When he opened his eyes, he saw a dog sized creature. It’s fur was white with black paws and claws, and had a blackish, sickle shaped growth on the right side of its head, and a scythe-like tail. It growled a small bit, but then it sat down in front of Marcus. Marcus knelt down to the Pokemon. “What are you? Oh, this the best time to use my Pokedex.” He pulled it out, opened it, and pointed the scanner to the Pokemon. “Absol, a dark Pokemon. This Pokemon is considered a disaster Pokemon because it is said to have warn people of impending disasters. It has a blade on its right side it uses for attacks.” Marcus looked confused. “Impending disasters? But, why here? Nothing happens here.” The Absol walked up to Markus and cried. It was adorable to Marcus. Marcus picked up the Absol, and the Pokemon licked his face. He laughed. “Your so cute, and awesome. How would you like to be my first Pokemon?” The Absol cried with joy. Marcus jumped up and down. “Yay! I’m so happy. Nice to meet you. Absol. We’re going to be best friends!” The Absol cried in agreement. Marcus put the Pokemon down and walked back through the trail. The Absol walked right next to Marcus the whole way back to town. He went back to his house and saw his father and Matt sitting in the living room. “Dad, something awesome happened. This Absol followed me home.” His father jumped up and went to the Absol with quick haste, and the Absol yelped and ran behind Marcus, whimpering. “Oh, sorry little guy. It’s ok.” The Absol came out from behind Marcus and cried. Matt looked at the creature with extreme surprise. The Pokemon was about the size of a dog, but it was majestic. “Nice work, son! I’m so proud of you.” The two hugged while the Absol cried in excitement and joy. Matt came up to them with a backpack. “Here, this has everything you need for you and your Pokemon. Food, water, brush, rag, Pokemon beans. I recommend the black ones for the Dark Pokemon you have here. Good luck, Jr.” Marcus took the bag and nodded. Marcus hugged his father again. “I’ll see you later, kiddo.” “Yes you will dad. And when you see me, I’ll be a Pokemon master. With my wits, skills, and my adorable little Absol, I will become the new Pokemon champion.” Matt clapped to the young trainer. Then, a horn sounded from the ship. Then an announcement came through the city loudspeakers. “Last call for people going to Pewter City. Last call for Pewter City.” “Well, thats my boat. First stop, Pewter City, to face the gym leader there. Come on, Absol. It’s time to start our adventure as best friends.” Absol did a back flip while crying in joy. Marcus and Absol walked out the door and both ran for the boat. Marcus waved goodbye to all of his friends and family at the docks. Then he walked up the ramp with his Pokemon to the boat. When the boat left the port, he looked back and saw his father wave back to him, and Marcus waved back. After he went down to his room, he looked in his backpack to see what was in there. At the top, there was a picture of his mother and him when he was only 7. He looked at the picture, then he started to silently cry. Absol turned his head in confusion, but quickly noticed what was happening. He climbed up to Marcus, then sat on his lap. Marcus wiped his tears and stroked the Pokemon on his back. “I don’t know why you wanted to come with me, but I’m glad your my first Pokemon. And I won’t treat you like a pet, or a simple Pokemon. I know I said it before, but your nothing but my best friend, and I will always take care of you.” “Well, your a real nice guy.” Marcus looked up.

Standing at the door was a girl. She was wearing pink shoes, a purple shirt with a Gangar on it, with blue shorts, and had pink hair dye. And on her left, was a Sylveon, one of the many different evolutions of Eevee, and this one was pink and white, with a white colored bowtie in it’s hair and on it’s chest. “Hi! I’m Gabby. Who are you?” Absol leaped off Marcus and Marcus came over to her. “I’m Marcus, and I’m from Cinnabar Island.” Gabby squealed, causing Absol to cover his ears, thanks to his expert hearing. “Sorry, but it’s so cool. I’m from Fuchsia City, and I love meeting new people. I got my Sylveon at the Pokemon center, and I love her! She is so cool!” Sylveon gave a small cry, then bowed down to Marcus. Marcus chuckled. “Yeah, she is cool. I got my Absol at my home town near the mountains. He just came up to me and got a liking to me. He is too cute, plus he’s awesome!” Absol bowed. “Anyway, nice to meet you. Are you a new trainer?” Marcus nodded. “Me too! Oh, it is so cool. I already have my first badge. I won it in Pewter City.” Marcus’ eyes went wide. “You were in Pewter city?” Gabby nodded. “That’s where I’m going to get my first badge. And I really want to have my first battle.” Outside, they heard a boy laugh. “Your first battle?” They both went outside the room and saw a boy with blond hair wearing full suit. He had a pokeball in his hand. “Ha! You really have no idea what to do, do you?” Marcus just stood there. “I just want to be a good trainer.” The boy laughed again. “If you want a battle, I’ll give it to you. Meet me on the deck.” Marcus shrugged and moved to the deck with Gabby and their Pokemon. “Since you only have one, I’ll only use one. Go, Mr. Mime.” A Mr. Mime appeared out of the ball. “Mr. Mime! Mr. Mime!” “Ok Absol, our first fight. Let’s do it!” Absol nodded and went into the ring. “Mr. Mime, use Psychic.” Mr. Mime pulled out a watch and tried to put Absol to sleep, but it just yawned in boredom. “What? Why didn’t it work?” Marcus chuckled. “For a good trainer, your sure don’t know a lot. Psychic Pokemon are weak against Dark Pokemon, so the attack did nothing. Now, Absol, use Night Slash!’ Absol’s blade on it’s head glowed a bright green, then Absol charged, jumped in the air, and swung it’s blade towards Mr. Mime, sending a green energy blade right for the Pokemon, hitting him and sending him tumbling. Absol landed with perfect form. The boy was flabbergasted. “No! How could I lose? I beat three different gym leaders, and I get beaten by a first timer!?!?” Marcus pumped his fist, while Absol smirked, and Gabby and Sylveon cheered. The boy put his Pokemon back in the ball, and just walked away. Gabby came over and hugged Marcus, causing him to blush. “Great job! And good job, Absol.” Absol bowed.  They went back down to Marcus’ room, where they waited for the boat to stop. “Hey, do you know if this pokedex can show me anything else about Absol?” He pointed it at Absol, and waited for it to finish searching. “Absol is just like the normal Pokemon, because like normal types, dark types can learn about anything from the TM’s, but certain moves it will not really like. Best TMs for Absol are Flamethrower and Shadow Claw.” “Cool. Do you want learn one of those moves, Absol?” Absol just yawned and went to sleep. “I guess that’s a not right now. But anyway, we’re almost there. Pewter City Gym, here I come.”

The horn of the ship bellowed at the dock. The horn awoke everyone on the ship. But Marcus and Absol took the worst, with Marcus jumping high up and landing on the floor, scaring Absol awake. Absol jumped onto Marcus’ lap, and Marcus hugged the little Pokemon. “Sorry, buddy. Didn’t mean to do that. You ok?” Absol instantly smiled again and stopped being scared. “That’s my little buddy. Now come on, we have some Pokemon to capture. It’s like my dad said, one Pokemon is great, but with trainers, the six you have will be the six that win. Come on, buddy.” Absol grumbled. “I know that you’re not really wanting to find some new Pokemon friends, but do you trust me?” Absol nodded. “Then, trust me when I say that we should capture some new Pokemon, and who knows? Maybe you’ll be friends with at least one of them.” Absol grumbled, but then gave a cry of acceptance. “Ok, buddy. Just try to get used to it, but remember, you’ll always be my number one friend.” Absol smiled and did a backflip. “There you go! Now come on. Pewter City Awaits!” The two of them prepared for the city. Marcus grabbed his backpack and ran out the door with Absol. They ran down the ramp to the beautiful city of Pewter City. “Wow, this place is beautiful. This place must have some nice people. And Pokemon.” The two walked for a little while, watching Pokemon working with people and playing with people. They saw a Magmar starting a fire in the fireplace inside a house, they saw Pincers competing in a crushing contest, crunching tree trunks with kids cheering. And there was kids dancing to Clefairy songs. “Wow. There are so many nice people here. Now, where can we go to learn some more about these…Z-Moves and Mega-Evolutions?” Absol barked at a Poke’ Center. “Nice job, buddy!” Absolutely bowed then did a flip. They both walked inside to the front where they saw a nurse behind the desk. “Excuse me, but where can I learn about Z-Moves and Mega-Evolutions?” The nurse turned around and it was Nurse Joy. Marcus was stunned and so was Absol. “What? But, Nurse Joy? How did you get here from Cinnabar Island?” “Oh, that was my sister. All of my sisters work in the Pokemon centers all across the cities.” Marcus just shrugged. “Oh, and by the way, the man over there can tell you all about everything you need to know.” Marcus looked to where she pointed, and standing near the door was a man in a black shirt, corduroy pants, and had a bandana. “Thanks. Come on, Absol.” They both went over to the man, who greeted them. “Hello, and welcome to Pewter City. My name is Justin, and I am a Pokemon healer and information giver. And from your standings, your a starting trainer, who only won one battle with your Absol, right?” “Yeah, how did you know?” “A wise man will tell all. That and some kid came in to heal his Mr. Mime complaining he lost to a first timer that fits your description. Absol, first timer, Dressed like a native from Cinnabar Island. Yeah, you’re that kid.” Marcus chuckled. “Yeah. Kind of feel bad for him though.” Justin pats Marcus’ shoulder. “And that is the attitude of a future Pokemon champion. And with this little guy, you surely can’t lose.” Justin pets Absol, and Absol does a flip. “Feisty little guy. Anyway, you said you want to learn about Z-Moves and Mega-Evolutions? Well, let me tell you, it’s a lot easier then people think. Come into my office.” The three walked into Justin’s office, and it was filled with Pokemon. Crabbys’, Pichu’s, Starmi’s, pigiotto’s, and much more. Justin went to his desk, but there was a Persian on it. “Persian, move please. Don’t make me get out the Haunter again.” The Persian yawned and stretched and moved. Justin picked up a box that had a little watch with a symbol in the middle. “This is the Mega-Evolution wrist-strap. Wear this, and if you believe hard enough in a bad situation, your Pokemon will evolve into a Mega Form, but only for a short time.” Justin gave Marcus the strap and he put it on. “Nice feel.” “Now, this box here his different Z-Move gems. Each can be added to a certain type of Pokemon, which will turn it’s normal element type moves into special overdrive moves, doing more damage. Water, electric, fire, dark, you name it, I got it. But there are also different types of Z-Move gems that affect only certain moves. There are ones for Flamethrower, ones for Sinister Arrow Raid, and much more. And all of these for each type, including the two I just said, are yours. Take them.” Marcus took the box and put It in his backpack. “That reminds me. Do you have a TM for Flamethrower? I want Absol to try it and see if it works for him.” Justin pulled out a TM marked “Flamethrower” and gave it to Marcus. “Take care now, and become the new champion. I believe in you!” Marcus nodded and walked out the door with Absol next to him. They left the center and made their way on the path through the valley. Marcus pulled out a map. “If the city is here, and the gym is here, then we have to go….” He was interrupted by the sound of tweeting. He turned and saw a Dartrix in the tree. “Cool! A Dartrix.” He pulled out the poked and scanned the bird. “Dartix, a grass flying bird Pokemon. Evolved from Rowlet. Starter Pokemon of Alolan Region. When evolved to Decidueye, it can learn the ghost move, Spirit Shackle, which combined with the Ghostium Gem, can turn the move into Sinister Arrow Raid.” “Awesome. Ready to catch our first new friend?” Absol barked with agreement. “That’s what I like to hear. Now let’s do it!” The Dartrix cawed and landed on the ground across from Absol. Absol stood his ground, ready for battle. “Ok. Absol, use Night Slash!” Absol used the Night Slash, which hit the Datrrix and made it fall, but it got back up. The Dartrix fly up into the air and charged into Absol, which caused him to fall, but get back up instantly. “Absol, use Slash!” Absol ran at the bird Pokemon and tilted his down to slash the bird, causing the bird to go down. “Pokeball, Go!” Marcus threw the Pokeball at the bird. The Pokeball absorbed the bird, then wiggle around. Then the white circle on the front flashed red. “Yes! I caught my second Pokemon!” Absol smirked and did a backflip. “Great job, Absol! You got a new friend, and I got a new member of the team! We are climbing up the ranks!”

