changes were alleviated with small bridges going down into valleys and going through tunnels, so that all we had to do was pedal up a small switchback every 5 miles that would eventually get us almost 3,000 feet up in elevation, to a city that was covered in dark clouds with freezing rain drizzling over the city like a blanket of mist. It reminded me of a time I went to visit Seattle and I kept on slipping on the streets because of the constant drops falling, but they weren’t heavy and they just lightly kissed the pavement of Pike Street in large quantities. Veilstone City looked like the perfect city I would want to live in, but the cold breeze that was even colder from when I got off the boat in Canalave City.
   Professor Araragi instantly went to the Pokémon Center and talked with Nurse Joy for a bit while I changed into dry clothes. Piplup loved the wetness of the city and she and I both agreed that we were going to have some fun. “Great News!” Professor Araragi came barraging into the room, yelling. “You don’t have to be so loud, ya know?” I responded. “But it’s good news,” the Professor said toned down. “What? There’s this dress shop you want to check out because it goes with your new makeup?” I asked sarcastically. “Well, uh, no,” Professor Araragi said. “Your dad is here at the department store releasing a new product that was a joint effort with Silph and Devon.” “Now, that is good news!” I said elated. Now I was the one dragging Professor Araragi all over the city, and luckily the department store was noticeable, it had umbrellas sticking out of its rooftop.
   The instant Professor Araragi and I reached the front door; there was a huge crowd outside, trying to cram into the first floor of the building. I pushed and shoved until I pushed someone and the entire crowd just stopped talking and looked at me with anger. The person I pushed turned around. “Maylene?” I asked. “Well, look who it is,” Maylene answered. “You have finally made it to Veilstone City, but what’s all the hurry?” “Oh, sorry,” I answered. “I didn’t mean to push you. My dad is speaking at this event and I haven’t seen him since I left Lilycove City a while ago.” “Oh, I see,” Maylene answered. She then began to walk forward and the crowd just parted in front of her. Professor Araragi and I followed her until we reached the door, where two bouncers stood guarding the door. “Hello guys,” Maylene said to the bouncers. “I have the son of the speaker of this event, and he wants to see his dad.” “Son?” one of the bouncers said. “Alex Norman doesn’t have a son!” The other bouncer whispered something into his coat sleeve and in two minutes a familiar face arrived.
   â€œMadame Debanne!” I exclaimed! Madame Debanne was my father’s secretary. “Drew!” Madame Debanne answered. “It is great to see you,” I answered. “I would like to see my father, if that’s alright.” Madame Debanne took me, the Professor and Maylene inside. “You can watch your dad’s unveiling of the newest Pokémon Ball,” Madame Debanne said. “I’ll notify him that you’re here!” I stepped out of the foyer into the main hall of the first floor of the elegant department store. Professor Araragi’s eyes lit up and she then proceeded to hug a column supporting the upper floors. You could see the upper floors, all the way to a large sky dome ceiling where you could see the clouds above. The store was decorated in red, covered with velvet drapes and ornate moldings that complimented the interior colors. It looked like a palace, but it was stocked with Pokémon merchandise, clothes and other trainer gear.
   The crowd began to get silent and then loud cheers and clapping occurred all at once. My dad stepped onto the stage and began his large speech, “Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen. It is with great honor I am holding this press event for a new product that we are adding to our Poké ball line of products. I want to first let you know some information about how we’re doing. Devon has been branching out into markets across the globe. In the past year, we maintain a 62% market share in Poké ball production and a 28% market share in Pokémon trainer gadget production, with Silph maintaining the lead in Poké Gear and Pokétch production as a subsidiary. Devon has expanded into twenty countries, establishing an American factory and office in San Diego, and we have established a European office in Munich. We are preparing a new item to be released that will revolutionize the Pokémon Technological Market with a prominent American company. I am also overjoyed to tell you that Devon has made it into Fortune Magazine’s top 500 Global Corporations. We are in slot number 252, and we are growing exponentially, though we have to make sure Silph is not going to out run us in Poké Ball production. Now, without ado, I would like to present Veilstone City and Sinnoh with the Weather Ball.”
The audience began to cheer and clap to a louder extent before. “This is no ordinary Poké Ball,” my dad continued. “It will change color according to the weather effect going on, whether it is rain, sun, snow, hail, a sand storm, dense fog, or a large wind. When exposed to a weather type, the top half of the Weather Ball will change color to match the weather element. Each weather element will cause the catch rate of a Pokémon to increase from the 1x of the normal Poké Ball to 4.5x according to the type of Pokémon associated with the weather effect. The weather effect on the ball can be locked, so it doesn’t change when exposed to another weather element. There will be a list distributed to PokéNav devices and Silph will release a device for their Poké Gear and Pokétch devices, and we expect with the next generation of Pokédex devices coming from Silph to have this feature added, too! The Verdant Republic department stores in Celadon, Goldenrod, Lilycove, Burgundy and Veilstone Cities will carry these balls immediately, and will cost only 800 PokéDollars, less than the 1000 for specialty Poké Balls!  All of you attending this event will be given two Weather Balls to use and capture Pokémon. The effects will also change if you enter caves or go to forests. Each type has a different effect to change the ball’s type. Thank you for your continued interest in the Devon Corporation and hopefully we can continue bringing the quality products you want!” The people in the crowd were cheering and clapping as they received their free Pokéballs, even Maylene, the Professor and I got them. Out of the corner of the stage, I saw Madame Debanne wave me over and I was led to a conference room with couches, where I saw my dad just watching his press conference on the television and sipping a martini.
“Dad!” I exclaimed entering the room. “Drew?” My dad asked. “What are you doing here?” “Well, this was my next stop for my Verdant League battle, and I heard you were here,” I answered. “Well, how is everything going so far?” My dad asked. “It is going great!” I answered. “I have been here almost two weeks and I have five Pokémon. It has been a blast traveling around!” “I heard about how you swept the gym leaders in Kanto,” my dad answered. “So who are you friends?” “This is Professor Araragi from Isshu and this is Maylene, we met in Celadon City when she was attending an all-you-can-eat contest.” “I believe I know both of you,” My dad answered. “Professor Araragi, it is always a pleasure to see you. Maylene, shouldn’t you be doing something right now.” It took Maylene about thirty seconds to realize it, but it snapped in her head and she belted out of the room faster than a cheetah on speed. “I have been learning so much about you since I have traveled in Kanto,” I said. “Really, how so?” My dad asked. “Well, I saw a portrait of you and a Gengar on my out of the Saffron City gym and everyone is talking about you being the Sinnoh League Champion. I heard that from Professor Rowan.” “Well, maybe it is time you find out,” my dad answered. “Back when I was a kid, I traveled through Kanto and rose my way up into battling the entire Elite Four and I lost to the Champion. The Champion, in her kind heart, offered me a position to be the Saffron City Gym Leader, and soon it became an exclusive Ghost-type gym, even though my Charizard was my strongest Pokémon. Gengar was the main Pokémon I used in Saffron City, so many trainers couldn’t stand up to him. That entire hall shows the Gym Leaders of Saffron City since the Kanto League was established in 1442. It was the first Pokémon League of the then-Six Kingdoms. Other regions followed suit… well that is a different story for later. Once Sabrina rose through the ranks two years later, she not only pummeled me with her Alakazam, but she began trying at the Elite Four. Sabrina became my apprentice after that, but ardently stuck with Psychic type Pokémon. When I heard I was being chosen to replace the Sinnoh League Champion after I took a year off to challenge the rest of the leagues, I found the most favor with the Sinnoh League. By the time I was 27, I wanted to leave Sinnoh and return to the United States to study, and I met your mother while I was attending the University of Texas, though she just became a professor the year before. I passed down my Champion title to this woman that was Cynthia’s mother, and she passed it to Cynthia about three years ago.”
“So, that’s how it works, then,” I answered. “So you were born in Texas and moved here when you were young?” “Yes, I have lived here since I was one,” my dad responded. “It was definitely a change when I returned to the United States, but I wanted to get back to my home here in the Verdant Republic.” “You just loved it here,” I replied. “Yes I did,” my dad answered. “I unfortunately have to make this presentation at the rest of the VerdantStore chains across the country. I know you’ll go far and hopefully soon you’ll be able to face the Verdant Elite Four, composed of trainers stronger than most regional Elite Four trainers. Good Luck Drew!” My dad gave me a hug and walked with Madame Debanne to the roof. Professor Araragi and I walked outside and saw a helicopter leave from the rooftop and we went back to the Pokémon Center.
*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
   I woke up the next morning to see a small blanket of snow on the ground and I was already pumped for my gym battle. I snagged my coat from underneath the sleeping Professor Araragi, causing her to roll to the floor, still snoring after the fall. I grabbed my Pokémon and ran across the unplowed streets and watched the light snowfall continue while waiting for cars to pass at every street. I arrived at the Veilstone Gym minutes later, still pumped, but slightly out of breath, and I entered inside. I walked into a large ring to find Maylene standing there, quickly eating something out of a cup. “Maylene?” I asked. Maylene started coughing and hacking. “You startled me Drew,” Maylene answered. “Are you here to challenge the gym leader?” I inquired. “You really don’t get it, do you?” Maylene retorted sarcastically. “I AM the Gym Leader.” “You don’t seem like one,” I replied. “You are…” “What, too young?” Maylene responded. “Not a chance. I am powerful, and I am ready to show you what Fighting types can do! We’ll use only one Pokémon.” “I’m fine with that,” I answered. “The Verdant League is tough,” Maylene called out. “But I’m tougher”
   Maylene sent out her Lucario. It looked like a dog with some stranger features. I decided to take the easy route and sent out Lapras. Lapras, though not able to move much, can definitely do some damage. I told Lapras to use Surf, and the field became blanketed in a thin layer of water since it was condensed from the atmosphere. Lucario used Close Combat, which did some damage to Lapras, but held out. Lucario’s defense and special defense fell in the process. Lapras was able to move a bit more freely, and after tricking Lucario a bit that an attack from the side was imminent; Lapras used a close Ice Beam to knock Lucario towards me, and freezing it in ice. Maylene had Lucario use Aura Sphere, which instantly broke the ice and a second sphere landed right on Lapras, hitting it with great power. Lapras definitely felt like one more hit and then that was it. Lucario came at us with a Force Palm, but Lapras moved her neck from Lucario’s projected point of contact and I told Lapras to use Psychic and Lucario was raised up off the ground and felt massive pain as Lapras moved it around and then threw it down into the gym floor and Lucario was knocked out.
   â€œYour Lapras must be quite strong to beat Lucario,” Maylene said returning Lucario to its Poké Ball, and I followed suit. “I knew you were a strong trainer when I saw you in Celadon City that day, even though you weren’t really sure about what you were doing.” “I was kind of clueless a bit when I was first starting out as a beginning trainer,” I responded. “Now, I just do what’s best for how I feel and tie Pokémon to that goal.” “I see…” Maylene paused for a moment to think. She shook her head and grabbed a badge from inside her bra. “I keep these close,” Maylene said. “People have been known to steal these things. I award you the Cobble Badge for my defeat. Take it with Honor.” “Thank you, Maylene,” I answered. I added it next to the Forest Badge from Gardenia.” “The road ahead is tough, especially for your next battle,” Maylene said. “Train here in Veilstone for a few days before you head down to your next destination. I know you will do great things, Drew.” “Thanks Maylene!” I said overjoyed. I gave her a hug, which she quickly shoved off, but smiled still and saw me off back into the snowy streets of Veilstone.
   On my way back to the Pokémon Center and possibly the still snoring Professor Araragi, I got a phone call from this mysterious person, instead of me having to call them. “Hello, Drew,” she said. “I just heard from Maylene that you swept her Lucario like it was just a Bidoof on Route 202.” “Well, it was a little harder than that,” I explained, going into detail about the battle. “Well, you must have had a close win then,” the woman replied. “Your love for Pokémon is coming in overwhelming power, whether you are aware of it or not.” “Really?” I asked. “I’m just living my life here.” “Maybe you might… hmmmmmmmmm…” the woman began to contemplate. “Maybe that’s it! Good Luck, Drew. I’ll see you soon.” She just hung up on me right when I was walking into the Pokémon Center. “Is she spying on me or something?” I thought to myself. I shook my head again and came in to one of the funniest sites I’ve seen on my travels. Munchlax managed to get out of its Poké ball, and has somehow obtained a marker. Munchlax was quite the artist, and his canvas was none other than the passed-out looking Professor Araragi. I couldn’t help laughing, which finally awoke Professor Araragi out of her slumber. “What?” Professor Araragi asked as if I was laughing at a monkey who flung his poop at an unsuspecting zoo visitor, who was one of the overly hygienic types.

==End Chapter 10==

Coming Soon: Chapter 11: Power like the Sun!

Hehehe, that was a good chapter.

I voted for Snowpoint because of Candice... '-_o

Well, that isn't the case... oh, it looks someone else voted  ;)

Wasnt this one funnier than chapter 9, or was chapter 9 funnier?

Chapter ten! I'm gonna go write my own next chapter!

It's been too long! You may get a chapter later today!

I know! I'm catching up to you!!!

I just realized its the weekend. Seems like a tuesday or something. Don't forget to get a certain program this weekend!

Program?

check your email

The next installment of Steps to Simplicity ist auch!! I've added more "real-world" things and kinda mixed up some things a bit!

