EVERYONE: 404 Error

[Missingno. Master]

Though I've used the "Everyone" prefix, be aware that this does contain minor swearing. Nothing much worse than "hell" or "damn". Still, I feel it best to say this for the benefit of anyone out there who would be offended by such.

Another warning; Many Pokémon in this fic are Glitch Pokémon. Those of you uninformed about them should look them up via their respective Bulbapedia articles. The same goes for the Glitch moves they use.

Chapter 1: A New Adventure
~~~~~~~~​

It was a bright, sunny morning in Talpel Town. The blocky, scrambled sun shone brightly in the sky with nary a single digit to block the light as it shone onto the various dwellings, the walls of which were all covered in rocks, shrubbery, pieces of fence, and the occasional number, all of them arranged in no particular pattern, giving the whole town a very random and disorderly appearance.

Through the crooked, scrambled-looking door of one of these houses burst a young boy, fourteen years of age, dressed in baggy jeans and a black t-shirt. His shaggy, carrot-colored hair shook wildly as he ran excitedly past his mother's garden and down the road, which was peppered with tufts of grass, rocky patches, and the occasional square-shaped puddle.

"This is it!" the boy muttered to himself excitedly. "This is the day I finally get my first Poké-OOF!"

For at that moment, he had collided head-on with a girl his age, clad in a purple sweatshirt and a pair of tight blue jeans.

"Orange!" scowled the girl as she pushed her sleek black hair out of her face. "Can't you look where you're going for once in your life?"

"Sorry, Vi," the boy named Orange apologized, grinning sheepishly as the two picked themselves up and started walking together. "I'm just excited, you know? Once we get our starters from Professor Redwood, we're free to travel the Tanko region as Pokémon trainers!"

"It is exciting, isn't it?" the girl conceded, betraying a small grin. "You decided on your starter?"

Orange nodded. "44Hy for sure," he said. "What about you?"

"Still thinking about it," came the reply. "Bellsprout, Growlithe, 44Hy, they all evolve into great Pokémon."

"Well, you better get thinking, Violet- we're here," grinned Orange. Sure enough, they had arrived at a building that was coated in the same sort of semi-random debris as all the others, but was significantly larger. A sign posted on a nearby rock read; "Redwood Pokémon Research Lab".

"Rrrgh," groaned Violet as they walked up to the door. "Still... Don't... Know... Oh, Orange, can't you be patient at all?!" she added in exasperation as Orange eagerly rapped on the part of the wall which resembled a piece of fence.

"I've been patient for too long, Vi," said Orange. "I just want to be a trainer already!"

"Me too, but you can't just rush this decision!" Violet hissed.

"What rush? You've had months to think about it!" laughed Orange.

"That's just it- I've been using those months to actually think! Unlike you, you just decided you're starting with 44Hy the minute your mom told you she'd let you start training!"

Orange opened his mouth to retort, but the fence piece swung open, revealing a middle-aged man whose buttoned-up lab coat did a very poor job of hiding his considerable gut. What remained of his hair was colored a dark brown.

"Professor Redwood!" Violet exclaimed. "Um... I'm Violet Scramble, and this is-"

"Orange McPixel," finished the professor. "I've already heard from both your mothers. You're here for your starter Pokémon, correct?"

Orange and Violet nodded simultaneously.

"Well, come in! Come in!" exclaimed Professor Redwood jovially as he turned around and walked back into the building. Orange and Violet exchanged looks, then followed.

The interior of Professor Redwood's lab looked nowhere near as chaotic as the outside did; the entire floor was wood, the walls were all white, and not a single digit could be seen on the ceiling.

"Important day for you two, this," Redwood stated as he reached over to a nearby table and took three spheres off of it, scooping them into his left arm. The spheres were half red and half white, with the halves being divided by a thin, black line. At one point in this line, there was a small, white button. Each Poké Ball was the size of a baseball.

"Are those...?" Orange asked excitedly.

"Yep," replied Redwood. "The starter Pokémon. Let me introduce you to 'em. First up, the Grass-type... Bellsprout!"

As Redwood spoke that last word, he took one of the Poké Balls into his right hand and tossed it straight up into the air, whereupon it split open along that black line, releasing a gush of bright white light into the room. The light gathered on the floor and formed itself into what appeared to be a small plant of some sort. Its body was, for the most part, a brown, lithe vine, which split into two roots near the bottom. In the middle, a pair of leaves sprouted from this vine, and on the top was a bell-shaped head with two beady eyes and a large, gaping mouth.

"Bellsprout sprout," the Pokémon stated as it looked up at Orange and Violet.

"Yeah, Bellsprout, cool- let's see the next one," Orange said excitedly.

"There's no rush here, lad," replied Redwood, but all the same, he took another Poké Ball and threw it. "Next, the Fire-type... Growlithe!"

Another flash of light, and an orange quadrupedal Pokémon formed on the floor, and sat next to Bellsprout. This Pokémon had black stripes and cream-colored tufts of fur everywhere.

"Grrrrowlithe!" it barked, wagging its bushy tail at the sight of the beginning trainers.

"...and?" prompted Orange impatiently, earning a stomp on the foot from Violet.

"Sprout sprout Bellsprout!" Bellsprout laughed as Orange howled in pain.

"And finally," declared Redwood as he threw the last Poké Ball into the air, "Last but not least, the Water-type... 44Hy!"

A third flash of light, and a cube-shaped Pokémon covered in pixelly markings materialized. This Pokémon appeared to be two feet tall, and its markings were various shades of bright red, with a few black pixels thrown in.

"Four four hyyyyyyyy," squealed 44Hy, despite lacking a discernible mouth.

"Now you've met your three choices," stated Redwood. "Think it over carefully, for this decision is not one to be taken lightly-"

"I want 44hy," interrupted Orange. Violet facepalmed, Bellsprout mirroring this action.

"...OK, then," shrugged Redwood, as he held out one of the Poké Balls. "44Hy, return."

Immediately, a beam of red light shot out of the button on the Poké Ball and struck 44Hy. This converted the Water-type into a shapeless glob of red light, which was then sucked back into the ball. Redwood then tossed the sphere at Orange, who in his excitement nearly dropped it.

"And Miss Scramble, have you decided?" Redwood asked.

"I think so," smiled Violet. "I want Bellsprout."

"That was fast," remarked Orange as the professor returned Bellsprout to its Poké Ball. "I thought you couldn't decide."

"Yeah, well, I just have a feeling that me and Chompy are gonna get along fine," grinned Violet. "And don't touch that, Orange!"

"What?" Orange asked defensively, but withdrawing his hand from a nearby computer all the same. "I just wanted to see if it had Solitaire!"

"She's right, Orange, you shouldn't be touching this stuff," said Professor Redwood, as he glanced around at his laboratory. Though it was relatively clean, there were still stacks of paper in various places on the floor. The computer Orange nearly touched was hardly the only one in the room; there were at least three that Orange could see at a quick glance.

"Well, it's not like I was gonna destroy it or anything," Orange sulked. "And Vi, what did you call your Bellsprout?

"Chompy. It's Bellsprout's nickname," replied Violet. "You know, you could give that 44Hy of yours a nickname, Orange."

"I suck at nicknaming and you know it," Orange snapped. "Remember the pet Pikachu my mom got?"

"Oh yeah," Violet laughed. "You named it 'Shockey'."

"It seemed like a good idea at the time!"

"Much as I hate to interrupt," Professor Redwood spoke up, "I think I ought to give you two your Pokédexes and Poké Balls."

"Oh, yeah!" exclaimed Orange as the professor handed him a thin, red box and five miniature Poké Balls. As he handed the same to Violet, Orange dumped the supplies carelessly in the yellow backpack he had been wearing. Violet rolled her eyes as she carefully packed her supplies into the blue fanny pack she was wearing.

"Thanks, Professor," grinned Violet as the duo turned to leave.

"One more thing, just a minute," the professor said suddenly. "Get on with it."

"With what?" asked Violet. This time, it was Orange's turn to roll his eyes.

"You don't get it, do you, Vi?" he said exasperatedly. "We're both trainers now. Professor Redwood wants us to have a battle!"

"Very good, Orange," nodded Redwood approvingly. "Battles are the best way to build bonds between trainers and their Pokémon. And given how spacious my lab is, you might as well have at it right here!"

"Let's do this," grinned Orange as he and Violet went to opposite ends of the large and airy room.

"Prepare to lose," Violet grinned back. "Grass beats Water, you know."

"And Psychic beats Poison," Orange shot back. "Type advantages go both ways with this one."

"This will be a one-on-one battle between Orange McPixel of Talpel Town, and Violet Scramble, also of Talpel Town," announced Professor Redwood to nobody in particular. "Begin!"

"Alright, 44Hy!" exclaimed Orange as he took the Poké Ball off of his belt, pressed the button to enlarge it to full size, and heaved it towards the middle of the room. "Let's win this!"

The ball unleashed a flash of light which formed into 44Hy. The Water/Psychic-type floated motionlessly in midair.

"I choose you, Chompy!" called Violet as she threw her own Poké Ball. "Go!"

Another flash of light, and Violet's Bellsprout materialized. It faced Orange's 44Hy and gave what was evidently supposed to be an intimidating battle cry. Then, as if on cue, both trainers took their Pokédexes out, opened them up, and pointed them at their newly acquired Pokémon.

"44Hy, the Riverside Pokémon," droned Orange's Pokédex in a mechanical voice. "44Hy is an uncommonly good swimmer. If threatened, it fights back with telekinetic power Though usually small, the largest known specimen was recorded at being twenty-three feet tall."

"Bellsprout, the Flower Pokémon," droned Violet's Pokédex in a voice identical to Orange's Pokédex. "Bellsprout attacks with its vines at the slightest provocation. It is carnivorous and feasts on small bugs." Each Pokédex then listed on its screen the attacks the Pokémon before them knew.

"Let's go, 44Hy! Headbutt attack now!" ordered Orange.

"Hyyyyyyyyyyy," squealed 44Hy as it zoomed forward.

"Chompy, dodge it and use Vine Whip!" commanded Violet.

"Sprout!" exclaimed Chompy as it leapt into the air, evading the Headbutt completely. Then, a pair of green vines sprouted from behind Chompy's leaves and slammed into 44Hy, sending it crashing to the floor.

"44Hy, now try your Disable attack!" Orange called as the Riverside Pokémon unsteadily rose back into the air. Almost immediately, a pink glow came over 44Hy's cube-shaped body, and a similar glow formed in the Bellsprout's eyes.

"Damn!" groaned Violet. "Vine Whip was Chompy's only move, too."

"We got 'em now," grinned Orange.

"Chompy, use Struggle attack!" called Violet.

"Confusion!" cackled Orange.

"Hyyyyyyyyyyyyyy four four," exclaimed 44Hy as it launched a ray of blue light from one of its corners. Chompy dashed forward, flailing about madly, but the effort was in vain; as soon as 44Hy's Confusion attack hit, Bellsprout was knocked back; it slid across the floor, skidding to a stop at its trainer's feet.

"Chompy is unable to battle!" declared Redwood. "Orange and 44Hy are the winners!"

"We'll beat them next time, Chompy," Violet assured her unconscious Pokémon as she returned it to its Poké Ball.

"Great job, 44Hy," Orange grinned as he withdrew his Water/Psychic-type.

"Great job, the both of you," smiled Redwood. "You both were in sync with your Pokémon the whole time, and you battled excellently. I really think the two of you are gonna do fine-"

THUMP!

"What the hell?" muttered Orange; the loud thumping sound had come from just outside the front of the laboratory.

"Let's see what's going on," Redwood stated as he dashed to the door as fast as his portliness would allow. As he pushed it open, Orange looked past him to see a boy who looked around his age passed out on the road.

"Sweet crap!" exclaimed Orange as the professor ran over, picked the unconscious youth up, and carried him into the lab. He was wearing a sleeveless red jacket over a black t-shirt, and a red-and-white cap over messy brown hair.

"Is he breathing?" asked Violet as the professor laid the boy down on a nearby couch.

"Yeah he is," said Redwood. "I never seen him around here before, though."

Just then, the youth's eyelids fluttered, then opened completely.

"He's awake!" declared Orange.

"Yeah, thanks, Captain Obvious," sighed Violet.

"Oh..." groaned the boy. "Where... where am I?"

