Young Writers Society

You can try and make your way to join me; I'm just in Fortree right now, you're in Sootopolis. I know it's a bit of a distance, but if you can find a way, that'd work, I suppose.

Besides, I haven't met a single other person in this Storybook once! I've used pre-exhisting characters and myself only. I'm pretty amazed at that, I have to say. But I do realize that it ruins the point of a SB. So, I could use a buddy, if you can find a way.

I could try but it'd have to wait. I can't think of what to write... Need time to work it out.

Tyler | Flying Over Hoenn

Viridian City was a bust. Just as Skarmory landed outside the Pokemon center, I saw at least fifteen Rocket goons preparing for a treck up to Mt. Silver. But what's on Mt. Silver?

Once they set out, I had Skarmory fly up to the top of the mountain and circle around a few times. I took out my Binoculars and peered down at the forest-covered mountain, not seeing anything of particular interest. Certainly no legendaries. And that's what they were after, right? The broadcaster on my PokeRadio had said it.

But if Team Rocket had plans in Jhoto and Kanto, then I wasn't safe, and neither were my Pokemon. Lacing my arms around Skarmory's neck, I grinned. "Extremespeed us all the way to Phoebe's place, Skarmory!"

The steel bird's body began to glow a bright silver just before she launched like a rocket towards Fortree City.

---
Three Hours Later | Fortree City
---

Skarmory's wings expanded, grabbing a lofty glob of air to make a slow descent into the trees just south of Fortree. I dismounted her back and held out my Pokeball, consuming the magnificent (while tired) bird in a dark red light. Stowing the ball on my belt, I pushed a few branches out of the way, ambling slowly towards Phoebe's house, just a half-mile south of the gym. After a quick rapp on the door, I waited. No reply. I sighed, checking my Pokegear reluctantly.

The pokemon league was in session. Great. I left the thick forest and lifted myself up one of the famous Fortree ladders to the Pokemon Center, stopping when I heard two very familiar voices.

Arcanine, Extremespeed!

Altaria, brace for impact and fly up!

Winona and Blaine. Leaning against the side of a sturdy tree, I watched the battle taking place above the gym in awe. It was unclear who was winning, but Winona had to have the advantage. I could remember how easily her Altaria had taken down Absol so long ago. And she had to be that much more powerful now.

Blaine's Arcanine bashed into Altaria, but like a winged ballerina, Altaria took to the sky, blending in with the clear blue and clouds too well. Arcanine looked confused.

"Altaria!" Winona screamed high into the sky, and down came two clouds with a dragon's body attached. Arcanine tried its best to dodge, but her Dragon's agility was just too high. Arcanine flew back against one of the trees and fainted on the spot.

Blaine grinned and looked up to Altaria, his dark glasses glinting in the sunlight. "Your dragon is phenomenally graceful. But can she handle the speed of a true fire-dragon?"

Winona just grinned, silently accepting his challenge.

"Charizard..." Blaine whispered into his Pokeball, "Let's blast her away!" The dark red Pokeball opened, releasing the Charizard that just two weeks ago, I had taken down.

Both trainers ceased to give orders. After sizing eachother up, they took off to the sky, leaving only traces of their combat in clouds of flame and dragon's breath. Every now and then, orange scales and white, cloudy feathers would fall down like rain, and I cringed thinking of how brutal the battle was.

My attention was finally nabbed by a strange duo of guys walking along the suspension bridge into town. They both seemed to hate eachother, just by the looks on their faces. But-- oh... The one on the left was Falkner, the bird-brain from Jhoto. I thought he saw me behind my tree, but my attention was grabbed again by Altaria's weak cry as she fell from horrific heights.

"Altaria!" Winona rushed onto the battlefield, touching burn marks and slashes in her fair skin. "Wow..." She recalled Altaria and looked up to Blaine with a nod. "You win... This time." With that, she hopped off the side of the gym's roof-- a stunt that made my stomach queasy-- and scaled up into the air on her Swellow towards the Pokemon Center.

Gene

I could see the battle from the bridge, and it was intense. I hadn't seen Blaine fighting for quite a while. Either that, or I was just glad to see him earlier than I expected. Falkner flew off behind Winona, and I walked up to Blaine, and we started talking, and I told him about everything going on. He knew a lot of the information already, surprisingly. It was when I told him that I needed help that he got mildly confused.

