Pokemon Novien

[Mizagium]

This is the actual version I'm publishing on Fanfiction.net

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tyler (shut up) stepped lightly into the Durgood Forest with Archibald at his side. Archibald (Archie) was his Growlithe, a present years ago form his father. Not so much a present as it was an adoption. Archie was a pup found by the Durgood Police Dept. one night. Apparently abandoned, Tyler's father offered it a home.

Now it was his best friend. And they were off to catch their first Pokemon.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Wesley stood outside his house. His roomie yelled and threw something. A wheezing laughing echoed through.

"Aristar! What are you doing? Are you messing with James again?" He yelled. A little gas ball floated out.

"Maaaaaaaaaaybe..." That was one odd thing about this Gastly. He could talk. And even worse...it acted like any stereotypical ghost. It possessed things. Aristar was just as mischievous as a 5 year old toddler. James didn't like it.

"Dang it Aristar. Ya know that James hates it. And you almost broke my guitar last time." Wesley whispered the last sentence. He hated letting anything happen to his present from his mom. And since he couldn't see her anymore...It was good that he had this keepsake.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The thick trees of the Durgood Forest rose up around Tyler and blocked out the sun. Eternal night, or close to it. Zubats were out during the day here. Archie put his nose to the ground, then to the air and sniffed. He barked and ran off, leaving Tyler to follow.

They raced through the tangled overgrowth before coming to a rest by a large tree. A single Zubat hung upside down. Tyler recognized it instantly because it had a gash in its left ear. He named it Tallon some years ago, but now he was here to catch it. Tallon understood. It unfolded its wings and dropped down to the ground, preparedto battle Archie.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh well Aristar. Go get Masamune and lets go. We gotta gig in Durgood." Wesley opened the door and reached down to get his pack.

"You off? Break a leg!" James called.

"Not like you did right?" Wesley called back. James had just recently gotten into an accident with a Bagon. James got a broken leg. The Bagon got away.

"Hey! Shaddup!" Came the response. Wesley laughed and grabbed his motorbike keys. Cycling was fun and all but motorcycles were the way to go. A Ralts slithered(?) up to him.

"C'mon Masamune." He held out its Pokeball. The red beam extended and latched onto the little Psychic. "Okay we're off." And with that Wesley was off on the road towards his next show.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tallon dropped to the ground, defeated. Archie was still tensed in case it came at him again, but it wouldn't. The Zubat was spent. Suddenly a red and white ball came flying through the air, hit Tallon, and opened. The Zubat became a form of red energy before vanishing inside the ball. No struggle. Tallon was caught.

Tyler retrieved the ball and stared at it. He did it. He caught his first Pokemon. Archie bounded to his side, barking excitedly. (Pokemon don;t say their names, thats stupid). Tyler smiled. "Now we're off." He decided. He produced a map and found the nearest place.

Roi Rill Port. That's where we're going.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wesley zoomed through route 312(IDK). Aristar easily kept pace. Roi Rill Port loomed ahead. He pushed the accelerator. Before he knew it he saw a girl walking to a stall. Whats bad about this is that Wesley was heading straight for her. What's even worse is that he took the wrong road and didn't have very much room to avoid her. He grabbed the brakes lever on the handles. Tires screeched and the bike began to flip.

"ARISTAR! Grab my guitar and get it off me!" Wes yelled. Aristar obeyed and possessed the electric instrument. It was off before Wes completed the unintentional flip. Its a good thing he wears a leather jacket when he rides. But that doesn't stop it from hurting. Wes screamed as he landed, the bike on top of him. Together they slid to a burning hot stop in the market. Wes was unconscious.

[Mizagium]

ch 2 is up!

Janie relaxed on the beach, letting her light orange hair flow in the breeze. Mary, her Marill, was sitting behind her, and Janie stroked her as she watched the waves break on the shore. She had just gotten out of the water from a swim, and she was letting the sun dry her a bit before heading to Ground Zero, her secret base. Her things were laying beside her, soaking up the sun's rays.

Mary suddenly began bouncing and trying to get Janie to wake up. Janie sat up and looked over to Mary, who had grabbed her arm. "What is it, Mary?"

Mary pointed towards the market where Janie's parents worked selling trinkets and items to decorate your home and secret base with. Janie was supposed to head there around noon for her shift. Janie reached for her bag and pulled out her watch to check the time. It was 12:45.

"CRAP, I'M LATE! Mom's gonna kill me!"

Janie jumped to her feet and grabbed her clothes. She threw on a vest/jacket over her bathing suit, and tied a wrap around her waist along with her bag. She tried to put on her socks and shoes as she ran from the beach towards the market. Mary followed after her.

She sprinted to the end of the market where her mother was standing at the stall, tapping her foot. Janie skidded to a stop right infront of her, trying to catch her breath. Mary ran into the back of her leg and fell backwards. Janie's mother placed her hands on her hips and gave Janie a look that would make any child feel guilty. She looked over Janie's soaking wet hair and clothes, and shook her head. "Had your head in the clouds again, Janie?"

Janie twisted the water out of her hair and smiled apologetically at her mother. "Yes..."

She tied her hair up into pigtails and placed a cap (like a beanie) over her head. She grabbed and apron from behind the stall and went strait to her post. Her mother smiled and tapped on her watch. "I'll expect you home at seven, OK?"

Janie nodded and Mary waved good-bye as her mom walked off towards home. Janie sighed and crossed her arms on the counter. Mary hopped up to the counter and poked Janie, trying to get her to smile. Janie looked over towards Mary and patted her head. "Why is this job so boring, Mary, when there are no tourists?"

Janie jumped when she saw the boy fall in front of her. "Woah!"

She ran to the front of the stall and leaned over the boy. She pulled the bike off of him and knealed down to see if she could wake him. Mary had hopped down with her, and stood next to Janie as she shook the boy. "Hey, wake up! Wake up!"

Others had stopped to look, but most were to caught up with sales and shopping to notice. The boy only looked like he had fallen. Janie saw that shaking wouldn't wake him up, so she grabbed Mary and stood back. "Mary, use water gun."

Mary spat out a powerful stream of water at the boy, trying to wake him. Janie held Mary as she did so. "Come on, wake up!"

She saw him begin to move, so she put Mary down and knelt over him again. "Hey! Are you ok?"

Tyler and Archie arrived in Roi Rill after noon, as the sun began is descent. As they did, they heard a violent crash form the stalls further in. Archie barked and they raced off to investigate.

A bike was upturned in a ruined stall and a girl was kneeling over a boy.

"Is he alright?"

Janie looked up to see someone with an Growlithe walking up to her. "I'm not sure. He just crashed right in front of my stall."

"Guh..." Wesley moaned as the water drenched him. "I don't wanna wake up..." Then a ache spread through his body as he remembered the crash. "I'll be fine." He stood. Wes looked at his ruined leather jacket. "Daaaaang." Full parts of the jacket were frayed off. "I'm Wesley. Who are you two?" He asked completely ignoring the crash. Aristar floated up. A worried look splayed across the gaseous ball. The guitar hanging through the Gastly.

"Wessssssley are you ok?" Asked the specter.

