Pokemon Loud Version - Kanto Ch. 23 - The Hidden Village

-Cerulean City Pokemon Center - Room #2 (8:00 AM)-

Upon seeing the peculiar sight taking place in the other bed as he woke up that morning, Brock thought '...What in the world did I miss last night?' as his eyebrows raised in surprise - Misty embracing Lincoln tightly while the two were sound asleep. At the foot of the bed was Pikachu, who had an amused look on his face as he watched the two sleep.

"By Arceus, I really wish I had a camera on me right now. This is gold."

After staring at the odd sight for a little bit longer while trying to figure out what happened, Brock mutters "...Eleven years old and he's already got a girl sleeping in the same bed as him. Some people have all the luck..." before getting to his feet, walking over to the bed and shaking Misty's shoulder in order to wake her up.

Cracking an eye open to glare at him tiredly, the redhead mutters "...What do you want? Can't you see I'm tryin' to sleep here?"

"Just thought I'd wake you up - it's about eight right now." stated Brock before pointing at the sleeping boy still in her arms. "By the way, you've...uh, got a hold on a certain someone we both know right now. Didn't know you cared enough to share a bed with him, to be honest."

Blinking in surprise, Misty looks at what he was pointing at, only to see that she was holding a content-looking Lincoln against her as he continued sleeping, causing her cheeks to flush at the sight.

'...Well, at least I'm still clothed. Things would've been more awkward if I wasn't.' thought the redhead as she continued to stare at the sleeping boy in her arms. 'Gotta admit this actually feels kinda nice, though.'

"So uh...you gonna let go of him anytime soon? Or should I leave you two alone to enjoy each others company?" asked Brock, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. After glaring at him for a few seconds, Misty removes one of her arms from the sleeping Lincoln and promptly punches the fifteen year-old below the belt, causing him to crumple to the floor in pain. "...Okay, I deserved that one."

"Get your filthy mind out of the gutter, Brock - we did nothing of the sort." replied Misty with a glare as she completely released her hold on Lincoln and sat up. Giving him a worried look, she added "Besides, I doubt he'd be in the mood for something like 'that' after what happened to him last night."

"Something bad happened to him, I take it?" questioned Brock in a strained voice, not expecting that kind of answer.

"To put it simply, I found out about what happened between him and his family and he found out that his father and sister had a hand in doing something completely unforgivable." answered Misty, feeling her anger from the previous night starting to return.

Struggling to get back to his feet while holding his crotch, Brock asks "Was it really that bad?"

"Let's just say that it makes our family situations look tame compared to what happened to him." snarled Misty, struggling to fight down the anger burning within her. "So...what we're going to do is make a stop at Cerulean Cape in order to help him get his mind off of what happened."

Now back onto his feet, Brock comments "Cerulean Cape, huh? I can work with that." with a nod of his head. "So...uh, what did his family do to him?"

"Brock, it's not my place to tell you what happened. If you want answers, you're going to have to ask him about it. And speaking of the squirt, I better wake him up so we can get going." answered Misty before gently shaking the sleeping boy beside her. "Hey, wake up. It's morning."

Opening his eyes to glance at the redhead, Lincoln yawns and replies "...Morning. What time is it?"

"About eight. Time to get up." answered Misty, prompting the white-haired boy to sit up and stretch his limbs. "So how are you feeling? Are you going to be alright after what happened last night?"

Recalling what happened, a sullen look appeared on Lincoln's face as he answered "I'll live, Misty. Granted, it hurts knowing that something like that happened to me, but I can't let it drag me down. If I do, I can't focus on my goal of becoming the Champion of Kanto."

"That's the spirit. Don't let your sister's words get to you." replied Misty as she patted his back reassuringly. "Besides, I just realized something."

"What's that?" asked Lincoln, glancing at Misty with a questioning look.

Leaning in to whisper in "Think about this for a second - your sister couldn't get the job done on winning her championship which led to this whole mess happening in the first place. But if you were to win the championship you're aiming for...that's the best possible revenge you can get on her."

At this, a vindictive smile appears on Lincoln's face as he thought about what the redhead was saying - something like this would be some major egg on Lynn's face, especially after all the claims she made of him being bad luck. Winning the championship would completely crush any possible belief of him being unlucky beyond repair and make her look foolish at the same time.

The fact that he would win an incredibly prestigious prize on top of that would be the icing on the cake.

Giving the redhead a mock disapproving look, Lincoln says "...That's just mean. You're evil, you know that?"

"Hey, I'm just saying." replied Misty innocently with a cheeky smile on her face. "But in any case, you can't exactly get started on that by lying around in bed all morning."

"Fair enough." answered Lincoln, getting to his feet. As he started to head to the bathroom, he asks "...By the way, is Nugget Bridge along the way to Cerulean Cape?"

"Yeah. In fact, you have to go over it in order to reach Route 24." stated Brock with a nod. "After that is Route 25, which leads directly to Cerulean Cape."

"So over Nugget Bridge, through two routes and we'll be there." recited Lincoln as he stored this information in his mind for later. "How long do you think it'll take for us to reach our destination?"

After thinking it over for a bit, Misty answers "I'd say two to three days at the most - those two routes are particularly long." before giving Lincoln a questioning look. "Why're you asking about Nugget Bridge, anyway?"

"While you were hanging out with your sisters yesterday, I ended up meeting another Trainer from Pallet Town - some jerk who apparently claimed to drive around in a convertible with a bunch of girls - who challenged me to a battle that's set to take place there this morning. And even though I'm still a little...off after what happened last night, I still intend on taking him on today."

"...A Trainer from Pallet Town with a bunch of girls with him?" asked Brock before snapping his fingers in realization. "Oh, you're talking about that Gary kid, aren't you?"

Nodding, Lincoln answers "That's him. Guy's a real jerk - cocky, arrogant and a real braggart on top of that. I'm going to enjoy knocking him down a few pegs."

"Are you sure about taking this guy on, though? You did have a pretty nasty bombshell dropped on you last night. Maybe you should take it easy for right now..." stated Misty in concern, recalling what happened during the phone call the night before. "

"I'm sure, Misty. Besides, even though I'm not going to let something like that drag me down, it's still on my mind. I think putting this Gary chump in his place might help me take my focus off of what happened."

-=O=-

-Nugget Bridge (9:00 AM)-

An hour later, the three managed to reach what appeared to be a long golden-colored bridge that spanned far north of the outskirts of Cerulean City

"Well, here it is - Nugget Bridge." stated Misty before giving Lincoln a small smile. "Did you know that they used to have a challenge set up for Trainers that headed out this way some time ago?"

Giving her a curious look, Lincoln asked "They did? Really?"

"Yep. It was called the 'Nugget Bridge Challenge' - defeat five Trainers plus an additional one at the end of the bridge in order to win a prize." stated Brock with a smile. "And believe it or not, the prize was a nugget of pure gold. That's where the bridge got it's name."

"Oh man...a nugget of actual gold?" questioned Lincoln, eyes gleaming at the idea of obtaining something as valuable like that.

Nodding, Misty answers "Mm-hmm. But they don't have the challenge going on anymore as Nuggets becoming more difficult to come by nowadays." before noticing a red-colored convertible parked halfway across the bridge with a gaggle of females lounging around it. "...A car with a bunch of girls lingering around it?"

"That's gotta be Gary's car - he said he owned something like that when we met." replied Lincoln, eyebrow raised at the crimson vehicle. "I honestly thought he was just blowing hot air on that one. Looks like I was wrong."

Pointing at the girls near the car, he added "That and I recognize those girls - they were hanging out with him when we met yesterday."

"About time you showed up, loser. I was starting to think you was gonna chicken out of our battle today." stated Gary's voice from nearby, catching the trio's attention. "Never thought you'd have a couple of gym leaders travelling with you, to be honest. Then again, you probably suck bad enough as a Trainer that you need them as a handicap."

As Gary's fangirls started to titter at his insult, Misty replies "We chose to come along with him out of our own free will. And besides...at least he doesn't need a group of witless bimbos and some overly expensive hunk of junk to try and show off how great he is. Almost makes me think that you're trying to overcompensate for your own skill as a Trainer...or maybe for what's between your legs."

While Lincoln, Brock and Pikachu winced at the sick burn Misty had just delivered, Gary snarls "How dare you!? I am not overcompensating for either of those things!" as he quickly takes one of his Pokeballs off of his belt in anger. "And I'll prove my point by crushing that loser in a battle right now! I won't even need to put any effort into beating him!"

"Lincoln, I can see why you want to face off against this jackass now. Go for it."

"Will do, Misty." answered Lincoln as he stepped forward. Glaring at Gary, he adds "You better hope you can back up all that tough talk you were saying earlier."

"I'm more than capable of backing it up. In fact..." stated Gary confidently before reaching into his pocket and removing what looked like a baseball-sized orb made of gold from it. "...I'm confident enough in my chances of victory that if by some miniscule chance you manage to beat me, I'll even give you this as a prize - this place is called the Nugget Bridge after all, so a Nugget would be an appropriate prize if you manage to win our battle."

Scoffing as he puts the Nugget back into his pocket, he adds "Like that'll happen, though. You don't stand a chance against me."

"...So I get to knock you down a few pegs and win some gold on top of that? Count me in."

"Alright then, we've got ourselves a battle!" replied Gary as he enlarged the Pokeball in his hand. Giving his fangirls a smirk, he adds "This won't take long, ladies - sit back and enjoy the show."

In response, the numerous girls giggled again before taking a seat on Gary's car, intent on watching the brunette win the battle.

"You can do this, Lincoln. We're rooting for you." said Misty reassuringly as she stepped aside while Brock moved to the side of the soon-to-be battlefield in order to referee the battle.

In response, Lincoln gave her a thumbs-up before turning his attention back to Gary. As he took a Pokeball off of his belt and enlarged it, he asked "Two apiece with no switching out sound good to you?"

"That's fine by me. You're still going to lose, though." answered Gary before throwing the Pokeball in his hand. "Come on out, Abra!"

Throwing his own Pokeball, Lincoln shouts "Go, Pidgeotto!"

-=O=-

While Pidgeotto took form in front of Lincoln, ready for battle, a yellow bipedal pokemon with triangular ears, a small pointed snout, closed eyes and brown armor-like segments on its body appeared in a sitting position in front of Gary.

'What in the world is that thing?' thought Lincoln as he took out his Pokedex and pointed it at the unknown Pokemon.

'Abra, the Psi Pokemon. Abra needs to sleep for eighteen hours a day. If it doesn't, this Pokémon loses its ability to use telekinetic powers. If it is attacked, Abra escapes using Teleport while it is still sleeping.'

'Telekinesis, huh? So that means this thing's gotta be a Psychic-Type...' thought Lincoln as he eyed the yellow-colored Pokemon warily - of all of the different Types he had read about for the exam, the Psychic-Type was the one that concerned him the most.

After all, who wouldn't be worried about Pokemon that were able to read your thoughts?

"How do you like my Abra, loser? I just caught it this morning while I waited for your sorry butt to get here. The species isn't an easy one to catch, but as you can see, I managed to pull it off. Not only that, but I made sure that this one was definitely the smartest one I could find." with a cocky smirk on his face.

Raising his arm, Brock proclaims "This battle is between Lincoln Loud of Royal Woods, Michigan and Gary Oak of Pallet Town! Each Trainer are permitted two Pokemon apiece with no substitutions! Begin!"