After walking for a while, Marcus and Absol stopped to rest in the shade. Absol laid down on the ground, panting, while Marcus grabbed the food and water. He unscrewed the water bottle and drank some water. He got out a bowl and poured the rest in for Absol. While he drank, he brought out Dartrix. Dartrix landed on Marcus’ shoulder. Marcus pulled out a green Pokemon food bean and fed the been to Dartix. Dartix cawed after eating. Marcus pets his bird and puts him in the Pokeball. Marcus then pulled out a black Pokemon bean. “You hungry, Absol?” Absol nodded. Marcus threw the bean in the air, and Absol caught it and crunched it up. “Heh. Good job.” Marcus soon felt tired and dozed to sleep. Absol saw Marcus faint away, and he went up to him and went to sleep in his lap. After a while, Marcus looked up and saw a Pokemon in the tree. It was a small creature with arms, legs, and had large hands and had greenish-grey skin. “Wow. Who’s that?” He took the pokedex and pointed it at the Pokemon. “Machop, a fighter Pokemon. This Pokemon is a master of fighting, able to slice through trees with one swipe. At evolution level two, as Machoke, it can slice through brick, and as Machamp, it can slice through metal I-beams.” “Oh, so cool. I want it, but Absol is sleeping.” Marcus gently took Absol off his lap and place him on the ground next to his bag. “Well, he needs a rest anyway. And besides, my Dartrix will take him down. Fighting Pokemon are weak against Flying Pokemon, so Dartrix has an advantage. Go, Dartrix!” Dartrix came out of the Pokeball and screeched. “Ok, Dartrix, use Peck!” Dartrix flew up into the air and rushed down to the Machop in the tree, sending the little creature tumbling to the ground. The Machop was knocked out. “Go, Pokeball!” The Pokeball absorbs the Pokemon and the ball shakes for a little while then flashes. “Yes, I got Machop! That’s Pokemon number 3!” Dartrix flew up and did air tricks. “Good job, Dartrix. Come back.” He holds up the ball and brings the bird back in the ball.  He picks up the ball with his new Pokemon and walks back to the tree. Absol wakes up and stretches and yawns. “Hey, buddy. You get a good nap? Good. I just got a Machop. A new Pokemon!” Absol just looked the other way. “What is it buddy? What do you see?” Marcus looks in Absol’s direction and sees another Pokemon. It was a small yellow Pokemon with small ears, was floating, and sitting in a lotus position across the trail. “Wow. An Abra! Nice find, Absol. Lets see what the pokedex says about this one.” Marcus pulls out the pokedex and points it at the Abra. “Abra, a psychic Pokemon. This Pokemon is one of the most mysterious and hardest Pokemon to capture because it can teleport away in battle. It’s powers are stronger with each evolution.” “Awesome. Two Pokemon for the price of one. Let’s do it, Absol.” Absol nods. They creep up on the Abra. Then, Marcus stopped Absol. “Wait. Nurse Joy gave me this ultra ball for a special Pokemon that would be tough to capture. This might be the best time. Go, Pokeball!” The Pokeball hits the Abra, shakes, then flashes. “Yes, I got an Abra!” Absol does a backflip and cries with excitement. “We did it! We have four Pokemon. Only two more, and then we have all six.” Absol jumps up with joy. “Yeah, that’s the spirit, buddy!” “Hey, Marcus! Absol!” The two of them looked at the voice. It was Gabby, and she had Sylveon behind her, and she has a Pigeotto on her shoulder. ‘How’s it going guys?” Marcus and Absol went to her. “It’s been good so far. I got the Flamethrower TM from the guy at the Pokemon Center, with these Z-Move Gems and this Mega-Evolution wristband. Plus, I caught three new Pokemon. Dartrix, Machop, and Abra. It’s been an adventure. He also told me that there was another move I could get Absol to learn, but I can’t find it.” “Wait, you mean Hyper Beam? I actually just got one of those. You can have it.” She pulls out a small box marked ‘Hyper Beam” “I can’t just take the TM you got.” Gabby just chuckled. “I only got it in case I need it. And besides, we’re friends. We help each other out. So take it.” Marcus takes it with some disagreement, but feels nice anyway. “Ok buddy. You ready to learn some new moves?” Absol nods. “Ok, we’ll replace Scratch and Bite with these two moves.” Marcus opens the Flamethrower TM and places each half on Absol’s head, which makes a red aura go into the Pokemon. Then he takes the Hyper Beam TM and makes a orange-yellow aura go into the Pokemon. “Ok, let’s test out these moves. Ok, Gabby, you think we can battle just for practice of Absol’s new moves?”  “Of course! A friendly practice battle! Awesome. Pigeotto, let’s do it.” Pigeotto caws and lands on the ground. Absol moves into position. “Ok, Absol use Hyper Beam!” Absol c***s his head down and and forms an orange-yellow ball of energy near his mouth, then c***s his head forward and sends a beam of orange-yellow energy at the Pigeotto, knocking the Pokemon out. Gabby brings Pigeotto back and sends her Sylveon out. “Sylveon, use Moonblast!” Sylveon used the Moonbeam, blasting Absol and weakening him. “Wow. I forgot Sylveon is a Fairy Type. And Dark is weak against Fairy. Absol, try to get up buddy!” Absolutely struggled to get up a little, but he still jumped up to battle. “Use Flamethrower.” Absolutely breathes out hot red fire at the Sylveon, hitting the Pokemon and stops fighting. “Nice job, Sylveon. You did great.” “Oh, that reminds me. I need to add the Darium and Flameium Gems to Absol.” Marcus adds the gems to Absol, and they glow when they are attached to him. “Nice. Ok, lets keep going. Pewter City Gym awaits.”

“So you were able to capture three Pokemon in the time you arrived here? That’s amazing!” Gabby and Marcus walked down the trail to the Pewter City Gym with Absol and Sylveon behind them. ‘Yeah! I couldn’t believe it either. It was so cool! That was the best moment of my life!” Absol growled. “Uh..besides meeting you, Absol. You’re the best part of my life.” Absol stopped growling. Gabby laughed. “Looks like someone’s a little jealous. You jealous, Absol?” Absol just looked to the left, and everyone else just laughed. Marcus stopped and knelt down to Absol. “It’s ok, buddy. Don’t be jealous. You’re my best friend, and you always will be.” Absol smiled, jumped on Marcus, making fall to the ground, and Absol licked his face over and over again. “Ha! Stop it! You’re too nice, buddy! Stop!” Gabby and Sylveon watched the two make up. “Aww! So cute! You two are best friends!” “Ha ha ha! Ok, buddy. Glad you’re not mad anymore. Now come on, the Gym should be around here somewhere.” “Help! They took my Pokemon!” The four all heard a kid cry for help. They went down the trail to see a kid crying. “What happened?” “Those two stole my Mankey!” Marcus and Gabby saw a man and woman holding a Mankey. “Hey! Stop!” Marcus and Gabby ran to the two poachers. Their Pokemon ran with them. ‘Their too fast! Absol, try and stop them!’ Absol looked ahead and saw a huge tree. He used Razor Wind to cut the tree down in front of the Poachers. The poachers turned around. Marcus and Gabby both recognized the man. “Wait? You? From the ship? Your a poacher?” The boy was completely flabbergasted they found him “Well, it would seem you found out what I actually do. I am a poacher, and my sister helps me.” The girl hits him on the head. “Shut up. Brad! You want him to find out who we…oh crud.” “Dang it, Brittney! You told….well, that’s embarrassing.” Marcus and Gabby just sighed. “You really are bad poachers, you know that right?” The two just stared at them, then the Mankey judo kicked Brad, making Brittney drop him. The Mankey ran to Marcus and jumped on his back. “You’re both in big trouble.” “Oh really? Says who?” “Says me, punk.” From behind the two poachers, they saw a police woman standing on the tree. She jumped down and handcuffs them both. “You two are under arrest for attempted Pokemon kidnapping.” The two just sighed. “Thanks a lot, kids. You really helped out.” “Oh, don’t thank us ma’am. Thank Absol. Without his Razor Wind, they would have gotten away.” Absol bowed. The officer came and pets the hero. “Nice job! Your such a good friend to your human’ aren’t you? Anyway, where are my manners? Officer Jenny, Pewter City District.” Marcus shook her hand. “Thanks a lot. Now, can you please take them…..where’d they go?” They turned around, and the two were gone. “Oh, darn it. They got away. Oh well, I’ll find them again.” She was about to leave, but Marcus had to ask her a question. “Real quick, but do you know where the Gym is? The Pokemon Gym?” “Oh, yes. It’s right down this way. Maybe another mile or two.” They thanked the officer and she drove off. “Well, a mile or two away. You think you can make it that far, Absol?” Absol nodded. “Ok, let’s go.” They continued to walk for a while. After twenty minutes, they still weren’t at the Gym. They had to stop because they all got extremely tired. They stopped by a tree to rest. Sylveon almost fainted, but was able to stay up. “Oh boy! Who knew this place was so far away? Oh, my feet hurt!” “Well, let’s nap here for a while. But not too long, it’s almost sunset.” Suddenly, they heard a person walk up behind them. “You want a place to rest? You can come to my Cabin."

Marcus, Gabby, Sylveon, and Absol were sitting in the back room of the person’s cabin. “Oh, goodness. It’s so good to have my shoes and socks off! Thank goodness.” Gabby laid on the bed with Sylveon on her stomach sleeping. Marcus let his other Pokemon out to get some exercise. Abra meditated in place while floating, Machop was practicing his chopping, and Dartrix was flying around. Absol slept on the opposite bed while Marcus looked on his pokedex. After a little while, the bot came into the room. “Well, since you guys are all relaxed, let me introduce myself. My name is Braden, but people call me the Eevee Breeder.” Gabby sat up, holding on to Sylveon, hoping not to make her fall. “Eevee breeder? As in, you breed Eevees?” “Kind of obvious, right? Ha! But seriously, I love Eevees. They are so adorable! And I always wanted one of each of the Evolutions. So, thats what I did. I breed Eevees, then I evolve them into the different evolutions they have, and when I have them all, then I will breed more, then I give Eevees away to people who don’t have Pokemon, or people who want an Eevee. Except, I only need one more, and that’s a Sylveon.” Marcus and Gabby looked in the next room and saw a bunch of Pokemon around. They saw Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon, Umbreon, Leafeon, Glaceon, Espeon, and an Eevee, but no Sylveon. Braden went to the Eevee. “This one is one I hope to evolve into a Sylveon. I made it learn some fairy moves in hope in will evolve into one, but it the thing is, this was my first Eevee, and it never evolved yet. I don’t like to force it, but I really hope it will.” Gabby looked at her Sylveon. “You really want him to evolve so quickly? Why not celebrate her being how she is know?” “I have, but this is the last time. When she evolves, if it’s a Sylveon, it will be my own, but if it doesn’t, then I will give it to another kid who wants one of…whatever it evolves into.” Braden looked down at the Eevee with a sad look, and Marcus knew he was having doubts. “Hey, maybe you would like to come with us? Maybe a bit of a break from the whole breeding thing you have will make you feel better.” Braden looked at his home full of Eevee evolution Pokemon. He knew it was hard, but he also knew he did need break. And he knew his Pokemon needed to be in battles. Plus, having a full team of Eevee evolution Pokemon might be cool. “Ok! You twisted my arm! I’ll join you! Guys, come on in here.” All of Braden’s Eevee evolution Pokemon came to him and sat down. “I know I had you guys breeding a lot to get a Sylveon, and I’m sorry. I think we need a break. A break that last forever. From now one, we will go on and fight people for fun, and join these two on their adventures. Who’s with me?” All of his Pokemon cheered. “Great. Now, you’re all a lot to have out, so you’re all going to have to be in Pokeballs. Is that ok?” They all looked at each other, then they all nodded. “Good.” After all of Braden’s Pokemon were in their Pokeballs, he packed up, but went to get a special box. It was big. “This box is full of Evolution Stones. Right now, if you want to, you can evolve your Pokemon right now.” “No thanks. My Sylveon and Pigeotto are just fine to evolve normally.” Marcus didn’t know what to do, but eventually he made a decision. “Give me a Psychic, Grass, and Fighting Stone.” Braden nodded and hands the stones to Marcus, who evolved his Pokemon from Dartrix to Decidueye, Machop to Machoke, and Abra to Kadabra. “Thanks. You think your Pokemon will be fine in their Pokeballs? They never were in put into them before, right?” “They will get used to it. They always did look up to me and trust me. Plus, I’ll bring them out every now and then.” Gabby saw he had a Mega-Evolve wristband and Z-Move Gems. “Were you a trainer before?” “Technically I still am. I only got seven Badges, and the last one, I lost. It made me go into breeding after that. But I’m ready to travel and try again. From Pokemon Breeder to Pokemon Master! It will be fun to join you, watching you win your badges together, then we all win our badges at the last Gym, then we all have our chance to beat the Elite Four!” The three friends cheered. “Ok, lets get going.” Gabby was about to walk out, but was stopped by Sylveon. “What is it?” Sylveon stared outside, and Gabby saw it was dark. “Oh. It’s night. Right. Let’s sleep first.”