"Huh?" Wes looked confused. "Um....I guess?"

Janie jumped up when the Gastly came up to them. "IT CAN TALK!?"

"Yea. He's cool like that. Its a very interesting story....Kinda." Wes said casually.

"Kindaaaaa?" Aristar wheezed.

Tyler looked from the girl to the boy still on the ground. Archie sniffed the talking Gastly. "Uh... maybe. I'm Tyler. This is Archibald, Archie for short." Archie barked.

Janie noticed Mary hopping up and down next to her. Janie turned to her and patted her head. "What is it, Mary?"

Mary did whatever Pokemon do now to speak...squeaked or something, and pointed at her bag. Janie tilted her head in confusion. "But I don't have to be home until seven. I work here until then.........oh yeah!"

"I'm Janie, and this is Mary."

Mary had hopped up onto the counter next to Janie and was bouncing on her tail, even if she was a little big for that. She hadn't been a Marill that long. She was still used to the Azurill tail. Janie looked at the two boys and wondered if they had secret bases. "We have a bunch of stuff like water balloons, spin mats, music mats, and of course, dolls. Interested?"

Janie went behind the stall and folded her arms on the counter, smiling.

-

Calfrun, watching all of this from behind a tree, was considering approaching these people. That talking ghastly might make a good first catch... or snag, since it appeared to already have a trainer. Luckily, he had brought some snag balls from the base of Team Phoenix. He would have to do this quickly and quietly. He reached into his pocket and found his Torchic's ball. He pulled it out of his pocket and let his pokemon out.

"Torch-" It started to exclaimed, but Calfrun shushed it. Alright.... he thought, let's do this.

[Mizagium]

I have the whole story typed up, should I spam the chapters on Fanfiction?

[Myrdraxxis]

yes! DOIT!

[Mizagium]

but then who will read it?




btw: CH 3

Vinn yawned and sat up in his bead. Well more like a bunk. His current home was a moderate sized tanker ship off the coast of Roi Rill port. Why? well he liked the privacy...and managed to bribe the previous owners out of it.


After hitting his head on the bulkhead for the thousanths time (insert swearing here) Vinn managed to make it down to the old galley for some breakfast.

After pouring some cereal and milk he was about to dig in when suddenly his spoon started floating.

*sigh* "Zen..." he said exasperatly. A small Abra popped up on the counter and began waving the spoon around with his spychic powahz. "Zen...we do this every morning. Just give me the spoon!"

Zen pouted playfully and let the spoon fall...into Vinn's cereal andsending milk splashing onto the young mobster. Zen laughed while Vinn just sighed again. It was a typical routine for them. Zen was his abra, his first pokemon, given to him by his father.

Well more like VInn had stopped his dad from selling the abra to a few shady characters in odd white and red suites....( Team Rocket lolol) Vinn took the abra in. Zen was a playful sort, and while annoying at times, Vinn enjoyed having him around.

"Abra." Zen piped up. Vinn sighed again and cleaned the milk off himself.

"Honestly Zen, you ask every day."

"Abra..."

"FIne we can head into town today."

Zen seemed happy and flitted over to a nearby window to stare out. Vinn opened his wallet to check out their funds.

Zip.

Vinn groaned. They had used up the last of it the LAST time they went to town. "No money...."

"Abra."

"Zen..why is it that whenever I DONT need your input, you never shut up..."

"......abra!"

-

Michael looked up when he heard a loud screeching noise. It was the familiar sound of a swarm of Zubat taking flight in haste. He could hear the rustling of the leaves nearby. Hundreds of Zubat flew by overhead as Michael watched.

"Pshu!" Xero, Michael's Beedrill said, hovering beside his trainer.

"Yes, I know, Xero," Michael said wearily. "It's just... This forest seems so much more alive than any other I've seen. The Viridian Forest with its myriad of Caterpie, Weedle, Metapod, Kakuna, Butterfree, and its famous Beedrill hive; the Petalburg Forest with its Wurmple, Cascoon, Silcoon, Dustox, and Beautifly; even more bustling with activity than old Fortree City."

He sighed, remembering his hometown. He wondered how his mother was doing. He thought of his father and wondered how his berry farm was progressing. He imagined helping his father with the farm, Xero flying through the plants, watering them with a Wailmer Pail, his Treecko Scar cutting back the weeds with his favorite twig, and his Tailow Breeze... dropping... fertilizer...

"Pshu!"

Michael suddenly snapped out of his reverie.

"Alright, Xero, we're going! Scar! Breeze! C'mon! We're off to Roi Rill Port. Maybe we'll see some Bellsprout on the way! Haha!" Scar, who was leaning against a tree nearby, jumped up and ran toward Michael, jumping up on his shoulder. Breeze was flying through the trees and, picking off some berries, she dropped the berries in Michael's open backpack and began circling around his head. Xero impatiently floated onward into the woods. When they were all set, Michael pushed a button in his running shoes with his toes and took off toward Roi Rill Port.

-

Calfrun frowned. At first glance he hadn't realized how many pokemon were there... Perhaps there was another way to do this. He walked out from behind the tree, and approached the others, His torchic, Xadc, following close behind.

"Hey there!" he called, "Is everything alright here?"

-

Aristar disappeared into Wes' pack, soon emerging with some Pokebucks.

"Caaaan I buuuuy some Poketreats if yaaaa got aaany?" He asked. Wes rummaged in his pocket. He retrieved his wallet opening it to an empty holder.

"Why is it my pokemon always have more money than me?" Masamune sprang from his pokeball shivering. "What Masamune? Stop being paranoid." We took his guitar and pulled the strap over his head. He strummed a little than played a little of his gig that he was supposed to be going to. "Looks like I won't make it. My motorcycle is trashed." He turned and took out the Pokenav. "Hey guys...Yea I crashed. I'm in Roi Rill....Yea I know...Gah!" And with that the band mates had kicked him out. "Looks like we're going solo Aristar."

"Aaaaaare they being idiots aagaaaaain?" Aristar looked annoyed. They did these sort of things a lot.

"Yes. But no accepting to rejoin." They spoke off to the side.

"So poketreaaaats?" Aristar looked hungrily at Janie.

Janie shook her head at the Ghastly. "Sorry, we only sell decorations, but mainly stuff for secret bases. Do you guys have a secret base?"

"Sadly....No. But if you have the TM...?" Wes responded. Aristar stared hungrily at a restaurant. "No Aristar, don't do what I think you want to do." Then was when he noticed the Torchic and other figure walking to him. He's alittle slow. "Do you know where I can get a job playing a gig here?"

Wes took off the worthless leather jacket. A few people gasped as they recognized him from his ex-band. Quickly he replaced the jacket with a zip up hooide and, leaving the zipper undone, he placed the hood on his head. Holes were riddling his jeans. Wes leaned against a wall and kept strumming the song, humming the singing. He noticed a teen running up to the stall.

Deciding that he didn't like being ignored, and that if his plan was going to work he needed to be on the ghasty's good side... for now anyway... Calfrun reached into his pack and pulled out some poketreats.