Pointing at the Bird Pokemon, Gary orders "Abra, attack that Pidgeotto now!", only for Abra to shake its head, much to the surprise of everyone there. "What? Why not? I'm your Trainer!"

"...Yeah, there's a little problem with that. I can't use a Psychic-Type attack yet." spoke Abra telepathically, causing Gary's eyes to widen in disbelief.

"You've got to be kidding me! What can you do then!?"

"Well...I can Teleport. That's about it, really."

Scoffing, Pidgeotto comments "So that's all you're going to do - warp around the area like an asshole?" before giving Abra a mocking smirk. "So much for your Trainer boasting about you being a 'smart' Abra, huh? This is gonna be a piece of cake."

"Hey, I'll have you know that I'm much more intelligent than the rest of my simple-minded brethren living on this route!" retorted the Psychic-Type, offended by the Flying-Type's insult.

"Yeah, but brains aren't gonna help you avoid an ass-kicking courtesy of yours truly. Now hold still and I'll make this quick." countered Pidgeotto before giving Lincoln a glance. "Ready to take this thing down whenever you are!"

"Then let's not keep you waiting then - use Twister!" said Lincoln as he pointed at Abra, prompting Pidgeotto to take to the air before flapping her wings, creating a small tornado with them. Once it was fully formed, she launched it at Abra.

Acting quickly, the Psychic-Type uses Teleport to move out of the way, causing the Dragon-Type attack to smash into Gary's car, knocking it back several inches and startling the girls sitting on it.

"Hey, watch it! That car is worth more than you and that loser you call your Trainer combined!" barked Gary irritably as he glared at the Bird Pokemon in anger.

"Well, tell that Abra of yours to hold still! I wouldn't have hit that eyesore if that sleeping sack of shit didn't move out of the way!" snapped Pidgeotto before turning her attention back to Abra. "As for you, I don't intend on missing next time. Gimme another command, Lincoln."

"On it. Use Steel Wing!"

In response, Pidgeotto flies towards Abra with her wings glowing with a metallic-looking sheen. As she got close enough to strike, Abra teleported once again, causing her to once again strike Gary's convertible, leaving a scratch on its side.

"Damn it, I told you not to attack my car!"

Ignoring the brunette for the time being, the Flying-Type started using some of her other attacks in an attempt to hit Abra with at least one of them, only for the Psi Pokemon to evade each one with Teleport.

Six of them had managed to hit Gary's car, damaging it further.

While Gary started to yell at her again for damaging his car, Pidgeotto, starting to grow annoyed with the Psychic-Type dodging her attacks, asks "Lincoln, this thing's starting to piss me off. Any ideas on how I can kick it's ass?"

"I'll try to find something. Until then, don't let up on that thing at all." answered Lincoln, receiving a nod from Pidgeotto before she flew towards Abra, intent on knocking it out. '...There's gotta be a way to counteract Teleport, but how? That Abra can't be using it forever, right?'

As if reading his Trainer's thoughts, Pikachu says "I'm not sure, but I think there's a limitation on how many times a move can be used per day."

'There's a limitation on how many times a move can be used? I didn't know that...' thought Lincoln before an idea started to from in his head. 'And if that Abra is only able to use Teleport...it'll be completely helpless if we can make it reach that limitation on how many times it can use it."

Quickly taking out his Pokedex, he asks "Pokedex, quick question - what's the daily limitation on the move Teleport?"

'Searching for information regarding your query - one moment please.' said the Pokedex before it started searching through its databases for the answer to Lincoln's question. A few seconds later, it added 'Search complete. The move Teleport can only be used a total of twenty times per day.'

"And that Abra's been spamming that move all throughout the battle...perfect." said Lincoln before turning his attention back to Pidgeotto. "I've got a plan on how to deal with our yellow-colored friend over there."

Giving her Trainer an expectant look, Pidgeotto asks "Well, don't leave me outta the loop here - what is it?"

Pointing at Abra, who was looking incredibly fatigued, Lincoln asks "Before I tell you, I have to ask - did you keep count on how many times Abra used Teleport?"

"No. Why would I keep track on something like that? I was trying to kick its ass, not trying to learn how to count!" replied Pidgeotto irritably.

"I know that what I'm asking sounds stupid, but trust me on this, okay?"

"...I'd say around fifteen times or so. Maybe more. But what does this have to do with smacking the shit out of it?"

"Take a look at it for yourself and you'll see what I'm talking about." replied Lincoln with a grin, causing Pidgeotto to turn her attention back to the tired Psychic-Type.

"Huh...that thing looks worn out. Almost as if..." started Pidgeotto before her eyes widened slightly in realization. "...It reached the limit on how many times it can use Teleport, didn't it?"

"That's right. And you know what that means, don't you?"

"It's completely open to attack with no way to counter at all." answered the Flying-Type before a vindictive gleam appeared in her eyes. "Oh, this is gonna be good..."

"Then let's not delay this fight any longer - use Quick Attack!" ordered Lincoln, pointing at Abra.

"On it!" replied Pidgeotto before flying towards the helpless Psi Pokemon at high speed and slamming into it with incredible force, sending it skidding across the surface of the bridge before crashing facefirst into Gary's car, leaving a small dent where it landed.

"Damn it, not again!"

"...Why did my Trainer have to send me out to battle today...?" groaned Abra before losing consciousness.

After checking on Abra and seeing that it was unable to continue, Brock says "Abra is unable to battle! The first round goes to Lincoln Loud and his Pidgeotto!"

Recalling his defeated Pokemon with a scowl while his fangirls started expressing their dismay, Gary mutters "...You were just lucky that my Abra didn't know any good Psychic-Type moves. If it did, that Pidgeotto of yours would've been reduced to mincemeat." before walking over to see the damages done to his car.

Pointing at the scratches and dents, he shouts "Look at what your overgrown bird did to my car! Do you know how much I spent on this? Do you?"

"To be honest, I really don't care." replied Lincoln dismissively as Pidgeotto perched on his shoulder. Stroking the Bird Pokemon's chest, he adds "Nice work taking down that Abra, Pidgeotto. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks...ooh, that's good. A little more to the left, please..."

"You're gonna pay for the repairs after this is over. I'm gonna make sure of it." sneered Gary as he took another Pokeball off of his belt.

As he continued to stroke Pidgeotto's chest, Lincoln says "Then let's consider it my wager for our battle - you win and I'll pay for the damages. I win and you're just outta luck on that.", catching Gary's interest with his comment.

After a few seconds, a smug smirk appeared on the brunette's face as he replied "Deal! It'll be more satisfying to beat you, then have you pay for the damages to my car. And it's going to cost a lot to pay for what that bird of yours managed to do to it." before throwing the Pokeball he was holding into the air. "Time for you to face the ace of my team - come on out, Wartortle!"

(AN: The battle against Abra is a reference to Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen - when the player faces off against Blue in Cerulean City, he uses an Abra that he calls 'smart'. As you can guess, it can only use Teleport and nothing else.)

-=O=-

Upon seeing a blue-colored turtle-like Pokemon with a pair of furry ears and a long fur-covered tail that were a lighter shade of blue take form in front of Gary, Lincoln eyes it curiously before pointing his Pokedex at it.

'Wartortle, the Turtle Pokemon. The evolved form of Squirtle, its tail is large and covered with a rich, thick fur. The tail becomes increasingly deeper in color as Wartortle ages. The scratches on its shell are evidence of this Pokémon's toughness as a battler.'

'So this is Squirtle's evolved form...' thought Lincoln cautiously as he had a strong feeling that Wartortle was going to be a lot more difficult to take down. Still, he had to try nonetheless - there was no way he was going to have enough to pay for the damages that his Pidgeotto had accidentally dealt to Gary's car.

Giving the Bird Pokemon on his shoulder a glance, he asks "Think you can take that turtle down?"

"No sweat! Just watch - I'll make turtle soup out of it!" chirped Pidgeotto before flying off of his shoulder and taking her place in front of Lincoln, ready for battle.

"Alright Wartortle, let's show that bird why you're the ace of my team - use Water Gun!" ordered Gary, causing Wartortle to take a deep breath before spraying a jet of water at Pidgeotto from its mouth.

Pointing at the Water-Type, Lincoln commands "Dodge it and use Quick Attack!"

After banking around the jet of water, Pidgeotto speeds towards Wartortle and tackles it with her body, causing it to skid back a few inches before coming to a stop with a smirk on its face.

"Not bad. Looks like your Trainer isn't a complete loser after all."

"Of course he's not - he's got me, the best Flying-Type around, on his team." replied Pidgeotto confidently.

Crossing its arms, the Wartortle commented "If you're the best one around, then I guess I really overestimated how useful your Type is. That and it doesn't change the fact your Trainer is still a loser." in a taunting, condenscending manner, causing the Bird Pokemon's temper to flare up slightly.

"I'm gonna make you eat those words, turtle."

"Pidgeotto, Steel Wing!" ordered Lincoln, with the Flying-Type diving towards Wartortle, preparing to strike the Turtle Pokemon with the Steel-Type attack.

Smirking, Gary says "Wartortle, Withdraw!", causing Wartortle to retreat into its shell just as the attack hit, causing it to bounce harmlessly off of the shell's surface. "Now use Rapid Spin!"

Still inside of the shell, Wartortle starts spinning wildly before barrelling towards Pidgeotto, smashing into her body and sending her crashing onto the bridge. However, the Flying-Type didn't stay down long as she had once again taken to the air.

Pointing at the Water-Type as it was coming in to land on the bridge, Lincoln orders "If close-range won't cut it, then we'll go with long range - use Twister!"

"You got it - one Twister coming right up!" replied Pidgeotto before flapping her wings and launching a tornado at where Wartortle's shell was going to land, hitting it successfully with the Dragon-Type move and sending it skidding across the bridge.

Upon coming to a stop on its back, the Water-Type started wiggling around, trying to regain its footing.

"Hey, that's not fair! I can't fight anyone like this!"

"Sucks for you, shell-boy - you're wide open now!" exclaimed Pidgeotto before swooping towards the Water-Type, intent on taking advantage of its helpless state. "Eat this! Quick Attack!"

As the Bird Pokemon got closer however, a smirk appeared on both Gary and Wartortle's face - something that Lincoln immediately noticed.

"Wartortle, we're gonna put our new tactic to use - use Withdraw, then Rapid Spin and Water Gun at the same time!" ordered Gary confidently.

In response, Wartortle retreated into its shell before using Rapid Spin, causing its shell to start spinning on the bridge like a top. A few seconds later, multiple bursts of water sprayed out of the holes in the shell with the force of the jets causing it to flip over rightside-up.

However, the Water-Type didn't let up what it was doing at all and continued to use the two moves in tandem, soaring towards the surprised Pidgeotto and smashing into her hard, sending her crashing onto the bridge.

Upon landing, swirls appeared in the Bird Pokemon's eyes, signalling that she wasn't going to be able to continue the fight.

While Lincoln ran over to check on his fallen Pokemon, Brock says "Pidgeotto is unable to battle! The second round goes to Gary Oak and his Wartortle!"

Carefully picking up the defeated Flying-Type, Lincoln asks "Are you alright, Pidgeotto?"

Weakly opening one of her eyes to look at him, the Bird Pokemon replied "...I'll live. Guess I finally...faced my first loss after all, huh...?"