Chapter 11: Power like the Sun
   After healing Lapras from the gym battle, I decided to set out into Veilstone City to explore the city. I stocked up on some supplies at the Department Store. It was Free TM day in the store, so they kept on handing me all these TMs that I probably never would have used. I spent the entire day exploring the city and its environs, so I ventured out of the city into the hills, only to find trainers. People were surprised that a person who beat Maylene would be busy battling against others, but I just kept on saying that Maylene was a hard obstacle to overcome. They all challenged me to a battle after that, and Piplup constantly took out their Pokémon, and by the end, I should say that Prinplup, and Shinx was able to get a few punches in there and managed to evolve into a Luxio. It was a great day, coming back with two newly evolved Pokémon and discovering a quite impatient Professor Araragi pouting with her legs and arms crossed in the front lobby of the Pokémon Center. “What did I do?” I asked innocently. “You missed dinner,” Professor Araragi said quietly. “Well, I was out training. Piplup and Shinx evolved after knocking down seven trainers,” I explained myself. “THAT STILL DOESN’T GIVE YOU THE FREAKING REASON TO MISS FREAKING DINNER,” Professor Araragi erupted. “YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN I HAD SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO TELL YOU!” Everyone was looking at Professor Araragi now. “You know you have to not become attached to me whenever you want to eat something,” I said and stormed into the room and got on the computer.
   I told myself not go on a certain website that I was once addicted to. I sat in front of the computer with the browser displaying “Wikipedia” right in front of me, I clicked the URL bar and entered “facebook.com” into the bar and logged in. There in front of me showed a war zone. I had over 100 new notifications, mostly wall posts and pokes. Everyone was wondering where I was since I was alone. I also forgot to mention that I had a bunch of new friend requests, namely from Maylene, Erika, Professor Elm and Professor Oak. What was really funny, right when I accepted Professor Elm, BOOM, his little chat box came popping up. He asked me what I was doing and I responded plain and simple, “Get off your computer, Professor Elm. I believe your kitchen is on fire.” I wrote a nice note to all my friends living in Pallet Town, Viridian City and everyone back home, saying that I was now in Sinnoh and I promised a bunch of pictures. So now, I had to find a camera and start taking pictures of my travels. Pokémon Trainers don’t really focus on pictures and more on Pokémon, but I just want to be that guy who wants to catalog his journey and to make sure I can reflect on my memories twenty years in the future, since things only happen once.
   After going back out to escape Professor Araragi’s wrath to go to a nice restaurant for dinner and working with Munchlax to curb the eating habits like I did a few years back. Let’s just say it didn’t end well, but on the plus side, I get to buy a bigger backpack! I went out of the Veilstone South Gate and found a trainer who wanted to battle and Ponyta took the brunt of the battle and really worked hard. Munchlax just wandered off to find a berry tree during the battle and by the time I found him, only half of the tree didn’t have fruit. Maybe I actually got to Munchlax (or maybe the synthetic fibers that made up my backpack were wreaking havoc on his stomach)! I returned back to the Pokémon Center to find a passed out Professor Araragi with a couple of empty Wine and Tequila bottles on her bed. I went to sleep, laughing at what I just saw.
   Well, maybe I was either super tired or didn’t notice anything, but Professor Araragi made a huge mess with the contents of her suitcase. I had the nice pile of stuff from my backpack in the corner and I placed the pile on my bed and rushed out. I went to the Department Store, where I found a nice camera and backpack in the Trainer Apparel section. The instant I got back, the room was tidied up and my stuff was neatly laid out on my bed, Professor Araragi on her computer working endlessly trying to send an email. “You know, you have to access your email account first before you send it,” I told the professor. “I don’t know how to use this system, usually the email comes straight to my computer,” Professor Araragi answered. “But this isn’t your computer and it isn’t set up like it, I’m guessing,” I answered. I proceeded to open up a web browser and went to her email site, and I left again with my Pokémon. The sun was shining brighter today; the gray veil was lifted over the city. I decided to walk around. There was another casino type building like the one in Celadon, so I decided to head towards that part of the city. On my way towards that area, Maylene ran straight into me not looking where she was going, knocking me to the ground.
    “Oh, Drew, I am so sorry,” Maylene answered. “I was actually heading to the Pokémon Center to see you.” “You were?” I asked. “Yep,” Maylene replied. “I have a favor to ask of you. It seems one of my Pokémon had an egg and it finally hatched, and I can’t take care of a baby Pokémon, but since you’re travelling across Sinnoh, I thought it would be better to go with you.” “But, I am not sure if I can take it,” I answered. “Since I have restrictions on what Pokémon I can carry.” “I don’t think it should be a problem. You don’t have a Fighting type, correct?” Maylene asked. “No, I don’t,” I responded. “See, you should be fine.” Maylene said handing me a Poké ball. “And if you have 6 Pokémon, you can catch whatever you want, just as long as it is not in your party. Well, that’s what Cynthia said.” “Well, thanks Maylene!” I exclaimed. “I really have to go, but maybe I’ll see you again!” Maylene yelled as she took off heading for that casino place. I threw up the Poké ball and out came this tiny Pokémon. It looked like a fox, but it was blue. I opened my Pokédex and it said, “This is Riolu, the Emanation Pokémon. He has an Impish nature and knows the moves: Counter, Force Palm, Crunch and Drain Punch.” Riolu just sat there looking at me. “Well, it looks like Maylene wants me to take care of you,” I said. I picked up Riolu and walked him back to the Pokémon Center. Riolu was a bit shy at first, but he warmed up to me and kept on wanting to stand on my head. Professor Araragi smiled as I walked into the foyer of the Pokémon Center. “So this is the Riolu that Maylene was talking about. Well, aren’t you a cutie,” Professor Araragi said pulling his cheeks apart and making goo-goo noises at Riolu. “Professor, Riolu is a Pokémon, not a chubby baby,” I said. “Oh, right,” Professor Araragi said. “I do have good news. Get packed, because we leave for Lake Valor immediately, and then we should be able to reach Sunyshore City from there.” “Is that where my next gym battle is?” I asked. “No, duh,” Professor Araragi said. I ran into my room and shoved all my stuff into my pack and ran back outside, where we proceeded to get on our bikes and continued south out of Veilstone City.
   Riolu was riding in the basket, since Prinplup almost got stuck in the basket, and Prinplup took Luxio’s spot, because Luxio was just too heavy for the back, and Prinplup was a little heavier than Riolu, so it was kind of hard to get going after a rest stop. We continued for another seven hours, stopping every hour or so. Luckily for us, Route 214 was a steady decline into some lowlands with some hills. Lake Valor was in one of the larger valleys with a large resort resting atop the hills surrounding the lake. There were some larger villas and houses on the north side of the lake. People were enjoying the day, and were either sunbathing, out in the water or just having lunch in cafes along the lake. It reminded me of the French Riviera, but it was in a colder climate, yet it was usually warm for this time of year… when there was snow in Veilstone City, there was 70° weather just 100 miles south… yes, we spent 6 hours going south, but we were going almost 20 miles an hour, since the decline from Veilstone, which I learned was almost 4,000 feet above sea level. We stayed the night in a small villa overlooking the lake and I decided to go into the lake side to let Lapras out and Prinplup to have some fun in the water. I sat there sitting with Ponyta, Luxio, Munchlax and Riolu just talking to them and Luxio still slept on my lap, even though he weighed nearly 60 pounds.
Munchlax proceeded to search for berry tree, and managed to climb one and he nestled himself in the tree. I then discovered his place, tried to get him out, but I discovered shaking the tree jarred him from tree, making him land with a seismic THUD. An idea popped into my head, as did one in Munchlax’s. He discovered that when I shook the tree, it caused all the Pecha berries to fall off the tree, so now he can just shake the tree. My idea is that I might be able to teach Munchlax Earthquake, like I did with Blastoise. I took Munchlax to the top of the hill and I proceeded to instruct Munchlax how to make an earthquake. Munchlax was a bit different from Blastoise, he had to jump in the air and focus his energy on the ground, which worked after a few times, causing a small crack to from down the hill and when it hit the concrete sidewalk at the bottom of the hill, it caused a small, pointy upheaval in the ground, just missing Luxio. I tried to pick up Munchlax, but man was HE heavy. He probably weighed more than I did. I returned to the bottom of the hill, took some pictures of the area and of my Pokémon having fun and preceded back to the villa, where I found Professor Araragi sleeping in her lab coat and in a strange position, so I took a picture of her and went to bed.
The next morning, we were off on Route 222 and it was in major contrast to what landscapes I saw. There was the beach off to the right of us and some hills with pine trees to the left of us. Trainers kept stopping us, asking for me to battle, so it took us three hours to go the 20 miles we needed to go, but Munchlax put up some great fights, as well as Ponyta. I liked this route a bit, it felt calming because you had a beach, which meant relaxation and hills with trees, which can show quietness in certain instances, but right when we passed through the gatehouse into Sunyshore, and there was a big contrast from what we came from. The city was high tech, laden with solar panels and large walkways suspended over the city, connecting the tall hills of the city together. The city was extremely clean; there wasn’t any smog nor was there trash on the ground (which was alleviated by solar powered trash cleaning robots). We arrived at the Pokémon Center, a large building that looked like the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, but covered with solar panels. We walked inside, and a voice greeted us and directed us to the front desk, where three Nurse Joy worked. “Good Afternoon Professor and Drew, welcome to Sunyshore City.” the middle Nurse Joy said. “I am the head nurse here, and you can tell me apart by the Blue cross on my hat.” “Well, thank you,” Professor Araragi answered. “I can tell you apart from the others another way!” Nurse Joy blushed when she looked over at me.
She stood up and came out in front of the desk and then I saw it. Nurse Joy was a little fatter than the others. “So, how long do you have left?” Professor Araragi asked. “Almost a week left!” Nurse Joy said elated. “I’m training my replacement right now, and we have someone else to cover her job here, since Sunyshore only has one Pokémon Center, but we’re the largest in the country.” I just ignored what they were saying and asked one of the other Nurse Joy where the gym was, and left the Pokémon Center. I was planning on using Munchlax, and luckily for me, he didn’t incur any damage from the battling that I did with the last three trainers. I arrived at the gym, where the doors opened and greeted me like the Pokémon Center, except there were some large lounge chairs in the room and the gym told me to sit down. The moment I sat down was the moment the chair began to move forward into another room, which then took me on a short rollercoaster ride, and dropped me (literally) into a large gym. There was a battle going on, so I just sat to the side and waited. The challenger lost against the leader’s Raichu. He did use a Vaporeon, however, so I wouldn’t blame him. I walked down to the floor where the leader walked up to me. “Good Afternoon and welcome to the Sunyshore Gym. I am Volkner, the leader here. Do you have an appointment?” Volkner asked. “No,” I answered. “Well, I am sorry, but I am booked up for the next month for gym battles,” Volkner said. “You can make an appointment with the computer in the front lounge.” “You don’t understand, I’m here on special circumstances,” I answered. “Well, I would too if I was here to obtain my eighth badge, too,” Volkner said and proceeded to walk away. “I’m here challenging the Verdant League,” I called out. Volkner stopped in his tracks and turned around. “Then I accept your challenge,” he said.
“We’ll use two Pokémon for this battle,” Volkner said. He threw up a Poké ball, sending out a Luxio. I sent out Ponyta, just to get things going. Luxio started off with Thunder Fang, and Ponyta dodged it and used Stomp right where Luxio screeched to a halt. Luxio landed another quick Thunder Fang on Ponyta and Ponyta was able to escape its grasp after some time. Ponyta used Flamethrower and was countered by a Discharge attack. They neutralized each other, causing a large explosion. After the smoke cleared, Luxio came charging with a Headbutt attack, and Ponyta was able to torch Luxio as it came charging at Ponyta and it did deal some damage, but Luxio was so resilient that he followed through with the attack and knocked out Ponyta. I sent out Munchlax next, who was a secret weapon in a way. Volkner instructed Luxio to use Iron Tail, and Munchlax knocked him back with Zen Headbutt. Munchlax used Earthquake next, which caused some upheavals in the gym floor to hit Luxio after dodging the attack and thus made him faint. Volkner sent out Magneton next, and Volkner showed a devious smile. He didn’t know that Munchlax could use Flamethrower. Munchlax was able to start moving toward Magneton, who started using SonicBoom attacks, and Munchlax was able to push on, this meant taking a few hits. Once up close, Munchlax landed a nice Lick attack and then went for a double whammy with Flamethrower, much to the shock of Volkner, whose eyes were beginning to come out of his skull. Magneton used Charge Beam, and it hit Munchlax, but just powered through and knocked Magneton to the ground with a Flamethrower. Munchlax used Earthquake for one final blow and knocked out Magneton after that. Volkner just stood there, shocked that someone with my experience beat him.
“Well, congratulations Drew,” Volkner said. “It takes a lot to beat someone like me.” “Well, I definitely had a harder time than my battle with Maylene, which was pretty hard as it was,” I answered. “At least you aren’t the flaunting type if you win something, huh?” Volkner asked. “You can say that!” I answered. “Well, I would like to give you the Beacon Badge as proof of beating me,” Volkner said. “You can take this Thunderbolt TM with you, as you may need it sometime in the future.” Volkner handed me back my badge case with a shiny lighthouse looking badge added to the bottom of the triangle. “Your journeys may take you places that make you wonder about the significance, but I know you will continue forward through your journeys. Go forth; your next gym leader awaits you.” I went toward the entrance and by the time I reached the door to the hallway, Volkner was gone. The moment I got out, I called that strange woman. “Hello Mysterious Person, it’s Drew and I just shocked Volkner,” I said. “Well, congratulations Drew,” the woman said. “You know, your next battle may leave you with a chill down your spine, as she might leave you feeling cold if you don’t use the right tactics.” “Sounds like a challenge I am ready for,” I replied. “I think I have prepared myself for the worst.” I continued walking toward the Pokémon Center, making sure Riolu, who was walking with me didn’t do anything mischievous. “You know, Drew, this leader has some tricks up her sleeve,” the woman said. “Oh, I’ll be ready,” I answered. “I have some tricks I have been teaching my Pokémon to outsmart these leaders.” “Well, good luck to you Drew,” the woman said. “See you later!” and she hung up right after that.
I continued back to the Pokémon Center to find the entire place cleared out, except for a single Nurse Joy sitting there. “Oh, hello Drew,” Nurse Joy said. “I’m afraid the Professor had to step out with the head Nurse. She went into labor, so they went to the hospital on the other side of town.” “Oh, so THAT’S why she was fat,” I thought to myself. “Well, tell the Professor I will be out on Route 222 practicing,” I said and I left with my bike. I wanted to train Riolu and Lapras a little bit, even though Lapras was at a higher level than any of my Pokémon. I went into the woods and saw some many Pokémon, namely a Glameow and a Stunky who followed me around while I found some trainers to battle with. Riolu did a great job with his first few battles, really getting into it, down and dirty. His speed was impeccable and he was able to Force Palm his way to greatness against a Bibarel, a Staravia and a Girafarig (well, he had to use Crunch at times there). Once I left the woods, I sat down on a tree stump to eat lunch and the Glameow and Stunky were still there. “Do you want food?” I asked. I threw some food over to them, but they just ignored it, so I had Munchlax clean it up. Riolu could since what they wanted and hugged my leg as some sort of sign. “Were you abandoned?” I asked. They stepped closer to Riolu and I, while Munchlax tested his new idea of shaking a tree for berries, except a wild Burmy fell on his head. I brought Glameow and Stunky close to me. “I wish I could care for you, but my party is already full. If I just caught you, you would be sent back to my hometown in Kanto, a place far from here, where you would be on the Professor’s Ranch,” I explained. They came up even closer and cuddled in on my lap. Somehow these Pokémon were abandoned and felt distraught, so I decided to call the one person who would know what to do.
“Hello, Professor Oak,” I said speaking into my Poké Gear. “It’s Drew.” “Why hello Drew,” Professor Oak said. “How are your journeys in Sinnoh?” “They have been great,” I answered. “I just beat Volkner, so I have two badges left and then it’s off to Merin.” “Well, congratulations,” Professor Oak said. “Well, I am not calling just for chit-chat,” I explained. “I have a dilemma here. I was on Route 222 having some training sessions and a Glameow and Stunky followed me around. They seem distraught about something, and they have seemed to be abandoned. They are somehow finding security in me, and I told them they can’t travel with me, yet they still want to stay close.” “Well, that certainly is a dilemma,” Professor Oak responded. “They can sense the compassion coming from the Pokémon beside you and how you act with them. Go on and capture them, and they will have a great time here.” “They’re here right now,” I said. I showed Professor Oak to them. “I’ll catch you guys and you can stay with my friend, here and then I can come and visit you when I am back in Kanto. Who knows, you might be able to stay with my Skitty and Growlithe at home.” They smiled. “I’ll get them over immediately. I’ll call once I am in Merin and see how they’re doing.” “Have fun with your last two battles, Drew. Good Luck!” Professor Oak said and hung up. “Have fun with Professor Oak, guys. See you soon,” I yelled. I threw Poké balls at them and they were captured instantly. Right after they were caught, the entire ball began to glow and then it disappeared in a ray of light pointing to the sky. Professor Oak sent me an email saying that he got them and I walked with Munchlax and Riolu back to Sunyshore City.

==End Chapter 11==

Chapter 12 is coming fast (and it should be done before I leave on the 12th... haha)
Coming Soon: Chapter 12: Fleeting Chills and Snow

Still good, man! :)

I should write the next chapter of TWTGO. It's not like I don't have time.

Is there anything you like???

Oh, and I will make a special "formatted" word doc, and I can post it here so you guys can "keep" it handy!

BTW I voted for Snowpoint again. :D

My lips are sealed! And I may have had a giveaway on another thread... whoops!

Anyways, do you have a favorite chapter??? or a favorite line perhaps?

Well, this is my most eclectic chapter. I love it, and it just keeps on flowing out of me like the Ganges is coming out of the head of that one god I can't name off the top of my head. This part of the story is definitely much better than some Kanto journeys, and what's to come will be even better.

This chapter does have French written in it, so if you see a Footnote marker, e.g. [1], then check the footnotes for a translation, and the translated parts are italicized!

This story has also surpassed my novel by two pages... I should get working on that (and I will be releasing the first chapter of that story here!)