The next day, Marcus and Gabby walked with their new friend, Braden, who was looking around. “I almost forgot that this place is so cool! I really needed to get out of the cabin. And my little Pokemon two. Umbreon and Glaceon are real good friends, and I hate to see them not. You know what, I’ll let them walk around so they aren’t missing each other.” Braden pulled out two Pokeballs and released Umbreon and Glaceon, who immediately went to each other in happiness. “Aw! They’re so cute! I wanna squeeze them in my arms!” “Heh. Yeah, they love their other friends, but those two are inseparable. Take away one, the other would never function. They’d be crying for weeks without each other.” Glaceon sat right next to Umbreon, leaning on him. Umbreon had some red in his face. “Aw! Their in love! So Adorable!” Gabby fainted from the cuteness. “Gabby? Gabby? Wake up!” Gabby didn’t hear a thing. Umbreon went over Gabby and used a small shock in his cheek to wake her. She flew into the air and landed on her bottom. “Thanks, Umbreon.” Umbreon bowed. Glaceon passed Umbreon and hit him with her tail. Umbreon got red in the face again. Marcus made sure to cover Gabby’s eyes. “It’s cute, Glaceon. But let’s make sure you don’t send her into shock from it, ok?” Glaceon rolled her eyes. “Smart-aleck. I like it.” Absol walked up to Marcus. “You think you could find someone like that? Have a best friend? Maybe a love interest?” When Marcus looked back, Absol was gone. Everyone else went ahead. “Wait up!” When Marcus ran up the hill to everyone else, they stopped. “Thanks for leaving me behind!” No one else said a word. They all stared forward with surprised expressions. “What is it?” Gabby turned his head to the front, where he saw the Pewter City Gym. “Oh. My. Goodness! We made it! Yes! Come on you guys, let’s do it!” Braden grabbed Marcus just as he started to run. “What?” “We shouldn’t do it yet. We should rest up. We’ve been walking all day. Plus, my Pokemon need to come out. They may not mind being in Pokeballs, but they need to exercise a little.” “Yeah, so do mine. They need some exercise too.” After a little while, they set up camp outside on the hill near the gym. Braden set his Pokemon free and they all did their own thing. Umbreon and Glaceon slept next to each other, cuddling. Gabby tried to look away, but almost fainted trying to. She just sat down against a tree and pets her Sylveon. Marcus was sitting on a tree stump with Absol eating some food next to him. Marcus was unruffling Decidueye’s feathers, his Kadabra levitating his spoon, and Machoke flexed his muscles. The Jolteon shocked the Vaporepn for fun, the Flareon lit a fire, and the leaden was getting his mind nearly confused by the Espeon. They all relaxed after the long trip. After a while, the Pokemon, except Absol, were asleep, and the three friends sat by the fire. Absol sat next to Marcus. “So, you stopped after losing the biggest battle of your life? That’s hard.” Braden nodded. “Yeah, I may have overreacted a little, but I’m glad, cause then I would’t have all of my friends, and you guys.” The two smiled, but then a noise came from the tent. Leafeon came out. “Aw, you can’t sleep, Leafeon? Come here, buddy.” The Leafeon leaps onto his lap, and Braden pets the Leafeon. “It’s ok, buddy. Go ahead and sleep. I’m right here.” The Leafeon instantly falls asleep. “You’re just like a father to them. You’re such a good person, taking car of all of these little guys and girls. They’re so lucky to have you.” Braden looks up blushing, but smiling. “Thanks. But I wanted to do this for a while, so it would have happened either way. But, yeah, thanks a lot for that.” Marcus yawned. “Well, I’m gonna hit the hay. Come on, Absol. Let’s get to bed.” Absol got up and went to the other tent. “You do that, me and Braden are gonna hang out.” ‘Ok.” Marcus opened the tent, and he and Absol went inside. Gabby got up and sat next to Braden who still had the Leafeon in his lap, sleeping away the nightmares. “You really are a nice guy, you know that right? You’re such a nice person to all, people and Pokemon.” Braden smiles and blushes while petting Leafeon. “Again, thanks. You’re not too bad yourself. You’re actually a very beautiful woman. I wouldn’t be surprised if you actually won the tournament.” Gabby blushed and smiled. “Thanks. Well, I’m going to sleep. You coming?” “Nah, I’ll stay out a little later.” Gabby nodded and kissed his cheek. “Catch you tomorrow, Mr. Eevee Breeder.” Braden just watched her go into her tent, and he instantly fell over, waking Leafeon, who Razor Leafed his head. “Ow! Sorry, buddy.”

The next day, everyone took down the tents and prepared for the walk into the Gym to be able to face the leader and earn Marcus’ first badge. Braden left Jolteon and Flareon out of their Pokeballs, Gabby had Sylveon, and Marcus had Absol. After taking down the camp, they packed their bags and prepared for the battle. Marcus packed his bags, but he took the photo out of his bag to look at. He had tears in his eyes. “I promise Mom. I will make my way up the ranks through the tournament, and become the grand champion. I will make you proud! I will be a champion, and a Pokemon Master!” Absol walked up to Marcus. “And with you by my side, with Gabby and Braden, I will win my first badge!” ‘Well, If you want to, hurry up and get over here. We got to go.” Marcus put the photo in his bag and walked over to Braden and Gabby, who were finished packing. “We’re all ready. It’s time to go.” Marcus nods and starts to walk down the trail. The three trainers, Absol, Sylveon, Jolteon and Flareon walk down the trail to the Gym. Braden walked close to Marcus. “You ever been in a battle?” “A couple. I was in a battle with a Pokemon Poacher on the ship, then to get my Decidueye, Machoke, and to practice Absol’s new moves like Hyper Beam and Flamethrower, I battled Gabby’s Sylveon. But, yeah. Not a lot.” Braden pats his back. “You’ll do fine. Brock is a nice leader, but he is tough. He specials in Ground Pokemon. So, if you got a grass, water, or ice Pokemon, then it should help.” “Well, I do have my Decidueye, and with his special Z-Move gem I added to him, it might help. But I really want Absol to fight and win my first badge. It would be good for both of us.” Braden looked up to think, then looked back at Braden. “You do what you want. It’s your choice. Do what you think is best.” Marcus nods. “Oh, by the way, it might be two on two with him. He has more than two, but he usually likes to do two Pokemon against two. So, maybe you could do both, attack with Decidueye and Absol at the same time.” Marcus’ grin grew bigger. “Yeah! And my Pokemon could get along working together. Thanks.” “Hey. Where do you think I started? Don’t forget, I beet all the other leaders, except the last guy. But still, he was tough. All of them are tough. So, don’t take it easy on him.” Marcus nodded. They walked up to the door, where they saw a sign on the door. Gabby read it. “Welcome everyone to the Pewter City Gym. I would appreciate that you look around at my gym before you challenge me, to show that I am more than just a Gym Leader. Sincerely yours, Brock. Hm. Nice guy.” They walked in and saw that the entire lobby was filled with awards and pictures. People were looking at the awards. They noticed a door marked “Battle room.” The door opened and a kid came out disappointed. “Guess you didn’t win, huh?” “No. He is good. Very good. Good luck.” The kid walked out the door. They looked around at the pictures and awards, spotting cooking awards and contest awards, and pictures showing him and his friends. A girl with a yellow shirt, red suspenders, orange hair, and a Starmi, and a kid in a blue cut jeans, red hat, and a Pikachu on his back. They entered the battle room, where the entire place was filled with rocks, earth, and pretty much looked like a mountain. In the middle of the ring, was a man in a orange shirt with a green vest and spiky hair, was meditating in the middle. He looked up to them, then smiled. “Ah, Gabby and Braden. Good to see you two again. How’ve you been since we battle?” “Awesome. Our friend here is getting his first badge.” Said Gabby. “Hi, I’m Marcus. I lived on Cinnabar Island for most of my life. I came from there to challenge you for an Earth Badge.” Brock got up and walked to his side of the arena. “You’re pretty confident. You seem strong. How about this? Two vs two.” “Ok with me. What Pokemon will you use?” Brock pulled out two Pokeballs. “Geodude, Zubat, go!” He through the Pokeballs, and a Geodude and Zubat appeared. “Cool, but check out my Pokemon. Absol, lets go. Decidueye, go!” He threw the Pokeball, and Decidueye came out and landed on the ground. Absol stood next him. Brock’s face soon grew with surprise at Marcus’ Pokemon “An Absol? Where did you find that?” “First, it’s not a that. It’s a him. He’s my best friend, and I found him, or I guess, he found me, at Cinnabar Island, my home. And he is going to whip your Zubat’s butt!” Brock laughed. “We’ll see. Prepare for battle!” Gabby and her Sylveon sat on the platform above the arena. Braden released his Pokemon to watch the match. The timer counted down. “3…2…1! Begin!” “Zubat, Use Venoshock!” The Zubat charged Absol with it’s fangs out, but Absol dodged the attack. “Absol, use Razor Wind!” Absol used the Razor Wind, knocking the Zubat back, but still in the air. “Geodude, use Rock Throw!” The Geodude grabbed a big stone and threw it at Decidueye, who flew up into the air. Marcus did a Ghostium Gem Dance, which powered up Decidueye with an orange aura. “Decidueye, with the Power of Ghosts, use Sinister Arrow Raid!” Multiple arrows surrounded the bird Pokemon, who dived down with the arrows surrounding him and charged at the Geodude. Decidueye charged through the Geodude, with the arrows striking the Geodude and causing a purple gaseous explosion. When the smog cleared, Geodude was down for the count. Brock gasped and returned both Pokemon. “Hey. You done already? I only defeated one of your Pokemon.” Brock smirked. “I said we would do two on two. I never said I could switch anytime I wanted. And besides, it’s when two Pokemon are defeated, and mine will defeat both of yours! Onyx, Go!” From out of the Pokeball came a giant rock snake-like Pokemon. Marcus looked up to the Pokemon, and was completely surprised, but unafraid. “Nice. But it’s too bad. Decidueye, Razor Leaf!” Decidueye flew up to Onyx’s eye level and flung leaves at the giant, which made it flinch. “Yes! Asbol, climb up it.” Absol nodded and climbed up Onyx’s tail. When he reached the top, he jumped up in the air. “Absol! Slam down on his head! Night Slash!!!” Absol charged up his head-blade to make it glow green and flipped over, pointing the blade at Onyx’s head, which he used gravity to slash the giant Pokemon, sending the giant tumbling down. “Onyx!” Absol jumped off of Onyx’s head, and Decidueye flew down and perched on Absol’s back, where the two Pokemon looked at each other as teammates. Absol walked back to Marcus, who was being hugged by his friends, with Braden’s Eevee evolved Pokemon cheering behind him. “Nice job, buddies! Your teamwork is awesome.” Brock came over to them after checking Onyx. “You’re really good. Here, an Earth Badge. You earned it.” Marcus took the badge and put it in his badge case. “Thanks. You’re an awesome leader. You’ll win again someday.” Brock smiled and pulled out a bag. “Here. I usually don’t do this, but this bag is filled with my own recipe for donuts. Even made them to be eaten by Pokemon. Take them. They’ll keep you from getting hungry.” Gabby took the bag. “Thanks.” Before they left the building, Brock stopped them. “Wait! Before you go, let me tell you something. Misty is the Gym leader at Cerulean City, the Water Gym. She’s also my friend, so when you get there, tell her I said hi, ok?” Marcus nods and leaves the building with his friends.