'At least she's willing to accept the idea she lost unlike a certain someone back home...' thought Lincoln before giving Pidgeotto a small smile. "I guess so. But that just means that we'll have to work on making you stronger so that you never lose again, right?"

"You're damn right. Just... make sure to avenge my loss, okay...?"

"Will do, Pidgeotto. Get some rest." answered Lincoln before recalling Pidgeotto back into her Pokeball. Turning his attention back to Gary, he asks "That was a combination attack your Wartortle used, wasn't it?"

"That's right. And believe it or not, it's because of your battle against the Cerulean City Gym Leader that I came up with it in the first place." replied Gary, crossing his arms with a smirk. "It's the perfect technique for my Wartortle - a combination of three of his best moves and a great way to help him regain his footing if he ever gets knocked on his back. Pretty smart, huh?"

While Gary's fangirls were cheering and congratulating him on winning the round, Lincoln glanced at the brunette with a look of grudging respect.

'Even though he's a complete braggart, I gotta say that Gary really knows what he's doing. Then again, this is Professor Oak's grandson I'm talking about here.' thought Lincoln as he placed Pidgeotto's Pokeball back onto his belt and took off another one in its place. 'But for both the sake of my pride as a Trainer...and my bank account, I literally can't afford to lose to him here!'

-=O=-

"Looks like we're tied one-to-one, loser. This final round will decide everything." said Gary as both he and Wartortle crossed their arms with smirks on their faces. "Unless you decide to give up now. I won't hold it against you if you do."

"Not happening. I'm going to win this battle and that Nugget you've got in your pocket."

"We'll see about that, loser. Send out your next Pokemon already - the sooner you pay for the damages to my car, the better."

Glancing at the Pokeball in his hand, Lincoln thought 'Here's hoping you can win this one for me, buddy.' before tossing it into the air. "Come on out, Clefable!"

After Clefable finishes taking form in front of Lincoln, Gary comments "...A Clefable, huh? And here I was thinking you were blowing hot air about actually having one of those." as he gave the Fairy-Type an appraising look. "Well, rare Pokemon or not, it's not going to be strong enough to defeat my Wartortle. It doesn't even look like it knows any useful moves."

Trying to fight down the anger he felt at the insult, Lincoln thought 'Speaking of which, I never got the chance to see what it knows.' before taking out his Pokedex and pointing it at the Fairy Pokemon.

'Pokedex data on Clefable has already been collected. Would you like to review this data?'

"No, that won't be necessary. I'd like to know what moves my Clefable knows, please."

'Understood. One moment, please.' replied the Pokedex before gathering the information Lincoln asked for. 'This male Clefable is Level 17 and knows the moves Metronome, Double Slap, Minimize, Follow Me and Disarming Voice.'

'That's not much to work with attack-wise. I better hope I get lucky with Metronome should I end up using it during the battle...' thought Lincoln, grimacing slightly as he put the Pokedex away.

"Hello again, Friend Lincoln. It's nice to see you again." greeted Clefable with a smile upon seeing the white-haired boy. Upon seeing Gary and Wartortle nearby, he asks "Are those two friends of yours as well?"

"Not exactly. In any case, we're having a battle right now - think you can take that Wartortle on?"

"I can try. I'm not very good at battling, but I'll give it my best shot."

"That's good enough for me. Let's do our best to try and win this." replied Lincoln with a nod before pointing at Wartortle. "Let's start things off with Disarming Voice!"

Opening his mouth, Clefable lets out a loud melodic-sounding cry that creates a distortion near Wartortle's body. A few seconds later, the Water-Type is blasted with pink-colored energy, knocking him back several inches and causing an uncomfortable look to appear on the blue-colored Pokemon's face.

"Ugh...I don't know what in Arceus' name just hit me, but I don't like it."

"What in the world was that?! There's no way something like that can be legal..." exclaimed Gary before taking out his own Pokedex. With a sneer, he asks "Pokedex, gimme the scoop on the move Disarming Voice, will ya?"

'Disarming Voice, a Fairy-Type Special-based attack. The user lets out a charming cry that deals emotional damage to all adjacent foes. This attack will never miss.'

While Gary started grumbling as he put the Pokedex away, Lincoln thought 'So Disarming Voice can hit multiple targets in battle, huh? Nice. Should be useful if I ever run into Team Rocket again.'

"So your Clefable's got a never-miss attack - big deal. You're still gonna lose." said Gary before pointing at the Fairy-Type. "Wartortle, Tackle!"

"Double Slap, Clefable!" shouted Lincoln in return, causing the two Pokemon to charge at each other, intent on landing their respective blow first. Upon reaching each other, the two struck at the same time with Wartortle slamming into Clefable's stomach with his shell while Clefable slapped Wartortle twice hard across the face, leaving several cherry-red welts behind.

"I never thought that battling would hurt this much..." mumbled Clefable with a wince as he clutched his stomach for a few seconds before glaring at Wartortle, intent on continuing the battle. "But Friend Lincoln is counting on me to win and I won't let him down."

Holding his head, Wartortle groaned "My head's killing me...that Clefable is more trouble than it's worth..."

Deciding to try and end the battle before it can continue any longer, Gary orders "Wartortle, let's use our new technique again!"

Obeying the command, Wartortle retreats back into his shell before using Water Gun and Rapid Spin at the same time in an attempt to reuse the same combination attack that KO'ed Pidgeotto earlier.

Now aware of what kind of damage Wartortle could do, Lincoln shouts "Clefable, Metronome!", hoping that the Fairy Pokemon would be able to stop the Water-Type's oncoming attack.

"Metronome? You're relying on a novelty move like that to see you through? What a joke!" mocked Gary as Clefable started to waggle his fingers. "Wartortle, finish that fairy off once and for all!"

"You got it, boss! Say goodnight, fairy boy!" replied the Turtle Pokemon within his shell before speeding towards Clefable, intent on taking him down in a single blow.

As Wartortle got closer and closer, Clefable finally stopped waggling his fingers before his eyes starts glowing with Metronome's power. Seconds later, the sun starts shining brightly as a brilliant white light engulfs the Fairy-Type's body.

As the white glow grew gradually brighter, Gary asked "...Sunny Day?" in a questioning tone before noticing that the Fairy-Type looked to be absorbing energy from the sun, making his body glow brighter. "No...this is something else..."

Suddenly, his eyes widened in both realization and horror as one possibility came to mind.

"Solarbeam!? You got lucky enough to get that of all moves!?"

"I don't know what that move is, but it looks like my Clefable's all charged up and ready to go." said Lincoln before giving the Fairy Pokemon a thumbs-up. "Open fire!"

In response, Clefable glares at the charging Wartortle before firing a large beam of yellow-colored energy from his mouth. With the force of a freight train, the beam collides with Wartortle's shell, sending him into the air. A few seconds later, he came crashing down onto the windshield of Gary's car, completely unconscious.

As he and Lincoln winced at the Turtle Pokemon's landing, Clefable comments "Oh dear...I hope I didn't hurt him too badly..."

While Gary ran over to go check on both Wartortle and his car, Brock announced "Wartortle is unable to continue! The winner of the final round and the battle is Lincoln Loud and his Clefable!"

Hopping over to his Trainer, Clefable asked "How was that, Friend Lincoln? Did I do okay?"

"You did great, Clefable! Thank you!" replied Lincoln before giving him a hug, causing the Fairy-Type to let out a coo of delight at the pleasant feeling.

While this was going on, Gary's fangirls were staring at the white-haired boy in disbelief, unable to bring themselves to say anything - they never expected him to lose a battle like this!

The brunette himself looked equally as dismayed, unable to believe that he had lost a battle himself. His dismay only increased when he realized that Lincoln, in agreement to the wager they had made during the battle, would not be paying for the damages to his car.

Narrowing his eyes at Lincoln, who had recalled Clefable back into his Pokeball, Gary says "...The only reason you won was because that Pidgeotto of yours weakened Wartortle earlier and that luck was on your side when it came to using Metronome."

"Doesn't change the fact that I won." replied Lincoln, eyebrow raised. "Now then, my prize?"

"Here you go, loser. Maybe you can actually buy some talent with the money you'll get from it instead of getting lucky with your win next time." scoffed Gary as he took the Nugget out of his pocket and threw it over before stalking back over to his car to fume over his loss. "C'mon girls, let's get outta here."

As Gary and his entourage drove away, Misty grumbled "Man, what a sore loser." before turning her attention to Lincoln, who was watching the car drive away. "Nice work on putting that jerkoff in his place. And you certainly seem to be in a better mood now, on top of that."

"Thanks, Misty. And yeah, I do feel better now." answered Lincoln before leaning in and whispering "Gary's attitude kinda reminded me of my sister Lynn - brash, cocky, confident in his skills, quick to blame luck as the reason he lost and above all else, a sore loser. So in a way, it felt like defeating her in a battle."

The smile faded slightly as he added "He did have a point about me getting lucky with Metronome, though. I'll have to see about having Clefable learn some more moves in the near future to remedy his lack of offensive attacks. That way, whenever I battle and defeat Gary again, he can't say that luck played a part in my victory next time." before turning his attention to the other end of the bridge. "In any case, now that we've got that out of the way, we should get going."

As Lincoln, Misty and Brock continued on their way across the Nugget Bridge, they were unaware that they were being watched from the skies...

-=O=-

-In The Skies Above Nugget Bridge (9:25 AM)-

"Looks like the brat's gotten a lot stronger during our absence." commented Jessie as she watched the three through her binoculars.

Giving her a glance, Meowth replied "I'm more surprised about da fact dat he's got a Clefable with 'im. Somethin' as rare as dat's gotta be worth a bundle."

"We'll see about stealing it from him when we meet him again. For now, let's just focus on observing our target in order to see where he's going next."

With a pair of binoculars of his own, James remarks "Well...considering that they're leaving Cerulean City, one would assume that they would be heading to Vermilion City next."

"Well, if dat's da case, dey're goin' the wrong way." replied Meowth before he took out a map of the Kanto region from a nearby bag. Pointing at where Vermilion City was on to the map, he adds "See what I mean? If dey want ta head ta Vermilion City, dey should've gone east instead of north."

Taking the map, Jessie says "Looks like they're heading to Route 24 instead, but why? There's nothing of interest over there."

"Maybe they want to visit the Cerulean Cape near Route 25?" suggested James, pointing at another spot on the map.

"It's possible, though we can't make any assumptions just yet. For now, let's keep following them and see what they're planning first before we do anything."

"Yes ma'am!" replied James and Meowth in unison as they gave the redhead a salute.

-=O=-

-Somewhere On Route 24 (12:00 PM)-

In the middle of a glade next to a small freshwater pond, Lincoln, his companions and their Pokemon were sitting together, enjoying lunch while taking a break from travelling through Route 24.

"I have to hand it to you, Brock - you're one heck of a cook." complimented Lincoln with a wide smile on his face as he put down an empty bowl with a satisfied sigh. "That stew was far better than anything I've eaten back home by a long shot."

"Glad you liked it - it's one of my own personal recipes." replied Brock, pleased that the white-haired boy liked his cooking.

After finishing up her own bowl of stew, Pidgeotto flew over to Lincoln's side and asked "Got a question for you - when are you gonna give me a name to go by, huh? Bein' called by my species' name is nice and all, but I'd like to actually have a name to call my own."

