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My name is Marshal North. I'm 13 years old and still haven't left my hometown. Weird, right? It seems like these days, more and more kids are leaving on journeys to become Trainers before they're even able to do basic things like read or write. Maybe that's due to the actual process of becoming a Trainer getting easier and easier thanks to adults' handholding of everyone through their journeys.

Of course, most kids don't go anywhere when those hands finally let go after an eternity. But that's where I come in. There are lots of regions out there, and their Pokemon Leagues are finally opening up for the first time in years! This is my shot, and I'm not going to let it go to waste! I've decided that I'm finally going out on my own to become the Champion of every League, and I'm going to do it in one year! The world had better prepare for me!

***

God, that was dumb. I shoved my journal into the drawer of my desk, already embarrassed with myself. What kind of self-respecting teenager writes in a journal, anyway? I looked around the room, always nervous that someone was watching me. Instead, my eyes wandered over to the clock on the other side of the room. It was almost midnight! I quickly shut off all my lights and jumped into bed. Tomorrow was the day I'd be setting off for my journey, and I didn't want to oversleep!

***

Of course, the next morning came up before I even knew it. I had actually gotten up in time, unlike some kid a few years back who overslept and ended up with a Pikachu. I quickly got dressed, grabbed my Bag, and ran downstairs. Mom was already up and waiting for me with a smile and a big breakfast.

"Well, Marshal," she said, waving a hand through her long brown hair, "today's the big day! I know you've been waiting for this for a while, but I've always felt that it was too early to send you out on your own."

I grunted in agreement. I knew how the situation worked. When I turned ten, I had already packed my bags and was ready to head out to the professor's Lab, but Mom had stopped me and told me that I was not going to leave. Instead, she had me stay at home and get a decent education so when I did finally strike out on my own, I'd at least be able to take care of myself a little bit. "I'll be okay," I assured her.

"I know," she agreed, "but I'm still going to worry. That's what a mother does, after all!" She chuckled, and I did too. She always felt so warm and inviting, and I knew I would probably be able to come home at any time if I ever needed anything.

After I wolfed down the giant breakfast before me, I stood up and slung my Bag around my shoulders. "Well, I'm off!" I announced. "I'll see you when I'm Champion of the world!"
Mom smiled, but I could see a slight hint of pain under her mask. "I know you can do it, Marshal." She got up from the table and hugged me. "I'll always be here for you."

After our final embrace, I stepped out of the door and into my future.

***

My future looked a lot like Professor Oak's lab. Of course, this had to be my first stop. Nobody in their right mind would just waltz right out of Pallet Town without a Pokemon to defend themselves. That'd just be idiotic. I confidently walked through the door and into the lab, where Professor Oak and another boy were waiting for me. I groaned when I noticed who the boy was, however.

Colin Oak, the second grandson of Professor Oak, had just recently turned ten. That meant that he was leaving immediately. I doubted he was ready, honestly. The kid had been nothing but a brat from my observations of him. He was also probably about to be subject to the merciless handholding of our older generation, while I wouldn't accept it.

"Ah, Mr. North!" The old professor chirped, happy to see that I had made it. "You're just in time to choose your first Pokemon partner. I've left three choices on the table for you, but you probably already know what they are." Of course I knew what they were. The three choices were always Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle. All too often, I'd see kids running out of the lab with their fire-breathing lizard or their bubble-blowing turtles and wishing I could do the same. However, in the three years since I had started taking notice of the other kids my age getting their starters, I almost never saw anyone choose Bulbasaur. That changed today.

"I want Bulbasaur," I stated firmly, taking the Poke Ball standing on a green pedestal on the table. I had been doing my research, and I knew this little one would be the Pokemon for me.

"Hold it, North!" Colin squeaked. "Maybe I wanted that one!" I made a mental note to distance myself from this brat as soon as I possibly could.

"Now, now, Colin," the professor tutted. "It's only fair to let Marshal go first. After all, he has been waiting for a very long time!"

The spiky haired demon huffed. "Fine, then I choose this one!" he shouted, grabbing the Ball on the red pedestal. Of course he picked the Pokemon that type-trumped mine. I didn't expect any less from such an immature kid. What did surprise me, though, was that he didn't even bother to rub it in my face. He was already rushing out the door before I even had time to brace for the impending challenge. "I'm going to become the Champion! Just you wait, North!"

I sighed. That kid was going to be a real pain across my whole journey. I could already tell. I turned around and thanked the professor calmly and accepted the prerequisite Pokedex and Poke Balls before heading out the door and into my journey.

I had barely gotten out of the town gates before I saw Colin being accosted by an adult attempting to show him how to throw a Poke Ball and open his Bag. I laughed when I realized that he was going to struggle along back here while I'd be smoothly sailing to the top.

How wrong I would turn out to be.

The first few steps of my journey were...boring, to say the very least. Route 1 could only offer so much, after all. To make the journey a little more fun, I decided to let my new companion out for some company. I took the Poke Ball from off my belt and threw it out in front of me. In a flash of light, the Ball opened and released Bulbasaur. The poor creature looked confused and turned around to look at me.

"Hi there, Bulbasaur," I said, smiling to show that I was not a threat to him.

"Woah," the plant monster breathed in disbelief. "Someone ACTUALLY chose me!"

Now, it was common knowledge that Pokemon did not demonstrate the ability to communicate proficiently with humans. Most of the time, outside of some extremely rare cases, they only had the ability to say their own names, which is probably where most of their species names came from. So, naturally, my reaction to hearing a Bulbasaur talk to me in perfect English was to stare at it blankly and have an existential crisis. "Did you...just talk?"

The Bulbasaur's eyes glistened. "He can understand me, too! Pinch me, I must be dreaming!"

The creature offered up a good solution, so I quickly pinched myself in the leg in an attempt to wake myself up from the dream I was currently having. After a brief pain, I looked around and the setting had not changed. I was still on Route 1, standing in front of a talking Bulbasaur.

"Okay," I sighed, putting my hands on my face in an attempt to gather my thoughts. "So you can talk. How on Earth did you learn how to do that?"

"Oh, I didn't!" the Bulbasaur answered nonchalantly. "You are somehow able to understand me while others aren't, I guess!"

"That doesn't make this more logical!" I yelled, starting to freak out a bit. After a few deep breaths, I calmed myself down. "I guess we'll figure this out later," I conceded. "For now, I guess it would be more fun if I called you something other than Bulbasaur...how about Caesar?"

Caesar's eyes lit up again. "I love it! It sounds powerful, like an emperor going into battle!"

"You also remind me of the salad," I said flatly. The shock on Caesar's face made me laugh. It seemed that Pokemon's personalities came through a lot better when you could understand what they were saying to you. Who would've guessed?

Our first interaction was cut short, however, when a Pidgey flying around in the sky took notice of us and dive-bombed me. Caesar was quick to respond by jumping into the air and tackling it before it was able to hurt me. Pokemon seemed to be much more independent than I was originally led to believe!

I took advantage of the situation and threw one of the Poke Balls in my Bag at the bird. In a flash of light, the Pidgey disappeared into the capsule and after a few seconds of struggling, the capture was complete. I quietly fist pumped and turned over to Caesar. "Nice job," I praised, giving him a pat on the head. It did seem a little weird to be doing that to a creature that seemed intelligent enough to carry on a conversation with me, but he didn't seem to mind. I think he was just happy to finally be getting some recognition. Out of the three choices of starter Pokemon in the Kanto region, Bulbasaur had always seemed to come up short. I decided right then and there that the two of us would prove everybody wrong.

That would come later, though. For now, I picked up the Pidgey's Poke Ball and decided on a name. "I think I'll call him Orwell," I said, not putting a whole lot of thought into the name. I figured whatever was in my heart at that moment would do for a name. Caesar liked his name, even after I told him it was a salad pun. With my decision being final, I threw the ball to summon Orwell.

"Oi, what's that all about?" The bird shouted. He seemed to have a thick accent that I had never heard before. So this one could talk, too. Seemed that this phenomenon wasn't just isolated to Caesar.

"Hi there, Orwell," I said nervously. "You're my first capture!"

"Orwell?" he repeated, unsure of himself. "This bloody wanker, of all the-"

"Do you not like it?" I questioned, unsure of myself.

Orwell seemed shocked. "You can understand me? Bloody hell, guess I'll have to be a little more careful. Nah, the name's great. Just...talking to myself."

I wasn't really convinced, but I didn't want to pry so soon. "I guess we should get going. We've got a long journey ahead of us!" The team nodded and followed along close behind.

***

After a short walk, we finally reached Viridian City. This was the first stop on our journey, and it was time to stock up for the road ahead. After taking the team to the Pokemon Center to give them a little bit of rest, I made a quick stop at the nearby mart to pick up some Potions and Poke Balls. Luckily, Mom had given me a pretty nice chunk of change to get me started. Once I got everything prepared, I brought Caesar and Orwell back out to discuss our plans.

"So," I said, "since we have the advantage of communication, I think it's only fair that I consult with the team before I do anything. Do you guys just want to keep pushing forward? Or should we check out that other path off to the west?"

"Mate, I'm here to follow you!" Orwell assured me. "I'll go where you go."

"There could be a potential teammate to the west," Caesar reminded me. "We won't go too far out of the way, since the map says the Indigo Plateau gate is pretty close by."

"Good plan," I smiled, happy that my Bulbasaur was a smart one. Why did people pass on these Pokemon? The three of us made our way over to Route 22, and prepared for some training.

The team and I had spent a few days slowly making our way to Pewter City. Along the way, we had made an addition to the team! After we had decided to go over to Route 22, we found a few Pokemon that seemed interesting. Unfortunately, due to certain laws that had been recently passed to protect the Pokemon population from over-capturing by Trainers, we could only actually choose one to potentially add to the team. The most zealous challenger was a male Nidoran. Caesar ended up taking him down with little effort, and a well-thrown Poke Ball from me sealed the deal. I had him decide what he wanted to be called with me, and the two of us decided on Raymundo. Since that name was a little long, he also gave us the option to nickname him Ray.

After that came the long, boring trek through Viridian Forest. There weren't any Pokemon of note to catch in that area, so the three of us decided to skip it. I kept attempting to talk to Ray, but he kept quiet for most of the trip. It seemed that he was still trying to warm up to the idea of being on a team with us.
A first for us was finally getting to see some other Trainers that tried to battle us. Most of them were younger than me, probably fresh newbies themselves. The fights weren't exciting at all, most of them were just tackling or scratching the enemy mercilessly. Even if they weren't exciting, though, they were great for training. By the time we got to the other side of the forest, we were exhausted, but stronger than ever!

"Oi, Marshal," Orwell chirped, "do ya think we're ready to take on those Gyms yet?" While we were training, I had made a mention to the team of my final goal, and they all seemed to at least be on board for the short-term. Of course, it wasn't like they had been up to much in the first place. They all seemed happy to have a purpose for the first time.

"I think we'll have a good shot with a tiny bit more training," I said, telling them like it was. "The fact remains that we don't have any moves to outright beat this first Gym. Pewter City's Gym Leader uses Rock type Pokemon, so that kind of narrows our options down to Caesar." I glanced over at the Bulbasaur, who suddenly looked extremely worried.

"Do you really think I could beat them?" he asked timidly. I was never sure what he was being so shy for. He was so extremely smart, and continued to show improvement at a rate much higher than the other two. He was our ace in the hole, and there was no denying it. Orwell and Ray would've admitted it too at the time.

"Well, the worst thing that could happen is we lose and then try again another day after some more training," I assured him. To my knowledge at that point, when Pokemon were unable to battle anymore, they merely fainted and awaited revival at a Pokemon Center. At least, that's what they showed on TV and that was what we had always been told at school.

We made our way into the city and straight to the Pokemon Center. It had been a long day, and the sun was just starting to set. I decided that it'd be best for us to get a good night's sleep for our challenge in the morning.

***

The next day could not have come soon enough. I was raring to go, and the team seemed to be energized as well. Orwell perched himself on my head as Caesar and Ray walked beside me on our trek across town to the Gym. I was starting to really enjoy the company of the team outside of their Poke Balls. Each one of them brought something distinct to the table, and while they were still a manageable size I didn't see anything wrong with letting them walk beside me.

The walk to the Gym wasn't as long as I was expecting it to be. Before I knew it, we were standing in front of an imposing stone building with a sliding glass door fixed jarringly into the side. When I say stone building, I literally mean that this thing literally was just a giant, hollowed-out rock.

I'm not sure what I expected when I walked in the door, but what I found was a shirtless dude standing on the other side of a regulation stadium carved out of stone. I assumed correctly that this was Brock, the leader of Pewter Gym. He looked extremely intimidating, fitting for someone of his status, I suppose. His eyes seemed to be perpetually closed, or maybe he was just very squint-y.

"I-I'm here to challenge the Gym," I stammered. Why was I getting nervous now, of all times? This was the first big hurdle on my way to the top, but the fact remained that it was still only the first Gym. If this was going to happen every time, I'd be in for a long year of mental torture.

"I see," Brock grunted. "I'm assuming you're from Pallet Town, based on that Bulbasaur you have. Is this your first challenge?" There was an obvious tone of disgust in his voice, which was a little off-putting.

"Yes, I am, and yes, it is," I answered.

The Leader sighed. "Let's just get this over with." He tossed out a Poke Ball, revealing a Geodude. At least the décor of the place wasn't for nothing. In response, I sent Raymundo into battle.

That was my first mistake.

Ray charged in immediately, thankfully acting quicker than a sentient rock. He rapidly kicked the Geodude, but it didn't seem to do too much.

Brock sighed. "As expected. Geodude, let's end this."

The next few moments are still kind of blurry in my mind, but they changed my life forever. Brock's Geodude punched the ground of the stadium, causing a few rocks from the ceiling to fall straight for Ray. I'll never know what possessed Orwell to do what he did, but none of us there that day would ever forget it. He flew into the battle immediately, pushing Ray out of the way of the boulders and taking the brunt of the attack.

"Orwell!" I screamed in disbelief. The attack was super-effective against the bird Pokemon. He was buried completely underneath the rock, unmoving. It seemed he had fainted, so I took his Poke Ball and attempted to return him to it. However, the Poke Ball seemed to be broken, as it wouldn't activate the return function.

Brock looked on, his expression unchanging and cold. "I see...so they still haven't been telling you Pallet Town kids the truth."

"What do you mean?" I asked, starting to panic as things were connecting in my mind.

"Pokemon battles used to be much less brutal than they are now," Brock explained. "Nowadays, fights don't end when Pokemon faint. They are fights to the death."

The Poke Ball cracked. I froze. My vision started becoming tunneled. Was Orwell really...dead? I hardly even got a chance to know him. It all happened so fast. Ray and Caesar looked similarly dazed and confused. Brock picked up on this and continued his harrowing explanation.

"Do you ever wonder why your little friends from Pallet Town don't make any impact?" he asked. "Most of them never make it past me."

Caesar had had enough at that point. "You're not...getting away with this!" He shouted, charging in at Geodude. I had never heard Caesar have such an outburst before. He had always seemed so timid, but now inside of him I saw a deep, seething hatred. Before I even registered what was happening, Caesar had extended some vines out of the bulb on his back and swiped them at the Geodude with ridiculous speed and force, causing the rock to be split in two. "Vine Whip!"

Brock was flabbergasted. "No way," he gasped.

I was still in shock. The scene unfolding around me was not one that I ever expected to take part in. While I was in the middle of having an existential crisis, Brock sent out his next Pokemon, a giant Onix. "I see," he said. "You're not quite like the others. Welcome to the real world, kid!"

Caesar roared, still in his violent rage. He smacked the giant beast with his new Vine Whip, causing it to crumble and fall immediately. It wasn't dead, but that was fine. I didn't want it to end like that, and I'm sure Caesar didn't, either.

As the dust settled, Brock returned his Onix to his Poke Ball and walked over to me. "You did well," he said somberly. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way, but the world won't be as kind to you as you've been told." He walked over to the pile of rocks where Orwell had been buried and dug the Pidgey out. He handed the lifeless body of my partner to me. "Your Pidgey was very brave, running in the way of a super-effective attack to save your Nidoran. He deserves a proper burial."

I accepted Orwell and cradled him in my arms, still unable to speak. Tears were already starting to form in my eyes when I noticed the slate-colored emblem on his wing. The Boulder Badge. We had won. We were broken emotionally after our first Gym battle as we learned how cold the world would be to us, but we had won. Through Orwell's sacrifice, we would later find a stronger resolve to continue.

A few hours later, the three of us made our way to a field on the edge of Pewter City, where we buried Orwell. None of us had spoken the whole time. No words needed to be said.
Finally, as we stood atop the hill, Raymundo spoke up. "I can't believe he did that for me. Why did he save me?"

"He saw something in you, I think," Caesar said quietly. "He knew that you had a much bigger role to play in the future than he would. He told me as much."

"I'm sorry I've been so...abrasive," Ray apologized. "It's just that I've never been part of something like this before. I was scared. But Orwell's sacrifice woke me up. I'll do whatever I can for this team, if you still want me around."

"Of course we do," I assured him. "Orwell was right. You have a big role to play in the future, as long as you stick with us." The three of us stood in silence as we mourned the loss of our friend.

Our motley crew of four had been reduced to three. Ray, Caesar and I finally pressed onward toward Route 4, the memory of Orwell still lodged deep in our hearts. While it was definitely painful to think about, it also gave us a strong resolve. We weren't going to let this break us. Orwell wouldn't have wanted that for us.

There was a small gauntlet of Trainers along the way to Mt. Moon, but they all seemed...lost, somehow. To have gotten this far, they would've had to beat Brock, but it seemed that the cost of victory had damaged them all mentally and emotionally. They all had been cast out into the world too early, and they weren't ready to handle what it had to offer. None of them were especially difficult to defeat, but they were at least decent enough for training. Caesar and Ray kept getting stronger and stronger, but restrained themselves from killing their opponents. These kids had likely been through enough already.

After almost two hours of constant walking and battling, we reached the Pokemon Center at the foot of the cave. It was getting late, so we decided to sleep there for the night before setting out for the cave in the morning. I put Caesar and Ray back in their Poke Balls and handed them to the nurse on duty to give them a little TLC. They had definitely earned it.

While I was waiting for them to be done, I decided to go get a room for the night. While I was over there, I met a man who would change the course of my journey forever. An older gentleman was off trying to sell the contents of a Poke Ball to a younger boy, who was vehemently refusing. I decided to walk over and see what all the fuss was. "Excuse me," I interjected, "what's going on over here?"

The man was distracted by me for a moment, giving a chance for the Youngster to sneak away. "Hello, there!" he said to me, a huge grin appearing on his face. He seemed to completely forget about the last kid and moved straight on to me. "Have I got a deal just for you! I'll let you have a swell Magikarp for just 500 Pen! What do you say?"