“Earth Badge. Badge Number One! This is awesome! And it’s thanks to all of you. Braden, Gabby, Sylveon, my Pokemon, and you Absol. Especially you. You’re the best friend I never had on Cinnabar Island. At least a best friend who’s a Pokemon. But either way, you’re my best friend. And you will always be my number 1. What do you say buddy?” Marcus holds up his fist for a fist bump, which Absol bumps with his paw. “Ha! Nice! Let’s go. We have to get to….where exactly?” Gabby checked the map. “Cerulean City, Home of the Water Pokemon Gym, lead by Misty, Brock’s friend.” “Thanks. And….where do we go exactly?” Gabby looked all across the map with Braden. “I have no idea. There isn’t a trail towards the city, no backroads, anything. Oh, wait! This map doesn’t have Cerulean City on the map. That’s why.” Marcus facepalmgd. “So, we have no way to know where the trail to the city is. Great. Absol, you sure you don’t have a really good nose to sniff the trail?” Absol shook his head. Braden walked up to them. “Well, I’m glad my Pokemon are in their Pokeballs. They get really scared if they don’t know where they are. Seriously, they get super freaked out. Makes me sad. But, their tough.” Gabby came towards them and sat on a rock, trying to figure out the map, but getting frustrated and almost yelling. Marcus looks at Absol and nods his head towards Gabby, which Absol understood and walked over to her and nuzzled her, which cheered her up and she rubs his head. “Thanks. *sigh* Anyway, there isn’t anything about Cerulean City on this map.” Braden sighed. “Well, we should try to get a good lead to make sure we try to find a trail, sign, or a map to the city. Need to get a good head start.” Marcus nods and gets his backpack. “You know, maybe Kadabra can show the way. He is Psychic, and they can do a lot of things with their minds. Go, Kadabra.” Kadabra came out of the Pokeball, doing his meditating, opened his eyes. “Hey Kadabra. We need some help. Since you’re Psychic, you think you can show us the way to Cerulean City?” Kadabra closed his eyes to think. After a short time, he opened his eyes and levitated his spoon, which went down the trail. Kadabra gestured the others to follow. “I guess the spoon shows the way. Let’s go.” They followed the levitating spoon for a long time, but just before sunset, they saw a sign. “Trail to Cerulean City. Guess we were heading the right way. Thanks, Kadabra.” Kadabra grabbed his spoon, nods, and went back to meditating. Marcus put him back in the Pokeball. “Well, since we know where we are, let’s set up camp. It’s going to be dark soon.” After a while, they set up camp just before the sun went down. They couldn’t find any wood. “Oh, man. We had to camp in the one place where there is no wood around. This is ridiculous.” Braden complained. “Oh. Maybe Flareon can help. He and Espeon need some time out anyway.” When Flareon came out, he was completely mad. His flames on his back rose extremely high. “Whoa! What’s wrong?” Espeon and Flareon didn’t look at each other. Braden sighed. “You two fighting again? One of these days, I’m going to lock you in a room together. You two are basically family, so try not to fight. Please?” The two peeked at their other, then rubbed cheeks. “There you go. Be friends you two. Flareon, can you please start the fire?” Flareon breathed and started the fire. Then he laid down next to it. Espeon laid right next to him. “*sigh* Like I said, they don’t always get along, but in the end, their family.” Gabby sat on a log next to the fire, roasting a couple marshmallows. Marcus was eating one of Brock’s donuts, with Absol drinking some water. Marcus finished his donut down to half, then split the rest with Absol. He looked up the the night sky, watching the stars. “Wow. They are so nice. You know what, I’m going stargazing. Who’s with me?” Everyone else agreed and they walked up the hill and laid down to look at the stars. Braden got nervous laying next to Gabby. She looked at him, who instantly went full red-faced. Gabby giggled. Marcus saw them, and shook his head with a smile on his face. He looked up at the stars, and saw a shooting star. “Cool! Make a Wish!” Said Gabby. Marcus closed his eyes and made a wish. In his head, he said “I wish that me and my friends made it through all of the challenges ahead, so we can become Pokemon Masters!” He opened his eyes, soon realizing he fell asleep with Absol on top of him, asleep. He shrugged and went back to sleep.

The next morning, Marcus awoke to the sound of Braden’s Pokemon fighting. He was startled by electricity buzzing. “*sigh* Guess he’s training his Pokemon. Ok, ready Absol?” Absol was nowhere inside the tent. “Absol? Absol? Where are you?” Marcus got up and went outside the tent. He saw Gabby brushing Sylveon’s fur and Braden was training his Pokemon by having Jolteon take on Espeon. Glaceon and Umbreon were watching, and Flareon and Leafeon napped. “Hey guys. Has anyone seen Absol? He was in the tent last night.” Gabby looked at Marcus. “No. Haven’t sen him since last night.” Marcus looked all over the camp, but saw no trace of him. “Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh! Oh My Gosh!!! Absol!!! Where is he?!?! Ah!” Braden went to Marcus and slapped him. “Get a grip, Marcus! Calm! Be calm! Deep Breaths!” Marcus took some breaths, then rubbed his hand print. “Ok. I need to find him. Does Espeon know? She’s Psychic, right? Then she can help.” Braden nodded. He went to Espeon who beat Jolteon. “Hey, Espeon. Absol is gone and Marcus is getting worried. You think you can help us?” Espeon nodded, and after putting Jolteon, Leafeon, and Flareon back and getting the camp put down, the three followed Espeon, Umbreon, and Glaceon down the trail towards Cerulean City. “Why would Absol run this way in the middle of the night? That doesn’t make sense.” Gabby retaliated his words. “Hey. It’s fine. We will figure this out. Ok?” Marcus nods and continues running. “Espeon, are we close?” Espeon looked down the road, but then stopped to sniff around. She sniffed around and found something on a bush. Marcus went to it and picked it up. “It’s Absol’s fur! He was here! We’re close!” Espeon continued down the trail. They reached a bridge where it went over a river, which was almost flooding over the bridge. On the other side, they saw Absol. “Absol!!! Buddy!!! Hold on!” Marcus almost ran over the bridge, but stopped and went over carefully. He made it to the other side and hugged the living heck out of Absol. “Oh thank goodness your alright! Never leave my side again!!! Ever!!!” Absol cried in agreement. “Why were you here anyway?” Absol looked towards a sign that said “Cerulean City, 1 mile.” “Nice job, Absol. But next time, wake me up before you go to find this. Ok?” Absol nodded. Marcus signals everyone else to come over. Braden and Gabby came over and Sylveon held onto her back. Glaceon walked over, trying not to fall with Umbreon behind her. But when Glaceon jumped over, Umbreon tried to too, but ended up falling into the river. “Umbreon!!! Hang on!!!” Braden runs down the side of the river, trying to catch up to Umbreon. Glaceon was on the verge of tears and ran with him and the others. Umbreon tried to keep afloat and tried to catch onto the sides. Braden ran past Umbreon and grabbed a large stick. “Grab on!” Umbreon tried to grab it with his mouth, but missed. Gabby ran past Braden and went towards a log and reached out. But when Umbreon went by, she missed. They saw at the end was a waterfall. “No!” Umbreon fell down, but suddenly, he came right back up, being held in the talons of a Fearow. Umbreon landed in the arms of Braden. “Oh, thank goodness your ok! Oh, Umbreon!” Umbreon shivered in fear. Suddenly, a person in a cloak came out of the woods and the Fearow perched on his arm. “Thank you so much! Who are you?” The person didn’t say a word. He just gave him a note. Braden looked down at the note and it read “You’re welcome. I will be there for all in need. The Cloaked Trainer.” Braden looked up, and the person was near the edge, and he leaned back and fell down the side. They went to see what happened, then the person came back up on the back of a Charizard. They flew off into the distance. “Wow. Who was that?” Braden shrugged. “Who cares? He saved my Umbreon, and that’s all I care about. Now lets get out of here and get to a campsite. Umbreon needs to be calmed down. He’s in shock.” Braden put Espeon back in the Pokeball and they all kept going. After a little while, they stopped a picnic area. Braden set Umbreon down on the table, who was still in shock. Glaceon jumped up to him and nuzzled him, to which he instantly calmed down. “Thanks, Glaceon. Keep him company, would you?” Glaceon nodded. Braden walked over to Marcus who was petting Absol. “You’re Pokemon are pretty smart. If he hadn’t have gone out, we wouldn’t have gotten this big of a head start.” “Well, Absol is a pretty good tracker. At least when he wants to.”

The next day, everybody woke up and and started to get ready to travel. Marcus stretched and got ready for the day. Absol came out of the tent and yawned and stretched. He also looked kind of out of it. “Hey, you ok buddy? You want to take a break from fighting today?” Absol nodded and went to Gabby, who sat on a rock tying her shoe. Absol nuzzled against her, and she pets him. “You’re alright Absol.” Braden came out of his tent with Glaceon and Umbreon inside. “How’s he doing? Ok?” Braden smiled and pulled out a giant Pokemon Egg. “You could say that. Heh.” Marcus jumped up. “Whoa! A Pokemon egg! I have never seen these things before! I heard about them, but never in real life! Also, nice job.” Braden let Vaporeon out of his little Pokeball home. “Hey, buddy. You doing ok?” Vaporeon climbed up to Braden’s lap, which Marcus pets on his back. Umbreon and Glaceon looked at each other. Braden then put them in their Pokeballs. “Ok. You guys go on ahead to the Gym. I’ll find a Pokemon Center that can hatch this egg.” Gabby and Marcus nodded and walked down the trail. Braden stayed behind to keep and eye on the camp. “I still can’t believe that they had an egg. *sigh* I kind of miss my old life.” But Braden shrugged it off and went off to find the Pokemon Center to hatch the egg. Marcus and Gabby walked down a street in the city and noticed that the majority of Pokemon around were Water-Type. “Wow. With a water gym around here, this place has lots of water Pokemon. Plus a lot of ponds and pools.” Said Marcus. “Yeah, this place is beautiful. Maybe you can get a water Pokemon. You have fighting, Psychic, Grass, Flying, and Dark. Water, Electricity, and Fire is what you need. Just saying if you all of the types, like Braden.” Marcus laughed. “Yeah, he is interested in having one of every type.” They joked and walked for a while, until they came to a bridge that went over a lake in a little Japanese-like garden. They leaned over the rail, and looked into the water. Absol went down to the lake’s edge and drank some of the water. There were ripples in the water, which Absol got closer to see. The ripples turned into a face, and a creature jumped straight out of the water and landed on the ground. Marcus ran down next to Absol. “Woah! A Greninja! Let’s catch that one! Absol, you’re still tired, so sit this one out, ok?” Absol nodded and went back to Gabby. “Ok, Machoke, Go!” Machoke came out of the Pokeball with the his big muscles. “Machoke, use Karate Chop!” Machoke ran at the Greninja with his hand ready to chop, but the Pokemon jumped straight up and formed a shuriken made out of water. He threw it at Machoke, who only flinched a little. “Machoke, pound him into the ground!” Machoke jumped up into the air in front of Greninja and grabbed him, and threw him to the ground and body slammed him. “Go, Pokeball!” Suddenly, Greninja knocked back the Pokeball with a water sword. Machoke was about to attack, but the Greninja stood up and bowed to Marcus. “Wait, what? What’s it doing?” “It’s excepting you.” They looked and saw a man in a swimsuit coming towards them. “Greninja are usually not captured because they are honorable. Your Machoke was very powerful and honorable, therefore, the Greninja has accepted you.” Greninja bowed again. “Cool. You want to go in?” Marcus held the Pokeball, and the Greninja shook his head. “Not a Pokeball person, huh? Ok, you can walk around. Absol needs someone to hang out with besides Braden’s Pokemon and Gabby’s Sylveon. Welcome to the team, Greninja. You’re number 5!” Greninja nodded, but Absol grumbled. “Absol. Don’t be so grumpy. You need someone to hang out with. Greninja could be a good friend if you accept him.” Absol looked down at the ground, but looked up and smiled. “Great! Absol, say hi to Greninja.” Absol walked up to greninja, and both bowed to each other. “There you go! Friends already!” The man came up to them and gave them something. “Here. This is an extra Waterium gem, in case you already used it on another Pokemon.” Marcus shook his head. “No, but I better add the different gems to my other Pokemon.” After a little while, Marcus added the Fighting gem to Machoke, Psychic gem to Kadabra, and Water Gem to Greninja. “Thanks for reminding me though. Keep that gem, it might come in handy.” The man nodded and walked away. They suddenly heard a woman talk. “You’re so nice for a stranger to town.” They turned around to see a woman with a yellow shirt, red suspenders, blue shorts, and orange hair. “How’s it going?”

It was Misty in her usual clothing. She was incredibly happy to see them. Gabby was almost on the verge of exploding in happiness. Marcus backed up a little to get away. “Hi, I’m Marcus, the newest trainer around. You’re Misty, right?” “Yep. Welcome to Cerulean City. I heard that some Pokemon trainers were coming here to challenge me.” Marcus nodded. “Yep, the both of us want to battle you. Maybe at the same time. That cool with you?” Misty chuckled. “Yes, of course. I have battle against the most powerful Pokemon with my own in my previous adventures. When you’re ready, come to the gym.” From behind, they saw Braden running to them. “Hey guys! I see you found Misty. Hello, Misty.” Misty chuckled. “Hello, Braden. Or should I say, Mr. Eevee Breeder.” “Ha. Hilarious.” They shared a joke for a while, but they all had to go home. The three checked into a hotel and got some rooms. In one room, Absol laid on the bed while Marcus fed his Greninja. “You’re pretty cool, Greninja. It’s nice that you joined us.” Absol gave a agreeing cry. Greninja nods. In another room, Gabby watched TV with Sylveon on her lap. “I can’t wait for the battle tomorrow. You excited, Sylve?” Sylveon yawned. “Heh. Tired huh? *Yawn* Yeah, me too.” She then fell backwards onto the bed, instantly falling asleep. And in another room, Braden was feeding his Pokemon while Umbreon and Glaceon took care of the egg they made. “Ok, calm down you guys. Jolteon, do not shock Vaporeon, you’ll get your food. Flareon, if you give Leafeon second-degree burns again, you’ll stay in your Pokeball from now on. And Espeon, no using mind tricks again.” Suddenly, they heard cracking. Braden looked at the egg with a huge crack in it. When it hatched, a little Eevee appeared. “Wow. Hey, little buddy.” Braden thought about what Gabby said at his lodge. “You really want him to evolve so quickly? Why not celebrate her being how she is now?” Braden knew her words spoke volumes. “Well, no need to rush. You are going to be my little Eevee for a while.” He put the little Eevee down to his parents, who both cuddle with the small Eevee. Braden put the others back in their Pokeballs and laid down to sleep. In Marcus’s room, he couldn’t sleep at all. He laid in his bed with Absol on the floor next to him. “Step two is about to happen. I will get my second badge. So awesome.” He fell right asleep. The next day, they all woke up to the sound of singing. They all left their rooms and went downstairs where they saw a Pokemon singing with a woman. It was a Water Pokemon that looked like a big seal. It was white, and had a blue tail. The woman was singing beautifully. She was about Marcus’ age, and she was hitting the final note with her Pokemon. “Nice job, Primarina! You hit the vocal range very well!” She turned to the people who watched her. “Hello. My name is Carmen, like the opera. This is Primarina. We are traveling singers, and I’m an old trainer. I got Primarina when she was just a little Poppilo back in the Alolan Region. We are the best of friends, right?” Primarina smiles and nods. “Well, you sing really well. Beautiful.” She blushed. ‘Well, thank you. You’re not too bad yourself.” They both talked for a while, and Gabby and Braden looked on at them. “They are so cute together! So nice! We should ask her to come along.” Braden turned to Gabby. “You sure? She might have family, or friends, or a job.” “Oh no, I don’t really have a job. This is my job, giving music to all. Besides, I already am a Pokemon master, so the badges are not a big deal to me. And I can help along the way. With information, help, and singing entertainment. What do you say?” Marcus jumped up. “YES! I mean…of course.” Braden and Gabby looked at each other and laughed.