~~~~~~~~
End of Chapter 1.​

 

[Missingno. Master]

Chapter 2: Meet Red
~~~~~~~~​

"Where am I?" the boy asked again.

"Take it easy, son," said Professor Redwood quietly. "You're in my lab, in Talpel Town."

"...what?" the youth asked uncertainly. "Talpel Town? Where... Who are you?"

"I'm Professor Redwood."

"Who?"

"You've never heard of Professor Redwood?" asked Orange incredulously. "He's like, only the most renowned Pokémon researcher in the whole Tanko region!"

"The what region?" replied the boy.

"What the hell?!" exclaimed Orange. "HOW do you not know the name of the region you're in?!?!"

"Orange, shut up," sighed Violet. She then turned to the youth on the professor's couch. "I'm Violet Scramble and Mr. Insensitivity back there is Orange McPixel. What's your name?"

"Red. Red Vershunn," replied the boy.

"And where are you from, Red?" asked Redwood patiently.

"Pallet Town, Kanto region," Red answered.

Orange, Violet, and Professor Redwood exchanged surprised glances.

"The WHAT?!" exclaimed Orange.

"The... Kanto region," Red repeated, now regarding Orange warily. "You must have heard of it."

"I've heard of it," nodded Orange. "But I thought it was just an urban legend, you know, how it's supposed to be like a parallel universe or something."

"Kanto does indeed exist," said Professor Redwood. "They've been conducting all sorts of research in the laboratory on Bincanar Island in the south, and the scientists there believe that it may be possible to forge a link between Kanto and Tanko. Red, what's the last thing you remember before waking up on my sofa?"

"Well," Red began, "I was in Fuchsia City's Safari Zone, with Professor Oak and his grandson Blue."

"Professor Oak exists?!?!" interrupted Orange.

"Orange?" said Violet.

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

"Anyway," continued Red, "He was going there to study some of the rarer Pokémon in the wild, and I got him to bring me along. He had just given me my first Pokémon, and I thought maybe I'd be able to catch something else there. But once I was inside, I got separated from the professor and Blue, and while trying to find them, somehow angered a Venonat, who blasted me with Sleep Powder. Once I woke up, I couldn't find the professor or Blue anywhere, so I left the Safari Zone. Five minutes later, I heard this awful voice in my head, saying stuff like 'Time's up! Your Safari Game is done!', over and over. It got worse and worse, and I must have passed out after that, 'cause that's the last thing I remember."

A stunned silence followed this story. After a few minutes, Professor Redwood cleared his throat, breaking the silence.

"Well, Red, you've obviously had a tough time. I think the best thing for you would be to get to Bincanar Island in the south. The scientists there might just have the answers you're looking for. Unfortunately, there's no boat scheduled to leave for Bincanar for a few months now..."

"Oh, man," groaned Red. "The professor's probably worried sick."

"I've got it!" exclaimed Redwood suddenly. "Red, you're a trainer, right?"

"Yeah," Red nodded. "I never got a Pokédex yet, though. Professor Oak was all out, but he expecting to get a shipment of Pokédexes once we got back from Fuchsia, so he'd give me one then."

"Well, I have an extra one," Redwood stated as he rummaged through a nearby cabinet, tossing various items over his shoulders as he spoke; Orange had to duck to avoid being hit by a stray cheese grater. Finally, the pudgy professor pulled a Pokédex out and handed it to Red. "Here you go. Orange and Violet here are about to start their own Pokémon journey. You can join them, Red. They'll probably be going to Bincanar Island for a badge eventually, and you can get your answers then."

"Um, Professor? We weren't actually gonna travel together," Orange spoke up. "We just kinda bumped into each other on the way here."

"And he means that in the most literal way possible," Violet added, rubbing the spot on her head where it had collided with Orange's head.

"Really?" Redwood asked in surprise. "I would have thought you'd be traveling together, especially in these dangerous times."

"They're not dangerous anymore, Professor," Orange said. "Those gangs haven't been heard from in months."

"True," replied Redwood, "but that doesn't mean they're gone. And anyways, don't you think you ought to help Red out here? He's in a land unfamiliar to him."

"We'd be glad to," Violet stated while shooting a dirty look at Orange.

"Good, good," nodded Redwood. "Now, Red, what do you say?"

"Well..." began Red, uncertainly, "...I don't know. It seems like a really roundabout way to get there. I mean, there's no other way I can get to... what was it... Bincanar Island? No planes? I can't rent a boat? You don't have any Water-types I can borrow?"

Redwood shook his head. "The ferry service to Bincanar put all the boat rental businesses out of work, and they had already been struggling given the popularity of traveling over water via Pokémon. The only Pokémon I have here are the starters I give to beginning trainers, and the Water-types don't know Surf yet."

"You don't have the HM for Surf?" asked Red.

"Sorry," said Redwood. "Hidden Machines are very hard to come by, even for a professor such as myself. The only one I have teaches Flash, and that's practically useless."

"Well, in that case," Red said, "I guess I'll go with... Violet and Orange, right?"

"I think that's the best idea," nodded Redwood. "Even if you have questions about this region, I'm sure exploring it and seeing it for yourself would be better than any answer I can give you."

"Good point," Red admitted. "Professor Oak says stuff like that all the time, that it's better to see the world for myself than just learn about it from someone else. That's why he agreed to take me with him to the Safari Zone in the first place."

"That's settled then!" boomed Redwood. "Good luck to the three of you!"

The trio said their goodbyes and exited Redwood's lab. Almost immediately, Red's eyes widened and he started to look in every direction, clearly weirded out.

"What the..." Red muttered. "The sun... It looks like someone cut it into ribbons and scrambled up the pieces!"

"Nice, isn't it?" smiled Violet. "You don't usually get a clear day like this in Tanko.

"And... are those numbers in that garden?!"

"Those?" Orange scoffed, looking at the professor's garden, which contained a bunch of ones, threes, and nines, all of them looking as if they were carved out of wood and painted black. "Those are nothing. My mom's crop of even numbers is fantastic this year."

"This place is too weird," Red muttered, shaking his head. "So... you two are trainers, right?"

"Yeah," answered Violet. "You want to see our Pokémon?"

"Sure," Red replied, finally smiling. Violet smiled back as she took out and enlarged a Poké Ball.

"Come on out, Chompy!" called Violet as she threw the sphere into the air. The Poké Ball split open, and Violet's Bellsprout materialized. Though obviously worn out from its previous battle, it was at least conscious again.

"Cool Bellsprout," Red nodded as he took a Poké Ball of his own off his belt. "Now have a look at my Pokémon! Charmander, go!"

Red threw the Poké Ball, and in a flash of light, a small, orange, reptilian Pokémon appeared before them. It stood on its hind legs, and the cream colored spot on its stomach extended down the length of its tail, which was tipped with a single small ember.

"WOAH!" exclaimed Orange. "A Charmander?! Those are so rare!" As he spoke, he took out his Pokédex and pointed it at Charmander.

"Charmander, the Lizard Pokémon. Obviously prefers hot places. When it rains, steam pours from the tip of its tail."

"Yep," Red grinned proudly. "Professor Oak gave me this Charmander as my starter Pokémon. Now let's see your Pokémon, Orange."

"With pleasure," Orange grinned back as he took his own Poké Ball, pressed the button to enlarge it, and tossed it up. In yet another flash of light, the two-foot-tall cube known as 44Hy appeared.

"AIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!" shrieked Red in an unnaturally high voice as he pointed at 44Hy. "Wha... What IS that thing?!"

"My 44Hy," answered Orange. "Why, what's wrong?"

"Four four?" added 44Hy.

"Where do I begin?!" Red exclaimed, now looking slightly nauseated. "Is that... thing... even a Pokémon?"

"Look it up on your Pokédex," suggested Violet. Obligingly, Red took the miniature computerized Pokémon encyclopedia out of his backpack and aimed it at 44Hy.

"44Hy, the Riverside Pokémon. 44Hy is an uncommonly good swimmer. If threatened, it fights back with telekinetic power," droned Red's Pokédex.

"OK..." Red stated. "But, all the same, call it back, would you? That thing gives me the creeps."

"44Hy is not a 'thing'," scowled Orange, but he withdrew his Pokémon all the same.

"Thank you," Red sighed in relief. "So, um... where are we off to first?"

"Nearest Pokémon Gym ought to be in Ivadirin City," Violet answered as she and Red withdrew their Pokémon. "It's not far from here, it shouldn't take too long to get through Route -1."

"Route negative one?" Red repeated.

"What, now you're gonna have a problem with our routes?" demanded Orange.

"Not a problem," said Red, shaking his head. "Just... I just need to get used to this place."

"We understand," Violet nodded. She then turned and glared at Orange while mouthing "You are so insensitive!".
------------
Before long, the trio had arrived at Route -1. Red looked all around him, eyes wide, jaw dropped. The trees that surrounded them looked crooked and scrambled, as if someone had taken ordinary oak trees, chopped them into pieces, and glued them back together haphazardly and without regard for what trees actually looked like; between the arboreal abominations were what appeared to be large rocks with pieces of drywall, brick, and roof tiles attached in strange places.

"Here we are," said Violet. "Route -1. Let's see what we can find in the way of wild Pokémon here."

"Oh, it's on!" exclaimed Orange. "I bet I catch something before either one of you!"

"Is he always like this?" Red muttered to Violet. as Orange dashed off across the scrambled landscape.

"You've no idea," she answered.