"Help with what?", he asked. I took the backpack off my back and opened it up, taking out the Manaphy egg; it was getting larger, maybe to the point of hatch. A while to go, but it was getting closer. Blaine was amazed. Actually, he wasn't the only one; another person was on the roof, who was watching the battle when Falkner and I flew down.

"Go ahead, take a look", I told him. He looked like a decently experienced trainer, and he was very surprised at the egg. I handed it to him, and he took his own little look. I turned back to Blaine.

"So, what are you going to do with it?", he asked me.

"I was hoping you could help me with that"

"Hm..." Blaine said as he started thinking. I quickly turned to the other trainer.

"I'm Gene, by the way"

"Tyler"

Blaine stopped thinking. He snapped his fingers when he got an idea.

"The only way to hide it might very well be to put it in a place where it can't be found by Team Rocket"

"Which would be..."

"Back in time"

"What?", I said, incredibly surprised. It was a wierd answer.

"Surely you know of Celebi"

It all came into my head; Celebi was a legendary pokemon that could control time, and wherever he travelled, time would be in a place before the current moment. We could find Celebi, leave Manaphy there, and it'd be out of our time.

"And where is Celebi?", I asked Blaine.

"I'd tell you if I knew"

Now it was my turn to think. There were a few ways I thought of to find where Celebi was in the world, but there was only one I could think of that I knew would work with a little more certainty and ease.

"Jirachi...we wish for Celebi to come to where we want him to, and we'd leave all the legendaries we can find and get over there. I'll go to Mossdeep, maybe they can help us out with that"

"I'm sure they can"

I turned to Ditto and nodded my head to him. Ditto heard the conversation, still in transformed as Articuno. Then, Blaine called out to me again.

"Hold on, you're going alone?"

"I've been calling help as I go"

"You'll run out eventually"

"Well what am I supposed to..." I stopped midsentence and looked over at Tyler, who still had the Manaphy egg in his hands, looking at me and Blaine.

"You want to come with me?", I asked him.

Tyler | Fortree City

So, in my hands was this...hard, oval, poke-spotted egg. Nervous about dropping it, I held it close to my chest, listening in between Blaine and the new guy, Gene. I looked back down at the egg and watched it fidget in my arms. It bothered me, having a living being so near to me (at least, I thought it was alive).

This egg, time travel... But why? Then, the question was posed to me.

"You want to come with me?"

I arched an eyebrow, looking from Blaine, to Gene, and then to the Articuno standing in front of me. "But... What's so special about this egg?" I asked him, keeping my arms latched onto it like an overprotective father.

As Gene told me the story, I started putting the pieces together in my head. The rocket goons in the Seafoam Isles, the gym leaders in foreign regions... There was a crisis forming. And the egg...

"Yes." The syllable fell out of my lips before I could think again, and Gene nodded to me.

"Then, let's go." He held his hands out for the egg, and I gave it to him, watching his hands as he stowed it in his bag.

Blaine pushed out a hand-- one that held a classic-style Pokeball. "This pokeball contains a Ditto-- one that my friends at the Cinnibar labs have been raising. Unlike yours, Gene, it has a memory of seeing Jarachi." He motioned the ball towards me, and I slowly reached out and took it. "New rumors have it that Jirachi, while powerful and complete in itself, longs for companionship. Release this Ditto in the cliffs at Mossdeep and its form as Jirachi should more or less lure her in."

I nodded, looking up to Gene, who nodded as well.

"Ready?"

I nodded and stowed Ditto's pokeball in my fifth beltloop, grabbing Skarmory's pokeball and releasing her. Climbing on her back, I grinned down at him. "Let's hope your Dittocuno can keep up with a real sky master."

Blaine nodded once more, in affirmation of our quest, and reached out to touch Skarmory's steel feathers. "I remember this magnificent bird... The only steel type I've ever seen take down my Rapidash." He gave a cackle and nodded to Gene. "Get going, you two. And I have a feeling about what Rocket's up to. Keep your Pokegears on in case I need you."

I nudged at Skarmory's side and she lited off the ground in a still glide. "Will do, Blaine."

Ditto has been added to Tyler's party.