Eyebrow raised as he glanced at the Flying-Type, Lincoln replied "A name? You want me to give you a name?"

"Yeah! I want something badass-sounding - the kind of name that makes my opponents shit themselves upon hearing it."

Giving his Trainer an hopeful look, Clefable says "You know, I like the idea of having a name, now that you mention it. Can you come up with one for me, too?"

Seconds later, the rest of Lincoln's on-hand team save for Pikachu start clamoring for him to give them names of thair own as well.

"Alright, alright! I'll come up with names for you! Just...gimme a few minutes, okay?" said Lincoln quickly, prompting the five Pokemon to calm down. After taking a few minutes to think about good names to use, he adds "Alright, I think I've got something. Let's start with Zubat first."

"Lay it on me, boss. What do you have for me?"

"I'm going to be naming you 'Bruce' - back home, there's a comic book about a superhero called Batman. When he's not fighting crime, he goes by the alias 'Bruce Wayne'."

After mulling over Lincoln's decision for a second, the newly named Bruce answers "So I'm named after the alias of a bat-themed superhero, huh? I can work with that. Bruce it is."

"Glad you like it." replied Lincoln with a smile before turning his attention to Sandshrew next. "You'll be going by the name 'Andrea' from now on."

"Andrea? It's a nice name and all, but...why that?" asked the Ground-Type, tilting her head curiously.

"You're named after the San Andreas fault, which is something in the United States that is known for causing earthquakes. And considering that you know a move that can do something similar..."

"Oh...now I see why you gave me that name. I'll accept it."

"Alright, now it's my turn! Whaddya got for me, huh? Is it something badass-sounding?" asked Pidgeotto, leaning her head close to Lincoln's face.

"Well, taking your gender into consideration and the fact you're a Flying-Type, I was thinking that the name 'Skyera' would work. What do you think?" replied Lincoln, causing the Bird Pokemon to think over her new name for a few seconds.

"...Eh. Not as cool-sounding as the name I had in mind, but I'll make it work somehow. Thanks." answered the newly-named Skyera gratefully.

"What was the name you had in mind for yourself?" inquired Pikachu, wondering what kind of name she had come up with.

"Ass-Kicker 3000. What do you think? Do you like it?"

"...A name like that would make you sound like a robot or something. Skyera's a better fit for you."

"Ooh, what about me? Do you have one for me, Friend Lincoln?" asked Clefable eagerly.

"I do, actually. How does the name 'Astro' sound to you?"

"That's a nice name. Is there a story behind it?"

"There is. Back home in the States, there are men and women called astronauts who were able to go into space and explore the moon in person. Pretty cool, huh?"

Eyes wide in amazement, the Fairy-Type replied "Humans actually managed to land on the moon? That's amazing!"

"It is. So what do you think? Do you like your new name?" asked Lincoln, receiving an eager nod in return.

"I'll accept it with pride, Friend Lincoln. Thank you."

"Guess I'm the last one left among us here." stated Beedrill before giving his Trainer a curious glance. "So do you have a name for me?"

"I might have one you'll like. It's..." started Lincoln before something nearby caught his attention. Pointing at it, he asks "...What in the world is that thing?"

"What kind of name is that?" asked Beedrill indignantly, only to see what Lincoln was pointing at - a round blue-colored Pokemon with short stubby legs, rounded feet and several leaves on its head that was drinking from the nearby pond happily. "Oh, you were talking about that Oddish. My bad."

"Oddish, huh? Let's see here..." muttered Lincoln as he took out his Pokedex and pointed it at the blue-colored Pokemon.

'Oddish, the Weed Pokemon. During the daytime, Oddish buries itself in soil to absorb nutrients from the ground using its entire body. The more fertile the soil, the glossier its leaves become. This female Oddish is Level 9 and knows the moves Absorb, Growth, Sweet Scent and Acid.'

"A Grass-Type Pokemon...I don't have one of those yet." said Lincoln before a smirk appeared his face. "I'm gonna catch it."

"No way! I'm gonna catch it!" exclaimed Misty, removing a Pokeball from her belt. "Besides, that thing's near the water and water is my specialty."

Glaring at the redhead, Lincoln retorts "What kind of stupid excuse is that? Besides, it's not even a Water-Type Pokemon, for crying out loud!"

"I don't care! I'm going to catch it and that's that! Besides, haven't you heard of the saying 'ladies first'?" snaps Misty irritably.

After glaring at her for a few more seconds, Lincoln rolls his eyes and grumbles "...Fine. Go ahead and catch it. But if you fail, I get the next crack at it. Got it?"

"You won't need to worry about that because I'm going to catch it on the first go." replied Misty as she enlarged the Pokeball in her hand and threw it. "Come on out, Goldeen!"

The Pokeball opens up, releasing a burst of light that quickly took form a few seconds later. When the light cleared away, there was a Pokemon that bore a close resemblance to a goldfish with a horn on its on its forehead flopping about on the ground.

"Goldeen, Water Pulse! Take that Oddish down!" commanded Misty, causing the fish-like Pokemon to form a Water Pulse attack near its mouth before firing it at the unsuspecting Oddish, knocking it into the pond.

While the Weed Pokemon started trying to get out of the water, Misty orders "Now jump into the water and hit it with a Horn Attack!", prompting Goldeen to jump into the pond before swimming towards Oddish, horn poised to strike.

Before Goldeen could attack Oddish however, a pair of thick vines shot out of a nearby bush before grabbing the white and orange-colored Pokemon and forcefully pulling it out of the pond. Seconds later, the source of the vines steps out into the open, revealing itself to be a Bulbasaur.

Eyes lighting up in interest, Lincoln says "Oh wow, a Bulbasaur!" before taking out his Pokedex and pointing it at the Grass-Type.

'Bulbasaur, the Seed Pokemon. Bulbasaur can be seen napping in bright sunlight. There is a seed on its back. By soaking up the sun's rays, the seed grows progressively larger. This male Bulbasaur is Level 15 and knows the moves Vine Whip, Poison Powder, Sleep Powder, Razor Leaf and Take Down.'

With the fish-like Pokemon still restrained by his vines, Bulbasaur uses them to slam Goldeen repeatedly onto the ground, causing it to let out shrill cries of pain. After a few more slams, the Bulb Pokemon lets the clearly unconscious Goldeen go.

Picking up the defeated Goldeen in her arms, Misty mumbled "Goldeen..." before glaring at Bulbasaur, who stood in front of Oddish protectively. "Who do you think you are, stepping in and knocking out my Goldeen like that!? You've got some nerve!"

"You're the one with nerve around here, human! This forest is meant for Pokemon to heal up from their injuries without fear of being attacked and I will not have you or your friends disrupting that! Leave this place at once or else!"

His warning delivered, Bulbasaur retreats back into the bushes with Oddish following right behind him a few seconds later.

-=O=-

"Stupid Bulbasaur getting in the way..." grumbled Misty under her breath as she recalled Goldeen back into its Pokeball. "If it hadn't interfered, I would've had a cute little Oddish on my team..."

While Misty continued to mutter and grumble about Bulbasaur's interference, Lincoln asks "Hey Brock, any explanation on why a wild Bulbasaur would be here? I thought that you could only get one of those from Professor Oak."

"Some starter Pokemon can be found in the wild, but they're exceedingly rare and hard to find." replied Brock thoughtfully. "If I had to take a guess about that particular Bulbasaur...it's former Trainer probably abandoned it here."

"There are some Trainers out there who would willingly abandon their Pokemon?" asked Lincoln, horrified.

"Yes and they usually don't feel any guilt about doing it either. If training a certain Pokemon doesn't work out the way they want it to, they'll easily ditch it without a second thought." answered Brock, crossing his arms with a frown on his face.

"That's terrible...I would actually try to work through the problem instead of doing something awful like that..."

Walking over and sitting down beside the white-haired boy, Misty says "That's one of the bitter truths we face as Trainers, Lincoln - for every good Trainer like you, me or Brock, there are going to be bad ones who would do horrible things like that without hesitation."

Giving the white-haired boy a knowing glance, she adds "I've even heard of some Trainers that blamed their losses on their Pokemon before abandoning them."

At this, a cold look appears on Lincoln's face as he says "...I'm never going to allow myself to become that kind of Trainer. Never." with Pikachu and Misty nodding in understanding while Brock looked on in confusion.

"Is there something I'm missing here? Does this have to do with that thing Misty told me earlier this morning?"

Giving the redhead an irritated look, Lincoln asks "You told him?"

"Of course not! I merely mentioned that something happened between you and your family last night and we were going to Cerulean Cape to help you unwind. That's all." replied Misty, crossing her arms. "Besides, I told Brock that if he wanted answers about what happened, he should ask you himself."

Nodding in confirmation, Brock says "It's true. So...uh, since we're on the subject and everything..."

"...What do you think, Misty? Should I tell him?"

"I would. Brock, despite the fact he goes ga-ga over any pretty girl he meets, is a trustworthy person."

"Well...alright, if you say so." replied Lincoln after taking Misty's suggestion into consideration. Turning to face Brock, he says "You may want to sit down for this, Brock - it's a long story..."

-=O=-

Once Lincoln (with Misty and Pikachu chipping in every now and then) had finished his explanation twenty minutes later, the area had been rendered completely speechless, though the looks the others wore on their faces said more than any words could at the moment.

Needless to say, they did not look pleased. At all.

While Beedrill was buzzing in anger while his eyes started glowing ominously, Skyera screeched "Wow...I knew it was bad hearing about it from Pikachu the first time, but to think that your own family would actually do something like that to you...it's completely uncalled for! If I ever meet up with any of those assholes, you canbet that I'm gonna make 'em pay for what they've done..." in anger.

"And this all started simply because his sister couldn't accept the idea of losing..." commented Andrea before giving her Trainer a glance. "Though if I had to be honest, you did bring this on yourself by encouraging the rumors of being unlucky."

"I know I did, but I just wanted some time to myself for once instead of having to spend almost all of it on my sisters. Is that so wrong?"

"Not exactly, but you should've talking things out with them before going through with that idea of yours."

"I doubt it would've worked - my sisters can be just about as aggressive as Lynn when it comes to getting what they want, sometimes even more."

"Surely they can't be that bad, can they?" asked the Ground-Type, only for a deadpan look to appear on the boy's face.

"They beat the crap out of me and each other over the best seat in the family van and over a quarter I found in the couch. Does that answer your question?"

"...I retract my statement."

"It's sad to think that there are people out there who would be willing to do something like that to their own family. The colony back home on Mount Moon never would've done that to me." remarked Astro before walking over and giving his Trainer a hug. "But never fear, Friend Lincoln - we'll be there for you when they aren't."

"Thanks, Astro. I appreciate it." replied Lincoln, patting the Fairy-Type's head. "In any case, that's what happened between me and my folks in a nutshell. Any questions?"

"I've got one, Boss." said Bruce, causing the white-haired boy to look at him. "Are you still mad at your family for sending you here? I mean sure, they sent you here over a stupid superstition, but if they hadn't, you never would've met us."

"I was mad at them at first, but after I became a Trainer and met all of you, my anger towards my family has diminished a lot. It's still there somewhat, but it's nowhere as intense as it was before." answered Lincoln with a nod. "The fact that some of my family members were willing to talk things out with me also helped out with that, too."

"Well, that's good to know. Hopefully you'll be able to mend things with the rest of your family soon." commented Astro with a smile.