"Here." he said as he tossed them into the air. Xadc jumped at them, but Calfrun grabbed one of his legs. "Not for you!" he growled quietly so that only Xadc could hear it.

Aristar gulped down the treats. Still hungry but satisfied, he 'rested' on Wes' head. Masamune was still squeaking, sensing something. But the poor guy was paranoid.

Janie smiled brightly. "Of course I have the TM! It's 100 pokebucks!”

[Mizagium]

A rather large explosion shook the ground. Although it was not mentioned in the tourist catalog, Roi Roll Port was actually home to a team Magma base. Several members of Team Aqua were running as fast they could.
"GODZILLA! USE HYPERBEAM! DIABLO! USE FLAMETHROWER!"
More explosions rocked the ground, and 2 members of team aqua were sent flying into the air.

DERRICK walked away from the battle with a smirk on his face. Another $2,500 would soon be in his account at the bank. Although, not an official member, DERRICK often did odd jobs for his favorite terrorist group. With his Feralligator (Godzilla) and his Charzard (Diablo) no one could beat him.

~~~~

Michael approached the stall but jumped when he heard the explosion.

"What was that!?" he shouted.

"Pshu! Pshu!" Xero replied.

"Yeah, I thought I heard a Feralligator. But why would a Feralligator attack members of Team Aqua?" he wondered, staring at the place the Team Aqua members had disappeared. "Hmph. Oh, well." He turned to call Scar back to him, but Scar was gone! "Scar! SCAR! Where are you?"

"Treecko!" came a high-pitched voice from behind him. Michael turned to see Scar circling the stranger's Torchic.

"Scar!" Michael chided, scooping Scar up in his hands, away from the Torchic. "I'm sorry, Mister..." he waited from a reply.

Calfrun turned and considered ordering Xadc to kill the newcomer, but decided that it wasn't a good idea since he was outnumbered here. Instead he replied, "Errr... don't worry about it. He would have just burned himself anyway."

~~~~~~

Vinn waked through town with Xen jumping along happily beside him. Vinn sighed at his friend's behavior. Honestly...Xen acted like such a kid sometimes.

Vinn paused when he noticed a group of kids around his age gathered around a stall? "Eh...no money to be had there.."

Then he heard the explosion.

...and watched a couple of Team Aqua members land right in front of him...looking worse for wear. Vinn stared at them for a second.

"Oh yeah...there's a Team Magma base near here.." he said offhandedly. Glancing around quickly, he then said, "Okay Xen, lets get rid of these two. Magma always pays well for these boys." Vinn said happily.

"Abra..." Xen muttered and levitated the two K. aqua members. Then Vinn spied DERRICK.

He recognized him instantly, the two had done a few odd jobs for Tea Magma before. "Hey! You drop these?" Vinn called over.

~~~~~~~

Wes sat. Masamune slithered over and sat in his lap. Masamune was newly hatched. He had taken way to long to hatch. Still playing Wes, set out a little bowl for money. Aristar began pranking passerby. And he got PAID to do it. Still more money then I have... Wes sighed.

"Aristar you have all the money. You want it you get it." Wes informed him. Aristar sighed and stopped his shenanigans. He pulled out 100 monies and balanced the TM on his head.

Calfrun was getting irritated by the fact that a bunch of random crap kept happening, when he saw Vinn. "You look familiar... It's Vinn, right?" He then remembered that he was trying not to reveal that he was from Team Phoenix. "Dammit." he muttered, then to Xadc, "Be ready. I've got a bad feeling about this." The Torchic merely walked over to a treat Aristar had missed and started eating it. Calfrun facepalmed.

Vinn noticed Calfrun and smiled. "Ah yes....." he began. Then he noticed that Xen had wandered over to a stand and was juggling cabbages with his mind.

...again.

"Dang it Xen!" He yelled over. Xen dropped the cabbages, sending them splattering to the ground in a heap. THe cabbage stand man stared at his ruined produce for a moment before crying out in anguish,

"MY CABBAGES!"

Xen popped over to Vinn and hopped up onto his shoulder innocently. Vinn sighed. "So, Calfrun right? I haven't seen you since that job at the Aqua gym."

~~~~~~~~~

Wes stared. And listened. Obviously this wasn't good company. Aristar seemed to understand so he floated over to his side.

"Be ready." Wes whispered.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Um... yeah..." Calfrun said, while making that shut up motion with the hand and the throat and whatnot. He walked over to Vinn and whispered in his ear, "You see that Gastly? It can talk. I imagine it would fetch a decent price, at the very least. Unfortunately, I didn't realize how many trainers were here, and it would be better if they didn't know I was from Team Phoenix."

Vinn nodded. "Ah I see...so how's Team Phoenix?” he asked with complete disregard for Calfrun's warning.

Xen facepalmed. "Abra...."

Calfrun glanced back at the others. "Perhaps we could catch up some other time... now isn't exactly... convenient."

Vinn nodded. "Sure. I gotta find a way to get some money.." at this he glanced over at the Gastly, "quick. Me and Xen will be at the casino." he said with a wave. The boy and abra headed down the street.

Derrick,snapping out of his unexplained stupor ran up to Vinn. "Sup, Vinnie?"

"Hey, DERRICK." Vinn said with a grin. Xen hopped onto Derricks shoulder happily. "And don't call me Vinnie...my father called me that." Vinn said with distaste. "So I see Team Aqua is getting braver." he said with a nod toward the two forgotten Aqua members....laying in the street...

Calfrun saw DERRICK, but didn't recognize him, so he went back to trying to figure out a way to get that gastly. His Pokétch suddenly started beeping, indicating that he needed to return to Team Phoenix's HQ. "Crap..." He said, disapointed about missing this opportunity. "Well," he said,"something's come up. Later everyone. Xadc, return!" At that, a red beam came and pulled Xadc back into the Poké Ball. Calfrun found his bike nearby, and started heading back to base. This had better be important.