My only two associates seem to have forgotten about this story... I'll probably PM them later.

Sorry I almost left this behind, I had some stuff going on this week, including family emergencies and revamping my actual team in my Pokemon game.

Gene

Tyler and I finally got to Mossdeep in the evening. It was pretty nice in Hoenn at night...it was perfectly silent, you could hear the water from anywhere on the island, and it was always a clear view of the stars and the moon for some reason. That's the main reason the space station was placed here.

I checked my backpack as we landed to be certain the Manaphy egg was still in it, and it was. I noticed to see Tyler making certain he had the Ditto pokeball on hand with him. When we landed, I put my Ditto back in his pokeball and threw out Nidoking. Tyler looked at it a little confusingly.

"What, so I want a little defense", I told him, "Don't you?"

"Do you really think somebody's going to attack us?"

"They seem to be attacking me pretty frequently so far"

Nidoking got sidetracked by something; he was looking over at the ocean to the south. I looked where he was looking, and saw some sort of metal ship sailing on over, with the Team Aqua symbol on the sail. Between Rocket and Magma and Aqua, it was really starting to look like there was some sort of united peace between all the criminals. Huh.

I quickly pulled out my Ditto again.

"Ditto, run over to the gym and get some help. Go to the space station too if you can". Ditto didn't transform, and it was good of him not to. Many people recognized my Ditto, because it was one of the only Ditto's that was ever brought into gym battles. He was a memorable little guy. I turned to Tyler. I certainly hoped he could handle a couple of Aqua grunts. I hadn't seen him battle before, but with a Skarmory, I figured he had to know at least a thing or two. I just had one worry that I thought it'd be best to tell him.

"You gonna stick with Skarmory for these guys?", I asked, "They use a lot of water types, probably a lot of ice moves with 'em. I'd switch out if I were you"

No problem, bud. Anticipation's the best part.

Tyler | Mossdeep City

In the distance, the lights of the Rocket ship seemed to dim, almost in suspicion of being noticed. I turned to Gene and his Nidoking, and then back to Skarmory.

"Well... Skarmory's taken down Pryce and Glacia... But I'd be hesitant to use her with anything fiery." Thinking it over for a moment, I retracted Skarmory into her Pokeball, releasing Absol in her place. "Maybe not the best defense, but he can strike hard and strike fast." I grinned, stroking Absol's fur down his back. He gave a harmonious hum of affection and went to stand beside Nidoking.

Then, I looked down at Ditto's pokeball in my hand. "Alright... I imagine it'll take us a while to lure in Jirachi, so it'd be best to start now."

Holding out the pokeball, I watched the flash of light release Ditto onto the ground. Of course. Blaine had given me a Purple Ditto. "Showoff." He grinned and knelt down to Ditto's level, smiling. "Transform into a Jirachi, please, Ditto."

Ditto gave a blob of sounds as a reply and began to shift its gooey little muscles around, forming into a beautiful star-shaped Jirachi. "Awesome."

Sighing, I found a nearby willow tree and sunk down to my butt on the grass. "So, where are you from?" I asked Gene, looking more at his Nidoking than him. From what I'd seen, he seemed like a master Kanto trainer, which would make for a great battle.

Problem was, his Nidoking looked strong.

Amelia|Sootopolis City:

Waiting in a Pokemon Centre really seems like fun... That is, until you don't know why your waiting.

I'd seen a few Team Rocket goons on the trail down to the cave. I had no doubts that there were all through the cave too.

I was just about to curl up and go to sleep with Vulpix on the seat next to me when my Pokedex beeped, signalling an incoming call.

Yawning, I sat up and dug it out of my pocket. It was from someone I didn't know. I answered it.

"Hello?" I asked, staring down at the screen. The picture was blurred. "Who is this?"

"Amelia, that you?" I froze. That was the Doc from the space station.

"Yes, it's me," I replied and looked up, noticing Vulpix watching me. No one else in the Pokemon Centre seemed to be watching me. I looked back down at my Pokedex. "Problem?"

There was a pause for a moment and then the picture cleared up a bit.

"Yes, someone is looking for Jirachi," came the reply. "Team Rocket apparently. There's a couple of trainers here looking for it so that Rocket won't get it first, I just got a message from Gene's Ditto."