I took a moment to think about it. Magikarp wasn't all that powerful, but it could become a formidable threat to anyone once it evolved. The fact that I could obtain one so quickly and train it up to be a serious threat on the team seemed like a good deal, even if 500 Pen was almost enough to buy three Poke Balls. This guy probably wasn't taking care of the poor thing, either, and I couldn't let that go. "All right," I said. "I'll take you up on that!"

The salesman's smile was broken for a moment, probably because he didn't think anyone with half a brain would actually buy a Magikarp. I reached into my pocket and grabbed the 500 Pen, and we exchanged the money for the Poke Ball. The man counted all the bills individually to make sure he wasn't actually the one being scammed. "Gee, thanks, kid!" he said, clearly happy. "No refunds now, understand?"

"Wouldn't dream of it," I grinned, actually excited with my new purchase. Raising this little guy would be a great challenge, but the payoff would be incredible later on. With that out of the way, I got myself a room for the night and went back to pick up Caesar and Raymundo from the nurse's station.

Once in my room, I let Caesar and Ray out to break the news to them. "Hope you guys had a good healing session," I said, greeting them.

"I do feel a little better," Caesar noted timidly. It seemed he was back to his usual self, which made me wonder how he had ever come up with the gumption to have an outburst as crazily as he did.

"Yeah, bro, I'm back to top shape!" Ray said. He was small, but he could sure act macho! Since Orwell's passing, he was a lot more talkative. I was starting to get a better glimpse into his personality.

I smiled. "Well, while you guys were getting some rest, I bought us a new teammate!"

The two of them looked shocked. "You bought a Pokemon?" Caesar repeated, slightly shocked. That probably seemed a lot stranger to them. Ray was giving me a weird look, so I decided to clarify.

"Well, this man was trying to sell it because he didn't want it, but nobody was buying," I recounted. "I figured he wasn't going to take care of the poor thing, so I took it off his hands." I walked over to the large fish tank to give the new teammate some water to float in for his first time out. "Come on out, Magikarp!"

The name alone was enough to earn a groan from both Caesar and Ray as the Poke Ball's contents revealed themselves. A giant red fish with long whiskers and a cream-colored fin stared at us from inside the tank. "Y-you're n-n-not the old m-m-m-man," the scared creature stammered.

"Are you serious, bro?" Ray scoffed. "There's no way he'll last."

"Nonsense, Ray!" I scolded. "He'll be amazing. We just have to take good care of him." I turned back over to Magikarp. "My name's Marshal. I'll be taking care of you from now on," I explained. "Do you have a name?"

The poor fish was still processing, but still managed to talk to me. "Um...the old man used to call me Bepis, but I'm not sure..."

"Bepis sounds cute!" I said joyously. "I like that name. Welcome to the team, Bepis!"

If I didn't know any better, I could've sworn that Bepis was blushing then. "Thanks! I'll d-do my best!"

"Marshal's lost it," Ray mumbled to Caesar. I decided to ignore him. I knew exactly what I was doing, and hopefully Raymundo would see it one day. With that in mind, I went to sleep for the night.

***

The next day, the three of us set off for Mt. Moon. I offered to let Bepis stay in the Poke Ball, and he happily obliged. The cave was brighter inside than I expected it to be. There were lights strewn about the place that helped us get around.

"This place is kinda creepy," Caesar muttered. I agreed with him, but I didn't want to say it. The team was already nervous; I didn't want to make the situation worse.
We had hit a darker patch of the cave when I tripped over something and fell over. A Poke Ball fell out of my Bag and a flash of light signaled a successful capture.

"Are you okay, bro?" Ray asked. "What was that?"

My butt hurt a bit, but I was otherwise unharmed. "I'm alright," I assured him. I stumbled around on the ground, trying to find the Poke Ball that had apparently captured something. I found it, got up, and led the team to a nearby lantern to see what we had gotten.

"Come on out," I said quietly. The Poke Ball popped open to reveal...a Paras. The little bug looked like he wasn't all there, and just stared at the three of us like we were the most interesting thing he had ever seen in his life. The three of us stared at him uncomfortably for a while.

"This guy looks like he's high out of his mind," Ray commented after a while. There was no reaction from the Paras.

I was inclined to agree with Ray on this one. "I think I'll call him...Hichan," I decided, making a stupid joke out of the poor creature's name.

"I think it might be the mushrooms on his back," Caesar hypothesized. "They're parasitic, and after a while they take total control of Paras."

A quick look at my Pokedex confirmed what Caesar was saying. "You sure know a lot," I observed. I had a feeling that Caesar was smart, but he almost seemed to have an encyclopedic knowledge of other species of Pokemon. He even was able to tell me things about Pokemon we had encountered that the Pokedex didn't even know!

"Well, I've been stuck in the lab for a long time," the Bulbasaur reminded me. "You tend to pick up a few things in a place like that." I was really lucky to have a partner like him, but even luckier still that I was somehow able to understand him and the others. I had really started taking it for granted, but it seemed to be a gift that was only afforded to me.

Our brief moment of reflection was cut short when a gruff voice rang through the cave corridor. "Who's there?" I quickly ran into the nearby shadows and expected the team to follow along. As expected, Ray and Caesar did without an issue, but Hichan seemed to be incapable of movement. Did he even realize that he had been captured?

"Hichan!" I whispered sharply from the shadows. "Get over here!"

But it was too late. The damage had been done. That was the first time that I would come face-to-face with a member of Team Rocket. He looked just like the rest of them in his black uniform with the bold red letter "R" on the chest.

"Heh, just a stupid Paras," the ruffian mumbled. He kicked Hichan farther down the hallway and threw out a Poke Ball. The three of us were shocked at the act of brutality. Caesar and Ray both tensed up, angered and ready to fight, but I couldn't just give away our position like that. I held the two of them back and watched helplessly as the grunt sent out a terrifying Raticate.

"Get this trash out of the way," he growled. The Raticate growled savagely and lunged at Hichan, baring its fangs. Before any of us could register what was happening, the rat's jaws clamped down on our new teammate. Still, the Paras didn't even react as the razor-sharp fangs cleaved him in two. Just as soon as we had gotten a new member of the team, he was gone in an instant, probably unaware of what had become of him in his final moments.

Something in the three of us snapped in that moment. Hichan had literally been part of the team for about two minutes, but the fact remained that he was part of our family. And just as soon as he had been brought in, he had been ripped away by this terrible man and his savage Raticate. The rage and sadness that consumed all of us would actually trigger something in both Caesar and Raymundo. The two of them began to glow with a brilliant light, revealing our location to the Rocket Grunt. His face changed from a smug grin to shock and fear.

When the light died down, I couldn't see either of my team members, but they wasted no time in attacking the Rocket Grunt. Before I realized what was going on, the Rocket Grunt was running the other way, a terribly injured Raticate following behind. I looked back at Caesar and Ray, who were now standing underneath the lantern. The two of them looked different. They were both bigger, for one thing. The bulb on Caesar's back had started to bloom.

"You guys look...different," I said, unsure of what else to say. "Looks like you evolved!"

The two of them both looked themselves over the best they could, and looked over at each other. "Bro, you're looking good!" Ray said to Caesar.

Caesar seemed unsure how to handle the compliment and just blushed. "Th-thanks, I guess," he mumbled awkwardly. No matter how much they changed, the two of them would still be the same Pokemon I met. At least, that's what I first thought.

With the battle being over as quickly it had begun, I looked over at the remains of Hichan. "Sorry, buddy," I said somberly. "I wish we could've been together longer." The memory of our short-lived Paras friend would continue as we exited the cave toward the next step on our journey, Cerulean City.

The sight of the other side of Route 4 was breathtaking compared to the awful memories of Mt. Moon. There didn't seem to be any Trainers nearby, so I decided to find a nice spot to let the team relax. We'd spend the rest of the day enjoying the scenery and training before we made our way to Cerulean City.

After a bit of walking, we found a small lake with a big tree nearby. Caesar and Ray collapsed under the shade of the tree while I walked over to the lake shore and got out Bepis' Poke Ball. I threw the Ball in the lake, letting out the big lug.

The Magikarp seemed ecstatic to be out of the Ball and into some fresh water. The lake we had chosen was beautiful and clear, a gesture that surely was appreciated by Bepis.

"Ah!" he sighed happily. "Nice to be out and about again." Upon seeing me, he seemed a bit nervous, but regained his composure the best he could. "Oh, h-hi there, M-M-Marshal! How's it g-g-g-g-"

"Easy, buddy," I said, trying to keep the poor little fish from having an aneurysm. Clearly, regaining his composure the best he could meant having a panic attack. "You can relax. We're just here to take a break before heading into the next town, and I thought I'd let you out for a little swim."

After a few seconds, it seemed like Bepis' heart rate had slowed down to levels that could maybe be considered normal. "Oh," he said, exhaling sharply. "That's kind of you. Thank you." He took off slowly into the lake, probably still trying to calm down. That would take some getting used to. What kind of opponent would be intimidated by a Gyarados who had a panic attack at the very sight of another person?

With that out of the way, I made my way over to the tree, where Caesar and Ray were resting up for the journey ahead. Training could wait for a bit later. For now, the team and I had earned a short rest.

***

Bepis later told me this next bit. Sometime while Caesar and I were sleeping, Raymundo got up and took a lap around the lakeside until he caught up with Bepis. "Hey, 'Karp!" he shouted.

That, of course, did wonders for my poor fish's anxiety. I knew I had heard something resembling a yelp while I was sleeping, but I was so tired that I ignored it. "W-w-w-w-what?" he stammered. The fact that he had even managed to get that word out was a feat in and of itself.

"Sorry," Ray sighed, not his usual bro-y self. "Bepis was your name, right?"

"Th-that's right," Bepis stated, a little more clearly.

"I just wanted to come and apologize for the way I acted around you last night," the Nidorino muttered. "We got off on the wrong foot, and that's my bad. I just figured that since-"

"Hey, I get it," Bepis interrupted, not needing Ray to finish his unintentionally racist statement. "In fact, I don't even think that you're that far off the mark. I am just a Magikarp, after all. As it stands, I'm not doing much for this team."

"Yeah, but it won't always be that way," Raymundo reminded him. "Everyone seems to forget the crazy potential Pokemon like you have."

Bepis blushed. "You're being awfully nice," he noted. "What's bringing this on?"

Raymundo sighed. "I won't lie to you, kiddo," he said flatly. "We had another loss in the cave today. Poor bastard didn't even last on the team more than ten minutes. Seeing him die made me realize that any of us could be taken out at any time, and holding grudges and being petty wasn't going to help anyone." The shift in his tone was enough to scare Bepis, but Ray continued on. "That's why I'm asking if we can start over again, but as friends this time. Is that alright?"

Bepis told me that he was happier in that moment than he had ever been before. "Of course, bro," he said, winking to Ray. "From now on, we're friends!"

Ray looked relieved. He didn't really say much else after that.

***

A little while later, I woke up to find my three Pokemon next to the shore training. Caesar had managed to extend the range of his Vine Whip a few inches, and Ray's tackling prowess looked to be constantly improving. Even Bepis was out of the water, flopping around! I was a little concerned at first, but figured that he was passionate about getting stronger and evolving. Seeing his two teammates evolve like they had probably lit a fire under his fins that burned hotter than ever.

"Hey, guys," I muttered groggily. "You could've let me know that you had started!"

"We didn't want to disturb your beauty rest," Raymundo smirked. "You always look like you need more of it!"

Did Ray just...sass me? I couldn't help but laugh. He seemed to be in a lot better mood recently, especially considering the last few days of our journey had been extremely rough.

"Well, I appreciate the thought, guys," I chuckled. "What do you say we get moving?" They all nodded in unison, so I returned Bepis to his Poke Ball and we continued our march towards Cerulean City.

***

As it turned out, the makeshift campsite we had stopped at was on the outskirts of the city, so we made pretty good time. It was still the middle of the afternoon when we arrived at the Pokemon Center. I reserved a room and had the nurse do a quick check on the team before heading back out into the city.

Caesar looked around. "I haven't seen the Gym yet," he observed. "Do you think anyone here would give us directions?"

"Let's just keep looking," I said stubbornly. "I'm not in any rush to run into another Gym Battle like the other day. We'll challenge Misty's Gym tomorrow."

Caesar seemed to be lost in thought. Eventually, we found the giant building that housed the Cerulean Gym, but I could hardly look at it as we silently passed by. I was not looking forward to going back into another one of those death traps. The stakes were much higher now. We still had only three members of the team, and I was really getting attached to all of them at this point. I couldn't afford another loss here.

Instead, I decided to go exploring on the Route north of the city. The world-famous Nugget Bridge was just up ahead, but with it came a very unpleasant familiar face.

"Marshal!" squeaked Colin Oak. "You're still struggling along back here?"

I groaned as the grandson of the great professor strutted down the bridge towards me and the team. I thought I had been rid of him after he sprinted out of the lab after getting his starter, but it seemed that fate had other plans. Also, fate was a dick.

"I'm doing just fine, thanks," I said, exasperation dripping in my tone. I didn't expect the ten-year-old to notice or care.

"I'm doing great!" he shouted obnoxiously, even though I didn't ask. "I've caught a lot of strong and smart Pokemon! Let's see how you're doing!"

Crap. I didn't really want to do any more battling today, but if I didn't accept his challenge I could be reported to the League and banned from participating. "Fine," I muttered. "But we'll do three on three. I've only got these three Pokemon."

"Sounds good to me!" he agreed. "I'll still stomp you flat!" He chucked a Poke Ball, revealing a Pidgeotto, the creature that Orwell would've evolved to had he still been around. It stung a bit, seeing how majestic our bird friend could've been.

I looked over at Caesar. "You're up," I said, motioning for him to enter the battlefield.

"Are you crazy?" he shrieked. "I can't go up against a Flying type! I'll get murdered!"

"I'm pretty sure he doesn't know any Flying type moves," I reminded him. "While I was reading up what Orwell's attacks were, I found out that his evolution line doesn't really learn any Flying type attacks until much later. You'll be fine!"

Caesar took a second to consider, then nodded. "You're right. This will be easy!" He jumped straight out there as Colin gave me a weird look.

"Were you just talking to your Pokemon?" he asked, a dopey look on his face.

I realized in that moment that it wasn't that common of an occurrence, and I freaked out for a moment. "N-no!" I stammered.

"Whatever, weirdo," Colin grumbled. "Let's just fight, already."

That was all the prompting Caesar needed to tackle his way straight into the Pidgeotto. The fight was kind of uninspiring, with the two combatants just chucking basic moves at each other, but it ended quickly. Caesar had dispatched the opponent, but he was looking a little worse for wear. As Colin returned his Pidgeotto to its Poke Ball, I called Caesar back as well.

"That was luck!" Colin shouted angrily. "Let's see how you deal with this one!" Another Poke Ball opened to reveal a Rattata. They weren't very threatening Pokemon, so I sent out Raymundo to dispose of it easily.

This fight was even shorter than the last one! It seemed that Colin was more concerned with collecting Pokemon at this point than raising them properly. He probably had some way to bypass the single capture law, since he was the professor's grandson. He had quite a collection of filled Poke Balls in his open Bag, but he probably hadn't taken the time to train or bond with any of them. A well-placed Horn Attack from Raymundo sent Rattata reeling back to Colin's feet.

"Tch," the little twerp scoffed. "Useless!"

"He'd be stronger if you cared more for him," I lectured. "I may not have as many Pokemon as you, but at least I know how to raise them properly."

Colin looked angry. "That's it!" he screeched. "No mercy! Come on out, Abra!" I was initially terrified when he made the announcement that he was sending out a Psychic type, but couldn't keep a straight face when I figured out the truth. The Abra Colin had caught was fast asleep!

"Abra have a sleep schedule of around 18 hours a day," Caesar recited. "It might teleport around a bit reflexively to avoid attacks, but other than that it's completely defenseless!"
Hearing that gave me a great idea. I was going to embarrass this kid so badly he'd maybe leave me alone for a little while. I took out Bepis' Poke Ball and let him loose on top of the bridge.

After the initial flash of light, the Magikarp flopped around on the bridge in a panic. "W-where's the water?" he asked nervously.

"Sorry, bud," I said empathetically. Some Water types could survive out of water for a while, but I felt bad for Bepis. "I just need you to test your new move on that Abra over there."

Bepis seemed really worried at first, but quickly picked up on the situation. "I-I'll do my best!"

Colin, not understanding the situation, just laughed. "A Magikarp? Man, I knew you were dumb, but this is just ridiculous! What is that thing going to do to my powerful Pokemon?"

"Plenty," I retorted. "Bepis, use Tackle! Hit it 'til it dies!"

Bepis quite literally sprang into action. With a jumping ability that I had never seen before, the fish out of water barreled through the air and straight into Colin's Abra with a mighty thud. It seemed to actually do more damage than I had anticipated! Of course, the Abra teleported away after being hit, but it couldn't get far. Even if it had managed to get off the bridge, we were still surrounded by water. Bepis was at a huge advantage here. He quickly pinpointed the new location and leaped through the air, slamming his huge body into the Psychic type.

Everyone watching was amazed. Caesar and Ray were nearly bug-eyed, and their reactions didn't even compare to Colin's, who must have been so upset that he was about to lose to a Magikarp. As the final Tackle hit, Abra crashed into the ground after Bepis intercepted him accidentally mid-Teleport.

The silence spoke volumes. Bepis ceased flopping, looking back at us. "Did...I win?"

"Yeah, you did!" I said, trying to hold back my laughter. It wasn't anything against Bepis, he had worked hard for that victory! I just couldn't get enough of the fact that Colin had lost to a Magikarp!

"This is ridiculous!" he cried. "Someone told me Abra is one of the most powerful Pokemon out there! How could I lose to something so...so weak?"

"Because you didn't do your research," I reminded him. "That's the difference between you and me, Colin. You've gotten by so far on sheer dumb luck. I've clawed my way to where I am thus far, and my team and I are going to keep clawing all the way to the top."

"Whatever," he scoffed. "You're just jealous of all my natural talent! Smell ya later, dork!" Just like that, Colin Oak left in a huff. I felt bad for the things that kid was going to do to the Oak family name. While he was running into town, though, I noticed some sort of rock fall out of his Bag. I went over and picked it up curiously. I figured Colin wouldn't miss it. It looked pretty useful, though!

"What now?" Caesar asked me quietly. "The day is still fairly young. I heard the Pokemaniac Bill lives up on the cape. We could go pay him a visit and learn some things from him if you wanted."

"That sounds like a good idea to me," I agreed. "Onward, team!" I returned Bepis to his Poke Ball and let the others walk alongside me as we walked along the Nugget Bridge.

So, I was expecting a nice stroll up to the cape, enjoying the scenery as the team and I marched across the beautiful golden Nugget Bridge. I've since learned to throw my expectations to the curb.

There were Trainers everywhere. Apparently today marked the anniversary of the bridge's completion and they were holding a contest to see who could run the gauntlet of Trainers. Anyone who made it to the end would receive an amazing prize, or so they said.