With that said, the three trainers began wandering around, turning their heads to look in every direction, eyes peeled for the slightest sign of a wild Pokémon. Though they saw nothing for the first minute of their search, a high-pitched gibbering sound reached their ears before long. Simultaneously the looked in the direction from which the noise was coming, and found its source easily enough; a swarm of small purple Pokémon was zipping through the air above them. Each Pokémon couldn't have been much taller than ten inches; their bodies looked almost rectangular, but with uneven, almost jagged bottoms. As they flew in every directions, some of them emitted small explosions, usually two or three in quick succession. Oddly, not only did the explosions not seem to harm the others, they didn't even seem to harm the exploders.

"Awesome!" Orange exclaimed as he held his Pokédex up at the noisy newcomers. "It's a whole swarm of .4!"

".4, the Caffeine Pokémon," droned Orange's Pokédex. ".4 travel in swarms and emit high-pitched cries constantly. They explode regularly to let off excess energy, but the explosions will not knock them out. .4's type is Pokémaniac, which gives it no weaknesses."

"Gah!" exclaimed Red as a couple of .4 swooped down right past his face. "Get rid of these things!"

"Get rid of them?" repeated Orange. "Are you kidding? I'm gonna catch one!" And he took the Poké Ball of his belt, enlarged it, and threw it. "44Hy, come on out!" he exclaimed.

The ball opened up, and 44Hy appeared in a brilliant display of light. Many of the .4 scattered in all directions at the sight of this larger Pokémon, though several remained.

"Use Confusion!" Orange commanded.

"Four four!" replied 44Hy as it fired off a ray of blue light at the remaining .4. The Caffeine Pokémon screeched in pain as the Psychic move struck them, causing a few more to flee. One of them, however, stayed behind and began to fly in circles around 44Hy.

"This is too weird," Red murmured, shaking his head.

".4's using its Agility attack," Violet warned Orange. "You better be careful, now it's even faster!"

"Relax," scoffed Orange. "I got this-"

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Orange, however, was interrupted by the sound of three consecutive explosions, all of them coming from .4. Each blast, though minor, knocked 44Hy back a bit.

"So, what, they know Explosion? Selfdestruct?" asked Red.

"Nope. TM28," said Violet.

"TM twenty-eight?" Red repeated. "I don't think I'll ever get used to this."

"TM28, .4's signature attack," Red's Pokédex spoke up suddenly from within his backpack. Red hastily dug it out to hear it continue. ".4 explodes to let off excess energy. Due to its constantly-energetic nature, however, the blast does not knock it out. TM28 has no type."

"A move... with no type," Red sighed. "I've never heard of such a thing."

Meanwhile, Orange was continuing to battle the wild .4. After the TM28 attack was done, 44Hy had retaliated with a Headbutt, slamming the energetic Pokémon down onto a rocky part of the ground, right next to a square-shaped puddle. Though it still made unintelligible gibbering noises, it couldn't seem to rise back into the air.

"I've been waiting to say this all my life," Orange said as he took an empty Poké Ball out of his backpack, enlarged it, and heaved it directly at the unconscious .4. "Poké Ball! GO!!!"

The red-and-white sphere hurtled through the air and struck the Caffeine Pokémon. As soon as this happened, .4's body turned into a shapeless glob of transparent red energy. The Poké Ball split open, and with a distinct whirring sound, sucked the mass of energy inside. Once all of it was inside, the ball snapped shut and began to wobble back and forth on the ground.

"C'mon.... c'mon," whined Orange as the ball continued to shake.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the ball stopped shaking.

"YES! YEEEAAAAH!" exclaimed Orange as he snatched the Poké Ball and held it up high. "I caught .4! Oh yeah!"

As Orange continued to loudly celebrate his new capture, Violet turned to Red.

"So, Red, why don't you try to catch a Pokémon? It shouldn't be too hard to find some more .4."

"I'll pass, thanks," Red answered. "I haven't even heard of Pokémon like 44Hy and .4 before. They just creep me out a bit, I dunno. I prefer stuff like.. you know... Rattata, Pikachu, Spearow. Stuff with bodies that aren't so... geometric."

"Well, you'll be able to find a good amount of those," Violet assured him. Then, she looked behind Red. "Huh. Speaking of which, isn't that a Rattata right there?"

Red spun around. Sure enough, a small, rodentlike creature was scurrying across the blocky landscape. Most of its fur was a rich shade of purple, and its front teeth were extremely prominent.

"Now we're talking!" Red exclaimed as he held out his Pokédex in the direction of the Rattata.

"Rattata, the Mouse Pokémon," said Red's Pokédex. "Rattata's front teeth grow continually, so it gnaws various items to whittle them down. It can chew through even the toughest of metals."

"I'm catching this!" Red declared, throwing a Poké Ball. "Charmander, go!"

In a flash of light, Charmander appeared. It gave a sharp cry of "Char char!", which caught the Rattata's attention.

"Orange, will you shut up for a minute?" Violet asked; Orange had still been celebrating his new Pokémon in a very verbal manner. At this, Orange grudgingly quieted down, then noticed Red about to battle.

Rattata made the first move. It darted forward, and slammed its whole body into Charmander. Though Charmander was taller than Rattata, the Tackle attack made its mark nonetheless; Charmander was pushed backwards a bit, but it managed to stand its ground.

"Scratch attack, Charmander!" Red ordered.

"Charmander char!" replied Charmander as it lunged at Rattata and took a swipe at it with its front left leg. This knocked Rattata onto its back, but it got back up relatively easily. Rattata then wheeled around and started wagging its tail uselessly.

"...uh..." Orange said, clearly at a loss.

"It's Rattata's Tail Whip," explained Violet. "Red, don't get caught off-guard. That's exactly what Rattata is after."

"Right," nodded Red. "Charmander, Scratch one more time!"

"Chaaaaar!" Charmander exclaimed as it lunged at Rattata again and took another swipe. This time, Rattata was able to scramble out of the way of the attack. It continued to run, gathering speed, and slammed into Charmander's side, sending the Lizard Pokémon tumbling to the ground.

"Gah!" Red exclaimed. "That was a Quick Attack, wasn't it?"

"Looked like one," Orange nodded. "My mom's pet Pikachu knows that move."

"Charmander, try your Ember attack!" Red ordered.

"Mander!" Charmander exclaimed as it climbed to its feet. Charmander then turned its back to Rattata and wagged its tail. With each wag, a number of small flames flew off its tail. Rattata watched this, seemingly mesmerized by the fire, until the flames actually collided with it. At that point, Rattata began screeching angrily, but passed out almost immediately.

Red wasted no time. With his right hand, he dug into his backpack and pulled out an empty Poké Ball. With his left hand, he turned the cap on his head so it faced backwards. He enlarged the Poké Ball, then launched it at the Rattata. "Poké Ball, go!" Red shouted.

The sphere struck Rattata, and just as Orange's Poké Ball had done with .4, Rattata turned into a shapeless mass of red energy, which was sucked into the ball. Once Rattata was completely pulled inside, the ball slammed shut, fell to the ground, and started wobbling back and forth.

There was total silence. Red was glaring at the Poké Ball as though his gaze would prevent Rattata from breaking free. Then, finally, the ball gave a final pinging sound and fell still.

"Nice," Orange said as Red scooped up the Poké Ball containing his new Rattata.

"Yeah," Red grinned back as he withdrew Charmander. "I caught Rattata!"

"Your turn, Violet!" Orange exclaimed as Red turned his cap back around. "You're the only one who hasn't caught a Pokémon yet."

"Will you give it a rest?" Violet snapped. "I'll catch a Pokémon when I'm good and ready to, and not just because it's the first one I see!"

"Well, you gotta do something, that Bellsprout of yours isn't gonna cut it forever."

"I will, eventually. Quit bugging me."

"Fine," Orange sighed as Violet started looking around. Once she had her back to him, however, Orange stuck his tongue out at her.

"Shouldn't we head to... what was it... Irividan City?" Red suggested.

"It's Ivadirin City," said Violet. "And you got a good point.

"Wait a minute!" interrupted Orange. "You wanna challenge the Ivadirin Gym Leader with only a Bellsprout that only knows Vine Whip?"

"That's... actually a good point," Violet admitted. "Even if I don't want to catch something just yet, I gotta train Bellsprout a bit."

"In which case we should head to a Pokémon Center," Red stated. "Bellsprout looked pretty wiped out when you showed it to me."

"Oh, fine," sighed Orange. With that, the trio continued down Route -1.

The walk wasn't a particularly long one. Red was extremely wary of his surroundings, given that the ground seemed to be made up of lush grass, solid rock, paved road, and puddles of water in relatively equal measure. Orange and Violet traversed this terrain like it was nothing, whereas Red kept tripping over almost everything. It took Red a little while, but he was able to catch up. Once he did, he began talking with Orange and Violet, and was astonished to discover that the both of them were fourteen.

"I'm only eleven!" exclaimed Red. "And you guys only just started today?"

"Yeah," sighed Orange. "There's been a lot of trouble in this region lately, so my mom didn't want me starting until things quieted down a bit."

"Same with my mom," added Violet. "There's been these two gangs wreaking havoc all over the region, causing trouble for trainers. I think they call themselves Team Debug and Team Error. My mom only gave up and let me start my journey because they've quieted down lately."

"Yeah, same here," Orange nodded.

"Teams Debug and Error, huh?" said Red. "They sound a lot like this Team Rocket we got back in Kanto. They're a gang of Pokémon thieves."

At that point, however, the trio reached the top of a small hill and saw before them a mass of pixellated, scrambled structures that appeared to be buildings.

"Here we are," announced Orange. "Ivadirin City!"

