Pokemon: Revolution Johto

WaterTrainer243 · Apr 14, 2006

Again, their battle was intense to the core! If only Travis knew the real meaning on why they called him a hero.

atomicmonkey · Apr 15, 2006

Ah most interesting chapter though you'd think that these guys would be a little too young for "what matters most" in life. Good chapter! Keep it up

Aaron Highest · Apr 15, 2006

AWESOME FIC! best i have ever read (and i have read ALOT!) can't wait until the next

Your awesomeness
Mr.Highest

Hoenn Warrior · Apr 16, 2006

Yet another awesome chapter. Now Shiro and Madeline make thier move to counter AURA. The action starts to kick in on the next chapter.

Shikamarufan · Apr 17, 2006

I loved this fan-fic, you've really improved since your first chapter/prologue. I like how you conduct your battles, using tactical approaches rather than. I.E. "tackle...tackle it back...dodge...dang". But you add the always loved counter technique, where you post how they dodge I.E. ducking or flying up. I don't quite get why AURA, and what they have done, to make them infamous, but maybe you're just adding suspense....All in all its a great fan-fic and I hope you continued with this!;289;

EonMaster One · Apr 17, 2006

Chapter 10...I don't like it, but I hope

...I did some adjustments, but...let's just say that I hope that you like this chapter more than I do. I've also changed the story completely by severing Travis' connections to a certain...um...somebody...

Chapter 10: Return of the Guardian

The tournament was over.

Travis sank his teeth fiercely into a cheeseburger, as if he hadn’t eaten in about a week. Katrina, who had taken a small bite from hers as well, gazed up at her friend with a bewildered look on her face.

“The burger’s not going anywhere, you know,” she said. “Why are you eating so fast?”

“Two reasons…” Travis answered, swallowing a mouthful of burger, “First, only Ho-oh knows where Shiro went, and what he’s doing. Two, it’s two o’clock and I’m sure at least you don’t want to spend the rest of the day here in the center. Me, if nothing happens, I’m planning on getting the heck outta here first thing tomorrow.”

“<You don’t have to move that quick. It’s not like anyone’s getting ahead of you.>” Angel said, peering up from her own bowl of Pokémon food on Travis’ left.

“Huh? Oh…” Travis uttered. This was going to take some getting used to, definitely.

“She said that there’s no hurry, Travis,” Katrina said.

“I know,” Travis answers, “and that’s what scares me.”

“<Why? I’m not gonna bite,>” Angel said.

“So you can understand them, too?” Travis asked.

“Yeah. Don’t take this the wrong way, but girls are more in tune with emotions,” Katrina answered, with a slight air of superiority in her voice. “The way to know what your Pokémon is saying is to listen with your heart and not with your ears.”

“Yeah, well, girls aren’t that different,” Travis mumbled so that Katrina couldn’t hear him. He was too close to Angel to be inaudible however.
“<And I’m both, so you’ll have to listen extra hard,>” Angel piped up. Travis seemingly ignored her, but bit an extra-large chunk out of his burger.

“ Riti suddenly answered from across the table.

“<He’s gonna choke in 5…4…3…2…>” Angel started counting and soon enough, just as she would have reached zero, Travis began to gag. He reached for his grape soda, causing Katrina to jump back, as his aggressiveness nearly caused her to be hit in the face. He took one big slurp through a straw and then gulped.

“Whew,” he sighed, causing Katrina to giggle a bit.

“Everyone tried to warn you that you were eating too much…” Katrina smacked her head. “But you’re too stubborn.”

“I’m not stubborn…” Travis started. Then he turned to Angel and asked her, “Am I?”

“<No comment,>” was Angel’s answer.

“I wonder where Shiro is…” Travis muttered.

“You worry too much…” Katrina said, “But if we can find that girl Madeline, that’s probably where Shiro is…”

;250;

Shiro and his friends found themselves as the rest stop on Route 29. Marty was pacing the floor with Madeline and Shiro sitting side by side on the couch, and Jeff leaning against a wall on the opposite side.

“So, what are you trying to do, anyway?” Marty asked.

“That’s easy. We’re gonna take down AURA,” Shiro answered simply.

“Today? Now?” Marty questioned, sounding very taken aback. “How?”

“That’s what I was asking,” Madeline piped in. “Both of our Pokémon are back at the Center.” Shiro didn’t respond verbally, but his lips turned upward into a mischievous grin.

“You’re going to actually fight them?” Madeline stood up and stared at Shiro, who was sitting in a rather relaxed position on the couch now that Madeline had vacated her seat.

“If it’s necessary,” Shiro said smugly, winking at the girl through his red shades (which he never removed except for certain situations). Moments later, the pickup truck that Jeffrey was driving was moving at a nice clip back down Route 29 toward Cherrygrove City…

Meanwhile, Travis and Katrina had disposed of their burgers and were no longer sitting at the table, but rather standing close to the door. Katrina had her hands free and had placed them behind her head, but Travis was still sipping his grape soda. There was silence for a moment. The Pokémon, however, were not as quiet…

“<So who are these AURA people? Are they bad humans or something?>” Riti was asking Angel.

“” Angel answered

“<Bad humans…I wonder if these bad humans have Pokémon just like us…>” Riti mused.

“<Probably…>” Angel replied.

“” The emerald-colored grass Pokemon whimpered.

“<You’re not serious,>” Angel shook her head. She had become fond of battling now. Of course, she loved to relax every now and then, but…

“” Riti changed her mind.

“” Angel answered whimsically.

“<Well, that’s because you’re really brave,>” Riti mumbled. “<Me, not so much.>”

“<Don’t be so modest,>” Angel drawled, “<You looked pretty good in your last match,>”

“<Yeah, but I lost…>” Riti whimpered again.

“” Angel mumbled casually, “<It was a tie.>”

“<But you won your match, right?>” Riti asked. She, of course, was in her ball when Angel was fighting, and didn’t see it.”

“” Angel responded, feigning a strut.

“<Nice...really humble,>” Riti said flatly.

;250;

Shiro’s group had reached one of Cherrygrove’s main roads, when all of a sudden, Jeffrey stamped on the brakes, bringing the pickup truck they were riding in to an abrupt stop.

“Hey, what the –” Shiro looked back in Jeffrey’s direction, and then looked toward the back of the truck again to see Madeline careening toward him and screaming. Shiro grunted slightly as Madeline flew into his arms, and the recoil from catching her caused his head to smack into the truck’s back window slightly. Shiro held Madeline for about three or four seconds, when suddenly…

“Whoops, sorry about that, mate,” Madeline wrenched herself from Shiro’s grip and returned to her side.

Shiro, a bit dejected, moaned, “What, I don’t get a ‘thank you’? That woulda been your face on asphalt if it weren’t for me.” The truck still wasn’t moving, much to Shiro’s relief and Madeline’s suspicion. She hopped off of the bed of the truck and ran up to the drivers’ side window. Jeffrey, seeing her, rolled the window down and asked, “What’s going on?”

“That was what I was about to ask you, mate,” Madeline replied a bit sharply. “You almost killed us back there. Why’d you stop?” Jeffrey answered by making a gesture forward. Madeline turned in that direction and beheld a white, and rather ordinary-looking eighteen-wheeler straddling the road horizontally, thus blocking any further progress by anything the size of a car.

“That semi’s blocking the road…” Shiro stood from his position and turned around.

“Yep, some bloke went and crashed…” Madeline muttered as Shiro walked up to her left.

Shiro shook his head and removed his shades from his eyes.. “No, that doesn’t look like a crash. There aren’t any cops or ambulances or anything, for that matter. It looks like someone’s blocking the road on purpose.”

“Exactly what I was thinking,” Jeffrey piped in suddenly. “Something’s up here. Someone doesn’t want someone else to get to somewhere,”

“Uh…thanks for that bit of specific information,” Madeline murmured.

“Let me make it even more specific,” Shiro said, pushing the shades back up his nose. They gleamed white, as he finished, “Someone doesn’t want us to get to the Pokémon Center.”

“You mean…they’ve found out?” Madeline turned to Shiro and looked a bit unnerved.

“If they were already here, it was only a matter of time,” Shiro commented.
“…Nosy blokes…” Madeline muttered. “So much for being low-key about it…”

“But that means that they don’t want us…” Jeffrey muttered. “Because we’re right here in front of the trucks, and I haven’t seen a single one of those guys today. They want someone else.”

“I wonder…” Shiro muttered, and then his eyes widened. “No way!”

;250;

“…Shoot! This waiting game blows!” Travis snapped, crushing his now empty can of soda in his right hand and stuffing it into a nearby trash can.

“Travis,” Katrina kept calling him.

“What is it?” Travis approached her as she was looking out of the open automatic doors.

“Something’s not right…this is the Pokémon Center, and no one’s passed by this stretch of roadway since we had lunch…” Katrina explained.

“Well, the Pokémon Center is having a slow day,” Travis shrugged and walked out of the door into the middle of the street. “It’s not a big d…” Then he saw it…

“Something wrong?” Katrina ran out to join him and then gave a large gasp.
“What…in the name of Ho-oh…” Travis mumbled. The street was completely free of people, and not only that, there were not one, but two of the large white trucks, one on each side of the center. A few shreds of paper laying on the sidewalk in front of the center blew up into an ominous swirl. The trucks’ motors were not running – everything in this small, fifty-yard stretch of road was utterly quiet.

“This is…creepy,” Katrina mumbled,

“You’re tellin’ me…” Travis replied. “Why’d they block off the street with two big trucks? Don’t they usually use police cars for something like this??”

“I don’t like this…I don’t like it at all…” Katrina mumbled again.

“Travis DePaul!” came a shout from the left truck. Travis and Katrina looked up to see a man that had to have been in his mid-to-late thirties. Two tufts of maroon hair could be seen from under his sable-colored hood. His black shirt looked like a muscle shirt – and served seemingly to accentuate the fact that this tan-skinned man was quite burly. It looked like an effect of some rigorous training combined with his natural body frame. He was about six and a half feet in height, and just plain enormous. Behind him were standing none other than the other two black clad people that he had seen that day – Yoshina and Xavier.

“AURA…” Travis growled to himself.

“Your name is Travis DePaul, is it not?” The large man asked.

“Sure is,” Travis answered honestly. Giving a fake name would only serve to make him appear afraid.

“You have just won an official tournament in this city, according to my agents here,” the brawny man said in a tone that didn’t sound like a question.

“I did…” Travis said proudly.