A small smile appeared on Derrick's face. "I for one believe that Team Aqua is just getting more stupid. Also, never work for them. They pay you in food stamps."

~~~~~

Credit for this chapter goes to:

Xero

TheHiddenAssassin

Cheshire Cat

Calfrun

With special appearance by TEAM_DERRICK

[Mizagium]

Chapter 5

Michael examined the two cooperatives. They were clearly up to no good.

"Hey, Xero," he whispered. He nodded at Calfrun and Vinn. Xero nodded in comprehension.

Scar, meanwhile, was struggling in Michael's arms. Michael let him go, and he immediately ran over to Wesley and his Gastly in curiosity.

"Treecko!" he muttered in awe when he realized that Wesley was a rock star, and Gastly was not a normal Gastly.

"Scar," Michael sighed, exasperatedly. "Come on. Back in your Poké Ball."

Scar slouched and stuck out his lower lip but went in his Poké Ball without argument. Now only Xero remained outside with Michael.

"Hi," he said, advancing toward Wes. "My name is Michael, and this is my Beedrill, Xero. That Treecko you just saw is called Scar. He's a little nosy, but you get used to it." He paused, then started with recognition. "Hey! Aren't you Wesley, that famous rock star? And is this your talking Gastly? Wow! I'm a big fan! Will you sign my Master Ball?"

"My hood isn't working...."He whispered, "Sure! Nice to meet you." He held out his hand. "This is Aristar." Aristar floated rapidly around Michael's head.

"Hello!" The Pokémon spouted.

Jannie took the money and placed it in the register. She eyed all the people that were around her stand. That boy from the boat offshore was here now, and two other kids, not including Wesley and Tyler. And now some other kid was showing up too. All these people were in front of her stand, making it look preoccupied. They were keeping away potential customers.

Normally Janie was pretty carefree and bubbly, but when faced with a situation where that didn't work she could be very serious. She tried to get everyone's attention, but they were ignoring her. She sighed and looked over at Mary, who was poking her. "I know, Mary, just give me a second."

She took a deep breath and spoke as loud as she could without disturbing other stands. "EXCUSE ME, BUT YOU'RE BLOCKING MY STALL!"

"DO YOU SELL FOOD?" DERRICK yelled back.

Janie sighed and facepalmed. "No, I sell secret base stuff and decorations...and one TM. THAT'S IT!"

"I dun't haz monies!" Vinn said eloquently. "BUT...I can offer 'protection' for some food." Vinn said with a sly smile. Then his look got desperate when his stomach started growling. "PlEaSe JuSt A lItTlE?

Janie was getting impatient. Her bubbly personality totally faded, and all that was left was irritation. "I DON'T HAVE FREAKIN' FOOD!"
Michael turned to Vinn, pulling two berries from his backpack. He threw them to Vinn.

"Here. Eat that."

Vinn wolfed down the berries in a flash. "ThAnK yOu.." he said and turned normal again. "Now about money....well I guess I could always go collect my payment from the Team." he said thoughtfully. "They owe me from that last rai-" Then he realized he was talking out loud in front of a group of people. "Ah...that last job." Sighing he absently picked up Zen and began walking away.

"Abra!"

"No we are NOT stopping at the arcade!"

DERRICK, with his hunger getting the best of him, reached out to the nearest tree, grabbed a Wormple, and ate it. He then proceeded to walk with Vinn.

-

"Hello, Aristar," Michael said. Xero moved forward to observe the talking Gastly. "Thanks!" Michael said enthusiastically, grabbing his Masterball from his belt and holding it out to Wesley. Scar suddenly popped out of his Poké Ball and jumped into Michael's backpack. He began rummaging around, knocking Michael about. He finally emerged with a pen and a smile on his face. "Haha. Thanks." Michael handed the pen to Wes.

Then he turned to the girl at the stand. "Did you say you sell decorations for secret bases?" He pushed aside a few of the bystanders. "I'll buy some. How about a couple music mats and a Treecko poster?" Scar perked up when he heard this. Michael reached in his pocket and pulled out a couple hundred Pokédollars.
Janie perked up when someone became interested in secret bases. "Sure."

She reached behind the stall for some of the mats while Mary grabbed a poster and handed it to Michael. Janie popped back up to the stall and exchanged the merchandise. "So you have a secret base?"

"Yeah, back in the Durgood Forest," Michael replied, turning to glance at Wes to see if he was done signing his Master Ball yet.

"It's not much. See, I haven't been here long. I came Hoenn about a month ago. I've just been exploring the forest so far. I haven't gotten a chance to get around to many places yet." He handed Janie the money and took the mats and poster. Then, holding out his hand, "By the way, my name is Michael. And that Beedrill talking to that Gastly is Xero."

Janie shook Michael's hand and smiled. "I'm Janie, and that Marill bouncing over there is Mary. She's still used to bouncing on her tail."

Janie eyed Mary, who was bouncing around on her tail on the counter, nearly knocking over small knick-knacks. "I have a base out in the rocky area of the ocean here, but you'll never find it. I've had a lot of time to collect tons of boobie traps."

-

Now, Calfrun was pissed. As it turned out, he had been called back to HQ because an Eevee had gotten loose in the building and was making a mess of the place. And nobody could catch it. Though it was true no high ranking members had been bothered with this, it still embarrassed him that there were members of Team Phoenix that couldn't catch this thing. Once he found the room it was in, he let Xadc out. The small Torchic may have been annoying, but its hyperness made it a great asset, as it had quick movements.
It quickly caught up to the Eevee, and set it on fire using ember. Then it used peck. While the eevee was recovering, Calfrun threw a pokeball. It pegged the Eevee right in the face, then opened and sucked in the small Pokémon. Calfrun picked up the Poké Ball and put it in his pocket.

"Thank you for catching that Eevee for- wait, where are you going?" one of the peons there said. Calfrun glared at him.

"If you couldn't even catch this Eevee, you don't deserve it. It's mine now. As far as where I'm going, I've got a talking Gastly to catch." And with that, Calfrun has left the building.

-
"A Wormple?" Calfrun asked DERRICK. He was standing right behind everyone, so his appearance was a bit of a surprise. "Is the food back at Magma HQ really so bad that you have to eat Wormples?"

Vinn popped back up randomly. "YES! When they even LET you eat at all!"

"SADLY YES!" yelled DERRICK.

"And while we're introducing ourselves," Calfrun added, "I'm Calfrun, member of Te-" He stopped short. "I'm Calfrun. And this hyperactive little pain in the ass," he released Xadc, "is Xadc, my Torchic."

Janie eyed the boys over to the side. One had eaten a.....Wormple? "Um.....can I help you?"

"Hey, I asked for some food, and you didn't give me any." replied Derrick, with some Wormple still in his teeth.

Calfrun glanced over at the chick in the stall. "Not unless you've got a Fire Ftone or a Moon Stone. No? Then no, you can't." He didn't mean to snap like that, but he never had been good at acting, and this "friendly guy" thing just wasn't him.

Vinn saw how poorly Calfrun acted and sighed. Vinn was better at acting the happy yet witty normal guy. It made sure no one recognized his affiliation with Team Phoenix. And then there was his odd jobs with Team Magma....

"Actually...do you know of any old ruins about this area?" Vinn asked suddenly. "I've been meaning to go look around the country-side but don't know where to start."

Janie first turned to the guy with the Wormple and sighed. "I already told you, I don't sell food, and you just ate."

She then turned to Vinn and thought about all the places off the shore or nearby. "There's a shipwreck not too far from the shore in a rocky area. You could swim there, a lot of people do."