At the very least, it was a good way to train. Bepis had probably had too much excitement after fighting with Colin's Abra, so I let him rest in the Poke Ball for a bit. Caesar and Ray got some much-needed training out of the deal, so it all worked out splendidly. We got to the other side of the bridge, where we received our prize: a solid gold Nugget. It was useless to us, but it definitely proved to be worth quite a bit on the market, giving us money to buy supplies later.

After getting to the other side of the bridge, we traveled through the strange looking hedge maze that littered Route 25. There were Trainers scattered here and there, but none of them were anything to write home about. There was the odd Hiker here and there that served Caesar's growth immensely, though. Based on what I'd heard about the Gym here in town, we'd have no issues if Caesar just went in by himself.

After a little while, we reached the mansion on the cape belonging to that Bill guy that Colin had told me about. We knocked on the door and went inside to find a horrible half-human, half-Clefairy monstrosity. Allegedly, he had messed up an experiment with a teleporter, so we helped him out.

"Thanks!" he said, breathing a sigh of relief, running a hand through his hair. "I'd love to repay you in some way. How about I increase the storage space on your PC storage account?"

"That's ok," I said, turning down the offer. "Actually, I was wondering if you could tell me what this is." I reached into my Bag and pulled out the weird stone that Colin had dropped. I had kept it around because something about it felt extremely intriguing, but I figured that if anyone had an opinion on it, it'd be Bill.

He looked at it closely, and came to a conclusion. "This looks like a Moon Stone," he explained. "People usually find these around the area thanks to the meteorite strike on Mt. Moon a few years ago. It's used to evolve certain Pokemon. As a matter of fact..." he looked at my team, and stared at Raymundo for a moment. "I think it would actually be able to evolve your Nidorino, there."

"Wow, really?" I said, shocked. "That'd be amazing!" Ray was already super strong, and evolving him further would just make him ridiculously powerful. I turned over to my little purple beast. "What do you think?"

Ray seemed uncertain, which was surprising to me. He always seemed so excited to be getting stronger. I think he was the type to call it, "making gains" or something like that. "I'm not sure, man," he said, looking down at the ground. "Let me sleep on it. I'm not sure I'm ready for another big change so soon."

Hopefully, Bill noticed Ray's concern by his actions so I didn't look like a total lunatic when I said, "I think we're going to wait a little while."

"Really?" he seemed shocked. "Your loss, I guess. Nidoking would be ridiculously strong, but it's your decision." I wanted to tell him that it was actually Raymundo's decision, but I don't think he would've gotten it.

"Anyway," I said, trying to grind the conversation to a halt, "I think it's starting to get late. I should really get back to the Pokemon Center with these guys. We've got to be rested up for our big Gym challenge tomorrow!"

Bill nodded. "Those Gyms are pretty tough. Make sure you get plenty of rest!" As we turned to leave, he stuffed something into my pocket. I turned around, a little confused. "Consider it a parting gift," he winked. "Come on back if you have any burning questions for the greatest engineering mind in Kanto!" I was a little creeped out by the random gift, but wasn't going to question it. With that out of the way, the three of us ran back to town as the sun set behind us.

***

The next morning felt like it came too soon. I think the only person that had slept well that night was Bepis, and he wasn't even participating in the battle! The rest of us knew the consequences of losing this time around, and while we felt more prepared than ever, it still mortified us all.

Caesar looked at me as we walked to the Gym. "Do you really think we stand a chance today? Our numbers are lower than they would normally be by this point."

"You're the smart one here," I reminded him. "Why don't you tell me?"

"Well, we do hold the overwhelming type advantage purely by having me on the team," he surmised, "but rumor has it that she has a Starmie on her team. If that thing has a Psychic type move, Ray and I are at a huge disadvantage-"

"Okay," I interrupted, not wanting to hear any more of the depressing ramblings of an Ivysaur that was too smart for his own damn good. "Let's just get this over with."

Before we knew it, the Cerulean Gym was there to greet us. The actual stadium for Gym challenges surrounded by a beautiful aquarium housing every Water type Pokemon that lived in Kanto. We decided to have a quick tour before finally stopping in to do our challenge. It definitely helped lighten the mood a bit, which was likely why they had put it there in the first place. After we finished, I returned Raymundo to his Poke Ball and walked out of a door to the Gym's actual battlefield.

The battlefield was insanely beautiful. The floor was made of a thick glass that gave a view of the aquarium underneath. It was also surrounded by water, likely to put the Leader at an advantage. Speaking of which, the orange-haired tomboy of the seas, Misty herself, stood on the other side of the arena. It looked like she had been waiting there a while.

"Took you long enough!" She shouted at me. "You must have enjoyed the aquarium. Or were you just scared?"

"A little bit of both, I suppose," I admitted, not wanting to lie. "I'm ready now, though!"

"Good, because we're getting started right away! I'm Misty, and I use an all-out offensive with Water types! Think you can take me down?" After she finished her strange little spiel, she threw out a Poke Ball that contained a brown starfish with a jewel in the center. The Pokedex identified it as Staryu, a species I had never encountered or heard about before.

Caesar and I exchanged a glance, then he nodded and jumped out onto the platform so the battle could begin. The sound of an airhorn signaled the beginning of the match, and Caesar wasted no time in extending out a Vine Whip and slamming the enemy Staryu straight into the ground. I didn't even have to shout out an attack!

Misty was shocked, but also seemed impressed. She smirked at the two of us. "You guys are good," she admitted, "but that's not going to save you from what comes next!" She returned the unconscious Staryu to its Poke Ball, revealing that the force from Caesar's Vine Whip had actually left a crack in the glass stadium's floor.

"Way to go, Caesar!" I praised. "Keep it up!"

My Ivysaur looked back at me and grinned happily, but quickly refocused his attention on the battle when Misty threw out her next Poke Ball, revealing Starmie. This was the evolved form of the Staryu she had sent out before, so it would probably have been more dangerous if Caesar wasn't already halfway to Vine Whipping it into the ground. The attack was powerful, but not quite enough to finish off Misty's ace in the hole.

"Now, Starmie!" she shouted out. "Use Confusion!"

I froze. Caesar was weak to Psychic attacks. I knew this, and yet I still sent him in without even thinking. He literally explained this to me before we came in and I chose not to listen to him and oh god no I couldn't lose Caesar like this. My heart skipped several beats as Starmie began to glow with a blue aura, and Caesar did as well. The poor guy looked like he was in a lot of pain as Starmie lifted him off the ground with its Psychic powers and slammed him into a nearby wall. Caesar was injured, but he managed to pick himself up on the edge of the pool. There was a great distance between him and the battlefield now, which was worrisome.

"Type matchups aren't always as cut and dry as they seem," Misty lectured, putting a palm to her face. "You assumed that because I was a Water type Trainer that I wouldn't have any countermeasures for a Grass and Poison type like your Ivysaur? That's not very strategic thinking. Now my Starmie is out of range of your Ivysaur's attack, and it'll only take one more Psychic type attack to end this."

Panic was starting to set in, but Caesar picked up on my worries and did what he could to cheer me up. "She's wrong!" he shouted to me. "I can still fight! We have to finish this here!"

I didn't really want to respond to Caesar directly, as I was still not sure how people around me would react to the fact that I could talk to my team, but I decided to use Caesar's confidence to reinforce my own. I smirked and pointed at Misty. "That's where you're wrong," I said confidently. "This isn't over until I say it is! Caesar, Vine Whip!"

Misty's face turned from condescension to fear in an instant. "What?" she shrieked. "Th-there's no way you can attack from that far away!" Her words would prove untrue, though, as Caesar's vines extended past the normal range and grabbed Starmie. Since learning the technique, Caesar had been working to extend the vines' range. He had managed to surpass everyone's expectations and claw his way out of a scary situation. With Starmie in his grasp, he used it as a brace to launch himself back into the stadium. When he got close enough, he flipped around, sweeping Starmie off its weird starfish legs and into the air. Caesar did a full somersault and the centrifugal force came around full-force at Starmie, causing it to slam into the ground with a mighty thud. The force of the impact was so great that a huge chunk was taken out of the stadium. A few shards of glass could be seen floating around.

The battle was over so quickly, Misty didn't even have time to react to anything. She just stood there, her mouth agape, as she watched her carefully trained team get soundly defeated by some random kid and his Ivysaur. "I...don't even know what to say to that," she admitted, hanging her head in shame and returning her Starmie to its Poke Ball. Caesar's maneuver had been so incredible that it even left a Gym Leader speechless! This was one of our most crushing victories yet, and it felt so good to make it out without any casualties.

"Thanks for the match," I said, trying to be as humble as possible after the team's victory. "Sorry about the chunk taken out of your stadium."

Misty looked back up at me, then down at the crater we had left in the arena. "Oh, that?" she said nonchalantly. "That's nothing. Happens all the time. The crew around here will get it fixed in no time. That's what happens when you make a regulation stadium completely out of glass! In the meantime, though, I've got to present you with the Cascade Badge!" She jogged over to me and closed her hands around mine for a second before quickly letting go. I opened my closed fist to find a raindrop-shaped pin, our second badge of eight.

"Thanks," I said, giving her a silly grin. I couldn't help myself! I was just so happy that we had managed to get by that I'd probably be grinning like an idiot for the rest of the day.

"You're pretty tough!" Misty said, winking at me. "I'll be rooting for you!"

***

Before I knew it, we were out of the Gym and preparing ourselves to leave Cerulean City. I let the rest of the team out and told them of Caesar's incredible victory. They both were extremely elated to hear that he had done so well.

"I knew you had it in you, bro!" Raymundo congratulated, bumping sides with Caesar.

"Never doubted you for a second!" Bepis agreed. For a moment, Bepis had said something without stuttering! The rest of us looked at him, surprised. It seemed like he was finally gaining a little more confidence after his victory against Colin's Abra yesterday.

Caesar just blushed at their compliments. "Thanks, guys," he said timidly. He was always so damn modest, but that was probably for the best. Someone like Ray would've let the victory go to his head and would've started feeling invincible, but not Caesar. I think deep down he always knew to keep a level head about any situation.

"We still have a long way to go if we're going to make this team into the Champions I know we can all be," I reminded them. "Let's keep moving! Next stop, Vermilion City!" The team all voiced their agreement, so we walked down the road out of town and toward our next Gym battle.

Now, normally I would've been able to go through Saffron City on the way to Vermilion City, but this time the guards at the checkpoint stations were being difficult and saying that the road was closed, even though I could plainly see that it wasn't. Ray wanted to teach them a lesson, but Caesar talked some sense into him. Instead, we were forced to take the Underground Tunnel, which did save us a bit of time, but I would've liked to sightsee a bit in Saffron.

After getting through the tunnel, we found ourselves on Route 6. It was beautiful, a lovely plain stretching across the area with a river cutting through the center, but there wasn't much there that interested us at the time. We pushed through as quickly as possible.

While we walked through the field, I found myself getting lost in thought a bit. Ray had told me he was going to sleep on the decision to use the Moon Stone on him, so I had expected him to have an answer first thing in the morning before we even went in to fight Misty, but none of us had brought the subject up even once. I could tell he was still weighing the decision heavily in his mind, as he wasn't very talkative with Caesar. It made me wonder even more what was going through his mind, and why this was such a tough decision for him. I didn't think he would be so hesitant to get even stronger.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of walking, we reached Vermilion City. The view from the north side of town was breathtaking. It was everything I had ever expected from a port town. There were lovely stone pathways, seaside markets by the shore, a beach near the harbor, and we got to see it all from our vantage point.

"This place is awesome!" Ray shouted, a glint in his eye. "We're gonna stay here for a while, right bro?"

"We could probably stay for a few extra days," I told him. "We've made pretty good time so far, so I don't see anything wrong with relaxing for a bit."

"All right!" he said, grinning up a storm. "Beach vacation time, baby!" He seemed to be back to his normal self, but I couldn't stop myself from thinking that he was just trying to take his mind off things for a bit. I couldn't blame him. After the past few days, I was seriously in need of a short break, too.

"Why don't we check out the nearby cave and Route 11 today?" Caesar suggested. "We could maybe add to our team a bit, and also get some training in so we can relax for a few days before the Gym battle?"

I nodded. Leave it to Caesar to be the rational one out of the three of us. "That sounds reasonable to me," I agreed. "Let's get moving."

So, the three of us took off for Route 11. We passed the entrance to Diglett's Cave on our way there, which I made a mental note to go to once we had finished up here. Before us was another beautiful, grassy path which, while beautiful, was beginning to look like every other grassy path we had been through on our journey.

A new Route meant a new capture, which was something I honestly should have remembered when we walked through Route 6. Teammates were a bit of a hot commodity at this point in our journey, but I figured that we could get at least two new friends today. We made our way to the nearby tall grass and wandered around for a bit.

After a bit of careful searching, I was surprised by a Spearow that had come charging out of the bushes. It was set on ramming into me, but Ray was prepared, and tackled the bird out of the sky when it got a little too close. The tiny sparrow fell to the ground, clearly injured by the larger Pokemon taking it on.

"Oi!" it shouted at Ray, sporting a higher-pitched, female voice. "What'd you go and do that for?" It was funny, but I could've sworn in that moment that I felt the presence of Orwell. Maybe the whole, "oi" thing was just a common trend among bird Pokemon.

"You were going to attack my Trainer!" Ray shot back. He got ready to charge her again, but I stood in front of him and stopped him.

"Sorry if we startled you," I said, kneeling down to the same level as the Spearow. "Do you have a name?"

"A name?" she repeated, looking at me quizzically. "No, I guess not."

I sat there and thought about it for a few seconds before I spoke again. "Well, you're a Spearow, which makes me think of spears...I've got it! I think I'll call you Javelin!"

The bird gave me a confused expression for a second, but then her eyes lit up with joy. "Javelin!" she repeated. "I like it! It sounds tough!"

"Then it's settled," I chuckled. "From now on, I'm calling you Javelin. Now, how about you come with us?" I reached into my bag and slowly picked out an empty Poke Ball. It was a rather unorthodox method of capture, but Javelin looked happy as she pressed her beak to the button in the middle, allowing herself to be captured. To this day, I'll never understand her eagerness in wanting to get captured. She never really explained it to me when I talked to her. All she could tell me was that in the moment, she was just that excited to have a name that she didn't think about anything else.

The Poke Ball didn't even waste time shaking, so I threw it back out and let our new companion loose. "Welcome to the team, Javelin!" I said with a big smile, just happy to have a fresh face on the team after the horrible losses we had suffered a few days ago. I pointed to the other guys and introduced them. "The Ivysaur's name is Caesar, and the Nidorino that attacked you is called Raymundo. We've also got a Magikarp friend named Bepis, but he's in the Ball right now."

It seemed like this was a bit much to take in for Javelin at the moment. She looked dazed for a few seconds before shaking her head. "I'll learn all the names later, ok? What's this team thing all about, anyway?"

I sighed. This was going to be a long story.

***

The next few hours were spent on Route 11, fighting the local Trainers and getting Javelin caught up to speed on our adventures. She seemed apprehensive when I told her about Orwell and Hichan, but became more intrigued as I shared our daring tales of action in Cerulean City.

"-and then Caesar grabbed the Starmie with his Vine Whips and flipped it around and slammed it into the ground! It was so awesome!" I couldn't help but gush about that. Someone had to, after all, and Caesar was too modest for that kind of thing!

"Y'all sure have been through a lot, huh?" Javelin said in disbelief. "I'll admit, the stuff about those two that died was a little scary, but I suppose I've just gotta have faith in you, Mr. Trainer guy!"

I laughed. "Please, just call me Marshal." I couldn't really get a read on Javelin's personality yet, but hoped that she'd become a little more open with time.

While we talked, Caesar had just finished beating down a Gambler's Poliwag with his vines. "Marshal, I'm starting to get a bit tired," he said, panting. "Can we take a break soon?"
I was a bit concerned, but remembered that we still had something to take care of. "There's one more thing we have to do today," I reminded him. "Let's go to Diglett's Cave and get our next new friend!"

Caesar sighed. "Alright," he muttered, "but then we're going straight to the Pokemon Center, right?"

"Of course!" I assured him. "I just want to get this out of the way so we can enjoy the rest of our time around the city! Onward, team!" Caesar and Ray took their places at my side, and Javelin perched herself on my head. I later figured out that it was an instinctual thing for bird Pokemon to do with their Trainers, but when she did that I nearly broke down thinking about Orwell and what could have been.

***

Diglett's Cave was awful. It was incredibly dark and musty, and there was next to no light to speak of. Mt. Moon's lanterns felt like they were as bright as the sun compared to this place. The only real light came from the three lanterns haphazardly placed near the middle of the tunnel. We could see just enough to get around, but that was about it. Naturally, none of us wanted to spend any more time in there than was absolutely necessary, so I chucked out a few Poke Balls until one actually hit something and clicked. I rushed over to grab it, and scrambled up the ladder to the exit with the team in tow.

I panted heavily as I exited that terrible cave. With any luck, I'd never have to go back there. Now came the important task of checking out the new capture. I counted the filled Poke Balls around my belt, they now totaled five. Nearly up to a full team! This was starting to look more like an actual team, now! I grabbed the pile of Poke Balls and threw them all out at the same time. A brilliant flash of light summoned all five Pokemon at once. Caesar, Raymundo, Bepis, Javelin, and our newcomer, Diglett all stared back at me.
At first, I was worried that the Diglett would freak out and not understand what was going on, but he kept the same placid expression as I continued staring at him. "Um...hi," I said to him awkwardly. "You...got a name?"

"You can just call me the Gonz," he said, keeping his composure. I was nearly thrown off balance. How was this little mole so cool? Caesar, Bepis, and Ray both looked at the newcomer, each with a twinkle in their eyes, and Javelin just looked uninterested.

"Boys," she muttered under her breath.

"Ok...Gonz," I said, repeating his name to make sure I got it right. "Starting today, you're with us. Is that cool with you?"

"Yeah, ice cold," he said nonchalantly. "I guess you could say I'm really...seeing the light."

Javelin and I groaned, but Caesar and the other boys couldn't handle themselves. Raymundo grunted loudly. "He's so cool! Can we keep him, Marshal?"

"Of course," I answered. "He's got a vital role to play in the next Gym battle."

After the initial shock of Gonz's...interesting choice of words, Caesar looked over at the sun setting over the ocean. "Marshal, it's time to head back," he said sternly, as if he was my parent or something.

I was a little shocked to see that the sun had gotten as low in the sky as it had. I guess time really flew when you were meeting new friends! "My bad, Caesar," I apologized. "Let's get back into town for a good night's rest." So our crew of three was now five, and I hoped with all of my heart that it would stay that way for a little while.

The next few days were pretty uneventful. The team and I decided to take it easy for a while, so we took in all the sights that Vermilion City had to offer. The seaside market had a lot of cool stuff to eat for both people and Pokemon, so we spent a day eating like kings...or at least some very well-fed sailors.