“There’s a rumor flying around our ranks, kid,” the burly man said. “That you’re the ‘Successor,’ and thus the only one that can truly stop our plans.”

“Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Travis answered, “I’m not this ‘Successor’, or whatever. I don’t even know who the ‘Successor’ is that you’re talking about.”

“The successor to the ‘Chosen One’...the ‘Swordbearer’’” the man answered.

“Swordbearer…” Travis mumbled. “What the heck?”

“The one who defeated the Silver Demon Virgil nine hundred years ago...the only one that can properly wield the Flare Calibur...” the man said.

“Okay, first of all, I have no idea what the heck the ‘Flare Calibur’ is...although if you’re calling me the ‘Swordbearer’, my guess is that it must be a sword,” Travis answered astutely. While he received above average grades (to say the least) at the Pokemon Academy, his real strength was his, as Professor Elm always dubbed it, ‘uncommon amount of common sense’...and that helps in any situation. “Second, who are you?”

“The name’s Captain Burke,” the burly man finally answered. “So you know of AURA and our plans already, do you?”

“Well, I don’t know your plans, but it’s pretty obvious that you’re up to no good,” Travis answered him.

“It is of no consequence,” Burke growled. “You’re coming with us.”

“And if I say, ‘no’?” Travis answered piercingly, raising an eyebrow.

“You don’t want to say, ‘no’,” Burke growled in reply. “But it’s not like you have a choice.” Burke and the two agents jumped, yes, jumped, from the top of the semi to the ground. Burke walked quickly over to Travis side, and reached his enormous hands for…

“Katrina!” Travis cried. Katrina struggled to get away but could not wrestle herself free from Burke’s strong grip.

“Either you come with us or your girlfriend over here gets it!” Burke snarled.

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Travis mumbled, “But, still…I won’t let you hurt her…”

“Help!” Katrina was screaming. Those screams pierced somewhere past our hero’s ears, deep into his very heart and soul. Of course, he could order Angel to attack, but now this was…personal. He lunged at Burke on his own, raising his fist to strike, not caring for that one moment how large Burke indeed was, and how badly he could be hurt for trying a stunt like this – all that mattered was that Katrina got to safety.

“Foolish boy!” Burke roared, knocking Travis to the ground with a swing of his free hand. He fell back to the sidewalk and his body bounced sickeningly and skidded into the outside wall of the Center. To Burke’s great surprise and dismay, Travis was up in a split-second.

“Captain, this wasn’t part of the plan,” Xavier’s voice came from behind Burke. “We were supposed to capture the boy, and leave the others alone…”

“Xavier!” Burke roared, making Xavier rethink his decision to speak up, “Don’t tell me that you’re going soft…I’m just spicing things up a little, that’s all,”

“Seriously, sir, this girl obviously holds a special place in his heart. If something were to happen to her, and he truly is the ‘Swordbearer,’ then…”
“What if he’s not, though?” Burke asked, then suddenly realizing the gravity of his question, he fell silent. “I don’t see a sword on him, he woulda used it by now – or tried to.”

“Then our presence here is a waste of time…sir,” Xavier responded. “But, still, I wouldn’t risk it…there was another…”

“Forget the others!” Burke roared, making the young man shrink back to where Yoshina was calmly standing. “You…you will pay for interfering…” Burke growled, and then raised a fist to strike Katrina as she braced for the impending attack and inevitable agony…then a small explosion that landed in front of Burke’s feet caused him to stop. He recoiled from the force of the blast and then looked around curiously to try to see what had caused it.

“Sorry, but I can’t let you do that,” a familiar voice came from everyone’s left. Travis looked atop the truck on the left, and there stood…

“Shiro…” Travis whispered. An agent who was assigned to stand guard turned and took a swing at Shiro with his fist. Shiro ducked out of the way and delivered a well-placed kick to the hooded man’s throat, knocking him out on his feet A second agent tried to punch the redhead, but he caught the man’s arm and twisted it rather violently, taking it out of its socket. He then delivered a martial-arts-style chop directly to the man’s neck, knocking him unconscious. He glared at the third agent through his sunglasses. This hooded man stepped back, steeled himself, and swung a large fist at Shiro. Shiro dodged so quickly that it nearly looked as if he disappeared for a quick moment. A sweeping kick soon came under the agent’s ankle, knocking him over. Shiro crouched low to the ground, almost as if he were doing a push-up. His opponent gazed back, a dazed and fearful look in his eyes.

“Get up,” Shiro muttered into the face of his adversary. The agent pushed himself up onto his feet. Shiro mirrored his move, until they were both standing. Shiro leapt and delivered a kick to the agent’s chin, knocking him backward. The agent staggered backward, lost his footing, and fell several feet from the top of the truck, smacking hard against concrete rather grotesquely. Travis was happy for Shiro's drawing first blood in what was sure to be a long war between them and this mysterious organization, but couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for the grunt, who was probably only following orders.

“Sir…this could get messy,” Xavier muttered to his commander. “Captain...captain!!”

"Lieutenant, stop blubbering over there...we’ve got numbers on our side…GO!” Burke pushed a button, and a large door on each semi opened. The sight that Travis saw made him gulp. Nearly one hundred black-clad AURA agents (which seemed to all look exactly the same) began to pour from the trucks. Shiro ran to Katrina’s side and helped her up, knowing that he could do nothing against such numbers…

“I can’t believe this…” Travis mumbled.

“There’s no way we can win…” Katrina whispered.

“Shiro! Are you alright?” Madeline’s voice called out loudly from atop the trucks.

“Madeline, stay on the other side, it’s too dangerous!” Shiro shouted as he slumped another guard with one of those kicks. He then performed a judo-like throw on a grunt coming in on his right - right into one coming in on his left. As both of them hit the ground in a heap, Shiro immediately saw five rushing for him... "Too many...damn!" he swore.

“What…are we going to do…” Travis mumbled. He looked straight up in a hopeless manner, and saw an arc of about six or seven different colors…a rainbow. Seeing Travis’ bemused expression, Shiro looked upward as well as Katrina, Madeline, and Jeff, and soon assumed the same expression.

“What’s with that? It’s a clear day out here,” Shiro muttered. Then a bird appeared from the sky, squawking loudly. It was colored gold mainly, but at the same time seemed to shine with the same colors which the rainbow shone with. The bird descended with a loud cry onto the crowd of onlooking AURA agents. It opened its mouth and sent forward a blazing, white jet of flames toward the ground. The flames exploded, sending the bodies of injured AURA agents every which way…and then there was a bright flash – similar to what happens with a Pokémon evolves – only this time, it was like the sun itself, it could not be looked at. Travis shielded his eyes, and Katrina looked straight down at the ground. Not even Shiro, with his shades, could look at the light directly. The bright flash continued for about fifteen seconds and then finally died down. The next sight that Travis and his friends saw was even more shocking…the AURA agents had retreated into their trucks, and the birdlike figure was gone. There was no heat from the flame that the bird had undoubtedly spewed, and Burke, Xavier, and Yoshina were getting in one of the trucks.

“What the heck was that…” Xavier mused.

“If it was what I think it was, then there’s no way that we can touch that boy…” Burke growled. “Sound the retreat.” Sensing danger, Travis yanked Katrina back up onto the street. The two trucks turned the right way and then skidded off as quickly as possible. With the road left unblocked, it was as if a floodgate had opened – cars were all moving in that direction and the hustle and bustle of Cherrygrove City had resumed again.

“My…gosh…” Travis gasped, sinking to his knees at a loss for words because of what he had just seen. Meanwhile, Jeffrey’s truck had pulled over to the side of the road, releasing himself and Madeline from it.

“That was just plain strange,” Jeffrey commented. “But it looks like my job is done here…and speaking of jobs…”

“Oh! Your lunch break ended half an hour ago!” Madeline suddenly shouted.

“Oy…the boss isn’t gonna be happy about this…” Jeffrey said, quickly jumping back into the drivers’ seat of his pickup truck. The truck roared as Jeffrey jerked the key in the ignition clockwise. It did a slight lurch forward, almost if Jeff was preparing to take off…

“Thanks for all of your help!” Madeline waved at Jeffrey’s vanishing figure…
The next morning, at about sunrise, as a matter of fact, the three friends (and Madeline, for that matter) were all prepared to depart from Cherrygrove City. They all stood at the sign that clearly said, “Route 30,” and began saying their goodbyes.

“Congratulations, and good luck, man,” Shiro said to Travis, high-fiving his buddy.

“Same to you, but try to show up at the next one, alright?” Travis responded.

“I’m out,” Shiro started walking off. However, it wasn’t long before a blur of brown and white passed in front of Travis and grabbed Shiro by the shoulders.

“Off in such a hurry?” Madeline’s loud voice piped up, “I thought we agreed to travel together!”

“What are you talking about?” A bewildered Shiro asked the brown-haired girl, “We never agreed to anything like that.”

“Well, let’s just say, I’ve invited myself along for the ride!” Madeline exclaimed.

“Help me…” Shiro’s head drooped hopelessly as he surrendered to the girl’s wishes. Madeline forcefully held on to Shiro’s arm as the two started to walk off. Shiro turned his head around and shook it even more hopelessly.

“Nice knowing you,” Travis mouthed inaudibly.

“I wonder if Madeline...” Katrina commented, completely off of the topic…as if there were any specific topic.

Travis groaned quite loudly at Katrina’s comment (one he realized what she was trying to say) and muttered, “See, now I’m gonna have that image to keep me company for the next three days of my journey.”

“Ha ha, sorry,” Katrina laughed and started to walk toward Route 30 again. “By the way…”

“What is it?” Travis asked her.

“Did you mean what you said…back there yesterday…” Katrina mumbled hesitantly.

Travis knew exactly what Katrina was talking about, but decided to play dumb for now and answered, “…I said a lot of things yesterday, so I’m not sure which one you meant.”

“Hmm…okay, then, see you!” Katrina waved, and then took off toward Route 30 herself, thinking, I’ll never find out how he really feels about me…

We’ve been friends too long…it’d be really weird, Travis was thinking to himself in the meantime.

“<You like her, don’tcha,>” Angel said out of nowhere, making Travis jump a bit.

“Don't be silly, we're just friends,” he said.

"<Riiiiight...>" Angel replied slyly. She could read him like a book. Now if only he could sort out what he was really feeling...

WaterTrainer243 · Apr 17, 2006

Another exciting chapter amigo. One I was anxiously waiting for. Keep it up!