Jouissez mon sang et ma sueur... haha!
Chapter 12: Fleeting Chills and Snow
   I biked my way back into the city and crashed into someone on their bike as I passed right through the gate house. “Oh, I am so sorry,” I said to the girl I crashed into. She had wavy blonde hair and blue eyes, looking kind of like Uma Thurman a bit. “Oh, it wasn’t your fault,” the woman said. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.” “Are you heading to the Pokémon Center?” I asked. “As a matter of fact, yes,” the woman replied. “I am Anastasia, by the way.” “I am Drew,” I answered. “What brings you here to Sunyshore?” “I am studying Volkner’s works with the solar panels and I hope to implement them in my town. What brings you here?” “I was just in a gym battle with Volkner,” I answered. “I won, too.” “Well, congratulations,” Anastasia said. “You must be a powerful trainer to beat Volkner. Is this Riolu yours?” “Yes,” I responded. “Maylene, the gym leader from Veilstone City wants me to raise him.” “Oh, that is lovely,” Anastasia exclaimed. “So, I’m guessing you’re going to be leaving soon, since you are heading to the Pokémon League soon.” “Actually, I really don’t know where I am to go next,” I said. “I am travelling with Professor Araragi, and we’re doing something a little different than the normal path. I just have to follow her.” “Ah, I see,” Anastasia said, right when we arrived at the Pokémon Center. “I was just in a heated Pokémon battle with Flint of the Sinnoh Elite Four. He was really tough, but I really didn’t fare well in the end.” “I’ll bet,” I said. “No offense at all. He IS an Elite Four member.” “True,” Anastasia answered. “He wouldn’t stand up to Parker, though. I am afraid we must part ways here, as I have some stuff to take care of. If you’re ever in Sonata Town, give me a ring!” She handed me a card and left. “Now that is a strange telephone area code. I have never seen that before,” I thought to myself.
 I walked to the front desk to find two Nurse Joy sitting there. “Is Professor Araragi back yet?” I asked. “Yes, she is in the conference room upstairs,” the new head nurse said. “Ok, thanks!” I said and I began to walk away but I came back. “Do any of you happen to know what part of the country this area code is from?” “Well, I don’t recognize it,” the head nurse said. “Oh, I know this one. It is for northeast Merin, Sonata Island and Apricot Island,” the other nurse said. “Well, thank you Nurse Joys,” I answered with a laugh. I proceeded upstairs to find Professor Araragi talking to Cynthia on the video conference phone. I walked in. “…well, I really don’t know Cynthia, that really affects the schedule,” Professor Araragi said. “Well, it looks like we have a visitor,” Cynthia said. “I must go.” The screen turned off and Professor Araragi looked at me. “Welcome back, Drew,” Professor Araragi said. “Well, the head nurse had her baby, just a bit early though. We do have a great day tomorrow, extremely busy and your next challenge will be tomorrow evening.” “Is it really that soon?” I asked. “I don’t think there are any towns close to here that have gyms.” “We are taking a plane from the Valor Lakefront,” Professor Araragi said. “Unfortunately, we have to switch the leaders, since one is leaving for France in three days, so instead of facing her last, we have to face her next.” “And how will I be inducted into the Hall of Fame from the final gym?” I asked. “Well, we will fly you back to Hearthome City and then we’ll fly back to where the final gym is, and our boat leaves from there.” “So we’re going to Hearthome City next?” I asked. “Precisely,” Professor Araragi answered. “So, what were you doing on Route 222?” “Well,” I began to explain. “I wanted to work with Riolu and then I found these two abandoned Pokémon that became attached to me, so I caught them and they were sent to Professor Oak.” “Well, you did a good thing,” Professor Araragi said. “I was going to work with Lapras and Prinplup a bit more, but I just had to get back here,” I responded. “Well, you would have been out late,” Professor Araragi said. “Our flight leaves at 1PM from the Valor Lakefront, so we are leaving here at 8AM and you’ll be able to train on the beach for an hour on Route 222.” “That sounds like a good plan to me!” I exclaimed.
*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
   The day was just lovely. I was practicing with Lapras and Prinplup, helping them get a little stronger for the gym battles ahead, and Prinplup has really gotten strong. She now knew Waterfall, Surf, Brine and with the help of Lapras, Ice Beam. Lapras learned Waterfall from Prinplup, replacing Water Pulse. It was the perfect day for this training session, there was a light sea breeze coming off the water and it felt like a great day to go sailing, so I sat on Lapras and did some target practice with Prinplup out in the water, and we accidently froze a Carvanha in one instance. After spending almost two hours, we had to rush off to the small little airport on top of one of the bigger hills at Lake Valor. We just had to fly over some small mountain ranges and arrive in Hearthome City almost 30 minutes later. It would have been faster if we could take a train, but Sinnoh’s train system is still in development. Luckily for me, Merin has the best transportation system in the country, but I still want to travel across it by bike (and I’ll finally be away from Professor Araragi, too). On my way to the airport, I took loads of pictures, including one where a Chatot was just singing on a tree branch.  Once we got into the air, I began taking tons of pictures since the view was stunning. You could see the snow laden peaks of the mountains in Center Sinnoh, you can see the little Chimchar knocking coconuts off some trees a on the other side and you could see Pastoria City and the Great Marsh, in all its swamps surrounding the area. The reason why it takes almost 40 minutes to get to Hearthome was that we had to head south so we could land heading north, since a plane always lands into the wind, so they can gather more drag than lift (two forces that keep a plane in the air). The Hearthome Airport was located 10 miles southwest of Solaceon Town, and normal Pokémon trainers aren’t allowed access to the town from the airport, they have to go down into Hearthome and go around. On our way into the City, we passed a large park called “Amity Square”, a place where trainers just take a leisure day with their Pokémon, but only certain Pokémon are allowed in, so as not to disrupt everyone’s day.
   Hearthome City is the site of the largest Pokémon Contest in the region (minus the Grand Festival), where they give out four ribbons to the top four contestants, and the winner’s ribbon is valid throughout the Republic. Hearthome is also the richest city per-capita in the country (the reason for Amity Square letting in only “cute” Pokémon) and the cheapest house in Hearthome is 1.7 million dollars (or 12 million PokéFrancs), and not to mention the city is clean from dirt since the city only allows upscale boutiques and stores that have exclusive membership. Not to mention, Hearthome is the center of the religious community in the country, holding the Hearthome Cathedral, the home of the Cardinal Bishop of the Verdant Republic. After navigating the roads (which were smoothed over cobblestone), we arrived at the Pokémon Center. It was extremely modern. It was in a large plaza and there stood a large glass cylinder in the air and you walked into the cylinder and it was a large elevator that took you below, and then you walked on a moving walkway for about 200 feet and then you got on another glass plate, which took you to another building, but this time, the front area was surrounded by glass windows and there were gardens outside filled with topiaries and flowers, manicured to appease the eye. There was a large fountain in the center of the foyer, and all I could do was snap photos. I later found out that this building was on a large plot of land with a nice wall surrounding the plot. At the front desk, Professor Araragi got the room key, and when we walked behind the desk and went through some doors, the interior décor changed from Modern to French Château, where the walls were decorated with ornate moldings, paneled with wood floors and exquisite chandeliers and Romantic paintings. We walked up some marble stairs to reach the second floor, where windows had velvet drapes adorning their sides and plush red carpet runners lining the halls, and when we arrived at our room, the décor changed back to the front hall. This time, we had plain white walls with glass objects hanging from the walls and a black tile floor. The beds were suspended on fancy black wood and computer was a fancy looking iMac, blending in with the rest of the décor. You could look out into the city, and see the entrance to the Pokémon Center, surrounded by the concrete plaza and small shrubs. I took it all in, took some more pictures and posted them on Facebook.
After I enjoyed a nice dinner of [1] Salmon en croûte avec de la poire, des champignons et du Gorgonzola, finished with une tarte aux framboises Bavière, I set out to find the Hearthome Gym. I took walked across the town and found the Gym in the Northeast of the City, next to this fancy wine and cheese shop, and across the street from this Boulangerie that supposedly sold the best bread in all of Sinnoh. I walked in to the gym to find it dark, like a medieval dungeon, with stone walls laden with large torches instead of sconces. I walked down the hall and entered a small arena, where an elegant woman in a purple dress stood painting something.[2] “Bienvenu, monsieur Drew. I am Fantina, la championne d’arène of Hearthome City,” Fantina said. “J’ai été en attente pour toi!” “Well, I am ready for this battle, Fantina,” I said. “Quand vous êtes prête!” “Allons-y!” Fantina said. “Nous allons utiliser trois Pokémon. Je commencerai la bataille !”
Fantina sent out Gengar first, and I began with Lapras to start things off to be nice and easy. Fantina just laughed and told Gengar to use Shadow Claw. I told Lapras to make a large wall in front of the charging Gengar, and Gengar managed to make it around the block and land the attack. Now that Gengar was up close, Lapras used Surf to send Gengar into the ice wall. When Gengar stood back up, I had Lapras use Waterfall, which sent Gengar flying upward and it landed behind Lapras where it was able to use a Shadow Ball attack, which was a critical hit. Lapras, now weakened a bit more, used Psychic to deliver the final blow to Gengar. Fantina stood on her side of the field in thought and then sent out Drifblim. She had Drifblim start out with Ominous Wind, which enveloped Lapras with a strange looking veil, and hit it several times. I had Lapras use Psychic to move it around, and even though it did some little damage, Drifblim came back with another Ominous Wind, knocking out Lapras. I took the cheap way and sent out Luxio next. Luxio landed a nice Crunch attack on Drifblim and caused it to flinch, while Luxio came back with a Spark attack. Drifblim used Night Shade on Luxio, causing Luxio to lose sight of Drifblim. Luxio waited and felt Drifblim’s presence around it, and I had Luxio use Night Slash once he picked up Drifblim, landing a critical attack and knocking it to the ground unconscious. Fantina sent out her final Pokémon and secret weapon, Mismagius. Luxio started off landing Crunch attacks and missing a few, but Mismagius took some damage from that right from the start. Mismagius used a powerful Magical Leaf followed instantly by a powerful Psybeam, almost knocking out Luxio. Luxio was able to put in a critical Night Slash, but was knocked out by a critical Shadow Ball. I thought I wasn’t going to win, so I sent out Riolu. Fantina just laughed at what she thought was stupidity. She even told me I can switch out to another Pokémon, which I declined. Riolu was fast, and was able to dodge all of the Shadow Balls that came at him, except for the last one which threw him against the wall. Mismagius came back with a Psybeam, which really weakened Riolu, but Riolu was tough and we really worked on some moves. Riolu ran up close to Mismagius, dodging the Magical Leaf attack coming at him, jumped and landed a super-critical Crunch, knocking Mismagius to the ground in defeat. Fantina couldn’t believe her eyes.
“You have trained your Riolu well, non?” Fantina spoke in her ever eccentric French accent. “Riolu and I have trained long and hard for a battle like this, and when the going was tough, we pulled through!” I explained.[3] “Riolu t’aime, et il connaît que tu soignes tes Pokémon avec l’égard et soins de véritable,” Fantina assured me. “Notre bataille étions superbe, et quand je retourne de France, nous avons besoin d’autre bataille !” “Je la voudrais, mademoiselle,” I responded. “Chaque championne d’arène j’affronte, je trouve il ne cesse de plus en plus difficile. “Well, you must be hungry,” Fantina said. “Je connais cette belle patisserie, près de nous!” “Well, I think you have forgotten something,” I pointed out. Fantina held a blank stare for a few seconds. “Oh, right,” Fantina said. “I present you the Relic Badge for winning here. Usually from here, you would be inducted into the Sinnoh Verdant Hall of Fame, but Cynthia made an exception because of me. Come, let’s go!” Fantina and I left the gym, talking about our travels and we arrived at this tiny little café that made great pastries that overlooked Amity Square.
We continued to have a nice time until I got a phone call from the mysterious woman. “You faced Fantina?” the woman asked. “There was a mix up in some plans,” I answered. “Well, still heed my advice for the next battle. It will surely be a big one. Congratulations on taking down Fantina, she is always one step ahead of her opponents and acts with grace on the battlefield and contest stage.” “I know, she’s great,” I answered. “She took me out for pastries. At least she isn’t the stalker type like Erika.” The woman asked me to give the phone to Fantina and they had a conversation in a language that sounded like German, but I couldn’t make it out. I got my phone back and the woman told me, “Things are going to get a bit easier for you soon. Don’t forget to bring a coat.” She hung up and I thought, “Why would I need a coat?” Fantina and I talked over some Napoleon Tortes with a delicious Lemon cream and fruit, not to mention the lattés were fantastic, too. Every corner here in Hearthome had a Starbucks shop, but Fantina said that Hearthome has some of the best coffee places in the world. She called it “La Pétite France”. We walked back to the large glass cylinder; she gave me her number and walked into back to her gym.
I arrived in the château looking room, to find Professor Araragi deep in thought and surrounded by books, papers and a very mischievous looking Munchlax (who I had no idea I left behind. I crept up behind the Professor and said. “Professor Araragi!” I exclaimed. She nearly had a heart attack and knocked down two large piles of papers. “Well, you’re back early,” Professor Araragi said. “I had some pastries with Fantina after our battle,” I answered helping the Professor pick up some papers. “She is always a doll like that,” Professor Araragi joked. “Fantina is a woman of class, and she knows when something is good.” “Well, thanks,” I answered and headed to the room and enjoyed a long needed rest.
I woke up to no surprises from Professor Araragi for once. Riolu was sleeping at the food of my bed and Munchlax was so contently sleeping on the couch, and you could tell where he slept since he was causing a dent in the cushion. It was a nice 8 AM, and the sun was shining brightly over “La Pétite France”; there were flocks of Starly in the air and various women were being dragged by their Snubbull after they spotted “their” fire hydrant. I returned Munchlax to his Poké ball, woke up Riolu, and got ready for the day. I walked to the dining area where Professor Araragi was sipping coffee and reading the morning news in the paper. “Good Morning Professor!” I said cheerfully. “Well Good Morning to you too, Drew!” Professor Araragi said. “We have a busy schedule today. We leave for the airport for your final gym battle in a little over an hour.” “The next gym isn’t close?” I asked. “We couldn’t reach it by foot. It would take over a week,” Professor Araragi said. “I should also add that Route 216 and Route 217 have been experiencing heavy blizzards and some trails have been snowed in. We’re going to leave our bikes here at the Pokémon Center, and go up to Snowpoint City for the day.” “So we are going to Snowpoint City then?” I inquired. “Yes, now go get packed!” Professor Araragi snapped at my remark.
Once we were back over Sinnoh, I was snapping pictures of our northbound journey to the white wonderland of Snowpoint City. We were able to see the large clearings in the masses of trees that once made up Route 217 and then the larger lake Acuity to the left once we were heading northeast and I snapped pictures of Snowpoint City, a city that was undisturbed on many levels (and one of them actually ended up being the main picture on Wikipedia) and we touched down in the winter paradise a few minutes before noon. To save from the frigid temperatures, we went by car into the city; no wonder that mysterious woman told me to wear a coat
==End Chapter 12==
Coming Soon: Chapter 13 - Golden Ambers (named after the Beatles song "Golden Slumbers")

---

Footnotes
[1]This is a dish: Salmon wrapped in a light crust, served with pears, mushrooms and Gorgonzola, and it was finished with a Raspberry Bavarian cake (which is a Raspberry Custard and vanilla cake)
[2]“Welcome, Mister Drew. I am Fantina, the gym leader of Hearthome City,” Fantina said. “I have been waiting” “Well, I am ready for this battle, Fantina,” I said. “Whenever you are ready!” “Let's Go!” Fantina said. “We will use three Pokémon. I will begin the battle, now!”
[3] “Riolu loves you, and he knows that you treat your Pokémon with respect and with the utmost of care,” Fantina assured me. “Our battle was fantastic, and when I return from Frace, We need to have another battle!” “I would like that, mademoiselle,” I responded. “Each gym leader I face, i find that it keeps getting increasingly difficult. “Well, you must be hungry,” Fantina said. “I know of this beautiful little pâtisserie, and it's really close to us!”

:o

Where is Candice?

:D

Anyway, another winner here. Keep up the writing and I have to say that most of the chapters finish with the reader (me) feeling completely satisfied!

Glad to hear it  ;D

Can you agree that these past 5 chapters in Sinnoh were better than the Kanto chapters (minus Chapter 1)??? I really think so!!

I read all the chapters except the first two, and I'm loving it! Can you point me in the direction of the first 2 chapters?

Well, thanks!  ;D I'm glad someone else appreciates it!

If you go back to the Story Telling Boards, the first two chapters are separate... I'll post them on this thread tomorrow morning

I caught up finally :) I think you did such an amazing job writing the beginning of this story, considering you probably had to think a whole lot about how to intertwine the set pokemon knowledge, with a fiction aspect, but it came out with a plot that seemed ever so fitting and comfortable for the reader, (liked the second chapter). But I enjoy your writing style, It kept me up all night reading, it's 2:00 am now :/

Well, thanks again! I like it too... I think it "flows". I should have the next chapter up soon!!!

Yay!

Due to minor setbacks (and the computer that has the story I wrote on it) have been packed in boxes, I will have to delay the next Chapter until after Sunday (unless my backup Flash Drive picked it up)... you can never write the same words twice!

Please excuse this inconvenience!

I have begun writing Chapter 13 once again and I am pleased to report it should be available on the site by tomorrow night!

Great! :)

Youre gonna love this chapter (it contains Candice plus another couple of SECRET people... none about my current lady-friend prospects... that will come in the future)

after hunkering down to finish just almost one page, i believe this next installment, though not as great as the rest, will lead to even better chapters... the next chapter will incorporate something I hold dear (Slow knows what Im talking about here)... So, Je vous presente!