The three friends walked with their new friend, Carmen. Absol and Greninja walked with Marcus, and Sylveon was still tired and held onto Gabby’s back with her front legs. Braden held Eevee like a little baby while he walked. “So you have won your first badge? That’s impressive for a first-timer. Impressive. You are an impressive trainer. Your Absol is so suave and elegant, yet also loving and silly. You must have been brave to go to him. He is called The Disaster Pokemon, right?” Marcus blushed and nods. “Y-yes. He is called that, but he is different. When I was about to leave, I didn’t go and find him. He found ME, and he accepted me as a friend. That’s how we became the best of friends. He will always be my number one Pokemon, no matter who I capture, he will always be my best friend.” Absol looked up at him, and smiled. “See, he’s different. He actually has expressions, but Absol’s are usually known for being kept away from humans and never usually smile a lot. I don’t know why he’s so different, but I don’t care. He’s awesome, and I love him.” Carmen smiled at the caring boy’s words. They both blushed again. Gabby and Braden shook their heads. The Eevee squirmed again in Braden’s arms. “Sh. It’s cool. We are cool.” Gabby smiled. “You are so much like a father.” Braden blushed again. “Well, I had plenty of help.” They continued to walk for a short time, until the Cerulean City Gym came into view. “Wow. It’s so….Watery. Well, everyone has a theme. Let’s go!” They all ran down the hill to the gym entrance, where they saw Misty at the front. “Hey guys! Welcome to my gym! Ready to battle?” Gabby and Marcus got Sylveon and Absol ready. “Yeah!” “Sweet. And I also have a bit of a surprise. Come out!” From behind a pillar, they saw Brock. “Brock! You’re here! How’d you get here before us?” “I took my car. My siblings love this city, so I invited them. Misty told me you two want the water badge. Well, you have to fight me as well. Two vs two.” Gabby and Marcus looked at each other. “Awesome! Let’s go!” They all walked into the gym arena, and it was absolutely beautiful. It had water plants all around the arena, with rocks and platforms all around in the water and outside the water. It looked like an entire lake with a huge waterfall. “Wow. This is so cool.” Braden said. “Hey, if you don’t mind, can I have Vaporeon swim in the other side for exercise?” “Of course! Go ahead.” Braden let out Vaporeon who instantly jumped into the water. Braden sat next to the side and started feeding Eevee while watching Vaporeon. “Alright, let’s do this.” Gabby and Marcus climbed to one side of the arena while Misty and Brock went to the other side. Misty brought out Starmie, a multiarmed purple starfish with a red gem, and Brock brought out Vulpix, which everyone was confused about why he put her out. Absol and Sylveon jumped down to a different platform. An announcer came on the loudspeakers. “Two vs two, for two water badges. The battle begins….NOW!!!” “Ok, Starmie, use Hydro Pump!” Starmi pointed its top arm towards Absol, which fired a high powered stream of water. Absol dodged the water stream and jumped to a rock. “Absol, use Hyper Beam!” Absol formed the orange ball of energy and blasted at the opposing Pokemon, which they both dodged. “Sylveon, use Fairy Wind!” Sylveon flew twisted winds at the Pokemon, which they both got sucked in and flew upwards. “ ‘Vulpix, use Flamethrower!” Vulpix did a flip and landed on a rock next to Absol, and blew hot flames at Absol, knocking him off balance and plunging into the water. “Absol! Absol!” Marcus shouted into the water, but he couldn’t see him. “Ha! Stamie, find him.” Starmie swam down into the water trying to find him, but couldn’t. Suddenly, there was a green glow below him, and Absol charged upwards with the Night Slash, hitting Starmie out of the water and cracking the gem. Starmie fell down onto the platform. ‘Oh no! Starmie!” “Alright, Absol! Use Razor Wind!” Absol used Razor Wind at Vulpix. “What? But that’s a Grass move, and Vulpix is strong against Grass.” “Smart, but I’m not trying to hit Vulpix. Watch.” The wind barely made Vulpix flinch, but the wind caused water to splash her. She was near incapacitated. “No, Vulpix! Get out of the way!” “Sylveon, use Moonblast!” Sylveon used the Moonblast, defeating Vulpix. A horn sounded. “The winners….Marcus and his Absol, and Gabby and her Sylveon!” They all jumped for joy over the vistory. Braden was in the wings waving and laughing. Misty and Brock sighed, but they accepted defeat. They walked over to them, and Misty held out two Badges. “You earned these badges. You’re a lot better than I thought.” Gabby and Marcus picked up their badges and left the gym, waving goodbye and getting their friends. When they let the gym, they both looked at their badges. “Badge number 2 for two friends! Hooray!” Gabby said. “Yeah! We all rock! The third badge is as good as ours!” Misty came sprinting out when she heard the third badge. “You need to be careful. A friend of mine, Ash, tried to fight the leader, Lt. Surge, with his Pikachu, but that jerk had a Raichu which almost killed him. Be careful.”

The four friends left the gym and walked through the city. They continued for a while, but suddenly, there was the sound of thunder. They all watched the storm roll into the town. Absol and Sylveon watched the storm. Carmen and Primarina just revealed in the site of the storm rolling in. Braden watched the storm, but then covered up the Eevee in his jacket. Vaporeon jumped up and down in joy. Suddenly, the thunder boomed again, louder. The Eevee started to tear up. “Guys, let’s find a place to stay until the storm is over. Eevee’s getting scared.” Marcus nodded, but Carmen whined. “Why? This is nothing for people in this city! It’s awesome!” Gabby and Braden looked at her with the most confused faces on the planet. “Oh, well people in this city really love Water-Types, and they love rain and thunderstorms. Come on! Let’s stay out and bask in the rain. Marcus, you’ll stay with me, won’t you?” Marcus blushed the brightest red ever. He nods yes. Then he brings out Greninja. “Hey, Absol, if you don’t want to stay in the rain, you can go with Gabby and Braden, k?” Absol nodded and stood next to Gabby. Vaporeon ran up to Marcus. “You want to come too? Ok, you can hang out with us. That ok, Braden?” Braden chuckled and nodded. “Cool. Vaporeon should have some fun. Maybe he could find a friend. Plenty of Water-Types around during the storms.” Braden and Gabby checked into the nearest hotel with Absol. They went up to their room, and set up in the room for the day. Eevee stopped fussing and went to sleep. Braden brought out Glaceon and Umbreon, Eevee’s parents, and they took care of the little Pokemon baby. Gabby sat on the bed and watched tv with Sylveon on her lap and Absol nuzzling against the side of her head. She looked outside and saw the rain start to pour down. “Hope they’ll be ok.” “Yeah.” From outside, Marcus and Carmen walked with their Water Pokemon, Primarina, Greninja, and Vaporeon. The three Pokemon saw other Water-Type Pokemon going into the river. They instantly jumped in for exercise. Marcus went under a pagoda and tried to dry off, but he turned around and saw Carmen was spinning in the rain and catching water on her tongue. “Come on! Come out here, it’s great!” Marcus smiled and shrugged and ran out into the rain. It felt really good! He really loved it. “Woah! This..is…so…cool!” He jumped up, and got splashed by a big stream of water. He looked in the same direction, and Vaporeon laughed and went back under the water. Marcus smiled and shook his head. He laughed and heard Primarina singing. He listened to her singing, and it felt magical. Soon, Carmen started to sing. He listened to her sing, and was even more mesmerized than before. He almost fell over from the song. Which he did, when he fell on ground. Carmen sung and danced, but tripped on Marcus and fell forward on his chest. They both blushed when their faces were next to each other. “Heh, well, this is a bit…close.” Carmen said nothing. She just kissed him. They both kissed on the ground while the rain poured down on them. Their water friends watched the event unfold. Marcus held her back and got on his feet. They both held it for so long, they didn’t even mind the cold, because they both felt warm in each other’s arms. They stopped and hugged. “You’re beautiful, Carmen. I’m glad you came here with me.” She just smiled and kissed him again. The two new lovers returned to the hotel, and went up to their room. When they got there, Braden and Gabby were kissing. “Whoa!” They looked up from the bed. “Ok, I know what it looks like, but….ok, it’s exactly what it looks like. But, what can I say? She’s beautiful.” Gabby blushed. “Yeah. Well, the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree.”