~~~~~~~~
End of Chapter 2.​

 

[Te-em]

.4 is the most dangerous Glitch Pokemon, did you know? It's a nice world these people live in I wonder where Porygon would fit best, in this region or Kantou.

 

[Missingno. Master]

.4 is the most dangerous Glitch Pokemon, did you know?

Oh, what, because one of its starting moves is Super Glitch? Yeah, I've heard that. I personally had no problem with training a .4 in Blue version myself. I overwrote Super Glitch with another move (don't remember exactly what, might have been Dragon Rage) ASAP, game never so much as froze. And this was years ago and my Blue version works just as well as ever.

I wonder where Porygon would fit best, in this region or Kantou.

Interesting question. I never really thought about Porygon's inclusion. I'm not even close to being that far along in the story.

Chapter 3: Red Vs. Violet
~~~~~~~~​

The first place Orange, Violet, and Red visited was the Ivadirin City Pokémon Center. The nurse on duty was more than happy to heal their Pokémon.

"So, Orange, Violet," Red said as they all sat down on a comfortable sofa in the center's waiting area, "I've been wondering, why doesn't Professor Redwood give out Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle to beginning trainers?"

"Those Pokémon are almost unheard of in Tanko," replied Violet. "From what my mom told me, that was what he initially planned to do when he opened his lab, but he had so much trouble getting ahold of any semi-decent amount of them that in order to be ready for three starting trainers one day, he had to just go out and catch the first three Grass, Fire, and Water-types he came across. Those happened to be Bellsprout, Growlithe, and 44Hy. It's not all that balanced, considering that Bellsprout isn't very strong to start off with, and 44Hy has incredible psychic power, but he never intended it to be a permanent arrangement."

"So why is it?" asked Red.

"Turns out, those three are pretty popular among beginning trainers. Even if it's weak initially, turns out there's a lot of trainers who love the idea of eventually having a Victreebel by their side someday. And they all think that Arcanine is as close to a legendary Pokémon as they're ever gonna get. And then there's Q-"

"Who?" interrupted Red. His Pokédex, however, answered, as a large square covered in yellow and black pixellated markings appeared on the screen.

"Q, the Deep Sea Pokémon, and the evolved form of 44Hy," stated the Pokédex. "When it starts to use its immense Psychic powers, its entire body lights up. It can dive underwater to great depths."

"Ah," Red stated. "Another one of those."

"You guys talking about Q?" said Orange. "Q is awesome! And the best part is, it doesn't take much to make a 44Hy evolve either!

"So if Q is so powerful and easy to get, why does anyone choose Growlithe or Bellsprout?" asked Red.

"Well, like I said," Violet replied, "Victreebel and Arcanine are some of the most popular Pokémon in these parts, and not far off from Q in terms of power."

At that moment, the nurse approached the group, carrying a tray which bore five Poké Balls, proclaiming the balls' inhabitants to be at full health.

------------
"About time!" Orange exclaimed as he burst through the giant "9" which served as the center's front door and into the middle of a nearby vacant lot, the landscape peppered with tufts of grass, chunks of rock, and various sevens and threes. "Let's battle!"

"Will you calm down already?" groaned Violet as she and Red followed.

"Not really," grinned Orange. "Come on, Vi. Battle, you and me!"

"As long as you don't use your 44Hy," replied Violet.

"Aw, come on!" whined Orange.

"Chompy isn't gonna get anywhere if he keeps losing!" exclaimed Violet. "At least with your .4 there's no type disadvantage to worry about."

"...fine," grumbled Orange as he took a Poké Ball off his belt and enlarged it. Orange and Violet then took their places, twenty feet away from each other.

"Relax, Orange," said Red. "You gotta use Pokémon other than your starter sometimes."

"Yeah, I know," conceded Orange as Violet threw a Poké Ball onto the field, unleashing her Bellsprout. Orange sighed, then threw the Poké Ball. ".4, go!"

The Poké Ball split open, and in a flash of light, the hyperactive .4 materialized. Orange then consulted his Pokédex, and brought up a list of attacks his .4 knew.

"Chompy, hit it with Vine Whip!" called Violet.

"Dodge it with Agility, .4!" commanded Orange.

"Bellsprout sprout," said Chompy as a pair of vines emerged from behind its leaves. Chompy then reached for .4 with the vines, but the Caffeine Pokémon began zipping through the air in random directions. Chompy was unable to get in a single hit.

"Now get in close and use TM28!" Orange shouted.

.4 gibbered excitedly as it dive-bombed Chompy and promptly unleashed a small explosion, sending the Bellsprout flying backwards. Though the attack appeared to hit hard, Chompy was able to get back onto its roots, albeit unsteadily.

"Chompy, Vine Whip again!" Violet ordered.

".4, TM05!" commanded Orange.

.4's body took on a mystical-looking blue aura, then zoomed downward, as if to tackle Chompy. It pulled out of the dive at the last second, but then appeared to vanish into thin air.

"What the hell?" Red asked, raising an eyebrow at this unfamiliar technique.

"TM05, an evasive technique," droned Red's Pokédex. "TM05 turns the user invisible, allowing it to avoid oncoming attacks with greater ease."

"Sprooooouuuut," whined Chompy as it flailed its vines around at random, hoping to swat .4 down.

"No chance at all," grinned Orange. ".4, finish it! TM28 attack now!"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" squealed .4 as the air behind Chompy exploded. The Bellsprout was thrown into the air, but then, its still-flailing vines appeared to hit something solid. Immediately, .4 became visible again as it fell to the ground.

"You got it, Chompy!" encouraged Violet. "Hit it again!"

"Bellsprout sprout... Bell!" exclaimed Chompy suddenly as its body took on a faint green glow. Then, its body seemed to grow out in all directions, its roots thickening, its leaves broadening. After a few seconds, the growing and glowing stopped; Chompy now was equal in height to its trainer's waist.

"Did it evolve?" wondered Orange.

"Does that look like a Weepinbell to you?" Violet replied. "I think Chompy learned how to use Growth! Chompy, Vine Whip once more!"

".4, dodge it!" exclaimed Orange, but the order came too late; Chompy unfurled a pair of thick vines and slammed them into .4, who was still reeling from the last hit. This attack plowed .4 halfway into the ground, where it ceased to move.

"DAMN IT!" roared Orange as he withdrew .4.

"Now we're even," smirked Violet as Bellsprout shrunk back down to its usual size; as the battle had ended, its Growth had worn off. "What did you think of that, Red?"

Red, however, did not reply. He seemed to be deep in thought.

"...Red?" asked Orange. "Hello?"

"Guys, I just thought of something," Red frowned. "The town with Professor Redwood's laboratory, what's it called again?"

"Talpel Town. Why?" replied Orange.

"And what's this city called again?"

"Ivadirin City," Violet answered.

"Could you spell those for me?" Red asked.

Violet and Orange exchanged confused glances, but obliged to Red's request and spelled out the names. Red regarded this new information, and for a few moments, closed his eyes and appeared to think about it. Then, his eyes flew open.

"I knew it," he said. "Something's been nagging me about those names and I finally know what it is."

"What?" asked Orange.

"First off, the little bit I know about this region's locations seemed vaguely familiar to begin with," Red started. "I wasn't sure what it was, mainly because the whole alternate dimension thing was kinda freaking me out, not to mention Orange's weird Pokémon."

"My Pokémon are not weird!" Orange exclaimed indignantly.

"And then the names, something about them was bothering me, and now I know. Talpel Town- you rearrange the letters in that, you get Pallet Town. Same with Ivadirin City- in Kanto, the city closest to Pallet Town is Viridian City. And what was the name of the island Professor Redwood mentioned?"

"B-Bincanar," Violet answered, still surprised at this revelation. "Spelled B-I-N-C-A-N-A-R."

"I thought so," Red grinned. "Across the sea, directly south of Talpel Town?"

"Yeah," Orange said.

"Let me guess, in Kanto, there's an island across the sea, directly south of Pallet Town?" asked Violet.

"Cinnabar Island," Red nodded. "Rearrange the letters in Bincanar, you get Cinnabar."

"OK, this is freaky," Orange sighed, shaking his head.

"For once in your life, you're right," Violet said, earning a dirty look from Orange.

"That was a cheap shot!" Orange snapped. "Hey, Red, why don't you battle Violet now?"

"Hmm?" Red blinked in surprise. "Oh- oh, sure. Fine by me."

"Works for me, too," Violet agreed. With that, Orange walked off to the side as Red took his place.

"Same rules as before," Orange stated. "One Pokémon each."

"Let's go, Chompy!" exclaimed Violet.

"Sprout!" replied Chompy as it made its way back onto the battlefield.

Red took a Poké Ball off his belt, enlarged it, and tossed it out in front of him. "Rattata, let's go!" he shouted.

The ball split open, and Rattata was unleashed in a brilliant flash of light.

"Rattata!" it called out in a shrill voice.

"Aww, you're using Rattata?" whined Orange. "I wanted to see you cream her with your Charmander!"

"Charmander's battled before. Rattata hasn't," Red replied. "I can't just rely on one Pokémon all the time."

"Chompy, Growth!" Violet ordered.

"Rattata, Tackle attack!" Red commanded.

Chompy's body took on a faint green glow, then nearly doubled in size within seconds. Though a bit unnerved at this, Rattata lunged forward regardless and plowed into the large Grass-type, sending it flying backwards.