Chapter 13: Golden Ambers
There were lots of sauna places where people relaxed, people were a lot calmer, and people were drinking alcohol right on the streets to “keep warm”. There were many Swedish, Danish, Russian and Baltic restaurants. I found this restaurant that served these meat and cream cheese dumplings that you dip in sour cream and bacon bits respectively at this small Lithuanian restaurant, and for dessert, we had “Cranberry Pudding” which was this thick cranberry soup that was delicious. After lunch, we headed off to the gym where this girl was sitting in a heavy overcoat on a bench outside the gym. “Candice! How are you?” Professor Araragi asked the girl sitting at the bench. “I am fine Professor,” Candice replied. “It seems that I have locked myself out of the gym. Who is this?” “Oh, I’m sorry Candice,” Professor Araragi said. “This is your latest challenger for the Verdant League. This is Drew.” “Why hello, Drew,” Candice extended her hand. “Well, thank you, Candice,” I replied. “I would love to battle you right now, but as you can see, I have a problem,” Candice answered. “Well, we shall see about that,” Professor Araragi winked. She grabbed a coat hanger out of her bag, and played with the sliding doors of the gym until we heard a click. The doors slid open and Candice found her keys.
Candice flipped on some switches and a large, extremely cold arena came into sight, with an opening in the roof where a small flurry was coming in. “Welcome to the Snowpoint Gym, Drew,” Candice announced. “Are you ready to begin our battle?” “I am always ready,” I answered. “Now, we have special rules here. I have an extremely powerful Pokémon, so I will allow you to use two Pokémon against me.” “Well, we shall see if I will need a second Pokémon.” Candice sent out this large Pokémon, towering over Candice and even me! My Pokédex said it was an Abomasnow, so I started off the battle with little Riolu, knowing that his Fighting skills might come in handy. Riolu quickly ran around Abomasnow, who just stood there bored, watching this little dog run around him. I had Riolu use Force Palm, and it did some damage, but the massive tower of Abomasnow didn’t even flinch. Abomasnow used a massive Avalanche attack, sending the snow in the room towards Riolu, who quickly ran from the attack and was caught with a Wood Hammer attack from the other side, hurting both Riolu and Abomasnow. Riolu came back with Drain Punch and regained some of the HP he lost at the expense of Abomasnow. Abomasnow came back with another Avalanche, which Riolu wasn’t able to avoid this time, and it really did some damage, because Avalanche is special. Riolu had a hard time standing up and once he finally stood up, his entire body began to glow an opaque white and he began to change forms. He was a Lucario by the time he was finished evolving, with Aura Sphere learned in place of Counter. Lucario went to work with Aura Spheres, and even though he made some pretty critical hits, Abomasnow was able to knock him out with another Avalanche.
“See,” Candice pointed out. “Abomasnow isn’t your average Pokémon; he can withstand the worst of attacks.” I just stood there and sent out Ponyta, who had even a worse type advantage over Abomasnow. Ponyta came out strong with a Flame Wheel, directly hitting Abomasnow.  Abomasnow definitely felt Ponyta’s attack! Abomasnow tried to use an Avalanche followed by a quick Wood Hammer, but Ponyta was able to land a good stomp attack before Abomasnow could use Avalanche. Abomasnow was reduced to a very weak point, and I think the reason why Ponyta began to evolve was just to show Abomasnow who’s boss. Anyways, Rapidash continued with a nice Flame Wheel and an up-close-and-personal Flamethrower and ended the battle with a beautiful finishing blow.
Candice walked across the field over to me. “Congratulations, Drew,” Candice said. “You have shown strength and courage to beat Abomasnow, even though the cards were in your favor after all. I confer upon you the Icicle Badge, showing that you have beaten me. Please take this TM containing Avalanche, as it is vital to any Ice Type Pokémon’s strategy.” “Yep, and I am finally finished, too!” I exclaimed. “I have really enjoyed travelling through Sinnoh, so I am going to miss it a lot!” “Well, you can always come back and visit!” Candice replied. “Now you must go through the passage of the Verdant Order of Sinnoh. Hopefully, you can come back here to Snowpoint to visit and experience Sinnoh once again!” Professor Araragi took me by swooping in and getting me back into the car heading to the airport.
*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
   After the plane touched down in Hearthome City, I was met with somewhat of a surprise, Professor Rowan and Cynthia met us at the gate. It kind of felt like a prisoner handoff, Professor Araragi was heading to another destination and Cynthia and Professor Rowan took me in a car to somewhere. “I really had a feeling you would get this far,” Professor Rowan said. “You really have the essence of your father’s battling style in you.” “Your father is amazing, Drew,” Cynthia quietly piped in. “You know, he was always observing everything when in battle, eyes constantly moving and never a stray thought. Maybe you can be like that someday, I know I can’t.” “Well, he is my father, and sometimes children aren’t even like their parents,” I answered. “I actually got accustomed to school and I was planning on entering a United States University once I become the right age. However, this journey has allowed me to see other things, gaining friends that will help me out whenever I am in trouble.” “Exactly!” Cynthia said loudly. “Pokémon will always be there for you, just like family in most cases!” “Here we are,” Professor Rowan announced. We arrived at the large glass cylinder, the entrance into the Pokémon Center.
   We walked into the cylinder and began down the elevator, but it didn’t stop at the Pokémon Center passageway, it went down another three floors to a large oval, pill-like transport vehicle. We got in and it took us on a smooth ride, we came out on to land and continued back behind the city and around Amity Square. After a few minutes, we arrived at a large obelisk. “This is where we induct Verdant League Champions of the Sinnoh Region, Drew,” Cynthia said. I looked around, and the Obelisk was on a mountain side, on a nice piece of flat land attached to the mountain. You were able to see the entire region from up here, from Sandgem Town to Sunyshore City. I couldn’t see Veilstone City, however. Cynthia placed her hand on the Obelisk, Professor Rowan joined and asked me to place my hand below theirs, forming a triangle. Notches and etchings in the Obelisk began to glow and the top pyramid-like cap shone a bright orange. Once everything stopped glowing, a triangular badge floated down from the top of the Obelisk and landed in my hands. “You are officially inducted into the Verdant League of Sinnoh and I hereby authorize you to continue to the Merin Region.” “We do have another thing for you to do,” said Professor Rowan, who just arrived from something.
   We walked over to this concrete slab. “Take out your Pokémon,” Professor Rowan said. “You are going to permanently seal your Sinnoh partners in concrete. Have them take their hands and inscribe their prints. You start first with your hand in the center.” I pressed my hand into the wet concrete and I sent out my Pokémon who followed suit. Professor Rowan and Cynthia both wrote in it, and made it all “official” and let it dry. Professor Rowan took my Pokédex and then pressed it into a slot in the obelisk and then only a few etchings illuminated for a quick second. Cynthia took it out and then showed it to me, and a new menu item came up in the Pokédex: “Verdant League”. It showed my Kanto Pokémon and badges collected and my Sinnoh Pokémon and Badges.
   â€œIt is time for you to continue on your journey,” Cynthia said softly. “Please hand us the Pokémon you caught here in Sinnoh, so that they may be transferred back to Professor Oak in Pallet Town!” I returned all my Pokémon and handed Cynthia five Poké balls. “Good Luck on your journey, Drew,” Professor Rowan said. “We may cross paths in the near future.” They sent me back alone in the pill capsule and I returned to the Pokémon Center, where Professor Araragi greeted me with countless shopping bags around her arms. “So, that’s what you had to do?” I asked cockily. “Well, some of it is for you!” Professor Araragi answered. “Let’s see, I have some Poké balls, various berries, potions and even some cookies!” “Well, at least it is something nice!” I answered. “I thought it was all clothes or something!” “About 90% of it is!” Professor Araragi admitted. “I thought so!” I replied. She quickly dragged me into a waiting car, and in 4 minutes flat, we were at the airport ready to return to Snowpoint City, which became a reality three hours later, and by the time we got back, the sun was beginning to set.
   To spend some time in Sinnoh, since it was my last night, we went to Lake Acuity and just dipped our feed off the dock into the pristine Alpine water. Various Pokémon swam around my feet and Professor Araragi began to wind herself down from her extremely active self, and eventually fell asleep a few minutes later. I got up and wandered around the lake and some land-dwelling Pokémon greeted me: Snover, Sneasel, and even some Misdreavus and Murkrow!  I continued my stroll around the lake and returned to the dock and made my place next to Professor Araragi. There was something standing out of the corner of my eye: a lone Snover standing at the end of the dock, just staring at me. I stared at it for a moment and then it walked over, out of its own volition and just sat next to me. It was a much calmer Munchlax-esque type of Pokémon. “You feeling lonely?” I asked the Snover. Snover nodded in agreement and let out a muffled cry. “Well, I’ll call you Lonely!” I said. Snover cried out in agreement, and gained a semblance of a smile after discovering me! “Well, I can’t take you on my other journey, but if I caught you, you could be friends with all of my other Pokémon!” I told Snover. All Snover could do is jump up and down. I felt the same way as I did when I caught Glameow and Stunky. I took out a Heal Ball (since it is one I could waste) and put Snover inside.
   I poked Professor Araragi who woke up in a frenzy. “You know you fell asleep, right?” I asked her. “I thought we were talking about how cows could run marathons?” Professor Araragi said, dazed. “Well, I have something I need to give you to return to Professor Oak,” I told her. “It seems that I caught a Snover.” I showed her the Poké ball. “Well, I can gladly give it to Professor Oak, since you can’t take him to Merin. We should head back to the Pokémon Center and get some rest for tomorrow.” I stood up in agreement and we walked back to Snowpoint City and went to bed.
   Professor Araragi drove me to the airport, and we parted ways since she had to take a boat from Snowpoint back to Isshu. It wasn’t like that beautiful day when I left Lilycove, sun shining and the fish swimming. It was cold; a blanket of white was draped over the ground, showing no sign of life underneath. After soaring into the clouds, I just sat as Mt Coronet fell out of sight and then the last of the Sinnoh region with Canalave City leaving my sight last. It was now just Open Ocean and I was sitting watching an American movie on the plane “Date Night” and I was working on what to do once I arrive in Merin, namely Amber City. I had no idea what to expect. It was the only main region I haven’t been to for any type of visit, whether it was vacation or for other reasons. Literally, right when the movie ended, land appeared out of the side of the aircraft. It was lush and green, meadows filled with windmills and small towns dispersed throughout the rounded area. We began our descent down into the port, Amber City, passing a large park with a gigantic lake in the center of it, and then getting lower, we passed over a smaller mountain range with a large observatory on one of its peaks and when we touched down, it felt like I landed in Lilycove, because the sun was shining and some Sharpedo and Seaking were having fun jumping in and out of the water. I heard walking into the terminal, “Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen, AirVerdant Flight 921 from Snowpoint City has arrived at Gate S-12. If you have a connecting flight, please proceed to your next gate, otherwise head towards the Baggage Claim. Welcome to Amber City, the Starshine of Merin!”
   I began to walk towards the Baggage Claim area when I heard a familiar voice scream in my direction, “Drew!” I turned around and it was none other than the fabulous Professor Magnolia. “Why are you heading to the baggage claim?” Professor Magnolia caught her breath. “I thought you were picking me up outside?” I was perplexed. “Come; walk with me over to Terminal M, where all domestic flights into Merin are from,” Professor Magnolia said leading me in another direction.  “Where are we flying to?” I asked. “We are flying into the Lake Cobalt Resort, since it is the closest to the town where I live, so we can get you set up with a starter Pokémon. Otherwise, it would take almost a day by car, and I don’t like driving through the Burgundy Hills late at night!” While she was saying this, I noticed Starbucks has finally forced its way into Merin and I stopped for some coffee, a delight I hadn’t succumbed to since my departure from California some 8 years ago.
   After talking a bit more, we walked into an extremely modern terminal with only a few gates with flights to Amber City, the Tri Towns, Carnelian City, Apricot City, Jade City/Lake Cobalt Resort, Chrysanthemum Town, the Battle Frontier and Opal City. We sat in chairs that took us down the jet way automatically and took us to our seats on the plane. We took off and all I could do now is just stare out the window and await my arrival in Shamrock Town.
==End Chapter 13==

Coming Soon: Chapter 14: Tegul MeilÄ— Merin (May the Love of Merin Shine down upon us!... gotta love Lithuanian!)

Interesting chapter, I'm looking forward to the next chapter, but only 2 a month you say? D:

Okay Okay Fine, I'll wait.

I really like how you get personal with the Pokemon.

Well, when you have 8 COLLEGE CLASSES, you are your Building Rep for the Community Council (of all 6 apartment buildings), the Principal 2nd Clarinet in Wind Orchestra, and involved with a few Business oriented clubs, as well as reading, there isn't much allotted time for writing... and now I have allocated time for TWG, Im not sure if I can write until the weekend, but tomorrow is my LIGHT day (and Friday) so I might be able to write tomorrow

I like to keep things informal... This story won't be published, but when my kids get hooked on Pokémon, I'll tell them the story! Woo, NERDISM!

Hey I posted something in the "Home Made Compositions" board, you should check it out, tell me what you think?

LOL

"I thought we were talking about how cows would run marathons?"

Anyway, it was a pretty nice chapter, and I still like the story. Yours has a far more interesting story than mine... mine's something of a huge soap opera. :D

Im really excited for next chapter... I may not write today, actually... I got like 2 hours of sleep last night because I couldn't get comfortable at all and sleep from 12-8... dumb heat!

i alway hate when that happens, at least you'll sleep well tonight from lack of sleep.

hopefully... well, it was 8 degrees cooler and finally the hot breeze has turned into a happy cool breeze and it is currently 78 out... now for just my room to cool off!!!

I actually may write tonight... why? because I had coffee and i've finished all my reading for tomorrow!!!

EDIT: I got about a page into Chapter 13... i am at a crossroads... should I add a romance element in (or will that bring it too downhill) or should I stay on track and make a new best friend??? Also from here on out, throughout the Merin region, I am going to probably have to make the chapters 7-8 pages long instead of the usual 4-6 pages... because you don't know Merin and I need to make some descriptive measures there!

About romance... it all depends on what you like. I felt the need to include romance in mine, so I did, perhaps at the risk of losing a few readers (although my only reader at the time was you), but when writing, no one will ever like what you yourself do not.

Self-satisfaction leads to the satisfaction of others.

I have a few ideas on what to do. I haven't opened that word doc since last month

Hmm. Cool.

Dearest Fellow Readers,

Due to some lack of interest, the next chapters will be postponed indefinitely until a massive uprising of calls for this story to return... then and maybe then I might reconsider.

With the Warmest Regards
DP

I'm still here if you're interested in writing. :)

 :'(

Still. Not. Enough.

If there was still any interest, someone would have sent me a message about 19 days ago asking what happened... there is NO popularity to this. I do offer one thing: I just wish I had the time to write for myself rather than the non-existent fans.

I have a number in mind.. and it hasn't reached there yet

I think you should put a link to this thread in your signature, that's what always reminds me of Slow's.

If nobody has posted here, It will not show up on the Recend Unread Posts Since Your Last Visit link (i'm pretty sure, or at least not the link below it), so put the link in people's faces.

advertize, my friend! I love this story. Without seeing new chapters I start to forget exactly what was going on.. Count me as two dedicated readers cause I'm dying to see more.

And I've been your fan since the beginning, man. :) Whether you like TWTGO or not you'd always read, and I appreciate that and try to do the same for you. And I actually like your story.

Hey it looks like you added it to your sig!

Was I blind and he already had it there the whole time?

Hmmm.

Nope. I put it there.

If I get more work done on Project Kronos and finish reading for Business Law, I WILL finish Chapter 14!