"Gene?" I asked. The man in the picture shook his head.

"No time for that," he said. "Just get over here."

"Okay," I said but the screen was already blank. I sighed and stood up. Vulpix was staring at me, blinking. "Come on," I told her. "Let's go save someone."

"Vulpix," she said and hopped down off the chair.

She followed me out of the Pokemon Centre and around the corner, out sight of the Rocket Goons across the water. I pulled out a Poke-ball and let Tropius out.

"Let's go," I told him. "Mossdeep City. We need to go help some."

Tropius nodded and I climbed up on his back, Vulpix under one arm. I set her down in front of me and a moment later Tropius had launched himself into the air. Soon enough we were headed for Mossdeep.

Hey, Lumierre, I just checked the base stats for Nidoking and Absol...Nidoking is naturally faster than Absol is.

Spoiler! :

This is Nidoking's stat page (bottom are base stats): http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-dp/034.shtml and Absol's stat pagehttp://www.serebii.net/pokedex-dp/359.shtml

Also for your knowledge, Skarmory is slower than Absol, Ditto with quickpowder (which gives double speed for Ditto, resulting in a base speed of about 96) is faster than a hefty count of pokemon, and Hitmonchan is litterally one base speed point faster than Absol. My team is really not as slow as you want to think. Just sayin'.

Gene

"Aqua, by the way"

"What?"

"The symbol on the sail's a team Aqua icon, you said Magma"

I looked across the night sea at the ship. I needed some sort of advantage, a way to hit that ship a little early. And I knew just how to do it.

"Stay here with Jirachi, I'll be back", I told Tyler. Nidoking and I ran down towards the sea line, and when we hit the shore of the island, we stopped. The ship was coming up fast, but we needed it to get a little stuck for a minute. I wanted to blow the thing off course.

"Nidoking, Aqua Tail!" I commanded. Nidoking slammed his tail down while giving his body a twist, slamming the tail towards the ship. Aqua tail was a water type move that saved him more than you'd think. The tail glowed a dark blue as it hit the ground, and a titanic wave started going to the ship. It hit, and the wave was so strong and large that it capsized the boat. The grunts were swimming on riding on pokemon. I had one more little trick of mine that I was thankful for Nidoking to have.

"Thunder Punch", I said. Nidoking raised his fist in the air and a small burst of electricity started concentrating around it. He punched right into the water, and the three grunts in the front of the 10-person crowd were zapped and knocked down into the water. I wanted to see how much longer I could stall though, not just incapacitate them all. I didn't want to seem cruel, just like a force to reckon with.

"Poison Jab", I said. Nidoking readied both his fists and shoved them into the water at full speed, releasing a purple poison into the water that the rest of the Aqua goons knew wasn't safe to swim in. They started going around the island. The poison was bountiful enough to cover about my quarter of the shore, and I knew it would fade away in twenty minutes or so. Enough to stop these guys for a while.

The entire group stayed bunched together, trying to make strength in numbers I suppose. They all went to my right, going towards the west coast of the Mossdeep island. I'd have to run right to the center of the island and then to the coast. I didn't want to run that far. I started running back to our Jirachi zone in the center of the island.

"You want a turn taking on these guys?" I asked Tyler as I ran up to the stargazing Ditto-Jirachi. Tyler was looking pretty restless. Had to see what he could do, so why not see now, right?

As Tyler started running towards the west shore, I looked up towards the south side again; somebody was flying towards here on a Tropius. She landed right by the Jirachi, and Nidoking and I both had our guards up. Looking at the trainer, she didn't look like a threat.

"So who're you?"

Oh, would you look at that... Thanks for publicly correcting me on a trivial stat.

Tyler | Western Mosdeep

Dittorachi waited by the tag stone as I ran off towards the shore the Rocket grunts would land. I had bitten my tongue earlier, hard. Ever since my twelfth birthday in Slateport, whenever Rocket was around, worse groups were even closer. But that was a trivial detail. As I ran, I checked over my shoulder, watching for Absol behind me. And there we were, the west shore.

It was the strangest place on the island to me, a beach surrounded by shallow water with trees sprouting up all around. Absol and I crouched behind a tree and leaped out at the first appearance of Rocket grunts. They didn't seem surprised at all, and that was just fine for me. Absol stood up front, not moving an inch as they released a duo of Sharpedo into the shallow water.