Calfrun noticed Vinn's disapproval of his way of handling things, but undercover just wasn't his thing. He was sort of like an assassin, though he usually didn't kill his targets. Anyway, he would stay here for now. He was determined to get that Gastly.

Vinn nodded and wordlessly left. Zen followed behind him, for once silent.

[Mizagium]

Chapter 6

Michael chucked a couple more berries at the random Team Phoenix members to shut them up.

"In the ocean, huh?" He thought a little bit. "Is it on the other side of that whirlpool? Off the Gravensoil shore? I passed by a big cave over there on my way here from Hoenn. That place is pretty spooky. I'd stay away from there."

Janie watched them leave and looked at her watch. It was only around 3, but she decided that there would probably no new customers for a while. The small gathering of trainers seemed to scare them away. Janie took off her apron to reveal her vest and bathing suit underneath. She made sure her choker and necklace were aligned before bending down to fix her socks and shoes, since she had rushed here before.

She pulled up her socks to about halfway up her thigh, and tightened her sneakers. Marill bounced off of the counter and next to Janie as she got up to leave. "Well, it was nice meeting you guys."

She turned to head for the beach so she could go to her secret base.

"I guess I'll see you around, since I've got nowhere to go," Michael said. "Thanks for the decorations."

Michael turned to Wesley. "So, Mr. Wesley, where are you headed? Maybe I can accompany you there."

Wesley handed Michael his master ball back.

"Well I'm going solo, not what I want. But hey I was gonna go find a cafe or something, see if they want an act. I need money, see, I'm broke." Wes pulled out an odd sphere. And a screwdriver. He liked to make things, and this was one of his special Poké Balls. He had caught Aristar with one, and Masamune with another. This one was made for a dragon type. "After that I was going to head back to my home in Burlain. You can come if ya want to."

"Ooooooh by theee waaaaay, he doesn't like the word missssster. Caaaall him Wessss. Or Wesssssley." Aristar informed Michael.

"Return Masamune." His small little Ralts then zipped back into his special little hideaway in a large marble-sized ball.

"Thanks for the tip," Michael said to Aristar. Then, speaking to
Wesley, "That sounds great! I'm always up for a little exploring!"

"Your welcome." Aristar said. He looked over at Tyler. And with a tongue flapping about, he spun quickly.

"Aristar..." Wes sighed. He began to walk off towards a small shop with a few tables outside. It seemed like a promising venue.
Scar began running circles around Wesley, hoping Aristar might come down so they could talk/play/whatever on the way there. Xero kept it cool and flew silently beside Michael.

Michael followed Wes to the stall and looked around. Down the street he saw a couple food stands and wondered why the Team Phoenix members hadn't gone there. He looked the other way and saw a Poké Mart and a Pokémon Center, as well as a few shops that sold TMs, vitamins, and other assorted items. He pulled 100¥ from his pocket and handed the money to Scar, instructing him to go buy a Carbos and some Iron. Scar jumped up, landed on his tail, and pushed off the ground hard, soaring through the air all the way to the vitamin shop.

"Hey, Wes," Michael said. "I've got to use the payphone." He held his hand up to his face, his thumb at his ear and his pinky at his mouth. "I'll be right back."

He walked across the street to a small stand beside the Durgood Forest. On the wall of the stand was a video phone. Michael punched in some numbers, and soon the face of Professor Birch appeared on the screen.

"Hello, Professor!" Michael said.

"Michael!" the Professor exclaimed enthusiastically. "How are you?"
"I'm doing pretty well, sir."

"How's that Treecko of yours doing? Is it doing better after that fire?"

"Yes, Scar is doing much better." Scar jumped up on Michael's shoulder suddenly, holding three bottles, one of Carbos and two of Iron. "In fact, here he is right now! Haha."

"Hello, Scar!" Professor Birch said.

"Treecko!"

"Well, Professor, I just wanted to let you know I'm in Roi Rill Port in the Novien Region now."

"Novien! My, that's far out of the way. What's it like? Have you seen any new Pokémon?"

"It seems very alive. At least, the Durgood Forest seems that way. The Pokémon... I haven't seen any I haven't seen before. But I did meet a talking Gastly and his trainer."

"A TALKING Gastly!??"

Michael grinned. "Yes, sir. His name is Aristar, and his trainer is Wesley, the famous rock star!"

"Really, now? That's a mighty fine discovery."

"Yeah, I was really surprised I got to meet them. Well, I should get going. I'm traveling with Wesley right now, and he's got a gig right now. Looks like it's getting pretty crowded, so I should go catch up with him before I completely lose him."

"Alright. Well, good luck in Novien, Michael!"

"Thanks, Professor. Oh, by the way, you wouldn't happen to know anything about the Team Magma and Team Aqua bases here, would you?"

"Hmm... No, I don't think I do. I didn't know Magma and Aqua had extended their reach so far. Hold on a moment." Professor Birch pulled a binder from beside his video phone and flipped it open. "It says here that Team Magma and Team Aqua have small sub-bases in Novien, but they do not have any particularly important strongholds. But there is another team in Novien you should know of. It's called Team Phoenix . They seem to be the dominant force in Novien, and they tend to intervene in any and all Magma-Aqua skirmishes. That may sound good at first, but they have a record of stealing Pokémon, much like Team Snagem in the Orre Region."

"Thanks, Professor. I'll keep that in mind. Well, I'd better go."

"Good luck."

"Bye."

Then Michael headed over to the stall where Wes was.

Wes set up his little hasty stage. With the help of Masamune and Aristar it was quick. From his case he pulled a 20 watt amp. Hooking up for a secret show was often fun, but when it wasn't planned at all, it wasn't.

"Sir, do you have a microphone?" He asked.

"Yes, I'll be right back." Soon the teen returned holding a small beat up mic.

"I guess it'll do." Wes sighed as he saw Michael returning.

-

Apparently no one noticed Tyler, because they all left him at Janie's stall. "Hey!" he yelled. "I'm here too!"

Janie stopped and glanced back at her stall. "Oh, sorry. I didn't see you there. There were so many people. You can tag along with me if you'd like."

-

Calfrun was about to follow Wes, but then his Pokétch started beeping again. "I swear to god, if this is another freaking Eevee..." He said angrily.

As it turned out, there was another Eevee loose in Team Phoenix's HQ, but that wasn't why he was being called there. Team Phoenix had just signed an agreement with Team Magma, dividing rights of control over Novien. The Phoenix and Magma conquest was about to begin.

Calfrun entered the briefing room. "Ah, there you are." said the commander of this mission. "I assume you heard the news?" Calfrun nodded.

"I've been waiting for this day." he said. "If we succeed, it will have been worth not getting that Gastly." Before the commander could say anything, an Eevee fell from the ceiling and landed on his head. It jumped again, but Calfrun grabbed it. He then proceeded to punch the small Pokémon until it lost consciousness. He used a Poké Ball on it.

The commander had apparently forgotten what he was about to say. "Everyone to the airship. Our first target is Darongonind." Calfrun put the new Poké Ball in his pocket and started towards the ship. There was a healing machine on it, he would deal with the wounded Eevee there. He had more important things to think about at the moment.

They were about to raid Team Aqua's Novien HQ.

-

Vinn stepped into the cave and glanced around. Sure enough, there were a great deal of old ruins and crumbled buldings in the large cavern. "Perfect." Vinn muttered. Zen trotted behind him slowly.

"Abra..." there was almost a warning tone in the voice. Vinn stopped when he saw light up ahead, further into the ruins. Quietly Vinn and Zen slipped over a fallen pillar and ducked behind a wall. There were three of them.