"Chompy, you got this!" encouraged Violet as the Bellsprout climbed back into an upright position. "Vine Whip now!"

"Bellsprout... Sprout!" exclaimed Chompy as it unfurled a pair of thick vines from behind its leaves.

"Dodge it and use Quick Attack!" Red ordered.

"Rrrrattata!" the Mouse Pokémon cried out as it scrambled away from the oncoming vines and charged at Chompy with great speed. The Bellsprout hastily tried to slap Rattata out of the way with Vine Whip, but its target was moving much too fast. The purple blur that was Rattata slammed Bellsprout backwards. It skidded across the field and stopped at Violet's feet, unconscious.

"Good job, Rattata," smiled Red as he held out the Poké Ball and recalled his Normal-type.

"You did the best you could, Chompy," sighed Violet as she withdrew Bellsprout.

"OK, now let's hit the gym!" Orange exclaimed. Violet responded to this with a withering look.

"You're joking, right, Orange? Chompy is my only Pokémon. Chompy is unconscious. How do you expect me to win a gym battle with a knocked-out Bellsprout?"

"Oh, yeah," Orange replied, grinning sheepishly.
-------------
Half an hour later, the trio exited the Pokémon Center for the second time that day. It didn't take long before .4, Chompy, and Rattata were completely refreshed.

"OK, NOW let's hit the gym!" Orange exclaimed, now with a tinge of whininess in his voice. "Come on, guys! I want to earn me a Soil Badge already!"

"Orange. Relax," Violet sighed. "It's not like the Gym Leader is gonna go anywhere."

"Uh.... Yeah.... About that," Red chuckled weakly; at that moment they had arrived at a large and imposing structure. Above what appeared to be an assortment of roofing tiles glued to a wall hung a large wooden sign, with the words "Ivadirin City Pokémon Gym" painted on it in large black lettering. On the aforementioned roofing tiles was a small piece of paper, attached to what Red took to be a door with duct tape. Orange approached the gym and read the words printed on the paper out loud.

"'I'm away on business. Until my return, Ivadirin Gym is closed. Signed, the Ivadirin Gym Leader.' What the hell?!" Orange demanded indignantly. "Vi, I TOLD you we should have hurried!"

"I doubt he left two minutes ago," Violet snapped, rolling her eyes. "We probably would've passed him on our way here."

"Well, this is disappointing," Red sighed as he looked over the note again, despite having already read it twice.

"I know, right?!" exclaimed Orange. "What are we gonna do until this guy gets back?"

"I guess we gotta go to Rewept City," shrugged Violet. "There's a Pokémon Gym there, too."

"What... you mean we gotta go through Ivadirin Forest?" asked Orange, trepidation in his voice.

"Rewept City... Is that spelled R-E-W-E-P-T?" asked Red.

"Yeah," Violet said.

"I thought so," Red smirked. "Rearrange 'Rewept' and you get 'Pewter'. In Kanto, north of Viridian City is Pewter City."

"Yeah, yeah, fascinating," Orange said dismissively. "But... Can't we just, like, go around Ivadirin Forest or something?"

"Oh, yeah," Violet grinned evilly. "I forgot. You don't like Bug Pokémon, do you, Orange?"

"Shut up," Orange snapped, his face reddening.

"What?" Red asked.

"Look, Bug-types bug me, OK?" Orange said loudly.

"They do?" Red asked. "Why?"

"Because-" Violet started.

"Don't!" Orange yelled. "Look, we can go through the forest, OK? Just keep the Bug-types away from me and don't say another word about this!"

"Fine, fine," Violet replied. Red seemed taken aback at Orange's unexpectedly violent response, but said nothing as Violet led the way.

Before long, they had left Ivadirin City, and were standing before a thick grove of badly scrambled trees. Each tree looked as if it had been chopped into little pieces and glued back together randomly. Just like the trees on Route -1, but worse.

"OK, seriously," Orange said quietly, "I think there's a path that takes us right around this forest."

"You are such a big baby," Violet replied. "Come on."

"It'll be fine, Orange," Red added. "I got Charmander with me. Bug-types won't dare mess with us once I let it out."

"Fine," Orange conceded as he followed Red and Violet into the arboreal maze before them.

Inside the forest, it was dark. Though the trees were horribly jumbled, most of them still had their leaves on the top, and were thus able to block out most of the sunlight. As the trio walked down a narrow path lined with trees, Orange glanced nervously in all directions, and had to fight off the urge to scream when a faint buzzing noise could be heard off in the distance.

After several minutes of walking, Orange spoke up. "Um... You think maybe we could, you know, speed it up a bit? I'd like to get to Rewept City, you know, before it gets too late."

"Before it gets dark and we have to camp out in the forest, you mean," said Violet.

"Orange has a good point," Red stated. "If we had to stop to camp, we might lose our way through the forest, and it'll take us even longer to get to... what was it... Rewept City."

"Fine," Violet sighed. With that, she quickened her pace. Orange hastened to keep up, still glancing around nervously. Then, Red was forced to stop short as Orange screeched to a halt, pointing shakily at a small, green creature which had fallen out of a tree and onto the ground before him.

"Hmm?" Violet asked as she turned around. "Orange, what's wrong?"

"Th... th... th... tha!" stammered Orange as he backed up (nearly knocking Red to the ground in the process) and continued to point. The Pokémon at which Orange was pointing had a body composed of small green spheres. It had big black eyes and a red, "Y"-shaped antennae on its head.

"Oh!'' exclaimed Violet as she looked down and pointed her Pokédex at the newcomer. "A Caterpie!"

"Caterpie, the Worm Pokémon," droned Violet's Pokédex. "A very docile Pokémon of the Bug type, Caterpie feeds almost exclusively on leaves. When threatened, it unleashes a horrible stench from its antennae to drive off the threat."

Violet looked at the Caterpie, who was glancing up at the three humans. Then, she betrayed a small chuckle.

"Orange, I knew Bug-types freaked you out, but a Caterpie? Come on! You're acting like it's a Pinsir or a Z4 or something! Caterpie are the definition of harmless!"

"Bugs are bugs." Orange replied as defiantly as he could while cowering behind Red.

"Well, this bug's gonna be mine," grinned Violet. "Maybe if we have a Bug-type with us you'll actually clam up once in a while!" Wasting no time, Violet stepped back, creating a good distance between herself and the wild Caterpie, then took a Poké Ball off her belt, enlarged it, and threw it. "Chompy, I choose you!" she called.

In a flash of light, Violet's Bellsprout materialized. It stared down the Caterpie and flexed its leaves as if they were arms. Caterpie responded to this by turning to face its adversary and assume what was evidently supposed to be an intimidating battle pose.

"Chompy, Vine Whip now!" ordered Violet.

"Sprout!" exclaimed Chompy as a pair of slender, dark-green vines extended from behind its leaves. The vines zipped forward and slammed into Caterpie. Though the attack knocked Caterpie on its back, it got right back up and charged forward as fast as its stubby feet would carry it (which, Red had to admit, was actually a little faster than he had expected).

"It's using Tackle," warned Violet. "Chompy, block it!"

"Bellsprout sprout," Chompy replied as it moved its still-extended vines so they were positioned directly in Caterpie's way. The Worm Pokémon struggled valiantly, but ultimately, the Bellsprout was able to stop the Tackle attack completely. As Chompy retracted its vines, however, Caterpie showed no signs of giving up, and blasted several strands of what appeared to be white silk threads from its mouth. Within seconds, Chompy was encased in some sort of cocoon. It struggled to move as Caterpie charged forward for a second Tackle.

"Looks like Caterpie used String Shot," Red observed. "Chompy can hardly move.

"Fascinating," Orange replied; he was determinedly looking in any direction other than the battle.

"Chompy, Growth!" Violet commanded.

"Sproooooooouuuut!" bellowed Chompy as a greenish glow peeked through the sticky silk strands. Then, the String Shot was ripped right off as the Bellsprout's small form doubled in size. At the sight of its enemy becoming even larger, Caterpie screeched to a halt and squeaked feebly. As Chompy looked down on the Caterpie it now towered over, the latter Pokémon promptly fell over and was still.

"It's over, Orange," Red said, tapping Orange on the shoulder. "Caterpie passed out from sheer fright!"

"Oh, good," Orange sighed in relief. "As long as she doesn't try to-"

"Poké Ball, go!" Violet called as she heaved a red-and-white sphere at the unconscious Bug-type.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!?!" bellowed Orange as the Poké Ball split open and sucked Caterpie inside. Violet, however, did not answer; her eyes were intently fixed on the ball as it wobbled back and forth, a red light blinking on and off on the button. And then, it was still.

"I caught a Caterpie," smirked Violet as she walked over and scooped up the ball. As this happened, Chompy's body shrunk back down to its usual proportions. "I think I'll name him 'Flutters'."

"'Flutters'?" repeated Orange. "You realize you caught a Caterpie, right? Not a Butterfree?"

"It'll become a Butterfree, moron. I'm planning ahead," Violet answered smoothly. "Same reason Bellsprout's name is Chompy. It's Victreebel who are known for chomping. I don't want to give Pokémon nicknames that won't suit them after they evolve."

"Like naming a Magikarp 'Fails'." nodded Red. "Suits it as a Magikarp, but once it evolves..."

"Exactly," smiled Violet.

"Look, can we just get the hell out of here?" pleaded Orange.

"Yeah, let's get moving," Red agreed.

"I guess so," sighed Violet. With that, she once again took the lead as the trio continued through the forest.