Pulling out another Pokeball, I released Skarmory back above the field. "Absol-- use the trick Watson taught us." His eyes began to spark, his body phasing from place to place in jolts of electricity. Once the first Sharpedo jumped for an attack, I grinned.

"Shock Wave!"

Absol swung his natural scimitar at the Sharpedo, releasing a wave of electrical energy around them. Sharpedo froze in its tracks, sinking beneath the waves. The second Rocket grunt had an Ice Beam on Skarmory, but she was holding fast against the normally superpowered effects. She then flew up as the first grunt released a Mightyenna in Sharpedo's place. Absol didn't break a nervous sweat; almost as if reading my mind, he charged at Mightyenna, enduring a quick sand-attack to the eyes before slashing the dog down.

But the Mightyenna survived. Absol's normally-critical hits were cut down with his accuracy. Skarmory descended from the night sky and bashed the Sharpedo, sending him into recovery in his Pokeball. Mightyenna crunched down on Absol's neck, but just like nothing had happened at all, Absol swung his scimitar around and gave a critical slash to Mightyenna, ending the battle.

The Rocket grunts backed down, but were quickly reinforced. The next two were admins, with two other grunts behind them. "Did you poison the water?"

I stood there, unmoving. "No."

"Poisoning Mosdeep's water supply could harm countless Rocket Pokemon in the surrounding area. You are a criminal on our territory now!"

"...but I didn't poison the water..."

Jessie the admin stood there, unwavering in her accusations. "Either way, you assaulted two of our operatives. Prepare to be taken down by the power of Roc-..."

She was cut off by a red flash. I turned to look over my shoulder to see four blazing Eruption stones falling from the sky. I knew they would be here.

Absol and I jumped off to the side behind the trees, avoiding the falling fireballs. Jessie sighed and paged someone over her sub-comm system. There was a moment of intense whispering, and the remaining grunts and I committed to dodging fireballs. "Absol-- find that Camerupt and take him down." I dove behind a tree, watching a fireball hit the pool of water in which I stood just seconds before. The steam rose like a thick fog.

Jessie stood over me, grinning. "Time to go, kiddo. Seems we have a deal to follow through with Rocket, and you're going to help us out."

"Help you?!"

She glowered, nodding to her goons. "Grab him. Leave the Absol here."

Skarmory moved to intervene, but the grunts released Sharpedo-- one, two, three, four, five, six. . . Sharpedo onto the field, blocking her way. The grunts wasted no time grabbing me up and lifting me to face Shelby. "We're going down to Sootopolis, kid."

"But what's in Sootopolis?"

She grinned, narrowing her eyes. "Jirachi."

She motioned and her goons dragged me off to the water where a Wailord-shaped sub sat bobbling in the water. They tied up my hands and feet and tossed me in while Jessie recalled Skarmory into her Pokeball, grabbing it along with Espeon and Banette and putting them on her own belt.

"Time to meet Miss Starshine, fellas."

They all piled into the boat and dug off into the black water just before the Camerupt's eruption covered the western shoal.

Ditto, Absol, Espeon, Banette, and Skarmory were removed from Tyler's party.

Gene

The Tropius trainer instantly became something not of my concern when I noticed Tyler getting tied up and being taken away, with all his pokemon and the Dittorachi. I wanted to get him immediately, but other things were in the way; mainly, Team Magma. A few grunts and an admin started following the Aqua members that were leaving, but a grunt or two behind Maxi wouldn't leave.

At least this new trainer could give me some back up. As long as she could fight, anyways.

"Screw introductions. I'm Gene, and I need help with these guys. You in or out?"

"Amelia", she said. She looked over at Maxi's Camerupt and the two Torkoal out by the grunts. She knew well enough that Tropius wouldn't be able to take them down. She called it back into it's pokeball, and looked through them...and she threw out a Vulpix. Don't get me wrong, it was a tough little pokemon, and being immune to fire attacks (thanks to the Vulpix ability Flash Fire), it could stay pretty safe. But it was still puny as hell. I snapped my fingers when I thought of something that could help her out. I reached into my backpack and pulled out a fire stone.