We also spent part of the day relaxing on the beach. Bepis took off into the ocean and would come back every so often to relax. Javelin spent her time lazily flying around keeping track of the Magikarp. It seemed like she was very interested in taking care of the boys on the team, which was great. Keeping all of these idiots in line was enough to drive me crazy.

Raymundo and Gonz were off building sand castles and practicing their one-liners. Gonz was such a natural at it, and while it had felt a bit annoying to start, it was quickly growing on me. He had quite the personality. Raymundo was trying his best, but just couldn't nail the delivery like Gonz could.

Finally, Caesar was lying next to me underneath the umbrella we had rented. He seemed content to just be beside me, which I thought was super cute. He sure knew how to make me feel safe. I looked around the beach and noticed that there were tons of people out and about, but no Pokemon. On the entire beach, I was the only Trainer who had let their Pokemon out to enjoy the day at the beach.

"Why do you think nobody else lets their Pokemon out?" I whispered to Caesar. "It's such a beautiful day, I'd think someone would at least let their Rattata out or something."

"It's probably because the general attitude towards Pokemon around here isn't like your view of us," Caesar explained. "The Professor always lamented that fact to his colleagues. A lot of people from Kanto view us Pokemon as nothing more than tools for battle or profit. They don't know that we're all individuals with our own personalities and goals, just like them."

Well, that was a lot deeper than I was ready to expect. "Is it like that everywhere?" I wondered.

"Beats the hell outta me," he answered, "but I'm just glad that I got a Trainer that actually understands me, unlike that Colin kid. Poor Charmander..."

"Were you guys good friends in the Lab?" I asked. "It seems like you'd have to be."

"Not really," he admitted. "I had seen several Charmanders and Squirtles leave the Lab before you ever showed up. Doesn't mean I can't feel bad for him."

"I guess." Man, the political climate of Kanto seemed to even affect the Pokemon here. Something would have to change. I decided that continuing that line of questioning with Caesar was just going to bum us both out, so I dropped it and let us both relax on the beach for the rest of the day.

***

The next morning greeted me bright and early, which I had already planned for. I was planning to challenge the Gym the day after tomorrow, so I was going to dedicate today to training. I left the team in their Poke Balls and made my way to Route 11, where we'd be wrapping up our prep training for Lt. Surge's Gym.

The sun had barely risen when I summoned the team from their capsules. They all looked a little groggy, but that would wear off quickly. "Ok, team!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. "We've got a big day of training ahead of us, and I mean big! The Gym Challenge is in two days, and tomorrow we're going to a party on a cruise ship that's coming into town, so we have to get this all done today!"

Raymundo mumbled something unintelligible. Caesar stared at him, squinty-eyed from adjusting to the light of the rising sun, then looked back at me. "Yeah, I understood none of that," he told me, assuring that I wasn't the only one that was confused.

Javelin and Bepis woke up quickly, and seemed fired up. Unbeknownst to me at the time, Bepis had taken our time on the beach to go out and seek training from other Water types. Javelin kept track of him as he did so, which was a nice gesture from the newcomer. He looked a lot more confident, at the very least, and didn't flop around nervously like he used to.

Gonz just stared at me with his usual aloof expression. I felt like it was literally impossible to get a read on this guy. That cool guy persona had to be an act, somehow. I wondered if we would ever get to see a different side of Gonz, or if he was actually just like that all the time.

"Sure, it's a little early," I admitted, still a bit tired as well, "but we have a lot of work to do! Now, let's get cracking!"

***

The next few hours were exhausting for everyone involved. I kept track of everyone as they battled, and things seemed to be going well! Caesar and Ray had pulled pretty far ahead of the pack, and the others had made some good progress as well.

"Nice work, guys," I said, feeling a bit short of breath. Keeping up with the five of them was taxing on me, too! It seemed that I'd have to do some more training of my own to match up with the team. "We're almost done for the day."

"Marshal, I'm exhausted," Caesar panted. "We really should get back to town."

"I'm pretty beat, too," Ray added. "I'm not sure I can take another step!"

"Then you're ripe for the picking!" said an unfamiliar voice nearby. We were quickly set upon by a strange man in a black trench coat. He wore sunglasses and a black hat, as well, so there was no way to identify him. "Battle with me!"

I honestly did not expect it to go that way. Unfortunately, the team was in no position to be battling other Trainers. "I really need to get going," I said, trying to avoid eye contact. "My team has been working hard all day, and I need to give them a break."

"That sounds like it's not my problem," said the voice that was trying too hard to sound deep. Before I realized what was happening, he sent out two Pokemon, Ekans and Drowzee. "Now, go!" he shouted. The two Pokemon charged straight for Caesar and Raymundo, set to kill.

Time felt like it slowed down in that moment. The two of them were both extremely weak at the moment, so any attacks from these Pokemon would be enough to kill either of them. I couldn't move, my body was completely paralyzed. I could only watch as Caesar and Raymundo stared their deaths in the face.

Though, in that moment, a shining beacon of hope appeared. Of all the Pokemon to get up and stand in the way, Bepis flopped his way in front of Caesar and Raymundo. "Stay...away...from my family!" None of us had ever heard the Magikarp utter something with such conviction and force, and the reason for that became clear as Bepis was enveloped in a brilliant light. Everyone in the immediate vicinity shielded their eyes, and when the light finally died down, I looked around to find that Bepis was gone. In his place, however, was a giant, blue water dragon. Our little boy had finally reached his evolved form of Gyarados!

Bepis stared down upon the attacking Ekans and Drowzee with a glare that would've probably made Arceus shit itself. The two Pokemon immediately turned tail and ran, with their Trainer not far behind. Funnily enough, the disguise completely fell apart when they tried to run, revealing two Youngsters in a trench coat. The two were so terrified that they scrambled out of the disguise and left it on the ground as they disappeared into the distance.

Bepis turned around and looked at us. I was expecting to be more intimidated, but the rage that I had felt previously was gone. Instead, he looked like he was about to cry. "I-I-I can't believe I finally did it!" He looked so happy in that moment, and the rest of us were just as happy.

I think I spoke for everyone when I said, "We're all so proud of you." Bepis hadn't been the strongest team member, but he had worked extremely hard, and the payoff was insanely worth it. At this point, he'd probably be able to give Caesar and Raymundo a run for their money.

We took a moment to collect ourselves before Bepis finally came back around. "All right!" he shouted with his new, booming voice. "Let's get back to town! I'll take care of whatever comes our way!"

That moment was when Bepis went from a little fish that had to be protected to a terrifying force of nature and one of the strongest members of the team. He literally carried us all back to town, where we all took a well-deserved rest.

The strange gift that Bill had given me before ended up being a ticket to board the S.S. Anne for a party while it docked in Vermilion Harbor. I wasn't sure how I felt about a party like that, but he had given me the ticket and it seemed like a good way to enjoy our short vacation, so I boarded the ship. Unfortunately, the rest of the team was confined to their Poke Balls, since I wasn't allowed to have them roaming freely. It was probably for the best, so I didn't slip and actually talk to the team around other people.

On the other hand, this meant I actually had to show up and be sociable to people in public. That day was probably the greatest challenge of my Trainer career. Instead of getting stuck on the fiesta deck talking to people that I had never met, I decided to walk around the whole ship. A few of the guests were keeping themselves shut up in their cabins, which was a lifestyle I could really get behind. These guys were my kind of people!

However, a lot of them were Trainers, which usually meant that they wanted to fight. Using bigger Pokemon like Bepis was completely out of the question, so I let Javelin and Gonz in to get that last push so they could catch up with Caesar and the others.

The team was pretty quiet, which felt weird, but there were too many people around. Caesar kept making eye contact with me as if he wanted to say something, but stopped himself every time.

After checking all of the rooms and battling the occupants for some sweet loot, I made my way to the top deck, several floors above the party that was still taking place. To nobody's surprise, I found a bunch of Trainers battling in what appeared to be a small tournament. Nobody looked especially tough, but one face in the crowd made my nose scrunch up in annoyance. There, in the middle of winning a battle with his prized Charmeleon, was Colin.

Of course he was here. The grandson of Professor Oak always got to do stuff like this. The only reason I was even here was because Bill didn't feel like going, but he always seemed to have the world on a string compared to me.

"Colin Oak advances to the second round!" some lady on the other side of the deck screeched into a microphone. Next to her stood a man dressed in some gaudy sailor garb. I assumed that this guy was the Captain. He looked over all the surrounding Trainers and smiled a bit.

"Yeah!" Colin shrieked, pumping his fist as he returned Charmeleon to its Poke Ball. "I'll take every one of you on!" He seemed incredibly cocky, but at the end of the day that Charmeleon was probably his best Pokemon, and I was pretty confident that literally any member of my team could've taken it down with no issue at that point.

That was my cue to look cool. I gently shoved my way through the small crowd that had gathered and approached the little shit. "You sure about that, short stack?" I asked. "You remember how last time went, don't you?"

Colin looked shocked for a moment. "M-Marshal? How did you even get here? You couldn't have been invited!"

I picked my ticket from my pocket and waved it in front of his face. "Think again, pal! I made pretty good friends with that Bill guy, apparently."

I looked over at the Captain and the announcer. "Hey, is it too late to enter?" I asked.

The two of them looked at me in disbelief. After a split second of deliberation between the two of them, the lady in the ridiculously gaudy dress spoke up. "Well, we're still in the first round, and we're sitting at an odd number right now, so if you want to join that'd be great!"

I grinned, knowing how this would end before it even began. "I'll do it." I walked up to the desk and gave them my info, and just like that I was in the tournament. I sat on the sidelines and waited for my turn, occasionally stealing glances at Colin, who looked like he was getting more and more nervous by the second.

***

A few hours later, the tournament had progressed to its final stages. The contestants, aside from me, Colin, and some blonde guy who looked familiar to me, were all random sailors they had thrown into the game and a few of the kids of some of the parents that were here. None of the opponents that I faced were difficult to beat, and Colin had advanced to the semifinals. If Colin could beat these guys, I could definitely beat them, too!

The time came for the two of us to finally have our battle. Colin had a smug expression on his face, but it still didn't intimidate me. After all, I had embarrassed this kid in Cerulean City just a couple days ago, and the team was way stronger than that battle!

"All right, it's the second match of the semifinals!" the announcer lady said, starting to lose energy from commentating all day. "We've got our latecomer, Marshal, versus the favorite thus far, Colin Oak!"

The crowd, which had been smaller when I arrived, was now comprised of about half the occupants of the ship. They were going nuts as the two of us took our place on the arena floor.

"You ready to get destroyed again?" I shouted over to Colin, trying to intimidate him. "Look out, my Magikarp might take out more than just your Abra this time!"

If I could see all the way over to Colin, I'd imagine veins popping out on his forehead. "Things are going to be way different this time, loser!" He got a Poke Ball ready, and I did the same. This was a double-blind pick, meaning that neither of us would know what the other was sending out.

"Semi-final match, begin!"

The lady's words caught us both off-guard. Nerves were definitely getting to us, but we sent out our Pokemon and allowed the battle to begin. Colin started off with his Pidgeotto, and I led with Raymundo. I made a mental note that he had actually started with Pidgeotto in our last fight, as well, and saved that for future reference.

"Quick Attack!" Colin ordered, wasting no time. The bird shot through the air at a ridiculous speed, charging straight at Ray. I was still trying to formulate a plan, so I wasn't able to give him an order in time, and he got tackled.

"Ray, use Body Slam!" I shouted, having him use his new move that I had taught to him using a TM we found on the ship. Pidgeotto was stopped right in front of Raymundo and couldn't get it out of the way of the Nidorino's heavy body slamming right into him. I could see the sneer on Ray's face as he relaxed himself on top of the poor creature, not allowing it to move. Pidgeotto struggled, trying to lift off with his powerful wings, but Ray was just too heavy.

"Now, Horn Attack!" I shouted, hoping to end this as quickly as possible. Raymundo instantly complied, probably because he was already planning to do that. He brought his head down horn-first on the grounded bird, damaging it enough to finish it off.

"Pidgeotto is unable to battle!" the announcer announced. "Nidorino wins! What a great maneuver by Marshal North!" The crowd erupted with cheers as Colin put his Pokemon back in the Ball.

"This isn't over by a long shot!" Colin spat, forcefully grabbing another Poke Ball. "Kadabra!" Out popped the evolved Psychic Pokemon after a flash of light. I quickly returned Ray to his Poke Ball, not wanting to deal with that at all.

"Go, Javelin!" I called out, sending out a bird of my own. She wasn't as strong as the boys of the team, but she was still more than capable of taking care of business here. The Spearow came out of the Poke Ball, already soaring in the air straight for Kadabra.

"Teleport!" Colin ordered. Before Javelin could close in, Kadabra disappeared from sight and behind Javelin.

"Behind you!" I cried with worry, but I had no reason to fear. Before I could even get another word in, Javelin had already whipped around and slammed her tiny body into Kadabra at full force. She had managed to predict where the opponent was going before I even registered what was going on! Sometimes I wondered if I was really needed in the whole equation with teammates as smart as these guys.

"Confusion!" screamed the obnoxious boy. "Get her!" Kadabra pointed its spoon at Javelin and began to glow with a blue outline. Javelin was immediately stopped in her tracks and lifted into the air. I was starting to get extremely concerned. I had always heard that Psychic Pokemon were incredibly powerful, but this was starting to get concerning. What could you do against an opponent that was able to stop you in your tracks with no effort?

"Javelin!" I cracked, words getting caught up in my throat. I couldn't lose another bird so soon. Javelin opened one eye through the pain and made eye contact with me. She closed her eye and looked to be concentrating. After a moment, her whole body trembled. While still under the effects of Confusion, her entire body began to glow with a brilliant light. The entire crowd was forced to cover their eyes for a moment, but when it all faded away, they saw that Javelin had nearly tripled in size and wingspan. Her beak was also much longer, her wings were now the same shade of brown as her body, and she had gained a beautiful crown of red feathers on her head. Javelin was now a Fearow.

Through what could only be explained as sheer force of will, Javelin broke through the powerful attack and streaked through the air, slamming into Kadabra with her powerful beak once more and knocking it out. Everyone was dumbfounded, myself included. Breaking out of a Psychic-type Pokemon's attack meant that you had a stronger will and mental fortitude than the attacker itself. Javelin's desire to keep me from freaking out allowed her not only to break through a Confusion, but also evolve!

"Kadabra was unable to battle!" the announcer said, her energy suddenly back. "Fearow takes it!"

I cheered as Javelin made her way back over to me and attempted to perch on my head. It was a little more difficult, now that she was so much bigger, but I was sure we could make it work. "You did great," I whispered to her. "Congratulations on evolving!"

"Thanks!" she whispered back, bringing her neck down and letting me scratch her. I took out a Poke Ball and returned her.

Colin was starting to get visibly upset. His precious Psychic-type had failed him twice in a row, now. Without a word, he sent out his Charmeleon, the strongest Pokemon he currently owned.

I smirked and grabbed Bepis' Poke Ball, answering Colin's silence with my own. The giant Gyarados popped out, giving a ferocious roar that startled everyone, myself included. I still wasn't used to my cute little fish being a gigantic dragon monster.

"Let's wrap this fast!" I suggested to Bepis, who looked extremely excited to be out of the Ball and seeing some action. He had really blossomed since evolving! "Use Dragon Rage!" Bepis opened his mouth wide, and a huge ball of purple energy formed. Before Charmeleon even had a chance to counter or dodge, the ball of energy screamed straight at it, exploding upon contact.

Colin's starter wasn't out of it, though. "Scratch!" the Trainer squeaked out, but it was clear that Charmeleon was already in the process of doing that as he shot through the smoke cloud and slashed at Bepis with its sharp claws. It almost seemed like he didn't feel the need to listen to Colin. However, the attack didn't do much to Bepis, who simply shrugged it off and flopped onto the Fire-type, crushing him and knocking him out.

"Charmeleon is unable to battle!" the announcer said, still recovering from the previous fight. "Gyarados wins! Colin Oak is on his last Pokemon, and it seems that Marshal's team is relatively untouched! What will he do?"

Colin glared at the lady, showing a small sign of immaturity. He returned Charmeleon to its Poke Ball and immediately threw out his last Pokemon, Raticate. It seemed his team was growing pretty quickly, too.

I made the decision to keep Bepis in, since he was clearly itching for a fight. He wasn't used to being the more powerful Pokemon in any situation, so this was a great confidence builder for him. I could tell he was full of nervous energy, but most of it was excitement.

"Hyper Fang!" Colin ordered quickly. Raticate was extremely fast, bounding over to Bepis and sinking its huge fangs into the dragon. Bepis roared in pain, which worried me. He was plenty strong; I couldn't believe that one attack from a Raticate would be able to hurt him like that.

"Bite!" I retorted nervously. If they wanted to play that game, we certainly would! Bepis coiled his way around Raticate, trapping it, then sunk his head in and chomped down.

The next moments will forever be burned into my mind. It felt like time had slowed to a crawl. A horrifying crunch sound reverberated through the deck, causing the whole crowd to gasp. Bepis reflexively uncoiled himself at the noise to reveal Colin's Raticate lying on the ground. Its feet were twitching reflexively, and a scarf of blood had appeared around its neck.

My vision tunneled, something that felt familiar to me. I looked over at Bepis, who looked just as mortified as anyone else on the deck, and then I looked over at Colin. I don't think he had even registered what was going on yet. His eyes were incredibly wide with shock, and his mouth started to slowly open to scream. "Raticate!" he cried. "Raticate, get up!"

The announcer didn't even know how to call this one. "R-raticate is...unable to battle. Bepis wins. The victory goes to...Marshal."

The crowd, which would typically have gone crazy at this point, was totally silent. Nobody knew what to do. Colin kept trying to return Raticate to its Poke Ball, but it didn't work. Poke Balls weren't made to hold corpses. Just like it had with Orwell and Hichan, the button on the Ball cracked after a few final attempts, making it completely useless.

Bepis turned around and looked at me, unsure of what to do. "Put me in the Ball," he said, quickly and quietly.

"W-what?" I stammered.

"PUT ME IN THE BALL, MARSHAL!"

I jumped in fear and brought the Poke Ball up to return Bepis. He was quickly gone in a flash of red light.

After an uncomfortable amount of time, the Captain took the mic from the announcer finally spoke up. "Everyone, this tournament is over," he announced with a gruff tone in his voice. "At this time, I'd like everyone to leave the deck and go back downstairs. If you aren't staying with us for the voyage, you need to disembark immediately."

***

A little while later, I was watching the S.S. Anne sail off into the horizon. The sunset gave everything a tint befitting the name of the city. I was still completely numb; still processing what had happened during the match with Colin. I knew Bepis had gotten stronger, and the team as a whole was so happy for him, but his eagerness to prove his worth on the team had gotten the better of him. He got carried away, and now Colin's Raticate was dead.