'Considering what Lynn and Dad did to my things, that's not likely to happen anytime soon.' thought Lincoln bitterly before deciding that a change of subject was needed. "In any case, we should get going soon if we want to catch up to that Bulbasaur we saw earlier."

"You want to catch it, I'm assuming?" questioned Pikachu, receiving a nod from the boy in return.

"Of course! Who would pass up the chance to catch a Bulbasaur in the wild? Besides, I need a Grass-Type for the team and he seems like the perfect fit for the role."

"Hey, what about the name you promised me?" questioned Beedrill, flying over to look Lincoln in the eyes. "You gave the others one, right? So where's mine?"

"...Sorry, Beedrill. I had one in mind for you earlier, but when I saw that Oddish earlier, it completely slipped my mind." replied Lincoln apologetically. "I promise that I'll try to come up with a really good one for you when I have the time. You have my word on that."

"...Alright, but I'll be holding you to that promise."

"Thanks. Now then, let's get going after that Bulbasaur!"

-=O=-

After spending several minutes going through the forest while tracking where the wild Bulbasaur and Oddish had went, the three eventually arrive at a rope bridge that spanned over a river that was flowing rapidly beneath it.

Eyeing the bridge warily, Misty says "That bridge doesn't look very sturdy...do we really need to go after that Bulbasaur, Lincoln?"

"I want to catch it, Misty. Besides, you'd have no hesitation about going over that bridge if we were chasing after a Water-Type Pokemon." replied Lincoln, crossing his arms.

"...Fair enough. Let's just tread carefully while going across - those ropes look almost ready to snap at any moment."

"Speaking of which, I can't seem to find this bridge anywhere on my map. Where in the world are we?" stated Brock, glancing at the map he was holding in confusion.

Shrugging, Lincoln answers "Maybe this bridge was recently built. That's the only possibility I can think of for why it's not on your map." before taking the first step onto the bridge. After they give the river below a worried look, Misty and Brock follow after him.

As the three continued on their way across the bridge, it started groaning and creaking loudly, causing Misty to look down at it uneasily.

"Guys, I don't think that we should be standing on this thing anymore. It sounds like it's going to..."

Before she could finish what she had to say, one of the support ropes quickly snapped, causing the bridge to sag and making the three Trainers and Pikachu lose their balance, almost leading to them falling into the river.

Clutching onto a nearby rope for dear life, Misty shouts "I knew that crossing this stupid bridge was a bad idea!" before glaring at Lincoln heatedly. "Why didn't you listen to me earlier, you idiot!?"

Glaring right back as he kept his grip on another rope, Lincoln snaps "Up yours, Misty! We wouldn't be in this situation if you hadn't stepped in and just let me catch that Oddish earlier!"

"Can you two stop fighting for one minute and focus on trying to get out of the situation we're in right now!?" asked Brock as he hung onto the bridge with a single hand that was quickly losing its grip. After a few seconds, his hand finally gave out, causing him to let go of the bridge.

"Brock! No!" cried Lincoln as he reached out to grab the older male's arm, only to fail as the fifteen year-old fell into the river below, disappearing beneath the surface of the water. "...Brock..."

"We'll have time to mourn him once we're back on solid ground! Right now, we need to focus on getting off this stupid bridge before we end up joining him!" barked Misty as she grabbed one of the bridge's edges and started shimmying over to the other side.

"She's right - we need to get off of this bridge, pronto!" added Pikachu as he clung onto Lincoln's bag tightly.

After giving the river one last mournful glance, Lincoln sighs and answers "...Okay. Hang on, Pikachu." before following through with Misty's idea of shimmying across to the other side of the bridge.

Upon reaching solid ground a few minutes later, the three start gasping heavily, clearly affected by the close call with death they just had.

In between gasps of breath, Misty says "We are...never crossing another bridge...like that again. Is...that...clear?" as she glares at Lincoln, who could only nod in agreement.

"Yeah...I think we've had...enough close calls...for one lifetime..." answered Lincoln before turning his attention to the river. "Do you think...Brock made it out okay?"

"I'm not sure. What I do know is that we need to find a way out of this place so we can get back onto the main road of Route 24 - this place is way too dangerous for us to stay in."

"Yeah, you're right." says Lincoln before the sound of something snapping caught both his and Misty's attention. Turning to see what it was, he saw that the other support rope had broken, causing the bridge to collapse before crashing into the rock wall on the other side. "...Guess we're not going back the way we came..."

Pointing at the riverbank below, Misty states "We should find a way down there - maybe we might be able to find Brock and see if he's still alive."

"Good idea. Let's go."

-=O=-

-In The Skies Above Route 24 (12:20 PM)-

While Lincoln, Misty and Pikachu were looking for a way to reach the riverbank, Jessie, James and Meowth were watching the three from the basket of their hot-air balloon.

"Wow...dat was a close one." commented Meowth as he glanced at the now-collapsed bridge. "If dose two had been a few seconds late, dey woulda joined dat friend of theirs in that river."

"I know. It's a shame that they managed to get to solid ground in time before the bridge collapsed." replied Jessie with a sigh.

"Geez, doncha tink dat yer bein' a little harsh dere, Jess? Wantin' ta get payback on dose two is one ting, but wantin' 'em to fall into dat river and die? Dat's goin' too far, if ya ask me."

"They ruined our raid in Viridian City and caused us to get chased by that awful swarm of Beedrill back in the Viridian Forest. I think I have the right to say something like that." countered Jessie before giving James a glance. "By the way James, where are we? I'm pretty sure that this place isn't on our map."

"I'm not sure, Jessie." replied James as he looked at the map in his hands. "Although, there is one thing I've heard about this route during a briefing I've attended in the past."

"And what's that, James? Is it something important?"

"Not exactly, but if it turns out to be true, this could help us get in the Boss' good graces." answered James before pointing at Route 24 on the map. "From what I remember, there's supposed to be a secret place on this route where injured and abandoned Pokemon go to rest before returning back to the wild."

"Is that right? Well, maybe we should pay this place a visit and see about nabbing some of those Pokemon for the Boss."

"Not dat I'm objectin' to da idea or anythin', but ain't we supposed ta be watchin' da brat and monitorin' everything he does?" asked Meowth, giving the redhead a questioning look.

"I'm certain that he'll be willing to overlook us missing a few minor details if we bring him plenty of rare Pokemon." answered Jessie simply. "Besides, it's not like those two are going to be leaving this place anytime soon due to the bridge collapsing. We can easily find them again."

"Fair enough. So where is dis place supposed ta be, anyway?"

Shrugging, James answers "I'm not sure. All I know is that it's supposed to be found somewhere on Route 24. We'll just have to keep our eyes open until we spot it."

"Then let's start searching for it. The sooner we find this place, the sooner we can snatch all of the Pokemon resting there." ordered Jessie, causing the other two to nod in agreement before looking over the forest for any sign of their target.

-=O=-

-Riverbank Near The Bridge (12:25 PM)-

"Brock! Brock! Can you hear me?" called out Lincoln as he and Misty continued down the riverbank, looking for their missing friend.

Looking around the area for the older gym leader, Misty asks "Brock, where are you?" as she followed behind Lincoln, who continued to call out Brock's name in an attempt to locate him.

As she got ready to call out for Brock once more, the ground beneath her suddenly collapsed, causing her to let out a surprised shout as she fell into a large hole.

Hearing the sudden cry and seeing the hole in the middle of the riverbank, Lincoln hurries over and peers inside to see Misty sitting in the hole, wincing as she rubbed her now-aching head.

"Ow...who's the jerk that put this stupid hole here?"

With a shrug, Lincoln answers "Beats me." before a look of concern appeared on his face. "You okay, Misty? You didn't hurt anything, did you?"

"I'll be alright." replied the redhead as she slowly got back to her feet, wincing slightly from the minor aches in her body. "Any chance you can help me get out of here?"

In response, Lincoln nods before extending one of his arms for her to grab. Unfortunately for both him and Misty, the sudden shift of weight had caught him off-guard, causing him to tumble into the hole as well and causing the two to land in a rather compromising position - Misty laying flat on her back while Lincoln had landed on top of her in a suggestive manner. To make things more awkward, their gradually reddening faces were incredibly close to each other.

Quickly getting off of the redhead, Lincoln stammers "Misty...I...sorry about landing on you like that! I didn't mean to, honest!"

"It's alright...it was an accident..." replied Misty, her blush becoming deeper in color as time passed by. "So...um...think we should wait until someone comes by to help us?"

Nodding with a blush on his face as well, Lincoln answers "Yeah, that'd probably be a good idea...um, any ideas on what we can do to pass the time...?"

"Well...we can talk to each other. That'll keep us busy, right?"

"I guess so. But...uh, what are we supposed to talk about?"

"Well...um, let's see..." murmured Misty as she tried to come up with a good topic to discuss, only to come up short. Grimacing, she thought 'Damn it. Nothing's coming to mind...' before turning her attention to Lincoln, who was glancing at her curiously, waiting for her to speak once again. '...Well, since we're alone with nobody else around, now is as good a time as any to let him know how I feel about him. I just hope that he feels the same in return...'

"Misty, you alright? You're kinda worrying me here..." asked Lincoln in concern, causing the redhead to snap out of her thoughtful state.

"Oh...it's...it's nothing." replied the twelve year-old quickly before mustering whatever courage she had within her at the moment in order to go through with what she was going to do next. "Um...Lincoln, there's...something I have to tell you..."

"What is it, Misty?"

Before Misty could get the chance to confess her feelings to the white-haired boy, a familiar-sounding voice asked "Looks like you two are having fun down there.", catching their attention. Turning to face the source of the voice, they saw Brock peering into the hole with a look of slight amusement on his face. "Do you want me to help you out or should I come back later?"

"Brock, you're okay!" replied Lincoln, happy to see the older male alive and well.

Misty, on the other hand, was scowling at Brock, annoyed at the fact that he had ruined her chance to tell Lincoln how she felt about him.

"Ha ha. Very funny, Brock. Now help us get out of this stupid hole."

"What's the magic word, Misty?" asked Brock chidingly, only for the redhead to glare at him in response.

"Is it 'neuter' because that's what I'm going to do to you if you don't get us out of here right now?"

Wincing as he subconsciously grabs his crotch, the Rock-Type Trainer quickly replied "That'll work." before sending out his Onix. Pointing at the hole, he says "Lincoln and Misty are stuck in that hole, Onix. Think you can help them get out?"

In response, the Rock Snake Pokemon nods before lowering his tail into the hole with Lincoln and Misty grabbing onto it when it was close enough. A few seconds later, he pulls his tail, along with the two Trainers, out of the hole and back onto the riverbank.

Giving Onix a grateful nod, Brock says "Good work, Onix. Return." before recalling the Rock-Type back into his Pokeball. After placing it back onto his belt, he asks "Are you two okay? You didn't hurt anything, did you?"

"We're okay. A little sore from the fall, but we'll live." answered Lincoln before glancing at the hole. "What kind of person would leave a hole in the middle of the riverbank like that?"

"I don't know, but I intend on making the one responsible pay." grumbled Misty before giving Brock a questioning look. "So...how did you survive that fall from earlier? Both of us thought that you were done for when we saw you plummet into the river."