~~~~~~~~
End of Chapter 3.​

 

[Missingno. Master]

Chapter 4: Flight Of The Z4
~~~~~~~~​

The walk through the Ivadirin Forest was a slow one; the path was narrow and constantly twisting and turning. It really was a natural maze. To Orange, however, it seemed to take an eternity; Violet was leading the way, and had insisted upon allowing her new Caterpie to ride on her shoulder. Though Flutters appeared happy with this arrangement, the same could not be said for Orange, who spent most of the time cowering behind Red, much to his amusement and slight annoyance.

"Orange, come on," sighed Red for what had to be the ninth or tenth time. "It's a Caterpie. It's not gonna hurt you at all."

"You don't know that," replied Orange. "They have a mean Tackle attack, you know.

"Why don't you like Bug Pokémon anyway?"

"Because-" started Violet.

"Don't you dare!" Orange threatened as menacingly as he could while keeping his distance from the Caterpie. "Don't tell him!"

"Tell me what?" said Red.

"Nothing. It's nothing," Orange replied a little too quickly, his face reddening. Violet smirked at the sight of him but kept quiet.

"Hey!" came a voice from behind the trio. They simultaneously wheeled around and saw a young boy making his way through the dense, scrambled foliage. He was wearing a white shirt and brown shorts, a wide-brimmed hat, and he carried a butterfly net over his shoulder. "Are you three Pokémon trainers?" he asked.

"Yeah, we are," replied Violet. "I'm Violet, and this is Red, and this is Orange."

"Cool. My name's Jimmy, how about a battle?"

"Sure," Orange stated, but Violet interrupted him.

"Excuse me, Orange. I think this is as good a time as any to let my newest Pokémon gain some experience."

Orange said nothing, but hastened to stand directly behind Red as Violet and Jimmy stood and faced each other, leaving a large amount of admittedly narrow space between them for the battle.

"Two Pokémon each?" asked Jimmy.

"Fine by me," said Violet.

"Weedle! I choose you!" exclaimed Jimmy as he threw a Poké Ball. In a flash of light, a small, light yellow creature emerged. It was similarly proportioned to a Caterpie, and sported a large red nose. In place of Caterpie's Y-shaped antennae, Weedle sported a shining silver horn. Violet held her Pokédex out and aimed it at Jimmy's Pokémon.

"Weedle, the Hairy Bug Pokémon," the Pokédex droned. "Weedle possess an uncanny sense of smell, which it usually uses to tell different kinds of leaves apart. It fends off predators with its large, poisonous stinger."

'Let's go, Flutters!" Violet exclaimed to the Caterpie on her shoulder. Flutters chattered enthusiastically in response and leapt off, landing expertly on the ground and staring down Weedle.

"Weedle! String Shot!" ordered Jimmy.

"Dodge it!" called Violet.

From the tip of Weedle's horn exploded three strands of what appeared to be white silk. Flutters rolled off to the right, evading these strands altogether.

"Flutters, Tackle attack now!"

Flutters dashed forward as fast as its stubby legs would allow, and it plowed into Weedle's side.

"You gonna take that from the likes of a Caterpie?!" exclaimed Jimmy. "Weedle, Poison Sting attack!"

"Weeedle!" responded Weedle as its horn began to emanate a soft, purple glow. Then, a barrage of glowing purple needles were launched from its horn.

"Use String Shot on the needles!" Violet commanded.

Flutters unleashed multiple strands of string from its mouth, each string managing to get stuck on a poison needle. On Violet's order, the Caterpie then jerked its head in all directions, swinging the strings around. Finally, it broke off the String Shot strands from its mouth, causing the needles to fly back towards Weedle.

"What the..." muttered Jimmy, apparently too stunned by the Caterpie's skill to order any sort of defensive maneuver. Far too late, he noticed that Weedle had been struck by its own attack, and was now struggling to stay upright.

"Finish it, Flutters! Use Tackle!" Violet ordered triumphantly.

Flutters charged forward again, and slammed Weedle to the ground. This time, it did not get back up.

"Lucky shot," snapped Jimmy as he held out the Poké Ball, recalling Weedle. Then, he took out another Poké Ball and enlarged it. "But with this one, you don't stand a chance! I've just caught this one, but it's really powerful!" And he threw the ball. "Z4, I choose you!"

In a flash of light, a cube-shaped yellow Pokémon with numerous black and red markings appeared. It appeared to be about half the size of Orange's 44hy. As it floated in midair, it emitted a continuous low-pitched buzzing noise. Immediately, Orange let out an impossibly high-pitched shriek and slumped to the ground, unconscious. Violet held her Pokédex out again.

"Z4, the Box Bee Pokémon," it stated. "Z4 has the power to grow incredibly pointy stingers from any point on its body. Commonly found in forests, where they travel in large swarms."

Flutters, meanwhile, though still conscious, wasn't reacting to Z4's appearance all that much better than Orange was. It inched backwards, giving off weak, nervous cries.

"You got this, Flutters," Violet said soothingly. "Use String Shot."

"Z4, Horn Drill now!" commanded Jimmy.

Neither Pokémon obeyed, however. Flutters merely started to cry, while Z4 simply rose up into the air and increased the volume of its buzzing.

"Come on, Flutters," pleaded Violet.

"Z4! Get down here this instant!" Jimmy roared.

At this, Z4 dove back down- and right at Jimmy. Jimmy began backing off nervously as a rapidly spinning horn-like protrusion erupted from the front of Z4's body.

Red opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, a chorus of ominous buzzing noises started up in the distance. Nervously, Red, Violet, Jimmy, and Orange, who had just regained consciousness, looked in the direction of the sound, and saw a horrific sight in the sky.

No fewer than three hundred Z4 were visible in the sky, and they were all making their way towards the group.

"It's... whole... swarm..." Orange muttered weakly before passing back out. Red and Violet exchanged panicked glances.

"RUN!" exclaimed Red.

Violet scooped up the unconscious Orange in her arms. Jimmy tried to withdraw his Z4, but once it joined with the oncoming swarm, he gave up the attempt and tossed the Poké Ball aside. As the four trainers made a break for it, a whimpering noise made Violet screech to a halt.

"I forgot Flutters!" she gasped. Turning around, she shifted Orange so her right arm was free. She then held out the Poké Ball, and called out, "Flutters, return now!"

A beam of red light burst forth from the ball's button, but by that time, the Z4 were closing in on them. One of the Z4 blocked the beam as two more closed in on the Caterpie.

"No!" exclaimed Violet. Without thinking, she dropped Orange to the ground and charged into the oncoming Z4.

"HEY!" exclaimed Jimmy. "What are you doing?! Charging into a swarm of Z4 is nothing short of suicide!"

Violet, however, did not heed this warning, and pushed her way past several dozen Z4. This, however, angered them. Their buzzing immediately became deeper and more menacing, and several of them sprouted numerous spikes.

Flutters watched as its trainer fought through the murderous swarm of Bug and Poison-types, fully realizing for the first time that this human really, really cared about it. Touched by this realization, the Caterpie sprang into action. It began rapid-firing its String Shot in all directions, causing many Z4 to get stuck to each other, including a duo who were about to sting Violet from behind. It began to make its way towards Violet, but at that moment, two Z4 slammed into Flutters from either side, nearly squashing it. The Z4 then began to rise up, intent on carrying the Caterpie away. Upon seeing this, Violet held out the Poké Ball and tried recalling it once more, but again, the beam was blocked by multiple Z4. As tears formed in Violet's eyes, Flutters struggled and squirmed from between the two Z4, but to no effect. Then, suddenly, the two Z4 were blinded as their captive began to glow brightly with white light.

Violet gasped, her eyes wide, as her little Caterpie, glowing brightly, started to change shape, and knocked its two Z4 captors aside in the process. The bright light had the added effect of scaring the Z4, it seemed, as many of them were flying away now. As this included the two Z4 that held the Caterpie in midair in the first place, Flutters began to fall. Violet ran forwards and caught her Pokémon in her arms just as the glowing ceased.

Flutters was definitely not a Caterpie anymore. Its wormlike body was now completely solid, encased in a steel-like green shell. "Metapod, Metapod," the new Pokémon said.

"Cool," grinned Red as Orange began to regain consciousness.

"Awesome!" exclaimed Jimmy. "Your Caterpie evolved into Metapod!"

"Huh... do what now?" muttered Orange as he unsteadily climbed to his feet, only to jump about a foot in the air when Violet proudly showed him her newly evolved Pokémon. Red, meanwhile, held out his Pokédex in the direction of Violet's Pokémon.

"Metapod, the Cocoon Pokémon, and the evolved form of Caterpie. It is encased in a nearly unbreakable shell for defense. Its Harden technique only improves on this defense."

"Yeah, cool, whatever," Orange stammered. "Now can you please put it back in its ball- LOOK OUT!"

For at that moment, one of the remaining Z4 darted forward, a large horn protruding from its front. It dove right at Violet's back. Violet wheeled around and shrieked at the sight. Flutters, however, wriggled out of Violet's arms and lunged forward, its shell now glowing with green light.

"It's using Harden," observed Jimmy. "And that Z4 is using Fury Attack."

Z4 and Flutters collided in midair. A loud crunching noise was heard, causing Violet to inhale sharply- but as the Metapod landed on the ground, it became clear who had won out; the Z4 was withdrawing the shattered remnants of its horn back into its body. It then gave three sharp buzzes, and led the few remaining Z4 away.

"That," breathed Jimmy, "was close."

"Too close," agreed Orange. "Vi, did you really charge into an oncoming swarm of Z4?"

"I had to save Flutters," replied Violet. "Besides, it's not like they actually managed to harm me or anything."

"You're extremely lucky," insisted Jimmy. "It looks like the most you got were a few scratches."

At this, Violet looked at her arms, and realized that they were indeed covered in tiny scratches.

"I'm gonna get going," continued Jimmy. "I want to see if I can catch a more obedient Z4."

"Good luck with that," said Red.

"Thanks! Bye!" called Jimmy as he started heading off in the direction from which the group had come in the first place.

"It's getting late," stated Violet once Jimmy was out of sight. "I think we should set up camp."

"Oh, HELL no!" declared Orange. "There is no way I'm gonna camp out in a forest just teeming with Bug-types!"

"Well, Red and I are," said Violet, "so if you want to go off by yourself into the Ivadirin Forest in the middle of the night, be my guest."

"Damn you," snarled Orange as he pulled a tightly rolled up, bright orange package out of his backpack. He unfurled it and let it fall to the ground, allowing Red to see that it was in fact a sleeping bag. Violet did the same thing, setting up a purple sleeping back.

"...uh..." Red began.

"Hmm?" said Violet, looking up. "Let me guess, Red- you don't have a sleeping bag?"

"I do," Red stated, taking a crimson rolled-up object out of his backpack, "but it kinda ripped."

"That's no problem!" exclaimed Violet as she picked Flutters back up. "Flutters, can you use String Shot to fix Red's sleeping bag?"

"Metapod," replied Flutters, moving in a manner that seemed similar to nodding. Red unrolled the sleeping bag and held it up; it had split right down a seam on the side.

The Metapod set to work, slowly and carefully releasing sticky strands of string which glued the bag back together.

"Thanks, Flutters," smiled Red as Violet returned her Metapod to its Poké Ball.

Within minutes, Red, Violet, and Orange were all in their sleeping bags, and nearly asleep. Just as Red was about to drift off to sleep, a loud crunching sound in a nearby bush (which appeared to have gravel, roof tiles, and large drops of water in place of leaves) made him sit up. Peering into the darkness, Red could see the shadowy silhouette of a person approaching them.

"Psst!" hissed Red. "Orange! Violet! Wake up, quick!"

"Mmph... wha? Red, what are you- WHAT THE?!" screamed Orange as he suddenly noticed the shadowy figure coming closer.

"Hey!" shouted Violet. "Who are you?!"