I was no stranger to death at this point in the journey, but I had never been on the opposite end. Did people actually get enjoyment out of this? The very thought made me sick to my stomach. I never wanted to do that to another person's Pokemon again.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Colin staring down the beach at the departing ship. I walked over to him. "Hey, man, I-"

"Go away."

None of the typical smugness could be found in his tone. It was cold, dripping with hatred.

"Colin, I didn't mean to-" I went to put my hand on his shoulder, but I was met with a punch straight to the face. It wasn't that strong, but it still caught me off-guard and knocked me on my ass.

"Leave me alone!" he shouted. "You're a murderer! You and your freaky Gyarados!" He wasted no time in running off, leaving me stunned on the beach with my butt in the sand. There were so many things I could've said then, maybe brought him back down to Earth, but his image of the world was being shattered so quickly at a young age that I'm sure he needed a lot of time to come to terms with what had happened. With a heaviness in my heart, I slowly got up and headed back to the Pokemon Center. Tomorrow was my Gym Battle, and I would have to find some way to get my composure back.

I wasn't sure where I was. The scenery surrounding me was blurry and didn't adhere to any particular form. The only thing that was clear as day was Bepis towering in front of me, an awful look on his face. "Why did you rush me?" he asked, but his voice was heavily distorted.

"I didn't mean to-" I started to say, but I couldn't bring myself to say anything. Bepis had worked hard to get where he was, but now that he was so strong, he didn't know what to do with himself. That had to be awful, and I couldn't bear to think about what he was going through while he trapped himself in his Poke Ball.

"I just wanted you to be...proud," he said, his voice breaking and distorting. Everything went black in that moment, but a few seconds later, Bepis' giant mouth came up and swallowed me.

***

I awoke with a scream. I jumped out of the bed and looked around, finding myself still safe in the Vermilion City Pokemon Center. My heart was racing and my breaths felt labored as I opened the window. The sun was just starting to rise.

So, it was coming to nightmares now. I knew the path to becoming a Champion wasn't easy, but this really was starting to get tough. I gathered my things and walked out the door without even sending any of the team out from their Poke Balls.

I finally checked out of the Pokemon Center after several days. After today's Gym Battle, I couldn't get out of this city fast enough. As I walked out through the revolving door, I took a moment to appreciate the breathtaking morning view of the city. It seemed like nobody was outside yet, so it was quiet and peaceful. The market was totally empty, and the beach was completely clear. The S.S. Anne was nowhere to be seen, which was fine by me. I wanted to shove the memories of that ship all the way back to the deepest corner of my mind, never to be seen again.

With a yawn and a sigh for good measure, I made the quiet trek to the Gym.

***

Vermilion City was beautiful, truly it was. The Vermilion Gym, however, was not. It was...rather gaudy, to say the least. The building itself was a bright blue, with weird lightning bolt patterns streaking across the walls. It looked so out of place compared to the rest of the city.

I took a deep breath, and grabbed the team's Poke Balls out of my Bag. After kind of...dumping them out on the ground, the whole team came out. Well, almost all of the team. Bepis' Poke Ball didn't activate. He must have been having it really rough.

Caesar, Ray, Javelin, and Gonz all shook themselves awake and looked up at me. Caesar, ever observant, looked around and didn't see Bepis. "Where's Bepis?" he asked immediately.

I looked down at the ground, avoiding eye contact with the rest of the team. I tried to speak up, but words failed me. The expressions on the team changed from confusion to shock.

"No way," Raymundo said quietly. "There's no way Bepis is...dead?"

"No...he's not dead," I confirmed slowly as I walked over and picked his Poke Ball up. "He's just...taking some time to process."

"Process what?" Javelin asked, as if she knew I was purposefully keeping something from them.

I couldn't deal with this right now. I was barely keeping up enough energy to strategize for the Gym Battle. "We'll talk about this later. Right now, I want to talk about our strategy for this fight. This guy apparently uses Electric-types, so Javelin and Bepis are on the bench. Caesar, Raymundo, you're going to act as backup. Gonz, you're taking the main stage. Electric types can't touch you, after all. You up to this?"

Gonz looked at the team, and then back to me. He looked to be thinking for a moment before he said. "I guess we're going to give them...a real shock."

We all stood in silence before laughing like a bunch of madmen. Even Javelin had a smile on her beak, as weird as that sounds. With that out of the way, we all walked inside.

The inside of the Gym was just as out of place as the inside. It literally looked like it was still under construction. Other than the regulation arena, which was pristine, the surroundings looked like the inside of a garage or workshop.

On the other side of the arena, a familiar figure awaited me. The blonde guy that had made it to the finals of the tournament on the ship yesterday was none other than Lt. Surge, the Gym Leader. He towered over me, his intimidating presence already making me nervous. Adding to this, he was pretty ripped, which is green tank top made obvious.

"Ah, it's you," he said calmly. "The kid from the tournament with the ridiculously strong Gyarados."

"That's...me," I confirmed. This guy probably had a terrible opinion of me after what I had done to Colin's Raticate last night.

"Don't beat yourself up about what happened," he said, throwing me off guard. "These things tend to happen in this line of work. I've seen more than enough of that in my day. Things were a lot rougher in the war."

The...war? I didn't remember anything about a war. This guy looked too young to have participated in a war since I had been alive. "Can we just get this done?" I asked. "I'd kind of like to be out of here as soon as possible."

Lt. Surge sighed. "Have it your way, kid." Without another word, he threw out a Poke Ball, revealing another Poke Ball. A quick check of the Pokedex told me that it was actually Voltorb, an Electric-type Pokemon.

"Go on, Gonz!" I called, pointing forward. The Diglett came out quickly, already lodged in the ground. Lt. Surge didn't look worried in the slightest.

"Go for it, Gonz!" I ordered. Knowing what to do immediately, Gonz burrowed under the floor.

Voltorb rolled around a bunch, but didn't know where to go or what to do. Lt. Surge seemed similarly lost. I don't think he expected us to act so quickly. After a few seconds, I could hear Gonz yelling something as he began to emerge from the ground. "Can...you...DIG IT?!" the mole shouted as he popped into view underneath Voltorb. The ball-shaped creature went flying out of the arena and slammed into the nearby wall.

I nearly screamed with excitement. Caesar, Ray, and even Javelin whooped rowdily. Gonz always made everything seem so much cooler with those fun little quips of his. Even though the first battle of the match was over so quickly, it felt more...exhilarating.

"Not bad, kid," Surge admitted, "but kids like you come in with those stupid little moles all the time. If you think I don't have a way around them, you're terribly mistaken. Magnemite!" The good lieutenant's second Pokemon, a strange looking ball with screws and magnets sticking out of it, floated out over the field. This created a bit of a problem for Gonz, since he wouldn't be able to attack a floating opponent. Still, I was sure that I could come up with something. Magnemite wouldn't be able to do much to harm him, anyway.

While I was lost in strategizing, Surge wasted no time. "Sonic Boom!" In an instant, Magnemite spun its magnets at amazing speeds, causing a burst of wind to shoot straight for Gonz. The little guy wasn't able to get out of the way in time, and took the force of the attack head-on.

"Hey, chief, I'm not sure how many of those I can take," he said to me, his voice showing the slightest hint of wavering. "You have a plan yet?"

I snapped back to reality, my plan in place. "I think I've got it!" I confirmed. "Use Sand Attack!" Gonz was quick to act, tunneling around at high speeds and kicking up clouds of dust all over the place. A few seconds passed, then my plan finally came together. The dust of the arena floor interfered with Magnemite's ability to float, and it fell to the ground.

"No way!" Surge shouted.

"Now, finish it up with Dig!" Gonz was quick to act, and popped up underneath Magnemite and finished it with a single, decisive blow. That was two Pokemon down, and just one more left!

Lt. Surge returned the Magnemite to its Poke Ball and sighed. "That was pretty resourceful. The floor of this arena is made with some special materials that increase the polarity of magnets. It normally helps Magnemite float around faster, but throwing it around the air like that scrambled the poor thing. Very smart, kid!"

"Thanks!" I said, smiling a bit. This was Gonz's big debut, and the two of us were doing so well! Though, he seemed to be unusually quiet. He had a pretty good one-liner earlier, but it felt like something was up. He was probably trying to focus.

"This is my last Pokemon," he stated. "Not many kids get past this one! Come on out, Raichu!" Surge chucked the Ball with full-force, summoning the evolved form of Pikachu. Compared to Gonz, this one was larger than life.

"Marshal," Caesar said quietly, "I think Gonz might be in a bit of trouble, here." He was right, but I wasn't sure what else to do. This Raichu couldn't have had many moves that could do much to Gonz, anyway, so I decided to pass it off.

"Gonz, you still good?" I asked.

"I think I can carry on," Gonz confirmed. "I'm not fried, yet!" Jokes aside, this fight would decide everything.

"Dig!" I ordered. "Get the drop on him!" Gonz was under the ground before I even finished talking.

"Get ready, Raichu!" Surge cautioned. Raichu took a fighting stance and waited for Gonz.

"What are they doing?" Raymundo wondered. "They can't have any moves to finish this off!"

We would be shown how wrong we were the instant Gonz started to pop out of the ground. "Now, Mega Punch!" Raichu backed up slightly as Gonz started to pop up, and the mouse's fist began to glow white. The team could only watch as Gonz was forced back into the ground by a powerful fist. I could swear I saw the poor guy squish like an accordion in his final moments.

A moment passed. Then another. "...Gonz?"

There was no answer. No clever one-liner. Just like that, in an instant, it was all over for Gonz. I quickly fumbled around for his Poke Ball, but when I finally got it in my hand, I saw the crack on the button.

The team looked on, shocked. Caesar and Javelin were totally stunned and couldn't even speak, much less move. However, Raymundo stepped forward. He told me later that he didn't even realize what he was doing until after the fact; his body just started moving on its own.

"Marshal, the stone."

I was still trying to process the fact that Gonz was dead when Raymundo's words snapped me back to attention. "Wh-what?"

"The Moon Stone, Marshal! Give it to me, now!"

"Oh, r-right." I rifled through the Bag quickly and found the rough, black stone. Surge looked on with curiosity as I threw the stone out to Ray. The Nidorino sighed and looked down at it for a moment before closing his eyes and stomping on the stone, breaking it. I wasn't sure what that would do, but it apparently managed to trigger Raymundo's evolution. The familiar light flooded the arena as I watched my first captured teammate morph into his final form.

Once it was over, Ray was standing on two legs, and now was twice the size of Raichu, and probably came up to my shoulders. He also looked pretty bulky, which was good. Strong and durable was what we needed at this point. The transformation had barely finished before Ray was charging straight at Raichu. I could feel the ground shake when he ran.

"Thunderbolt!" Surge shouted out in a desperate attempt to keep the Nidoking at bay. Unfortunately, he had miscalculated. As Raichu shot lighting from its whole body, the attack had no effect on Raymundo, who now sported a Ground typing. His charge didn't let up, and before I even had a chance to utter a move, Ray grabbed Raichu with his giant arms. He slammed the poor mouse to the ground and gave it a quick Body Slam, ending the fight instantly.

Everything had happened so fast that I still wasn't entirely sure what had happened. There was no way Gonz could have died that quickly! He didn't even get to say a cool one-liner before he died. I was still so shocked that I didn't noticed Raymundo come back over to me.

"Hey, bro," he said, quietly. "You alright?"

I snapped back to reality again, having lost my focus for a second time. "I'm...not sure," I admitted, but then another thought came to me. "You...evolved," I said, stating the obvious. "That's a good look for you!"

"We'll talk about this later," he said, clearly not happy with something.

Everything felt like it was going wrong again. First, Bepis had decided to quarantine himself in his Poke Ball, and now Gonz was killed in a battle that should've been so easy for us. I felt like I had barely gotten to spend any time with him before he was so quickly taken away.

Lt. Surge came up to me, star-shaped Thunder Badge in hand. "That was quite a match," he admitted. "I'm sorry for your loss, kid. You seem to know the drill though. This is the life we both chose, you and me."

The team looked at me, expecting some sort of response, but instead I just accepted the Badge and turned to leave. What else was there to say?

***

The rest of the Gym staff had assured me that they would take care of Gonz's remains and bury them near the cave he was found in. I figured it was for the best. I couldn't bear to see him beaten down like he had been.

It was early afternoon as I made my way out of Vermilion City. Caesar, Javelin, and Raymundo were close behind. We were told that the gate past Route 11 was being blocked by a sleeping Snorlax, so we had to make a huge detour to get to our next destination.

After a long period of deafening silence, I couldn't take it anymore and turned to Ray. "Something's been bothering me," I told him. "Why were you so hesitant to use the Moon Stone before? You always struck me as the type who wanted to be constantly improving."

Raymundo sighed. "On Route 22, where you found me, there is a big clan of Nidoran, both male and female. At any given time, there only exists one Nidoking and Nidoqueen. These two watch over all the younger members and protect them. For some reason, I thought that using the Stone would be a disgrace to my people. To my culture."

That was a good enough reason for me. "But then, why did you do it?" I pressed.

"I realized that even though Route 22 is my home, you guys are my family now," he said. Those words sounded familiar to me, because I remembered Bepis saying something similar to that just a few days ago.

"I see," I said, looking down at the ground. "I never knew."

"Well, now that we're being honest with each other," Caesar said, changing the subject, "can you finally tell us what the hell is going on with Bepis?"

"It's not my story to tell," I said firmly. "When he decides he's ready to come back out, he'll tell you all himself. For now, we're going back to Cerulean City." With morale at a low point, we left Vermilion City worse off than when we came.

Quote from: mikey on October 31, 2019, 06:07:04 PMhonestly dude, you're a good writer, hope you know that

Thanks man :) means a lot to hear that. The first 13 updates are from two years ago, and I like to think I've even improved a bit since then. We'll see how things shake out.

Quote from: BlackDragonSlayer on October 31, 2019, 09:07:44 PMWOO! Happy birthday and welcome back! It's always great to have another writer around.

Good to be back! I'm probably gonna stick around this story telling board, mostly. I just wanted to share this story in another place.

The trip back up north to Cerulean felt much quicker this time. I was mostly in a hurry to get as far away from Vermilion City as possible, but it also didn't help that the team had been unnaturally quiet. Javelin was still shocked at the death of Gonz, which was understandable. She flew alongside the group at a distance, not making eye contact with any of us. The rest of us were starting to get used to this kind of thing happening, which didn't give me any comfort, but this was her first time dealing with something like this. It couldn't have been easy.

Caesar was still visibly upset that I didn't tell him what was going on with Bepis, but I couldn't bring myself to tell them about it. Bepis' Poke Ball had been totally unresponsive to throwing, which I didn't even think was possible. Since I refused to share Bepis' incident with Caesar, he remained silent.

Raymundo was similarly silent, but he didn't seem upset. Ever since he evolved, he continued to check himself out. I supposed suddenly becoming twice your normal size and bipedal would do that to a Pokemon, but there seemed to be something more to it. He seemed worried. I remembered what he had said about his clan back on Route 22. I wondered what it would mean for him if we ever went back.

I kept hoping that Gonz would pop up out of the ground, shout some ridiculous one-liner, and make everything okay, but as we came out of the Underground Tunnel and continued our trek through Cerulean City, it became increasingly apparent that good times would be far off.

***

We got back to Cerulean City, and I realized that I hadn't caught anything up on Route 24. I had the team stay behind at the Pokemon Center while I walked up the Nugget Bridge, which probably wasn't smart, but I needed some time to clear my head. I was also going to try to coax Bepis out of his Poke Ball while the rest of them were resting.

There was a small patch of grass near the other side of the bridge, which meant that some Pokemon weren't far off. Before I went in, though, I stopped at the edge of the water surrounding the bridge and threw Bepis' Poke Ball out. "Come on out, buddy," I said as calmly as I could. The Poke Ball sank in the water and then bobbed back up after a few seconds, unopened.

I sighed. I hoped it wouldn't be like this for very long. "The rest of them are gone," I told him. "Please, I just want to talk to you."

After a few more quiet seconds, the ball opened, and Bepis stretched his giant body across the small river. He looked at me with sad eyes, something that I thought would be impossible for a Gyarados to do. "What do you want?" he asked. From the tone of his voice, it sounded like he had been crying.

"I just wanted to see if you were doing okay," I assured him. "I know the other day was hard on you. It was hard on me, too.

The giant water fish refused to make eye contact with me. "I didn't mean to kill him," he said softly.

"I know," I confirmed. "It's not like I'm mad at you or anything."

He finally looked at me, tears welling up in his eyes. "You're...not?"

"Of course not," I said, holding my hand out. "You just weren't really aware of your own strength. That was your first real fight after evolving, so the sudden increase in power would've thrown anyone off.

Bepis finally burst into tears and lunged at me. "I'm so sorry!" he blubbered. I brought my hand out to pet my dragon fish and let him cry it out for a few minutes.

After a little bit, we stepped back to look at each other. No matter how much Bepis had changed, he was still the same, lovable little guy I had met on Route 4. Sure, he was a little bigger now, and a lot scarier, but he couldn't help that. "So, are you okay to join back up with the team?"

He took a moment to think, then looked at me. "I'm not sure yet," he answered. "I don't feel like I'd be able to explain myself to them if they asked." It was a valid point. Caesar wouldn't stop grilling me about it for some reason, and Arceus only knew what would happen if Bepis was actually out with them. The questioning would be non-stop.

I sighed. "I suppose you're right. Do you want me to talk to the team for you?" I had kept it from them because it was Bepis' story to tell, but if he didn't want to be bothered by it I could step in and mediate.

"That's up to you," he said. "I'm just not sure what they'll think of me if they found out."

"Bepis, that's ridiculous," I said sternly. "We're a family, like you said. We'll always be there for each other."

Bepis looked like he was about to cry again, but then his attention was taken by something else. "Hey, Marshal, look over there!" I followed his gaze to a nearby tree where a lone Abra was fast asleep. This was my first encounter on the Route, and I wasn't about to let it go to waste! I took an empty Poke Ball out of my Bag and lined up the throw. It was a bit of a distance, but nothing that I couldn't manage...or so I thought. I chucked the Ball with all my might, but it fell on the ground in front of the Abra with a thud. I was about to start yelling and cursing up a storm until I noticed the Abra's tail flicking around in its sleep. It accidentally hit the button on the Poke Ball and was captured instantly. Bepis and I stared back at each other, not sure what to make of what had just happened.

"Well," I shrugged, "it's not my best work, but it'll do."

"Doesn't Colin have one of those?" Bepis reminded me. "It'd be weird to just start copying his team."

Bepis was right, but the chance at a Psychic-type Pokemon was so rare that I couldn't just pass it up. "We're keeping him," I declared. "If we don't find any other good teammates on the way to the next town, he'll stay on the team."

With that out of the way, I walked over and picked up the Abra's Poke Ball while deciding on a name. "I think I'll go with...Kai."