"I'd give this to that Vulpix if I were you, and tell it to stay behind Nidoking", I told her. I immediately turned to Maxi and his Torkoal-using grunts.

"Nidoking, Aqua Tail"

A slam to the ground of Nidoking's tail towards the three pokemon, and the Torkoal's were down, with Camerupt...Camerupt was still standing pretty strong. I looked at it and noticed glowing rocks surrounding it; Camerupt must've been fighting for a while, used Ancient Power frequently, which raised all of Camerupts stats. That and the Solid Rock ability made it pretty damn difficult to take on.

"Earth Power, Camerupt", Maxi commanded, not looking back at the downed grunts and Torkoals. Camerupt's front volcano was aimed over at Nidoking, and a blast of fiery mud blasted out. Nidoking was hit pretty hard, but not enough to take him down just yet. I looked at Amelia, who was still looking like she was in conisderation about using the fire stone to evolve Vulpix.

"Come on, you just going to stand there?", I asked to her, "I need some help!"

Tyler | Rocket Boat

James was much shorter in person.

They had me tied down-- or up, depending on your perspective-- to a steel pole running down the center of their steampunk ship.

So, it was like a staring contest with James-- he opened his mismatched blue eyes and stared at me, almost like he was sizing me up. All in all, it was very uncomfortable.

"Your trainer's license has every badge in the tri-region area but Viridian's." He grinned. "Why is that?"

I looked at him groggily and shrugged. "The gym wasn't open when I went."

"So you return home to Hoenn and land yourself in the heart of modern space technology with a Ditto disguised as a Jirachi."

I nodded. "I'm a fan of the moon."

James motioned for a grunt to flip a switch. Beneath my feet (which no longer had shoes on them), a trapdoor opened to a deep pool of water. In the bottom sat several Lanturn, ready to shock anything that came near.

"I think you can put two and two together."

I sighed, shaking my head. "I had nothing to do with Jirachi. I don't know where she is."

"Oh, I don't care about finding Jirachi!" He cackled darkly. "We already have her!"

Jessie walked in the room with a sulky frown on her face. "James, I have some bad news."

He turned to her, scowling. "What?"

"While we were on Mosdeep Island, some other affiliation arrived and started bombing the shoreline with Camerupt magma."

James nodded. "Yes, I'm aware. What of it?"

She shook her head. "Does that mean that there's more on Mossdeep that The Boss neglected to tell us about?"

James' eyes widened, his scowl darkening. "Damn."

Jessie nodded, pointing to me. "But this kid, he's an experienced trainer. He wouldn't just be on an island known for a legendary Pokemon without a purpose."

James nodded, grinning. "Yes, yes..." He pointed down below my feet as the chains that bound me around my waist lowered me into the pool, just barely. "Have you ever felt a Lanturn's Shock Wave before?"

I shook my head, finally feeling a bit of fear beneath my tough-guy act.

"Well, tell us everything you know about Jirachi and why you wanted her."

"I don't know..." I looked off to the side, trying to keep my head up.

"Initiate level 35 Lanturn."

My eyes shot wide as a low voltage ran through my body, detonating in my nerves. "Egh..."

"What was that"

I shook my head. He signaled the grunt once more. "Initiating level 45 Lanturn."

The shock was much worse that time, and I started feeling numb below the waist.

"We have them all the way up to level 95, if you're feeling tough."

I looked up at him, about to speak when a grunt barged in the door. "We've arrived in Sootopolis, sir."

James grinned, motioning for his grunts. They gathered around me, loosening the chains until I was on solid ground again. But of course, I fell flat on my face from my numb legs. James just laughed. "You're about to join team rocket, kid."

Howler, Vulpix never had a Pokeball. I said before that it keeps refusing one...

Amelia|Mossdeep:

I stared at the fire stone, then looked at Vulpix. She was giving the fire stone a wary look and then she turned away, watching Maxi and his Pokemon. Okay, no fire stone yet then.

"I'm not evolving my Vulpix," I told him and put the fire stone away. I sent out Growlithe instead. "Growlithe, Bite."

Growlithe churged the Camerupt and bit it. The Camerupt swayed but stayed upright. I sighed and Growlithe came back to me. I bent and whispered in his ear. Growlithe licked my face and turned to face Maxi and his stupid Camerupt.

