Untitled Pokemon HG/SS Fanfic

So, some of you might already know that I had started typing a fanfic and posting the chapters on DrA. I've decided that I'm am also going to be posting the chapters here for everyone to read. The new games, Heart Gold and Soul Silver. inspired me to type it out. Before I got my Japanese Heart Gold version, I was reading the Johto ark of the Pokemon Manga, which had also inspired me. So in my fanfic, it has parts from the video games and the Manga mixed into it, along with some of my own crazy little ideas. This would have to be the Pokemon world that I would have wanted to see. It is still untitled, so if you can come up with a good title, I might use it. Anyways, here is my fanfic. If you haven't started reading it on DrA, then it'll be fun for you to spend a good half hour or so reading all of the chapters I have up so far. And yeah, I know it's a huge wall of text, but I refuse to spend an hour trying to space it all out, so just deal with it.

EDIT: If you really want to read the spaced out version along with some of the comments I've gottn so far, click Here.

Introduction
A Typical School Day

Topaz gazed out the window of the classroom, watching two Pokemon struggle to win a battle. A Furret was thrown across the bus compound by an energetic Crocanaw. It got back up and attacked it's opponent with what seemed to be the move called "Quick Attack". Topaz wasn't the best at Pokemon, but she had been raising a Girafarig named Girafa ever since she was little. In time they became best friends, although Topaz thought of her as more of a sister, as they were almost always together. "Not too sure about what to draw next?" Topaz snapped out of her daydreaming and saw her art teacher standing next to her. "Huh... uh, yeah, I'm just working on the shading," she said lazily while staring at her picture. It was a herd of Rapidash that that she was drawing, with an Octillery in the middle of them. So far, it looked nice in it's weird little way. Her art teacher glanced at the clock. "Alright everyone, the bell it going to ring soon, so you can start to tidy up," she announced. Topaz got up from her seat and put away her picture and her other tools. She sat back down and waited for the bell to ring, and while doing so she unhooked a GreatBall from her bookbag. Inside was Girafa, and Topaz could see her starring back through the transparent top of the ball. "Well, I guess we're off to Japanese class, girl," Topaz told her Girafarig. Girafa didn't seem to really care, but she did have a worried look on her face. "Huh, whats up Girafa, something wrong?" Topaz asked her. Just then the bell rang. "Well, whatever it is, don't worry about it! Lets get going!" Topaz grabbed her bookbag and rushed out of the classroom, unaware that something was going to happen...

Chapter One
Lockdown

Japanese class wasn't too far away from the art room. You just had to go down the hallway and pass about 20 or so classrooms. What could go wrong? A grade 11 student was coming her way, and it didn't seem like he was paying any attention to where he was walking. Topaz wasn't paying much attention herself. He bumped into her, spilling some of his energy drink on her new hoodie. He just continued to walk without saying a "sorry" or anything. Topaz looked at the spill on her hoodie, and then glanced back down the hallway to see the student walk into a classroom. "Moron...," she whisperd. She walked into the closest washroom to try cleaning off the spill; she still had a few minutes before her next class started. She unzipped her hoodie and took it off to start washing out the spill with a wet piece of paper towel. It was still going to be wet, but she would rather have it wet with water then have an energy drink stain in it, and besides, she wasn't going to wear it to her next class. Just then, an announcement came on and the principal announced in a worried way, "Students, we are having a lockdown. This is NOT a drill, we are having a lockdown." Topaz knew that when this happend, everyone had to get to the nearest classroom and stay there. She was in the washroom, so she didn't know if it would be best to stay there or leave and find a classroom. "Girafa, is this what you were worried about?" Topaz whispered to her Pokemon, still inside the GreatBall. She nodded slightly. Psychic Pokemon were amazing, being able to predict this kind of stuff. Shame they could never actually tell you what they forsaw. "Ok, maybe these guys 'invading' the school haven't reached this hallway yet, so I'm going to try sneeking off to Japanese class. It's just a few more classes down from here..." Topaz opened the washroom door a little, just enough so she could poke her head through. She looked down both hallways, and it seemed to be clear. "Ok, lets go," she whispered again. She walked silently down the hallway while staying close to the walls. She crossed over to her Japanese class and tried to open the door. It was already locked. She tried again, and after she started to knock on the door. No one came to unlock it. "Maybe they think I'm the 'bad guy' and they just know better not to open the door...," she thought. She walked to the classroom over to try that one, but before she could put her hand on the doorknob, she heard voices from just down the hallway. "Hey, I think I heard something down here." "Good, you guys go and check that hallway, and I'll look down this one." Then she heard some footsteps coming from one of the other hallways leading to the one she was in. Silently, Topaz hid behind a garbadge can. Not the best place to hid, but hopefully whoever it was, they wouldn't notice her. She could hear thier footsteps coming closer, and that was when Topaz realized that they probably were going to find her. As quietly as she could, she unhooked Girafa's GreatBall off of her bookbag. "I don't know who we're us against here, but are you up for this anyways?" Topaz thought. Girafa, being a Psychic type, could sometimes read her thoughts if she tried hard enough. Obviously she got the message, and nodded her head. The sound of the footsteps came closer, and that was when Topaz threw the GreatBall around the garbadge can. Girafa came out, and just as she did, Topaz came out of her hiding place and made herself visible. Finally, she saw who her opponents were; two Team Rocket members.

Chapter Two
Lockdown-Continued (Just because I suck at creating titles)

"Ehh... what's the big idea, popping out of no where?" one of them asked Topaz rudely. "Yeah, what do you think your doing you little brat? Do you even know who your dealing with here?" the other grunt barked. "Uhh...," Topaz said, unsure of what to do. From what she knew, Team Rocket was stopped three years ago by some 14 year old boy who had became the Kanto Pokemon Champion shortly after. So why were they back? Hopefully they were just a couple of idiots dressed up like Team Rocket members trying to pull a prank of some sort, but that didn't seem to be the case. "So what do you want? A battle?" the first grunt snapped at her. Girafa lowered her head and stomped the floor with her hoof. "Well, I'll take that as a yes, but you don't know what you've gotten yourself into! Golbat, go!" The first grunt sent out a Golbat. "Hey don't start this without me! Get your lazy butt out there, Ekans!" The second grunt sent out an Ekans. They were both poison types, so Topaz knew Girafa had a little advantage. However, Girafa had to take down two Pokemon at once, so would they be able to pull this off? "Ok, Girafa, start by using your Thunder Bolt on the Golbat!" Topaz ordered her Pokemon. Girafa's body started to glow with electricity, and at the same time a ball of electricity formed above the Golbat. Suddenly, the ball of electricity exploded into lightning bolts and struck the Golbat. It fell to the floor and was unable to battle. "WHAT? A one-hit KO, how can this be?" said the first grunt while starting to freak out. "I guess learning my type-advantages was a good thing after all," Topaz told them, not that they would really care. "Do you think this is funny to you? Ekans, Bind!" The Ekans jumped off the floor and wrapped itself around Girafa, attempting to squeeze her to death. "Girafa, try to use your Crunch attack!" Topaz shouted. Girafa was unable to do the attack, but luckily the little head on her tail was just able to turn itself around and sink it's teeth into the Ekans. The Ekans let out a little yelp and fell off of Girafa. "Ok, girl, now use your Zen Headbutt!" Girafa closed her eyes and relaxed herself, and then she charged at the Ekans and rammed into it with her head. Success, it was defeated! "Ok, now this is just crazy. How could we loose to some kid?" the first grunt asked himself. "Hey you, don't get cocky now. I'm sure any trainer your age could beat us easily!" "Wait, don't say that, you moron! Now your just making the whole team feel bad!" "Oh, right." Just then, another Rocket member came up behind them. "Why are you two goofing around? We are here to retrieve the Silver Wing from one of the teachers here, not mess around with... kids. Aww, now I just blew our plan. Listen up, kid, you heard nothing about a Silver Wing. It is none of your business. Now, lets get out of here before the cops arrive." With that he ran off, and the two other weakling grunts followed closely behind. "Well, that was... interesting," Topaz told herself. Girafa nodded in agreement. Topaz stood in the hallway for a moment, and then her Japanese teacher walked out of her room. "Topaz-san, are you alright?" she asked her. "I'm fine," Topaz replied with nothing more to say. "That was an amazing battle back there, for all we know that could make the front page!" "No one is going to believe it, and besides, it was nothing at all really." "Would they believe it if I said I got it all recorded?" her Japanese teacher said as she pulled out a video camera. One of Topazes class mates came out of the class room. "We heard some talking outside the door, so Sensei went to see what was going on and saw you in the middle of a battle with those goons," he stated. "I just HAD to get it on video," the Japanese teacher finished. "Wow... that's... awesome!" Topaz replied excitedly. Girafa seemed rather happy about this herself.
After school was over a few cops came and talked to Topaz, along with her Japanese teacher about what had happend. Even some people from the local news came to interview her and took the video from her Japanese teacher. Later that night it was on the news, and warnings were spread all across Johto and Kanto that Team Rocket has possibly returned.
The grunts ran into an office inside their secret base. "..The Silver Wing?" asked and eerie voice coming from the far end of the room. "N-no, Mask, we don't have it. Some kid from the school blew our cover," one of the grunts replied nervously. "This... will be the first and the last time you will ever bring me bad news," the eerie voice crackled back. "Delibird... would you do the honors?" A Delibird came from out of the shadows of the room and instantly froze the grunt solid. "Now... Houndour," the mysterious voice ordered. A Houndour came out from the shadows and burned the frozen Rocket member into nothing. The two other grunts stepped back. "As for the rest of you... bring me that Silver Wing. Do not let this child get in your way. Or else... you know what will happen..."

Chapter Three
Silver Wing

That night Topaz and Girafa were on the news, with their Team Rocket story being shown all across Johto and the western parts of Kanto. Her parents were somewhat happy with her, but to Topaz, this was all nothing. So Girafa was able to beat up a few bad guys, so what? They were on the news. Big deal. Topaz had the TV in her room turned on, not to watch the news, but to watch a battle at the Indigo Plateau. Some Friday nights (which it was), one trainer that had collected all eight Johto or Kanto Gym Badges and made it through the Victory Road got to challenge the Elite Four. This was actually very rare that a trainer would make it that far. And besides, whenever this was on, the trainer eventually lost at some point. Topaz and Girafa were sitting on the bed, only to see that there were no trainers battling the Elite Four tonight. According to the announcer, one of the Elites wasn’t there at the moment, so they decided to just film a practice battle between one of the Elites and the Champ. Of course, this wasn't the young Kanto champion that had possibly defeated Team Rocket years back. A year ago he had gone missing, and many has now pronounced him dead because of his disappearance. Because of this, a tournament was held so there could be a new Champion. No one was able to beat the Elite Four, so the strongest of the Elite trainers was moved up to the Champion rank, and another tournament was held for new Elite Members. That was nearly half a year ago, but Topaz got used to it in time. It was interesting to watch these newer trainers anyways, instead of the same-old Elites.
Just then, Topaz’s mom barged into the room. “Topaz, are you watching those stupid battles again?” Topaz turned the TV off. “No…,” she fibbed. “Topaz, you made the news today, and yet all you do is just sit in front of that TV, drooling over some Pokemon Champion that probably couldn’t care less about fans like you.” Topaz suddenly felt embarrassed by this. It was true, she did have a minor fan-girlish crush on the current Pokemon Champ, Lance. It wasn’t just her, though. Girafa had developed a little crush on his strongest Pokemon, Dragonite. “Anyways, Professor Elm just called. He wants you to go to his lab as soon as you can. I don’t know what it’s about, but I guess it must be important.” Professor Elm was a Pokemon researcher who had also recently became a teacher at her high school. Topaz was actually in his Pokemon Studies class, so she knew him pretty well. “Yeah, sure, I’ll get going then,” Topaz said, not really caring about the whole thing.
Topaz and Girafa arrived at the front door of the lab. “Jeeze, I’ve never been in the lab before. I’m kinda nervous about going inside. What do you think he could want anyways, girl?” Topaz asked her Pokemon. Girafa just leaned her head towards the door, giving Topaz a “Lets-just-go-inside-and-find-out” look. “Ok, fine, lets just go then.” Topaz and Girafa walked into the lab. Elm was working at a nearby lab table. He looked up to see Topaz and Girafa just walking in. “Ah, Topaz, could you come over here?” he asked her, sounding very excited about something. Topaz walked silently over to the lab table, with Girafa close behind. “That was some amazing battle you pulled off earlier…,” “Thanks. It was nothing, really,” Topaz interrupted. “…anyways, I was wondering if you would like to take one of these ’starter’ Pokemon? I’ve been trying to give them out to new trainers starting adventures, but so far I’m having no luck finding anyone willing to become a trainer. Would you take one? These are very rare Pokemon and…” “That’s great, professor, but I’ve already got my own Pokemon to take care of. As much as I would like to become a trainer, my parents would never allow it. And trying to take care of two Pokemon at once could be kinda hard for me. Not to sound lazy and all, but I’m just happy with Girafa here.” Topaz had to admit, having a rare Pokemon would be nice, but she would only be willing to take care of more then one Pokemon if she were to become a trainer. “Oh… well, would you like to see them anyways?” Elm asked, hoping that this would be a good way to bribe her into taking one. “Sure, I’ve got nothing better to do,” Topaz replied sarcastically. He pulled out some kind of tray with three PokeBalls on top of it. In each PokeBall held a rare Pokemon. Topaz was able to identify them quickly. “Chikorita, Cyndaquil, and Totodile,” she said quietly. “They are pretty cute, but I still can’t take one. Sorry.” “That’s too bad, but if you change your mind, you can always come back,” he said quickly. He really wanted to get rid of these Pokemon. Topaz suddenly remembered the Rocket grunts talking about taking some Silver Wing from one of the teachers in the school. Maybe it would be a good thing to ask about it while she was still here, because she was a little curious. “Hey Professor, do you know about something called a “Silver Wing”?” He gave her a shocking look. “H-how do you know about the Silver Wing?” Good thing she asked, he did know. “When I was in that battle, one of those grunts brought it up. He said one of the teachers in the school had it and they were trying to take it, I guess.” He stayed silent for a moment and turned to his desk. “This isn’t good. If they know I have it, then they could easily take it from me. I don’t know what they plain to do with it, but I know it isn’t safe with me now.” Topaz couldn’t really say anything at the moment. “Topaz… could you take this Silver Wing and keep it safe? You’re a very trustworthy student, and since I can’t hold onto it anymore, I don’t know who else I should turn to…” He pulled a large, Silver feather out of his desk and handed it to her. She examined it, and it wasn’t like any ordinary Pidgy or Spearow feather. It felt really hard, and probably couldn’t be broken easily. She guessed it was something from the Pokemon, Skarmory, but this feather didn’t even looking like it was made of steel. Girafa nudged her, wanting to look at it herself. Topaz brought it down in front of her face so she could see. “Umm… but what if those Rockets find out that I have it? Then what am I supposed to do?” she asked. “I don’t know… lets just hope they don’t find out…”
Topaz and Girafa walked on back home. The Silver Wing was safe in her book bag, which she always had with her. “I still have to wonder, what’s so important about this thing? It’s nice and all, but still, what kind of bad stuff could Team Rocket do with this?” Girafa just tilted her head to the side, unsure. “Well, whatever. Lets just hurry back to the house. It’s getting dark out.” Topaz started to run towards her house, which was just a few blocks away. Girafa followed closely behind. Neither of them noticed that across the street, a trainer and his Xatu were standing in the shadows, glaring at them as they ran off towards home.