The next day, the two couples packed up their bags, let their Pokemon exercise for a while, and waited on the bench. They didn’t say anything, but Braden spoke up. “So, you two got together finally, huh?” Marcus and Carmen blushed. “Yeah. Well, love isn’t something you can’t ignore. Heh. Kinda cheesy, but true.” “Yeah. Same with us.” They looked back at their Pokemon, who were getting along. Except for Glaceon and Leafeon. Braden ran straight for them. “Hey! Guys! What’s wrong?” They both just turned their heads away from each other. Braden groaned. “Really? Again? You’re fighting now? Look, I know that you guys don’t usually get along, but one day, you both are going to have to get along.” Glaceon looked at Leafeon in an apologetic way, who retaliated with a Razor Leaf, making Glaceon bleed on it’s snout. “HEY! That’s it! You get a time-out in the Pokeball until you learn to get along with her!” Leafeon whined and ran, but Braden caught him. He groaned extremely loud, which caused his other Pokemon to come to him. He sat down, and gets a tissue for Glaceon. “You ok, girl?” She nods. “Let’s get that cleaned up. This might sting a little.” He got some peroxide and dabbed the wound, making Glaceon whine. “Sh. It’s ok. I know it hurts, but it’s ok. You’ll feel better.” After cleaning, he put a bandage on the wound. Glaceon started to swipe at it. Umbreon went to her and licked her cheek, which she stopped whining. Eevee jumped in her head, and she felt so much better. Braden smiled and sighed. Gabby and the others went to take care of them. Braden went to the bench and let Leafeon out. He instantly was crying. “Whoa! What’s wrong?” Leafeon just ran in his lap and cried into his chest. “You feel sorry for what you did to Glaceon, huh? Well, you really shouldn’t have done that.” Leafeon looked at him, and he pets his head. “If you really feel sorry, then you need to apologize.” Leafeon nodded and instantly ran for Glaceon, who was sitting with her family. Leafeon slowly walked forward, which Umbreon growled. Glaceon barked, making him stop. Glaceon went to Leafeon, who, in Pokemon language, apologized to her. She accepted, and they both hugged. Braden laughed. “Glad you two are friends again. Ok, let’s get going.” After they exercised, Glaceon, Leafeon, Eevee, and Umbreon followed Braden, with Marcus and Absol, Carmen, and Sylveon and Gabby. They walked for a while, but suddenly, they saw a tree in fire. Inside the tree, was a Litten inside. They ran for the tree. “Glaceon, try and get that Litten out of there!” Glaceon nodded. She ice breathed stairs and ran up, and got the Litten out, but got caught. “Oh no! Glaceon!” Leafeon ran up the ice stairs, and pushed Leafeon out of the way, but he got hit with flames and got burned. He fell down and slammed on a tree branch, making the branch break. He fell down and didn’t move. Everyone ran to him. Glaceon nudged him, but he didn’t wake up. They tried to get him up, but they were afraid of moving him. “Hey! You need help?” They looked behind them, and they saw a man with blond hair, red and black uniform, and a team of evolved Eevee’s behind him. All of the evolved forms of Eevee were behind him. They ran to them and asked what happened. “That Litten was stuck in that tree that was on fire. Glaceon saved him, but got stuck. Leafeon saved her, but fell on a branch. He’s bleeding, and he got burned bad. Please help him.” The man told his Vaporeon to hose down the tree. The man got a first aid kit, and started to patch up Leafeon. “Ok, we need to get him back to my camp. You, follow me. The rest of you, go back to the city, try to find the Pokemon Center and find the nurses. Keep you phone on, just in case it gets serious.” He wrapped the Leafeon in a blanket and out him in Braden’s arms. He put his hands on his shoulders. “Don’t worry. He will be alright.” Marcus and everyone else ran for the city, while Braden, Glaceon, Eevee, Umbreon, and the man and his Evolved Eevee team ran for the camp. When they got there, it was a small temporary building with a symbol on the front. The man kicked the door down and grabbed a pair of gloves. He opened the door to a make-shift operating room. He took Leafeon and set him on the table. ‘You need to stay out. I need to work. Keep by the phone in case they call, ok?” Braden nodded with a tear in his eyes. He sat down for what seemed like an hour, then the man came out. He gave him a thumbs up. Braden laughed and went inside, and saw Leafeon with bandages on his back. Braden went to Leafeon and he wanted to pet him, but he didn’t want to hurt him. He started to cry. “I couldn’t’t help my own Pokemon. What can I do when they are In trouble?” The man put his hand on Leafeon carefully. “Well, we still have a spot on the team, Braden.” “How did you know my name?” “You must not remember. It’s me, Virgil. Team Eevee?” Braden gasped. “That’s right! I forgot, you and I were on a team a few years ago. Then after I lost, I left. Wow. It’s so good to see you.” They both shook hands and reminisced about the past. After a little while. They heard their friends come in. ‘It’s so glad that Leafeon is safe. When he’s all better, we can continue.” “No.” They looked at Braden. “What?” “I’m not going. I’m staying. Seeing Leafeon almost, biting the dust, made me realize that I need to help others, including my family. Plus, I forgot I was a part of a rescue force with Virgil. So, this might me what I need to find myself. So, I’m staying.” Gabby was completely flabergasted. “What? You’re staying? What about going on to be a champion like you wanted to do?” Braden turned around. “That was just me lying to myself. I thought that I needed this victory to find myself, but then I realized that my unfinished work is what I tried to find. I remembered I worked with him, and that was my purpose in life. And now, I have to start again. I need to train my Pokemon to become Team Eevee 2.0. I need to help anyone I can, and I have to stay.” Everyone was still surprised by his words. Gabby hugged him and started to cry. He hugged back. “I’ll stay with you! I can become a member too!” “No. You have to go with Marcus. You two are best friends, and you have your duties, and I have mine.” They kissed again. They both cried. Virgil put his shoulder in Braden’s shoulder. “It’s hard, I know. But you’re back with your team. It will be nice to get back into the swing of things.” Braden nodded. Gabby ran outside and Sylveon and Carmen followed her. Marcus and Absol stayed with Braden. “You sure this is what you want to do?” Braden nodded. “Ok. Well, I guess this is goodbye.” Braden nodded. Marcus went to Braden’s Pokemon on the table. “I’ll see you guys later. I hope. Glaceon, try not to be so cold.” Glaceon rolled her eyes, but with a sad expression. “Umbreon, take care of your family, ok?” Umbreon nods. “Eevee, when you evolve, whichever evolution you go through, use your powers with pride. And Leafeon, you did a good thing. You’re a hero. Remember that.” Leafeon nods, weakly. Absol said goodbye to them and walked out the door. Marcus looked back at Braden. “Be careful, and take care of your family, ok?” Braden said nothing again, but nodded. Marcus nods and walked out. Braden turned back and let his other Pokemon out. They all lined up and position. Braden wiped his tears and stood in position. “Ok. Now then, who’s ready for some practice?”

Marcus, Gabby, and Carmen walked down the road without Braden and his Pokemon. Gabby cried while walking down the road, thinking about what had just happened with Braden. Marcus couldn’t bear to see her like this. “Guys, let’s stop. We need to stop for the day. We’re all tired.” Everyone stopped at a big tree and Gabby sat down and leaned on the tree. She cried again. Marcus looks at Absol and nods his head to her. Absol goes up to her and nuzzles her. She stops and pets him. She spoke through the shaky breaths. “Thanks…Absol…at least you’re there to…..help me….in my time of grief.” Absol nods and lays down on her lap. She pets him on the back for a while. Carmen and Marcus watched the sky. “You are a real saint, you know that? You’re taking such good care of her in her grief. I’m going to miss Braden and his little pals. You think they’ll be safe?” Marcus nods. “Well, he did say that he used to be a member of the rescue team, so he should be fine. I hope Leafeon will be ok. I can’t believe he risked his life for his friend. That was…scary.” Carmen nods. “Yes. You’re right. We shouldn’t worry. I know he’ll still keep us in his heart.” They heard the sound of scared Pokemon coming from the woods. “Gabby, let’s go!” Gabby jumped up and ran with them. They ran for a short while, where they saw a Rockruff was getting hurt by a Lycancroc. “Hey! Absol, use Razor Wind!” Absol Razor Winds the Lycancroc, who runs away whimpering. The Rockruff barks and rans into his arms. “Hey, buddy. He giving you trouble? You have an owner?” Rockruff whimpered. “No owner? Well, how about you come with us? You want to come with us?” Rockruff barked with glee. “HA! Awesome! Welcome to the team, Rockruff!” Carmen suddenly got confused. “Wait. Isn’t Lycancroc the evolution of Rockruff? Why would he run this Rockruff off?” Marcus thought for a while. “Maybe it wasn’t in its pack. It must have been in a different pack. Well, you’ll be a member of the family now, Rockruff. You really want to come with us?” Rockruff barked. “Alright. Gabby, you want Rockruff?” Gabby took Rockruff in confusion. “Why? He came to you.” Marcus chuckled. “Well, you seemed so sad since Braden left. SO, maybe a new friend will help you. I have 5 Pokemon anyway, and you only have Sylveon and Pigeotto. You need a new friend, so let him be yours.” Gabby looked down at the Rockruff, and he licked her face. She laughs and hugs the little puppy Pokemon. “Thanks. Let’s get back to the trail and lets keep going.” Suddenly, they heard another noise. It was the poachers from before, Brad and Brittany. “Lycancroc, where are you? Did you get the Rockruff?” They both saw the group, and gasped. “You? Again? Are you following us?” Marcus groans. “You again? You’re still kidnapping Pokemon? That’s really bad.” Brittany scoffed. “You cannot stop us and our business. You’re going to hand over your Pokemon, or we’ll take them, especially that Absol.” Marcus shakes his head. “No way are you touching my Absol, or our Pokemon, especially that Rockruff. Go, Greninja, Decidueye! Absol, get ready!” Marcus’ three Pokemon set up a wall of defense against the poachers. They both laughed. “Please, don’t make us laugh. Go Gyarados, Go Lycancroc!” A giant Water dragon came out of the Pokeball, with Lycancroc coming back from the woods. The giant roared at the small force. The three used their main attacks to try and injure the dragon, but nothing worked. “Gyarados, use Hydro Pump!” The Gyarados used the water move, shooting a large beam of water out of its mouth. It splashed the three Pokemon, sending them flying into their trainers arms, soaking wet. “HA, finish them off.” The Gyarados slithered closer towards the kids, but suddenly, they heard a screech. They looked up into the air and saw a Zapdos, and riding the back of the giant electric bird was the Cloaked Trainer. Next to him, it was an Alolan Raichu, which was a Raichu that was riding its tail, which was just him floating on his tail, and was Psychic and Electric. The Cloaked Trainer pointed at the Gyarados, and both his elctric Pokemon formed balls of electricity. Marcus looked all around, on the ground and on his friends. “Get out of the way, or we’ll be shocked!” They ran away and out of the water. The balls of electricity flew towards the giant water dragon, electrifying everyone that was still on the water. The poachers Pokemon faints, and the two were completely scared. The Zapdos flew down and landed on the ground. The Cloaked Trainer got off and walked to the two poachers. Raichu floated behind him. He walked up to the poachers, and he stood in front of them, arms crossed, tapping his foot. “You two have a really bad task, you know? You two should really leave, before I have to deal with you again. Clear?” The two nod their heads. The Cloaked Trainer points for them to leave. They run away in fear after getting their Pokemon. He chuckled. Raichu laughed and rolled over in the air. The three friends and the Pokemon came back and saw him. “Hey. Thanks. again.” The guy turned around. “No problem, happy to help.” “Absol, Greninja, and Decidueye went towards him, and he pets them all. “You’re welcome, too. Happy to help. Anyway, I couldn’t help but notice, but you’re Marcus, from Cinnabar Island, right?” Marcus nods. “Well, it’s nice to meet the son of the leader of the island. Well, I should be going. People and Pokemon need to be saved somewhere else.” “Wait, who are you?” “Well, I’m the Cloaked Trainer, but call me Micheal.” He climbed up on the Zapdos and it flew away, with Raichu following behind. They all watched the savior fly away. Marcus put Greninja and Decidueye in the Pokeballs, and Absol stood be him. “Well, I never thought our new friend would be a savior. Nice.”

After finding a bus station and taking a bus to Vermillion City, they made it to the bus station there. They left the bus and walked around the city. They saw many different sites, but everywhere they walked, they saw posters for the gym, mainly talking about how cool Lt. Surge is. “Wow, so much propaganda for a man who’s just a simple gym leader. No offense, but everything doesn’t have to revolve around him.” The girls nodded and they walked off. “Hey, look! It’s the gym!” They looked towards where Carmen pointed. In front of them was the gym, surrounded with electric Pokemon posters. Lightening bolts were painted on the sides. On the front, they saw a big sign. “Welcome to the Vermillion City Gym, maggots! Enter unless you want to get your behinds kicked to the curb!” Marcus scoffed. “Charming. Anyway, let’s go in.” The three entered the gym, and the inside was loud with rock music. They had to cover their ears, and Absol was getting the worst of the loud noise. Suddenly, it stopped and they heard a guy cheering. “Whoooooooo! Welcome to the Vermillion City Gym, losers! Time for the battle!” The three just looked at the leader with annoyed eyes. “What? Oh, fine. Come forward, maggots.” Marcus and Gabby stepped forward to the arena. “Whoa Whoa Whoa! One at a time, maggots. You both want to fight, that’s fine, but one at a time.” Marcus and Gabby sighed and played rock, paper, scissors to battle first. Marcus won and went first. “You first, loser? Well, let’s go. Raichu, go!” The Lt. threw the Pokeball like a baseball, and a Raichu came out. “Absol, get ready!” Absol walks into the ring. Raichu saunters into the ring. “The first match…begins! Raichu, use Thunderball!” Raichu forms a ball of electricity above him, and throws it. Absol dodges. ‘Absol, use Night Slash!” Absol charges green aura into his blade, and swings his head, sending a green energy blade flying at Raichu, who tanks it. “Use Thunderbolt!” Raichu sends high powers shocks at Asbol, which connect and shock the Pokemon. “Absol!” Absol was still getting shocked, and fainted. “Dang it! Absol, you ok?” Absol groaned in slight pain. Suddenly, more lightening struck Absol. “Hey! Stop! It’s over!” “It ain’t over until that Pokemon begs for mercy! Raichu, Thunderbolt!” Raichu sends a giant lightening strike at Absol, which connects. Abosl stops moving. “Absol!” “Ha! Use Thunderball!” Raichu sends another ball of electricity at Absol, but suddenly, Gabby gets in the way, get hit with the electric ball. She fell down with a thud, twitching. Marcus was suddenly crying when his two best friends were taken down. Carmen ran and helped gabby, who was still conscious and she got up. But Marcus went for Absol and picked him up, and Absol still wasn’t moving. “No! No! Buddy. It’s ok. You’re ok. I’m here.” Marcus held Absol. Lt. Surge was completely confused. “Hey! We fighting or what? Come on, maggots! Fight! Use something else! That Absol is weak! Use someone else that can fight my Raichu! Don’t be a pansy!” Marcus looked at the leader with anger in his eyes. ‘SHUT UP!!! Stop! You’re not a leader, you’re a murderer! You could have killed my friends! I hope you’re gym burns to the ground! You’re a horrible person!” Carmen and Gabby had to literally drag Marcus out the door. Lt. Surge was surprised by the anger. He slumped away into his office. He sat down and put his hands on his face. “I did it again, didn’t I?” Meanwhile, at the Pokemon Center, Marcus, Gabby, and Carmen waited outside the operating room. Marcus sat on a chair, staring at the floor, saying nothing. Gabby sat on the floor, holding Rockruff and Sylveon, and Carmen paced back and forth. After an hour, Lt. Surge came through the door. Marcus did nothing but look away. “Look. Kid, I’m sorry. It was my fault. I forgot that battles are meant for fun fights, not who’s the most powerful. It turned me into a real jerk. And I’m sorry. It ain’t much but….here. A couple Thunder Badges. They’re yours.” Marcus looked at them. “I didn’t care about the badges. I just wanted to have fun. If Absol survives, I’ll forgive you. But if he doesn’t, you better be ready for the whirlwind.” Surge nodded. Suddenly, Nurse Joy came out of the operating room. She smiled, and the whole room breezed with happiness. They all ran inside and Absol was completely fine. “He suffered light burns, but it was mainly a knockout, nothing serious. But I would recommend that he rest for about a week.” Marcus nods and picks up Absol. The groups walks out of the Pokemon Center, and they stop to talk. “Listen, mag….Marcus. I’m sorry. I hope you will take these badges as an apology. And Raichu is sorry too.” Raichu comes from behind to apologize, but Absol growls. Raichu runs back. “heh. Guess Absol isn’t ready for apologizing.” “I get it. It’s fine. It was our fault anyway. Anyway, good luck on the rest of the battles.” They waved goodbye and walked down the street. But suddenly, Surge got hit by a Razor Wind. “Sorry!” “That’s ok! I deserved it!”