Gene shot me a glance. "What was that about?"

I grinned and turned back to the fight.

"Vulpix, Quick Attack."

"Nidoking, Earth Power," Gene shouted.

Vulpix charged the Camerupt and a second later Nidoking used Earth Power. The Camperupt went down but it wasn't over. Maxi looked furious; he snagged a Pokeball off his belt and sent out Glaceon.

Vulpix yelped and ran back over to me. I stared at her. What was the problem now? I couldn't stop and wonder at how or why Maxi, a Team Magma Admin, had an Ice type Pokemon. Gene glanced my way and I nodded. I sent out Tropius and returned Growlithe to his Pokeball.

"Ready?" I asked. Gene just nodded. "Tropius, Solarbeam."

"Glaceon," Maxi said and the Glaceon looked back at him. "Ice Fang."

A second later and Tropius was down. I hadn't even seen the Glaceon attack. I stood there in shock for a moment and then raced to Tropius' side.

"Tropius?" I whispered. I swore and started rummaging around in my pack, looking for a revive or something.

"Amelia!" Gene shouted. I ignored him.

"I can't...." I began and then sighed. I got up slowly and returned to Gene's side. I put Tropius back in his Pokeball and glared at the Team Magma guy.

Maxi was grinning. "Problem?" he asked.

Suddenly the Glaceon turned on him and used Ice Fang, freezing Maxi in place.

"Err..." I began. "What just happened?"

Happliy, the Glaceon came trotting over to me, a Pokeball in it's mouth, and sat down at my feet.

Gene laughed. "I think it likes you better."


Glaceon has been added to Amelia's party.

Gene

I walked up to the frozen Maxi, and touched his face. Eerie, you know? He was just frozen there, not able to do a thing. It made it pretty easy when a few police officers came by. They took Maxi and the grunts away, and I turned to Amelia and her new Glaceon.

"I think it likes you better. I'd keep that if I were you. Might be the strongest thing you'll get", I told her. It was depressing to see Vulpix's power wasted. That Vulpix wouldn't be able to stand on its own without evolving.

"She doesn't have to"

"But she should"

Amelia just looked angrily at me. She was too big a wimp. I didn't want to deal with this, but somehow, I just felt like I had to. She really could be the only help I could get for now. Besides, she wanted to come along, why shouldn't I let her. If she goes down, it can't really hurt me too much dragging her along.

I put Nidoking back in his pokeball, but just before I could pull out Ditto to start travelling to the pokemon center to let Amelia heal up, then fly off to Sootopolis to get Tyler, a helicopter started flying down. It landed right on the island, and out stepped a short, young man with black hair and a blue tie; it was Thorton, one of the brains from the Sinnoh/Johto Battle Frontier. He was pretty straight to business, so I immediately walked up to him and played his game.

"What're you here for?", I asked.

"Business. Getting back some stolen goods"

"By stolen goods..."

"Rental pokemon"

Somehow, that didn't surprise me. Although Thorton kept those pokemon as emotionless as himself. At least Team Rocket let the pokemon have a personality, even if it was an evil one. Thorton focused on Maxi while he was carried away by the officers.

"How exactly was he frozen?", he asked me. Oh god...that explains the odd Glaceon that Maxi had. Amelia needed it more than Thorton wanted it back, so I lied.

"Lucky ice punch from Nidoking"

"You're Nidoking hit him straight on?", he asked, doubting my statement.

"Knocked his arm, spun him around with the punch"

"...Alright", Thorton said, not wanting to get involved with a useless argument. Amelia owed me one. Thorton turned his back and I signaled to Amelia to put Glaceon in the pokeball. Nobody wanted to get Thorton annoyed, because he wouldn't just let you go free; you'd be paying fines and debt and he'd sick lawyers after you. That's something that no pokemon trainer can defeat. He threw his Ledian out of a pokeball.

"Find any of the factory balls and bring them back here", Thorton told him. Ledian gave a salute with his two right arms and started flying off. It was funny, almost. Seeing Thorton use his own pokemon. That Ledian was the only pokemon that he actually caught and was partners with. The rest he just rented from the factory. He was a disgrace to every trainer out there.

I signaled to Amelia again to get Glaceon into her ball and to hide her, quick.