Chapter Four
Team Rocket Returns

Today seemed like a normal day in New Bark Town, but unlike any other normal day, it was snowing. However, that didn’t matter to Topaz. Like any other weekend morning, she and Girafa would get up and ready, hang around the house for about an hour, and then go outside to train. Her mom begged her to put on a heavy winter jacket, but Topaz insisted that she would be fine. She and her Pokemon walked outside to see everything covered in snow. However, it wasn’t that cold out yet. The two walked off towards the park to get into some battles. They sat down at a bench by the small cement arena (which had many large holes and cracks in from previous battles) and waited for a trainer to walk by and challenge them. Topaz was the shy type; she couldn’t just walk up to anybody and ask for a battle. Instead, she would let the trainers ask her and then she was good to go. “Huh… there aren’t too many trainers out today. Maybe it’s because of all the snow. Chickens. How can you be a trainer if your too scared to go out in the cold?” Girafa tugged at Topazes hoodie, as if she wanted her to see something. “What it is girl?” Topaz turned to see Theseus, her next door neighbor, and his Pokemon, walking towards her. They weren’t really friends, but they would talk sometimes and occasionally battle. “Hey, Topaz, what’s up?” he asked her. Prometheus, his Arcanine, sat down beside him. “Eh, I’m just waiting for someone to come by and ask for a battle. It doesn’t hurt for Girafa to gain a little extra experience,” she replied, certain that he would ask for a battle. “We could have a quick battle, I guess.” She knew he would ask. “Ok, so are we gonna get this thing started or what?”
The two beginner trainers stood at the opposite ends of the arena. Girafa stood in front of Topaz, ready to get the battle started. Theseus sent out his Aerodactyl, Amelia. “So, how does a simple one-on-one sound?” he asked Topaz. Since she had only one Pokemon, it was probably fair enough for a friendly battle. “That’s good enough for me. You can start.” “Alright, then. Amelia, use Ancient Power!” The prehistoric dragon flew up a few feet in the air and created some large rocks with her mind. Then with a strong beat of her wings, they were hurled towards Girafa. “Dodge it, now!” Topaz shouted. Girafa attempted to dodge the stones, but they flew at her too quickly, making her fall over. She slowly got back up and shook herself. “Are you alright, girl?” Topaz asked her. Girafa threw up her head and stomped her hoof, showing that she was still able to battle. “Ok, then use your Energy Ball attack!” The Pokemon closed her eyes and created a green ball in front of her forehead. It came flying towards Amelia, striking her in the wing. However, she wasn’t down yet. “Amelia, use your Flamethrower!” Theseus commanded her. Just before she could attack her opponent, an ear-splitting shriek came out of no where. Topaz, Theseus, and their Pokemon, all turned to see another high school student, probably a few years older then them, running down the road. She was being chased by a Houndoom. Out of nowhere came about two-dozen more hellish Pokemon, damaging the streets as if they were all a tornado, destroying everything in it’s path. “What’s going one here? Don’t tell me Team Rocket is back already!” Theseus exclaimed. Just as he said it, Team Rocket members came as if out of nowhere, instructing their Pokemon to break into the high school and the Pokemon Research Lab. That’s when one word came into Topazes head; Silver Wing. Luckily, she had her book bag with her, but after having that battle with the Rockets the previous day, they would probably suspect that she had it. “Theseus, I need to get to the lab!” Topaz told him. Before she could run off, he grabbed onto her shoulder. “Hey, I know you took down a few Rockets yesterday, but there is no way you can take down this many of them!” “I’m not battling. I need to see the professor,” she told him. He wouldn’t understand, but that was all she could say. She couldn’t risk mentioning the Silver Wing to anybody. “You’ll never make in there, though. Look, they’ve already broken into the building!” “Good, then you can stall them while I go find the Professor. This is really important. Girafa, lets go!” The two just ran off, leaving Theseus and Amelia behind. “We can’t just let those two go by themselves. Lets go help out.” Amelia nodded in agreement, and with that they both chased after Topaz and Girafa.
Topaz and Girafa entered the lab for the second time. All of the professor’s aids and their Pokemon were knocked out. The only people left standing were about four or five Rockets and their Pokemon, searching the place for you-know-what. One of the grunts looked towards her. It just so happened to be one of the grunts she and Girafa fought with the previous day. “Eh, you again? Look, kid, I’m not going to battle, but if you want to avoid any more trouble, I suggest you leave,” he said bluntly. “Where is the professor?” she asked, ignoring his whole statement. “Huh, you tell me. All his helpers said was that he was gone for the time being… nothing else. Now, me and my buddies are in the middle of some serious business and we don’t need a tough trainer like you messing around, so could you just leave us alone?” Just then Theseus came through the door. “Topaz, come with me. Now,” he said, not even caring if there were Rocket members around. He then left, and Topaz followed him out the door. “Ok, what do you want?” Topaz asked. “Yeah, I found out where professor Elm is, and apparently he needs to talk to you.” “Well, that’s great. Where is he?” “He’s actually in his home for once, hiding. So are we going or what?” “Well yeah, I really need to discuss something with him.” The two trainers ran through the streets, trying to avoid any battles with the Rocket members. Apparently the Rockets weren’t too concerned about anyone else at the moment, but if someone did get in their way, they probably would get injured by their Pokemon. When they reached the house, the two trainers just walked right in. Now was not the time to be polite and knock on the door. “Hey, Professor, you in here?” Topaz called. “I’m in the basement. Get down here now!” they heard him call back. Theseus walked into the lower level first, with Topaz and Girafa following behind. “Topaz, please tell me you still have the Silver Wing! If those grunts ever got th…” “It’s right here, Professor,” Topaz interrupted him while patting her book bag. “It’s been with me all along.” Theseus gave them a confused look. “Wait, I don’t think we are all on the right chapter here. What exactly are you two talking about?” Topaz opened up her book bag and pulled out the silver-colored feather. “This,” she said as she showed it to him. Theseus just nodded and decided to let them continue. “Professor, I don’t know if I should continue to hold onto this. The whole town is being taken over by Rockets, and I’m sure it wont be long until they figure out that I have the Silver Wing,” Topaz started. “That’s why I told Theseus to bring you here. Topaz, if I kept the Silver Wing with me, it would be a little too easy for those Rocket members to take it. Now, since you have the Silver wing, you can at least fight those goons off. However, we already know that there are too many of those Rockets here for one trainer to fight off. That’s why I need you to leave the town.” “Wait… leave? I can’t do that, my parents would kill me!” “Never mind your parents, they’ll understand if I ever get the chance to tell them.” Topaz stared at the floor. That’s when Theseus finally spoke. “Professor Elm, what is so special about this Silver Wing anyways? Even if Team Rocket did take it, what would they want to do with it?” Topaz looked up, “You know, if I am going to leave, I think it is only right that we know something about the Silver Wing. Otherwise, you can take your feather back and deal with Team Rocket yourself.” Professor Elm sighed, “If you must know, legend has it that the Silver Wing has the power to awaken a certain legendary Pokemon. Now you know why I am so worried about this. If Team Rocket ever laid their hands on the Silver Wing, who knows what kinds of trouble they’ll cause.” Topaz and Theseus stayed silent. “Now, I can’t guarantee that this is true, as I only stick to facts and not legends, but ever since I heard about the Brass Tower incident that happened hundreds of years ago in Ecruteak City, I decided I’m not going to take any chances with it.” Topaz closed her eyes and thought for a moment. “If it’s for keeping a legendary Pokemon and the rest of Johto safe, I’ll do it. I’ll leave New Bark Town,” she said. It may be a good chance to battle a few Gym Leaders, but truthfully, she really didn’t want to leave. “Wait… but if Topaz leaves and Team Rocket does catch up to her, then what?” Theseus asked. Topaz took a moment to think again. “I have a plan. Your Pokemon are stronger then mine, Theseus, so if Team Rocket does find Professor Elm and asks him about the Silver Wing, he can say that you have it. The Rockets will chase you down, not knowing that I actually have the Silver Wing. How does that sound?” “Fair enough, it’s about time I got out of this town anyways, but we’ll have to go different directions. Like you said, since my team is stronger, I’ll head north to Blackthorn, the dragon city. The trainer’s Pokemon are too powerful for Girafa, so you two will be better off going west to CherryGrove and so on.” Then Elm jumped back into the conversation, “That sounds fine, you two. I just hope you pack some warm clothing, because winter has started now. We really don’t need a few trainers freezing to death.” “We’ll be fine,” Topaz and Theseus said at the same time. “Alright, you guys, I’m gunna get going now. Good luck, Topaz,” Theseus finished. With that, he left the basement. “Maybe I should get going too. Don’t worry about telling my parents that I’m gone. I’ll just send my dad an email in the Pokemon Center once I get to CherryGrove. I‘m sure he‘ll understand,” Topaz explained. “Could you just wait a second, Topaz?” the professor asked her. He handed her a PokeBall. Inside was a Cyndaquil. “Please take him with you, I insist. He’s a fire type, so maybe he’ll be good to have with you when it gets cold out.” Topaz could see the tiny Pokemon looking back at her through the transparent top of the ball. She could tell right away that he wanted to come with her. “Fine, I’ll take him…” Topaz was interrupted by a few loud bangs on the front door. Obviously Team Rocket. “Ok, Topaz, get going. Go through the back door and get out of the town as quickly as you can. I’ll be fine.”
Topaz, Girafa, and her new unnamed Pokemon were at the edge of the town, ready to leave for CherryGrove. She looked back to see a few Rocket grunts wandering around yet, but they didn’t seem to notice her. With that, she and her two Pokemon ran off through the snow, hoping that this whole mess would be over soon. However, this is still only the beginning.