Hoenn Warrior · Apr 17, 2006

Wicked chapter. AURA tries to make a move but fail due to the interference of a all powerful legendary. Will any of the other legendary pokemon make a appearance in your story. Hope they do, especially a certain one that is somewhat related to the one that saved Travis. Also, true feelings start to pop up and Shiro gets a "new friend". Cant wait to see more.

Shikamarufan · Apr 17, 2006

Another good chapter, a little Bruce Lee fighting, a little awkward moments, no real pokemon battles, but it was certianly entertaining, one of a kind. Shiro should get some fighting Pokemon, despite his love towards fire types....

Terria · Apr 23, 2006

There is a solution....Shikamarufan....Lookie your avatar!
Blaziken:Fire,Fighting.

Now...Eonmaster.....Flare Calibur=Soul Calibur?!?!?!?!?
Next we'll be seeing Frost Edge.....
and the appearance of a legendary.(ho-oh:fire,flying)
I have a strange feeling that Travis is going to get a all-ULTIMATE-UBERS team......
Can't wait to see more!

EDIT:
XD. I aplogise for my NOOBISHNESS. I AM SURREH.>.<

EonMaster One · Apr 29, 2006

Chapter 11

Well...Terria, none of those things will happen. I, for one, hate the idea of doing an OT with all one-type pokemon. Besides, when it comes to fire, there aren't a lot of options.

Anyway, on to Chapter 11!

Chapter 11: A Bark As Good As His Bite

The day before, Travis had won a tournament, and a rather hefty sum of money, on top of that. He had used the cash to buy about three or four Pokéballs, some food for himself and Angel (at least enough to get to the next town, anyways) and some Potions, in case Angel was injured in battle. It had been a quiet day out on Route 30, however. The mild weather was probably making all of the Pokémon sleepy – Travis and Angel were getting a bit drowsy. The date was the fourth of June – but someone needed to tell that to the weather, which seemed to be stuck somewhere in mid-May. It was no warmer than seventy or seventy-five degrees out, and a nice westerly breeze was blowing. Fair weather clouds passed overhead, blocking out the sun intermittently. While Route 29 looked somewhat like a plain of sorts, Route 30 looked like little more than a path that had been cut in a straight line through the trees. There was one noticeable difference, though – there seemed to be quite the elevation difference coming about in Route 30. There were ledges that had to be about five or six feet off of the ground – it was possible, if one had shoes, or even a bike with good shock absorbers, to jump from the ledges. It was a bit scary at times, but for someone coming to Cherrygrove from Violet City, it would probably be quicker – and less risky – then walking the long way through the tall grass. Anyone who was a trainer – especially one who had gone to New Bark’s Academy, knew for a fact that Pokémon were known to pop out in tall grass and attack. However, one moving from Cherrygrove could not climb up those ledges. They were too tall and unnaturally vertical. Thus, these unfortunate souls were forced to take the long way around the tall grass – plus, there was another problem.

There was an obvious fork in the road that one could see, even at night, probably, but the path to the left was narrow, and many times was blocked off by two rookie trainers that were battling each other. It was hard to get by unnoticed, and if one’s luck was for the worse, the battle could end right there before his eyes and he would be challenged next, taking up much time and making his Pokémon tired. Past this point, though, was the hardest section of Route 30. Many trainers, instead of finding someone to challenge, waited on this passage that everyone inevitably had to traverse, and challenged another trainer upon sight – regardless of how tired either party or their Pokémon were. That fact made Route 30 our hero’s first true test – a literal gauntlet testing the endurance of Pokémon and Trainer alike. Travis was confident, though – many times, the Pokémon used by trainers in this area were freshly caught, and having won a total of four battles, three against trainers with more experienced Pokémon, Travis was sure that Angel was strong enough to make the trip – a little stealth now and then wouldn’t hurt, though. If he faced everyone there was to face on this road, it would probably take nearly a week to reach Violet City, and he didn’t want to think about how far ahead everyone else could get of him. However, Travis wasn’t much stubborn (even though Angel probably was), and at this current time, volunteered to take a rest under a tree.

Travis felt the refreshing, mild-temperature breeze brush his face and hair. He did his best to keep his eyes open. If he closed them, he most likely would not wake until well into the afternoon.

“<Today’s weather’s nothing like when we first left,>” Angel commented.

“You’re telling me…the weather’s perfect,” Travis responded, “but maybe that’s not such a good thing. It’s making me feel…lazy.”

“<That’s confusing,>” Angel rebutted, “<You’d think that on a nice day like this, everyone would have more energy…>”

“Yeah, well, sunrise during the winter isn’t so bad, but sunrise in summer is somewhere around five o’clock in the morning,” Travis answered her with a loud, gaping yawn.

“<I’d rather not see what you had for breakfast a few hours ago,>” Angel said.

“That’s really funny,” Travis said sarcastically, then realizing how funny it actually was, gave Angel a strange look. They stared each other down for a very long moment and suddenly Travis, who failed miserably to keep a straight face, started laughing extremely hard. Angel joined in seconds later and climbed up onto Travis’ chest, her big, black, and adorable eyes staring into Travis’ face. Travis smiled back at her, thinking to himself that these were the moments that a Pokémon trainer lives for, not the Gym Battles or the fame, or even the title of Pokémon Champion – all of those things were good, and he definitely wouldn’t complain if they were given to him, but still…trainers, well, most good ones anyway, just wanted the company and companionship of their Pokémon.

“<…um…>” Angel started. Travis jumped a bit, hitting his head on the trunk of the tree that he was laying against. He hated it when someone had to snap him out of his daydream like this. Angel, though, had a really serious look on her face, almost as if there were something wrong with her.

“What’s wrong?” Travis immediately grew worried. His eyes darted to his Eevee, waiting on a bed of nails to hear her answer.

“<I’m hungry.>” Travis face-faulted, halfway because of relief, and halfway because of the strangeness of her attitude.

“Is that all? I’ll get something,” Travis stood up and responded. “Let me go get my bag…” Travis turned around and saw his bag leaning against another tree – however, something had done a very good job of sneaking up onto Travis’ bag, and it was now attempting to unzip the bag and explore its contents. Sensing that it was being watched, it turned around quickly. From this angle, Travis could get a full view of the creature. It was colored a very full and rich shade of purple except on its belly, which was a perfect white. Long white whiskers also extended from the face of this Pokémon, which bore very large buckteeth similar to those of a rat, and bright red eyes. It stood about exactly a foot off of the ground, not counting its quite prominent ears, which were purple on the outside, but a golden shade of brown on the inside.

“Rat-ta-tat!” It squeaked quickly, realizing that it had been caught.

“That’s a Rattata,” Travis said, “Everyone who’s left their house has seen one of these somewhere. They’re all over the place.” Nonetheless, he opened his Pokedex and pointed it at the violet-shaded rodent.

“Rattata,” Dexter II droned, “the Rat Pokémon. This Pokémon’s vitality allows it to live anywhere. It also multiplies very quickly.”

“You’re telling me,” Travis commented, closing his Pokedex. Rattata, meanwhile, had turned around and tried to get inside the bag again, despite knowing that it was no longer a covert project.

“<Hey, that’s our food! Get away!>” Angel shouted, jumping out from behind Travis. Not even bothering to wait for a command, she laid into the would-be thief with all of her might in a Tackle attack that sent him skidding away. Rattata jumped up immediately and bared its fangs, prepared for battle.

“It looks like we’ve got a fight on our hands,” Travis warned.

“” Angel commented.

“Rat-ta-tat!” Rattata screeched, charging Angel rather quickly and seemingly disappearing into thin air.

“<Hey, what the…>” Angel looked around, very unnerved at what had just happened. Seconds later, she felt a slender, violet tail slap against her face stingingly and Rattata reappeared just inches from where it was standing before.

“You okay?” Travis asked.

“<I’ll live…Rattata don’t hit hard. They’re just really fast,>” Angel responded calmly, cringing a bit from the sting of Rattata’s Tail Whip.

“Now that that’s settled…Tackle attack!” Travis shouted. Angel nodded in response and started charging Rattata and rammed into him again. The purple rat skidded backward from the force of the attack.

“Ratt-ratta-ta!” It squeaked.

“Don’t let up, Angel! Another Tackle!” Travis yelled.

“<Try dodging this!>” Angel shouted at her opponent, rushing him for a second time. Just as she was about to make contact she decided to jump behind him. Rattata looked around with a confused expression on his face – seconds before his face slammed into the ground, the result of a third and final Tackle attack.

“Whew…That’s over…let’s move before it wakes up,” Travis mumbled, and Trainer and Pokémon sneaked away on their tiptoes…

“Mrrm, dr’s grr!” Travis cried, his voice muffled by a mouthful of sandwich.

“<Yum, yum,>” Angel mumbled happily, munching on some food of her own.
Travis swallowed his hunk of lunch with a loud gulp. “I like these,” he commented. “I think I’ll get some more when we get to the next town.”

“<How long will that take?>” Angel asked curiously.

“I heard it’s about three or four days on foot if we hurry,” Travis said.

“<That’s a bit long for the two of us, don’t you think?>” Angel asked again.

“What are you trying to say?” Travis countered with a question of his own.

“<Mmm…I have no idea what I’m trying to say. I’m just enjoying this food too much,>” Angel answered, earning a laugh from her trainer. “<But still, four days…>”

“That’s assuming twelve hours of traveling and twelve hours of rest,” Travis added, placing half of his sandwich in a plastic bag and rising to his feet. “If you’re so worried about the time, maybe we should get going now.”

“” Angel commented
curtly as Travis whisked away her empty bowl. Travis sighed and shook his head.

“Alright,” Travis grunted with a bit of effort as he slung his backpack over his shoulder, “We’re moving.”

“<About time!>” Angel said perkily as they continued to walk. It was only a matter of about ten or fifteen minutes before they reached that infamous fork in the road.

“Which way should we go…” Travis mumbled.

“” Angel piped in. “<Left! Left! Left!>”

“I’m thinking about left, too. If we’re heading due north right now, then left should be the right direction,” Travis answered.

“<Left is the right…I thought we were going left…now you’re saying left is right? I’m confused,>” Angel said, dropping her head despondently.

“Never mind,” Travis groaned and sighed again.

“<So, we’re going left?>” Angel asked again.

“Right,” Travis answered.

“<So we’re going right?>” Angel asked again.

“Left,” Travis answered a bit more sharply.

“”

Travis knew that Angel was just teasing him, so he finished by pointing sharply to the left path and yelling, “We’re going that way, okay?”