~~~~~~~~
End of Chapter 4.​

 

[Missingno. Master]

Chapter 5: Meet Team Debug
~~~~~~~~​

Red, Orange, and Violet were now fully awake as the shadowy figure approached them. Violet slowly reached towards her belt. As her fingers brushed against Chompy's Poké Ball, however, the figure stepped out of the shadows, revealing himself to be a grown man who now looked more hopelessly lost than dangerous. He was wearing odd, white clothing, and a large, green "D" could be seen on the front of his shirt.

"Hello?" said Red cautiously. The man jumped and finally looked at the trio.

"Wha? Oh... Oh, it's just a bunch of kids," he muttered, more to himself than anything, it seemed. "What are you doing camping out in Ivadirin Forest anyway? Don't you know it's dangerous?"

"Dangerous?" repeated Red. Orange, however, noticed the green "D" on the man's shirt, and his eyes narrowed.

"Wait a minute!" he exclaimed. "You're with that horrible Team Debug, aren't you?!"

"Horrible? Hardly," snorted the man. "Wait- are you three with Team Error?!"

"What? No!" exclaimed Violet, but too late; the man seemed beyond reason.

"I knew it. Team Error found out about our plan and now they're sending you secret agents to foil it! Well it won't work! We will eliminate the Glitch Pokémon and restore Tanko to its former glory!"

"...You're a loony," stated Orange after a moment's stunned silence. "You know that, right?"

In response, the man assumed an aggressive stance and took a Poké Ball off his belt. At this, Red, Orange, and Violet leapt out of their sleeping bags and stood upright, each of them grasping a Poké Ball of their own.

The man threw his ball first. "Take this, Team Error!" he bellowed.

In a flash of light, what appeared to be a large, knotted clump of blue seaweed materialized. Poking out from the bottom of the clump were two small, red feet. A pair of large, white eyes could be seen in the clump, poking out from the small gaps between the creepers. Violet grabbed her Pokédex and held it out at the Pokémon.

"Tangela, the Vine Pokémon," droned the device. "Tangela are immensely shy. If a Tangela's vines break off in battle, they regrow almost instantly."

"I got this," Red assured Orange and Violet. He threw the ball he was holding and shouted, "Charmander, let's go!"

In another flash of light, Red's Charmander appeared. It stood its ground, its tail flame blazing brightly in the night, and stared down the Tangela, whose eyes narrowed slightly at the sight of its fiery opponent.

"Tangela! Constrict!" roared the Team Debug grunt.

"Tang tang Tangela!" exclaimed Tangela as a pair of teal vines erupted forth from its tangled body and made to snake around Charmander.

"Charmander, Ember!" ordered Charmander.

"Char char!" Charmander replied as it wheeled around and flicked its tail back and forth, sending small flames flying at the Vine Pokémon. Tangela screeched in pain as the flames made contact, and the vines shrunk back into its body.

"Tangela, don't be such a wuss!" the grunt growled. "Use your Vine Whip!"

"Tang!" exclaimed Tangela as the vines re-emerged. This time, it slapped Charmander with the vines, knocking it back.

"Charmander, use your Scratch attack now!" Red commanded.

Charmander held up its right arm and charged at Tangela. Upon reaching it, Charmander brought its arm down and scratched its vine-cloaked adversary. The attack appeared to have little effect, however.

"Tangela have high Defense," sneered the man as Charmander backed away. "You honestly expect a physical move to harm it that much? Pathetic! Tangela, finish it! Skull Bash now!"

"Tangela la!" Tangela replied as it leaned forward and charged right at Charmander.

"Ember!" Red called out desperately!

Charmander wheeled around once more and sent a fresh wave of flames at the oncoming Tangela. It screeched in pain yet again, but this time collapsed to the ground and made no effort whatsoever to get up.

"Tangela, return," sighed the man as he held the Poké Ball out. Once Tangela was back in its ball, he turned to glare at the trio.

"What are you looking at us like that for?" demanded Orange.

"You may win this time, Team Error, but mark my words-"

"WE'RE NOT TEAM ERROR!" shouted Orange, Red, and Violet simultaneously.

"...Oh. Yeah, I guess not. I don't think they hire kids anyway," muttered the man. "And you're not wearing the uniform- those guys tend to be very brazen about that sort of thing. And you used a Charmander- Team Error goons wouldn't be caught dead with natural Pokémon."

"You couldn't have realized any of that before the battle?" Orange asked.

"What do you mean, natural Pokémon?" Violet inquired.

"Natural Pokémon are Pokémon that are actually real, such as Charmander, Spearow, and Weezing, that sort of thing," the man explained. "Team Debug's goal is to ensure that natural Pokémon take back the Tanko region from the clutches of Glitch Pokémon."

"What are Glitch Pokémon, then?" asked Red.

"Abnormal beings posing as Pokémon," the man answered with a growl. "Usually square in shape with blocky markings. Stuff like 44Hy and Z4."

"Excuse me!" Orange exclaimed, now positively furious. "My first Pokémon happens to be a 44Hy!"

At this news, the man took a step forward in an alarming manner.

"Then you must act fast. Get rid of it and any other Glitch Pokémon you might have on you. Now, before it's too late! Mark my words, those abominations are no good!"

And with that, he wheeled around and stomped away.

"What a nutcase!" Orange exclaimed, still fuming. "44Hy is as natural as any other Pokémon."

"All due respect, I didn't see it as natural," Red chimed in. "In Kanto, I've never seen such Pokémon as the ones I've encountered here."

"I knew Team Debug and Team Error were dangerous weirdos," observed Violet, "but I didn't think they were extremists. Team Debug seems to want to wipe out entire races of Pokémon!"

"I won't deny it, Pokémon like Z4, .4, and 44Hy creep me out a little," Red stated, "But if you guys are fine with them, they can't be that bad.!"

"At least that guy didn't steal our Pokémon," Orange said as he checked his belt, confirming that both Poké Balls were still there.

"Yeah," Violet agreed as she mimicked this action, to discover that both Chompy and Flutters were still there.

"Yeah, cause they seem a lot like this gang back in Kanto- oh, no," Red murmured.

"What?" asked Violet as Red pulled a Poké Ball off his belt.

"One of my Poké Balls is missing!" Red exclaimed as he held out the one he had left, which opened up to reveal his Rattata.

"That crook stole your Charmander!" Orange exclaimed.

Without another word, the trio dashed off into the woods in the direction the Team Debug grunt had gone, Red pausing briefly to call Rattata back.

Red, Orange, and Violet made their way through scrambled trees, rocks, and fragments of brick, and just two minutes in, had caught up to the grunt. He was looking at a Poké Ball in his hand and smirking in a smug manner.

"Stop, thief!" Red exclaimed.

"Hmm?" the man replied as he turned around to face the trio. "Ah, it's you three again. I'll admit, you're lucky to have caught up to me. I was banking on you to fall back asleep after I left, and you wouldn't have noticed Charmander's absence until the morning."

"You horrible man!" growled Violet. "How dare you steal someone else's Pokémon?!"

"Well, I'm not likely to tell you three. You appear to be very much against our cause, you see," said the man smoothly. "If I were to divulge anything about the secret plans of Team Debug, you're likely to just run off to the authorities. All I will say is that Charmander, as a Fire-type, is essential to our current plan."

"Just use your own Fire-type, then!" Red snarled. "Why steal one when you can catch one the legitimate way?"

"Because Poké Balls cost money, and my salary is pitiful," snapped the man. "Now I'll make you a deal. You three come with me and promise to keep quiet about anything you see, and I will give Charmander right back when we're done."

The three exchanged wary, suspicious glances. Orange shook his head and inconspicuously pointed at one of his Poké Balls and mouthed "44Hy". Red got the idea and winked. They then turned back to face the grunt.

"No deal," Red stated. "Give Charmander back now or else."

"Or else what?" sneered the grunt.

"Or else this!" shouted Orange as he took the Poké Ball off his belt and launched it into the air. "44Hy, hold him with Disable!"

In a flash of light, 44Hy materialized. Instantly, a pink aura came over its body, and the grunt suddenly found himself immobile, though his eyes bugged out in fear as he saw his assailant.

"I'll be taking that back, thanks," Red smirked as he swiped Charmander's Poké Ball out of the crook's hand.

"Let him go, now, 44Hy," said Orange.

"Hyyy," replied 44Hy as the pink aura vanished.