Chapter Five
Versus The Master Of Darkness

Topaz and her Pokemon continued to walk down the route that lead to CherryGrove. The city wasn’t that far away from New Bark Town, maybe about two hours walking distance. In fact, most of the cites and towns in the Johto region weren’t too far away from each other. Cyndaquil, Topaz’s new Pokemon, struggled to walk through the snow every now and then. Whenever this happened, the Cyndaquil would blast an Ember attack at the snow to melt it, startling Topaz every time. “Jeeze, I really need to think of a name for you, buddy,” Topaz said, looking down at her new teammate. The Cyndaquil shot another Ember attack at the snow, instantly melting it. “You know, I’ll bet you could burn just about anything with that fire. Your supposed to be a volcano Pokemon, right? Or at least your evolved form, I think. Maybe I should name you something that relates to volcanoes… I don’t know…” Girafa tilted her head in confusion. As for Cyndaquil, he didn’t seem to care so much. He was too busy clearing the snow in front of him. Topaz stopped and looked ahead. Just a few miles away was the city.
Topaz walked into the Pokemon Center. Not only was it a place for trainers to heal their Pokemon, but you were able to use the computers, have battles downstairs, and stay overnight if you needed too. And it was all free! Topaz brought Girafa back into her GreatBall and gave her to the nurse at the counter so she could heal up for a few hours. Cyndaquil was fine and didn’t need any healing. Topaz walked over to a computer and opened up a web browser. Cyndaquil sat down beside the chair, as if he wanted up, so Topaz picked him up and put him on her lap, hoping he wouldn’t burn her. Topaz opened up her emails. Nothing new in her inbox, so she started a new message. The email was for her dad, just to let him know that she wasn’t going to be home for a few days. She typed for about five minutes, checked the spelling and grammar, and sent it to her dad. After that, she logged off and sat at one of the chairs, with Cyndaquil in the one beside her. “You know, I was thinking about nicknames for you while typing up that email, and I think the name Cinder would suit you the best. What do you think?” The Cyndaquil tilted it’s head, and then turned and nodded with a smile. Pokemon were always so easy to nickname. “Alright, from now on Girafa and I will call you Cinder!” Topaz said as she smiled back. To her, it seemed only right to nickname a Pokemon, because calling a Cyndaquil “Cyndaquil” is just like calling a Dog “Dog”.
Topaz was drawing in her sketch book those next few hours. She was planning to stay in the Pokemon Center until she heard something on the news about Team Rocket disappearing or something along those lines. So during that time, she decided to practice her drawing skills. Cinder watched her in amazement as she drew a Typlosion, Cyndaquil’s evolved form. There were a few mess-ups here and there, but overall it looked pretty good.
Theseus and Prometheus walked slowly up the mountain that lead to Blackthorn city. It would be a long, harsh walk for them, as there were many strong wild Pokemon, possibly strong trainers, a very steep path, and the cold. In the mountains it was always colder then usual, and right now the temperature was probably around -25C. Theseus tried to stay close to his fire dog, as his body was warm from the fire inside him, but even then it felt like he was going to freeze to death sometime soon. Suddenly, Prometheus stopped and looked around. “Huh, what’s the matter boy? It someone there?” Theseus asked, looking around too. Suddenly, a shadow dashed out from behind a rock and hid behind another. It was so quick that Theseus couldn’t tell what kind of Pokemon it could have been. “Whatever it is, I’m sure it isn’t a huge threat to us…,” he assured Prometheus. “That’s what you think,” a voice called out of nowhere, and at that moment the shadow Pokemon jumped out of hiding at lightning speed, just missing Prometheus’s head. Theseus and his Pokemon turned around to see an Umbreon standing proudly before them. It wasn’t even close to being half the size of Prometheus, so if they had to battle it, Theseus was certain that they would win. That is, until he saw it’s trainer appear out of the shadows and stand beside it. Theseus recognized her instantly; she was Karen of the Elite Four. “Well, that didn’t take very long to track you down,” she said with a smile. Theseus, with nothing better to say, shouted back, “What do you want? A battle?” She crossed her arms. “No… there is something else I want.” Theseus gave her a confused look. What could a famous celebrity want from some newbie trainer like himself? “I believe you have the Silver Wing with you, correct?” she asked him. Theseus was just about to say that he didn’t have it, but he remembered that this was the whole plan… except this unexpected encounter. What would she want with the Silver Wing ? First Team Rocket, and now an Elite. “How did you know that I have it?” he asked, trying to sound honest. “My ‘minions’ and I paid a visit to Professor Elms house, since they can’t seem to do anything right on there own. He told us that some trainer heading out to Blackthorn had it, so I decided to and hunt you down by myself.” Theseus starred at her in shock. “Your… part of Team Rocket?” he asked, his body starting to shiver all over. Prometheus crouched down and gave a low growl. “That’s right, but that isn’t your problem. Now, could you be a sweet little boy and hand over the Silver wing?” Theseus stepped back a pace. “No. You can’t have it,” he told her, trying to sound confident. “Is that so? I guess I’ll have to take it from you, then,” she said, glaring at him. “Umbreon, faint attack,” she commanded her Pokemon. The black fox disappeared instantly. Theseus thought that it would attack Prometheus, but just before he could give him a command, the Umbreon struck him from behind, knocking him face first into the snow. He got to his knees, ordering Prometheus to use his Overheat attack. However, the Umbreon was too quick and dodged it. The Umbreon made a U-turn and dashed towards Prometheus, attempting to bite his neck. “Look, if you don’t want your Pokemon to suffer a painful death, I suggest you give the Silver Wing to me and this can all be over with,” she told him. Theseus said nothing and sent out another one of his teammates to help Prometheus. It wasn’t Amelia, but his starter Pokemon, Ezio, a Scizor. “Alright you two, use an X Scissor-Overheat combo!” Theseus shouted. Prometheus released a large blast of fire, and at the same time Ezio flew to the Umbreon and tried to slice it with it’s claws. Not the best strategy, but Theseus was certain that it would do some damage. However, it backfired. Ezio was hit with a Flamethrower attack, fired from a Houndoom. Since fire was super-effective to the Bug/Steel type, Ezio fell into the snow, knocked out. Theseus sent his wounded Pokemon back to his PokeBall and sent out Amelia. “I’m sorry, but it just wasn’t fair that you got to use two Pokemon while I was using only one. The rest of that team of yours will end up like your Scizor if you don’t give me the Silver Wing,” she said as her Houndoom ran up to Prometheus and bit him with a Thunder Fang attack. “I already told you, I wont let you have it!” Theseus screamed at her. “Now your asking for it. Houndoom, use Hyper Beam!” The Houndoom opened it’s mouth and shot a lazar at both Prometheus and Amelia. One moment there was a blinding light, and the next moment both of Theseus’s Pokemon lay on the snow-covered ground, defeated. Theseus backed up in shock. “H-how? How could have they lost so easily?” he asked himself. Theseus was knocked into the snow again by the Houndoom and was pinned to the ground. Karen walked a bit closer to him. “Now will you give the Silver Wing to me? If you refuse… this will be the last you’ll ever see of this world.” Theseus closed his eyes, wishing that this whole thing had never happened. Finally, he decided to tell her the truth. “I don’t have it,” he admitted. “Well, this is a disappointment. Houndoom, would you like to finish him off?” “WAIT!” Theseus cried, not wanting to loose his life. “If you kill me, then it’ll take you forever to find out where the Silver Wing really is,” he said quickly. He really didn’t want Topaz to be hurt, but he didn’t want to give up his life for nothing either. “Go on…,” she said. Her Houndoom got off of Theseus and let him stand up. “My friend has it… she had it all along. I was just trying to keep you… Team Rocket from taking the Silver Wing.” “Mmmhmm… and where is this friend of yours now?” Theseus decided it might be best to tell her, “She’s in CherryGrove city.” Karen took a moment to think. “If she really is in CherryGrove, I am certain the those grunts would have found her by now. However, if your wrong, the next time I find you, I will kill you.” With that she walked back south with her Houndoom and Umbreon close behind. Theseus watched her until he could no longer see her, and then he pulled out his PokeGear, a device that he almost never used, and sent Topaz a quick email. ‘Topaz, it’s me, Theseus. Not only is Team Rocket after you, but your also being chased down by the Elite Four. If your in CherryGrove city, I want you to head to Violet city ASAP.’

Chapter Six
On The Run

That morning Topaz woke up in the Pokemon Center. Cinder was still sleeping next to here, and her sketch book had fallen onto the floor. She looked around to see a few trainers still asleep, and a few were awake and tending to their Pokemon. She got up and put her sketch book back into here book bag and left Cinder on his chair to sleep a little while longer. Topaz walked over to the PC and opened up her emails again. There was one new message in her inbox. She assumed that it was from her dad, but when she saw that the message was from Theseus, she wondered what it could be about. She clicked on it and read it in shock, ‘Topaz, it’s me, Theseus. Not only is Team Rocket after you, but your also being chased down by the Elite Four. If your in CherryGrove city, I want you to head to Violet city ASAP’. She read it over and over again, trying to make sure that she wasn’t reading what she thought she was reading, but she saw the same thing every time. Topaz also had to wonder if Theseus was making this up, but he was too serious of a guy to play jokes, especially in a crises like this. That left her with one option; go to Violet city and try to avoid Team Rocket and these Elites, if they really were after her, that is. Topaz grabbed her book bag and made sure that she had everything, woke up Cinder and got Girafa back from the nurse. With that, they walked out into the cold and continued on their way north.
Karen walked into the office at Team Rocket Hideout. At the far side of the room came the same eerie voice as before. “…Well?” it crackled. “It turns out that he doesn’t have it. He was being used as a… distraction for us so his friend could get away with the Silver Wing. I’ve sent a few of the grunts after her, so…” “Is… this the same girl who blew our plans at the school?” the voice interrupted. “I have no idea, but what would it matter anyways? I’ll bet she is just another weakling trainer,” she told him.
Topaz and her Pokemon continued north to Violet city. “You know… since we are running away and all, maybe once we get to Violet city we should battle the Gym Leader and try to get a Gym Badge. At least if you guys win, it’ll show that your strong Pokemon and, well…,” before Topaz could finish, she heard a scream from behind. A girl and her Flaafy came running towards them, and a few Team Rocket members and their Pokemon were chasing her. “Give us the Silver Wing!” they shouted. “I already told you, I don’t know what your talking about!” she yelled back. The trainer and her Pokemon stopped beside Topaz. “Hey, you’re a trainer, right?” she asked Topaz. “Well… yeah…,” Topaz responded, not liking the looks of this. “Great, do you think you could help me beat up these guys? It wont take long, I promise,” she told Topaz, giving her a smile. Topaz glared at the Rocket grunts as they came running towards them, and then stopped in their tracks. “Hey… your…?” “…the brat that ruined your plans back in New Bark Town? I know,” Topaz finished, noticing that he was the same grunt she had battled in the school and had met up with again in the Professors lab. “We lost badly last time, but we aren’t about to let that happen again! Go, Arbok!” The grunt sent out a snake-like Pokemon, a lot larger then the Ekans Topaz saw last time. Perhaps it evolved? “Don’t be so sure. Are you ready for this, Cinder?” Topaz asked her newest Pokemon. He nodded his head and got ready for his first battle. “Ok, Flaafy, get up there too!” the other trainer commanded her Pokemon. Two other Rocket grunts sent out their Pokemon, Koffing and Zubat. “Pfft, this is going to be easy,” muttered the trainer, “ok, Flaafy, start off by using Thundershock on the Zubat and Koffing! The more we can get down at once, the better!” The Flaafy unleashed a powerful electric attack at the two Pokemon. Having a type-advantage over the Flying Type, Zubat was knocked out instantly. The Koffing was still levitating in the air, but it looked as if it could faint any moment. “Alright, Cinder, finish off Koffing with Tackle!” Topaz ordered her Pokemon. He jumped up and knocked the Koffing into the snow. So far, so good, now all that was left was the Arbok. “Arbok, how about we get back at our little ‘friend’ here? Use Poison Fang on Cyndaquil!” The Arbok came flying towards Cinder at lightning speed, ready to sink it’s teeth into him. “Not so fast!” shouted the trainer, “Flaafy, get in front of Cyndaquil and use Tackle!” Just before the Arbok could reach Cinder, Flaafy pushed him aside and tackled the Arbok’s head. It shook Flaafy off and sunk it’s teeth into her instead. The electric sheep lay in the snow, Poisoned, but still able to fight for a short while. She slowly got back up and shook herself, allowing sparks to fly freely off of her wooly body. “Sorry, Flaafy, your done now. Have a rest,” the trainer said as she sent her Pokemon back to it’s PokeBall. To replace her, she sent out another Pokemon; a Houndoom. “There, Devios should be able to take care of that Arbok.” Topaz was almost shocked to see her send out the Hell Hound. It looked pretty strong too; maybe this trainer didn’t need any help at all, but Topaz wasn’t just about to quit. “Cinder, use Ember on the Arbok!” Topaz told her Pokemon. Cinder ran up to it and shot a strong fire attack from his mouth. Topaz had hoped that this would be it, but the giant snake was still standing. “We’ll finish it off. Devios, FireFang!” The Houndoom bit the Arbok in the neck, and it looked as if small flames were building up around his teeth when he did so. Surprisingly, the Arbok fell into the snow, defeated. “What the- I don’t know how kids like you are able to beat us adults so easily. Not that that really matters right now. What does matter is that Silver Wing. Now if you could please give it to me?” Topaz was just about to respond, assuming that he was talking to her, but then the other trainer shouted back before Topaz could say anything. “I already told you, I don’t know who your talking about! Leave me alone!” One of the other grunts came forward, “She has a backpack. How about we search it and see if it’s in there?” “Good idea,” said another one of the grunts, and then they all started walking towards her. “Hey, wait a moment, you can’t just go and look through my stuff! Get away from me!” the trainer shouted at them. Topaz knew that this was wrong and had to do something quickly. “She doesn’t have the Silver Wing,” Topaz told them, trying her best to stay calm. They all turned towards her. The grunt that she had met back in New Bark Town was the first to talk, “Really? Then who does have it?” Topaz stayed silent for a moment and thought about her answer. If she told the truth and said she had it, then they would take the Silver Wing from her, and who knew what would happen next. If she lied somehow, then that could possibly get her into more trouble later on, but she had made a promise to Professor Elm that she would not lose it to Team Rocket. She made her final decision, she was going to lie. “Uh, some girl about my age showed me it in Cherry Grove City yesterday. I’ll bet she’s still there too.” The Rocket grunt glared at her. “You better not be lying about this, kid. We’ve been searching for this Silver Wing for awhile now.” The trainer that helped Topaz in the last battle stepped forward and asked, “Why do you need this ‘Silver Wing’ anyways?” “Our… new leader hasn’t said why he needs it. I kinda don’t get why he would want it either, but we have to do what he says anyways or else…,” the Rocket grunt shivered, “uh, well, it isn’t any of your business.” With that, the three Rocket grunts ran off towards Cherry Grove. “Wow… that was strange. But thanks for helping me out there anyways,” the trainer thanked Topaz. “No problem. But it didn’t look like you needed any help during that battle.” “Yeah, during the battle. If you weren’t here to tell them that they mistook me for some other person, I’ll bet they would have took all of my stuff with them by now. Or something.” Topaz looked away. Was that really the right thing to do? Sure, it was right to keep them away from this trainer, but she still lied to them. What would happen now? “Um, hello, are you still there?” The trainer asked Topaz. “Uh, yeah. I was just thinking about something.” “Oh, ok. By the way, my name is Saria. Yours?” “Topaz.” “Oh, cool. So, are you going to the Violet Gym too?” Topaz had thought about it, but now that she was getting closer to Violet City, she wasn’t too sure if she even had the courage to enter the Gym. “Um, you are a trainer, right?” Saria asked her. “Well, yeah. I guess my Pokemon and I could go to the Gym…” “Hey, why don’t you come with us then? We are both headed towards the same place, so why not?” Saria asked Topaz, hoping for a yes. “Well…,” Topaz said as she looked down at Cinder. He gave her an excited nod. “…I guess we could go together.” “Great! Lets go then!” Saria said happily and dashed off towards the City, her Houndoom following her close behind. Topaz and Cinder ran after her, trying to keep up.