“<Oh…>” Angel whimpered. “<Thanks for clearing that up,>” and off she took, leaving her trainer to play catch-up.

“Hey, wait!” Travis shouted, breaking into a jog to follow his overly excited Pokémon. They ran for a good few yards around a patch of tall grass.

“<What…?>” Angel skidded to a stop.

“Uh…is something wrong?” asked Travis who had skidded alongside her.

“<Just look up there,>” Angel answered, and Travis saw them. There were two boys, one with a cap and one without one, and both were wearing t-shirts and shorts and looked to be slightly younger than Travis was – or at least, shorter.

“Rattata, use Tackle!” One of the boys yelled out, and the violet rat Pokémon sitting calmly at his toes roused himself to commit the act.

“Oh, no! Sentret, get outta there!” The other boy shouted worriedly as one of the brown-colored Scout Pokémon rolled out of the way of its opponent’s body charge.

“<Oh, no…we can’t get through…>” Angel whined in disappointment.
“We’ve got to get through…” Travis mused. “Hey, that’s it! The right path must lead right around it!”

“<Or, it could lead to a dead-end…>” Angel added.

“Quit worrying so much,” Travis said. “C’mon, let’s go!” And off they went, past the trees and back to the T-shaped junction. They continued moving straight, and then proceeded to begin to hike up the hill. They kept moving and moving until they came to a relatively open field. Here many Pokémon were laying, eating, or just playing around. About half of them, Travis noticed without surprise, were Rattata, who were munching on berries or engaging in other activities. There were so many Rattata around here, he’d feel ashamed not having one. The fact was, probably every trainer has had a Rattata at some point in their careers, and according to his studies, Rattata, if trained properly, would evolve into a larger and much stronger Pokémon – and it didn’t take that long, either.

“You up for a battle?” Travis asked Angel.

“<Again? One of those was bad enough, but now there’s about twenty of them!>” Angel exclaimed.

“I’m not telling you to battle all of them, just pick one,” Travis moaned.

“<Okay, if you say so…>” Angel drawled and started scanning the field for not the weakest, but the strongest Rattata that she could find. She spotted two who appeared to be staging their own battle – possibly a dispute over a berry. After watching one Rattata make rather quick work of the other with a well-placed Tail Whip right on the top of the head, she turned up toward Travis and shouted, “<That one’s really strong!>”

“Ready when you are,” Travis said. Angel excitedly ran up to the other Rattata to challenge him to a battle. The purple mouse tilted his head for a moment, but found quick comprehension as Angel starting rushing him with the intent of attempting a Tackle attack.

“HEY! STOP IT!” The voice of a small child yelled. Suddenly, a bright orange figure passed in a blur across Travis’ line of sight, spewing very hot-looking sparks of flame at Angel. Angel jumped back, letting the flame sparks smack into the dirt and create a small explosion.

“What the heck do you think that you’re doing!?” Travis yelled, turning around to see who had commanded the ginger-colored assailant.

“I was about to ask you the same question,” a voice from behind Travis said sharply. Travis jumped, and turned around gradually, half afraid of what he would find behind him. There stood a boy with closely cropped forest-green hair. He was small, quite a few inches shorter than Travis, and was wearing a tank top, some denim shorts, and brown sandals.

Irritated by this sudden – and rather small – interruption, Travis said sharply, “You’d better go home to your mom. All I was doing was to capture a Rattata.”

“Why don’t you capture one out there, then?” the boy yelled, pointing backwards to the path that led to this point.

“What’s the difference?” Travis asked.

“The ones here belong to me and my grandpa,” the boy explained.

“Sorry, I didn’t know…” Travis mumbled, feeling foolish immediately. “What was that orange thing? Is that yours?”

“No, but he’s the self-proclaimed protector of this area,” the boy explained again and Travis turned around to see the figure’s still form. Its face was clearly canine, but its fur nearly resembled that of a tiger – orange with about three or four black stripes running along the puppy’s back, and about one or two on each of its four legs. It had a cream-colored tuft of hair situated right between its ears, and more cream hair under its chin, similar to Angel’s, but a bit messier-looking, and a fluffy-looking tail of a similar color.

“And that’s a…” Travis’ voice trailed off as he opened his Pokedex and pointed it at the small, orange dog.

“Growlithe, the Puppy Pokémon,” Dexter II droned once again. “It controls a big territory. If it detects an unknown smell, it roars loudly to force out the intruder.”

“And you are…” Travis turned around, jokingly attempting to scan the small boy with the Pokedex.

“I’m Shaye. Like I said before, I live here with my grandpa and all of these Rattata,” the green-haired boy answered.

“Oh…I’m really sorry for the misunderstanding,” Travis apologized.

“It’s okay…just as long as you aren’t a poacher. I heard that some people use the fangs of Rattata to make tools.

“But a Rattata can’t eat without its fangs!” Travis shouted. “That’s horrible!”

“I know…” Shaye answered. “But there’s not much me and my grandpa can do about it.”

“<What do you think?>” Angel asked Travis. “<Should we go after them?>”
Travis looked at Angel and retorted, “But we don’t even know who – or where – these poachers are.” Then he gave Shaye a suspicious look and added, “…or if he’s even telling the truth.” Shaye stared him down for a few seconds and then folded his arms.

“<I’m pretty sure he’s telling the truth,>” Angel said.

“Alright, I’ll take your word for it,” Travis said, half to Angel and half to Shaye.

“Okay…but I have one question,” Shaye answered.

“Hm?” Travis uttered questioningly, raising his eyebrow.

“Why did you come up this way?” Shaye asked him.

“Uh…I tried to get through…” Travis started.

“…and there was someone blocking the way,” Shaye finished. “It happens. I’ll tell you what, you can stay with us until the evening. Those guys should clear out by then.”

“Okay!” Travis exclaimed, accepting Shaye’s offer and turning around.

“Follow me, then!” Shaye exclaimed enthusiastically and started to run up the hill. Travis, left behind by the boy’s sudden burst of speed, attempted to catch up…

;250;

“Grandpaaaa! I’m hooooome!” Shaye yelled as he and Travis stepped into the small house. It was isolated and was against a forest. Travis’ worst fear had been confirmed by what Shaye had said – this path was a dead end, so Travis and Angel would have to travel all of the way back to where they were at the beginning – and that’s if they could even get through…but those boys couldn’t stay out there forever. Suddenly an older man emerged from what must have been the kitchen area. He looked nothing like Travis’ grandfather, but was short, a bit stocky, and extremely jolly looking…he looked like Santa Claus minus the red outfit. His shirt was brown and a bit tight, and he wore quite large khaki pants and spectacles.

“Shaye! Just in time for lunch! Who’s your friend?” the Grandfather said very quickly.

“This is Travis, grandpa,” Shaye answered.

“Why the long face, hm? Can’t get through Route 30, can you?” Shaye’s grandfather asked. Shaye, Angel, and Travis all shook their heads simultaneously. “Ah, you’ll have to wait here a few hours.”

“I guess so,” Travis muttered sadly.

“<That’ll set us back a full day!>” Angel complained.

“Would you rather fight your way through?” Travis asked through gritted teeth.

“<Now that you think about it…>” Angel’s voice trailed off.

“So, sir…what do you do here?” Travis asked Shaye’s grandfather, effectively ending the conversation between himself and Angel.

“Well, we raise these here Rattata,” the aged man answered. “And when little Shaye here turns eleven, he’ll get one of ‘em to start his journey.”

“But why is that?” Travis asked. “Wouldn’t you want a rarer…or frankly, a stronger…Pokémon?”

“Rattata are pretty common to people, but that also means that many Rattata live in the city. You just don’t see them,” Shaye said strangely.

“What’s that got to do with anything?” Travis questioned, looking quite beside himself with confusion.

“Rattata are a common sight in cities, so they get along very well with humans and are thus easy to train,” Shaye’s grandfather answered for him.

“I guess that’s easy to understand,” Travis replied. “But why would anyone want to poach a Ratta…”

“I thought I just told you,” Shaye cut him off. “They use their fangs to make tools.”

“O…kay,” Travis muttered. “Sorry.”

“Rat-ta-ta!” A clamor came from outside, all of a sudden, making Shaye jump and run outward. Travis stayed inside for a second, and Shaye’s grandfather followed moments after.

“HEY!” Travis heard Shaye shout. “Come back here!” He ran outside. Someone had a black truck and was stuffing a cage full of the Rattata into the truck. The figure, clad in a black robe, slammed the back of the truck shut, and ran around to open the door. Travis gave chase, sliding out in front of him. He kicked the door closed and then looked straight at the figure.

“Tch, just a kid…” the black-garbed man said in a low voice.

“Tch, just a grunt…” Travis muttered likewise.

“Get out of my…huh?” the grunt had an expression of recognition on his half-hidden face. He then stepped back and looked quite frightened. “It’s you…”

“It’s me…not that there’s much of a difference.” Travis mumbled.

“What do you plan to do?” the grunt asked.

“Stop you, what else?” Travis retorted.

“Fine! I’ll catch that last one!” The grunt shouted, Pulling out a Pokéball and turning around. He raised his hand in the air. Shaye gasped loudly. Travis tried to run around to the other side of him, but was quickly knocked to the ground by an incoming elbow. Travis landed on his backside and grimaced in pain from hitting the ground so hard and so abruptly. “Pokéball…” the man growled, but the ball he was holding was quickly knocked out of his hand by a descending shower of flame sparks. The grunt looked up to see an orange canine figure standing on top of Shaye’s house.

“Groowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwlithe!” It howled long and loud into the air before jumping – yes, jumping – from the roof of the one-story house. It landed directly between the grunt and Shaye and his grandfather.

“Another Growlithe…” Travis murmured.

“<No, it’s that same one. I’m sure of it,>” Angel piped up.

“A Growlithe! That’s even better!” the grunt exclaimed, rubbing his greedy, black-gloves hands together. Alright, then, go, Spearow!” The grunt threw another ball into the air. The ball spun in the same place in mid-air for a second or three, then popped open, shedding the familiar white light onto the ground. The ball popped open to reveal the brown-feathered creature.

“Speeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeear!” It screeched into the air before looking at Growlithe and assuming a battle pose.

“Growl…” Growlithe barked. The striped, orange canine Pokémon looked ready to fight.

“Go, Spearow! Peck attack, NOW!” The grunt growled. Spearow raised its beak to strike Growlithe on the head. Growlithe stood there and made no attempt to defend itself, letting Spearow rap it on the head about five or six times. Growlithe’s head dropped in what must have been absolute agony for being the victim of a peck attack.