After they left Vermillion City, the three walked with Absol in Marcus’ arms for a while until it started to get dark. “Come on, Absol! Stop being mad! You know they apologized. Don’t be so negative.” Absol just looked away from Marcus. “Heh. Oh, fine. Think what you want.” “Guys, look.” Gabby pointed at a trail. They decided to follow the trail, which lead them to a bridge. The bridge was over a large fall into a rushing river. They walked across the bridge one at a time. Marcus went first with Absol still in his arms. “Don’t struggle, Absol. We don’t want to fall.” They made it all the way to the other side. Gabby walked slowly across the bridge. She made it over even faster. Carmen walked across the bridge, but suddenly, there was a big gust of wind, which pushed her off the sides. “No! Kadrbra, grab her!” Marcus threw the Pokeball and Kadabra used his Psychic powers to grab Carmen right before she fell in the water. She rose up to the dry land, and ran into the trees. “I’m starting to not like water anymore! It almost killed me!” Marcus chuckled. “Actually, it was the wind.” “Whatever. I’m scared!” They saw a girl come to them from the trail. “Well, it’s been a while since I had some visitors. Welcome to the Hidden Village. Well, I guess The Not So Hidden Village since I had visitors before. Well, still. Welcome. Come with me, let me show you my home.” They walked with the girl after Carmen got out of the tree. They walked down the trail to a wooden cabin, where there was also a lake, and all across the area was Pokemon. “By the way, my name is Melanie. The Pokemon here are Pokemon who were abandoned. I have an Umbreon, a Pikachu, a Charmander, a Squirtle, a Bulbasaur, and plenty of Oddish and Paras. Make yourselves at home, and have fun. I recommend getting along with the other Pokemon before you get settled in.” Gabby looked at the Umbreon, and it only made her think of Braden. She started to cry. Melanie walked up to her. “Why are you so sad? This place is full of fun Pokemon.” “Sorry. It’s just….I had a….special someone who had an Umbreon, along with the other evolved forms of Eevee, and I just makes me sad. He left the group to join back up with the rescue squads. I miss him.” Melanie smiled. “I know how you feel. I had a boyfriend who was a member of the Navy. But when he was on leave, we started this whole thing I have here, but then he….passed away awhile ago, so I promised I would continue the work we promised to do.” Marcus went over to the Umbreon, who was sitting in the shade. He went over to it and pets it. “You look so much like Braden’s Umbreon. Who would abandon something as awesome as you?” Umbreon barked. Marcus sat down and leaned against the tree. Umbreon laid down on his lap. Absol started to growl. “Absol, do not be jealous. I’m doing what she said. Go make friends with some of the other Pokemon. Go on.” Absol sighed and nods. He walks away and goes over to a group of Pikachus. He lays down and starts talking to them. Marcus looked at him, noticing he was getting jealous. “Umbreon, you think you can talk to him and make him not be jealous?” Umbreon nods and walks to Absol, and strikes up a conversation. Marcus watched the two argue at first, but then they start being friends. Marcus sighed. “Thank goodness. Maybe I should let out my other Pokemon.” Marcus threw four Pokeballs into the air, releasing Decidueye, Machoke, Greninja, and Kadabra. Decidueye flew around the area to stretch his wings, Machoke flexed his muscles at the group of Pikachus, Kadabra meditated with an Abra on a small island in the middle of the lake, and Greninja joined them. Carmen went to the Squirtles with Pirmarina, and they started singing to the turtle Pokemon. Gabby just sat and watched everyone else have fun, but she sat there alone. Suddenly, a Charmander came to her. She pets his head, and he replies with a flame breath. She dodged, and laughed. Melanie watched as her visitors got along with her Pokemon. “*sigh* I really did a good job.” Suddenly, they heard the sound of a helicopter. Everyone looked towards the sound, and saw a white helicopter with two people inside. It was Brad and Brittany, the poachers. “Oh no, not them again! Everyone, get into the house!” Every single Pokemon ran straight for the house, and when they were all inside, Melanie locked the door. “You were attacked by them before?” “Yes, and they’ve been coming here at least once a week. But this is different. They were here twice a week. Why?” Marcus and Gabby looked at each other. “What?” “Well, I may or may not have beat him on a cruise, and may have stopped them from kidnapping Pokemon.” “Well, that may have been nice, but now their trying to take my Pokemon friends.” Marcus looked outside and saw them land. He knew the had to do something. He ran outside with Absol. Umbreon tried to run out, but he was caught by Melanie. “No! I know you want to help, but you were hurt last time.” Marcus and Absol ran out to the front and Marcus released all of his Pokemon. The two exited the helicopter and laughed. “Thanks for coming. Now we can take of all of your Pokemon too.” Marcus’ Pokemon prepared to fight. Suddenly, they heard someone come from behind. Umbreon escaped and jumped in front of them. Umbreon looked at Marcus. “Oh, yes. Absol, Umbreon, Let’s do a combo! Black Hole Eclipse!” Marcus did a Dark-Type dance, then pointed at the poachers. Both Umbreon and Absol formed dark purple and black energies at their mouths, then both spit the energy forward, forming a giant black hole. The poachers tried to run away with their pilot, but they all got sucked into the black hole, and it started to shrink. When it almost disappeared, the black hole exploded and spit them out and across the trees. They flew over the trees and landed in the police station. Umbreon and Absol cheered each other on. Marcus cheered for them, and everyone else came out of the cabin and ran to them. They all cheered on their names. Melanie ran up to the two Pokemon and hugged them so hard, they almost choked. “You two did so much work! I’m so proud of you.” After they cleared everything up, they started to leave. But Umbreon started to follow Marcus. “Umbreon, you want to go with Marcus?” Umbreon looked back, and nods. “Well, I hope you will be safe. We will always remember you.” Umbreon followed Marcus and his friends out. When they left, The Cloaked Trainer jumped down from the trees. “How did it go?” “You seriously didn’t come out to help? What happened to family?” he took off his mask, revealing a red haired boy. “Well, mother, I was busy.”

After they left The Hidden Village, they stopped only a half a mile away, where they stopped at a picnic area. Marcus sat down on a picnic table, where Absol sat next to him and Umbreon sat in front of him on the table. Marcus pets Umbreon on his back. “That really surprised me that you wanted to come with us. Won’t you miss Melanie, and your friends?” Umbreon nods. “Well, either way, it’s glad to have you here.” Gabby sat on the other side and sent out Rockruff. Rockruff runs around barking, completely enthusiastic. “You’re so full of energy. You should try and calm down. I know you want to have fun, but jeez! Even an Entei needs to rest!” Rockruff just jumped and barked some more. Gabby laughed again. Carmen pets her Primarina. “Well, I am glad that we met someone who would really spend her life saving Pokemon who were left behind.” “Yeah, well, she has her own job, and we have ours. We have to make it to the…..which gym is next?” Gabby checked a map. “Um….. Celadon City. Home of the Celadon Gym. Where trainers earn the Rainbow Badge. With Gym Leader Erika.” Marcus nods. “Well, let’s get ready to head out. We have a task to do. You and me need to earn our badges and face the Elite Four, and the Grand Champions!” Everyone cheered. They packed up and left the picnic area. They walked for what seemed like an hour, but soon, Umbreon noticed an entire city on a trail that was separate of the path to Celadon City. It was surrounded by walls, and it looks like it was abandoned. “Wow. I…think that’s Gringey City. I remember it was abandoned because it was so polluted. It was said to be too polluted for humans, but not Pokemon. Wow. How can we get over there without choking?” Gabby pulled three gas masks out of her bag. “Whoa, where did you get those?” “I’m a girl on the go, and you got to be ready for anything.” Marcus and Carmen shrugged and took the masks. They put them on and Gabby puts Sylveon in her Pokeball. Marcus knelt down to Umbreon and Absol. “You guys sure you don’t want to go inside Pokeballs to keep yourself safe?” Both of them looked at each other, then shook their heads. “Ok, well. Just be safe, ok?” They both nod and they all walk to the city gates. They went up to the gates, where no one could even see anybody. “Well, shoot. What do we do?” Gabby looked at the chain for a door, then had an idea. She released Rockruff. “Rockruff, can you climb the chain and try and open the gate?” Rockruff barked in agreement and ran up the chain. After a little while, the gates opened with Rockruff on the other side. He jumps in to Gabby’s arms. “Way to go! Nice job!” She puts him back in his Pokeball and they go inside the city. They looked around, and a lot of the buildings and streets were covered in purple slime. “Whoa! This place is scary, and creepy. Maybe we should go.” Suddenly, Carmen felt a hand on her shoulder. She jumped up, and hid behind Marcus. It was Officer Judy and Nurse Joy. “Why are you guys here?” “We live here. This place was once a place where people would come, and a few people helped us restore it, but we knew it wouldn’t last forever. Now, Grimers and Muks have clogged the pipes that deliver water to the hydroelectric generators. Now, the city is shut down again.” The three kids looked at each other and got in a huddle. “I think we should help. It could be the greatest thing we do, before the win the championship match.” “I agree. What do you guys think?” Absol and Umbreon agreed. “Ok. We’ll help you guys out. What do we do?” “Simple. You need to find the Grimers and Muks in the pipes, and you guys need to defeat them all.” The three friends asked where the entrance to the pipes were, and they went down the tubes. “Well, this is….sick and gross. I never want to come here again. Let’s just take care of the Grimers and Muks and get back on the road.” They walked down the pipe for what seemed like hours, but it was only five minutes, until they got to the main area where they saw an entire room full of Grimers and a giant Muk. They couldn’t believe how big it was. “Alright, let’s take them down! Absol, Umbreon, let’s go!” The two Pokemon blasted the Grimers with Hyper Beam, blasting them out of the pipes. The Muk grows even bigger. Umbreon and Absol shoot more Hyper Beams at the giant slime Pokemon, but nothing happened. It just kept coming. “Greninja, help us!” Greninja come out of his Pokeball, and blasted a Hydro Pump at the giant, sending the giant slime to go through the pipe in the ceiling, where on the surface, it rushed out of the city. After a little while, the water flowed through the floodgates and the power came back on. “Thanks a lot for helping us. Now we should really try to cover up and lock the pipes so no Pokemon can get in.” They waved goodbye and continued on the trail.