Chapter Seven
Versus The Dragon Master

Theseus rushed into the Pokemon Center in Blackthorn city. He handed his three PokeBalls to the nurse and waited for his Pokemon to heal up. Theseus sat down at a table and fiddled around with his PokeGear, and while doing so he thought of what happened a little less then a day ago. He had met one of the Elite 4 members, and it turned out that she was working for Team Rocket. What was up with that? All this time he thought that the Elites were good guys, but maybe he was wrong. When they had battled, Theseus had lost. Maybe Prometheus would have had a chance against Karen’s Houndoom if he had ordered him to use his Protect attack. How come he didn’t think of it before? Maybe it was because the battle was just so sudden, and he couldn’t think straight? It didn’t really matter now, though. Maybe he should just head back to New Bark Town and tell everyone what happened. He could tell the police about what happened and maybe they could do something about it… or maybe not, because they had failed to stop Team Rocket three years ago in Kanto, and instead they were stopped by a 13 year old trainer and his Pokemon. “Uh, hello? Could you go get your Pokemon? Other people need to use that machine too, you know,” said a voice that snapped Theseus out of his daydreaming. Theseus looked up to see an older trainer and his Ariados. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize that they were done healing,” Theseus told him as he got up to walk over to the counter. He took his three PokeBalls and strapped them to his belt, while the other trainer walked up beside him and handed the nurse two PokeBalls. Ariados started to climb the counter, but was stopped by his trainer, “you don’t really need to be healed, buddy. Your fine.” Then he looked at Theseus, “by the way, I’m Devan. And your…” “Theseus,” he replyed quickly. “Nice to meet you. So I’m guessing you’re here to challenge the Gym Leader, right?” Devan asked him. The short time Theseus was here, he didn’t think once about challenging the Gym Leader. “I could, but I hear the Gym Leader uses dragon types. I don’t know if my team would be strong enough, so if anything, we’ll start by doing some more training first.” “Huh… do you really think it would be that hard? Look at this,” Devan said as he pulled out a small case from his backpack. He opened it and pulled out the Blackthorn Gym Badge, “Clair was almost a little too easy to beat. And she claims that she can beat the Elite 4 without any problems. Yeah right.” Theseus thought for a moment. “Well, I guess I could give it a try…,” he started. Theseus had heard that Clair was related to Lance, the Pokemon Master of Kanto and Johto. Maybe after the battle he could ask Clair if she knew anything about the Elite 4 or possibly her own cousin joining Team Rocket, and try to get a few things sorted out. “Great, I’ll come down and watch; as much as I like to battle myself, it’s also nice to watch other trainers battle. Besides, I have nothing else to do while waiting for my Pokemon to heal up,” Devan told him.
Theseus and Devan arrived at the entrance of the Gym. Just to be standing there in front of it made Theseus have second thoughts about going inside, but he did have a goal to collect all of the Johto Gym Badges at some point, so now was probably his only chance to achieve some of that goal. With that, he pushed open the door and walked inside, Devan following him close behind. “Use Dragon Pulse!” someone yelled just as the door closed behind the two trainers. A blinding light filled the arena for a few seconds, making Theseus have to cover his eyes. When he opened them again, he could see a trainer and a fainted Seaking standing on their side of the stadium. “She’s to strong…,” the trainer muttered as he sent the fish Pokemon back to it’s PokeBall. He turned around and ran towards the door, shoving Theseus and Devan aside. “Are you sure she is an easy Gym Leader to beat?” Theseus asked Devan. “Well… she was for me,” he said as he looked towards the far end of the stadium. Theseus looked himself and was almost shocked to see the Gym Leader and her Dragonair. No one else except for an announcer was in the stadium. He was just standing on the side lines, probably there to just keep everything in order. Devan pushed Theseus forward. “Hey, what do you think your doing?” Theseus snapped at him. “Well, this battle is going to have to start sooner or later.” “You don’t need to rush me!” Theseus took a few more steps forward, unsure of what to say. “Another trainer? Well, alright, I guess we could have a quick battle. I hope your not another weak trainer, though. It gets to be boring when all the trainers we battle are weak,” she stated. “I assure you, my team isn’t weak. I bet we’ll win this battle easily,” Theseus said as he pulled out Amelia’s PokeBall. “That’s what they all say. Shall we start?” Clair’s Dragonair was already out on the arena, ready to fight. Theseus sent out Amelia, his Aerodactyl. “Amelia, start with Ancient Power!” Theseus ordered his wyvern. She hurled rocks at the Dragonair, hitting it hard. Just one more Ancient Power and it would be down. “Wow, your Pokemon are stronger then I thought, but we still wont lose. Dragon Breath!” The Dragonair shot an attack from it’s mouth that looked almost like a Flamethrower, but the scent of it could make anyone feel sick. It hit Amelia, making her fall to the stadium floor. She tried to get back up, but the side-effects from the breath had paralyzed her. “Good job, Amelia. You can rest,” Theseus said as he sent her back to her PokeBall. “Ok, Ezio, I’ll leave it to you!” He shouted as he sent out a Scizor. This was his strongest Pokemon, so hopefully he could win the battle without any further problems. “Use X Scissor!” Ezio flew towards the Dragonair and sliced it with it’s claws in an X shape. Surprisingly, the Dragonair fainted instantly. “What!?! How is that even possible? Whatever, Dragonair may have been easy, but there is no way you can get past Kingdra!” Clair snapped at Theseus as she sent out the blue sea dragon. Just then the stadium started to shake slightly. Theseus had to wonder what it could be, and the he noticed the middle of the stadium had started to open up, revealing a large pool of water. “Now, use Dive!” Clair instructed her Kingdra as it dove deep into the water. “That attack uses two turns, so now would be a good time to use Swords Dance!” Theseus told Ezio. Transparent swords spun around Ezio, sharply raising his attack. Just as the attack finished, the Kingdra shot out of the water and came flying towards Ezio. “Now, Bullet Punch!” Theseus commanded. Ezio got ready to attack, and just when the Kingdra came close enough he shot fast punch right into it, stopping Kingdra from attacking. Kingdra fell back into the water, defeated. “What? There is no way I could have lost that easily!” she shouted in disbelief. Finally, the announcer spoke, “It was a fair battle. Now give this young man a Badge.” Devan leaned up against Theseus, “ see? I told you she was easy to beat.” Clair walked up to the two trainers, still upset that she had lost so easily. “What? You got a quick, tough battle, just like you wanted. Why are you still upset?” Devan asked, but in a way that it would annoy her. “Shut up,” she mumbled as she walked past him. “Well, a loss is a loss. Here is the Rising Badge, guaranteed to make your Pokemon a lot stronger,” Clair told Theseus as she handed him a black Badge shaped like the head of a dragon. Unsure of what to do with it, he put it in his pocket. “Uh… is that where you put all your badges?” Clair asked him, giving him a weird look. “This is only my first badge,” he told her. “Seriously? Now I feel even worse loosing to you. I’m done for the day,” she said bluntly as she shoved Theseus aside to leave the Gym. Then Theseus remembered that he was going to ask her about the Elite 4. “Hey wait, I need to ask you something!” Theseus shouted, trying to stop her. Too late, she had already left. “What did you need to ask her anyways?” Devan asked Theseus. “It’s nothing important. I guess I wont bother anyways… lets go back to the Pokemon Center, Ezio,” he called to his Pokemon. Devan said nothing and followed.
Devan got his Pokemon back from the nurse and sat down with Theseus, “so, Theseus, what are you going to do now? You said that was your first Gym Badge, so are you going to get more Gym Badges or what?” “I don’t know what I’m going to do now. I’ve got a friend in trouble, but I think she is already in Violet City and…,” Theseus started, only to be interrupted by Devan. “In trouble? Jeeze, what’s wrong?” “Well… maybe I should just keep it secret.” “No, tell me! I might even help out too!” So with that, Theseus told Devan all about the Silver Wing story.
“Uh huh. So let me just summarize this. Your friend got this Silver Wing from Professor Elm because apparently Team Rocket has returned and they have plans to take it. Then Team Rocket came to New Bark Town and practically started to rip the whole town apart just to get the Silver Wing. So you and your friend fled from the town but took different routes, and you were just used as a distraction so Team Rocket could follow you and not your friend. Then on your way here you met up with Karen, and it turns out that she and the other Elites are helping Team Rocket with whatever. And she threatened to kill you. Now your worried that something bad might happen to this friend of yours. Is that what happened?” “Yes, that’s the whole story,” Theseus told him. “Well then… that has to be the most ridiculous story I’ve ever heard!” Devan said, nearly starting to laugh. “What? You don’t believe it?” Theseus asked, shocked. “Most of it, yeah. Team Rocket was defeated years ago, and common, the Elite 4 are totally anti-Team Rocket!” Just then, the large flat screen TV on the wall of the Pokemon Center turned on. It was a news update. Some of the trainers in the Pokemon Center got up and stood around it. Theseus and Devan did too. “It looks as if Team Rocket may have returned. Yesterday in New Bark Town, members of Team Rocket and their Pokemon had started to terrorize the whole town, breaking into houses and shops…” Theseus turned to Devan and glared at him. “Well, sorry!” Devan said sarcastically. They continued to watch. “No one knows where Team Rocket may strike next, so we suggest that no matter where you live in Johto or Kanto, please keep a lookout for them…” That was enough. Theseus and Devan sat back down. “Told you so,” Theseus said, still giving Devan a little glare. “Ok, I believe you on the whole Team Rocket thing, but the Elite 4 being part of Team Rocket? Now I just can’t see that happening.” Theseus looked away, “believe what you want to believe, but I know I’m right.”

Chapter Eight
The First Dream

Saria and her Houndoom, Devios, ran like the wind towards Violet City, while Topaz and Cinder tried to catch up. “Hey, Saria, could you stop for a minute? I’m a little tired from all that running,” Topaz yelled tiredly as she started to slow down. Cinder stopped beside her, panting. “Aww, why? Were almost there! How can you even be tired?” Saria asked as she came running back towards Topaz. “How can you run for ten minutes without taking a break?” Topaz asked while she dug through her book bag for a bottle of raspberry flavored water. “I had some of my leftover chocolate and candy from Christmas this morning, and I think the sugar rush is starting to kick in!” Topaz gave Saria a blank stare, and then finally asked,“…wouldn’t a sugar rush just slow you down?” “I have no idea, but it feels great anyways!” Saria shouted while throwing her arms up in the air. Devios looked away and put a paw over his snout, as if he were trying to make a face palm. Topaz decided that now would be a good time to change the subject. “Ok then. Can we just walk the rest of the way there?” “Where?” “Violet City” “Oh, right, lets go!” With that Saria and Devios continued to run forward. “Hey, wait a moment! Didn’t I just say… aww, forget it,” Topaz mumbled as she continued ahead, but at her own pace.
Finally, the two trainers and their fire Pokemon arrived in Violet City. It was starting to get dark out, so Topaz recommended that she and Saria should stay at the Pokemon Center over night and possibly battle the Gym Leader the next day. They gave all their Pokemon to the nurse to heal up for the night, and then Topaz booted up one of the computers to check her emails. She logged on to her MSN and noticed that she had one new message in her inbox. So she clicked the inbox icon and read the message title. It turned out that it was from her dad. Topaz opened up the email to read that Professor Elm had told her dad about everything, except for the Silver Wing part. He must have lied about some stuff, then. Following that was a few sentences saying that she was in big trouble for leaving the town and that kind of stuff. Then to finish it off it said ‘We really miss you and we hope you can come home soon! Love Mom and Dad.’ Reading this put a little smile on Topaz, and then she closed up the email and thought for a moment. It was great that they were missing her and all, and she missed her family too, but she was getting the feeling that she might not head home very soon. She was almost stumped on what to do with the Silver Wing. However, she was now here in Violet City, and she was probably going to have her first Gym Battle the next day. Maybe she might as well stay on the run and try to collect Gym Badges while she was at it. She shook her head and reminded herself that Gym Battles were not pushovers, and very few trainers have actually been able to get all the Gym Badges. Even then, those few trainers went to challenge the Elite 4 and lost badly. The Elite 4. If they really were working with Team Rocket and were trying to track her down and take the Silver Wing, her Pokemon would have to get stronger. As for now, she would just have to hope that she wouldn’t run into any of them like Theseus might have. He never actually said in his email if he did or not, but she had a strange feeling that he might have. Topaz’s thoughts were interrupted by a “Whatcha doing?!” from Saria. Topaz was startled by the sudden question, and quickly replied by saying, “nothing.” “No, really, what are you doing?” Saria asked her again. Topaz looked back at the computer screen, “I’m just… thinking.” Saria pulled up a chair beside her, and then she sat down and asked curiously, “thinking about what?” Topaz closed her eyes, thinking to herself ‘hey, you’re a nice person and all, but could you leave me alone for a little bit…’. “Well?” Saria was really eager to know what she was thinking about. “It’s… nothing important,” Topaz mumbled. “Well, it has to be, because it’s making you look a little depressed.” It was true, Topaz wasn’t really feeling too great at the moment. She wasn’t feeling sick, she just felt really… confused. However, her new friend here didn’t need to know what was going on in her life. Topaz decided to just end the conversation with a little lie, “I’m just thinking about how the Gym Battle will go tomorrow. I’m really worried that I’m going to lose.” Saria giggled. “It’ll be fine, trust me!” Topaz smiled back, then she turned away and logged off of the computer. “Well, it’s getting late. Maybe we should get some sleep now,” Topaz yawned as she walked over to a couch in the corner of the room. “Ok, good night then! I’ll go to sleep shortly,” Saria replied, still sounding awfully hyper. Topaz lay down on the couch and leaned her book bag up against it. She kept her eyes open and continued to think about her problems. The Silver Wing, Team Rocket, running away from home, all of these thoughts buzzed through her head. After a few minutes she decided that thinking about these problems and trying to think of ways to get rid of them wouldn’t help her go to sleep. She closed her eyes and tried not to think of anything, and eventually she fell into a very deep slumber.
Topaz woke up to find herself surrounded by fire, but for some reason she didn’t feel like it was a big deal. She stood up and looked around. “H-hello? Is anyone here?” her voice echoed. “Do not be frightened, Legendary Trainer. You are not alone,” an elderly voice echoed back. ‘Legendary Trainer? What is this all about?’ she thought. “Where are you? Show yourself!” she yelled, as she couldn’t see who was talking to her. She stood for a few more seconds, and then the blazing fire in front of her burst upwards, forming a giant bird made entirely out of the flame. It beat it’s wings, shooting sparks everywhere. Topaz couldn’t help but ask, “What are you?” The giant phoenix opened it’s beak a little, but didn’t move it as he talked. “You shall refer to me as Ho-Oh. …I see that you have the sacred Silver Wing in your possession.” Hearing this gave Topaz some relief. “You know about it? Oh please, tell me what I can do to get rid of it! It has caused me nothing but trouble so far,” Topaz said hopefully. “You are meant to have the Silver Wing in your possession… to awaken another Legendary Pokemon,” the great bird started. “To awaken… a Legendary?” Topaz repeated. This was news to her. So maybe this is why he had addressed her as a Legendary Trainer to begin with? “Yes. However, if you wish to be rid of the Silver Wing… give it to Team Rocket.” Topaz stepped back. “What?” she asked. Did she maybe hear him wrong? The phoenix raised his voice, “I said give it to Team Rocket. If you think that you are not the one to awaken the Legendary, then they are.” Topaz took a few more paces back. “No! I wont let them have it!” she yelled. “So be it,” he finished. The Legendary Pokemon pulled his wings back, and then pulled them forward again, releasing a Fire Blast attack. Topaz screamed and covered her face with her arms as it came flying towards her.
Topaz opened her eyes wide and sat up. She looked around to see that she was still in the Pokemon Center. Everyone but Topaz herself was asleep. “It was just a dream…,” she whispered, “but it seemed so real… a Legendary Pokemon named Ho-Oh was forcing me to give the Silver Wing to Team Rocket…”. She quietly leaned over and unzipped her book bag and pulled out the Silver Wing. Good, she still had it. “Ho-Oh had also said I could awaken another Legendary Pokemon with this…” That’s when Topaz remembered what Professor Elm had said about the Silver Wing… his exact words. “Legend has it that the Silver Wing has the power to awaken a certain legendary Pokemon. Now you know why I am so worried about this. If Team Rocket ever laid their hands on the Silver Wing, who knows what kinds of trouble they’ll cause…” “Maybe that dream has some kind of connection with this whole thing… or maybe… it just meant nothing,” she whispered tiredly to herself. She looked at the large digital clock on the wall across from her. 4:57PM. “It’s still pretty early. I’ll try going back to sleep.”
Meanwhile, at the hidden Team Rocket base, the three grunts that Topaz and Saria had battled earlier walked down the dark hallways towards their boss’s office. “Oh man, the boss isn’t going to like this,” one of the grunts mumbled. “I knew I shouldn’t have listened to that one trainer. She said some other girl her age in CherryGrove had the Silver Wing, but we didn’t find anyone like that!” snapped the grunt that lost to her back in New Bark Town. They arrived at the office door, only to just stand and look at each other. “So, who is going to go in first this time and tell him what happened?” one of them asked. “And risk getting frozen and then smashed into countless pieces? Not me!” “Hey, you brought it up! Why don’t you go first?” They opened the door and one of the grunts was pushed into the room. It was pitch black, like always. “Uh… M-Mask?” he called out. He waited a few seconds and got no response. “I don’t think he’s in here at the moment.” “I’ll bet he’s downstairs…”
On the deepest floor of the hideout, there was a large room where Team Rocket would lock up all of the stolen Pokemon. There were rows of cages piled up on each other, each of them containing very depressed and angry looking Pokemon. At the very back of the room was one larger cage. Inside it was a giant, colorful bird. It was all chained up, allowing it to have very little movement inside the cage. A thick rope was tired around it’s beak so it couldn’t make any noise or attempt to use a breath move. The great bird attempted to break free of the chains by swinging it’s head back and fourth and flapping it’s wings. The door to the room swung open, and the Team Rocket boss silently walked in. Unlike Team Rocket’s older boss, this new leader wore tattered clothing and a mask that covered his whole face. As he walked down one of the rows of cages, most of the Pokemon inside would back up against the far end of their cage in fear. Some of the braver Pokemon would growl and snap their jaws as he passed by. However, he paid no attention to the Pokemon and walked on. He stopped when he came to the bird Pokemon’s cage and looked down at one of his newer, more experienced Team Rocket members and his Xatu. He was down on his knees and had his hand on his Xatu’s forehead while Xatu itself stared unblinking at the giant bird. “…well?” the Team Rocket boss crackled. The Rocket member took his hand off of his Xatu and stood up, “It didn’t turn out like I had planned it… Ho-Oh was practically fighting to keep my thoughts out of her dreams.” The Rocket boss turned towards what really was the real Ho-Oh, “…fighting to keep your thoughts out… how so?” “At first he had said something about her being a ‘Legendary’ trainer. I don’t know what that was all about, and I don’t really care either. This young trainer also said that she wanted to get rid of the Silver Wing, and that was when Ho-Oh told her that it was for awakening the legendary Pokemon that we are currently after. Finally, Xatu and I were able to take control and force Ho-Oh to tell her to give us the Silver Wing. She refused.” “…Well, that’s just too bad. If she isn’t going to be a nice little girl and give us the Silver Wing… we’ll have to just take it from her…” “That is what those grunt’s have been trying to do the whole time, and so far they have failed miserably. However, since Xatu and I saw her on the street that one night in New Bark Town, I have been able to use Xatu to find her location, read some of her thoughts, and mess with her dreams like we just did. Since we are able to do all of this, why don’t you just let me take command and tell those minions of yours where to find her?” “…Are you telling me that I am unable to do my job?” “Not at all. I’m just saying that we could get the Silver Wing a lot faster if you didn’t send these grunts to wherever all the time.” Before the Rocket boss could respond, the three grunts came walking up to them. “Uh… boss…,” one of them started. “…You failed to retrieve the Silver Wing… again… no matter, apparently Will here knows what he is doing… you will now follow his orders for the time being.”