“Very easy!” the AURA grunt shouted in elation. “Now…” Growlithe’s head returned to face its opponent. It seemed to have a canine smirk on its face…a smirk that clearly implied that the Spearow’s attack was nowhere near strong enough.

“Growl…” Growlithe barked. It seemed to be a warning.

“No way! I’m not leaving! Go, Rattata!” The grunt shouted, throwing a second ball into the air.

“What!?” Shaye shouted as another purple rodent came into form and stood beside where Spearow was flapping its wings in a stationary position.

“Rattata!! Use Hyper Fang! Hold it down!” the grunt ordered. Rattata rushed Growlithe in a purple blur and grabbed Growlithe on its right side with its enormous fangs. Growlithe howled in pain – for real this time, and tried its best to struggle away from the small rat.

“Hey! Two against one isn’t fair!” Shaye piped up.

“Life isn’t fair, kid. Deal with it,” the grunt…well…grunted in response. “Spearow, Peck attack, now!” The brown bird raised its beak to strike every part of Growlithe that it could find. This continued a few seconds, with Shaye and his grandfather watching hopelessly as their defender was fighting a losing battle.

“I’ve had enough of watching this!!” Travis shouted from behind him. Angel got the message and starting running full speed toward Rattata. She rammed into it, knocking it aside to the ground. Rattata jumped up extremely quick and disappeared. It appeared a split-second later on Angel’s left and rammed her hard making her cringe with pain. The violet flash of fur was moving so quickly that it seemed to ricochet off of Angel’s body and tapped Growlithe right on the top of the head, forcing the small, orange Puppy Pokémon into the ground face-first.

“<Hey, are you alright?!>” Travis heard Angel shout, jumping to her feet.

“Go, Angel! Tackle Rattata as hard as you can!” Travis shouted. Angel started running at Rattata and turned toward the right, aiming for Rattata’s near flank. She hit it – hard, sending it flying back in the direction of its Trainer, and hitting him in the face and bouncing off, causing the grunt to reel backwards seconds before he returned the knocked-out rat Pokémon. Spearow, who had kept up the Peck attacks eventually realized that its comrade was no longer there to restrain its adversary and its face became very terrified looking.

WHOOSH.

A jet of flame sparks flew like bullets from Growlithe’s mouth, bombarding Spearow, and recoloring it quite the darker shade of brown than normal. It went flying and hit the ground and skidded back to its trainer, knocked out.

“Shoot!” The grunt roared, returning his Spearow as well and opening the cage and examining something. He lifted the cage for a hot moment, then darted to the driver’s seat of the truck and shouted, “I’m quittin’ while I’m ahead!”

“Nooooooo!!” Shaye cried long and loud – seconds before he ignited the engine and rolled off – leaving the cage full of Rattata to slide out of the back of the truck and land sharply on the ground. “Er...”

“Man, that’s pathetic,” Travis said, stifling a laugh. “Not only is he a lowlife thief…he’s a bad one.” Travis turned around and was about to compliment Angel on a job well done, but Growlithe and Angel were staring daggers at one another – Angel had a slight burn mark on her brown-colored face. Just when Angel and Growlithe were about to start fighting, Travis shouted, “HEY! STOP!”

Travis’ sudden cry got both Pokémon’s attention and they both looked at him very bemusedly.

“<He thinks that he’s a tough guy…acts like he took down both of them all on his own…>” Angel murmured.

“Grrrowl! Grrowlithe!” Growlithe barked.

“He’s just protecting his territory, Angel. Don’t get so worked up,” Travis said, shrugging.

“Thank you so much for rescuing all of the Rattata,” Shaye said gratefully.

“As a matter of fact, we’ll let you have one if you like!” his grandfather added.

“Grandpa…” Shaye pleaded against it.

“Oh, keep your shirt on. We’ve got enough of them as is…” his grandfather responded.

“Thanks, but no thanks,” Travis finally brought the argument to a halt with this statement. “But maybe…” he ran over by the Growlithe and knelt beside him. “…you can travel with us if you like.”

“<What!?>” Angel shouted.

“Growl…ithe,” Growlithe looked to be thinking. He finally ran over to Shaye and started barking something to him while Shaye knelt to listen. The green-haired boy, after a few moments, stood to his feet.

“He says that first you must prove yourself worthy…or something…” Shaye mumbled.

“<Hey! Are you saying that I’m not strong enough?>” Angel asked. Apparently she thought that what the ginger pup had said was an insult.

“Growl…” Growlithe lowered his head and prepared for battle.

“Hmm…” Travis muttered. Angel gave Growlithe and angry stare.

“<You just wait…>” Angel was muttering to herself.

“Go, Angel! Tackle attack!” Travis ordered, starting the battle.

“<I’ll do a tackle attack, all right,>” Angel muttered, charging Growlithe with all of her might. Growlithe reared his head back and released a shower of sparks, which Angel dodged easily. Growlithe reared its head back a second time and sent another round of the sparks down at Angel’s feet.

“Angel, jump!” Travis shouted. Angel did so, dodging the second attack, and at the same time, hurled herself at her opponent. Growlithe looked up only to butt heads with Angel, who immediately pivoted around and jumped off of his head and back to Travis’ position. This, of late, had become more or less Angel’s trademark attack, and Travis expected it to do quite a bit of damage – enough to knock out Growlithe. Growlithe, though slightly injured, shook its head and was prepared to continue battle.

“<What? It worked last time…>” Angel mused.

“Try again!” Travis shouted. Angel jumped into the air (barely dodging another round of embers) and launched herself at Growlithe again. They made contact, but this time, Angel flipped off behind her opponent and skidded to a stop. Growlithe turned around to see Angel coming hard and fast. He ran at her as well, and opened his mouth. The Puppy Pokémon’s powerful jaws clamped down on his opponent. This was a Bite attack.

“Angel!” Travis shouted worriedly. Growlithe, using his jaws, launched Angel airborne a couple of inches away from him and released a white hot stream of fire sparks at point-blank range, sending Angel somersaulting into the air and looking slightly blackened. Angel landed near Travis on her feet, but staggered a little as a result of the damage that she had incurred.

“<That smarts…>” Angel mumbled.

“Can you still keep going?” Travis asked. Angel was thinking for a moment about saying ‘no’, but then looked at Growlithe’s toothy and cocky grin and changed her mind, her eyes reddening with Anger.

“<I’m not even warmed up yet,>” She responded to her trainer.

“Fine…Tail Whip!” Travis ordered, and Angel ran to her opponent and swung her furry tail in a brown, blurry arc at her opponent. Angel’s tail caught Growlithe swiftly across the face, causing him to howl with pain and prepare another Ember attack. Flames could be seen in the blackness of Growlithe’s nostrils, so it was obvious that he was serious about this next attack and not going to hold back at all.

“<Not again…!>” Angel groaned.

“Tackle now!” Travis shouted quickly, hoping to get the command in and executed before Growlithe unleashed his next attack. Angel began rushing Growlithe and jumped right before Growlithe released another scorching round of embers. She didn’t descend and go for a head shot, this time, though. She faked an attack, making Growlithe release his own in self-defense, and landed on his right flank and knocked him into the air. He hit the ground with a loud thud and a whimper. Travis went for his belt and unlatched a spare Pokéball. He maximized it in his hand…

“It is over?” Shaye asked his grandfather.

“It may well be,” his grandfather answered.

“Pokéball, GO!” Travis said, chucking the red and white ball at Growlithe. The ball smacked the weakened Puppy Pokémon on the top of the head quite audibly, and opened. Growlithe’s whole form gradually became red light, then amorphous, red light, and finally flew in a scarlet streak into the ball. The ball closed in mid-air and hit the ground and started shaking. A pink light in the middle of the ball was on and flickering every now and then. It shook once…

Twice…

Three times…

Then it stopped. The light in the center of the ball turned off with a loud ping. The ball lay motionless in the grass, and Travis picked it up. He had done it…he had finally caught his first Pokémon.

“I did it! I caught a Growlithe!” Travis shouted, holding the Pokéball containing his very first capture high in the air.

“<Whoop-dee-do…>” Angel said with obvious sarcasm.

“Congratulations!” Shaye jumped up and down in celebration with Travis.

“A job well done!” Shaye’s grandfather added.

;250;

Travis had returned with Angel, and his newly acquired Growlithe, (which, to no one’s surprise, he nicknamed Hotshot) to the fork in Route 30. He snuck around the bend and saw – there was no one there!

“Alright! That’s great! The path’s open!”

“<Cool, we can get to where we’re going before our little princess’ feet start hurting,>” Hotshot barked. Angel looked at Hotshot angrily for a second, and then simply turned her nose up into the air and kept walking, trying her best to ignore her new “partner,” who had gotten under her skin even before he was captured.

“Mm…this is definitely gonna be interesting…” Travis mumbled, smacking his forehead with his hand.

WaterTrainer243 · Apr 29, 2006

And now Hotshot has joined the crew, I missed that cocky dog.

Hoenn Warrior · Apr 30, 2006

Great chapter. Hotshot has finally made it on to Travis's team, and already is a pain in the butt to Angel. It is true what Travis had said, this will be an interesting journey. Cant wait for Travis to make it to the city to compete for his badge.

TheTurquoiseTauros! · Apr 30, 2006

yaaahhh!! i love hotshot! im glad he caught it!!

EonMaster One · May 6, 2006

Chapter 12

Sorry I haven't been on in a while. I'm getting all types of work shoved up my...

Anyway, I was busy as all hell this week, but it should calm down since I only have a week and some change of classes left.

Chapter 12: Running the Gauntlet

Today’s date was the fifth of June. The skies were partly cloudy, and it was a bit more humid than it had been the day before. The wind was nearly nonexistent, making it feel all the much warmer – not quite uncomfortable, but there was still a noticeable difference between today and the day before. Travis and Angel were keeping up a swift pace through Route 30, and they were about to reach the point in Route 30 that everyone feared the most – the Gauntlet, it was called…it consisted of a string of about four young trainers that one had to defeat to be allowed passage through Route 30. Angel was very hot for a battle today. Ever since Hotshot had joined the team yesterday, Angel has gotten a bit of an inferiority complex…not so much that Hotshot was stronger than she…Angel did beat him in a battle, and that’s how Travis caught him anyway.

“<How much longer until the Gauntlet?>” Angel asked.

“It shouldn’t be long now…you’re really ready for some serious battling, aren’t you?” Travis responded.