So I was bored, so here

Chapter 14: Tegul MeilÄ— Merin
   We began our descent into the Cobalt Lake airport. It was huge. Mansions were piled along the north and east shores of the lake, situated in the hills. We were able to see Burgundy City off on the Southwest shore and the Northwest shore held the airport, surrounded by majestic pine trees, concealing it from the pristine late (where some people were having fun in boats, fishing and jet skiing). It felt like I was in the Pacific Northwest sans the rain, and I felt comforted that I was finally able to get away from the fast-paced travel with Professor Araragi. Our flight landed and got into a speed boat which took us across the 25 mile wide lake. We arrived at a small port where we disembarked and we walked up into the town. Shamrock Town was green, and it contrasted with the Pacific-Northwest vibe of the Cobalt Resort; Shamrock Town felt like an old Irish countryside town located on a lake. Professor Magnolia took my into a small building and it looked like a rustic, Celtic home. She led me down some stairs and into a large, modern room filled with research machinery and other devices.
   â€œWelcome to my research lab,” Professor Magnolia said. “It is small and cozy, yet we are the leading research lab in terms of Pokémon Type studies.” “That seems fairly different from what Professor Rowan does,” I responded. “Well, Merin is a different region,” Professor Magnolia said. “We don’t have special starters like the other region. All of our Pokémon native to Merin can be found in other regions.” “But are still different at least?” I inquired. “Absolutely!” Professor Magnolia answered. “So, for you I have prepared our three starters from Merin. You have Chikorita the Grass type, Charmander the Fire type and Mudkip the Water type.” Professor Magnolia all let them out of their Poké balls and they all stood together on the table. Mudkip jumped around a lot until it found a sink filled with water, where it proceeded to bathe itself, Charmander walked over to the computer and sat on the keyboard where he proceeded to yawn and Chikorita used her vines to swing from the suspended lamps from the ceiling. “Pokémon here in Merin are much more active than from other regions,” Professor Magnolia pointed out. “You are going to have an energetic bunch by the time you’re finished with your journeys through Merin. Have you chosen your Merin starter?” “I think I am going to go with Charmander, mix up my Water type starter a streak a bit,” I replied. “Plus I do know Charmander from the others much better!” “Well, here is his Poké ball,” Professor Magnolia hand me the ball. “Recall him and then we can transfer him to your ownership.”
   â€œProfessor!” a young girl suddenly came running in. She looked around my age, with long, flowing brown hair and hazel eyes that shone as deep as her deep blue jeans and grey t-shirt. She was fairly tall, somewhere around 5’10” and had the figure of a volleyball player. “What is it Charlotte? I am trying to get this new trainer acquainted with his new Pokémon!” “Oh, I’m so sorry!” Charlotte apologized. “Are you a new trainer starting out?” “Oh, no,” I answered. “I just finished traveling around in Sinnoh and I decided to venture someplace else to travel, and Merin hit my list.” “Merin is a beautiful region,” Charlotte said. “We have every element you can experience: a desert, a swamp, mountains, volcanoes, basically everything, well, almost everything!” “Glad to hear!” I quickly responded to prevent Charlotte from trailing on. Something about her seemed familiar. Charlotte expressed some urgency to Professor Magnolia who excused herself to go talk to Charlotte in her office.  I opened a note from Professor Araragi telling me where to go for my first gym battle: Juniper City, back down south by Amber City. She also wrote that my bike should be there by the time I leave tomorrow morning for down south.
   After fumbling around with Charmander’s Poké ball for five minutes, Professor Magnolia and Charlotte returned with a Pokémon in Charlotte’s arms, holding a Swanna in her arms. “Professor Magnolia, could you perhaps give me directions to Juniper City from here?” I inquired. “Of course,” Professor Magnolia answered. She brought me over to a computer and mapped me out a route to Juniper City. It was a pretty long route to get there, but I should get there in about three days at the latest. “You know, I am heading down that direction, perhaps we can travel south together,” Charlotte said. “I am not due in Crimson Town for a week, but I don’t have anything else to do until then!” “That would be really fun!” I said. “I could be a semi-local for once, though I am still going to take a lot of pictures.” “Oh, that’s fine with me!” Charlotte answered. By now, the sun set beyond the horizon over Lake Cobalt.
We went to dinner at a restaurant on the side of the lake and we saw street performers dancing on the sides of the Rue des Fleuves, the road that travels along the lake shore. “It seems as if I am sitting in a street café in Marseille or in Morro Bay,” I said. “The night air is beautiful and that guy with the fire Pokémon is kinda funny.” “He’s a fire breather, what did you expect?” Charlotte answered. “And the Morro Bay you’re referring to is the one in California?” “How do you know about Morro Bay?” I asked quizzically. “I tell people from back home about it and they have no idea what I’m talking about!” “Well, I’m not from around here,” Charlotte told me. “I grew up in Cambria and them we moved here when I was 10.” “How did you adjust?” I asked. “I have been going through the same thing, but I really don’t know what to do.” “I’ve been here for six years and I still haven’t quite adjusted yet,” Charlotte answered. “We will always be Americans, never Verdantians.” “I guess you’re right!” I replied still unsure a bit. “At least I can see so many signs of home,” I answered. “Just look at this. ‘The French Dip Burger’ and ‘Poulet au gris’, these seem interesting.” “They combine the French influence with modern food,” Charlotte pointed out. “Unlike Sinnoh’s total influence from France, Merin has adapted much earlier than Sinnoh and has become the most American oriented place in the Verdant Republic.” “How so?” I asked intrigued. “Merin holds the Verdant Stock Exchange and all major corporations are based out of cities here, mostly in Azure City. The American technology companies have their Oceania HQs in Chestnut City, where it’s basically the only technology companies and the Air Force base as well.” “So this area slowly became Americanized,” I pointed out. “So were basically like Canada?” Charlotte laughed, “Of course we’re not Canada, but we’re close!” We continued talking after our food came and exchanged phone numbers. It was the first time where I saw normal cell phones rather than those crazy Poké Gear phones. When I saw her take out that HTC phone, I went nuts… and better yet, it was running Android. I thought to myself, “I think I may just like Merin the most after all!”
We walked along the lake shore and then returned to Professor Magnolia’s lab for coffee. Professor Magnolia’s lab employs more than 300 people and is the location for the Verdant Research Institute for Pokémon. This is where people go to school after they receive their Undergraduate degree in Pokémon Biology and Research. All the current Professors plus the ones that have retired teach classes over the internet here or come for special guest lectures. It is no wonder that each Professor is extremely busy. Professor Magnolia’s lab has its own Starbucks and a small food court on the bottom level. I should mention that Professor Magnolia’s lab looks like a coffee cup (not a mug) that is five stories high and has an underwater entrance from Lake Cobalt. Professor Magnolia employs the majority of Shamrock Town’s working population. I was extremely excited to meet all these people, especially since they are from all around the world. Every geographical region, similar to a viticultural area, has a Pokémon professor. The State of California has almost 100 professors, Texas almost 300. It is all based on land with population second. We went to the top floor, Professor Magnolia’s personal floor. We sat out on the balcony and looked at the stars and continued to reminisce about California.
I kept on thinking that this was going to turn into a romantic scene that is extremely cliché in romantic comedy movies, but it didn’t, and it was based on the reason that I really didn’t care much. She was also a few years older than me and I didn’t really understand at the time because at this age, dating someone older than you are pretty bad, but when you graduate college, then you can date someone three or four years older than you and society will accept you. Well, just maybe. We talked about our Pokémon journeys and my recent travels across Sinnoh and my encounter with a Merin Gym leader. She looked at me funny when I told her about my meeting with Anastasia. It was probably because Charlotte was a gym leader, too. Well, I would find out later, but I was just listening to Charlotte complain that Anastasia got her job handed down from her father and not like normal Merin gym leaders are chosen; they are chosen by a series of logical puzzles and battles to determine the best fit for the job. Charlotte told me that each of the Merin gym leaders symbolize a certain trait of a hero or of a person of great stature. Each of the gyms has a specific task that one must complete in order to meet the gym leader. According to Charlotte, it’s what makes Merin so “extraordinary in Pokémon battling”.
We continued talking about some of the gym leaders I might face and then we went back inside to finish helping Professor Magnolia complete her study of Bellsprout leaves and the photosynthesis effects that come from them. It turns out Bellsprout process photosynthesis differently than normal plants: they take in spores (along with sunlight) that are erupted every so often (usually in a Pokémon battle) that release huge amounts of oxygen into the air. After turning out the lights in the common room, I watched some TV that was airing that same morning on the West Coast in the United States. I just dozed in and out while watching, thinking of the long journey that I will start early in the morning. It was kind of nice that Charlotte was going to show me around. It was even better that she was going to explain to me the Route system in Merin because it was just a little bit different than most of the other regions in the country. I got up and got ready for bed and collapsed right into bed and I swear I don’t remember anything that happened after that.
When I woke up in the morning, it was still dark outside and I got ready. When I stumbled out of my pitch black room, all the lights on the floor were turned on and Professor Magnolia was in a spandex suit doing Yoga in front of the television and Charlotte was hunched over the counter watching the TV with a cup of coffee. “Morning!” I said sleepily. They both looked at me and Charlotte grabbed a cup of coffee for me and answered, “Morning!” with a smile on her face. We stepped outside where Dawn was coming and the sun slowly crept out of the hills and over Ferne Town, which is the next town over.
Charlotte grabbed my hand and pulled me down 4 flights of stairs and we left quickly on our bikes, heading east on Route 142, looking at the lake side and watching trainers train their new starters and watching the flocks to Taillow and Pidgey and the Mareep and Zigzagoon play in the grass. I was off to a great adventure in Merin, with someone who knows how I feel about this place, how awesome it may be, but has struggles adjusting to a place that truly isn’t your home.
==End Ch 14==

Coming Up: Chapter 15: Pines and Fines

After much deliberation with my right and left brain, I have decided...

Project Steps - The story titled "Steps to Simplicity" has hereby been canceled INDEFINITELY due to.

1) Lack of interest
2) Lack of interest
3) Lack of interest


I have marketed the story, I have told many people. I'm not like Apple Inc where I release a device and I don't really have to market it (but if I do, I make a crapload of money).

Good luck reader with your future endeavors

xD You really want to emphasize the fact that age later does not matter with dating.

Good chapter, nice avoidance of cliches, and don't cancel because of lack of interest of all things.

Also, my father is thirteen years older than my mother lol.

That wasnt meant to be a date... and they are only 4 years apart if that.

My mom is 10 years older than my dad.

It shouldnt be a huge problem. I may write more. we shall see

So, I'm done with this story.

If I can get 5 people here saying that they read this, then I'll continue.

I've marketed enough times. I'm not apple where I can release a product with out marketing it and it'll sell like crazy.

(Slow, you may need to help me get people... and when you say that your writing is better than mine, you're just being modest, you know? Your writing is like, 10x better than mine)

Ohoho, shameless flattery, eh? Well I will certainly help, even though your writing is superior to mine.

BTW. I have.

I have.

Any other takers???

I read it... I must admit I don't understand the french words xD. But the story was good! I am not so much into literature, but your story was really interesting! :D Pokemonstories ftw!

New Poll on the Topic... Please vote.

Keep going.

Im so bored, im gonna write another chapter!

Well, a new chapter is underway, and probably won't be completed until the end of june or after both my econ papers are completed!

very nice story drpamplemousse.

--
Nik puts on a turban and holds up a sealed envelope to his forehead.

He lists off five names.

He opens the envelope.

"Five people who want another chapter!"

(I wonder who they might be)
--

I feel like I've lost my writing edge, just not finding the right words to describe everything. books rely on descriptive details to make them amazing, however I feel for even my novel (which is 9 months from having any semblance of editing done to it), I am losing my touch entirely. I realize when growing up, free time dwindles and all I remember is the time I did nothing and wish that I did something. Now, as I travel to a place that is going to be raining a lot (according to TWC), I may have a sit-down with Steps to Simplicity and my other novel and do a hard edit, however it won't be easy. (Now I know why people hire secretaries) -- I fear when I reach employment and my 70-80 hour work week, I still remember the times I have been able to sit and think. Someday, I hope, I can actually finish a writing work.

Sincerement,
DrP

Sorry to hear that Nik. I look forward to a better day when this story can be completed.

Now go read my new storyI hope you get more free time soon.

Well, when I travel, I'm bringing two books I've been meaning to read: Decision Points (by Pres. Bush) and Between Shades of Gray (by this Lithuanian Author -- it looks quite interesting), however after updating my daily expenditures, I will be working on two new chapters of STS and fixing chapters in my novel (and updating what I say to be more descriptive and more "formal" from what I have written).

Let's hope I can keep up with this... (and hopes it rains for a few days)

Well... let's see how this fares. I just wrote this tonight, so it was on the fly just a bit (im adding a curve ball to the story now). This may be the beginning of a steady inflow of more chapters.

I can't my outline anywhere, so I'm flying blind for now.

Chapter 15: Pines and Fines
   I was trying to keep my pace with Charlotte. She seemed to be quite peppy at 7 o’clock in the morning. It seemed that she could have ingested copious amounts of caffeine, or she was the dreaded morning person that I seemed to despise with a passion. By now, we were able to see the outskirts of Ferne Town, our first town on our “bike-tour” of Mérin. The landscape of Mérin was absolutely majestic, filled with rolling hills and pristine lakes. I could swear that I saw an exact replica when I was driving through Washington on my way to Spokane.

   It was half past eight when we arrived in the center of the sleepy Ferne Town. It didn’t have the grandeur of Shamrock Town with all the American glam. It seemed more like a village in Austria, surrounded by luscious pine trees and the Burgundy Hills off to the south. We stopped at a grandiose fountain in the center of the village, and Charlotte hopped off her bike to wash her face in the fountain water. “You see, Drew, we’re not just an American oriented region,” Charlotte smirked, “We still have our French roots. You could call this town ‘Canadian’ to compare.” “So I noticed,” I sniped back, still steaming over the inability to take a break between Ferne and Shamrock. “C’mon, let’s go find a nice café for breakfast!” Charlotte said after a long silence. Could we wait a bit more while I catch my breath, I said under my breath as we hopped back on our bikes.

   Charlotte took us further along the cobblestone streets of Ferne Town to a café looking over Route 143 and the pastures with farms alongside. The moment we walked in, the maître d’ greeted Charlotte almost instantly. “Bonjour mademoiselle, un table pour deux aujourd’hui?” The maître d’ inquired. “Absolutement, monsieur,” Charlotte replied. The maître d’ took us to a small table overlooking Route 143, al fresco on the gorgeous day that it already was. “You can see Carnelian City off in the distance!” Charlotte pointed out. I looked over to see the tops of just a few buildings and then the water. “It really doesn’t look all impressive,” I said kind of disappointed on seeing an amazing city. “Well, you can’t see all of it,” Charlotte retorted, sensing my tone. “The city you can see is the outer rim, the main part is down below from the hill. They built the city out on top of the hills so that you can’t see the city center.” “So, it’s quite charming, I’m guessing,” I answered. A waiter delivered our food, something Charlotte already ordered last night and we dined looking at the beautiful vista that was Route 143.

   After filling up on muffins, fruit, pastries and a variety of juices, we hopped back on our bikes, this time with Charmander riding shotgun in Charlotte’s basket. Charmander instantly began to relax as we took to the road. We took Route 148, an “easy” shortcut cutting out Carnelian City, Opal Woods and Opal City. The moment we left the southern gate from the town, the road began to rise in elevation, though we had some nice switchbacks as cars just went zooming by in a bridge around the Burgundy Hills.
   After about two hours pedaling arduously, we reached the summit of one of the larger hills, marking our halfway point between Ferne Town and the junction with Route 147. Charlotte actually stopped for a break. Maybe she noticed the lone park bench on the side of the trail. “Want to take an awesome picture?” Charlotte asked me pulling out her phone. “Sure, why not!” I replied ecstatically. I felt kind of bad because I didn’t take as many pictures as I hoped to during my travels. I struck a few poses causing Charlotte to giggle and blush as I continued to make a fool of myself and humoring those who would ever glance their eyes on these pictures. Charlotte and I changed places and I took pictures, also quite humiliating and humorous for both parties. She ushered me over and we took a picture together, funny faces and all. We were having a good time until she held out the phone, kissed my cheek and caused me to emit a face that would be suitable for those romantic comedy movie posters. Charmander just sat and watched everything, napping on a nearby rock.

   â€œWhat the???” the dazed words exited my mouth. “I thought it would be kind of funny,” Charlotte quickly answered. “It is kind of a shock,” I answered all defensive. “It just came out of nowhere, so I kind of freaked out just a bit.” “It’s ok,” Charlotte reassured me. “There’s nothing going on with us. You’re cute, but now is not the place or time for me to even focus on starting something up with someone.” I blushed at her response, also shocked from her instant drawing of conclusions. This trip just got a bit more awkward. “Let’s go,” I added grabbing Charmander from mid-nap and plopped him into my bike basket.
   We continued a steady downhill pace in complete silence that got us to the junction in a little over an hour. By now, the sun was getting quite hot and the landscape was quite different from the other side of the hills. It looked more like California, shrubberies meant for lack of water, grasses you would see off I-5 up near Bakersfield… just the general stark scenery of that entire Central California agri land. “Quite the contrast from the other side of the hills, huh?” Charlotte asked, trying to wipe away the awkwardness from the kiss. “Yeah,” I responded awkwardly. I continued on my bike west toward the sign that said “Burgundy City, 20km â€" 16mi”. Charlotte trailed behind me, a difference from this morning. All I kept thinking about was thinking about this kiss way too much. It was probably just a spontaneous moment, however when I remembered Charlotte talking about relationship-y stuff, I began to think more and more that it was less of an accident and more of something on purpose. We continued ahead towards Burgundy City.

   The scenery as I was reaching the river was reverting back to the Celtic coloring of Shamrock town, however the bridge over the river was a deep maroon, making it look like Christmas. The sun was beginning to set and I was set dead ahead on Burgundy City. I continued over the suspension bridge and saw the signs that said “Bridge Toll â€" $12.50 â€" Cars, $6.80 â€" Bikes, $2.50 - Pedestrians, on return from Burgundy City”, putting the information into the back of my head. Once I got off the bridge, the lights began to brighten up as I entered the glamorous Burgundy City. The city was mapped out quite well, with a Pokémon Center/Starbucks right ahead as you continue on Route 147 within the City. I got off my bike and walked into the city, still in silence. I saw Nurse Joy and walked up to her. “Hello Nurse Joy!” I greeted her happily. “We have a reservation under Charlotte for the night.” Nurse Joy looked through her computer. “Yes, two of you,” Nurse Joy answered. “And were is Charlotte?” I looked around to find Charlotte not in sight, only a boy and his Vileplume. “Hey kid, have you seen a girl around who walked in with me?” I asked the kid. “No.” the boy answered. He returned to reading his Grass Pokémon Monthly magazine and I told Nurse Joy I’ll be right back.

   Where could she be? I thought to myself as I retraced my path. I continued back towards the Burgundy Hills, passing through the bridge. In my rush to find Charlotte, I completely bypassed the tollbooths, forgetting about any tolls I would have had to pay. I raced over the bridge and on to the other part of Route 147. By now, it was really dark and I turned on my bike light. “Charmander, keep a look out for Charlotte,” I said. “We really need to find her.” Charmander agreed. He was oddly obedient for a new Pokémon, but also quite lazy too. We continued searching for Charlotte, calling out for her, searching around every few miles or so. After heading back about 5 miles, I stopped for a break. “Charmander, we’re never going to find her,” I said hopelessly. I heard a rustle in some bushes. I went to check it out with Charmander. It was a lone Emolga trying to find food. It seemed hurt and when it discovered that I found it, it stood there with a “deer-in-headlights” look. “I’m not going to hurt you,” I said calmly as I reached into my pack. I grabbed a few Oran Berries and set them in front of the hurt Emolga. It instantly recognized them and devoured them in a split second, letting out a nice burp after it finished and pepped up with its newly restored energy. “You seem content,” I ecstatically said to the Emolga. “I’ll bet you’re feeling like a million bucks!” It smiled and walked over to hug my leg. It looked at Charmander, standing behind me and gave it a hug too. This was one considerate, sweet Emloga. “Well, you take care now!” I said, returning to my bike to look out for Charlotte.

   As I began to pedal away, the Emolga appeared to be running beside us. I continued on until Charmander noticed it and stopped me. We waited for it to catch up. “Do you want to come along with us?” I asked. All it did was jump onto my shoulder and hugged my head, obstructing my sight because of it’s wings. “Charmander,” I said in a muffled voice. “Gwab a Poké Bwall fwom my pack.” Apparently he got it, because in 2 minutes there was a Poké Ball in my hand and I caught Emolga, releasing its loving hold from my face. I continued forward another mile to finally find Charlotte. She was napping on the side of the road with her bike chained to a street lamp and her Mudkip and her side.

   â€œCharlotte!” I screamed. “Wakey-Wakey!” She woke up startled and in a daze. “Wha- What the hell is going on?” Charlotte asked sleepily. “I made it to Burgundy City and realized you didn’t make it with me, so I came back to look for you.” Charlotte finally caught her bearings. “Oh, I didn’t think we were talking,” Charlotte said cockily. “Well, I was worried about you when I realized you were gone,” I said like I was worried. “I didn’t know you felt that way about me,” Charlotte played on what I said. “That’s not what I mean,” I retorted. “You know that you’re my guide to Juniper Town.” “I know!” Charlotte joked. “I was just playing with you.” “Well, are you ready to head to Burgundy City for the night?” I ushered Charlotte at her bike. “Well, if you put it that way… no,” Charlotte cockily answered. “You didn’t say the magic word.” “You REALLY just didn’t go there,” I replied fed up. “Would you PLEASE get on your bike so we could head to the city?” “That’s not the magic word!” Charlotte snickered. “Ok… Voulais-tu S’IL VOUS PLAIT monte ton vélo, alors nous pouvons aller à la ville?” I answered annoying. “Très bien!” Charlotte said happily. “Nous pouvons aller!” She walked to her bike and mounted it and began towards the city. I finally realized why she kissed me: she had a crush on me and this bickering was just flirting.