Chapter Nine
What Device is better then a Cell Phone?

“Hey, Topaz, get up!” Saria yelled as she tugged on her friend’s arm. Topaz sat up and looked at the clock on the wall. It was 9:51AM. Did she really sleep in that late? “So, Topaz, you wanna go battle the Gym Leader now?”
“Are you crazy? I still need to get ready and at least have something to eat… could we just wait a few hours yet?”
“But I want to go now!” Saria whined.
“You can wait,” Topaz told her bluntly as she pulled a brush out of her book bag and began brushing knots out of her long brown hair. Saria plopped down on the couch beside her and pulled some kind of electronic device out of her back pack. “What’s that,” Topaz asked Saria just out of curiosity. “Oh, this?” Saria asked as she held it up, “it’s called a Pokegear. Why? Oh, I see, you don’t have one, do you?”
“No, I don’t, actually. What’s so special about it?” Topaz asked as she tried to brush a small knot out of her hair. Saria nearly burst out laughing. Either what Topaz said was really funny or Saria was just hyper again. “All trainers in Johto carry a Pokegear with them, Topaz. If you don’t have one, well, then you should get one!”
“I’ll think about it. What do they do anyways?”
“The Pokegear can store phone numbers and you can call people on it without having to use a phone,” she started.
“Great, looks like I don’t need to get a cell phone now. Can it do anything else?”
“Sure, it has a map of Johto and Kanto on it, it can track down any Pokemon you’ve met up with, and it even has a radio! I think it’s pretty convenient.”
“Well, I’ve got some cash with me. Perhaps we can go to an electronic store or something so I can get one?”
“Not until we battle the Gym Leader!” Saria snapped at Topaz.
“We have all day yet, jeeze. Can’t you just wait?”
“Fine…”

Saria and Topaz walked down the streets of Violet City in search of a store that sold Pokegear. Devios and Cinder followed their trainers, however they didn’t seem too happy with each other. The hell hound and the fire mouse continued to grumble to each other about who knows what. “Over here, Topaz!” Saria shouted at her. Topaz looked in the direction Saria was pointing and saw a small shop called a Pokemart. The two young trainers and their Pokemon walked into the shop. There were a few shelves with mainly Pokemon medicine and other merchandise, but Saria was able to find the Pokegear in no time. They were on a rack right next to the checkout. Topaz pulled one off the rack. It was identical to Saria’s, but it was a bright orange color. “Good enough,” Topaz muttered as she placed it on the counter in front of the clerk. “That’ll be 3000poké”. Topaz handed him the money. “Well, there goes most of my spending cash. This better be worth it,” Topaz told Saria as she picked up her new Pokegear. “Oh, it’ll worth it! What’s your number? We should exchange numbers, just in case!”
“Oh, ok. Jeeze, I wonder if Theseus has a Pokegear. It would be nice to be able to talk to him more often.”

Theseus and Devan walked through a cave known as the Dragons Den, which was located behind the Blackthorn Gym. Most trainers weren’t allowed to just go in, but since Theseus and Devan both managed to beat the Gym Leader, Clair, one of the elders allowed them to enter. The two trainers were wandering around in search of strong dragon Pokemon to battle and maybe even catch. However, Theseus didn’t seem all that interested. He was still worried about Topaz. ‘I wonder if she’s ok. If only she had a Pokegear like me or a cell phone so I could at least keep in touch with her. It must be inconvenient to always use the PokemonCenter PC…’. Just then Devan snapped Theseus out of his thoughts, “Hey, buddy, could you stop looking so down? Hunting dragons is supposed to be exciting, not dull!”
“Sorry, Devan. I’m just… thinking.”
“What, about your girlfriend? She’ll be fine, jeeze. Now could you quit worrying?”
“Your not making it any better, you know. Maybe I should just get going. Mahogany town isn’t too far away.”
“What? Leave already? But you only just got here!”
“How much longer am I expected to stay? Besides, I can’t have any fun knowing my friend is in danger.” Just then, someone interrupted their conversation, “what’s going on here?” Theseus and Devan turned around to see Clair. However, Theseus paid no attention to her and turned back to Devan, “as I was saying, I should probably get going now.” Before Devan could say anything to him, he walked off towards the exit of the cave. That’s when Devan remembered something Theseus had said back in the Gym. Just as Theseus walked past the stubborn dragon trainer, Devan shouted, “Hey, Theseus, wasn’t there something you wanted to ask her?” Theseus stopped, but didn’t turn around. ‘That’s right, I did want to ask her something. But I’m not too sure if I should now…’. “Well, spit it out. I don’t have all day,” Clair snapped at him. Theseus turned around to face her. He wanted to make this quick, and he didn’t want to give too much detail away, but he was also worried that Devan would say something uncalled for. He just had to hope that Devan wouldn’t say anything about the Silver Wing. “Are you aware that the Elite Four is working with Team Rocket?” There, he said it. She just gave him a blank stare. “You don’t believe me either, do you?”
“Believe you? Of course I don’t believe you. I know that Team Rocket is back for whatever reason, but the Elite Four working with them? Now where did you make that up?” Maybe he should have just kept his mouth shut. “Yeah, you know what, I did just make it up,” Theseus snapped. At last, he turned back towards the exit and left. Maybe he should have kept all of this madness to himself in the first place. “Huh. What’s his problem?” Clair asked as she turned to Devan. He just shrugged. “Eh… maybe I should be going too… see ya,” Devan said as he ran towards the cave exit. He figured it would be a good idea to just tag along with Theseus.

Topaz, Saria, and their Pokemon were finally on their way to the Violet City Gym. It was now about 11:30-ish in the morning, which Topaz thought was a little early yet. Of course, Saria really couldn’t care less. “Topaz, look! Theres the Gym just up ahead!” Before Topaz could say anything to her oddly hyper friend, Saria grabbed her arm and quickly pulled her towards the Gym. Their two Pokemon looked at each other and followed. “Hey, I know how to walk myself, you know!” Topaz snapped at her. Saria didn’t listen and continued with what she was doing. They arrived at the Gym doors, and Saria was just jumping with excitement. Topaz looked down at Cinder. “You ready for this, buddy?” she asked him. He nodded and gave her a little smile. Topaz looked up at Saria, “Ok, lets go inside before you explode from excitement.”
“Uh… ok!” Topaz put her hand on the door handle and tried to pull it open, but it wouldn’t budge. “Maybe you need to push it,” Saria told her, giving Topaz a doubtful smile. “It says pull right on the door here,” Topaz said as she pointed at a sign that said ‘Pull’. “This kind of stuff happens…,” Saria shrugged. Topaz attempted to push it open, but it still wouldn’t move. “Well, it’s obviously locked. Are you sure it’s open today?”
“It… should be… huh?” Saria stopped talking as she watched another trainer walk towards the Gym. Topaz looked the same way. She knew exactly who this trainer was; the Violet City Gym Leader, Falkner. “Huh… this is what I get for sleeping in again,” he mumbled. Saria, Topaz, and their Pokemon moved out of the way and watched as he pulled out some keys and unlocked the Gym doors. “I hope you two haven’t been standing out here in the cold for too long,” he said as he held the door open for the two Fire-Type trainers. “Oh, uh, we just got here! Were fine!” Saria stuttered as she and her Houndoom walked inside the Gym. Topaz and Cinder silently walked in behind them.

Chapter Ten
Beasts Versus Birds

Topaz glanced around the Gym as she walked inside. Banners were lined up on the walls, and on the far wall of the Gym there was a large replica of the Zephyr Badge. Topaz had always wanted to go to a Gym and earn a Badge, and now she was here and possibly going to obtain one. Possibly. Her heart was just pounding from all of the excitement, however, she didn’t know how she could express it. Saria was just ahead of Topaz, and she spun around to face her. She seemed to be just as excited as Topaz, maybe even a little more. She was so excited, she just stared at Topaz and smiled. It was great that Saria was happy to finally be in the Gym, but she was really starting to creep Topaz out. Devios turned his head away from his trainer and looked at the floor. Cinder also seemed rather thrilled. Even though his eyes were always closed, it seemed as if he could just look right through his eyelids and observe the whole Gym in amazement. “I’m assuming that the two of you have come here to battle me,” Falkner announced as he came towards them. Topaz turned around and took a few steps back to stand by Saria. She figured that she would just let Saria do all the talking. “Oh, um, of course! Uh…,” she had started, but it seemed like she didn’t have anything else to say. Topaz couldn’t blame her, though, as she didn’t know what to say either. “Alright, then. Who’s going first?” he asked. Topaz just waited for Saria to shout out that she wanted to go first, or at least something along those lines. However, Topaz almost felt like face-palming herself the moment she heard Saria say, “Um… how about you choose who goes first?” Then there was silence. It took Topaz a few moments to realize that Falkner was looking at her. For how long, she didn’t know. It was obvious that he wanted her to battle first, but before he could say anything Topaz turned to her hyper friend and said, “hey, Saria, you can battle first.” With that she and Cinder walked towards one of the benches at the side of the stadium where they could watch her friend own or get owned by the Gym Leader. “Um, ok, Topaz!” Saria smiled at her friend. Devios rolled his eyes. “Then it’s settled. Lets get started,” Falkner announced.