I returned to Bepis, who was looking down at the ground. "So, if you don't mind, I'd like to go back into my Poke Ball for a little bit."

"I understand," I said, smiling a bit. "I'll talk to them before we get to the Rock Tunnel." With a sigh, I took Bepis' Poke Ball and returned him to it. With a new capture, and some alone time with my fish, I felt a little better and walked back to the Pokemon Center, hoping to get the team's spirits back up.

***

Since the world was on an amazing run of messing with my plans, our path to the next town was a ridiculous detour. Due to the sleeping Snorlax east of Vermilion City, we had to go all the way back to Cerulean City and east on Route 9. That would take us to the Rock Tunnel, which sounded awful.

Route 9 itself wasn't much to look at. According to the locals, there was an abandoned power plant to the southeast that had created a lot of industrial waste, causing mass erosion and killing most of the plant life. The Route had essentially become badlands, which was at the very least a change of scenery compared to the grassy fields and forests of previous areas. The harsher environment was pretty good for training, so the team put themselves together and got some battling done. It didn't feel like we were making any progress. Raymundo was already plenty strong, Javelin didn't really do much, and Caesar looked like his heart wasn't in it.

Remembering what Bepis had said to me, I decided that waiting to tell them was only making morale worse. "Bring it in, guys," I called out. The team slowly made their way back to me, almost dragging their feet. I sighed. "So, while you guys were getting some rest at the Pokemon Center, I went out and got us another teammate. He's an Abra, so he's asleep right now, but I'm hoping to introduce him to you later." The team didn't really seem to be paying attention, so I quickly moved on. "I also got to talk to Bepis for a bit."

The mere mention of his name was enough to perk Caesar up. Javelin's eyes widened, and Raymundo folded his arms. "Well?" Caesar asked. "Is he okay?"

"He's doing better, yes," I confirmed. "He told me to tell you what happened the other day." So I explained to the team what had happened. How Bepis had accidentally killed Colin's Raticate. I spared no detail, I laid it on thick. I had to know if their commitment to the team was absolute.

After I had finished my all-too-detailed explanation, the three of them just stared at me in disbelief. "Are you serious?" Caesar asked me, as if he couldn't believe what he had heard.

"Unfortunately, I am," I assured him. "That's why we didn't finish the tournament, remember? They closed off the top deck to clean up the mess."

Javelin looked like she was going to be sick, but kept her composure the best she could. "And Bepis...did that by himself?"

I nodded solemnly. "He regrets it immensely. He wasn't used to his new power."

Raymundo nodded. "I know how he felt. When I was fighting that Raichu, I had to hold back so I didn't kill it. Going straight into battle after evolving is just a recipe for disaster."

Now that they had some perspective on the matter, I had to ask the all-important question. "Bepis wanted me to ask you guys if...you thought any less of him because of this." The looks that I got from the three of them told me everything I needed to know. With a smile, I took his Poke Ball back out and threw it high into the air. For once, the response was immediate. In an instant, Bepis appeared, floating around in all of his majesty.

"I told them," I told him.

He looked back at me, shocked, and then looked back at the rest of the team. The wind grew more intense for a moment as everyone stared each other down. Once it died down, though, Raymundo was the first to show his feelings. He clambered over to Bepis and wrapped his arms around him the best he could. It looked a little silly, but the gesture wasn't lost on any of us. Bepis stopped floating and crashed to the ground, sobbing. Caesar, Javelin, and I piled on, leaving the whole team in a dogpile of emotions and tears. We had gained so much together, but had lost all the same. The five of us finally had a chance to mourn for Gonz, but in that moment, we had become closer than we had ever been before. I knew that with all my heart I would have to do whatever I could to keep these guys with me. If I managed to lose even one of them, I don't think I could've continued.

***

After our little crying session, we decided to double down on training. The entire team was raring to go, and took off after each other with reckless abandon. Caesar and Javelin were having a tough time keeping up with Raymundo and Bepis, so after a while I had them sit out. Raymundo had managed to gain control of his evolved form relatively quickly, but Bepis was still struggling because the surge in power had been so great.

Bepis lunged at Ray, fangs open wide, but Ray managed to stop him by grabbing the sides of his mouth with his arms. The two of them skidded across the badlands and finally came to a stop after Ray managed to dig in his heels. The two of them had gotten much too strong for their surroundings, or so it seemed. Satisfied, I called them both back and had us continue on our way.

Eventually, we reached the easternmost edge of Route 9, which was right on the edge of the ocean. The view was incredible. You could see nothing but water for miles. The five of us stopped to appreciate how far we had come before finally spotting the Pokemon Center a little way down the trail.

"Finally!" I shouted, getting sick of walking. "Let's stop there for the night!" The team cheered, and I led them all into the Pokemon Center, where we got our first decent night's rest in a long time.

I woke up early the next morning, which felt unusual. I had been so used to sleepless nights that I didn't know what to do with myself now that I felt so rested. I slowly sat up at the edge of the bed and looked around. Caesar was the only one that was able to be out of his Poke Ball anymore, since the rest of the team was getting too big. It made me a little sad to think that the team would have to be cooped up in their Poke Balls more often, but it was a necessary evil.

I went ahead and checked out, and prepared for my expedition through the Rock Tunnel. I was told by some of the locals that the lanterns in the tunnel were mostly out, so visibility was extremely limited. Hopefully this wouldn't turn into an all-day trip.

Once I checked out and headed outside, I called Raymundo and Javelin out to join Caesar and me. I would've let Bepis out, but he wouldn't be able to fit into the cave entrance. Kai also apparently liked to spend his time awake while the rest of us were sleeping, so he was out of commission for the day.

"Okay, guys," I said, starting a quick briefing before we went spelunking. "Visibility here is going to be extremely limited, so I'm going to need constant communication from each of you if we're going to make our way through there."

Caesar was quick to chime in. "Wouldn't it make more sense to bring something that can light up the path instead of stumbling around in the dark?"

"Yeah, normally I'd agree," I assured him, "but I don't want to disturb any of the wild Pokemon in the caves. I don't know how long we're going to be stuck in there, and the last thing we need is for someone to get stuck in a bad situation." My reasoning was apparently sound enough for Caesar, as he nodded and looked down at the ground. Seeing no further objections from the other two, I led the team into the pitch-black cave.

***

After about an hour of stumbling around through total darkness, I had finally come to the conclusion that maybe waiting for the roadblocks to clear wasn't such a bad idea. I wasn't able to gauge the team's expressions in the silence and darkness, but I assumed they felt similarly.

The few dimly lit lanterns over the signposts were enough to let us know we were heading in the right direction, but the trip quickly turned for the worse when Raymundo accidentally stepped on a sleeping Geodude the wrong way, causing the Rock-type Pokemon to explode.

"Um...oops," he said, sounding dopier than usual. The brief thought entered my mind that Raymundo was growing into his big, lumbering body a little too well. He had managed to survive a Selfdestruct, a feat that would've killed literally anyone else on the team, but we weren't out of danger yet. Raymundo's careless step had set off a chain reaction of exploding Geodudes and Graveler all around us.

"We've gotta move!" I shouted nervously, making a run for it. The team used the brief flashes of light from the explosions here and there to follow along. It all seemed to be going okay until Raymundo was hit by another explosion, causing him to fall over. He wasn't dead, at least, but he was struggling to get back on his feet.

"Damn it," he cursed to himself, trying to muster up the energy to stand. "I can't get tripped up here!" It was a scary situation, but I stopped momentarily and noticed the attempt at a one-liner that Raymundo had uttered. Was he trying to emulate Gonz? I couldn't help but wonder, but was stopped when a figure that I couldn't make out rushed over to the Nidoking's aid.

"Don't worry!" it said, with a voice that sounded like it was trying too hard to sound deep and heroic. "You are safe! I will take you out of here!" The figure looked much smaller than Ray, but managed to pick him up and sling him over its shoulder with what appeared to be no issue. This was all very hard to distinguish, with the only source of light being nearby explosions, but before I knew it, I was following Ray's unmoving body and the mysterious thing carrying him out of Rock Tunnel.

Before I knew it, we were out of there. Caesar, Javelin and I all collapsed to catch our breath as our savior set Ray down gently, which was when I finally
got a good look at him. Our hero that escorted us through the Rock Tunnel was a Machop.

"Thank you," I wheezed, still winded from the stress. "We were almost done for back there."

The Machop smirked and gave me a cheesy thumbs-up. "No problem!" he shouted, the bravado nearly unbearable. "As a professional hero, it's my duty to help those in need!"

I smirked. He was quite the character! "What's your name, hero?" I asked.

"I am known by many names," he said. I wasn't sure if he was serious or not, because that seemed like pretty awful branding for a self-proclaimed hero. "You, however, may call me Sylvester."

"Well, Sylvester," I said, standing back up and dusting myself off. "I appreciate your work!"

It was that moment that made him realize that I was able to hold a conversation with him, and he dropped character almost immediately. "Wait, you can hear me?" he asked, his voice suddenly way higher. He almost sounded like a child, which was funny to me.

"Sure can!" I confirmed. Suddenly, I realized that Sylvester was actually the only Pokemon I had encountered in Rock Tunnel that wasn't currently recovering from exploding. This meant I could add him to the team! I quickly took out a Poke Ball and offered it to him. "As a matter of fact, I'm a fan of your heroics! What do you say to coming with us and becoming the best hero you can possibly be?"

Sylvester's eyes lit up instantly at this prospect. "Are you kidding me?" he squealed. He quickly realized how he probably sounded compared to before and cleared his throat. "I mean, of course I'd love to help out a struggling citizen! I will accompany you and keep you safe from harm!" Trying his best to hide his clear excitement, Sylvester slapped the button on the Poke Ball with his palm and allowed himself to be captured. That brought our total numbers up to six: Caesar, Raymundo, Bepis, Javelin, Kai, and Sylvester. This was the first time ever that I had managed to keep a full team! It felt pretty good to have a big squad of Pokemon behind me.

Speaking of the rest of the team, I quickly turned to them and checked them for any injuries. Other than Ray, the others appeared to be alright. "You all should take a load off," I suggested. "I'll get you guys to the Pokemon Center from here."

Caesar and Javelin nodded, so I returned them quickly. Raymundo just sighed and grunted. Clearly, this was something I'd have to talk with him about later, but I figured getting him healed up took priority. I stored him back in his Poke Ball and get going on the way to the next town.

***

The next town on the map was Lavender Town. One look at my surroundings told me that this was one place I didn't want to stay in for very long. The gravesite of Pokemon, Pokemon Tower, loomed over the whole town, giving it a super creepy vibe. What little activity was in the town looked just as lifeless as the badlands of Route 9. People shuffled around with no clear purpose, as though they were zombies. "Screw this," I muttered, immediately making a beeline to the west.

***

The checkpoint to Saffron City was still closed, so I had to use the east-west Underground Tunnel to go to Celadon City. I managed to avoid fights by hiding my team's Poke Balls in my Bag and praying that nobody would recognize me as a Trainer. After a few hours of solid walking, I finally found myself standing on the eastern edge of Celadon City. The town was even larger than Vermilion City, with giant emerald skyscrapers lining the paved streets. I quickly spotted the Pokemon Center and gave the team and myself a much-needed rest.

***

A few hours later, I was awoken by the nurse, who told me that my team was good to go. She also made a point to tell me that I was not allowed to sleep in the lobby overnight. A quick glance outside let me know that it was now nighttime. The journey to Celadon was taxing on me, probably compounded by the fact that I was alone.

"Sorry about that," I apologized to the nurse. "I'll come up and book a room."

"No need," she told me. "I took care of it for you already!" She handed me my Trainer Card along with the team's Poke Balls, which made me immediately wonder where she got it from.

"Thanks," I said tentatively. I quickly counted my Poke Balls, but something was wrong. Every time I counted, I came up with seven. The nurse was starting to walk away, so I quickly got her attention. "Hey, excuse me, but there's an extra Pokemon here that isn't mine."

The nurse rushed back to me, but when she saw the Poke Ball I was holding in front of her, she sighed. "Oh, yeah. That poor Pokemon was abandoned here by a Trainer a few days ago. I don't remember their reasoning for leaving it here, but we're obviously not a shelter. I was going to take it somewhere and have it released or something, but I must have accidentally gotten it mixed up with your team. Sorry about that!" She tried to grab the ball from me, but I pulled my arm back.

"What kind of Pokemon is it?" I asked, curious.

"An Eevee," she answered.

I took a quick look at my Pokedex and was shocked to find that it was true. Why would anyone ever abandon an Eevee? Moreover, who would ever consider releasing one? Eevee was an incredibly rare species, and it felt like a shame to just let it slip through my fingers. "Well, if it's abandoned, you don't mind if I take it, do you?"

"It's all the same to me," the nurse said, a little too flippant for my taste. "However, you do have six Pokemon on your team already. Might be a tough choice for you."

At some point, I had forgotten that official League teams were capped out at six members. I wasn't sure who I'd bench for this Eevee, so I told the nurse a lie. "I'll figure it out," I said, giving a fake smile. "In the meantime, I'm going to meet my new teammate and go for a walk! Thanks for your help!" She gave me a weird look as I walked out of the Pokemon Center and back out to Route 7.

***

I waited until I didn't see any other people to bring out everyone. Even Kai was out for the first time since being captured. His eyes were still closed, but he looked around at everyone. I wondered how he was able to see, but chalked it all up to Psychic-type shenanigans.

"Hey, everyone," I greeted with a smile. "We have a new addition!" Wasting no time to hear reactions, I took out the Eevee's Poke Ball and threw it out, releasing the little brown creature. He shook himself off, opened his eyes, and looked horrified.

"This isn't my usual team," he muttered, and turned around to face me. This really set him off. "Wh-who are you?" he asked.

"Hi there," I said, trying to be as soothing as possible. "My name's Marshal, and I'm going to be training you from now on!"

"Where's Colin?"

That name alone nearly popped a blood vessel in my head. How could I have guessed that he had something to do with this? I never guessed he could've been so self-absorbed as to abandon an Eevee. "Colin's...not coming back," I said bluntly. "He abandoned you."

This was the wrong move. Immediately, the Eevee started to cry. Sensing this, Javelin sprang into action, snatching up the poor child and swaddling it with her wings. "There, there," she soothed. While she did that, though, she also stared daggers into my soul.

"You don't wanna be with that guy, anyway," Caesar said, trying to diffuse the situation. "He's not very nice to his Pokemon." This didn't actually help.

While that was going on, I turned to everyone else. "I kind of want to keep him around, but we're full here. I also want to keep Kai and Sylvester on the team to train them up, so that narrows us down a bit. I know this might be a bit of a tough choice, but-"

"I'll go."

I whipped around to find that the source of that sentence was Raymundo. He looked me dead in the eyes with a cold expression, while mine was that of shock.

"Are you serious?" I asked. "There's no way I'm-"

"I'm leaving, and you can't stop me." The conviction in his voice was astounding.

"Why?" I asked. "Where is this coming from?"

"I have some stuff to figure out," he said. No matter what I tried, I felt like I wasn't going to get anything else out of him.

I looked at the team, but mostly at Caesar and Bepis, who had been around the longest. They seemed just as confused as I was, but Raymundo's heart was clearly set. "Alright," I said tentatively. "If you're totally certain that you want to leave the team for now, I won't stop you."

Without another word, Raymundo turned away from us and started walking away. Not satisfied with that, I cupped my hands around my mouth and shouted to him. "Just know that no matter what, we're still your family now! You can talk to us about anything, remember?"

I literally saw the tear drop fall from Raymundo's face as he gave us a thumbs-up with his back turned to us. Before I knew it, he disappeared into the brisk night, leaving the rest of us very confused.

A few days had passed since Raymundo had left, but I was still reeling. It wasn't just me, though. Everyone on the team, even the newcomers, felt like something very important was missing from the family. Raymundo was the best of us, and though I knew he had been going through a lot at the time, I still couldn't see his reasoning for leaving us so suddenly.

Though it still stung, I had to do my best to carry on with everyone that was left. Since that day, I had been training the team pretty consistently, and the results were very apparent. Darwin had quickly earned his place on the team, being just as strong as a few of the veterans on the squad despite his small stature, but the real success stories were Kai and Sylvester, who had shot up in level and power considerably in the past few days.

Kai's progress was easily tracked back to one specific event: the opening of the gates to Saffron City. They had managed to open them back up the day after Raymundo left, so the team and I wasted no time in going and seeing the sights. While we were wandering, a strange man noticed my Abra and quickly threw me a Technical Machine. He said it would make Kai much easier to train, and I quickly realized why. The TM was for the move Psychic, a move that Kai wouldn't normally have learned until much later in his development.

Needless to say, he effortlessly honed this move until completely mastering it. In doing so, he quickly evolved into his next form, Kadabra. This was great, since it meant he'd be able to stay awake for more than six hours a day. He had gotten quite a bit taller, and had found a spoon somewhere that he was carrying around. It was all very exciting.

On the other hand, Sylvester's growth had taken a lot more work, but was still just as impressive. He hadn't received any special TM's, so all we had to work with was the moves he naturally had. He had gotten caught up with the rest of the squad, so I finally felt ready to challenge the Celadon City Gym.

On the way back to town, I strategized with the team. "Ok, everyone, this Gym apparently uses Grass-types. Therefore, Javelin is going to take point here. Since most Grass-types also share a Poison-typing, Kai's going to be on cleanup duty. The rest of you can take a rest for awhile if you want. I know it's been a rough couple of days."

***

The Gym was closed.

I had been preparing for several days, and the second I rolled up to the Gym, the doors were locked! The local Gym guide was standing outside, so I decided to go over and give him a piece of my mind. "Hey, man, I had an appointment to fight Erika today!"

The nerdy-looking guy pushed up his glasses and looked me over, as if attempting to confirm my identity. "Sorry, kiddo," he said flatly. "Erika's been asked to help the local police investigate some Team Rocket activity here in town. Why don't you reschedule tomorrow?"

I could feel the steam rising off the top of my head as I walked away. This was ridiculous. Those Team Rocket thugs managed to constantly get in my way somehow.

***

A little while later, I was in the courtyard in front of the Department store letting the team stretch out and run around when Darwin slowly walked up to me. "Um...Mr. Marshal?" he said, a hint of nervousness in his voice still.

"It's just Marshal, kiddo," I said calmly. He had been calling me that since his first day on the team, and I hoped that I'd eventually break him of that habit. "What's wrong?"

He looked down at the ground, unsure if he even wanted to ask what he was about to ask. "When are you planning to make me evolve?"

I had totally forgotten about this. Evolution for an Eevee was a pretty important event, but some Trainers were never really able to consider the feelings of the Pokemon and when they wanted to evolve into, let alone what they wanted to evolve into. "Well, when are you thinking you're ready? What do you want to evolve into, anyway? I'll let you pick."