   We rode towards the bridge, chatting about my journey through Sinnoh and more stuff about our lives in California. The bridge was lit up even more than when I initially entered the city. However, by the time we cycled to the other side of the bridge, Officer Jenny was standing talking to someone. She noticed us coming and held out our hands stop us. “Good evening officer,” I respectfully said. The other person nodded and she spoke. “Sir, I believe you forgot to pay your toll as you raced past the toll booth a few hours ago.” Charlotte gave me a funny look. All I could think about now is her thoughts about me… “You raced across the bridge to come find… me?” I thought about Charlotte’s thoughts. “I’m sorry, officer,” I apologized. “I’ll pay the toll. My friend got lost and I realized she was gone by the time I got here.” “Well, unfortunately, the time to pay the toll is long past,” Officer Jenny scolded me, even though I had a plausible story. “You have to pay a Toll Violator Fine of an extra $50.” I was stunned. “Officer, I accidently went into the woods and got lost, and my cellphone lost reception, so I couldn’t call anyone,” Charlotte backed me up. “Still, your friend here broke the law, so we have to fine him.” Officer Jenny answered. “It’s fine, Charlotte. I can pay it,” I said. “Wait,” the other guy said. “You’re not Charlotte from Sonata Town??” “I am,” Charlotte answered proudly. “Who’s to know?” The other guy didn’t say anything, but took Officer Jenny and the two whispered and Officer Jenny came back. “You can just pay the toll,” Officer Jenny said. “I’m sorry for this mess, Charlotte.” I proceeded to give the guy my toll and we continued on to the Pokémon Center.

   Charlotte was preparing for bed and all I could think about was the new awkwardness between us. The worst part was that I was beginning to feel something, which wouldn’t be the best thing for our travelling relationship. “I’m going to the Starbucks for some tea,” I called into the room. “Ok, hurry back!” Charlotte exclaimed. Oh, how I felt I was in a relationship. I went to the lobby, ordered some Calm and went on the computer. Charlotte friended me on Facebook, and to my chagrin, put the picture of her kissing me as her profile picture. I accepted and thought, “I guess she likes to make lots of hasty decisions, huh?”

==End Chapter 15==

Next Chapter: Chapter 16: Time for Some Fire

I used to make detailed drawings of towns on graph papers. fictional ones of course. but not regions.

Quote from: winterkid09 on August 14, 2011, 10:35:59 PMI used to make detailed drawings of towns on graph papers. fictional ones of course. but not regions.

I used to draw regions with my neighbor, back in the day.

Quote from: winterkid09 on August 14, 2011, 10:35:59 PMI used to make detailed drawings of towns on graph papers. fictional ones of course. but not regions.

See page 1 of the thread about 2/3s of the way down! (just for FYI)

I'm too bad of an artist to draw the towns from my perceptions.

So I went to this thread to do something but my mind is too tired to comprehend my future actions.
So, what was my future action supposed to be again?

I posted a new chapter for you to read!

Woot another chapter... however, I think I am heading down the road to soft porn relationshippy stuff... we shall see what happens now. Still amazing anyways


Chapter 16: Time for Some Fire
   I woke up the next morning, refreshed and restored from the day before. Charlotte was still sleeping. “Wow. She actually looks a little cute when she’s sleeping. Her little snore is adorable,” I thought to myself and then shaking off the thought, not wanting to think about what happened the day before. I stepped out of our room and I walked to Starbucks in the Pokémon Center lobby. I seriously needed get something to wake me up. I then proceeded to order a Caramel Macchiato, a Mocha, a Nonfat Latté and a Cappuccino (because I had no idea what Charlotte would like when she woke up). I sat there for a bit sipping the Café Misto I ordered and just observed the area around me. A girl walked up to me as I was staring at the TV, showing Morning News Report on VNN (yes, the Verdant Republic DID rip off CNN).
“Good Morning Drew,” the girl said cheerfully. “Um… Good Morning,” I answered awkwardly, not knowing the girl. “How can I help you?” The girl picked up on my facial clues, “oh, I’m sorry. I should introduce myself. My name is Maggie. I am a member of the Mérin Elite Four. I have been following your journey across the Republic, keep up the good work!” “Hello Maggie,” I answered happily as the caffeine buzz was finally kicking in. “It is certainly a pleasure to meet you.” Maggie and I continued to talk about my journey in Kanto as I did the normal guy think and checked her out. She looked to be about my age, maybe a few years older. She was a whole lot different than Charlotte: around 5’7 or so with electric blonde hair, flowing down to her shoulders and the most amazing glasses that could instantly make a woman extra hot and spicy from the ordinary bland of being sans glasses. “… and that’s basically how I got through Sinnoh,” I continued on about my journeys. “Wow, you must have seen many exciting things,” Maggie said amazed. “I wish I could have had an amazing opportunity to do something like that!”

As Maggie was saying those words, a guy with flaming red hair walked over. He looked a lot like me, around 6’1 and had a medium build. He wore a pair of Black Ray-Bans with the lenses extremely tinted. His semi-long hair was folded-up on the along the edges. His most astonishing feature, though, were the extremely tight jeans and the Toms he was wearing; it kind of gave me a shock. I made a strange face that was closely translated to WTF. Maggie noticed this and turned around. “Parker!” She yelled ecstatically. “Hello Maggie,” Parker answered softly. “How are you this fine morning?” “Great! I met Drew over here,” Maggie looked over to me. “He’s the traveller going around the regions. And he’s the one that Charlotte has been talking about,” Maggie said hushed. “Hello Drew,” Parker extended his hand. “It is a pleasure to meet you. I am also in the Elite Four with Maggie, specializing in Water Pokémon.” “Awesome!” I answered noticing a figure out of the corner of my eye. Charlotte was walking out, like if she drank a whole bottle of vodka the night before. She was slightly crouched over and scratching her head.

“Good Morning Sweetie,” I said sarcastically. “Isn’t it the most beautiful morning in the history of the world?” She didn’t answer me, but gave me a look that I read, “Are you being fucking serious right now? All I want now is coffee and I don’t want to talk to anyone until I had a cup of coffee.” Maggie and Parker saw this interaction between us, chuckled and Maggie said, “Here’s my number. If you’re ever in Amber City, give me a call and we can do lunch!” Maggie and Parker walked away whispering about us (well, that’s what I thought). “Well Charlotte, I have a nonfat latté, mocha, caramel macchiato and a cappuccino. What would you like?” I asked calmly. She took all four cups of coffee, drank a little out of each and when she reached the mocha, she began to down the entire cup. After a few minutes, Charlotte broke the silence, “much better! I usually don’t need caffeine to start the day, but yesterday was quite exhausting.” “I can totally understand,” I answered. “You were quite the daredevil yesterday, riding like a bat outta hell.” “When I start a journey, I do have the tendency to rush a bit,” Charlotte admitted. She stood up and gave me a soft hug, one of which I saw my aunt give my uncle every morning.

We walked back together to prepare for the day trip ahead. I stepped into use the bathroom while Charlotte packed. By the time I got out, I was astonished, even my stuff was packed in the bag. I went into my neatly packed bag to grab Charmander’s and Emolga’s Poké Balls when I felt them wrapped in something quite soft. I pulled out their Poké Balls and then it encasement. Out it came, one black strap revealing a very lacy, two-cupped article of clothing. I stared at Charlotte and gave her a look. “My, how did this get in there,” Charlotte quickly snatched the bra and blushed. “I’m so sorry.” I just wrote it off. “I’ll confront Charlotte about this attraction later,” I thought to myself walking out the door. We hopped on our bikes and headed south out of the city.

I was the leader of the pack this time, paving the way down to Valse Town. The scenery was picturesque. Out of my entire travels through Mérin, Route 164 was probably my favorite scenery throughout the region. There was rolling hills as far as the eye could see; vineyards painted the landscape in bold colors of green and purple with accents of the rocky dirt holding the vines in place. Vineyards are one of my two favorite landscapes, the other being an alpine lake surrounded by pine trees. Charlotte and I actually slowed down just to bask in the amazingness of the scenery. Charmander and Emolga were enjoying the beautiful day and the most delightful in-land breeze that anyone could ask for. “Charmander, take the handlebars,” I said taking out my camera. I snapped about 50 photos of the hilly landscape, making sure that I didn’t miss the sheer beauty of Valse Wine Country.

After about three hours on the road (and stopping at a few wineries on the way), we arrived in the capital of Wine for the Verdant Republic, Valse Town. As a side note, only wine is the legal alcohol under the 18 year old age limit for all alcohol, as wine plays a vital role in the Verdant Republic economy and in Mérin households. Valse Town was the stereotypical French Provençal Town: sunbaked homes with deep red roofs, cobblestone streets and the most amazing building elements borrowed from the Roman time periods (not to mention a church built in the Romanesque architectural style). Valse Town was by all means a modern town, with the outer limits holding all the modern appeal, however the town center was old world and old feeling. The Pokémon Center there looked like it was built in the 1800s, however the interior looked like it was built last year.

We took a nice break, eating croque monsieur at a café and relaxing (and taking a petit sieste). Charlotte and I just talked more about our lives back in California and how we grew up here. Charmander and Emolga, as well as Charlotte’s Swanna, Buizel and Prinplup were enjoying the day and became great friends, just as Charlotte and I were becoming (with the flirting addendum, of course). We set off, continuing south onto Route 167 aka Rue de la Cyclage (Cycling Road). The Rue de la Cyclage is a large, modern cable-stayed bridge, showcasing the vast quarry business east of Jade City. It carried us on a beautiful trip over the Cobalt River and continuing into the marshes on the other side of the river and terminating at the crossroads with Route 161, which in fact happened to be directly below a cloverleaf interchange for the two main freeways of the entire Region (M4 and M5). Directly in front of us was Amber City and the Port of Mérin. Amber City is the largest city in the region by area, stretching out ten miles up the peninsula (sort of like San Francisco). We looked up at a sign, “Juniper City, East 22mi/35km | Amber City, Ahead 12mi/19km | Etude Town, West 29mi/47km”. “Do you want to stop in Amber City or go on to Juniper City?” I asked Charlotte. “We should just get to Juniper City quickly,” Charlotte answered, semi exhausted. “It would be more work for us to go to Amber City.” “Gotcha!” I playfully answered with a wink. We continued east.

The trip to Juniper was also a beautiful scenic journey along the edge of the region. It was a total picture taken away from the trip up PCH. The sun was slowly beginning it’s decent over the horizon as we were starting to gain in elevation about halfway around the Amber Strait. The route met the curves of the region, followed them almost precisely and letting off 200 feet above sea level about 5 miles from Juniper City. Juniper sat 1,200 feet above sea level, at the base of the Orange Mountains and home to the Mérin Hot Springs and Mérin Logging Corporation.

We reached Juniper city around seven at night, but there was still enough sunlight that there wasn’t a need for outdoor lighting. Juniper City was situated in a bowl with Mount Tangerine and the other Orange Mountains in the background. “Well, we finally made it!” I said elatedly, as the last three miles were pretty gruesome going uphill. “Yes,” Charlotte quietly responded. “Isn’t it a beautiful sight?” “Indeed it is,” I responded softly, slightly amorous to help her out just a bit. “Why don’t you go to the Pokémon Center? I needed to go train for the gym battle tomorrow.” “Ok, just use your phone to find the PC,” Charlotte said cheerfully. We rode away in separate directions. I went to the other side of the city to find a small pond where I proceeded to practice battle with Charmander, Emolga and Lapras. We got some intense moves down and got everyone running on the same thought pattern and by the time I was finished, everyone was raring to go face the gym leader. I arrived back at the Pokémon Center just before midnight, complete with a sleeping Nurse Joy and Chansey set included. I snuck past them to see Charlotte lounging on a couch watching VNN. We looked at each other and I proceeded to get ready for bed.

I woke up the next morning with Charlotte back to her normal morning self from the few days before. “Let me tell you a little something about the gym leader James. He may look like a simple, humble Lumberjack, but his Pokémon can pull a few sneak attacks and he is usually a few moves ahead of you,” Charlotte warned me. “Don’t worry,” I assured her. “We got it covered.” Charlotte gave me a hug, squeezing me tight and showed me off. I made my way into the gym, two miles outside the city. It was a massive log cabin building in the center of a clearing of trees. James was sitting on a rocking chair near a small rustic kitchen drinking what I presumed to be coffee, however the classic “XXX” jug was sitting in plain sight on the counter. “You must be Drew,” James said standing up. “Indeed I am,” I said defensively. “Let’s get this started, huh?” James extended his hand. The battle was fairly tough, three-on-three on an arena that was on the physical earth with dirt, leaves, tree stumps… the works. James was a Fire Pokémon leader, which is surprising because we’re battling in a wooden building, however it seems he took caution in building it and putting on fireproof sealant. The battle was quite heated and Emolga took out James’ Magby, however she wasn’t a match for his Torkoal. Lapras knocked Torkoal and his Ninetales out and we won. I got the Charcoal Badge and I touted it as I exited the building. As always, the moment I exited, my phone rang. “Oh. My. God!” Professor Juniper said. “I can’t believe you beat James! That must have been a tough battle.” “It was hard to predict some of his moves,” I responded. “We pulled out in the end.” “Well, that’s good to hear,” Professor Juniper said happily. “Your next gym is in Peach City. You should be able to get there in a day or so!” “Well, that’s nice,” I answered. “It will save me a massive trip across the region!” “Well, you can take a day’s break and relax in Juniper City, cause it is my amazing namesake,” Professor Juniper chortled. “I’ll take to you later!” -click-.

==End Chapter 16==

Next Chapter: Fumes to Peaches

...this is really awkward xD I like writing that makes me feel awkward though I guess. Also "Maggie"...you're totally stealing my ideas

Actually, Maggie was chosen as an Elite Four member long before I met you. She's a member along with Parker, Willa and Zach.

I kind of like writing what works. I'm really starting to really write a lot at one time.

Well, installment No 3! IM REALLY ON FIRE HERE!!!! OWWWW! )hahahaha( :D


Chapter 17: Fumes to Peaches
I ran all the way back to Juniper City, ecstatic for gaining my new Charcoal Badge from the gym. It was my first Mérin win and I had to put on my game face for four more and get it right. By now, it was dead noon, the sun somewhat cool on this luscious April day. Mount Tangerine was covered in grass and trees all the way up to the summit with some interspersed roads. With the lack of clouds in the sky, I took out my camera and phone and snapped some beautiful photos and some toy camera photos from my phone. Charlotte called me around one to figure out what was going on and asked me to meet her for lunch at the Juniper Fire Diner right in downtown. I continued on fast and determined and entered the city with quite a few turned faces as I ran past lots of people enjoying the day on the shopping promenade.
“Well you look all wiped out,” Charlotte screemed as I ran by her. She was sitting outside in a nice sundress and hat. I almost didn’t recognize her. “Woah!” I yelled back. “What the??? Where’d you get that?” Charlotte pointed to a shop across the street with a huge “SALE” sign in the window. “I decided to come down here while you were at your gym battle,” Charlotte explained. “How’d your battle go?” I took out my badge. “Fine, I guess,” I humbly replied. “Wow! You beat James!” Charlotte yelled in happiness. “He is a pretty tough gym leader, but you still have some tough challenges ahead, you know?” “I kind of figured it,” I answered. “The leaders here are more determined to see battling force rather than style and strategy.” “That’s more James rather than gym leaders,” Charlotte explained. “Each gym leader here testing you for the Verdant League are testing you differently. James apparently is testing you in force, and Ralph will probably test your strategy, knowing him.” “Ralph?” I asked. “Ralph is the gym leader in Peach City,” Charlotte answered. “He is your next stop.” I didn’t question her information, I just wanted to eat something and get my talk over with.

Midway through our lunch I decided to drop my feelings as bluntly as possible. While Charlotte took a massive bite from her hamburger, I decided to take a bold move using the most classic statement known to humankind. “Charlotte, we need to talk,” I said calmly. She looked at me with an extremely strange look while masticating her Cola Burger (burger with cola glaze, caramelized onions, swiss cheese and garlic aioli) and swallowed hard. “Wha… What do we need to talk about?” Charlotte answered quite shaken. I thought for a few moments to choose my diction and arrange the syntax. “We need to talk about this flirting,” I replied bluntly. “What’s with it? I’m not saying it’s terrible or amazing, or that it’s leading to something, I just want to know… truthfully.” Charlotte looked shocked, but fake-like, seeming my sentence was news to her. “I really don’t know what to say,” Charlotte replied, slightly blushing from embarrassment. “Well, I… I… I really don’t know.” “Charlotte,” I said softly. “You don’t need to be scared. You’re quite outgoing with me. If you have something, just say it. I can assure I won’t think of you less.” “Really?” Charlotte said looking slightly relieved. “Well, it’s just that you’re extremely likeable to be around.” “Likeable,” I said quite unconvinced. “Just agree with me if what I say is true. You have feelings for me because you think we share something amazing, have an awesome time together, seem like we have a connection that you basically want to take to the next level.” “Well… In…” Charlotte paused. “Well, in a nutshell… … yes.”