The two trainers took there places on the stadium. Saria sent her pessimistic Houndoom back to his PokeBall, and in exchange she sent out a Pokemon that Topaz hadn’t seen her use yet; a Croconaw. She called him Cross. It was weird how Saria was always acting hyper, and yet when she got into a battle, it seemed as if she turned into a whole new person. She seemed serious, which was how any trainer should look in battle. Even when Topaz battled with her against Team Rocket, she appeared to be your typical trainer, until the fight ended, of course. Her opponent, Falkner, sent out a large bird Pokemon called a Pidgeot. Topaz usually tried to get a type-advantage in battle, so she had to wonder why Saria would use a Water-Type Pokemon against an all-bird team knowing that she could win easily using her Electric-Type, Flaafy. Perhaps Cross wasn’t as strong as his two team mates and needed more training? It didn’t matter, though, because all trainers had a different way of training and such, and it would be interesting to see what Saria would make her Pokemon do. Falkner made the first move. “Pidgeot, start with Agility!” he instructed his Pokemon. Topaz knew that the move was supposed to make the Pokemon faster so it could always hit it’s opponent first, but if Pidgeot continued to use that move over and over again, it would become so fast that it’s attacker may also miss hitting it. However, it seemed like Saria already had something planed out for the speedy bird. “Cross, Hydro Pump!” she shouted. The crocodile Pokemon opened it’s jaws wide and spat a huge streak of water at the Pideot. The attack was so fast that the Pokemon didn’t have time to dodge it. The giant bird fell to the Gym floor, but it wasn’t done with yet. It flew back up into the air and was ready to continue fighting. Topaz and Cinder continued to watch the two Pokemon fight for what seemed like hours. Occasionally she would drift off into her daydreams, only to be startled by an attack. Eventually Saria’s Croconaw was able to make the Pidgeot faint, but that didn’t mean they had won the fight. There was still one more Pokemon to take down, and that was a Skarmory. Cross would probably have some trouble with this Pokemon since it had such a high defense, but maybe Saria would get smart and send out Devios and make him use a Flamethrower or some kind of Fire attack instead. However, she kept Cross out and made him use a Whirlpool attack. A large tornado made of water formed and sucked the Skarmory inside it. It was unable to escape, so that gave Saria’s Croconaw a little advantage. While the Skarmory struggled to escape it’s ‘prison’, Cross used a Slash attack on it repeatedly. A Normal-Type move wouldn’t be very effective on a Steel-Type, but if it were used over and over again without the user having to worry about being attacked back, it may be able to get it’s opponent to faint in time. Topaz was suddenly startled by her new Pokegear. It was ringing. “Who the heck would be calling me?” she asked Cinder as she took it out of her book bag. He shrugged, and then turned away to continue watching the battle. Topaz looked at the screen on the Pokegear as it continued to ring. It was supposed to show the name of the caller on it, however it just read ‘Unknown Caller’. “Hello?” Topaz answered, trying to make her voice sound loud and clear over the noise of the battle. No one answered her back, however she thought she could hear someone quietly breathing in the background. It was hard to tell, since it was so loud in the Gym, which make it hard to hear anything else. Finally, someone replied back. “I believe you have something that we want,” said a voice. It sounded like a guy in his early 20’s, but there was no way to be sure. Topaz hung up out of fear. Was he maybe referring to the Silver Wing? She shivered at that thought. She was having such a great time watching the battle that she had forgotten all about the Silver Wing and Team Rocket, and then that phone call just had to remind her of it. Her Pokegear started to ring again. It was obviously the same person, but this time she just let it ring. One thing that she had to wonder about was how did Team Rocket manage to get her Pokegear number? She only had just got her Pokegear that day. Was that even a member of Team Rocket trying to call her? Well, whoever it was, they had stopped trying to call her… for now. Topaz glanced over at Cinder. Apparently he wasn’t paying attention to what just happened at all. He was too busy watching the battle. Topaz looked ahead to see that both Cross and the Skarmory were still standing, but the two of them looked as if they could fall down at any moment. Cross made the final move by blasting another Hydro Pump at the Skarmory, and at last the battle was over. “You did great, Cross! Have a rest!” Saria said excitedly as she sent the wounded Pokemon back to his PokeBall. Topaz got up and walked over to Saria. Cinder followed. “Wow, nice battle!” Topaz congratulated her. “Thanks! I really thought I was going to lose, though,” Saria replied. “I have to admit that your one of the strongest trainers I’ve battled yet,” Falkner said as he came towards Saria, “you’ve dissevered this.” He handed her the Zephyr Badge. She took it from him, and all she could do was stare at it in amazement. Finally, she sighed and said, “I can’t believe that I got a Badge…” Then she looked up at Topaz, “I guess it’s your turn to battle now, huh?” Topaz looked away, “I decided that I’m not going to battle…” Cinder jumped back in shock. He was looking forward to having a battle. “It’s ok buddy, maybe some other time,” she said as she kneeled down to pat his head. “Um, why not?” Saria asked her. Topaz stood back up. She wasn’t too sure if she could explain this to Saria. She didn’t want to battle now because she had realized that she already had enough problems in her hands. However, while she was here she figured that she could get one of those problems solved. Topaz looked towards Falkner. “You’re an expert with Bird Pokemon, right? Do you know anything about a ‘Legendary’ Bird Pokemon?” she asked. “I’ve heard some myths about different Legendary Birds. Do you know the name of this one by any chance?”
“Yeah. I think it’s called ‘Ho-Oh’.”
“Oh yeah, I’ve heard of it. Sadly I don’t know very much about it, and I would hate to give you any wrong information.”
“Oh. Ok, well thanks anyways. Want to get going, Saria?” Topaz asked as she turned to her friend. “Um, sure!” She said oddly. It was obvious that she was turning into her hyper, impatient self again. “Oh, before you leave,” Falkner stopped them, “if you want to find out more about this ‘Ho-Oh’, I suggest you pay a visit to the Ruins of Alph, which is just outside of the city. Some of the Elders in Ecruteak City might be able to tell you something too.”
“Ok, thanks!” Topaz said as she, Saria, and Cinder left the Gym.

“What was that all about, Topaz?” Saria asked as the two trainers walked down the sidewalk towards the Pokemon Center. “What? You mean like when I said I didn’t want to battle?”
“Well, that, but I also want to know why you were asking about some Legendary Pokemon.” Topaz looked down at her shoes. “Well, it’s a long story. I’ll tell you once we get in the Pokemon Center.”

Chapter Eleven
An Eerie Night

“I see… so that’s what happened,” Saria said in response to Topaz’s story. “I know, it’s kinda weird, but it’s the truth,” Topaz replied. She tried to keep her voice down since they were in the Pokemon Center, and they didn’t need anyone else to know about the whole Silver Wing story.
“Well, I believe you. But I’m not too sure about the Elite Four part. That just doesn’t make any sense.”
“Well, it was my buddy, Theseus who told me about it. I’m not too sure if it’s even true myself.”
“I still have to wonder about that Legendary that appeared in your dream last night, though. I find it weird that it may be a real Legend, and you had a dream about it without even knowing about it before. I dunno, I think it’s kinda strange.”
“Me too. I want to go take a look around at the Ruins of Alph tomorrow. Maybe I‘ll be able to find out more about this Ho-Oh. Want to come?”
“Actually, I wanted to head to Ecruteak City. After that Gym battle, I’ve just been itching to get into another one, and the Ecruteak Gym is the closet to this city, so I wont have to travel far. Oh! If I find out anything else about Ho-Oh, I’ll be sure to call you!”
“Ok, then I guess were both on our own again starting tomorrow. I might meet up with you in Ecruteak afterwards, though.”
“Ok, cool!”
“Anyways, I’m going to sleep now. It’s already 10:30-ish at night. See you in the morning,” Topaz said as she wandered towards the couch she was on the previous night. “Ok! Don’t have any bad dreams this time!” Saria said.

Theseus and Devan walked together in silence through the Ice Path. It was the only way you could get to Mahogany Town from Blackthorn. The route was almost never used, so Theseus was assuming that they were the only ones in the freezing-cold cave. “You shouldn’t have followed me here, Devan,” Theseus muttered. He was still upset at Devan for everything he had done earlier. “Why would I let you go alone? Lone travelers have been killed by Pokemon in this cave, you know.”
“I don’t need your protection. I can take care of myself. And besides, you don’t even believe a word I say, so why should I trust you being with me anyways?”
“I think your just over-reacting, buddy. Everything is going to be fine. You know what, if you could at least prove to me that the Elite Four is working with Team Rocket and stuff, then maybe…,”
“I’m not even going to try convincing you anymore,” Theseus cut in as he walked ahead of Devan. Devan decided to just leave Theseus alone for a little while and stay back a few feet. Just as they came closer to a path that lead to an upper floor, the cave suddenly got colder. There was also a strange, eerie feeling, as if a ghost or some sort of supernatural were close by. “Ugh… I hope were not too far from the exit. I’m not really liking this place…,” Devan said, shivering. Theseus grunted and continued to walk forward. Suddenly, something by the tunnel wall caught Theseuses attention, and he stopped to take a closer look. Devan came and stood beside Theseus. “Hey, why did you sto- oh… my god,” Devan said in shock. Lying down in front of them was the skeleton of what used to be a trainer. Remains of clothing were shredded and blood-stained, and the bones were covered by a thick layer of frost. There were even smashed-up, frosted PokeBalls around the dead trainer. “Ok, Theseus, this is really starting to creep me out. Can we get going?”
“Wait a moment…,” Theseus muttered as he reached for something in one of the skeleton’s hands. He accidentally broke off one of it’s fingers as he took the round-object away from it. It was a PokeBall, but unlike the others that had been crushed, this one was still in perfect condition. “I wonder if there’s still a Pokemon inside…,” Theseus said to himself in a quiet tone. He threw the PokeBall up, nearly hitting the top of the cave, and just after a quick flash of red light a foreign Pokemon was hovering in front of the two trainers. “What is that thing?” Devan asked in surprise. He had never seen anything like it. “It’s a Vibrava, a Pokemon native to the Hoenn Region. So what’s it doing here?”
“Maybe it’s trainer was from Hoenn?”
“Maybe…,” then Theseus stopped talking as he watched the large dragonfly Pokemon fly down beside what used to be it’s trainer. “Poor guy… by the looks of it, it’s trainer has probably been dead for years… and Vibrava was inside it’s PokeBall the whole time. And only now it has found out that it’s trainer is gone,” Theseus said as he looked down at his feet. “Yeah, that is pretty sad, but now is not the time for feeling down. The real problem is, what are we going to do with it now?” Devan asked, trying not to look too sorry for it. Theseus knelt down by the Vibrava. He could see that it was getting a little teary-eyed as it continued to stare at the deceased trainer. “Hey, listen. You can’t stay here. Why don’t you come with me?” The Vibrava turned it’s head towards Theseus, glaced back at the skeleton, and then nodded. “Alright, now we can go, Devan,” Theseus said, sounding a little happier. “Good, because this place is really scaring me,” Devan said in relief. With that they walked up the path to the upper floor, with the new Vibrava flying closely behind.

Topaz woke up to find herself in yet another new area; this time an over-grown forest. “Oh no… not again,” she whispered to herself as she got up to look around. There was a small layer of snow on the ground, and the trees were covered in frost. The only colors that could be seen in the forest were eerie shades of whites, grays, and blacks. It felt cold, but no wind was blowing through the trees. Topaz found a small path that lead to a darker area of the woods, and she decided to follow it since there was no where else to go. After a few minutes of walking in silence, she came across another clearing. In the middle was a small shrine of some kind. She walked towards it to take a better look, but before she could get any closer to it she blacked out.

She shook her head as she woke up again in the Pokemon Center. “What was that all about…,” Topaz mumbled, still half asleep. It was just another odd dream, and like the one she had the night before, it felt so real. She tried to just ignore it and go back to sleep. Suddenly, her Pokegear started to ring. She pulled it out of her book bag and read the callers name. ‘Saria’ it said on it. Topaz took a quick look around the Pokemon Center. Saria was no where to be seen. Topaz answered it and waited a few seconds before she said, “Hello?”
“Hi, Topaz, it’s me, Saria!” She told her. For it being about seven in the morning, she sounded more hyper then ever. “Hey, Saria, where are you?” Topaz said, trying to keep her voice down. “Oh, I’m on my way to Ecruteak City! I was going to wake you up and tell you that I was going, but it looked like you were having a good sleep so I left you alone.”
“I guess that was a little pointless, because you called anyways,” Topaz sighed.
“Oh, sorry. Did I wake you up?”
“Nah, I was already awake. But I was going to go back to sleep.”
“Oh, ok, I’ll let you go then. Talk to you later! Oh, and make sure you tell me if you find anything at the Ruins of Alph!”
“Ok, bye,” Topaz finished as she pressed the ‘End’ button on the Pokegear. She lay back down on the couch and looked up at the ceiling. ‘Right… in a few hours I’ll be leaving to explore the Ruins of Alph. Maybe I’ll be able to find out a little more about this Ho-Oh… and better yet, maybe even something more about the Silver Wing…’.

Chapter Twelve
Minor Clues

Theseus and Devan were relieved when they finally found the exit of the Ice Path. The two trainers walked outside, hoping that it would be warmer then the ice-covered cave. Unfortunately, it was snowing very heavily and the temperature was about the same. Luckily, the sun was starting to come up. “Well, at least were out of the cave, eh, Theseus?” Devan said, trying to sound optimistic. “Huh… yeah,” Theseus replied as he looked back at the cave. “I wonder… do you think we should say anything about that body we found?” Theseus asked as he turned to Devan.
“Naw, he was probably a bad-hearted trainer anyways,” Devan smirked.
“What the hell makes you think that?” Theseus snapped back.
“Take a real good look at your Vibrava, Theseus. He may look upset that his trainer is gone, but he has attached to you very quickly. When a trained Pokemon starts to suck up to a different trainer, it’s obvious that it’s previous trainer wasn’t very good to it. You know, maybe that trainer back in the cave deserved to die.”
“Yeah, I sure hope that isn’t the case. I hope Vibrava’s life with his old trainer was at least decent,” Theseus said as the two trainers and the bug-dragon headed towards Mahogany Town. “Speaking of Vibrava, I still need to give him a nickname. Might as well while were on our way to Mahogany,” Theseus shrugged as he looked at his new team mate. Vibrava glanced back at him as it flew next to him. “I have this one name stuck in my head. How does ‘Scyle’ sound to you?” Theseus asked the dragonfly Pokemon. Vibrava nodded his head in delight. “Ok, then Scyle it is!” Theseus announced. “That’s a nice name; just don’t forget it now!” Devan joked. “Yeah, whatever. Hey, look, I can see Mahogany Town just up ahead now! Lets pick up the pace; I’m freezing out here!”

Topaz woke up again in the Violet City Pokemon Center. After Saria had called her she went back to sleep for a few more hours. It was about ten O’clock in the morning, so she decided to get ready and head off to the Ruins of Alph. After about half an hour she was all packed up and ready to go. She sent out Cinder and Girafa as she left the Pokemon Center. “Ok, you two, today we are just going to be looking around this place called ‘Ruins of Alph’. I think we might only be there for a little while, though, because it’s pretty cold out today.”