Meanwhile, back at the base of the Pokemon Rescue Teams, Braden was training with his Pokemon. Glaceon and Umbreon were watching their little Eevee under the tree, Espeon was practicing her Psychic powers near the river, making targets out of water and throwing sharp tree branches at the targets, Flareon and Vaporeon were trying to practice by clashing attacks and countering each other, and Leafeon and Jolteon were running on a track. Braden watched them practice, until he blew a whistle. “Alright, that’s enough for the day. Nice job everybody! Go have fun!” Everyone went off to have fun and take a break. Braden went and laid down on the grass. He looked up into the clouds, watching them go by. He sighed in sadness. He continued to watch, when he heard something come towards him. It was Leafeon. “Oh, hey buddy. How’re the wounds healing up? Ok?” Leafeon lays down next to him and nods. “Good.” Leafeon gives a small cry of concern. “Oh, it’s nothing. I just miss the old gang you know. I really miss Marcus, and Carmen, and Absol, and……*sigh* Gabby, but I’m fine, Leafeon, really.” Leafeon nudged his face with a face that says he’s full of it. “Ugh, fine. I really miss her, ok? Don’t rub it in. I need to stay here, and help whoever I can. This was what I used to do, and because of one fail, I quit. I won’t forget that. You trust me, right Leafeon? Leafeon?” He turned and saw Leafeon walking away. “Great job, Braden.” Suddenly, they heard an alarm go off, and Braden and his team went to the alarm. Virgil and his team were there. “We got an emergency! Some people and their Pokemon are stuck on a raging river! We have to save them! Let’s go! We need Glaceon’s and Leafeon’s there now!” Braden nods and gets Glaceon and Leafeon and gets into the rescue vehicle. On the way, Braden gives the pair of Leafeons and pairs of Glaceons some words of encouragement. “Alright, now, I know this is going to be dangerous, but we can do this! We can save these civilians and their Pokemons. Now, be prepared.” The four nod, and the vehicle stopped. They got out and they saw the two people and their Pokemon, a Salazzle and a Growlithe. The two people were holding them above the water. They were right next to a water fall. “Hold on! We’re coming to help you! Glaceons, create an ice bridge and try and get to them. Leafeons, you guys go behind them and try to get some vines to grab them!” The four nod and go to work. The Glaceons shoot ice beams out their mouths and walk across it with ease. The Leafeons use vines and try to pull them out, and they get the boy and the Salazzle out of the way. But the girl trips and the Growlithe runs onto shore. The girls slides almost over the waterfall, but Braden’s Glaceon headbutts her out of the way and Glaceon falls down the waterfall. “NO!!!!” Braden runs to Glaceon and jumps down the waterfall in a dive. Glaceon hits the water hard and Braden follows through. Braden tries to search for her, but sees nothing. Then he spots her, mouth open and not holding her breath. He grabs her and takes her up to the surface. He makes it to land, crying, and puts her down. He checks her heart, and it isn’t beating. “No. No! NO! NOO!!!!” He starts doing CPR on the poor creature, and it isn’t doing anything. But soon, she wakes up and spits out water, and almost throws up. Braden carefully hugs her. “Oh thank goodness. I thought I lost you! Oh, goodness.” He sets her down and she is woozy. She falls over onto Leafeon, who carefully pushes her off, and she falls asleep. Leafeon lays next to her and puts his paw on hers. Virgil walks up to them in feeling bad. Finally he says something. “Maybe you should go and find your friends. I think you need them more than you.”

After leaving Gringey City and helping them clear out the pipes in the city, they left and continued to the nearest bus station. They paid for the tickets and got on. “Where to, kids?” “Celadon City Gym please.” The driver tipped his cap and drove off. The three kids watched out the window of the buildings change to beautiful forests. “Wow, it’s so awesome. What do you think Absol?” Absol looked out the window and agreed. Carmen looked outside and saw the city come up. “Look! It’s Celadon City! In all it’s glory! Amazing!” They looked at the city, and it was as beautiful as Carmen describes. It was full of gardens, with plants all around the entire city. They left the bus station and made their way to the park, where they decided to spend a day taking in the city before they continue with the challenge. They walked through the park, where they saw a beautiful garden and a woman with a kimono tending it. They walked over to the woman tending the garden, and a Butterfree laid a Sun Spore all over the garden. “Nice job, Butterfree.” They walked up to her. “Hello, is this garden yours?” “Oh, hello. Yes, this is my garden. It’s beautiful, yes? Oh, where are my manners? My name is Erika, I am the leader of the Celadon City Gym. From the looks of you two, you want to have a battle, am I right?” Marcus and Gabby nod extremely fast. “Wow, you two are giddy. Well, I can arrange friendly battle, if you help me with the gardening today.” The three looked at each other and smiled. “Of course we’ll help. Absol will help to, won’t you?” Absol replied in agreement and did a flip. Erika pets him. “Such a beautiful creature, Absols are. Thank you so much for offering to help.” The three grabbed gardening tools and gloves and prepared for some fun. “Now, Marcus, take care of the vegetables, and take out any weeds, and pick some of the radishes. Carmen, start watering the plants. Gabby, I want you to tend to the flowers.” The three salute and run to their jobs. Marcus starts to pick radishes and pulls out weeds. Then he saw a plant he never saw before. “Hey Erika! I think that there’s something over here that’s not a plant.” Erika went over to the weird plant in the ground and laughed. “That’s not a weed, or a plant. That’s just Oddish. Oddish, I told you not to bury yourself in the dirt. People will mistake you for weeds.” Oddish jumped out the ground and ran away. Carmen laughed and went back to gardening. She let out a Tenticool and it sprayed out water to water the plants. But the stream caused a Weedil to fly out of the garden and scurry away. Gabby and Sylveon planted some lillies and roses, and they noticed a Bellosom dancing, making the flowers dance. “Oh, Bellosom. What are you doing here? I never saw you here at all. Were you hiding again?” Bellosom shrugged and scurried away. “You certainly have a lot of Grass-Type Pokemon here in Celadon City.” Erika laughed. “Yes, there is certainly a lot of Grass-Types around here, but they are my specialty. You have a specialty?” Marcus shakes his head. “Well, I have no special type I like to use, but my favorite is certainly Dark-Types, technically because he was my first, and he is awesome. Plus I got an Umbreon. Umbreon, introduce yourself to….Umbreon? Where are…..oh boy. Umbreon!” Umbreon was swimming in a small pond near the garden. “Oh boy. You little devil.” Everyone laughed at the Dark-Type, who blushed and jumped out. Erika stopped laughing and went to the Dark-Type and pets him. “You are such a cute little Pokemon! Anyway, thanks for helping me with all of the gardening. And as promised, I will give you a battle for the Rainbow Badge.”

The three walked with Erika to her gym, which looked like a giant greenhouse. They walked into the gym and inside, people were in uniform gardening. They noticed that many of the Pokemon were hurt, and being healed by herbs. “We here at the Celadon City Gym are also healers. We grow plants here and we heal Pokemon with the herbs we grow. A little be of ….what do you call it? Reusing. We grow plants, and we use them for multiple reasons. Whether it’s to eat, create medicine, or heal Pokemon, we use plants like they were a godsend, and technically, it is. We saved the lives of many different people and Pokemon with the herbs and plants we grow.” “Wow, you have really done a lot with something so….simple.” “Oh planting and using herbs is far from simple. We have to go through a vigorous training on how to garden properly and how to create the right medicines. It’s a lot harder than people believe. Anyway, come this way to the arena.” They walked into the arena with was in the middle of the giant garden. On the rafters, the employees and Pokemon were watching. “Well, I will tell you, even though I am a very respectful person, on the battlefield, I’m a whirlwind of fight!” Marcus and Gabby stepped forward. Absol and Sylveon stayed behind the ropes with Carmen. “Alright then. Scyther, Butterfree, Go!” She sends out the Scyther and Butterfree out from their Pokeballs. “Alright, My turn.” Gabby pulls out a Pokeball. “Rockruff, I choose you!” Rockruff come out and barks. “Greninja, Go!” Marcus throws Greninja. “The fight for the March Badges begins……now!” “Scyther, use Fury Cutter!” The Scyther’s razor arms glowed white, and the giant bug Pokemon ran at Rockruff with red eyes and slashed at the puppy Pokemon. “Rockruff, dodge it!” Rockruff jumped up high, and landed on the railing of the scaffold, where some girls pet the puppy. Erika changed to Butterfree. “Butterfree, Tackle!” Butterfree charged at the water ninja, but it simply dodged the attack. “Greninja, Water Shuriken!” Greninja formed a shrunken of water and threw it at Butterfree, who fell with a thud. Erika looked back at Scyther, who was still trying to defeat the Rockruff. “Scyther, Razor Leaf!” Sycther formed razor leaves around him, and flung them at Rockruff, who jumped again. “Time for a Z-Move!” Gabby did a Rock-Type dance, and Rockruff slammed down on a giant rock, and jumped on it. “Continental Crush!” The giant rock slammed down on Scyther, squishing the poor bug. “The winners, Marcus and Gabby!” Carmen, Absol, and Sylveon cheered. Rockruff jumped into Gabby’s arms, and Greninja bows to Marcus, who bows back. They both go back into their Pokeballs. Erika claps and goes to them. “Marcus, I thought that you didn’t have a special type.” “What?” “That Grenina was Water and Dark. You didn’t know?” Marcus laughed in embarrassment. “Well, I guess I never really checked him out on the Pokedex.” They all laughed, but Erika gave them their Rainbow Badges. “Congratulations. You two are impressive trainers. I wish you…..does anyone hear that?” They all heard the sounds of a vehicle. They all went outside and saw the rescue vehicle coming. Braden stepped out the vehicle with Virgil. Gabby completely flipped out and squealed. She ran to Braden and knocked him over and kissed him. He got up and hugged the living heck out of her. “Braden? What are you doing here?” “Virgil thinks it’s better for me and my Pokemon friends if I join you guys. Also, I think the only people that I need to protect…is right here.”

After getting everything settled around and everyone was caught up to speed, Marcus, Gabby, Carmen, and the returned Braden walk down a trail to the dock where they will take a boat to the next gym in Saffron City to face the Psychic-Type Expert gym leader, Sabrina. Gabby and Braden held hands the whole way. “So, Glaceon almost..died? That…is very harsh.” Braden looked down. “Yeah. It was extremely scary. It made me realize that my Pokemon were never rescuers. They were fighters. So, I decided to come back and earn my final badge and try to beat the champion.” Carmen noticed the docking area where their boat would be. “Hey, it’s the dock!” They ran for the dock, but there was no boat. They noticed a sign on the bulletin board. “Sorry. Had to refuel at the nearest gas station. Be back in an hour.” “Well, I guess we have some time to wait.” Marcus and his friends went inside the docking rest area. Marcus sat on the floor and feeds Umbreon and Absol. Gabby sits on a bench and Sylveon jumps up and down, wanting a Pokebean, which she gets. Carmen practices her singing with Primarina. Braden lets Glaceon and his Umbreon out to take care of Eevee, and instantly, both Umbreon stare at each other. Braden laughed. “It’s like seeing double, eh? Heh, don’t worry. I won’t get you confused. In fact…” Braden walks to his Umbreon and wraps a yellow bandana around him. “There. Now there is no way to confuse them.” Braden’s Umbreon walks back to Glaceon on his Eevee. They stayed there for a little while, and after the hour, they saw the boat come in. “Come on guys! The boats here!” They get to the deck, where the sailer drives the boat into port. He comes down to the deck, and tips his hat. “Hello there! I am Samuel, your friendly sailor today! Where to?” “4 kids to Saffron City, please.” “No problem! Come on board!” Marcus and his friends and all their Pokemon got on board the ship. Absol and both Umbreons lean out over the railing in the back. Marcus and Braden watch them while Glaceon takes care of Eevee. Gabby sat on the seats with the sailer, talking to him while Sylveon and Rockruff ran around the ship. Carmen practiced her singing with Primarina. Samuel gave her words of gratitude. “If this were a real sailor ship, the crew would be singing with you, lass!” Primarina and Carmen bow in a curtsy way. They continued for a while into the night. They prepared for bed, but the kids noticed the sailor came down too. “Wait. Shouldn’t you be sailing?” “Don’t worry. The boat’s running on auto pilot.” Marcus laid down on his bed with Absol and puts Umbreon in his Pokeball. Braden makes a small bed for his Eevee and his parents. Gabby fell right asleep with Sylveon on her stomach. And Carmen slept in her own bed. They slept for hours until around 2:00 AM, something went wrong. They heard speedboats coming towards the ship. Everyone woke up, except the Pokemon, and they ran to the back. They saw two jet skis coming towards them. It was the poachers! “Oh man. Again? It’s like every day with them.” “Well, those little buggers ain’t going to take my boat or Pokemon without a fight! Arnicuno, go!” The sailor threw the Pokeball and a giant ice bird came out and cried it’s name. “Use Freeze Beam!” Arnicuno blasted the water behind them, freezing the part of the lake, and making the poachers fly off of their jet skis and landing in the water. “Brad, I told you we should’ve gotten someone else to give us a ride!” “Shut up, Brittany! You’re the one who decided we should take water transportation when we could have flown!” “The helicopter was destroyed!” Samuel put his Arnicuno back in her Pokeball. “That takes care of that.” Everyone’s Pokemon from yesterday came back up to see what was wrong. “Its cool guys. It’s dealt with. Go back to sleep.” Absol goes up to Marcus while Sylveon, Glaceon, Umbreon, and Eevee go back to sleep with everyone else. Marcus sat on the edge with Absol. “You want to take in the night?” Absol nods. “Yeah, me too. I can’t really sleep now. How are you doing with Umbreon? You two getting along?” Absol nods. “Well, I’m glad. I know that you’re really wanting to fight more often, but you know why I let my other Pokemon fight, right?” Absol shrugs. “Well, I still want you to know that you’re my number one best friend right? In fact, you’re more than my number one best friend. You’re my family. I love you, buddy.” Absol nuzzles Marcus’ head. “Thanks, buddy. Well, the 5th gym is in the next city. And it’s all about Psychic, that’s her deal. So, not wanting to go all into the fact that it might be easy, but I think we got this. You believe we can win?” Absol nods. “Well, I’m glad that I’m here with you, buddy. Let’s get that championship, shall we?” They fist bump.

The End of Part 1