Tapping his chin thoughtfully, Brock answers "Well...after I fell off of the bridge and into the river, I thought the same thing that you did at first. But as I was about to drown, I was saved by someone who pulled me out of the water and onto dry land."

"You were saved by someone?"

"Yes...a beautiful blue-haired angel by the name of Melanie...she's the one that saved my life." answered Brock, nodding his head. "Anyway, after I spoke with her a bit and found out from her where we currently are, I set out to find the two of you."

"And what did you find out?" asked Lincoln, wanting to know what the fifteen year-old had discovered.

"It's something I think the two of you should see for yourselves. Follow me and I'll show you."

-=O=-

After a twenty minute walk through the forest, the three eventually arrive at what appeared to be a sizable clearing with a cabin in it. All around the clearing were numerous Pokemon, who looked to be either socializing with each other, sleeping or eating. Standing nearby was a woman with blue hair that was clad in a pair of red-colored overalls.

What really caught Lincoln's attention though was the fact that the Bulbasaur from before was standing next to her, as if guarding her.

'It's that Bulbasaur from before...but what is it doing here?' thought Lincoln before glancing at the blue-haired woman, who noticed the three standing nearby. 'I'm guessing that's gotta be Melanie, the girl Brock mentioned before...'

With a gentle smile, the blue-haired woman greeted "Brock, you're back! And it looks like you've brought some friends with you, too!"

"I told you that I'd be back once I found them, didn't I?" replied Brock with a charming smile before gesturing towards Misty and Lincoln. "I'd like you to meet Misty and Lincoln Loud - the former is a fellow gym leader like myself while the latter is a rookie Pokemon Trainer from the States with two badges already to his name."

"It's nice to meet the two of you." said the woman, giving the two a respectful bow. "My name's Melanie and I guess you can consider me to be the guardian of the Pokemon living here."

"Guardian, huh? So these Pokemon were captured and raised by you, I take it?" inquired Lincoln as he glanced at the blue-haired woman curiously.

"Oh no, not at all." replied Melanie with a shake of her head before gesturing towards the numerous Pokemon eating nearby. "As I said before, I look after these Pokemon while they relax and enjoy themselves here."

"I see. And I'm guessing that most of them were abandoned by their old Trainers?"

Nodding, Melanie answers "Yes. I take it upon myself to watch over and help Pokemon like that recuperate until they're ready to head back out into the wild once more."

"Sounds like a lot of work." commented Misty before rubbing one of her aching limbs with a look of discomfort on her face. "By the way, you wouldn't know about who set those traps along the way, would you? Because if you do, I'd like to know who's responsible so I can give them their just desserts."

"Oh...I admit that those traps were my doing - the snares, the holes, even the bridge was booby-trapped in order to keep Trainers away." admitted Melanie, causing Lincoln and Misty to look at her incredulously.

"Snares? I don't seem to remember running into any snares..." mused Lincoln before he was shoved aside by Misty, who gave Melanie an annoyed glare.

"So you're the one that's responsible for all that crap we ran into earlier! I've been meaning to give you a piece of my mind for all the trouble we went through..."

Before she could get any closer however, Bulbasaur immediately stepped in between the two females before growling at Misty threateningly, warning her to back off.

"I'm not scared of a little lizard like you. In fact, I think now is as good a time as any to get some payback for what you did to my Goldeen earlier..." said Misty before taking a Pokeball off of her belt.

As she got ready to throw it, Brock grabbed her shoulder and said "Misty, that's enough. She was doing her best to protect these Pokemon from those who would try to take them away before they were ready to leave. I'm pretty sure she didn't take the possibility of meeting people like us into consideration." in a scolding tone, causing the redhead to huff before replacing the ball back onto her belt. "Besides, we're here as her guests and should be on our best behavior."

"I bet you're only just saying that because you think you actually have a chance with her..." grumbled Misty, causing the fifteen year-old to glare at her before smacking the back of her head. "Ow! What the hell was that for!? All I was saying is that you're just saying that to..."

Before she could finish, Brock smacked the back of her head again, cutting her off. Rubbing the back of her head, Misty grumbles something under her breath before deciding to drop the matter altogether.

Turning his attention back to Melanie, Brock says "As I was saying, I'm certain that Melanie meant no harm to us when she set those traps earlier. Isn't that right?"

"Of course! I may want to protect this place from Trainers, but I don't want to hurt anybody while doing it!"

"Considering how that booby-trapped bridge of yours nearly killed us, you could've fooled me..." muttered Misty under her breath, only to get smacked across the head again. "Damn it! I swear to Arceus that if you smack my head one more time, I'm going to kick you in the junk so hard your grandchildren will feel it!"

With a pleading look on her face, Melanie says "Please, stop fighting...this is a place of relaxation for the Pokemon living here."

"...Alright, but my warning still stands if he does it again."

Deciding to change the subject, Lincoln asks "So...this place is meant for wild and abandoned Pokemon to rest, huh?"

Nodding, Melanie answers "That's correct. It's a lot of work to take care of everything here, but it's a duty I'm happy to do nonetheless." before giving the three a authoritive look. "By the way, I'd appreciate it if the three of you refrained from trying to catch anyone here. Can you do that for me, please?"

"No worries, Miss Melanie - we won't try to catch anyone here. You have my word on it." said Lincoln with Misty and Brock nodding in agreement. Giving Bulbasaur a glance, he adds "It's a shame though - I would've liked to have that Bulbasaur on my team. It looks strong. Really strong."

At this, Bulbasaur narrows his eyes before growling "Not going to happen. I've already been betrayed once by a Trainer before and I don't intend on going through something like that again."

"Bulbasaur isn't too fond of Trainers - his old one abandoned him a couple of years ago." stated Melanie as she gave the Seed Pokemon a saddened look while he continued to glare at Lincoln. "Bulbasaur, please...these are our guests. Stand down. They promised that they wouldn't cause any trouble..."

"And how do you know that they'll keep their word on that? For all we know, they could be planning to catch everyone here when we drop our guards!"

Being the only human to understand what the Grass-Type was saying, Lincoln steps forward and kneels down before saying "I know that you don't trust us, but we promise that we're not here to start trouble."

"And why should I trust anything you say, hmm?" asked Bulbasaur, eyeing the boy suspiciously...though his suspicion quickly changed to surprise when Lincoln took several Pokeballs out of his bag. "What are you doing?"

"These are all of the empty Pokeballs I have in my bag. If it'll make you feel any better about me and my friends being here, I can have Melanie hold onto them until we leave. Consider it a show of good faith." replied Lincoln before picking up the Pokeballs and holding them out to Melanie, who had a surprised look on her face. "I hate to ask you to do something like this, but can you hold onto those Pokeballs for me until we leave?"

"Of course. I'll make sure to look after them for you." replied Melanie as she collected the Pokeballs from him and quickly pocketed them. Giving Misty and Brock a questioning glance, she asks "Do you want me to hang onto your Pokeballs for you as well? It may help the Pokemon here be more comfortable with your precense."

After glving each other a small glance, the two nod before taking several Pokeballs out of their bags and handing them over.

Upon seeing the Pokeballs disappear into Melanie's pocket, the hard look on Bulbasaur's face became more lax as he says "...Fine. I'll accept the three of you being here for now. But if you ever decide to go back on your promise, you're going to have to deal with me. Got it?"

"That won't be a problem considering that we won't be breaking our word in the first place." retorted Lincoln with a raised eyebrow, causing the Seed Pokemon to stare at him before walking away.

Giving Lincoln a grateful nod, Melanie says "Thanks for choosing to do something like that to ease Bulbasaur's concerns, Lincoln. I really appreciate it."

"Not a problem, Melanie. So uh...mind showing us around? I'm pretty sure that Misty and Brock, like myself, would like to see what kind of place this is."

"Of course. Follow me while I give you three a tour of our humble home."

-=O=-

-Elsewhere In The Forest (3:45 PM)-

While Melanie was leading the three on their tour through the area, Team Rocket were experiencing...'difficulties' when it came to finding their way around the forest.

"Stop laughing at once and help us out, Meowth! This isn't funny!" ordered Jessie angrily as she hung upside-down from a snare that was set up in a nearby tree. Nearby, James was inside of a nearby hole while moaning in discomfort, having fallen into it while trying to free his partner.

Upon leaving their balloon in order to search the forest on foot for the 'secret place' James had mentioned earlier, Jessie and James had run into a total of sixteen different traps in the forest - eight for each of them. The only one that hadn't fallen for any traps yet was Meowth, who used his much sharper senses to detect where there were located.

Granted, he could've warned Jessie and James that the area they were in was booby-trapped, but decided not to since he felt that he could get some amusement out of watching the two bumble through the area while setting the traps off. And now he was getting the chance to see it happening once again.

"Oh by Arceus, dis is rich! I haven't laughed dis hard in a long time!" cackled Meowth as he pointed at the furious redhead before breaking out into a louder fit of laughter. "Today just ain't yer day, huh?"

"Meowth, if you know what's good for you, you'll get me down from here right now or else." stated Jessie icily, causing the Scratch Cat Pokemon to stop laughing at the cold tone she had used, knowing that when she used that particular tone, she was being completely serious.

"...Alright already, I'll help ya outta dat tree...just hold on a minute."

With ease, Meowth climbs into the tree and with a swipe of his claws, easily cuts the rope keeping Jessie suspended in the air, causing her to crash onto the ground with a loud thump.

"Ow..." muttered the redhead before giving Meowth a dirty look. "You could've let me down more gently..."

"Hey, ya only said for me ta help you down - ya never said dat I had ta do somethin' like dat. Now hurry up and get Jim outta dat hole already, will ya? We're wastin' time with you complainin' like dis."

After giving Meowth one more dirty look, Jessie mutters something foul under her breath before heading over to help James out of the hole. Once the lavender-haired man was pulled out of the hole and back onto solid ground, she says "Now then, time to go find this supposed 'secret place' James mentioned earlier...wherever it is in this Arceus-forsaken forest."

"Jessie?" said James, catching the redhead's attention. Pointing at something that appeared to be nearby, he adds "You might want to see this."

"For your sake, this better be important, James." snapped Jessie irritably before walking over to see what he wanted. Upon seeing what James wanted to show her, Jessie smirks before saying "Well, well, well...what do we have here?"

-=O=-

-Back With Lincoln & Company (4:00 PM)-

After spending the afternoon being shown around the area and being introduced to what Melanie did as the caretaker of the Pokemon living here, Lincoln and company decided that they would, in a show of gratitude for the tour she gave them, assist her with her tasks for today.

While Brock was busy pouring food into some dishes for the numerous Pokemon nearby to eat and Misty was tending to the Oddish she had encountered before, Lincoln was sitting down on the riverbank with Pikachu and Bulbasaur, engaging in a conversation with them.

"So...you've been looking after both Melanie and this place for a while, huh? Sounds like you're a pretty reliable guy to have around when trouble happens."

"She's the one that found me after my old Trainer ditched me here in this forest." answered the Seed Pokemon with a nod. "I owe her that much since she had saved my life that day."

Giving Lincoln a slightly prideful look, he adds "And yes, I am handy to have around. Especially when dealing with Trainers that try to intrude on a place like this. Though it seems I've gotten a bit rusty as of late..."

"...That was meant to a jab at my Trainer, wasn't it?" asked Pikachu in an annoyed tone.

"Somewhat. We may be on speaking terms with each other right now, but do not think that I trust your Trainer or his friends in any way."