There were two entrances to the Ruins of Alph; one was on the route that lead south towards Azalea Town, and the other was on the west route that trainers would take to get to Ecruteak City or Goldenrod City. Topaz took the route to the west, and the entrance to the ruins wasn’t a very long walk away. She and her Pokemon entered and looked around at all of the old buildings. It would have looked a lot nicer if they had come in the spring or summer time, but she would just have to suck it up and deal with all the snow. Cinder stopped and looked around for a moment, and then ran in between two small stone buildings. “Hey, Cinder, get back here!” Topaz yelled as she chased after her Pokemon. Girafa trotted after her. Topaz found Cinder frozen in place, starring at clump of snow-covered rocks. “Cinder, why did you run off like that? Don’t you ever do that again!” she said. She kept her cool while doing so, because the rumor was if you yell at your Pokemon after they did something bad, they wouldn’t like you very much. However, Cinder just ignored her and continued to stare off into space. “Hey, what do you see, buddy?” Topaz asked as she crept closer to the fire-mouse. Girafa lowered her head. She could sense something nearby too. Suddenly, a Pokemon identical to Cinder came out from behind the rocks and looked around. It was carrying some kind of stone in it’s mouth. The moment it saw Topaz and her two curious Pokemon, it dashed off into a nearby building. “Oh wow, that was a Quilava! The evolved form of Cyndaquil!” Topaz exclaimed. Cinder got up ahead again and started to give chase to it. “Wait, Cinder!” Topaz cried as she ran off after her Cyndaquil. Girafa closed her eyes for a moment, and then galloped after them. It didn’t take long to find Cinder wandering around inside one of the old ruins. “Ok, Cinder, you really need to stop running away from me,” Topaz panted. Cinder looked at her for a moment, and then signaled her to follow him. “Your still going after that Quilava, aren’t you? Ok, ok, I’ll come,” she sighed as she followed her Pokemon deeper into the ruins. They entered a corridor of some kind, and to Topazes surprise there was another trainer inside. He and the Quilava were standing in front of some kind of stone, and he was mumbled something to himself. The Quilava turned around and jumped back the moment it saw Topaz and her Pokemon. It tugged on it’s trainer’s jeans, trying to get him to turn around. “Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked as he looked down at his Pokemon. He then turned around to see Topaz. “Whoa, don’t scare me like that!” he said as he backed up against the stone, “Who are you? What are you doing here?”
“Oh, sorry,” Topaz said. “I’m Topaz, and these guys are Girafa and Cinder. Were just exploring the place, that’s all.”
“Ok, that’s cool. With Team Rocket on the loose again, I have no choice but to keep my guard up. Anyways, I’m Matty, and this is my buddy Quilava. My other partner, Vulpix, isn’t here right now. He should be back shortly.”
“Yeah, and why are you just letting your Pokemon run loose anyways?” Topaz asked.
“Come over here and I’ll explain,” he told her as he moved aside to let her look at the stone in the middle of the room. She walked up to it and saw some flat rocks with strange marking all over them. “What are these?” she asked as she pickd one up. Girafa leaned over to get a better look too. “They look like puzzle pieces to me. I found it yesterday and I’ve been trying to figure it out ever since. Now, about your question. I’m letting my Pokemon ‘run loose’ because they want to look for some of the puzzle pieces. By the looks of it, and few of them are scattered around these ruins. Quilava and Vulpix have managed to find a few for me, but I’m still having trouble trying to put this puzzle together.”
“May I give it a try?” Topaz asked as she placed the puzzle piece back on the flat stone.
“Yeah, sure. Maybe you’ll be able to figure it out.”
With that Topaz started to place the pieces in certain spots in a way that the lines on them could match up. “Ok… these three pieces put together looks almost like a wing,” Topaz pointed out. “Hey, I think I can see some claws too. It almost looks like… some kind of bird?” Matty said while examining the puzzle. ‘A bird?,’ Topaz thought. After a few more minutes, Topaz had managed to put all of the puzzle pieces in what seemed to be the right places. “Wow, you sure are good with puzzles, Topaz! But it looks like one piece is missing,” Matty pointed out. “Yeah, it looks like the missing piece is supposed to be it’s head,” Topaz sighed. Just then, a Vulpix came running into the room. “Vulpix, buddy! I was getting a little worried about you!” Matty told it. “Huh, what do you have there?” The Vulpix placed a rock in front of Matty. “Hey, it’s identical to the other pieces! Thanks, Vulpix!” he said as he picked up the flat rock. “Here, Topaz, see if this fits,” Matty said as he handed her the piece. “Ok,” she said as she took it from him. She didn’t bother to look at the markings on the stone as she lined it up with the other pieces. The puzzle was complete, but Topaz was astonished to see that the picture on the puzzle was a Pokemon identical to the one she saw in her dream. “I… I think that’s Ho-Oh,” Topaz stuttered. “Ho-Oh…?” Matty repeated in confusion. Suddenly, the ground started to shake, and the floor in front of the puzzle-stone started to collapse. “Wha- what’s going on?” Matty cried out. “I don’t know, but we need to get out of here, NOW!” Topaz yelled as she and her Pokemon tried to reach the exit. However, they were unsuccessful, and the two trainers and their Pokemon fell into the pitfall trap.

Saria and Devios wandered around the streets of Ecruteak City. It was much larger then they had imagined, and because of that they found it hard looking for the Gym. However, Saira didn’t make it seem like a big deal and decided to make this a good chance to do some sight-seeing. She assumed that the city was your typical China town, because all of the houses and buildings were Japanese-themed. To the north-east she noticed a tower, which also looked like something you could find in Japan. After about an hour of exploring, she had managed to find the Gym. “Well, you guys seem fine, so lets just go inside and get another Gym Badge!” Saria told Devios. He flicked his tail and followed her inside. It was nearly pitch-black in the Gym, and there were lit candles all over the place. “Huh, did we come to the right place?” she asked herself as she looked around. “I’m sorry, but the Gym Leader isn’t here at the moment… you’ll have to leave,” said a voice. Before Saria could say anything in response, a monk and a Gengar stepped out of the darkness and pushed her and Devios out the door. “What was that all about?” Saria asked Devios as the door slammed shut. The hell hound Pokemon just turned his head in confusion and moaned. “Oh, well, I guess we’ll have to come back later, huh? Lets just do some more sight-seeing for now,” Saria said as she walked away from the Gym. Devios followed her close behind.

“…Topaz? Are you ok?” Topaz opened her eyes and found herself on the ground. She shook her head and stood up to see Matty and their four Pokemon. “I’m fine, I guess,” she said while holding her left arm, “where are we?”
“I don’t know, really. We fell through the floor in that one chamber and we ended up in here, I guess,” Matty told her. Topaz looked up and saw the hole that they had fell through, and then she looked around to see that they were in another room. There were strange shapes drawn all over the walls. Topaz walked towards one of the walls to get a better look at some of the shapes. “It looks almost like writing,” Topaz said to herself. “Huh… I wonder what it means…,” Matty said as he walked further down the tunnel. “Oh, hey, I can see an exit just up ahead!” Matty exclaimed. Topaz took one last look at some of the drawings, and then she, Cinder, and Girafa ran after Matty and his Pokemon. Topaz walked outside to see Matty and his fire Pokemon wandering around and examining the place. He turned to her and said, “It looks like a dead end here.” Topaz glanced around to see that they were surrounded by some more ruins, but she noticed another cave on the side of a steep hill. “It looks too dangerous to climb anything with all this ice, but maybe that cave could lead us out of here,” she said. “Oh wow, I didn’t even notice that! Lets get out of here, then, because I’m starting to get cold!” Matty said as he and his Pokemon dashed off towards the cave. Topaz and her Pokemon followed him inside.

Chapter Thirteen
The Elemental Trio

It was getting awfully late, but Saria was too excited to go to the Ecruteak Pokemon Center and get some sleep. Devios couldn’t disagree more. As she and her hell hound walked down one of the last streets in the city, she noticed an old, burned-down building. “Hey, what’s that? Was there a fire here?” Saria asked herself. “Common, Devios, lets go check it out!” she told Devios as she walked towards the ruined building. Devios put his head down and whined, as if he could sense something inside the building. “It’s ok, buddy, I just want to go and take a quick look around, and we’ll come right back out!” Devios just looked away. “Ok, you can go back to your PokeBall, then,” Saria said as she pulled out a red and white ball. In a flash Devios was gone inside the ball. “Now, maybe Cross will be a little braver!” Saria told herself as she sent out her Croconaw. He jumped up excitedly, and then darted off towards the burned building. “Woah, wait up, Cross!” Saria shouted optimistically as she ran after her care-free crocodile. Cross suddenly halted at the entrance, not to wait for Saria, but because he, like Devios, knew something or someone was inside. However, he didn’t show any signs of fear. Instead he just stared inside, as if he were in a void of some sort. “Ok, Cross, ready to go in?” Saria said as she stood next to him. Cross looked up at her and nodded, and then walked on inside. This time Saria was the one to follow. “Wow, it’s pretty dark in here. We could come back tomorrow with a flashlight or something, but then again…,” Saria paused. She noticed a bright yellow light up ahead. “Huh, what’s that?” Saria asked herself as she started walking towards it. Suddenly it shined in her face, causing her to squint and cover her eyes. “Who’s there?” said a voice. Saria managed to open her eyes a little, only to be blinded by the bright flash light again. “I-I’m Saria, a Pokemon trainer. I’m just here to do some exploring, that’s all,” she said truthfully. The light moved away from her face, allowing her to finally fully open her eyes and let them adjust to the darkness. Standing in front of her was some guy wearing a ridiculous get-up in her opinion. Wearing pants and a top that were the same shade of purple, along with a white cloak, just didn’t seem natural to her at all. “Sorry, this isn’t a playground for kids, so why don’t you just go home or something?” he told her bluntly. Before Saria could say anything in response, she heard someone else say, “Knock it off, Eusine.” She turned around to see another trainer with a Haunter walking towards them. “Well, sor-ry,” Eusine muttered as he rolled his eyes. The other trainer turned to Saria. “Forget him. Your more then welcome to look around,” he told her as he handed her a flashlight. “Umm, thanks!” Saria said nervously as she took it from him. “Do you want the flashlight back when I’m done with it?” she asked, only because she had nothing else to say. “You can keep it.”
“Uh, ok,” she said as she turned it on. Cross started to tug on her jeans. “Huh, what do you need, buddy?” she asked her Pokemon. He jumped up in excitement and then ran off into the darkness. “Hey, wait up!” she shouted as she bolted after him. The two trainers stood in silence as they looked in the direction Saria went. After a few moments, Eusine said, “Your too nice, Morty, you know that?”
Morty closed his eyes and sighed, “It isn’t that, Eusine. I only let her stay because…,”
“…because?”
“…because there’s something about her… I don’t know what it is, but as soon as she turned around to face me, I just felt like I had to let her go on.”
“Hey, I know were good friends and all, but sometimes you just really creep me out.”

Saria had finally caught up with Cross, and the two of them continued to wander through the hallways of the burnt building. She had to keep her flashlight shining on the floor the whole time because she had noticed some loose floor boards, and she didn’t want to take any chances stepping on one of them and then crashing though the floor and ending up wherever. Suddenly, she heard some kind of an eerie howl. She quickly turned around and scanned the area with her flashlight. “What the heck was that?” she whispered to Cross. He did nothing but look around and try to act fearless. “Well, whatever it was, I don’t think we would have a problem defeating it, right buddy?” Saria asked her Pokemon. He nodded his head in agreement. Saria took a careless step forward, and in an instant the floor boards gave in on her and she and Cross fell unexpectedly through the floor. A few moments after hitting the rock-hard floor, she started to feel pain spreading through her body. She felt almost like screaming, but she tried her best to keep her mouth shut. Being a Pokemon, the fall didn’t affect Cross as badly. He was standing right away, not showing any pain, but he stood by Saria emotionlessly. “Ow… am I dead?” Saria asked herself. She slowly got on to her knees and grabbed her flashlight. Luckily it didn’t break. She looked upwards and shined it of the hole they fell though. By the looks of it, they had fallen about ten feet or so. She was lucky that she didn’t get injured during the harsh fall. Suddenly, she heard a soft growl come from behind her. “Wh-what was that?” Saria whispered to herself. Cross anxiously tried to get her to turn around. She slowly turned her head and turned the flashlight so she could she what was behind her. She was astonished to see three large Pokemon standing behind her. She stood up and turned her whole body so she could face them. She knew that she should probably be screaming in fear, but for some reason she didn’t seem all that scared. She took a better look at them; they all had a strange, cloud-like cloaks of some kind on their backs. One of the beasts was yellow and almost represented a tiger. Another was brown and covered with fur; it could almost pass as a wooly dog or a bear. And as for the one standing in the middle, it was a sky-blue color with a large diamond-shaped crest on its head and two silky ribbons that moved like a soft wind on either side of it’s body. This wolf Pokemon in the middle really caught her attention. The yellow tiger gave a roar and took a large leap through the hole Saria had made in the floor/ceiling. It broke off more floorboards while doing so, making the hole larger. Then, the brown dog gave a loud bark and jumped upwards like the other beast. The blue wolf didn’t follow the other two beasts, and instead it continued to stare at Saria. “What are you?” Saria asked as she reached out to touch it’s snout. Surprisingly, it lowered it’s head and let her do so. Then, Saria heard footsteps. The blue beast raised it’s head in alert. Saria backed away and watched as the beast raised it’s head even more. It howled just like wolf, and it was the same eerie howl that she had heard before. Then, like the other two beasts, it jumped up though the hole and was gone. Cross turned his head in confusion. “I know, buddy. I’m just as confused as you are,” Saria said as she looked off into space. The footsteps that Saria heard just a few moments before were getting louder, and then whoever was coming had stopped beside her. “Oh no, please tell me that they didn’t leave!” Saria turned her head to see Eusine. “Are you talking about those three dog-things? Yeah, they just left,” she told him. “God damn it. After ten long years of searching… I just had to miss my chance to see Suicune…,” he said stressfully.
“Suicune?” Saria repeated.
“Yes. Those three beasts you saw, they are the legendary Raikou, Entei, and Suicune!”