Charlotte remained silent after that for a good thirty seconds. All I could think was how I got her to admit her feelings for me. Now I just have to either let her down easy or accept her feelings and start a relationship from a crush. Now the dilemma was passed on to me. I’ll bet Charlotte’s head was spinning, but just not showing it. Charlotte stood up, looked at me with a strange face and ran out of the restaurant and into the city. “Hey!!!” I yelled after her. “Where the hell are you going??? How the hell could leave me with the fucking bill?” People’s heads turned toward me, looked down on me and then left me to realize what I just said. I didn’t care; I had to find Charlotte before I left for Peach City.

I went out searching for Charlotte: asking people if they seen her, calling her phone, calling Professors Magnolia and Juniper, calling the Pokémon Center, looking around the city. Charlotte was nowhere to be found. By 8pm, I returned to the Pokémon Center. It was the most recognizable building in the city. Juniper City, knowing for the charcoal and logging industry has a very alpine feel. It is the place where the deciduous and coniferous tree lines meet. The Pokémon Center was a building made up of a Birch and Fir Tree as towers holding the trainer rooms and offices of the Juniper Pokémon Center District. It was spectacular inside, with rustic furnishings that always made you feel cozy and comfortable. It had the backwoods feel with a modern touch. I gave my Pokémon to Nurse Joy and proceeded to sleep to prepare for my journey to Peach City the next day with Charlotte no where to be found.

   I woke up early the next morning to still find no sign of Charlotte. I received my Pokémon from Nurse Joy, who still hadn’t seen Charlotte. I decided to leave on my own. “I really have must left her to believe I didn’t want to be with her,” I continued thinking to myself as I mounted my bike and merging onto Route 159. I would just go for the weekend to Peach City and be back in Juniper City by Monday morning. I continued to search for Charlotte from my bike, however it proved to be fruitless.

   Route 159 was a route surrounded by pine trees, gaining in elevation as the mountains crept closer and closer. After 3 hours of riding up hill, I met the cave entrance through the Citrus Cave. I crept in with my bike. Luckily for travellers, torches meticulously placed along the cave wall lighted the cave path. Cars were lucky to take a scenic elevated road outside around the mountain, but this caved proved to challengers. I also began to think about capturing a new Pokémon, because my defensive line had a major gash. I had no idea what Ralph would be like, but I wanted to be prepared. While strolling with Charmander through the cave, I was actively searching for Pokémon. We battled a few Zubat, allowing for Charmander to level up and evolve into Charmeleon. It was quite amazing, as Charmeleon was knocking out Pokémon left and right, until we met a lone Stunky obstructing our way. It seemed quite raring to battle, and Charmeleon took him on. Stunky was a strong opponent and kept on taking Charmeleon’s attacks, but I decided to catch it rather than let it continue to take attacks. I added a Poison and Dark type to my arsenal and I had a feeling I made the right choice.

   The cave let out onto a large road slowly decending for a few miles into flat plains with corn, wheat and other substantial grains and vegetables. There were also quite a few dairies and a large agri supply plant off in the distance forward the Mérin Regional Park. There were a few towns, and we could see Shallot City off to the Northwest of our position. Its namesake, Shallots, is the primary crop along with garlic and onions, but we were continuing further. Before I hit Route 158, I saw a sign, “Shallot City, 15mi/24 km | Peach City 32mi/52km”. I had a long day of riding through basically Nebraska until I reached Peach City.
   Along the long route, I stopped intermittently to take a break, get some water and eat some of the food I packed, but also to train my new Stunky for the upcoming gym battle tomorrow. I had a nice conversation with Professor Magnolia and the mysterious woman a little past one, which happened to be right when I past the junction of Route 157 heading to Shallot City. As we travelled, though in the five short hours between the cave and Peach City, Stunky really learned our tactics and leveled up (especially with some trainers we met along the way). By 2:30, we were on our last 3 miles and Peach City has been set in my sights for the past half-hour. It looked much like San Diego, a modern looking city that was quite small on the water. As we got closer, the American Midwest landscape changed into lowlands (like those near New Orleans), with rice and celery plantations around the outskirts of the city. However, Peach City was quite clean, pretty and architecturally wonderful.

   The Peach City Pokémon Center was stunning. It was a large tower made solely from glass that resembled a certain notable building in Seattle. The Pokémon Center had a large seven-story round building attached to the glass (and concrete) tower supporting it. Once I took the elevator up, you were able to see the entire city. It was certainly a whole different site from the rustic Juniper City. However, I still couldn’t believe this city was here, because being out in cornfields (like deserts) can produce mirages and this modern-looking city was definitely a textbook mirage.

   After I ate some food and got settled in, I set out on the city to train and prepare for my battle the next day, and after spending lots of time looking around the local parks, the waterfront and a Starbucks in the Sliph Company Mérin Headquarters (Devon’s was across the region in Azure City), I trained for the remainder of the evening. Once I returned to the Pokémon Center around 7:30, I received a note. “Dearest Drew,” It began. “It is with my utmost pleasure to welcome you to Peach City. I would like to note that our gym battle will commence tomorrow morning at 6:30am at the Observatory on the Embarcadero. I humbly ask you to not be late. As another note, please bring only two Pokémon to battle with. No more. No less. Auf Weidersehen! ~ Ralph.” “That was quite formal, huh?” I told Charmeleon after I read the note to him. I put it away and instantly got into bed, because it was going to be an early morning and he seemed anal about time.

   I woke up at 5 AM, still dark outside and still cold from the night before. I was pumped to almost be 50% finished with my journey through Mérin (though it is still, by far, my favorite region so far). We set out on the city once again, but straight to the waterfront district were, along the rows of skyscrapers, an observatory (lit up by bright lights in the darkness) stood out. I made my way over and entered the building. I was shocked. It looked like a palace from the interior décor: busts, paintings, carpets, plants, a fountain, rich mahogany (and lots of books) paneling and large rooms. A butler greeted me at the door. “Are you Monsieur Drew?” the butler asked. “Yes, I am,” I answered confidently. I only brought Stunky and Emolga to battle, leaving Lapras and Charmeleon still sleeping in their Poké balls. “Suivez-moi (Follow me!),” the butler added.

   He brought us into an elevator where it shot up to a floor below the observatory, a room marked “Ralph’s Garden”. Believe it or not, there was actually an indoor greenhouse beneath an observatory. And right in the middle of the entire floor was a gym floor. “Good Morning!” a soft voice said as a young man about as old as a college sophomore came walking in. “Welcome to my garden of solitude. I am Ralph, Mérin’s Psychic Master. I took up playing with Pokémon as a pastime to save me from my boredom as a child and I took quite a liking to it. Look, the sun is rising! Isn’t it beautiful?” The entire room was surrounded by glass windows and I just kept looking how he was dressed. He was wearing a black tie with an entirely white suit (and black shoes). It looked like an optical illusion.
He motioned me over to the floor where we began a double battle, Emolga and Stunky vs. Gothlitelle and Girafarig. It was certainly a tough battle, but our strategy was to knock out one first. Giafarig was the first to fall, however soon was Emolga, as Ralph used the same strategy on us as we used on him. He seemed to be testing out strategy, but I still had a dirty little secret. Right before I sent in my final attack, my phone rang, but I ignored it. I ordered Stunky to use one more Crunch attack, ending the battle and earning me the Telescope Badge. “The world, the sky, the universe. We are all part of a bigger element,” Ralph said. “I graciously accept defeat and proclaim you the winner.” He vanished into his garden afterwards and the butler took me to another elevator that brought me right back into the Pokémon Center. Ralph was strange, but a strong force that proved my strategy under pressure. I looked at my cellphone; the call was from Charlotte. I frantically dialed my voicemail and found her message. “Drew,” Charlotte said. “We need to talk…”

==End Chapter 17==

Next Chapter: Chapter 18: Cross Country

I usually hate reading, but you kept me entertained throughout the story! Excellent chapter. :D

Your story kept me from reading my summer book... And kept me awake until 3.

I promise I'll read this eventually!
I know it's going to be good, so as soon as I find the free time and I happen to remember this I'll get it done.

Well, I'm gonna put up another chapter shortly. I gotta relax from my day with some 007

Here's another chapter I worked on while at work


Chapter 18: Cross Country
   The message continued, "I don't know why I freaked out. I only ran away to think. I really do need to talk to you. I am in Crimson Town for a conference and try and call me so we can meet up after I'm finished this afternoon." I was plain shocked, but I had to get back to Juniper City and head over to my next gym, but I needed to call Professor Juniper first.

   "Professor Juniper!" I exclaimed. "I beat Ralph. This means I need my next gym assignment." "Well, Congratulations!" Professor Juniper said elated. "You're going to travel all the way over to Azure Town, however I do need you to stop in Juniper City. There is something waiting there for you in the Pokémon Center. I have authorized the Mérin Rail Authority to let you go from Peach City, stop in Juniper City and then pick up another train to Valse Town." "Why do I have to take the train?" I asked. "Can't I just ride my bike?" "Well, Azure Town is 160 miles away at the far westernmost tip of the region," Professor Juniper explained. "This will cut down your journey to only two days. I must go, but don't forget to stop in Juniper City." "I won't!" I assured her. "Good Luck," Professor Juniper said hanging up.

   I quickly went to the Pokémon Center to heal my Pokémon. I grabbed a Mérin Region map for the road and looked for Azure City. Professor Juniper was right; it was the westernmost City in the region. Once my Pokémon were healed, I ran to the train station to catch the train to Juniper City. Once I got on, I just had to call Charlotte, because I was not literally sitting and waiting with Charmeleon, Emolga and Stunky. I tried her a few times, but I only got her voicemail. After the fourth call, I decided to leave a message. "Charlotte," I began. "It's all good. Sometimes pressure can get to you. I wouldn't mind taking this a step further if it's going to benefit you. I've been thinking long and hard and I've felt something and I may be falling for it. I am on my way to Azure City, so if you would like to meet me there, I'll be waiting at..." I paused for a moment to look at my map. "I'll be waiting at Quinze Ans, the boîte at the intersection of Château Azur and 10th Street in two days at 7pm. Please be there, Charlotte." I hung up and just sat waiting for the train to Peach City. This time, I didn't have the hot sun bearing down on me, but to one side there was the ocean and the other, mass amounts of cornfields.

   After just half an hour on the train, we arrived in Juniper City. It was still the massive rustic looking city I left there. I walked to the Pokémon Center in the middle of the city. It was still an awesome combination of the two types of trees. I entered inside and there stood professors Juniper and Magnolia. "I'm glad you made it, Drew," Professor Magnolia said. "I still can't believe you've come this far." "Well, I'm only trying as hard as I possibly can," I answered. "Well, I do have some stuff and news for you," Professor Juniper said. "First, I have a Pokémon to give you. It's a Litwick, a Ghost/Fire type found in Unova. Second, there's been flooding in Carnelian City, so we will have to rearrange your schedule and find another gym leader for you to face after the gym in Azure City. There have been some nasty thunderstorms up around that area for the past two days. Lastly, you'll be heading to Hoenn rather than Johto next. There has been some issues with gym clearance over in Johto, so we have to make it your last stop." "Wow," I said astonished. "Thanks for the Litwick, and I was hoping to go to Hoenn next. I really love it over there." "Well, I'm glad," Professor Juniper said. "You should take time to relax here, since the next train doesn't leave until 12:15, a little over an hour away." "Alrighty then!" I affirmed and left the Pokémon Center to sit at a Starbucks and relax in a comfy chair. I guess today was a travel day, but not in the amazing fresh air.

   I was back on the train, sitting and waiting to arrive in Valse Town. I decided to take a nap with Emolga curled up on my lap as I napped and Charmeleon stood watch to wait until we arrived in Valse Town. I had a pleasant rest of being only semi aware of my surroundings and multiple people walking past me as I was in twilight sleep. A little past 3, a chime over the sound system tolled, "Now Approaching Valse Town. If you are getting off in Valse Town, please assemble near the door for quick unloading." Charmeleon poked me and I slowly got up, still somewhat sleepy from my dozing off.

   We exited the train and I grabbed my bike off the train. We were back in the heart of Mérin Wine Country, filled with small country cafés and wine bars. I hopped on with Emolga sitting on my shoulder and Stunky on the back of my bike. Charmeleon wanted to nap, so he went back in the Poké Ball. I quickly pedaled west out of Valse Town onto Route 165. As I exited the city, a sign said, "Lilac City, 12mi/19km." "I guess we're going to see Lilac City on our way west," I told Emolga and Stunky. The journey out of Valse Town was spectacular. We were passing through the wondrous, vast wineries surrounding Valse Town, however once we reached a steel arch bridge crossing a river a hundred feet below, a vast change in landscape appeared. The fields turned lush, not rocky. The grapes turned another shade of purple, lavender. We were passing through lush fields of lavender as well as lilacs, tulips and daffodils. It was just fields of flowers. We arrived in Lilac city right after 4. It was a smaller city, located on the Azure River. It was like the city of Hamburg, in Germany. The Elbe River running through it, but it seems smaller because of the way the city is laid out. It seemed like a place to live that had the appeal of a city but still quiet enough of a larger town. It was somewhat of an idyllic setting with all the flower fields surrounding the city. We all stopped at a small restaurant for an early dinner and just to take a small break from the bike ride, because Azure City was still another 58 miles from Lilac City.

   After filling up on Greek food at the restaurant I went to, I continued west on Route 169. Another city name popped up on a sign: Pear Town in 21mi/34km. I guess that was the place I'd be stopping for the night. Mérin's beautiful landscape changed yet again to a majestic view. The plains turned to groves of fruit trees, of many fruits imaginable. It was nice to see the rolling landscape of trees as far as the eye can see. I kept on seeing Pokémon trainers and their respective battles as I rode by and I continued forward (even being stopped by a few trainers to battle). I smoked them out and continued on. They thought I'd be easy bait with a bicycle with a Stunky riding on a bike. However after a few miniscule battles, Stunky faced the battle of his life against a Sandslash. He ended up evolving into a Stunktank, however this new power got the best of him and I had to recall him and finish the job with Charmeleon (even though Lapras made more sense). Charmeleon remained on guard as I continued forward.

   After another half hour on the road, we reached a small town where I was able to call Professor Magnolia and tell her where I was as well as heal Stunktank. It was probably a town of a little under 10,000, but the Main Street area was bustling with people. That day, it was a farmers market. People were peddling their freshly picked wares and their freshly made sundries and pies. It was a nice place to stop and really take in the Miltank scent with fresh produce. I then continued on the road towards Pear Town, watching the sun creep slowly over the groves and the faint lights beginning to appear in the town ahead.

   About a mile outside of Pear Town, I discovered a brown lump lying on the side of the road. I rode by slowly to check it out and thought it was just a Sentret or a Zigzagoon and continued right a long until I discovered its tail. It was a little bear cub, most likely the offspring of either a brown bear, however it is far from it's natural habitat, so I ruled that out. I got off and had Charmeleon help me get it on my bike. I was shocked. What was a Teddiursa doing in this part of the region? Bears belong in forests, not orchards, mountains, not plains. Something seemed out of the ordinary. I told Charmeleon to watch over it and I pedaled to Pear Town.

   I rushed into the Pokémon Center with the Teddiursa and I immediately explained to Nurse Joy what had happened and asked her to help. She told me it would all be fine and I should come back in an hour or so. Nurse Joy quickly took in the Teddiursa as I went outside. Pear Town was more of the quaint medieval town rather than the more modern one. The lamps lighting were faux flames, the streets were cobblestone rather than the tar or cement roads of Peach City, the signs were hand made. The buildings still had electricity, but it was basically a blend of Amish with Catholic with Modern appeal. The streets looked dimmer than the normal lit street, the streets were bustling with horse drawn carriages with cars going on an outer loop around the town. It felt as if I was out in the middle of nowhere with the sky, scents and feelings but I was surrounded by people going about their daily lives.

   I returned to see Nurse Joy a little over an hour later and she let me in to see Teddiursa. It was actually standing up, still a bit week, but quite feisty for the state it was in. "Do you know what happened to this Teddiursa?" Nurse Joy asked concerned. "No," I solemnly replied. "I found it on the side of the route just a mile from the outside of the town. I found it to be quite odd to see a Teddiursa around this area. Do you know if you've seen one around town recently?" "I don't think anyone in town trains one," Nurse Joy said. "I've lived here my whole life and I don't know of anyone who'd have one." "Well, it's a trainerless Pokémon, possibly wild and far from home," I answered. "I'll capture it and then release it if I find it's home or parents." I took a Poké Ball and caught it with ease. I guess it knew that I was looking out for it.

==End of Chapter 18==
Next Up: Chapter 19: Côte d'Azur Pleasure

Hey Everyone,

I am putting this story on permanent hiatus unless I really have the urge to write a new chapter. There's just no more intrinsic motivation + there's lots of schoolwork I have to deal with.

I really do enjoy writing, but I need to find something that would be kinda super awesome. I'm thinking an awesome NSM story is in the works, but I still have to crunch some numbers and iron out details before I move forward.

Maybe if I have some downtime at work over the summer, I'll finish this.

I have also placed a link to the document of the entire story for those who want to read it without the funky changes when the forum went awol when it got updated on the front page of this topic! Enjoy!

Quote from: DrP on September 05, 2010, 10:50:13 AMThe next installment of Steps to Simplicity ist auch!! I've added more "real-world" things and kinda mixed up some things a bit!