“<You bet I am…>” Angel said aloud.

“Well, don’t hog all of the fighting to yourself. Hotshot needs to battle a little, too,” Travis admonished.

“” Angel mumbled to herself.

“Hm? You say something?” Travis turned around.

“<Uh…no…>” Angel said quickly, a large blue sweatdrop materializing by her head.

“Hmm…I need to let Hotshot out. He probably wants some fresh air…” Travis mumbled and started to reach for the occupied Pokéball on his belt.

“<No!>” Angel suddenly snapped.

“Hm?” Travis uttered and looked at Angel strangely.

“” Angel said quickly, covering her tracks.

“You’re acting really weird today, you know that?” Travis said suspiciously.

“<Oh, don’t mind me…>” Angel mumbled. “<I’m just…>”

“Hey, kid!” A yell came from in front of them. Travis looked up and saw a boy with a blue cap that was on backwards, a yellow t-shirt, and shorts. He stood just below five feet in height. He looked really, really young and Travis was surprised that he was an official trainer. This boy’s got some nerve calling me a ‘kid’, Travis thought to himself.

“” Angel commented.

“Anything else you’ve figured out, Sherlock?” Travis said with obvious sarcasm.

“Hey! My name is Jake and you’ve got to beat me in a battle before you can pass here!” the small boy shouted, pulling a Pokéball out of his pocket and enlarging it in his hand.

“I accept your challenge!” Travis exclaimed.

“Alright!” Jake yelled. “Go…Rattata!” He threw a Pokéball into the air, and it burst open in a flash of white light. The light hit the ground and materialized, then dimmed, revealing the small, purple rodent with the large buckteeth.

“<Let’s do it!>” Angel jumped forward ready to battle, but to her greatest dismay, Travis instead pulled the Pokéball of his belt that held the Growlithe that he had just caught the day before. Her long brown ears drooped a bit, indicating that she was disappointed.

“Hotshot, let’s do it!” Travis shouted, throwing the Pokéball high into the air. It blew open, revealing the puppy with the orange fur.

“<Hmm…who do I beat today…>” Hotshot murmured a bit lazily, tilting his head from side to side almost as if he were bored already. He turned around after a few seconds and finally faced his opponent. “<Hmm…one of you guys…this should take no time at all…>” Hotshot commented in that same lazy tone of voice.

“Rrrrrrat-a-tat!” Rattata growled, angry at his opponent’s obvious lack of interest in the fight.

“<Temper, temper…>” Hotshot barked. “<You don’t want to lose your focus before the fight ever begins, do you?>”

“I’ll let you make the first move!” Jake shouted.

“Big mistake,” Travis murmured, eyeing his opponent. “Hotshot, open it up with an Ember!”

“<Let’s get ready to barbecue!!>” Hotshot barked confidently, and then inhaled deeply, puffing out the cream colored fur on its chest. Exhaling, he shot out several miniature fireballs like bullets at the violet rat Pokémon.

“Go, Rattata! Quick Attack, now!” Jake ordered. Rattata took off towards Growlithe, and the first string of embers hit the ground, causing a small explosion. Rattata jumped left in a purple blur, easily avoiding another round of fireballs. He jumped to the right, avoiding the third round. Finally he jumped straight up and attempted to ram into his opponent.

“Try a Bite Attack, Hotshot!” Travis said, reacting quickly. Hotshot smirked and opened his jaws wide, and allowed the small purple rat to fall right in. He sunk his teeth into the flesh of the rodent Pokémon, which squeaked in pain.

“You caught him!” Jake said in shock. Hotshot winked at the opposing trainer then swung his head and threw Rattata into the air back toward Travis and Angel. Angel, nearly being hit by Rattata’s flailing body, jumped out of the way just in time and, startled, ran up Travis’ leg and up onto his shoulder.

“<Oops, sorry…>” Hotshot barked in sarcasm.

“<Why, you…>” Angel was shaking with anger, causing Travis’ shoulder to quiver a bit.

“Hmm?” Travis had just noticed Angel atop his shoulder and was a bit startled himself. “Oh!” he exclaimed, suddenly realizing that he had a battle to finish.

“Rattata, Tackle, now!” Jake ordered his Pokémon. Rattata rolled to his feet and started charging Hotshot at full speed – and that was saying something, as Rattata were very quick. Hotshot was rammed – but as he was quite larger than his opponent, the attack didn’t seem to do much damage. Hotshot looked at Rattata angrily, causing the small rodent to squeak in fear.
“Finish it off! Use your signature move!” Travis commanded. Hotshot barked in response and sunk his teeth into Rattata again. Almost immediately he tossed his opponent up into the air inches away from him. Rattata somersaulted and remained seemingly stationary for that one moment, bracing for the pain of the inevitable follow-up attack – and the pain came, for at that moment, Hotshot inhaled deeply and spewed a round of miniature fireballs into Rattata’s white underside. Well, his underside was white before Hotshot attacked. It was now colored a scorched-looking dark-gray as smoke from the miniature flame flew up everywhere. Rattata fell to the ground, black smoke wafting from his body as a result of the final attack.

“Oh, no! I lost…” Jake whimpered.

“Great going, Hotshot!” Travis shouted in celebration.

“<Great going, Hotshot…>” Angel said mocking her trainer and rolled her eyes angrily. What was the big deal about this Growlithe anyway? She thought to herself. I can battle just as well as he can – better, actually.

“Ohh…” Jake moaned in disappointment, returning his knocked-out Pokémon into his Pokéball. Jake then walked over toward Travis, fiddling in his pocket. He then pulled out a rectangular piece of paper that obviously had the numeral ‘100’ on its corners. “Here’s your prize for winning.”

“100 Pokedollars…it’ll be useful later,” Travis mumbled to himself, taking the small bill from the boy’s hand and carefully placing it into the envelope that held the rest of his prize money. He knelt down and placed the envelope in his bag and zipped it securely.

“This sucks…I’m taking the rest of the day off,” Jake mumbled, walking past Travis and back toward Cherrygrove City.

“Wanna stay outside?” Travis knelt to ask Hotshot.

“” Hotshot replied, and Travis and his two Pokémon continued to walk for a few minutes. Travis was shielding his eyes and trying to see where his next opponent was. Hotshot and Angel, meanwhile, were having a rather one-sided conversation.

“<What’s your problem?>” Hotshot said. He was serious, but Angel thought that he was making fun of her.

She stared right into Hotshot’s orange, doglike face and replied, “<I’m looking at my problem.>”

“<Yeesh…your name might be ‘Angel’ but you can sure be evil sometimes,>” Hotshot said in a relaxed tone.

“<You think you’re really tough, don’t you?>” Angel retorted.

“<Uh…yeah. Why shouldn’t I?>” Hotshot said cynically.

“<Maybe because I beat you?>” Angel said, her ears stiffening with anger.

“<You got lucky,>” Hotshot retorted simply.

“<You need to come down a notch,>” Angel mumbled.

“<Try and make me,>” Hotshot said unaffectedly.

“You beat Jake, didn’t you?” another young boy walked up to Travis. He looked quite the same as the last one, and was wearing the same outfit, with the exception of having a red cap, which was turned forwards. The boy smirked and continued, “That’s not saying much. Jake’s the weakest of the bunch.”

“And you are?” Travis asked, folding his arms and waiting for an answer.

“Bryan’s the name, and this is where I stop you,” the boy pulled out a pokeball.

“Go on,” Travis said confidently, motioning toward his two Pokémon. It didn’t really matter to him which one went.

“<You go ahead, since you want to be an attention hog. Don’t cry to me if you lose, though,>” Hotshot barked lazily.

“<Shut it. It’s my turn anyway,>” Angel took the battlefield with her nose in the air.

“<This’ll be interesting,>” Hotshot mumbled to himself.

“An Eevee? You’re lucky,” Bryan commented.

“Thanks,” Travis said, adjusting his cap.

“But this is where your luck runs…OUT!” Bryan shouted, throwing a Pokéball into the air. The Pokéball burst open and flew back toward Bryan’s hand. The form of light hit the ground and materialized. It dimmed to reveal a small, ordinary-looking bird that stood about exactly a foot in height. Its back was brown, while it had a cream-colored underside. Its two feet, adorned with three talons each, were colored a bright red, as was its beak.

“Pidgey,” it chirped.

“Who hasn’t seen one of these?” Travis commented. “I know the Pokedex entry by heart. ‘Pidgey, the Tiny Bird Pokémon. Common in grassy areas and forests. It’s very docile and will chase off enemies by kicking up sand.”
Bryan said sharply, “Well, you’re a bit of a know-it-all.”

“Nah, I’ve just been to school for a few years,” Travis said in response.

“Whatever,” Bryan answered, “Pidgey, Tackle!”

“Pid-gey!” the flying Pokémon chirped, charging her opponent.

“A flying-type…” Travis mumbled. “Hey, Angel! We’re gonna have to play this one on the defense!”

“” Angel said, bracing herself for her opponent’s strike.

“Jump now!” Travis shouted. Angel leapt into the air and stomped her opponent into the ground and jumped away.

“That’s nice timing,” Bryan said by way of a compliment.

“Thank you very much,” Travis answered confidently. “Now, Angel, use Tackle!”

“Fly away! Get outta there!” Bryan shouted worriedly. In a sudden flap of brown wings, Pidgey dodged Angel’s attack with ease.

“<No, I missed!>” Angel groaned, turning around to face her opponent.

“Angel, try a Tail Whip!” Travis ordered. Angel quickly jumped into the face of Pidgey, and with a quick somersault, swung her fluffy tail square into Pidgey’s temple. Pidgey flew back wildly and shook her head, trying to return to a normal state of flying.

“Pidgey, Tackle!” Bryan ordered. Pidgey extended her wings and fell into a glide, charging right at Angel.

“Angel, duck!” Angel jerked her head down, barely avoiding Pidgey’s incoming wing.

“Gotcha,” Bryan muttered. Travis, of course, looked at him like he was stupid. His Pokémon had just missed…unless he had a plan.

“Angel, Sand-attack!” Travis called out. Angel attempted to kick sand into Pidgey’s face. The sand flew in one tawny stream towards the Tiny Bird Pokémon.

“Pidgey, blow it away!” Bryan called out. “Gust Attack!” Immediately, Pidgey started to flap her wings continuously, quicker and quicker, forming a miniature tornado and sending it in Angel’s direction. The sand was sucked inside, turning the silvery vortex a slightly golden color. Angel, who was surprised by an attack that she hadn’t seen before, was drawn into the windstorm and carried up into its upper regions.