Before Pikachu could give him a retort, Lincoln says "Let it go, Pikachu. We shouldn't try to force him to change his mind about what he thinks of us. He has to do that on his own."

With an approving look on his face, Bulbasaur says "So you're willing to respect my beliefs instead of trying to shove yours in my face - that's something I can respect. That puts you up a notch in my book."

"That so? And where am I now?"

"Notch one. Don't expect to climb any higher than that, though."

"We'll see, Bulbasaur. We'll see." replied Lincoln in turn, causing the Grass-Type to roll his eyes before walking away in order to go check on some of the traps Melanie set earlier.

Once he was gone, Pikachu says "Man, what a jerk...I'd like to teach him a lesson or two..." under his breath, causing Lincoln to give him a chastising look.

"Now Pikachu, we promised that we'd behave ourselves here. That includes no picking fights or arguing with Bulbasaur, understand?"

"I know, but I didn't like the way he was talking about you earlier like you were some kind of unwanted guest. And then there was that 'notch one' comment..."

"Well, as I said before, he's entitled to his own opinion about us, just as you're entitled to yours about him."

"True. Doesn't mean I have to like what he says, though." replied Pikachu with an annoyed huff. Before Lincoln could give him a reply, the two saw Bulbasaur hurry over with a worried look on his face. "What's your problem?"

"I just did a quick check on some of the traps we have outside of this place - they've been set off by somebody. We've got unwanted company somewhere around here." said Bulbasaur before an unfamiliar scent caught his attention. "...And they're close. Really close."

-=O=-

"So your old Trainer abandoned you too, huh?" asked Misty as she continued to tend to Oddish, who gave her a nod in response to her question. "That sucks. But hey, at least you have Melanie to look after you, right?"

Once again, the Oddish gave her a nod.

After a few seconds, Misty scratches the back of her head and says "Listen...uh, I want to apologize for what happened between us earlier. Had I known about this place earlier, I would've left you alone. So for what its worth, I'm sorry."

After gazing at Misty for a few seconds, the Weed Pokemon walks forward and places on of her leaves on Misty's hand, as if attempting to comfort her.

"...So you're not mad about what happened earlier?" asked Misty, surprised. When Oddish shook her head, the redhead gave the Grass-Type a gentle smile and added "Thanks, Oddish. I'm glad that there's no hard feeling between us."

"I take it you've grown attached to that Oddish, Misty?" asked Melanie as she walked over with a smile on her face.

"Yeah, I have." said Misty as she started patting the Grass-Type's head, causing it to coo in delight. "It's a shame I'm not allowed to catch her though - I would've loved to have a cute little Pokemon like this come along with me. I definitely know that I would've been a much better Trainer than her old one was."

"Well, if it's any consolation, once Pokemon usually finish healing up here, they usually end up going back into the wild. Maybe one day in the future, you'll encounter Oddish again somewhere and get your chance then."

"I'll be waiting for that day." said Misty with a nod before giving Oddish a knowing smile. "So until then, make sure to be good and don't cause any trouble for Melanie, okay?"

"Did someone say 'trouble'?" asked a female voice from nearby, catching their attention.

"They better make that double."

Wincing upon recognizing the voices, Misty mutters "Oh no...not those jokers again..." as Jessie and James leap out of some nearby bushes before striking a pose.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

'Ugh...it's even worse hearing it the second time...' thought Misty, cringing.

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, blasting off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

As Misty prepared to remove one of her Pokeballs from her belt in order to battle the two Rockets, Meowth suddenly leapt out of a nearby tree with a net, tossing it onto her, Oddish and Melanie, catching them off-guard.

Standing on top of the net and striking a pose of his own, the Scratch Cat Pokemon added "Meowth! That's right!" before quickly fastening the net, trapping the three inside. Giving the three struggling inside a mocking smile, he says "Oh, I'm sorry. Didn't see ya down dere."

Crossing her arms with a smirk, Jessie says "You really shouldn't leave things lying around in the forest, lady. There's always a chance that someone will end up using them against you. Your current situation is a fine example of that." before turning her attention to Misty with the smirk becoming more menacing. "As for you, I'm going to enjoy paying you back for what happened in Viridian City. I think your Pokemon will do as suitable compensation."

Glaring at the older redhead, Misty snarls "Like hell you will, you old hag!"

"Please, leave the Pokemon here alone! This is a place of relaxation for them!" pleaded Melanie, hoping that the three would listen to her.

"Not happenin', lady. We came here ta snatch every last Pokemon in dis joint and dat's just what we're gonna do."

"Not if we have anything to say about it." said Lincoln's voice from nearby, catching the attention of everyone there. Turning to face where his voice was coming from, they saw Lincoln and Brock standing there while Pikachu and Bulbasaur looked ready to attack at the slightest provocation.

"Oh? And what are you going to do to stop us?" asked James as he and Jessie took their own Pokeballs off of their belts and activated them.

"We're going to kick your sorry butts out of this place, that's what." replied Lincoln before giving Brock a glance. "You go free the others - I'll handle Team Rocket."

"Are you sure about taking them on by yourself?" questioned Brock, only for Lincoln to nod before turning his attention back to Jessie and James, who smirked evilly upon hearing that he intended to battle them on his own.

While Brock ran over to the net to free the others, Lincoln threw the Pokeball he was holding into the air and said "Come on out, Andrea!", causing the red and white sphere to release the newly-named Sandshrew from within while Pikachu got into position in front of his Trainer, ready for battle.

Once Andrea had fully materialized in front of the white-haired boy, Jessie says "You're not going to be so lucky this time, brat - it's the two of us against just you. We have the numbers advantage." said Jessie before throwing her Pokeball. "Get out here, Ekans!"

Following suit and doing the same, James orders "You too, Koffing!"

As the two Poison-Types burst out of their Pokeballs and materialize in front of their respective Trainers, Bulbasaur glared at the three Rockets before taking his place beside Andrea and Pikachu, causing Lincoln to look at him in surprise.

"Bulbasaur? You're going to help us?"

"I may not like the idea of you being here, but I dislike people like those two even more. So for this one time only, I'm willing to work with both of your Pokemon in order to drive them off."

"Well since you're going to be helping us out, we should call dibs on which ones we wanna fight." said Andrea before she pointed at Ekans, who leered at her menacingly. "I'll take the ugly-looking snake over there."

"And I'll take on the Koffing. With my Poison subtype, I can probably handle anything it throws at me." replied Bulbasaur, turning his attention to Koffing.

"Which leaves the pussycat over there for me...again. Joy." said Pikachu sarcastically as he glanced at Meowth. "I just hope he's gotten stronger over the past couple of days - the last fight we had was a total cakewalk."

"Hey, I ain't a battler! Don't be getting me involved in dis!" replied Meowth quickly, having heard what the Rock-Type had said.

"Well, the other two are taken and you're there, so...tough nuts, pal." answered the Electric-Type with a shrug before charging towards Meowth, intending on taking him down. After letting out a cry, Bulbasaur and Sandshrew follow suit and rush towards their respective opponents as well.

Meanwhile, Brock was busy cutting away at the net, eventually managing to create a large enough opening for Misty and Melanie to escape through.

"Are you two alright?" asked the fifteen year-old in concern.

Dusting herself off, Misty replied "The only thing that's injured right now is my pride. I can't believe that I let those clowns get the drop on me like that." before picking up the Pokeball she had taken off of her belt earlier. Giving the two a commanding look, she adds "You two go gather up the Pokemon and get them to safety while I go and help Lincoln."

"Alright. Just be careful over there, okay?"

Giving him a nod, Misty answers "Will do, Brock." before running over to help Lincoln out.

-=O=-

Five minutes. That's how long the battle had lasted with the end result being all three of the Rockets' Pokemon lying on the ground, completely defeated.

At first, the battle was fairly evenly matched between Lincoln and the Rockets with neither side gaining an advantage over the other. That all changed when Misty made her arrival and joined the fray.

As she was still annoyed about what happened earlier with the net, the redhead decided that some payback was in order and sent out her Gyarados to help take the opposing Pokemon down.

Needless to say, the fight didn't last too long after that.

"Twice! That's twice we've lost to those brats! This is insulting!" screeched Jessie in disbelief. After quickly recalling Ekans, she glares at Misty and snarls "You think you're so great, constantly interfering with our work, don't you!?"

Shrugging as she recalled Gyarados, Misty retorted "Well, what do you expect us to do - just stand aside and let you do whatever you want?"

"Yes! We're members of Team Rocket! We should be feared, not getting our asses kicked by a couple of brats!" shouted James in a whiny tone of voice.

"Well, stop trying to pick fights with us and you won't get your asses kicked!"

"Yeah, what she said!" added Lincoln, nodding in agreement. "You're the ones starting these fights - we're just finishing them!"

After picking Meowth up and slinging his unconscious body over his shoulder, James says "Well, don't think that this is the last time we'll see each other, brats. One of these days, we'll come back and put you in your place."

Making the 'blah blah' gesture with her hand, Misty says "Yeah yeah, whatever. Just get outta here before I decide to send Gyarados after you again."

Hearing this, the two Rockets pale before running off, eventually disappearing into the forest. A few seconds later, the sound of something falling could be heard, followed by the sound of James screaming "Oh for crying out loud - another hole!? Seriously!?"

As soon as the Rockets were out of sight, Melanie and Brock made their reappearance. After cautiously looking around and finding no sign of Jessie or James anywhere, Melanie asked "Are...are they gone?"

"They're gone, Melanie. Misty, Bulbasaur and I took care of 'em." answered Lincoln with a thumb-up, bringing a smile to her face.

"That's a relief. Thank you for defending this place from those awful thieves." replied the blue-haired woman gratefully. "Please, allow me to let you stay here for the night. It's the least I can do to repay you for what you've done for us."

Before Lincoln could give her an answer, Brock quickly said "We'd be happy to accept your offer, Melanie!" before grabbing Melanie's hand, causing her to stare at him, completely bewildered.

"Um...okay? Can you let go of my hand, please?"

"I've got you, Melanie. Hold on a bit." said Misty before abruptly kicking Brock between the legs, causing him to collapse onto the ground while holding his crotch with both hands. "That's for all the smacks to the head you gave me earlier, by the way."

While the fifteen year-old started whimpering while clutching his groin, Melanie asked "...Is this an everyday occurance with the three of you?"

"I'm not sure. I've only known them for about a week or so." answered Lincoln with a shrug.

(AN: Yeah, I know I could've written out the battle between Lincoln, Misty and the Rockets, but my mind's been very distracted as of late (see the AN at the end for the reason why) and since I had a hard time trying to come up with something good, I just decided to make it an off-screen battle.)

-=O=-

-Later That Evening (7:30 PM)-

As the sun started to set over the forest later that evening, Lincoln and his friends were enjoying a meal together with Melanie and Bulbasaur, who looked to be much more comfortable with the three's presence.

"Thanks for letting us stay the night, Melanie. We really appreciate it." said Lincoln with a smile. Patting Bulbasaur on the head, he adds "Make sure to look after Melanie and the Pokemon living here for us after we leave tomorrow morning, okay?"

"Actually, there's something I'd like for you to do for me before you leave tomorrow." commented Melanie, causing the white-haired boy to look at her, wondering what she wanted from him. Gesturing towards the Grass-Type, she adds "I'd like for you to capture Bulbasaur and look after him for me."