The cute little pup's eyes glistened when he heard that he'd have a say in the matter. "Well, I've always wanted to be a Jolteon. And...I think I'm ready!"

My expression felt similar to Darwin's when I heard his decision. "Well, that's perfect!" I said, almost becoming giddy. "I've always wanted a Jolteon, anyway!" Hearing this made Darwin so happy that he leapt into my arms, and I spun him around like we were dancing. "They sell Thunder Stones at the Celadon Department Store, so let's go right away!" I quickly called the whole team back and nearly sprinted into the giant Department Store, heading straight for the fourth floor.

***

Not even 30 minutes later, we were back on the outskirts of town. The whole team was in attendance to see Darwin's evolution. I could hardly contain myself. Growing up, I always loved listening to the Professor talk about Pokemon, and Jolteon was always my favorite. The fact that I didn't even have to try to convince Darwin was even better! If he didn't want to be a Jolteon, I would've felt horrible.

"All right, let's see it!" Caesar insisted. "Time for Darwin to evolve!"

I carefully took the Thunder Stone out of my Bag and set it on the ground, not wanting to spoil the moment by having Darwin make contact with it before he was ready. Caesar, Bepis, Javelin, Sylvester, Kai, and myself all stood in a circle around Darwin, the anticipation becoming nearly unbearable. It must have looked like some sort of freaky ritual if anyone else walking nearby had seen us, but we didn't care.

Darwin shook himself up and walked over to the glowing green stone, stepping on it gingerly with his paw. The transformation came almost immediately. The all-too-familiar flash of light heralded evolution, and before we knew it a spiky yellow Jolteon stood before us, looking himself over curiously. He didn't say anything, which kind of worried me a bit.

"Well, Darwin," I said gingerly, "how do you feel?"

Darwin looked up at me curiously, then sparks began to fly from his body. "I feel great! I feel like I could run a mile right now and never stop just keep running and running and running-" Before he even finished his own sentence he took off, disappearing from the circle we had formed around him before most of us even had a chance to blink. He was a little yellow blur streaking around the trees of the forest we were in. None of us could track him until Kai used his Psychic move to stop him, but showed that he was able to control his power by not harming the newly evolved creature.

"Merely a side effect of the sudden increase in power, I'm sure," he said calmly. "It will pass with time."

"Hey!" Darwin shouted, kicking and flailing about in the air. "Put me down! I wanna run and run and run and run and run-"

"Well, hopefully he'll calm down," Caesar said, a little nervous about the hyperactive monstrosity that we had created.

"He's just excited," I assured everyone. "Why don't we let him run around a bit?"

Kai sighed and lowered his spoon, letting Darwin float gently down to the ground. As soon as the Kadabra's Psychic hold was released, the Jolteon shot off like a bullet, whooping and hollering his way around the forest. We all tried to follow along, but couldn't quite keep up. He was like a bolt of lightning streaking across the ground, impossibly fast yet incredibly strong.

I couldn't help but laugh, but felt silly at the same time. I had been pushing these guys pretty hard lately, all for the sake of reaching the goal as soon as possible, but it really was little moments like this that could bring the whole team together. I just wished that Raymundo was here to see it. "All right, everyone," I announced. "We're camping out here tonight!"

The whole team cheered, except for Caesar, who looked a bit concerned. "Are you sure you don't want to just...go back to the Pokemon Center?"

"Nah, it's fine!" I assured him, winking. "It's not every day we get such a rare opportunity, anyway! This forest is close enough to town, but far enough out of the way that people won't bother us. We just have to make a suitable campsite."

***

A few hours later, I would hardly call whatever we had made a suitable campsite, but I didn't really mind. I was just happy to get a little more time to relax. The crisp autumn air felt perfect as I laid on the ground, and for the first time since starting the journey, I felt at peace as I watched the stars.

The whole team was off enjoying their time, too. Kai was off meditating nearby, likely honing his Psychic energy. Sylvester was honing energy of his own by doing lots of push-ups. Darwin was still running around burning off all that energy. I couldn't believe that he had barely even stopped to eat before going back to his sprinting! Bepis had found a nearby lake and was enjoying some time in the water, while Javelin perched herself on a nearby tree to watch. Even though Bepis was much stronger than her now, she still felt compelled to look after him, which I thought was cute.

Caesar, meanwhile, didn't seem to have much going on, so he trudged over to me and laid on his belly. "Hey," he said flatly.

"What's up, buddy?" I asked. "Couldn't find any fun camping activities?"

"Star gazing sounded kind of fun right about now," he replied. The two of us looked up at the sky in silence for a while before he spoke up again. "Hey, have you ever figured out how you're able to talk to us?"

I thought about it for a moment. I had really taken this gift for granted, but it really seemed to be totally unique. "I still have no idea. Maybe I'll never know, but I think it's been such a blessing to get to know you all as well as I can."

"I couldn't agree more," Caesar sighed. "You're able to take our feelings and wishes into consideration where others can't. No other trainer would have let Raymundo walk away like he did."

"What do you think about that, by the way?" I asked. "I haven't been able to get it out of my head the past few days."

Caesar was quiet for a while, but finally managed to speak. "I...knew it was coming. While you were off catching Kai, Jav and I got to talk to him for a bit. He was really still trying to come to terms with evolving. He felt like he was obligated to go explain to his clan back on Route 22. I think the Rock Tunnel thing was enough to push him away."

"I wish he could've just told me. We could've gone back as a team." It sounded selfish, even at the time, but maybe it was meant to be. Raymundo had been on the team longer than everyone except Caesar. We had only been together for a few weeks now, but I felt that we had at least gotten to a certain level of trust and respect with each other.

"He knew you were going to try that," Caesar said. "He told us he didn't want to burden us all with his problems. This is a journey he's going to have to make on his own."

I sighed. "I'm sure he'll come back once he figures out whatever he needs to do. For now, let's enjoy the time we have here, eh?"

"Of course, Marshal."

I fell asleep under the stars that night, feeling at peace.

Even though I had fallen asleep outside the night before, I felt nice and refreshed when I woke up. The sun was just starting to rise, and I got up slowly. I tried to put my hand on the ground to brace myself, but was shocked to touch fur instead. To my right, I saw Darwin cuddled up next to me. A quick look around told me that the entire team had huddled around me at some point during the night. Even Kai was close by! I smiled and gingerly stepped around all of them to go watch the sunrise.

I found a clearing on a hill nearby that let me get a perfect view of the sun popping up over the mountains in the distance. It was a truly beautiful sight, and definitely refreshing. It made me feel like even though I had been making all kinds of mistakes, it wasn't the end. The sun still rises every day.

After having a nice moment to myself, I walked back to the team, who were all still dead asleep. After a quick moment of reflection, I decided to have a little fun. I took a deep breath and screamed my best possible war cry. The whole team jolted awake in a panic, ready for battle. Caesar looked around, confused that there was nothing around that posed a threat. The whole team looked at me in bewilderment.

I just laughed. "Good morning, everyone! Hope you had a good night's sleep! We have a big day ahead of us, so let's get going!"

Javelin didn't seem to appreciate the sudden wake-up call, and her eyes were shut again almost immediately. Darwin, on the opposite side of the coin, was up bounding around with all of his ridiculous energy. The others just stood there like zombies, still processing.

After a little bit of time to get everyone bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, we headed back into town. If I got to the Gym early enough this time, perhaps the leader would actually be present and willing to battle me after my appointment was so rudely cancelled. I recalled the team to their Poke Balls as we reached the gates of Celadon and quickly made my way to the Gym.

***

I recognized the Gym Leader, Erika, from the numerous pictures and advertisements for the Pokemon League. Her jet-black hair and brightly colored kimono contrasted themselves perfectly as the morning sun gave her a certain glow. She looked as if she was just leaving the Gym, so I quickly ran up to catch her.

"Hey!" I said, trying to get her attention. "Do you have a minute to take a challenge?" It was probably a little forward, but I really wanted to get done and out of this town as soon as I could.

She seemed distracted, but finally Erika turned to face me. "Sorry," she said plainly, "you'll have to make an appointment if you want to challenge me."

Word from the locals had informed me that Erika could be a bit of a space case, and I was inclined to believe them. "I did make an appointment," I pointed out. "I showed up yesterday at my scheduled time and you weren't there."

She looked puzzled for a moment, then closed her eyes and smiled. "Ah, you must be the Marshal I heard about from Misty and Brock. Sorry I missed your appointment yesterday. I ended up getting volunteered to help the police with an investigation, but we didn't find anything of value. I was on my way back to take your challenge, but got sidetracked when I found some lovely flowers that I had never seen before."

I sighed. It seemed rumors were true sometimes, after all. I couldn't really be upset with her, but I still wanted to get the Gym battle done. "Can we just get it done now, then? You kinda owe me, after all."

Erika's smile faded quickly. "I'm sorry, but I'm helping out with the Team Rocket investigation again today. Could you wait for a little while?" She seemed to be lost in thought, but her face quickly lit up again. "Actually, your reputation with the other Gym Leaders has been pretty solid. Do you think you can maybe help me out?"

As much as I just wanted to take my challenge and leave, I couldn't deny that maybe helping out a Gym Leader would be a good move for my future endeavors. "What do you need?" I asked.

"The Celadon police force hasn't been very helpful in my efforts," she admitted. "I think there's something going on at the Game Corner downtown, but they can't just waltz in there without a warrant. I may be a Gym Leader, but there's only so much I can do on my own. If you and I both went in and tried to find something on our own, we could bring the evidence to the police."

Though she was a bit of an airhead, I had to admit that Erika had come up with a very solid plan. "That seems reasonable to me," I agreed. "You can count on me!"

"Great!" she grinned. "I'd love to give you your challenge afterwards, even if it's past the Gym's hours! You'd really be doing the city of Celadon a service!"

***

The Celadon Game Corner was not really a place for most 13-year-olds, but I still managed to make my way into the building without being removed from the premises. Most of the patrons were too engrossed in their video slot machines to pay me any mind. It was pretty disturbing to watch the small crowd of adults mindlessly putting coins into slots, hoping they would somehow change their fates and strike gold.

As I walked past, one figure turned to look at me. He was wearing a familiar outfit, and right away I knew that he was the man I had spoken to at the Gym the day before when my appointment with Erika was cancelled. "Hey, aren't you a bit young to be hanging around here?" he asked.

I froze. In that moment, I wasn't able to come up with a good answer. If I was caught in a place like this by a League Official, that could only spell trouble for my career as a Trainer. As I stammered around the question, Erika popped up behind me and rested a hand on my shoulder.

"He's with me, Clyde," she said. There was a sternness in her voice that I was definitely positive hadn't been there before. "More to the point, though, where are you supposed to be right now?"

Clyde's face turned beet red immediately. He certainly seemed like he wasn't expecting Erika to show up. "Miss Erika! I-uh, that is to say, um..."

"Clyde." Erika quickly removed her hand from my shoulder and stepped in front of me. "Where should you be right now?"

"The...Gym?"

"The Gym, Clyde. Now, if you will kindly leave me to my business and return to the Gym, I won't fire you on the spot."

In a flash, the Gym official was gone, and Erika turned back to me with a smile. For someone so laid back, she certainly was capable of being intimidating when she needed to be. "You good to keep going?" she asked, the tone of her voice softening immediately. "You can hang back if you're scared."

Looking back, I know exactly why she said what she did, but a younger Marshal couldn't pick up on the subtleties of her tone, or the slight smirk that crept across her face. There are so many things I wish I could've said, but instead, a simple huff and an "I'm not scared!" escaped my lips. I strode toward the back of the casino with a confident stride.

Around the back wall was a dimly lit hallway that didn't seem to lead anywhere. It was also completely empty, save for one lone person standing in front of a poster hanging on the wall. I quickly got my story straight, and approached.

"Excuse me, sir," I said, feigning politeness. "I'm looking for the bathroom, can I find it back here?"

The man, obscured by the dim light, seemed shocked that I had made it back to his station. "What's a brat like you doing here? Get out!"

He stepped closer, and all the color immediately drained from my face. The all black outfit he was wearing should have been my first clue towards danger, but the bright red letter "R" emblazoned on his chest signified that this man was a member of Team Rocket.

I reacted quickly, drawing Caesar's Poke Ball and summoning the Ivysaur into the enclosed space. I hoped the flash of throwing out a Pokemon wouldn't alert too many patrons of the Game Corner, but if anybody panicked, Erika could probably calm them down.

Before the Rocket Grunt had a chance to react to what was happening, Caesar let out a cloud of Sleep Powder right in his face. The poor sap was just barely able to reach for the Poke Ball at his belt before he staggered and collapsed in a heap on the floor, fast asleep. Unfortunately for me, however, the narrow walls of the hallway were not exactly optimal for the Sleep Powder to dilute quickly. I felt my eyes began to grow heavy, as the rest of my body began to relax. Just before I fell, though, a small pouch was shoved into my face. The sudden smell of pungent herbs and spices woke me back up in a flash. As I got my bearings again, Erika was looking at me.

"That was a good play, but poor awareness," she observed. "Luckily, this home-grown herbal blend will help keep you awake and invigorated for what comes next."

"Thanks," I smiled. Whatever was in that bag, it worked like a charm. I felt great!

"Now, what was this guy guarding?" Erika wondered, making her way over to the poster on the wall. After a quick investigation, she noticed that it was not hung on the wall properly. She lifted the poster and discovered a big red button. Doing what any sensible human being would do, she pressed it immediately, and the wall at the end of the hallway began to slowly and quietly slide away, revealing a staircase leading underneath the Game Corner.

"There we go!" Erika whooped in a hushed whisper. "This must be the way to some sort of base. We can get the entire Celadon police force on this case in no time."

"That's great," I agreed. "Does this mean we're done here?"

"Well, I've got to get ahold of my police contact as soon as possible, so I can't exactly stick around," Erika admitted. "However, we don't want to leave the scene like this in case this guy wakes up, or if some reinforcements come upstairs. This is the only real evidence we have of underground Rocket activity right now."

I sighed a bit. As fun as this was, I really was just trying to get my Gym challenge done. "So what do you want me to do?"

"If you could head down there and quietly gather as much information on Team Rocket as you could, that would help a lot," Erika instructed.

This sounded ridiculously dangerous, and by all rights Erika should have been doing this as the Gym Leader, but with the current situation, I couldn't leave the investigation unmanned. "I'll do it, but you owe me BIG time."

"Of course," Erika confirmed. She stuck her hand out in a show of good faith, and I took it in a handshake. "Good luck, Marshal." The two of us turned away from each other and went our separate ways as I delved into the Team Rocket Hideout.

The Team Rocket Hideout was a bit more tame than what I had expected. It had basically all the trappings of a common office building, and not much else. The real problem, however, could be found in the sheer number of Rocket grunts swarming the place. Luckily for me, nobody had heard the commotion at the top of the stairs, and were going about their business as if nothing was wrong.

I was definitely nervous, there was no denying that. If I was caught here, getting into a simple Pokemon battle was probably the least of my worries. I had to stick to the shadows and keep as silent as possible, which was certainly not a skill I practiced often. Nonetheless, I did my best and slowly made my way through the base, taking care to remain out of sight. Things were going relatively smoothly until I heard an unfortunate shout from the staircase I had descended from.

"HEY!" a female grunt bellowed. "The topside lookout got taken out! We might have an intruder in the Hideout! Find them!"

I quickly panicked and ran into a nearby empty closet, shutting off the lights as I did so. The second I managed to find a spot to hide in the corner, cloaked by shadows, a small squad of Team Rocket members ran by in the hallway, hot on my trail.

As soon as I thought the coast was clear, I reached for a Poke Ball and called out one of my team members. In a quick flash, Kai emerged in his new Kadabra form. "You called?" he asked.

"Yeah," I answered. "I'm in a bit of a bind here. We're deep in Team Rocket territory, and if we get caught it could be really bad. Can you use your psychic abilities to help out here?"

Kai sat in thought for approximately three seconds before giving a succinct, "Yes." His eyes glowed a clear blue in the darkness of the closet for a few more seconds before he spoke again. "I've set a marker for us in this location. The next time I use my Teleport ability, it will take us back here."

"Good thinking," I praised quietly.

"If you give me a few more moments, I can use my Future Sight to figure out where we need to go," the Kadabra continued. I breathed a sigh of relief. Having a Psychic type Pokemon like Kai around was a serious blessing for this team. His sharp mind and powerful abilities were useful both on and off the battlefield.

After a short time of planning and plotting, I waited until I thought the coast was completely clear to exit my hiding spot and continue the infiltration. Along the way, Kai and I noticed an elevator tucked in the corner of the floor. I could hardly believe that this place went any further underground than it already did, but that was because I wasn't aware of the full extent of Team Rocket's influence. Upon stepping into the elevator, I noticed that there were three floors underneath. The button designating the lowest floor wasn't lit up, and a keyhole was placed next to it. This posed a problem. If I was going to find out anything interesting about Team Rocket from this investigation, it would most likely be down there. However, to find a key, I'd likely have to blow my cover.

Just then, another Poke Ball from my Bag popped open, and Darwin came out. "Ooh! Ooh! I have an idea!" he shouted.

Out of instinct, I panicked and reached to grab Darwin, but he was too quick for me. "I'll distract them! Leave it to me! Find the key! I'll meet you guys outside!" Before I could object, Darwin was gone. Kai and I watched his sprint down the hallway, and then he rounded a corner. As worried as I was about him, running interference was perfect for someone as speedy as Darwin. However, I didn't want to leave him to fend for himself since he was still pretty new to the team, so I got out yet another Poke Ball and threw out Javelin.

"Follow Darwin, and make sure he doesn't get hurt," I instructed quickly. Javelin nodded wordlessly, quickly observing and taking stock of the situation. With a quick flap of her powerful wings, the Fearow was off to catch up with Darwin. Checking my remaining Pokemon, I still had Caesar, Bepis, Kai, and Sylvester. Bepis wouldn't be able to battle effectively in the cramped space, so I would have to rely more heavily on the remaining three.

Down the hall, I saw some more Rocket Grunts running in multiple directions, Pokemon at their sides. Satisfied with the team's handiwork, I got back into the elevator and shut the door. We still didn't have the necessary key, but an idea popped into my head. I turned to Kai. "Can you use your telekinesis to move the elevator?"

"I suppose I could, though it would be pretty difficult to do accurately," he hypothesized. "You would have to let me rest for some time after I finish." After focusing once more, Kai's eyes shot open, glowing a brilliant blue. "Hang on," he said, and as he did the elevator began to shake. I braced on the handrail as the car screeched and groaned, violently making its way down to the bottom against its will. Kai was visibly straining, but managed to get us all the way to the very bottom floor and pried the door open.

With his task completed, Kai's eyes returned to normal as he slumped down to the ground. I smiled and returned him to his Poke Ball. "You did well," I assured him. "Get some rest."