“Angel!!” Travis shouted worriedly.

“<That ends it. What a shame,>” Hotshot whimpered to himself. The tornado dispersed and Angel was sent flying high into the air. Her big, black eyes were closed, and she was hurtling rapidly toward an inevitable impact with earth.

“You’re done!!” Bryan shouted. At that moment, Angel opened her eyes, and saw the ground coming closer and closer. She did a flip so as to land on her feet, and did so, but staggered for a moment upon landing. She was obviously tired, and had taken some damage from that previous attack.

“<…Close one,>” Angel sighed in relief.

“You’re tellin’ me,” Travis added. “Don’t scare me like that.”

“Grr…still not down…” Bryan growled.

“Alright! Tackle attack!” Travis didn’t intend on giving Bryan more time to respond while Pidgey was on the ground. Angel nodded in reply and started charging Pidgey faster than ever before.

“Oh, no!” Bryan shouted, realizing that he had no time to tell his Pidgey to dodge. He winced as his only Pokémon was hit hard by Angel and sent into a nearby tree behind him. Pidgey’s eyes swirled out, then she slid down the tree trunk and lay spread-eagled on the ground.

“<Ooh…that’s gonna sting later,>” Hotshot said, looking on.

“Pidgey, return,” Bryan said sadly, as the familiar crimson light engulfed the Tiny Bird Pokémon and pulled her back into the ball. “I don’t have any cash on me right now to give you as a prize…but I do have this,” Bryan said, tossing Travis a bottle. Travis snatched it out of the air and eyed it intently. It was small, seemed to have a spray nozzle on it, and obviously had green-colored liquid inside.

“A potion…” Travis mumbled to himself.

“It’s up to you when to use it, but I’ll tell you, you’re only halfway to Violet City at best right now…and there’s still Route 31 to deal with…” Bryan muttered and, defeated, sat down against a tree for a rest. Angel jumped up onto Travis’ shoulder and the three of them continued their journey up Route 30. It wasn’t long before they reached what was essentially a right turn that went through some more grass, but one more person was standing in the way. Travis tried to step to the left of the young boy, who was wearing green shorts and a green tanktop, plus what looked like a straw hat that covered his head. He looked quite outdoorsy, almost as if he was on a constant picnic. The boy stepped left, matching Travis’ movement. Travis stepped in the other direction. The boy matched his movement again and silently pulled a Pokéball from his belt and enlarged it. Travis took a few steps backward, realizing that he would have to defeat this boy before he could pass. He hoped that this was the final one. He was getting tired, and he couldn’t imagine how his Pokémon were feeling at this point – they were the ones doing all the battling.

“Y’ever caught a Bug Pokémon before?” the boy asked him.

“Uh…no…all I have are Angel and Hotshot right now,” Travis answered honestly.

“So you don’t know what’s so great about bug-types, do you?” the boy asked him.

“Well, I know that they evolve really quick, but other than that, I don’t see what the big deal about them is,” Travis responded.

“I’m gonna make you pay for saying that!” the boy shouted. “My name is Kyle, and I specialize in Bug-types! First off…Weedle!” Kyle tossed a Pokéball into the air. The Pokéball opened to reveal a white light that materialized and dimmed. The resulting Pokémon was a sandy brown color, majorly, and looked more or less like a worm. It was about a foot long, and had about 6 sets of miniscule, red feet that ran down its body. It also bore a very shiny, red nose on its beady-eyed face that resembled that of a clown’s. It also had a short horn on its head and a stinger on its tail.

“Wee-dle…” the bug Pokémon squeaked as Travis opened Dexter II.

“Weedle, the Hairy Bug Pokémon,” Dexter II droned. “It attacks using a two-inch poison barb on its head. It can usually be found under the leaves it eats.”

“Aha…Bug-types are weak against fire, that much I know,” Travis muttered to himself, then shouted aloud: “Hotshot, you’re up!”

“<Alright, let’s make this quick,>” Hotshot jumped in front of Travis, ready to battle.

“Weedle, let’s do it! Poison Sting attack!” Kyle called. Weedle’s small horn glowed white and began launching several needle-like projectiles at his opponent.

“Dodge it and use Bite!” Travis shouted. Hotshot jumped to the right of the round of poison barbs and sunk his teeth into the Weedle’s insectlike body. Weedle squealed in pain, and Hotshot in response, threw him into the air and released a barrage of Embers.

“Get outta there! String Shot on the nearest tree!” Kyle shouted. Travis gasped in dismay. He had battled a bug-type that knew String Shot before, and so he knew for a fact that this move could be used in so many ways. Weedle shot a white jet of sticky string at a tree and swung out of the way of the flames just in time. Weedle attached himself to a tree and looked intently at his opponent.

Hotshot inhaled to produce another Ember attack, but Travis cut him off, “Hotshot, don’t attack just yet! Wait for Weedle to come to you!” Hotshot sat down and looked at his opponent, waiting for him to make a move.

“Weedle, use String Shot to tie up that Growlithe!” Kyle commanded. Another jet of white string shot from Weedle’s mouth.

“Hotshot, don’t move!” Travis shouted. The orange Puppy Pokémon gave his new trainer a rather confused look.

“” Hotshot barked in agreement and then stood motionless as the String entangled him and constricted slightly.

“Got him! Slam him, now!” Kyle said, just about certain of his victory. Weedle pulled its head up along with the string with all of the might it could muster, lifting Hotshot airborne.

“<Got a plan for this one?>” The Growlithe barked at his trainer as he went flying through the air.

“Hotshot, Ember the string!” Travis shouted. Hotshot inhaled deeply and spouted a small spurt of flame at the string, burning it and detaching it from his body. Hotshot landed on the ground, relatively unharmed as the flame traveled up the string like it would a fuse. Weedle had a terrified look on his face, but it was too late. The string was burned away and the small spark reached Weedle, instantly setting him ablaze. He fell like a tiny meteor from the tree trunk, and the fire died down upon his contact with the ground. His head was resting against one of the roots of the tree, and Weedle was a much darker brown than he was at his original appearance. He coughed out a puff of smoke, his eyes swirled out in defeat.

“Yikes!!” Kyle said, obviously a bit shocked by what had just happened. He returned his Weedle into his Pokéball and put it back on his belt. He then took out a second one and enlarged it.

“<And that’s why he calls me ‘Hotshot’,>” Hotshot barked at Kyle, sounding very confident.

“How’d you pull that one off? I thought for sure I had you!” Kyle moaned.

“Well, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to hit you directly, you’d just use String Shot again,” Travis answered intelligently. “So I had Hotshot use Ember on the string so that there was no way for Weedle to dodge.”

“That’s fine with me, though…” Kyle muttered to himself. “I already knew that Bug types wouldn’t stand a chance against fire…so I found an addition to my team that’d get around that…GO!” Kyle shouted, throwing another ball into the air. This ball didn’t open immediately. Instead it bounced against the ground and then opened to reveal a strange-looking blue creature. It stood about two feet in height. It had no arms – only a long tail that looked somewhat like a fish’s fin. Its short, stubby legs were also blue, and its face bore two beady eyes. Its rather prominent lips were pink, but this was not what got Travis’ attention; for this Pokémon had a white belly that bore a counterclockwise black swirl pattern in its center.

“Po-lee…” it squeaked.

“Poliwag, the Tadpole Pokémon,” Dexter II droned again. Travis wished he could change Dexter II’s voice – it was getting quite annoying, especially now that he was getting to the point of scanning several Pokémon a day. “The swirl on its belly is its insides showing through the skin. It looks clearer after it eats.”

“Ugh…” Travis groaned. “I did NOT need to know that. Have any more information?” Travis pressed a button on his Pokedex. The Pokedex promptly chimed:

“Because it is inept at walking on its newly grown legs, it always swims around in water.”

“A water-type…Hotshot, maybe you should sit this one out!” Travis said, a terrible thought coming to mind. Water-types had a big advantage against fire-types like Hotshot – and he had heard that if a fire-type was overly saturated with water, then it would –

“<No way, I’m not backing off just because this thing looks like a deformed fish,>” Hotshot said half to change his trainer’s mind about switching him out, and half to insult his opponent.

“Poli…poli…” Poliwag squeaked, steam coming out of his head. He was obviously angry.

“I thought you specialized in bug-types!!” Travis shouted angrily.
Kyle shrugged and replied, “You’re right about that. I did say that I specialized in Bug-types. But what I didn’t say is that bug-types were the only types I have.”

“Alright, have it your way this time,” Travis shrugged. “Use Ember!” Hotshot inhaled and spewed several small sparks at the small blue tadpole.

“Poliwag, dodge and use Hypnosis!” Kyle ordered. Poliwag jumped to the left. He then puffed his stomach out and the swirl on his belly started to rotate hypnotically. Hotshot fixed his eyes on the swirling pattern and soon his eyes assumed the same design.

“Hotshot, no!!” Travis shouted. “Don’t look at it!” Hotshot was doing sort of a rhythmic tilt in his hypnotized state and didn’t hear what his trainer was saying at all.

“Bubble!” Kyle shouted. The small blue tadpole inhaled deeply and spewed a barrage of blue bubbles at the orange puppy Pokémon. The bubbles made contact with Hotshot’s face, each one snapping like a whip and doing him some damage. Hotshot staggered to the ground and didn’t get up. He was knocked out.

“Gosh…one attack…Hotshot, return!” Travis returned Hotshot to his Pokéball.

“<He deserved that one…>” Angel muttered to herself.

“It’s all you out there now,” Travis said comfortingly, turning to his starter.

“<Alright, let’s do this,>” Angel sighed and jumped off of Travis’ shoulder.

“Poliwag, wanna keep goin?” Kyle asked his victorious Pokémon.

“Poli! Poli!” he squeaked, jumping up and down.

“Angel, Tackle, now!” Travis ordered. Angel began charging the blue tadpole Pokémon.

“Poliwag, Hypnosis again!” Kyle shouted. The swirl on Poliwag’s belly began to rotate once again.

“Keep moving so he doesn’t pull you in!” Travis warned. Angel started to jump all over the place like a small child who had had too much sugar. She finished by jumping aside Poliwag and ramming him, sending him rolling in a ball backward a few feet. Poliwag righted itself with a bit of difficulty and squealed again.