Explorers from the looks of it. Harmless enough...but they were in Vinn's way.

Vinn reached into his pocket and withdrew a Poké Ball. Then he stepped out into the light.

The three men jumped up from their lunch in surprise when he appeared seemingly;y from nowhere. "Oi? Hello there." one spoke up. 'Didn't think there was anyone else exploring these old caves."
Vinn said nothing and simply held out the Poké Ball. "Let's go, Scynn." he said and threw the Poké Ball. A Scyther appeared, leering dangerously.

"Scyther.."

"Oi..what are you.." before he could finish the Scyther lunged. He swung a bladed arm, burying it in the closest man's chest. The man went down sputtering as he bled. Scynn whirled around and with his other blade beheaded the second man just as quickly, sending more blood flying.

Now the third man tried to run, but found that he was frozen in place. "W-wah??"

"Abra..." Zen jumped up on Vinn's shoulder, holding the man in place. Scynn turned slowly and swung both blades.

Vinn left Scynn to guard the entrance while he carried on into the ruins, leaving the three bodies behind.

After traveling a small distance in, he found a wall bearing strange markings and an archaic drawing of some sort of Pokémon.
"Bingo."

[Mizagium]

Chapter 7

Ryan awoke in his bedroom, surprisingly small in size, consisting of only a computer, television (with one channel), a clock and a bed. Since his mother was on her own and being Pokemon researcher wasn't lucrative, they couldn't afford much. Ryan went downstairs to the only other room in the house, the kitchen/living room/dining room. It also had dishes, a table, and a television that could only play one movie.

"Oh, Ryan, you're awake!" Yudelle ran up to her son and hugged him, glad he was ready to start his first official day in his new home.

Ryan was confused with the embrace but accepted it nonetheless.

"Ryan...I don't know how you'll see this but..." Yudelle said with a mixed expression of glee and sadness.

Ryan stood there nonchalantly, confused again.

"I quit my job!" she yelled happily! Ryan's slight confusion evolved into bewilderment. "This means that we get tg stay in one spot! I've already found a new job working with the local professor! It pays a lot more than my old research job did! Best of all, the professor isn't too far!"

Ryan smiled and hugged his mom again.

"The best part is...now that I'm going to be in spot, you can train your Dratini!"

Ryan beamed at the words, ready to train the Pokemon his father had left him before he disappeared so many years ago.

"Well, go on! I know you're eager to go off! I've already left you a surprise in your closet upstairs!"

~We have a closet?~ Ryan thought.

-

Satisfied wih his finds, Vinn left the caves and headed back into town. Then he noticed the smoke rising in the distance and remembered that Team Phoenix had been planning a raid today.

"Dammit I'm late!"

Vinn took off with Scynn and Zen close behind.

-

"NO! PLEASE!" A Team Aqua member yelled as Xadc, Calfrun's newly evolved combusken, beat the living crap out of him. Calfrun watched proudly as the man slumped to the ground. It was true that pokemon were just tools. However, one could be fond of one's tools, right? Calfrun looked around at the bloody mess. Team Aqua hadn't stood a chance from the combined might of Team Magma and Team Phoenix. And when his combusken had evolved...

It was now not only faster than ever, but its attacks were quite effective. Calfrun had seen many lives lost today because of double kick. Though it was true some members had escaped and would call Hoenn for reinforcements, this attack meant that no matter how many members of Team Aqua came, they could be defeated. Of the hundreds of people who went on this mission, there had only been 10 reported casualties.

Suddenly, two members of Team Aqua jumped out Calfrun. He threw his pokeballs at them, which hit them in their guts and made them have to stop and catch their breath. The balls then opend, revealing the eevees inside. They flew out and clawed the Aqua grunts' eyes out. Calfrun was overjoyed with it all. This marked a new day for Team Phoenix, and a new day for all of Novien.
Calfrun saw Vinn approaching. "You're late!" he called. "We've already deat with the majority of their forces, we're just taking out a few survivors. Undoubtedly some will escape, but there's not much they, or anyone else for that matter, can do."

Xadc grunted in agreement.

Vinn smirked. "Then leave the survivors to me then." he said, and with a wave of his hand, Zen and Scynn were off. He turned back to Calfrun.

"Oh and..if any of our men get in my way.." a dark look entered his eyes. "I'll cut through them too."

Calfrun smiled. "I would expect nothing less." He then hear a noise behind him. He turned and saw one of his eevees, named Exia, playing with something it had found on the corpse of one of the Team Aqua guys. Calfrun walked over and discovered that it was a moon stone.

He was now having an even beter day. This would go for an amazing price on the black market. He wished that he could use it on his own eevee, but it would have to like him for that to happen, and he wasn't the most kind of trainers.

Suddenly, both Exia and the stone began to glow so brightly that Calfrun had to look away. When the light subsided, Calfrun turned back and almost fell over in suprise. Where his eevee had been standing there was now an espion. That meant that Exia actually did like him. His first thought was of how messed up in the head that pokemon was. Then he felt something. He wasn't sure why, but he felt the urge to go pet the espion.

Sickened by this, he returned Exia to its pokeball and continued the misson.

Vinn strode through the wreakage with an air of boredom. "*sigh* there really arent that many survivors. Gess that's what I get for being late." he said to himself. Just then an idea occured to him. "Scynn, come with me. Zen...have fun."

"Scyther...

"Abra!"

Vinn led the scyther around a few hallways until he was at a huge vault. THis was where Team Aqua held most of their more valuable items aparently. There was a Team (lolsavagenegrobeast) member guarding it, and he snapped to attention when Vinn approached.

A rookie. Great.

"Sir. Orders are that no one is allowed to enter, sorry." the new guy said. Vinn hummed.

"Well that's just too bad." he said. With a quick twitch of his hand, Scynn lunged.

Vinn walked past and into the vault, ignoring the screams. "Ah here we are." he muttered. There was an abunndance of pokeballs and stones lining the walls. "Jackpot."

SO Vinn began picking and choosing as he went. He grabbed a lightning stone, thinking of his Eevee. THen he went for the pokemon.

Vinn ignored most, he had no interest in them. THere was one thing Vinn was interested in, and that was dragon-type pokemon. THere were a few to select and Vinn did so.

He grabbed a Dialga, a Gabite, and tucked in the back he found, much to his surprise, a Gyarados. "Well I think this will do." he said, pleased.

"Hah, looks like we had the same idea." Calfrun said to Vinn, after coming in only shortly after him. "Though I don't exactly approve of the way you got rid of the rookie outside, I suppose you did say that you would get rid of ANYONE in your way." Calfrun picked up a three pokeballs and a dark stone. "That ought to do it for now. These three now complete my team of six."

His mistake: he didn't check what was in the pokeballs first.

"Now." Said Commander Tathesh of Team Phoenix, "we will begin taking over the ares between out three current strongholds, until we control a large, triangular section of Novien..." He kept talking, but Calfrun wasn't really listening. He was upset that the three pokemon he had grabbed earlier were a piplup, a starly, and a BIDOOF of all things. He only had two pokemon on his team that he considered any good at the moment. Especially since that damn eevee wouldn't elvove like the other one did. Of course, he hadn't punched the other one.