The bottom floor of the Hideout was pitch dark and dead quiet, but the sounds of the struggle on the upper floors could be picked up if one listened hard enough. I could only hope that Darwin and Javelin would be able to hold up on their own, but the occasional blast of thunder was reassuring. As I tried to adjust to the darkness, I was blinded by a bright light turning on across the room.

"So, you've made it here."

The voice was deep and smooth on the surface, but cold and intimidating undertones were clearly present. As my vision returned to me, I could make out the features of the man behind the voice, who would turn out to be one of my greatest adversaries. He had very short, nearly buzz-cut black hair, and dark brown eyes that felt like they saw through me entirely. He was wearing a very expensive looking black suit with a red shirt underneath, and a red letter R was embroidered on the pocket.

"Not only did an intruder make it all the way to me, but they're a young child!" he continued. "Tell me, what's your name?"

Politeness stood in the way of common sense as my mouth opened before my brain could even process. "My name is Marshal," I said. "I'm here to..."

"Battle me?" the man asked, attempting to finish my sentence for me. "A foolish endeavor, to be sure."

"Actually, I just wanted to figure out who you were," I admitted. "I had no real intention to battle anyone except Erika today." There was some truth to that, but two halves of me were screaming different things at each other.

"Run!" said one.

"Test yourself!" said the other.

The boss smirked. "Amusing. I have a proposition for you, though. I'll tell you a little bit more about myself if you battle me. Does that sound reasonable?"

The half of myself wanting to measure my abilities won in that moment, reason be damned. "I'll agree to your terms, sir." I grabbed two Poke Balls and threw them out, revealing Caesar and Sylvester. They both looked at the Rocket Boss and snarled, instantly perceiving him as a threat.

The dark-haired man shook his head. "Decent selection," he admitted. "I suppose we'll do this the Hoenn way, then." Taking out two of his own Poke Balls, he summoned two Pokemon I had never seen before. One was a quadrupedal Pokemon covered in rocky plating and a pointy horn at the tip of its face. The other was a marsupial-like Pokemon with a pouch that looked like it was there to house its offspring.

"Rhyhorn and Kangaskhan," Caesar said, helping me out. "One is Ground and Rock type, and the other is Normal type, respectively."

I nodded, trying my best not to acknowledge that I understood my Ivysaur in front of the dangerous looking man. The strategy here would be simple, in other words.

Without warning, the battle began. Rhyhorn charged straight into Caesar with reckless abandon, attempting to stab him with its sharp horn. It was so sudden, Caesar wasn't able to react, and stood frozen as the enemy charged at him.

In a flash, Sylvester sprang into action. "A real hero is always prepared for danger!" he shouted, suddenly between Caesar and Rhyhorn. With a swift motion, the little Machop struck the attacker with a powerful Low Kick, knocking Rhyhorn off its feet and into the air. As the spiked Pokemon sailed over Sylvester and toward Caesar, he turned around. "You can take it from here!"

Caesar quickly managed to focus. "Right!" he shouted. "Marshal, if you please!"

I nearly felt it was unnecessary to give orders at this point, but I still shouted, "Caesar, use Vine Whip!" for the sake of keeping up appearances. Before I even finished speaking, Caesar's vines were extended, grappling Rhyhorn while it was still in midair. In one swift move, he reared back, using every bit of might he had to toss Rhyhorn behind him and slammed him into the ground with a mighty suplex maneuver.

Sylvester, meanwhile, was more focused on keeping Kangaskhan at bay. The large Parental Pokemon thrashed about, attempting to flatten Sylvester, but he was too quick. He bobbed and weaved through every stomp and slam while simultaneously sneaking in a few good jabs. He looked like he was perfectly comfortable fighting an opponent that was much larger than him, as there was at least a five foot difference between the two. Assuming that he was alright fighting on his own, I turned my attention back to Caesar. "Okay, Caesar! Like we practiced!"

"Right!" Caesar confirmed. He shook his body, and a few leaves began to fall from the bud on his back. Instead of falling to the floor, however, they floated around him for a moment.

"Now, Razor Leaf!" I shouted, debuting Caesar's new move. The leaves surrounding Caesar shot straight towards Rhyhorn, making noticeable scratches and scrapes on its armor plating. The Pokemon gave a pained cry before crumpling to the ground, unconscious and unable to continue.

I would have taken a moment to celebrate, if I hadn't looked over to see Sylvester get tossed into Caesar like a ragdoll. It seemed that Kangaskhan was able to wear him down, and grabbed him while his guard was down. Now both of my Pokemon were prone on the floor, as the boss smirked from the opposite side of the room.

"Now, finish it with a Mega Punch."

The mere mention of the move was enough to send a chill down my spine. That same attack was what Lt. Surge had used when Gonz was killed. It was very powerful, and could potentially spell the end for anyone on the squad. I had to do something, but I couldn't get in the way of the battle, and it looked like we were out of options. Whoever was getting hit by that attack would surely be injured beyond belief. Kangaskhan rushed straight into Caesar and raised a fist. All I could do was outstretch my hand and scream, "No!"

The pressure released from the impact was like a shockwave, causing me to wince from shock and fear. However, when I opened my eyes, I realized that the scene had played out differently than I expected.

Kangaskhan's attack hadn't connected with Caesar, but instead was blocked by a trembling Sylvester. He was visibly bloody from the impact, but was keeping the giant's fist at bay with his own hands. "Heh," he chuckled. "I made you a promise, remember, Chief? I always keep my promises..."

Caesar and I looked on with shock as Sylvester began to physically push back against Kangaskhan's Mega Punch. With a roar and a burst of explosive energy, he managed to push away the attack completely and retaliate with his own in an immaculate example of a perfect Counter.

"...because that's what a REAL hero does!"

An actual shockwave, twice as powerful as the one before, rocked the room as Sylvester's fist made contact. Kangaskhan's eyes nearly bugged out of its head as it shot across the room and slammed into the wall behind the Rocket Boss, unable to continue.

As we all stood in disbelief, Sylvester began to glow. It was sudden, but I was getting experienced enough to recognize the light of evolution when I saw it. After the light completely enveloped Sylvester, he quickly began to grow two feet taller and bulked up considerably. His face protruded a bit, becoming almost reptilian. A little set of fangs now became visible as well. As the light faded, a few other changes became noticeable. Dark red, vertical stripes now presented themselves on Sylvester's arms, almost as if the sudden explosion in growth had torn them open. He had also gained what appeared to be a pair of briefs, held to his waist by an impressive-looking belt. With that, Sylvester's transformation into a Machoke was complete. He turned back to face us, and immediately grinned. "How about that?" he asked, giving a powerful flex.

Meanwhile, the Rocket Boss returned his Pokemon to their Poke Balls. With a sigh, he spoke up. "I have to admit, you're pretty good."

"A deal's a deal, Boss," I replied.

"You've got me there," he admitted. "Remember the name, 'Giovanni.' This won't be the last you'll see of me."

I was about to tell him about the police squadron that was surely barrelling down on his Hideout, but before I could, the lights were off again. A few seconds later, they came up again, but dimly. Giovanni was gone, and we were alone in the room. As I took a moment to take stock, I began to hear an even louder commotion coming from the upper floors. It seemed the police had finally arrived. I decided that being down here was no longer a good idea, so I quickly returned Caesar and Sylvester and brought out Kai. He still seemed a little drained, but was able to Teleport us back to the closet on the upper floor.

The second we jumped out into the hallway, Darwin and Javelin were waiting for us. They looked a little frazzled and roughed up, but were otherwise alright. I smiled and patted them both on their heads as I returned the rest of the team to their Poke Balls and headed out of the Hideout. We had much to discuss.

Stepping out of the Celadon Game Corner and into the afternoon sun, I took a minute to shield my eyes and let them adjust. Once I could see again, I saw Erika speaking to a group of officers from the Celadon Police Department just outside. Upon seeing me exit, she breathed a sigh of relief and came up to check on me.

"You aren't hurt, are you?" she asked. "Are your Pokemon alright?" She hovered her hands around me, as if she was trying to assess any damage to me.

"I'm good," I assured her. "My team is a little beat up and tired, but nothing a quick trip to the Pokemon Center won't fix."

The Gym Leader smiled pleasantly for a moment, but her expression shifted to concern. "I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have sent you into that place by yourself. It must be a testament to your strength that you made it back out unharmed. Do you have any news about Team Rocket?"

I moved to speak, to tell Erika and the officers about what had happened, but I stopped for a moment.Giovanni had given me his name, but did I dare share that information? I had managed to defeat him in a battle, but only just barely. There would be no telling what danger it would put me in if he found out that I had given his identity away to the authorities immediately.

"I fought some Grunts, but their Boss cleared out pretty quick," I answered. That was a half-truth bordering on a lie of omission. "I didn't find anything else other than that." Protecting Giovanni felt wrong, especially with the trust Erika placed in me, but I couldn't risk angering him more than I likely already had.

I could tell Erika's intuitive skills were working in overdrive, because she frowned. "So...Team Rocket cleared out the second you were spotted? You didn't manage to find anything out about their Boss or their plans?"

"No." That was a lie. I stayed straight-faced.

Erika sighed. "Well, hopefully the police can get some information out of the Grunts you apprehended. In the meantime, let's go grab some lunch! It's on me today, as partial thanks for all your help."

I certainly wouldn't turn down a free meal. Though I was hoping for an immediate trip to the Celadon Gym for our match, it seemed like it would be a little while longer until things calmed down around the city. Without an objection, I followed Erika to a nearby café.

***

A few hours later, I was heading back west out of Celadon City. Erika, for all her promises, was still unable to find the time to battle me. In the meantime, she suggested I check out the sights of Central Kanto. During our lunch, I told her about my journey up until that point, and when I finished my tale she nodded.

"I think it would be wise for you to head back to Lavender Town," she suggested. "You have suffered difficult losses on your journey. Perhaps helping lay your fallen allies' spirits to rest will help lighten your burden moving forward." I had been in such a hurry the last time I passed through Lavender Town that I hadn't stopped to consider the Pokemon Tower. As creepy as it seemed, the tower was the final resting place of many of the region's Pokemon. We could finally pay respects to our departed friends properly.

The trip back to Lavender Town took a bit longer, even though I took the same route as before. I was not in nearly as much of a hurry this time. I had nearly reached the town before I realized that I hadn't even called out any of the team to accompany me on the journey. It was abnormal, but it had also given me a bit of time to reflect alone on the journey so far. The team and I had been through a lot. It had only been a few days, but we were already nearly halfway through our Gym Challenge. We had taken some tough losses, but everyone was coming together and becoming an effective unit. I sincerely hoped it would stay that way.

***

A thick haze hung over Lavender Town, as it had the last time I passed through. Outside of the obvious nature of a town mostly dedicated to the eternal rest of souls, something about the place felt...wrong. People were scattered around haphazardly, shambling about listlessly. Looking past the fog, the town seemed pleasant, almost idyllic. Something was terribly wrong here, and I knew exactly who could help me figure it out.

With the flash of a Poke Ball, Kai appeared in front of me. Within seconds, the Kadabra dropped the spoon he was holding and clutched his head, as though he had a terrible headache. He had overtaxed himself a bit in the hideout raid, but I had hoped he was doing alright after a trip to the Pokemon Center. "What is this place?" the Kadabra grunted.

"Welcome to Lavender Town," I said sarcastically. "Can you help me figure out if there's something weird going on here?"

"The second you let me out, I was assaulted by a giant wave of spiritual energy," Kai groaned. "It seems the souls of the Pokemon laid to rest in the tower are very restless."

"Can you show me?" I asked. "It might help me to know what exactly you're seeing."

Kai nodded, and placed his hand on my shoulder. After a moment, his eyes began to glow, and all at once everything became clear. Thousands of spirits circled around Pokemon Tower, looking more like a natural disaster than a gathering of ghosts. The sight filled me with a mix of awe and terror.

"Well," I breathed. "That answers that."

***

Stepping inside the tower, I was a bit shocked to find that there was a small gathering of people on the first floor. It was quiet here, aside from the quiet chanting of some attendants in the middle of the room. Whatever they were doing, it seemed to be keeping the ghosts at bay. A few people, who I assumed to be visitors, were standing around near the front desk, looking nervous. A woman sitting at the desk grabbed my attention by waving me over towards her. "You shouldn't be in here," she whispered. "Team Rocket has stormed up to the top of the tower and is disturbing the spirits."

Team Rocket. Of course this was their fault. I'm not sure what Giovanni would want from a place like this, but there was little chance that it was anything good. "I've got some experience dealing with Team Rocket," I assured her. "What can I do to help?"

"Our mediums have been working to get everyone to safety down here on the first floor, but there are still some visitors and staff that aren't accounted for," she said. "On top of that, when Team Rocket barged in they brought dear old Mr. Fuji in with them. I think he may be a hostage..."

"Don't worry," I said. "My team and I will take care of this."

The woman looked apprehensive. She was quickly realizing that I was just a kid, confidently stating that I would stand against a real criminal organization, but her fear of the restless spirits in the tower seemed to outweigh her concern for my safety. With a shell-shocked nod, she turned back to the crowd of people surrounding the mediums chanting. With all attention diverted from me, I shuffled over to the stairs and began my climb of the tower. When I reached the second floor, though, what I saw stopped me in my tracks just as quickly.

Colin Oak was here.

I hadn't seen Colin since our clash on the S.S. Anne. He was kneeling in front of a grave that looked like it had been placed recently. I knew exactly who it was for.

Since I hadn't been stealthy in my run up the stairs, Colin jolted up and turned to see me standing there staring back at him. His usual smug aura and demeanor was nowhere to be found, and a cold hatred nested in his eyes. In a strange moment of recognition I imagined that I looked similar after losing Orwell in our battle with Brock. He spun around quickly and stood up.

"I figured it'd be a matter of time before I had to see you again," he spat. "Here to finish what you started?"

"Colin, I didn't 'start' anything," I retorted. "What happened to Raticate was an-"

"I don't care whether it was an accident or not. Pokemon die all the time. This is no different."

"If that's true, then why are you here?" I asked.

"Because, I-"

He stopped mid-sentence, closed his mouth, and for a moment a look of thoughtfulness crossed his face. It wasn't something I thought he was capable of, but maybe this journey had been hard on both of us. Capitalizing on his moment of reflection, I continued. "That was your first loss, wasn't it?"

He looked back at the grave. He remained silent, but I knew cracks were starting to form in his facade. "It's not easy, Colin," I continued. "It doesn't get easier-"

"Shut up!" Colin shouted. I was stunned into silence by the sudden outburst. "You think I don't know that? You act like you're so above it all, but you don't know what I've gone through!" He fumbled around in his bag for a moment before throwing out a handful of Poke Balls. There were four in total that fell out of his hands and onto the floor. Each one had a crack on the button.

I gasped involuntarily as I looked at the graves behind Colin. I had assumed he was attending to just one, but I realized that there was a row of four that were recently prepared. The last time I fought Colin, he only had four Pokemon with him. "You lost your whole team," I said quietly.

"Charmeleon is all that's left," he corrected. His voice broke as he spoke more quietly. "After Raticate died, I fell into a huge slump. I barely managed to beat Lt. Surge, and lost Kadabra there. On the way here, some exploding Geodudes caused a rock slide in Rock Tunnel, and I lost Pidgeotto as well. I caught a Magikarp, hoping I could get back at you with a Gyarados of my own, but it didn't even make it through a single battle."

"I had an Eevee too. But it wasn't keeping up, and I didn't want to get it killed, so I left it at a Pokemon Center." He was talking about Darwin, now. I had assumed that he left the poor thing behind because he had deemed it too weak to fill space on his team, but knowing that he had actually attempted to protect the Eevee filled me with conflicting feelings. I had judged this kid very harshly ever since we left Pallet Town, but he was still just that–a kid. One that was in over his head from the start; one that the world had shown the worst of itself to in a short amount of time.

I supposed I could relate.

"That battle on the ship ruined everything," Colin continued, his voice shaking. "I can't go on like this. What would I do if I lost Charmeleon?" I went to answer, but I only had questions. What would I do in this position? Could I continue on, knowing that I had lost so much, and only had Caesar left with me? I couldn't bear to think of that outcome, but I had come just as close to it as Colin had.

"I don't have an answer for that," I admitted, "but you can't stay here, either. Team Rocket is apparently in here, and whatever they're doing is making the spirits restless."

Colin looked back at the graves of his fallen Pokemon for what felt like an eternity. I began to wonder if he had even heard my words. Eventually, he turned back to me, the sad look in his eyes replaced by determination. "How can I help?"

"That depends," I said. "Are you going to be able to fight?"

"Do you want to find out?" Collin asked, a small smirk coming back to his lips.

I was hesitant, but I smiled back. If he wanted to battle me, I saw no harm in giving him a chance. "Fine," I said. "We'll battle one-on-one."

Colin grabbed his one remaining Poke Ball and threw it out. Charmeleon emerged, looking a bit haunted. For all that Colin had been through since Vermilion City, Charmeleon had been by his side through it all. Even though Colin couldn't communicate with his Pokemon like I could, I had to imagine that the team would have some rapport with each other. Charmeleon had lost all of the Pokemon he considered friends, and that had to be just as painful.

I sent out Darwin. At the time, my reasoning behind the choice was purely type-matchup related. As the Jolteon sprang out to battle, though, the look on Charmeleon's face told me all I needed to know about the misjudgment I had made.

Darwin had evolved and gained a lot more confidence, but he immediately shrunk down when seeing Charmeleon and Colin. Charmeleon, meanwhile, was just as shocked. "It's you," he gasped. "You're alive! And you evolved!" Darwin, meanwhile, was too stunned to speak. He turned to me with a concerned look in his eyes.

"You'll be fine," I said. "You're tough now, right?" As I spoke to Darwin, I looked over at Colin's Charmeleon. I didn't want to give myself away too much, so instead I tried my best to communicate non-verbally by giving a non-threatening look to the Pokemon. He looked back at me quizzically, but nodded quickly.

The battle began, and it was convincingly intense. Darwin sped around the room at lightning speeds, occasionally tackling into Charmeleon. Charmeleon, meanwhile, shot bursts of flame that narrowly missed the speeding Jolteon. I watched as Colin ordered his Pokemon around the battlefield. In our previous battle, it seemed that Charmeleon was not terribly interested in listening to his Trainer's commands, but now he seemed to be making more of an effort to at least take actions that would be hard to read as disobedience. Colin, meanwhile, had a mixture of adrenaline and apprehension radiating from him. He seemed nervous to be in battle, but the longer it continued his worries seemed to melt away. It was as if he was relearning how to enjoy battling again.

"Let's finish it!" Colin shouted. "Charmeleon, Flamethrower!"

Not to be outdone, I answered back quickly. "Darwin, Thunderbolt!"

The two Pokemon had been evenly matched up to this point. As our commands were spoken, Darwin and Charmeleon stopped in their tracks and began to charge up their strongest moves. Before they were able to release them, however, a voice rang out from the stairs leading above.

"Help me!"