Topaz and Matty had been walking in the unknown cave for countless hours. Matty had thought that they would be a little warmer inside, but the temperature was still the same as it was outside. At least they had their fire Pokemon, Cinder, Quilava, and Vulpix to keep them a little warm. Quilava and Cinder even kept the cave lit with their fire. Topaz had sent Girafa back to her GreatBall a few hours before, so it was only the two trainers and the fire Pokemon that were walking. “Well, were lost,” Topaz said. “You think?” Matty replied as he looked around. Topaz stopped and glanced over at one of the cave’s walls. There was something lying on the ground. “Hey what’s that?” she asked as she went to pick it up. It was a PokeBall, but it was colored black and yellow on the top. “Nice, an UltraBall. You better hang on to that ’cause you never know when you’ll have to use it to catch a super-rare Pokemon!” Matty exclaimed. “I’m not planning to get new Pokemon anytime soon,” Topaz said as she looked at the ball, “you want it?”
“Hey, finders keepers,” Matty said.
“Whatever you say,” Topaz replied as she slipped the ball into her book bag. They continued to walk down the long tunnel for another ten minutes, only to come to a dead end. There was a small lake of water in front of them, and on the other side of it was the rest of the path. “Well, this is just great. We don’t have a water Pokemon to help us across, so it looks like we might have to turn back,” Matty said doubtfully. “Why don’t we just catch ourselves a water Pokemon? There should be lots here,” Topaz said as she looked down at the water. Matty looked at her and raised an eyebrow, “I thought you just finished saying you didn’t need any new Pokemon?”
“This isn’t the time to argue. I’m going to catch a water Pokemon so we can get across!” she exclaimed. “That’s great, Topaz, but how are you going to get one to come out of the water? It doesn’t look like you have a fishing rod with you,” Matty sighed. Topaz looked back at the water. “Good point…,” she sighed. That’s when she noticed some kind of Pokemon floating in the middle of the lake. “Hey, what’s that?” Topaz asked as she pointed at the mystery Pokemon. “I don’t know, but whatever it is, it looks like it’s coming this way!” Matty said as he backed away a few steps. “Wait a moment, it looks like a Lapras!” Topaz exclaimed as she watched it swim closer to them. She had seen some trainers use a Lapras before when they were battling on TV. She had also heard that it was an extremely rare Pokemon, so she must have been lucky to encounter one. “Ok, I’ve only caught a Pokemon once before, which was years ago, but I’m going to try to catch this Lapras anyways,” Topaz said as she pulled the UltraBall out of her book bag. “I don’t have any spare PokeBalls for you to use, Topaz, so you better make this a lucky catch!” Matty told her. “Alright, first we’ll have to weaken it. Ready, Cinder?” Topaz asked her fire Pokemon. He nodded his head and got ready to fight. “Ok, Cinder, start off with a Tackle!” Topaz told him. Cinder jumped towards the Lapras and slammed into it’s neck. He jumped back on land and waited for his next order. “That didn’t do very much damage. Why don’t you guys help him?” Matty asked his Pokemon. Both Quilava and Vulpix nodded their heads and got ready to make their moves. “Ok, Quilava, use Fire Spin! Vulpix, Flamethrower!” he ordered them. The flame on Quilava’s head shot up and trapped the Lapras in a vortex of fire. Vulpix opened it’s mouth and shot a blast of fire at the Lapras. “Ok, Topaz, now would be a good time to throw that UltraBall!” Matty told her. “Ok, this better work!” Topaz said as she hurled the ball at the Lapras. The water Pokemon instantly disappeared inside the ball. The ball landed in front of Topaz and shook once. Twice. A third time, and made a ‘click’ noise. Topaz picked it up and said, “We did it. We caught the Lapras!”
“Actually, you caught it,” Matty corrected her.
“Well, you still helped,” she said. “Now, lets get a across the water and hope that we’ll be out of this cave sooner or later,” Topaz said as she sent the Lapras out of the ball. It appeared in front of them, and even though it had been beaten up by their Pokemon, it seemed more then happy to give them a lift. “Um, ok, lets go,” Matty said as he slowly got on the spiky shell on it’s back. His Vulpix and Quilava jumped on, and Topaz picked up Cinder and cautiously got on after them. “Ok, Lapras, could you take us to the other side, please?” Topaz asked nicely. It started to swim to the middle of the lake, but then it turned in a different direction and swam towards another cave where the water seemed to be coming from. “Uh, Topaz, I think it’s going the wrong way…,” Matty said as he tried his best to not fall off of the Lapras. “Actually, I think it’s taking the right way,” Topaz exclaimed.

Chapter Fourteen
Bug Bites

After half an hour of letting Lapras swim freely, he finally stopped in front of a small chunk of land. He signaled Topaz and Matty to get off, so they jumped off of him with their Pokemon. Just up ahead was an exit out of the cave. “Alright, were finally out of here!” Matty exclaimed in relief as he started towards the exit. “Ok, thanks Lapras! You better have a rest now,” Topaz said as she sent her new water Pokemon back to his UltraBall. She turned around and followed Matty out of the cave. It was already dark outside, but at least it was a little warmer then usual. “Wow, seriously? We were stuck inside that cave for half a day?” Matty asked himself. “Well, it did seem like we were in there for awhile. Were are we anyways?” Topaz asked as she looked around. The area around them was mainly forest, and to their right was a path that lead to who knew where. “Look, there’s a sign!” Matty exclaimed. He walked over to it. Luckily he was just able to read it, thanks to the light of the moon. “Lets see… it says ‘Union Cave - Azalea Town’. Wow, we were in the Union Cave and we didn’t even know it!” Topaz checked the map on her PokeGear, “Azalea Town… oh no, that’s south of Violet City! I told my friend, Saria, that I would meet up with her in Ecruteak City, which is north of Violet!”
“Well, it’s too late to go back now. Lets go find the Pokemon Center in Azalea and get some rest.”
Topaz sighed, “I guess your right. Lets get going.” With that the two trainers and their Pokemon walked off towards Azalea.

Around the same time that night, Saria was in the Ecruteak Pokemon Center. After Suicune, Entei, and Raikou fled, she had asked Eusine if he knew anything else about them. However, he refused to tell her anything and eventually left her in the ruined building. She and Cross left right away and tried to catch up to him, but as soon as they came outside he was gone. So here they were in the Pokemon Center, ready to get some sleep and hope that they would be able to battle the Gym Leader the next day. Saria had trouble getting to sleep knowing that she saw three legendary Pokemon that day. She wanted to know more about them, but she decided that she would get the information some other time. Eventually she went to sleep.

Theseus was startled when he woke up to see Scyle, his Vibrava, standing on top of him and staring right at him. As soon as he realized that Theseus was awake, he flew off of him. Theseus smiled and got off the couch. He and Devan spent the whole day in the Pokemon Center the day before because it was so cold out, but Devan walked up to him and told him that he was just outside and it was much warmer out. Devan also insisted that they go to the Gym and try to earn another badge each. Theseus agreed, only because he really didn’t have anything else to do. He wasn’t worried about Topaz as much now, but he still though if she was doing okay every now and then.

The two trainers walked out of the Pokemon Center. Theseus still had Scyle out of his PokeBall, and for the first time in awhile Devan sent out one of his Pokemon. It was one that Theseus hadn’t seen him use yet, and it was a Houndour, the pre-evolution of Houndoom. “Alright, lets go to the Gym and win yet another Gym battle!” Devan exclaimed. Luckily, the Gym was just across from the Pokemon Center, so at least they wouldn’t have to waste their time searching for it. However, someone was standing in front of the door. As soon as he saw the two trainers coming, he asked, “You kids coming to battle the Gym Leader?” “Yes. Why else would we be here?” Theseus told him. “Well, sorry to disappoint you, but the Gym Leader isn’t battling anybody today. Why don’t you kids go to the Lake of Rage and do some sightseeing or something?” Theseus and Devan exchanged confused looks. “If you didn’t know already, the lake is just north of here. I hear the Gyarados there make good Pokemon to battle for training,” he told them impatiently. “Well…,” Theseus started as he looked at Devan once more, “I guess we could go. Hopefully we can battle the Gym Leader tomorrow, then.” “Ok, then I guess were off to do some training at the Lake of Rage,” said Devan. He was disappointed that the Gym Leader wasn’t up for a battle, but at least he could work on some of his training. With that they headed north to the route that would lead them to the Lake of Rage.

After a nice, long rest at the Azalea Pokemon Center, Topaz and Matty were exploring the town. It was a small and quiet town, but Topaz liked it. There were lots of snow-covered trees and small mountains isolating the area, which was another reason why Topaz was so fond of the place. She was starting to think that it might be a good idea to stay in the town and wait for the whole Team Rocket nonsense to stop. It surprised her that there was even a Gym in this small town. New Bark Town was much larger then this village, and yet it didn’t even have it’s own Gym. “So, Topaz, are you trying to collect Gym Badges like most of the other trainers?” Matty asked her as they walked past the Azalea Gym. “No. I already passed my chance in Violet City, so I don’t see why I should try for a Badge here,” she replied. “You know… you get more respect as a trainer if you have at least one badge,” Matty told her. “If your so concerned about it, why don’t you go and battle the Gym Leader?” Topaz said as she looked over at the Gym. “Well, maybe I will, then. I don’t have anything else planned for today, so why not?” Matty told her as he walked over to the Gym doors. “Wait, I didn’t mean right now!” Topaz shouted. “Too late,” Matty told her as he walked inside. Topaz couldn’t help but follow him in. It suddenly got dark inside the Gym. It was so light outside that Topaz would have to wait a few minutes for her eyes to adjust to the dimmer light. Like the last Gym, this one had a large stadium, and at the far wall there was a giant replica of the Hive Badge. Standing in the middle of the Gym were a group of bug catchers, aka Pokemon trainers that only trained Bug-Type Pokemon. There were lots of Bug Pokemon surrounding them; mainly Caterpies, Weedles, Spinaraks, and Ledybas. Topaz shivered at the sight of so many bugs. Ever since she was a little kid she had a large fear of bugs and insects. “Wow, so one of these bug catchers is the Gym Leader? This is going to be a piece of cake,” Matty said confidently as he walked towards them. He turned around and looked at Topaz, “Well, are you coming?”
“Uh, yeah, I’m coming,” Topaz said nervously as she watched some of the Bug Pokemon stop and stare at them. Matty stopped behind the group of bug catchers, while Topaz kept her distance from them and their Bug Pokemon. It turned out that two of the trainers were in the middle of a battle, so Matty walked over to the far end of the group to get a better look. Topaz followed cautiously and stood beside him. One trainer, not a bug catcher, but just a typical beginner trainer, was using a Rattata. The other trainer on the other side of the stadium had a Scyther out. What Topaz disliked more then the smaller, ‘cuter’ Bug Pokemon was the larger and tougher ones. She knew that Theseus had a Scizor, the evolved form of Scyther. At least he didn’t send it out too often. The battle was just about over. The Scyther used an X-Scissor on the Rattata as it’s final attack, and with that the purple rat fell to the floor. The group of bug catchers cheered, some of them even yelling stuff like, “That’s what you get for mocking Bug Pokemon!” The young beginner trainer was almost in tears as he sent the Rattata back to it’s PokeBall. With that he ran out of the stadium crying. Matty looked over at the trainer at the other side of the stadium. Obviously the Gym Leader. “Wow, she’s strong for a little kid,” Matty said, sounding impressed. “Actually, that’s a dude,” Topaz corrected him. “Sure fooled me,” Matty said, suddenly sounding embarrassed. The Gym Leader looked a few years younger then Topaz. She was fourteen, and he looked like he was ten or eleven. And with shoulder-length, purple hair, anyone could easily mistake him for a girl. One of the bug catchers standing next to Matty looked over at him and asked, “Oh, hey, are you here to challenge Bugsy?” Matty glanced over at the trainer, “Yeah, why?” The bug catcher then looked over at the Gym Leader and yelled, “Hey, Bugsy, this noob wants to battle you!” “Hey, wait a moment, I’m not a noob!” Matty scowled. The bug trainer didn’t listen and pulled him forward. The other bug catchers began to cheer again. “Wow, this is a little weird,” Topaz thought. “I’m just going to go and sit over here,” Topaz said quietly to herself as she started to walk over to some bleachers on the right side of the stadium. It took her a moment to notice that there was a Caterpie crawling up her leg. She almost screamed, but she tried to keep her voice low as she attempted to shake it off. “Ok, guys, that’s enough,” Bugsy told the mob of bug catchers. They instantly grew quiet and looked over at the stadium. “Jeeze, thanks,” Matty muttered. “So, are you ready to start?” the Gym Leader asked Matty politely. His Scyther was still out, and ready to battle. “Whenever you are,” Matty said as he sent out his Vulpix. “He’s using a Fire-Type! Cheater!” one of the bug catchers yelled. Matty said nothing, but he almost felt like turning around and screaming in their faces. “Cool it, he might have an advantage, but we can still take Vulpix down, no problem!” Bugsy exclaimed. Meanwhile, Topaz was trying to get this Caterpie to leave her alone without attracting any attention. She got it off of her leg, but now it was following her to the bleachers. “Hey, could you just go back to your trainer and leave me alone,” she whispered nervously to it. “Hey!” Topaz looked up to see one of the bug catchers coming towards her. “Don’t you go running off with MY Caterpie! Get your own!” he snapped as he picked up his Pokemon and stormed back off towards the crowd. Topaz starred at him for a moment, and then she went to go sit down. Well, at least that was one minor problem solved. “Alright, Vulpix, lets KO it with Flamethrower!” Matty told Vulpix. He opened it’s mouth and shot a streak of fire at the Scyther. “Double Team!” Bugsy commanded his Pokemon. The Scyther made numerous fake copies of itself, allowing the Flamethrower to miss. “This looks like a bad start…,” Topaz thought.

Saria and Devios were on their way to the Ecruteak Gym once again. Once they were nearing the entrance, they saw the same monk and his Gengar standing outside the doors. “Oh great… I sure hope he lets us in this time,” she muttered. Devios just ignored her. As soon as the monk saw her coming, he walked towards her and asked, “Excuse me, miss, but are you maybe the trainer that awakened the three Legendary Beasts?” Saria knew what he was talking about right away. “Uh, yeah. Why?” she asked in confusion. How did he know about what happened the previous day? “Oh, excellent! The Gym Leader made me wait out here so I could find you. He said that he would like to have a talk with you,” the monk told her.
“W-with me? Um, sure! Where can I meet him?” Saria asked excitedly.
“He said that he would be waiting for you at the Tin Tower, which as you can see is towards north-east,” he said as he pointed at the tall tower in the distance. Saria looked at the tower. It was on the other side of the city, so she would have to run most of the ways. “Ok, thanks!” Saria said as she dashed off towards the Tin Tower, with Devios following her behind. “What an impatient girl…,” the monk said quietly to himself.

Theseus and Devan were slowly nearing the Lake of Rage. “Wow, I didn’t think that this would be such a steep mountain,” Devan panted. “It doesn’t help when there’s snow and ice all over the place,” Theseus added. Not only that, but the further up they went, the foggier and colder it got. “Maybe we should turn back and visit again in, oh I don’t know, summer time?” Devan brought up. “We’ve already made it this far. And besides, I want to see what this place looks like,” Theseus said as he kept walking. Soon enough, they could hear the soft sound of water crashing against the edge of the land. The lake suddenly came into view, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. Just a normal, peaceful lake, with a log cabin not far from it. “Well, so much for beating up some Gyarados. This doesn’t even look like a ‘Lake of Rage’,” Devan muttered as he walked closer to the waters edge. “We’ve been walking for awhile, so why don’t we go and rest in that log cabin for a little? It says on the sign here that it’s an inn, so why not?” Theseus suggested. “Sure. Maybe if we come back here later we’ll actually see some action,” Devan mumbled as the two trainers walked inside.