"In addition," Tathesh continued, "we have recently recieved two new technologies from different region. We now can not only generate shadow pokemon by closing the doors of the hearts of normal pokemon, but also we can MAKE a pokemon evolve using a stone, no matter what its feelings about its trainer are." Calfrun was suddenly in a much better mood. This day just kept getting better.

-

A cave lay inlaid into the mountain, hidden by the close trees.

The ground rumbled inside the cave, and Xeno pulled himself out of the makeshift tunnel, shutting the hatch behind him. He shook, his spikes clacking loudly. Once he cleaned himself, he trudged off, deeper into the mountain.

He passed a series of tunnels and ladders, designed to trick anyone who came into the cave. He trudged past the ladders, to the end of the first cave. He picked at the ground, grumbling as he tried to find the next tunnel.

PING

Xeno dug out around the hatch with his claws, then popped the seal and hopped in. He slammed the tunnel hatch shut above him, plummeting himself into darkness.

He crawled through the tunnel, his spikes dragging along the roof of the hole and disturbing his tracks, disguising the fact anyone had ever passed through the tunnel.

[Mizagium]

Chapter 8

Tyler ended up tagging along with Janie while trying to comprehend the plot going on right now.

"So... those are quite the cast of characters we seem to have stumbled upon in Roi Rill, huh?"

Janie laughed and began leading him to the beach. "Yeah, it was too much for me to keep up with, so I just closed shop early. By the way, we're heading to my secret base. What your about to see is strictly confidential."

Mary nodded along to what Janie said, trying to act serious. She ran ahead of them to the far side of the beach where there was a small, wooden boat tied to a tree trunk. Janie untied it and began pushing it into the water. "I don't have any strong water pokemon, actually Mary is my only pokemon, but maybe someday I won't have to use this boat anymore. It's too dangerous to swim there."

She hopped into the boat when it was in the water and turned to Tyler. "Hop in."

-

"Shinx! Shinx!" Came a call. Wes looked to his right and noticed a man in a trench coat leaning over a blue and black bundle. Again the pokemon cried in dismay as the man kicked it.

"Useless Shinx!" He yelled. "Get in there!"

"Hold on everybody I'll be right back." Wes yelled. He ran to the little incident. "Hey! Buddy! Stop abusing the poor guy." He roared. The man looked at him.

"Shut up! Its not your pokemon. So stop telling me what to do." The Shinx looked at the young rockstar. Fear clouded its eyes. "Go back to the stage and make your little noise up there. And unless you want a battle than I suggest you do."

"Then get out your pokemon, cause you got one." Masamune strode in front of Wes and began to shake.

"Okay. Go Raichu." The trench coat threw his pokeball and out popped a Raichu.

"Rai-chu!" Grunted the tiny menace. Masamune shook more and began glowing , its psychic power growing.

"Raichu use thunder!" Electricity jumped into the sky and hurtled towards Masamune.

"Masamune grab Raichu and block its attack with itself." Masamune obeyed and flung its enemy into the volts. It didn't do much, but it was something. "Now throw him into the air than crash him down!" Wes commanded, and Masamune obeyed again. The Raichu gasped as its dog-sized body was crushed between the ground and an invisible force. Quickly Raichu released a electric bolt shocking the small psychic. This only caused the small creature to squeeze even harder, eventually tossing it back into the air. The Raichu let out one final noise before it fell silent. Not dead, just fainted.

"H-how?" The man stammered, retrieving the fainted mouse. Masamune began glowing. But he was glowing a white color. He was evolving. Wes couldn't look away, it was to dazzling.

"Kirlia" It called. Finishing its evolution.

"Lets get to the show!" Wes beamed. "Come on Shinx." He called. "You wanna good home?"

"Shinx!"

-

Michael was getting a little bored waiting for Wesley. The music was great and all, but it just wasn't the same without the rest of the band. He wondered where the rest of the famous rock band could be. With a shrug, he scribbled a note, handed it to Scar, and had the little Treecko crawl up to the stage and give the note to Aristar to give to Wes. It said,

Sorry, Wes. I've really got to go. I've got this feeling something is going on around here that needs to be stopped. Hopefully I'll see you around and I can listen to your music another time. But until then, good luck with your music and with Aristar! ~Michael

When Scar returned to Michael, Michael turned away from the stage and headed off in the direction the mysterious Vinn character had gone. Xero flew beside him, and Scar tagged along at his heel. Michael decided Breeze had had enough rest and could use some fresh air, so he pulled his Pokéball from his belt and pressed the button to let Breeze out. The Tailow popped out in a beam of red energy and was soon flying high above them, scouting out the area.

Of all the characters Michael had met today, Wes and Janie seemed to be the most friendly — both toward humans and toward Pokémon. They let their Pokémon roam freely when they wanted to, and they treated them well. And they seemed to get along well with others, as did Mary and Aristar. But the other three people... The shady ones who always appeared to be up to no good...

Michael shifted his backpack to better support its weight and clicked a button in his running shoes. He had to see what Vinn was up to in that shipwreck. And soon.
Ryan ran upstairs and started destroying his room in search for the supposed closet that lie in his house. After kicking the PC out of the way (inadvertently injuring his toe) he found a door that led to his hidden closet.

-

Wes finished his show with his newest song. He hated to see his new friend go, but there was a thing about being friends, you usually caught up with each other at sometime. Shinx rested on his head throughout the whole show. After the whole after show crowd had left Wes left and retrieved his fallen bike. He zoomed back towards Burlain City. Maybe if he was lucky he could catch a Flying type and fly over to Snowpoint.

-

~Here goes something.~ Ryan thought. Tugging on the door, he managed to open it (apparently it had not been used in years due to no one knowing about it.) with a bit of effort. Along with a cloud of dust, Ryan's Dratini shot out of the closet, Tackling Ryan to the ground. When the dust cleared, Ryan set the Dratini aside and looked around. In front of him was a marvelous pair of Running Shoes and an equally awesome backpack filled with various plot conveni-err- utilities that he could use in case the time arrived. He also saw 5 Ultra Balls, something he didn't think they could afford.

Without a word, Ryan put on his new shoes and backpack. Ryu (Dratini) followed behind, using its small scale weather manipulation abilities to float downstairs. Ryan hugged his mom once more before charging out of the door to complete his task of becoming a Pokemon Master...and hopefully finding his father.

-

Vinn strode back down the coast, tossing one of his new pokeballs in his left hand as he went. Today's raid was successful and he had said his goodbyes to team (SAVAGENEGROBEAST!) and headed home, Zen sitting on his shoulder as usual.

Along the way he passed those two people...Tyler and that girl from the stand that didn't sell food. He ignored them and continued on.

Then he stopped suddenly.

SHould he have put up a security in that shipwreck? He had found all the information he needed, but Vinn couldnt shake the feeling that something was about to go wrong some how. THinking quickly Vinn spun around and headed back toward the shipwreck.

Vinn sprinted into the large cave and glanced around. It was empty, good. Vinn sighed and began walking through the ruins, much as he had the first time. Finally he came back to the stone wall he found before.