Chapter 11: Power like the Sun
   After healing Lapras from the gym battle, I decided to set out into Veilstone City to explore the city. I stocked up on some supplies at the Department Store. It was Free TM day in the store, so they kept on handing me all these TMs that I probably never would have used. I spent the entire day exploring the city and its environs, so I ventured out of the city into the hills, only to find trainers. People were surprised that a person who beat Maylene would be busy battling against others, but I just kept on saying that Maylene was a hard obstacle to overcome. They all challenged me to a battle after that, and Piplup constantly took out their Pokémon, and by the end, I should say that Prinplup, and Shinx was able to get a few punches in there and managed to evolve into a Luxio. It was a great day, coming back with two newly evolved Pokémon and discovering a quite impatient Professor Araragi pouting with her legs and arms crossed in the front lobby of the Pokémon Center. “What did I do?” I asked innocently. “You missed dinner,” Professor Araragi said quietly. “Well, I was out training. Piplup and Shinx evolved after knocking down seven trainers,” I explained myself. “THAT STILL DOESN’T GIVE YOU THE FREAKING REASON TO MISS FREAKING DINNER,” Professor Araragi erupted. “YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN I HAD SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO TELL YOU!” Everyone was looking at Professor Araragi now. “You know you have to not become attached to me whenever you want to eat something,” I said and stormed into the room and got on the computer.
   I told myself not go on a certain website that I was once addicted to. I sat in front of the computer with the browser displaying “Wikipedia” right in front of me, I clicked the URL bar and entered “facebook.com” into the bar and logged in. There in front of me showed a war zone. I had over 100 new notifications, mostly wall posts and pokes. Everyone was wondering where I was since I was alone. I also forgot to mention that I had a bunch of new friend requests, namely from Maylene, Erika, Professor Elm and Professor Oak. What was really funny, right when I accepted Professor Elm, BOOM, his little chat box came popping up. He asked me what I was doing and I responded plain and simple, “Get off your computer, Professor Elm. I believe your kitchen is on fire.” I wrote a nice note to all my friends living in Pallet Town, Viridian City and everyone back home, saying that I was now in Sinnoh and I promised a bunch of pictures. So now, I had to find a camera and start taking pictures of my travels. Pokémon Trainers don’t really focus on pictures and more on Pokémon, but I just want to be that guy who wants to catalog his journey and to make sure I can reflect on my memories twenty years in the future, since things only happen once.
   After going back out to escape Professor Araragi’s wrath to go to a nice restaurant for dinner and working with Munchlax to curb the eating habits like I did a few years back. Let’s just say it didn’t end well, but on the plus side, I get to buy a bigger backpack! I went out of the Veilstone South Gate and found a trainer who wanted to battle and Ponyta took the brunt of the battle and really worked hard. Munchlax just wandered off to find a berry tree during the battle and by the time I found him, only half of the tree didn’t have fruit. Maybe I actually got to Munchlax (or maybe the synthetic fibers that made up my backpack were wreaking havoc on his stomach)! I returned back to the Pokémon Center to find a passed out Professor Araragi with a couple of empty Wine and Tequila bottles on her bed. I went to sleep, laughing at what I just saw.
   Well, maybe I was either super tired or didn’t notice anything, but Professor Araragi made a huge mess with the contents of her suitcase. I had the nice pile of stuff from my backpack in the corner and I placed the pile on my bed and rushed out. I went to the Department Store, where I found a nice camera and backpack in the Trainer Apparel section. The instant I got back, the room was tidied up and my stuff was neatly laid out on my bed, Professor Araragi on her computer working endlessly trying to send an email. “You know, you have to access your email account first before you send it,” I told the professor. “I don’t know how to use this system, usually the email comes straight to my computer,” Professor Araragi answered. “But this isn’t your computer and it isn’t set up like it, I’m guessing,” I answered. I proceeded to open up a web browser and went to her email site, and I left again with my Pokémon. The sun was shining brighter today; the gray veil was lifted over the city. I decided to walk around. There was another casino type building like the one in Celadon, so I decided to head towards that part of the city. On my way towards that area, Maylene ran straight into me not looking where she was going, knocking me to the ground.
    “Oh, Drew, I am so sorry,” Maylene answered. “I was actually heading to the Pokémon Center to see you.” “You were?” I asked. “Yep,” Maylene replied. “I have a favor to ask of you. It seems one of my Pokémon had an egg and it finally hatched, and I can’t take care of a baby Pokémon, but since you’re travelling across Sinnoh, I thought it would be better to go with you.” “But, I am not sure if I can take it,” I answered. “Since I have restrictions on what Pokémon I can carry.” “I don’t think it should be a problem. You don’t have a Fighting type, correct?” Maylene asked. “No, I don’t,” I responded. “See, you should be fine.” Maylene said handing me a Poké ball. “And if you have 6 Pokémon, you can catch whatever you want, just as long as it is not in your party. Well, that’s what Cynthia said.” “Well, thanks Maylene!” I exclaimed. “I really have to go, but maybe I’ll see you again!” Maylene yelled as she took off heading for that casino place. I threw up the Poké ball and out came this tiny Pokémon. It looked like a fox, but it was blue. I opened my Pokédex and it said, “This is Riolu, the Emanation Pokémon. He has an Impish nature and knows the moves: Counter, Force Palm, Crunch and Drain Punch.” Riolu just sat there looking at me. “Well, it looks like Maylene wants me to take care of you,” I said. I picked up Riolu and walked him back to the Pokémon Center. Riolu was a bit shy at first, but he warmed up to me and kept on wanting to stand on my head. Professor Araragi smiled as I walked into the foyer of the Pokémon Center. “So this is the Riolu that Maylene was talking about. Well, aren’t you a cutie,” Professor Araragi said pulling his cheeks apart and making goo-goo noises at Riolu. “Professor, Riolu is a Pokémon, not a chubby baby,” I said. “Oh, right,” Professor Araragi said. “I do have good news. Get packed, because we leave for Lake Valor immediately, and then we should be able to reach Sunyshore City from there.” “Is that where my next gym battle is?” I asked. “No, duh,” Professor Araragi said. I ran into my room and shoved all my stuff into my pack and ran back outside, where we proceeded to get on our bikes and continued south out of Veilstone City.
   Riolu was riding in the basket, since Prinplup almost got stuck in the basket, and Prinplup took Luxio’s spot, because Luxio was just too heavy for the back, and Prinplup was a little heavier than Riolu, so it was kind of hard to get going after a rest stop. We continued for another seven hours, stopping every hour or so. Luckily for us, Route 214 was a steady decline into some lowlands with some hills. Lake Valor was in one of the larger valleys with a large resort resting atop the hills surrounding the lake. There were some larger villas and houses on the north side of the lake. People were enjoying the day, and were either sunbathing, out in the water or just having lunch in cafes along the lake. It reminded me of the French Riviera, but it was in a colder climate, yet it was usually warm for this time of year… when there was snow in Veilstone City, there was 70° weather just 100 miles south… yes, we spent 6 hours going south, but we were going almost 20 miles an hour, since the decline from Veilstone, which I learned was almost 4,000 feet above sea level. We stayed the night in a small villa overlooking the lake and I decided to go into the lake side to let Lapras out and Prinplup to have some fun in the water. I sat there sitting with Ponyta, Luxio, Munchlax and Riolu just talking to them and Luxio still slept on my lap, even though he weighed nearly 60 pounds.
Munchlax proceeded to search for berry tree, and managed to climb one and he nestled himself in the tree. I then discovered his place, tried to get him out, but I discovered shaking the tree jarred him from tree, making him land with a seismic THUD. An idea popped into my head, as did one in Munchlax’s. He discovered that when I shook the tree, it caused all the Pecha berries to fall off the tree, so now he can just shake the tree. My idea is that I might be able to teach Munchlax Earthquake, like I did with Blastoise. I took Munchlax to the top of the hill and I proceeded to instruct Munchlax how to make an earthquake. Munchlax was a bit different from Blastoise, he had to jump in the air and focus his energy on the ground, which worked after a few times, causing a small crack to from down the hill and when it hit the concrete sidewalk at the bottom of the hill, it caused a small, pointy upheaval in the ground, just missing Luxio. I tried to pick up Munchlax, but man was HE heavy. He probably weighed more than I did. I returned to the bottom of the hill, took some pictures of the area and of my Pokémon having fun and preceded back to the villa, where I found Professor Araragi sleeping in her lab coat and in a strange position, so I took a picture of her and went to bed.
The next morning, we were off on Route 222 and it was in major contrast to what landscapes I saw. There was the beach off to the right of us and some hills with pine trees to the left of us. Trainers kept stopping us, asking for me to battle, so it took us three hours to go the 20 miles we needed to go, but Munchlax put up some great fights, as well as Ponyta. I liked this route a bit, it felt calming because you had a beach, which meant relaxation and hills with trees, which can show quietness in certain instances, but right when we passed through the gatehouse into Sunyshore, and there was a big contrast from what we came from. The city was high tech, laden with solar panels (http://www.shinesolar.net) and large walkways suspended over the city, connecting the tall hills of the city together. The city was extremely clean; there wasn’t any smog nor was there trash on the ground (which was alleviated by solar powered trash cleaning robots). We arrived at the Pokémon Center, a large building that looked like the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, but covered with solar panels. We walked inside, and a voice greeted us and directed us to the front desk, where three Nurse Joy worked. “Good Afternoon Professor and Drew, welcome to Sunyshore City.” the middle Nurse Joy said. “I am the head nurse here, and you can tell me apart by the Blue cross on my hat.” “Well, thank you,” Professor Araragi answered. “I can tell you apart from the others another way!” Nurse Joy blushed when she looked over at me.
She stood up and came out in front of the desk and then I saw it. Nurse Joy was a little fatter than the others. “So, how long do you have left?” Professor Araragi asked. “Almost a week left!” Nurse Joy said elated. “I’m training my replacement right now, and we have someone else to cover her job here, since Sunyshore only has one Pokémon Center, but we’re the largest in the country.” I just ignored what they were saying and asked one of the other Nurse Joy where the gym was, and left the Pokémon Center. I was planning on using Munchlax, and luckily for me, he didn’t incur any damage from the battling that I did with the last three trainers. I arrived at the gym, where the doors opened and greeted me like the Pokémon Center, except there were some large lounge chairs in the room and the gym told me to sit down. The moment I sat down was the moment the chair began to move forward into another room, which then took me on a short rollercoaster ride, and dropped me (literally) into a large gym. There was a battle going on, so I just sat to the side and waited. The challenger lost against the leader’s Raichu. He did use a Vaporeon, however, so I wouldn’t blame him. I walked down to the floor where the leader walked up to me. “Good Afternoon and welcome to the Sunyshore Gym. I am Volkner, the leader here. Do you have an appointment?” Volkner asked. “No,” I answered. “Well, I am sorry, but I am booked up for the next month for gym battles,” Volkner said. “You can make an appointment with the computer in the front lounge.” “You don’t understand, I’m here on special circumstances,” I answered. “Well, I would too if I was here to obtain my eighth badge, too,” Volkner said and proceeded to walk away. “I’m here challenging the Verdant League,” I called out. Volkner stopped in his tracks and turned around. “Then I accept your challenge,” he said.
“We’ll use two Pokémon for this battle,” Volkner said. He threw up a Poké ball, sending out a Luxio. I sent out Ponyta, just to get things going. Luxio started off with Thunder Fang, and Ponyta dodged it and used Stomp right where Luxio screeched to a halt. Luxio landed another quick Thunder Fang on Ponyta and Ponyta was able to escape its grasp after some time. Ponyta used Flamethrower and was countered by a Discharge attack. They neutralized each other, causing a large explosion. After the smoke cleared, Luxio came charging with a Headbutt attack, and Ponyta was able to torch Luxio as it came charging at Ponyta and it did deal some damage, but Luxio was so resilient that he followed through with the attack and knocked out Ponyta. I sent out Munchlax next, who was a secret weapon in a way. Volkner instructed Luxio to use Iron Tail, and Munchlax knocked him back with Zen Headbutt. Munchlax used Earthquake next, which caused some upheavals in the gym floor to hit Luxio after dodging the attack and thus made him faint. Volkner sent out Magneton next, and Volkner showed a devious smile. He didn’t know that Munchlax could use Flamethrower. Munchlax was able to start moving toward Magneton, who started using SonicBoom attacks, and Munchlax was able to push on, this meant taking a few hits. Once up close, Munchlax landed a nice Lick attack and then went for a double whammy with Flamethrower, much to the shock of Volkner, whose eyes were beginning to come out of his skull. Magneton used Charge Beam, and it hit Munchlax, but just powered through and knocked Magneton to the ground with a Flamethrower. Munchlax used Earthquake for one final blow and knocked out Magneton after that. Volkner just stood there, shocked that someone with my experience beat him.
“Well, congratulations Drew,” Volkner said. “It takes a lot to beat someone like me.” “Well, I definitely had a harder time than my battle with Maylene, which was pretty hard as it was,” I answered. “At least you aren’t the flaunting type if you win something, huh?” Volkner asked. “You can say that!” I answered. “Well, I would like to give you the Beacon Badge as proof of beating me,” Volkner said. “You can take this Thunderbolt TM with you, as you may need it sometime in the future.” Volkner handed me back my badge case with a shiny lighthouse looking badge added to the bottom of the triangle. “Your journeys may take you places that make you wonder about the significance, but I know you will continue forward through your journeys. Go forth; your next gym leader awaits you.” I went toward the entrance and by the time I reached the door to the hallway, Volkner was gone. The moment I got out, I called that strange woman. “Hello Mysterious Person, it’s Drew and I just shocked Volkner,” I said. “Well, congratulations Drew,” the woman said. “You know, your next battle may leave you with a chill down your spine, as she might leave you feeling cold if you don’t use the right tactics.” “Sounds like a challenge I am ready for,” I replied. “I think I have prepared myself for the worst.” I continued walking toward the Pokémon Center, making sure Riolu, who was walking with me didn’t do anything mischievous. “You know, Drew, this leader has some tricks up her sleeve,” the woman said. “Oh, I’ll be ready,” I answered. “I have some tricks I have been teaching my Pokémon to outsmart these leaders.” “Well, good luck to you Drew,” the woman said. “See you later!” and she hung up right after that.
I continued back to the Pokémon Center to find the entire place cleared out, except for a single Nurse Joy sitting there. “Oh, hello Drew,” Nurse Joy said. “I’m afraid the Professor had to step out with the head Nurse. She went into labor, so they went to the hospital on the other side of town.” “Oh, so THAT’S why she was fat,” I thought to myself. “Well, tell the Professor I will be out on Route 222 practicing,” I said and I left with my bike. I wanted to train Riolu and Lapras a little bit, even though Lapras was at a higher level than any of my Pokémon. I went into the woods and saw some many Pokémon, namely a Glameow and a Stunky who followed me around while I found some trainers to battle with. Riolu did a great job with his first few battles, really getting into it, down and dirty. His speed was impeccable and he was able to Force Palm his way to greatness against a Bibarel, a Staravia and a Girafarig (well, he had to use Crunch at times there). Once I left the woods, I sat down on a tree stump to eat lunch and the Glameow and Stunky were still there. “Do you want food?” I asked. I threw some food over to them, but they just ignored it, so I had Munchlax clean it up. Riolu could since what they wanted and hugged my leg as some sort of sign. “Were you abandoned?” I asked. They stepped closer to Riolu and I, while Munchlax tested his new idea of shaking a tree for berries, except a wild Burmy fell on his head. I brought Glameow and Stunky close to me. “I wish I could care for you, but my party is already full. If I just caught you, you would be sent back to my hometown in Kanto, a place far from here, where you would be on the Professor’s Ranch,” I explained. They came up even closer and cuddled in on my lap. Somehow these Pokémon were abandoned and felt distraught, so I decided to call the one person who would know what to do.
“Hello, Professor Oak,” I said speaking into my Poké Gear. “It’s Drew.” “Why hello Drew,” Professor Oak said. “How are your journeys in Sinnoh?” “They have been great,” I answered. “I just beat Volkner, so I have two badges left and then it’s off to Merin.” “Well, congratulations,” Professor Oak said. “Well, I am not calling just for chit-chat,” I explained. “I have a dilemma here. I was on Route 222 having some training sessions and a Glameow and Stunky followed me around. They seem distraught about something, and they have seemed to be abandoned. They are somehow finding security in me, and I told them they can’t travel with me, yet they still want to stay close.” “Well, that certainly is a dilemma,” Professor Oak responded. “They can sense the compassion coming from the Pokémon beside you and how you act with them. Go on and capture them, and they will have a great time here.” “They’re here right now,” I said. I showed Professor Oak to them. “I’ll catch you guys and you can stay with my friend, here and then I can come and visit you when I am back in Kanto. Who knows, you might be able to stay with my Skitty and Growlithe at home.” They smiled. “I’ll get them over immediately. I’ll call once I am in Merin and see how they’re doing.” “Have fun with your last two battles, Drew. Good Luck!” Professor Oak said and hung up. “Have fun with Professor Oak, guys. See you soon,” I yelled. I threw Poké balls at them and they were captured instantly. Right after they were caught, the entire ball began to glow and then it disappeared in a ray of light pointing to the sky. Professor Oak sent me an email saying that he got them and I walked with Munchlax and Riolu back to Sunyshore City.

==End Chapter 11==

Chapter 12 is coming fast (and it should be done before I leave on the 12th... haha)
Coming Soon: Chapter 12: Fleeting Chills and Snow

Awesome man.. Thanks for sharing entire chapter.. It was so exciting.. I would like others to read and appreciate it.