Looking surprised, Lincoln asks "You want me to capture Bulbasaur? But why?"

"Even though I'd like to keep him here with me, I know that he won't get any stronger if he stayed here." answered Melanie with a sad smile. "That and I'm sure that you'll take good care of him."

Giving Bulbasaur a glance, Lincoln asks "And you're okay with something like this?"

"Of course. I trust Melanie's judgment completely." replied the Seed Pokemon with a nod. "However, don't think that I'm going to just go along with you willy-nilly. If you want to capture me, you're going to have to battle me first and prove that you're worthy of being my new Trainer."

"Sounds fair." answered Lincoln before he gave Bulbasaur a grin. "So do you wanna do this now or what?"

"Right now is good. Just know that I'm not going to make it easy for you."

"I wouldn't have any other way." replied Lincoln with a grin before turning to face Pikachu. "You want this one?"

"Gladly. After that disappointing fight with Meowth yesterday, I'd like to have an opponent that won't faint after a single hit." said Pikachu before leaping off of Lincoln's shoulder, ready for battle.

"I'll try not to disappoint. Now then, prepare yourself!" replied Bulbasaur in turn before launching a flurry of razor-sharp leaves at the Mouse Pokemon. "Razor Leaf!"

Pointing at the oncoming attack, Lincoln orders "Fry those leaves before they can hit you, Pikachu! Use Thundershock!", causing Pikachu to launch a blast of electricity at the leaves, instantly burning them up and destroying them. "Now use Quick Attack!"

In a burst of speed, the Electric-Type dashed towards Bulbasaur and slammed into his body full-force, causing him to skid back several inches from the blow.

"Not bad. I can see why you managed to defeat that Meowth so easily."

"Thanks. To be fair though, anyone could've kicked that cat's ass."

"If you say so. By the way, you dropped your guard." stated Bulbasaur before suddenly hitting the Electric-Type with a Tackle attack, knocking him to the ground. Before Pikachu could get back to his feet, Bulbasaur quickly extended his vines and wrapped them tightly around him, causing him to let out a grunt of pain. "Give up. You already know what's going to happen next if you don't."

"Actually..." said Pikachu with a grunt of pain before he gave Bulbasaur a grin that unnerved the Grass-Type somewhat. "You're the one that dropped your guard, not me."

Before Bulbasaur could ask on what he was talking about, Lincoln says "Pikachu, Thundershock!", causing the Seed Pokemon's eyes to widen in horror upon realizing what was going to happen - because he was still holding Pikachu with his vines, he had practically guaranteed that his Thundershock attack would connect, no matter what.

Putting his all into the Electric-Type attack, Pikachu blasts Bulbasaur with a large burst of electricity, heavily electrocuting him. Surprisingly enough, the Grass-Type had managed to remain conscious enough to let go of Pikachu, causing the electrical current running through his vines to immediately cut off.

Unfortunately for him, the damage had already been done, weakening him considerably.

"Let's finish him off, Pikachu! Iron Tail!" ordered Lincoln, pointing at the slightly smoking Bulbasaur. With his tail covered in a metallic sheen, Pikachu slams it with all of his might into the Seed Pokemon's face, hitting him hard and sending him flying into the air.

Upon landing on the ground, Bulbasaur gives Pikachu a weak glance and mumbles "...Strong..." before losing consciousness.

-=O=-

Once Bulbasaur had fainted, a grin appeared on Lincoln's face as he said "Great job on weakening him, Pikachu. Now it's my turn." before searching through his bag for an empty Pokeball. After managing to find one, he throws it and manages to connect with Bulbasaur's body, causing the ball to pull him inside.

Seconds later, the ball flashes and goes completely still, signalling a successful capture.

Picking up the Pokeball, Lincoln looks it over with a wide smile on his face - not only did he manage to catch a new Pokemon, but it was a Kanto Starter Pokemon at that.

'I bet Professor Oak will be surprised when he sees this.' thought Lincoln before an idea suddenly hit him. Turning to face Brock, he asks "Hey Brock, is there a way to decide which Pokemon I want to send to Professor Oak? I'd like to keep Bulbasaur here with me for now in order to get to know him better."

Scratching his chin, Brock answers "I'm not sure. To be honest, I've never considered the possibility of doing something like that before."

'I believe I can provide an answer for your question.' stated Lincoln's Pokedex from within his pocket, causing everyone there to look at the white-haired boy in surprise.

Pointing at him, Misty asked "...Did your Pokedex just freely speak to you?"

"I think it did." replied Lincoln before taking the red-colored device out of his pocket. "Uh...any chance you could repeat that, please?"

'Certainly. I said 'I believe I can provide an answer for your question'. Do you require me to repeat myself again?'

"No, that won't be necessary." said Lincon, shaking his head. "So uh...how are you able to speak with us freely like this? Is this a new feature of yours or something?"

'No, my A.I. has always been sentient. You never bothered to ask me if it was or not.' stated the red-colored device in a matter-of-face tone.

"Oh. Well...uh, so what about that thing I was asking about? Can I choose which Pokemon to send to Professor Oak's lab so I can keep Bulbasaur on hand?"

'I am happy to inform you that you can. As you may already know, I'm connected to the many networks, programs and systems at the Professor's laboratory, which means that I can access certain functions related to them, including the Pokeball transport service. All you need to do is let me know which Pokemon you want to send to the lab and I will do the rest.'

"Sounds easy enough, I guess. But what if Professor Oak finds out? Won't he be upset about you accessing stuff like that?"

'I do not think you will have to worry about that. I believe that the Professor would be thrilled to know that I am capable of doing something like this.'

After gazing at the Pokedex with a thoughtful look on his face, Lincoln replies "Well...alright, if you say so. I'd like to send Beedrill over to the lab, please."

'Certainly. Please take the Pokeball belonging to the Pokemon you wish to send off of your belt and replace it with the one belonging to the Pokemon you wish to keep with you. Be quick about it, though - there is a twenty-second delay before the transfer activates.'

"Alright, hold on a moment." replied Lincoln before he quickly takes Beedrill's Pokeball off of his belt and replaces it with the one used to capture Bulbasaur. Once he had successfully switched out the two Pokeballs, he says "Alright, everything's set. Go for it."

In a flash of white light, Beedrill's Pokeball disappeared, leaving Lincoln empty-handed. A few seconds later, the Pokedex states 'Transfer complete. Your Beedrill has been successfully sent to Professor Oak's lab.'

"Thanks...erm...do you have a name for yourself, by any chance?"

'Considering that I am programmed inside of a Pokedex, you can refer to me as Dexter.' replied the Pokedex simply.

"Alright then. Thanks a lot, Dexter." said Lincoln before placing the Pokedex back into his pocket. Once it was safely put away, he turns to Melanie and says "Thanks for letting me capture Bulbasaur, Melanie. You have my word that I'll take good care of him."

"I know you will, Lincoln. That's why I suggested the idea in the first place."

-=O=-

-Somewhere On Route 24 (8:00 PM)-

"Twice! That's twice we've lost to that brat and his girlfriend already! This is unbelievable!" ranted Jessie, fuming in anger over her recent loss. "How is it that we keep losing so badly!?"

"Well, when's da last time da two of youse actually bothered ta train yer Pokemon? They ain't gettin' any stronger with you just loafin' around." commented Meowth, causing the redhead to glare at him.

"You're one to talk, Meowth! Aside from Fury Swipes and Scratch, you're pretty much useless in battle! That Pikachu practually walked all over you during the fight!"

At this, the Scratch Cat Pokemon growled irritably before grumbling something foul about Jessie under his breath. Thankfully for him, she was so caught up with her rant that she didn't hear it.

Holding up one of his hands, James says "Now that I think on it, Meowth does raise a good point - when was the last time we actually trained our Pokemon?"

At this, Jessie opened her mouth to give him a reply, only to find herself unable to come up with an excuse to give him - though she wouldn't admit it out loud, she barely put any time or effort into training her Ekans, preferring to focus mainly on herself and her duties as a member of Team Rocket. And she definitely knew that James was in the same position as her when it came to his Koffing.

'We really do suck as Trainers...' thought the redhead bitterly as the harsh truth finally hit home. It didn't help that she knew that Lincoln and his friends were only going to get stronger as time passed by, eventually getting to the point where the three Rockets would be no match for them.

And their mission was going to be much harder to complete if that happened.

Giving James a glance, she states "Starting tomorrow, we're going to put more effort into training our Pokemon, James. As much as I hate to admit it, you and Meowth raised a good point about us needing to improve ourselves more. We're going to get started on that first thing tomorrow morning."

With a thoughtful look on his face, James replies "We should also see about capturing some new Pokemon for us to train as well. After all, we only have Ekans and Koffing while the brat and his friends have a larger variety of Pokemon at their disposal.", thinking about a particular Pokemon he had left behind at his former home.

"Good thinkin', Jim. Maybe our chances of actually beatin' dose brats and completin' our mission will improve if we have more Pokemon with us."

"Then it's settled. We'll put off our mission for the time being to focus on improving our Pokemon and our numbers." stated Jessie, causing James and Meowth to give her a nod of acknowledgement at the decision.

-=O=-

-The Loud Residence - Lynn & Lucy's Room (7:00 AM)-

As the sun started to rise in Royal Woods, Lynn woke up from her slumber, though instead of feeling refreshed as she normally would after a good night's sleep, she felt...off.

She didn't know what was causing it or why she felt this way, but she definitely knew that something just didn't feel right.

Glancing over at Lucy's bed and finding it completely untouched, she thought 'Maybe it's because Lucy isn't in here anymore. That's gotta be it.' before thinking back on what she had done to the young goth a few days ago.

Sure, she'd admit that doing something like that to her own sister was completely uncalled for, but she had to get her mind off of how badly her game went and Lucy had provided a convenient distraction for her to use.

It still didn't change the fact that she still felt like scum for going through with it, though.

'Maybe I'll see about buying her a couple of cheesy vampire novels or something. That'll be a good enough apology, I think.' thought Lynn as she got ready to get out of her bed in order to start her day.

As she prepared to get to her feet however, her legs had somehow managed to get tangled up with her blanket, causing her to lose her balance and land onto the floor face-first.

Rubbing her nose, the brunette muttered "Ow...that hurt..." before glaring at the blanket still wrapped around her feet. After taking it off and tossing it back onto her bed, she started heading towards her bedroom door, unaware of the tennis ball that she was about to step on.

Upon stepping on the ball, Lynn loses her balance again and stumbles into the door, slamming into it and damaging her face again.

Groaning in discomfort, Lynn reaches for the door and tries to open it, only for it to remain closed. Eyes widening in surprise, she keeps trying to open the door, only for it to remain shut.

"Stupid door must've jammed again...we really need to replace some of the stuff in this house..." growled Lynn before she started pulling on the door with all of her might, trying to force it open. After a few seconds, the door forcibly opens up, smacking Lynn in the face again, almost rendering her unconscious from the hit.

Unsteadily getting back to her feet with blood starting to flow freely from her nose, she thought 'What the heck is going on with my luck this morning!? That's three times I've gotten clocked in the face already!' before staggering out of her room and towards the stairs.

As she prepared to go down them however, she had once again lost her balance, causing her to start tumbling down the stairs. Upon coming to a stop at the bottom, Lynn mutters "This just isn't my morning..." before losing consciousness.