“Bubble attack!” Kyle shouted. Poliwag inhaled deeply and spewed another round of bubbles that floated quickly at his opponent. Angel jumped to the left of the first few, easily avoiding them, but charged straight through the second set as they all caught her in the face, doing a bit of damage. Angel wasn’t going to let anything prevent her from proving her strength this time. She rammed into Poliwag full-force, sending him up into the air.

“Nice work!” Travis pumped his fist as Poliwag did a crazy flip in midair and then started hurtling towards the dirt face-first.

“Bubble attack towards the ground!” Poliwag obeyed his trainer and spewed several bubbles at high speed, slowing his fall enough to flip to his feet upon reaching the ground.

“Tsk…I thought it was over…” Travis groaned.

“<Alright, I’m getting sick of this,>” Angel growled to herself.

“Bubble attack, now!” Kyle shouted. Poliwag shot another jet of bubbles at his opponent.

“Tackle attack, full power!” Travis yelled. Angel began charging Poliwag – and the bubble attack again. She did that familiar jump and Travis knew what was coming next. She descended headfirst into the opponent, striking him right on top of the head, and the flipping off behind the tadpole Pokémon as he fell in slow motion to the ground, his eyes bearing the same pattern as his stomach.

“K.O!” Travis shouted in celebration.

“Oh, my gosh…” Kyle’s jaw dropped as he returned his knocked-out Poliwag into the Pokéball he was holding in his right hand. “Crap, I lost…fine, you can go on ahead.”

“<Whew…about time…>” Angel said, breathing very hard and collapsing. Travis walked over to pick the small brown creature up, and let her rest in his arms after a hard-fought string of battles. He walked through the grass as cautiously as he possibly could, trying his hardest not to awaken or startle any Pokémon that might have been resting there. The last thing he needed was a wild Pokémon attack when his own Pokémon were this tired. After about ten minutes of sneaking, Travis finally made his way out of the tall grass. He saw a large, gray slab of rock – with an opening in it. Looking up into the sky, Travis noticed that he was quickly losing sunlight. The battles had taken a while, and at this point, he and his Pokémon could not possibly go any further.

“A cave…” Travis mumbled. “We’ll rest there.”

“Eh, you don’t want to be doing that, mate. That there’s a bad place to be restin’…” a voice came from somewhere at the left of the cave. A boy stepped from the shadows. He was wearing a white shirt with a Pokéball on it and blue jeans.

“You’re that boy from the tournament…Matthew…” Travis mumbled.

“And you’re the mate of that redhead bloke my sis is taggin’ along with,” Matthew replied. “I heard you won it. Congrats and all, but I can’t stay here. I’m training my Nidoran and my…” suddenly Matthew cleared his throat. “Well, anyways, I’m training for my battle with Falkner.”

“Falkner?” Travis asked. “Who’s that?”

“The gym leader in Violet City, of course,” Matthew answered as if Travis should have known this already. “I heard he specializes in flying types. To be honest, I’m out here trying to catch a flying type so I can fight him on equal footing. After all, Nidoran won’t do me much good if his attacks can’t hit.”
“I know, I had the same problem battling this guy with a Pidgey,” Travis muttered.

“Ha! You’re having trouble with the birds out here? You won’t stand a chance against Falkner then, if you don’t get your arse into gear as soon as possible,” Matthew said mockingly. “His Pokémon are much stronger than the blokes out here, and I heard that one of ‘em is real funny…golden or something…anyways, I can’t stay long. Good evening…” Matthew walked off.

“Hmm…what did he mean by that…” Travis was left to muse. The sun was quickly setting, so Travis decided to pitch camp in that exact spot.

;251;

That night, Travis let Hotshot out of his ball once again and then went into his tent to sleep. Angel and Hotshot were holding a conversation…again, and it was of the same manner as their last one, of course.

“<How embarrassing…I should be strong enough to win even at a disadvantage,>” Hotshot howled.

Angel gave him a hard look and replied, “”

“<Well, what do you know?>” Hotshot barked.

“” Angel
retorted. “<Maybe it’ll take you down a peg or two.>”

“<You’ve got a lot of nerve saying that to me,>” Hotshot barked loudly. “<And you’re lucky we’re on the same team or I’d…>”

WHAM.

Angel had tackled Hotshot to the ground, and was now standing on top of him, her four feet pounding into his chest.

“<Or you’d what?>” she growled. “<Look, I’m just trying to help you out. It’s alright to lose every once in a while. That’s what makes us want to grow stronger. But if you keep that attitude that you’re already the strongest, then what is there to improve toward?>”

“<You think you’re so smart,>” Hotshot choked, releasing a weak jet of fire to startle Angel into getting off of him. He stood up and continued, “<And how does this help me?>”

“<It doesn’t,>” Angel retorted.

“” Hotshot started, but Angel cut him off.

“<But this isn’t about you. It’s about the team.>”

“<What team?!>” Hotshot barked. “<Here you are spending all of your time trying to prove that you’re stronger than me when you know that’s not true…>”

“<That’s a lie,>” Angel said, her eyes set in a firm stare at her ‘teammate’, “<You’re the only one who’s been doing that around here.>”

“<You’re blind…>” Hotshot growled. “<You’re absolutely blind…>”

“<I’m just trying to make a point,>” Angel snapped. “<Right now it’s just us two, but it won’t stay that way forever, I’m pretty sure of that. And if you keep that attitude you have, everyone’s going to treat you like an outcast.>”

“<Like you’re not doing that already!!>” Hotshot barked loudly, shooting an Ember attack at Angel. Angel jumped out of the way and the Embers smacked into a pile of wood, re-stoking the fire that had almost gone out. “<You’re his favorite, Angel, that’s obvious.>”

“<Really? Am I the only one to notice that he’s only been calling on me when he didn’t have any other choice?>” Angel took a step forward.

“<Well, that’s because I’m the better f->”

WHAM.

Angel had jumped onto Hotshot again and was now stomping on him. Hotshot had had enough. He sent a jet of flame right into the face of Angel, and she rolled off of him onto the dirt path. Angel went for a Tackle attack. Her strike connected and knocked Hotshot onto the campfire. The puppy Pokémon howled in pain as his back was seared by the burning logs and hot ash.

“<If you really think you’re strongest, then let’s fight now!>” Angel shouted. “”
Hotshot rolled to his feet and started charging Angel. Angel keenly leapt out of the way and Hotshot went careening toward the edge of the cliff and nearly fell into the water. Angel, meanwhile, saw something brown and shriveled fall from atop her head and onto the ground in about four pieces.

“<My…flower…>” she whispered.

“<That’s too bad,>” Hotshot barked.

“<You’ll never have any friends acting like this,>” Angel said, her eyes downcast. She jumped backward suddenly, nearly having been the victim of another Ember attack from Hotshot.

“” Hotshot barked. “”

“<Maybe that other human should have been your trainer. You sound just alike. All the humans call him ‘Nate’ or something…>” Angel mumbled.

Hotshot’s eyes widened dangerously and he blew out a small stream of flames that was colored blue and white – indicating that they were hotter than any other type of fire. Angel moved to the left, but her fur was still singed slightly.

“” Hotshot walked over to the late and sunk to the ground, whimpering softly to himself. All of the fight seemed to have gone out of him at hearing Nate's name - at that one instant...like a campfire quickly snuffed out by a waterfall.

"<You know him already?>" Angel asked.

"<Shut up,>" Hotshot snapped back.

“<I’m really sorry for getting so angry,>” Angel tried to apologize. "<Really - I didn't know..."

“<Whatever,>” Hotshot whimpered.

“<Do you want to talk about it?>” Angel asked. Hotshot shook his head. “<Well, anytime you want to…>” Angel stood and walked back over to the tent, and laid down at its entrance, thinking that maybe once Hotshot removed the proverbial chip from his shoulder, they could finally be friends…

WaterTrainer243 · May 6, 2006

Well Hotshot definitely hasn't changed a bit. Keep it up my friend.

Shikamarufan · May 8, 2006

I liked that chapter...a lot, mainly cause in my Fic i used the same attack against a Spinarak instead of a weedle...i just thought it was funny

P.S. Hotshots attitude is great!

Silverwing · May 8, 2006

Okay, so I havn't posted in like, three or four chapters, but that doesn't mean I'm gone. All I have to say is that I'm glad Hotshot finally came in to this. Without some cocky sarcastic character, the fic could get a little boring. But thats just my opinion. Your battles were all very well done. The AURA fight was quite good. However, I have my own prediction with that and I'll post it once I look into it more. I like how you post chapters frequently. And it'll all end once we reach chapter 24, I believe that's where the fic stopped last time. Great job and keep up the good work.

Cs32 · May 9, 2006

Oh man...sorry dude. I haven't been here to post for a while...been pretty busy though. Really only had time to post something in a club of mine and thats it >>. With the huge load of homework, soccer practices, soccer games, sisters sodtball tournament...im just glad im not in track this year! Though ya..lesse what chapters you have posted.

I see Hotshot has finally joined the team again, and he and Angel have already had their little fighting period. Time for the first gym badge to be won and then move on to the....other stuff. Ya I should shut up now shouldn't I?
Crowd: YEP!

Ight later all, I should be coming here sooner now, homework is starting to unpile. Though I have homework from today and yesterday to do, I sprained my leg in a Soccer game on Sunday. Just before I was going to score a goal of course ><. Oh by the way silver, your right. It did end at the 24th chapter I believe. Haven't corrected myself though I will need to look back at the story on my documents...though I am pretty sure.
Later,
~~CS~~

Hoenn Warrior · May 10, 2006

Well we have now approached the Gauntlet and Travis was able to be victorious, but with his two Pokemon werent so victorious with one another. We see Hotshot's strange tie to Nate and how it probably made him who he is today, but i do like he cocky attitude since it brings new life to the group since Travis isnt travlling with nobody else for the time being. So close to his Gym Battle and some new secrets aswell. Once again it is good to have this Story back up and running.

Pokemon: Revolution Johto

Did you read/like the original version of this, Johto Generations?

Read it - loved it.

Read it - hated it.

Never read it before (you'll be pleasantly surprised!)

Veteran Water Lover

Highly Radioactive

MAKINGLARGESTTURDEVA

All Terrain Trainer

Battle Tower Expert

saeculum harmonia

Veteran Water Lover

All Terrain Trainer

Battle Tower Expert

Azelf Inquisition

saeculum harmonia

Veteran Water Lover

All Terrain Trainer

This is bull crap!!!

saeculum harmonia

Veteran Water Lover

Battle Tower Expert

Sea Ruby Trainer

SUGAR!!!

All Terrain Trainer