"Soon...you WILL be mine." he stared at the pokemon chisseled into the wall. "Reyquaza" Vinn reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. It had an eye shape on the front.

Vin set it down in the center of the room and turned to leave. THat should do as security. After all the trouble he had gone to steal it from Team Phoenix, it better be...
-

Meanwhile, somewhere else:

"What is the status report?" came a mysterious, deep and slightly raspy (as if from atrophy) voice.

"Another team in the area has been researching Shadow Pokemon, I'm sure, sir. It's only a matter of time-" came the much weaker voice of an assistant, presumably a young adult male in his twenties.

"Time. It's always Time."

"Yes, Sir, but-"

"Years ago...That man...said I would become better in Time. I don't have time. You are to locate and secure all Shadow Pokemon and potential Shadow Pokemon related projects immediately."

"But, sir, if I-

"Enough. Dragonite, Hyper Beam." came the voice. It was angry.

"Ah! Sir, please-

A pair of red eyes appeared in the darkness of the area. They were the eyes of a Dragonite, one that had been cared for and loved but corrupted all the same. A large ball of energy appeared above the Dragonite's head, growing in strength and intensity...

[Mizagium]

chapter 9

Michael reached the beach just outside of Roi Rill Port fairly quickly. He sent Breeze to gather vines from the woods while Xero and Scar went to gather wood for a raft. While they were gone, Michael sat on a rock and tossed stones into the water, watching the waves ripple outward. Suddenly, one of Michael's pebbles stopped short in the water with a clunk. It had hit something. Something rose out of the water with a large lump on its head. It was a Horsea. But this Horsea looked different from most: it had black and white squares on the top of its head, making it look like a chess or checkers board.

Michael whistled loudly, calling for Xero. "Xero! Scar! Breeze!"

The Horsea glared at Michael. Angrily, the Horsea shot a Water Gun at Michael, hitting him in the face. Michael made a gurgling noise as the water filled his nose and mouth. He dropped to the ground to avoid the Water Gun and scrambled to grab something from his backpack. Horsea puffed out his cheeks and spit Acid at Michael. Rolling out of the way, Michael grasped what he was looking for in his backpack and threw it. The red and white Pokéball hit Horsea (in the same place the stone had hit him), and Horsea was transformed into a ball of red energy.

Right at that moment, Breeze appeared from the forest and divebombed toward Michael, landing lightly on his shoulder. The Pokéball wobbled on the ground as Horsea struggled to escape. The Pokéball suddenly shattered, and Horsea escaped. Seeing this, Breeze took to the air, ready to fight.

"Breeze! Use Quick Attack!" Michael yelled.

Breeze disappeared. Without warning, Horsea was knocked backward, then forward again, falling face first into the sand of the beach. As if out of nowhere, Breeze was back on Michael's shoulder again, proudly juggling a bottle of Carbos with her talons. Michael threw another Pokéball at Horsea, and capturing process was repeated. Michael and Breeze waited, staring at the Pokéball. Xero and Scar burst from the forest right at that moment. They moved slowly toward their trainer, as if they were afraid any sudden move might prevent the capture of a Pokémon. But they had no need to worry. The Horsea was caught.

Michael stooped over and picked up the Pokéball.

"Great job, Breeze! We caught a Horsea!"

(Would you like to give Horsea a nickname? Yes. What would you like to name Horsea? Checkers.)

Michael reached up and patted Breeze on the head. But Breeze suddenly began to shudder.

"Breeze, what's wrong?" Michael asked concernedly.

A white light shot out from Breeze, consuming the Taillow in seconds. Taillow was evolving!

"Breeze!"

Michael shut his eyes; the light was too bright. When the light disappeared, instead of his Taillow, a newly evolved Swellow stood on Michael's shoulder. Breeze hopped down to the ground, having trouble finding descent footing in the cramped space of Michael's shoulder.

"Swellow!" Breeze called.

Michael beamed. Now he had a Swellow and a Horsea! This day was getting better and better.

-

Within seconds Ryan had grown tired. He was still relatively young, but never ran much due to his mother's constant traveling from region to region. He was thin, he was healthy, but he was definitely out of shape. All that aside, he had no bicycle, and as fast as his Running Shoes were, they were still Running Shoes. The son of a researcher, Ryan always had some clever idea hidden in his mind.

"Ryu! Float ahead and use Ice Beam!" Ryan commanded, grabbing a nearby piece of bark from a large tree. He tied the laces of his shoes around the wood while Ryu sped along.

"Dra!" Ryu yelled, blasting the ground into a frozen wasteland.

"Perfect!" Ryan laughed. The wood under his feet slid along the frozen ground with ease, providing a much more efficient form of travel. Ryan pulled a map from his backpack and looked at what should be his first destination: Roi Rill.

Within moments he was approaching Roi Rill's port. He spotted someone else there and figured this could be his first challenge.

Michael turned away from his newly evolved Swellow when he heard someone approaching him. Whoever it was was breathing heavily. He must have been running. He saw a Dratini floating ahead of its trainer, who was skating on the ice Dratini had made with its Ice Beam.

Hmm. That's an interesting idea, Michael thought.

"Can I help you?" Michael asked the newcomer.

Ryan eyed his potential opponent with caution. He had seen all of those Pokemon before; his mom's research had documented over 350 species of Pokemon and he had learned all of their strengths and weaknesses. It was really all he could do since he never got to train outside.

"My name is Ryan, and I want to battle. It's my first step in becoming a Pokemon Master." Ryan announced. Ryu floated back toward his trainer and went around his neck, staring at Michael.

"Pokémon Master, eh?" Michael said, raising an eyebrow. "That's a big goal. My name is Michael. I'd be happy to help you with your quest. Prepare yourself! Checkers! Go!"

Michael hurled a Pokéball in front of him, and his new Horsea emerged in a beam of energy.

"Horsea!" Checkers squealed.

Michael sprayed a Potion on Checkers to heal his wounds from their earlier battle. Then he stepped back and allowed Checkers to hop forward. But Checkers decidedly wasn't a land creature (who would have known?), so he hopped into the water and waited for his opponent to make a move.

"Alright, let's go!" Ryan yelled. He put on his standard Pokemon Trainer's hat and said "Ryu, dive into the water and use Thunderbolt!"

Ryu, a naturally aquatic dragon Pokemon, obliged without hesitation, creating a small wave where it landed in the water. It began using its Thunderbolt attack in the water to zap Horsea out. He wasn't affected himself by the Thunderbolt due to his Dragon type.

-

Xeno skidded through the ice tunnel, the exhilaration of the route coursing through him like a rushing inferno. (Independance Day)

The pitch black tunnel suddenly lit up, and Xeno groaned when he saw the bend in the ice slide - and the lack of railings.

Xeno reached out as he slid towards his doom, digging his right claw into the ice slide, changing his course rapidly. He changed course a little TOO rapidly, and almost slid off the other side!

Xeno breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the end of the tunnel approach. 'No more ice tunnels!' he thought.

Xeno stabbed both his claws into the ice behind him, slowing rapidly as he came to the end of the tunnel. He slowed, finally stopping a couple of feet from the end of the cave, the little door sticking out conspicously. It would have been a real shame, he decided, if he died because of a door.

Xeno stood up, shook to remove the stray ice filings, and looked at the door. He sweatdropped anime-style as he looked at his claws.

WHAM!

WHAM!

WHAM!

WHA-SMASH!

Xeno stepped through the now-open doorway, into the shining daylight.