As soon as the grunt realized he was now able to move, he staggered backwards, cleared his throat, took a deep breath, and screamed,

"HEY! THERE'S A GLITCH OVER HERE! ATTACK NOW!!!!"

With a great rustling of leaves and roof tiles, five Team Debug grunts leapt down out of the surrounding trees, and stood in a circle, surrounding the trio. Each one of them held a Poké Ball.

"Not good," muttered Orange.

"GO!" exclaimed the five grunts simultaneously as they launched their Poké Balls. As the spheres split open, blinding light surrounded the trio. As it faded, Red observed the presence of five different Pokémon. One had a small, round body with lithe arms and legs and a long, skinny tail. A snout could be seen just beneath its eyes, which were narrowed in perpetual anger. Another one had a dark blue body with thin legs that had no feet, and it stayed airborne by constantly flapping its wings, which were purple on the inside. Though its mouth was constantly open, baring its sharp fangs, it had no eyes. The third was a Rattata. One looked like an oversized Poké Ball with angry eyes and no button. The final one, fishlike in shape, flopped about on the ground. Its body was coated in crimson scales, though its fins were yellow. Red, Orange, and Violet all took out their Pokédexes and pointed them at their opponents.

"Mankey, the Pig Monkey Pokémon," said Red's Pokédex. "Mankey is normally docile, but will become angry at the slightest provocation. You will not like Mankey when Mankey is angry. Zubat, the Bat Pokémon. A common sight in caves, Zubat unleashes soundwaves to locate its opponents. Overexposure to sunlight is unhealthy for it."

"Voltorb, the Ball Pokémon," stated Orange's Pokédex. "Voltorb's uncanny resemblance to a Poké Ball is unexplained. When angered, it will explode."

"Magikarp, the Fish Pokémon," chimed in Violet's Pokédex. "Though highly energetic, Magikarp is exceedingly weak. It is best known for its signature attack, Splash, which is completely useless."

"Pokémon League rules state that only one Pokémon can be used at a time!" exclaimed Orange.

"Orange, you're an idiot," snapped Violet. "You really think a bunch of crooks are going to care about league regulations? Chompy, Flutters, go!" she added as she threw both of her Poké Balls.

"Yeah, you too, .4!" Orange exclaimed as he tossed his remaining Poké Ball.

"I choose you, Rattata!" Red called as he launched a Poké Ball into the air.

Five more flashes of light, and Chompy the Bellsprout, Flutters the Metapod, .4, and Rattata materialized. 44Hy floated next to its teammates, ready for battle. All at once, everyone except the first grunt began shouting orders at their Pokémon.

"Mankey, hit Rattata with Low Kick!" growled a grunt.

"Dodge it and use Quick Attack!" Red shouted.

"Voltorb, use Tackle on the Metapod!"

"Flutters, Harden attack!"

"Rattata, use Water Gun on .4!"

".4, TM05!"

"Zubat, Leech Life on Bellsprout!"

"Chompy, Vine Whip!"

"Magikarp, Splash attack!"

"44Hy, Confusion!"

Mankey lunged forward foot-first and attempted to trip Red's Rattata, who darted out of the attack's path and plowed into Mankey's side, knocking it down. Voltorb rolled forward at a high speed, but Flutters's body took on a green glow and the attack appeared to have no effect. Rattata unleashed a stream of water from its mouth, but .4 vanished into thin air, and the attack missed completely. Zubat's fangs began glowing green as it swooped down on Chompy, who extended a pair of vines, succeeding at keeping the Bat Pokémon at bay. Magikarp flopped around in place to absolutely no effect whatsoever as 44Hy launched a ray of blue energy. Upon being hit by the attack, Magikarp fainted on the spot. As the grunt withdrew Magikarp, 44Hy turned to face the enemy's Rattata, and suddenly, two glowing orbs of bright white light formed above the Riverside Pokémon. The orbs shaped themselves to look like feet of some sort, and then launched themselves at the Rattata.

"What was that?!" exclaimed Violet as the Rattata fell over, unconscious.

"I think 44Hy learned how to use Double Kick!" Orange exclaimed. "44Hy, now use Double Kick on Voltorb!"

"Hyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!" shrieked 44Hy as it rose high into the air and began to glow. Orange's eyes brimmed with tears of joy as the luminous cube grew in size until it was nearly twice as large as before. The glow then faded.

44Hy was gone; in its place, the black-and-yellow form of the Pokémon Red had seen on his Pokédex back in the Ivadirin City Pokémon Center. Orange triumphantly held his Pokédex up, pointing it right at his newly-evolved Pokémon.

"Q, the Deep Sea Pokémon, and the evolved form of 44Hy," stated the Pokédex. "When it starts to use its immense Psychic powers, its entire body lights up. It can dive underwater to great depths."

"Kyuuuuuuuuuu," called out Q in a soft, high-pitched, melodious voice.

"Ugh!" exclaimed one of the Team Debug grunts, a nauseated expression on his face as he stared at the newly evolved Deep Sea Pokémon. "It's hideous!"

"What?!" snarled Orange, a look of fury on his face. "How dare you!? Q, take out the rest of these Pokémon with Confusion!"

"Kyuuuuuuuuuuuuuu," replied Q as it fired off three rays of blue psychic energy from various points on its body. The rays struck Voltorb, Zubat, and Mankey, but only the latter two fainted. Voltorb, though badly hurt, was obviously still conscious.

"Voltorb, Voltorb," droned Voltorb in a mechanical voice as its body slowly began to emit yellow light.

"Is it evolving?" asked Orange.

"I don't think so," Red answered. "We ought to back up a bit."

"No. Voltorb, NO!" screamed the grunt as Voltorb's glowing body began to let loose a thin stream of black smoke- and then exploded violently and suddenly, throwing up a massive cloud of dust.

Once the dust cleared, it became clear that nobody was actually hurt by the attack- though Voltorb managed to knock itself out. But Chompy, Flutters, Red's Rattata, and Orange's .4 and Q were all unharmed.

"Damn it, Will!" snapped the grunt who owned the Mankey, violently addressing the Tangela-owning grunt. "This is all your fault!"

"What?!" the grunt named Will exclaimed, now all fired up. "How do you figure that?"

"If you hadn't taken your sweet old time swiping that Charmander, we could've started that fire by now and gotten rid of all the Z4!"

"What?" Orange, Red, and Violet said simultaneously, their voices thick with incredulity. Will and the other grunt jumped, having momentarily forgotten that the trio hadn't left. Will then slapped the other grunt in the face.

"You idiot!" Will exclaimed. "What are you doing, revealing our plan to these twerps?!"

"Ease up, I didn't tell them everything!" the other grunt shouted defensively.

"You just told them that we were gonna set Ivadirin Forest on fire and kill all the Z4!"

"...Oh. I guess I did tell them everything, then, didn't I?" the grunt muttered sheepishly. Will facepalmed.

"You horrible people!" Violet exclaimed, her eyes wide with shock and rage. "You do realize that a fire would've killed everything in this forest, including all the Caterpie and Metapod, the Weedle and Kakuna, and us?!"

"Look, we didn't make the decisions here," Will stated. "We just got our orders from the boss, and we're just carrying them out as planned. And you weren't exactly supposed to find out about them, were they, Lou?"

"Your boss's orders included arson and murder?" replied Red.

"He said there might be some casualties, but as long as we killed every single Z4 in the forest it would all be worth it," said Lou. "Now, if it's all the same to you, we'll be getting back to headquarters and-"

"Shut up!" snapped Will as he slapped Lou's face.

"Ow! What?!" exclaimed Lou.

"Don't give me that, you were about to say just where headquarters is located!"

"No, I most certainly... Uh... Oh. Wow, I guess I was," chuckled Lou sheepishly. Will facepalmed again.

"I don't think you'll be going anywhere," sneered Violet. "Flutters, hit 'em with String Shot!"

"Not so fast!" exclaimed one of the other grunts as he threw something small and dark to the ground. Whatever it was, upon impact with the ground it let loose a blast of black smoke that cleared away as quickly as it came. Flutters let loose String Shot, but it merely hit a combination rock/tree/concrete structure some five yards away; the grunts had vanished.

"Well, damn," sighed Red after a few moments' silence. "So what now?"

"What now?" repeated Orange. "Night or not, we get the hell out of here right now!"

"What about our sleeping bags and backpacks, though?" Violet wondered out loud. "We left them back at the campsite."

"Kyuuu," replied Q; the trio wheeled around to face Q, and saw that it was psychically levitating three sleeping bags and three backpacks around it.

"Still freaks me out a bit," grinned Red as he took his sleeping bag and backpack. "But I think I'm really starting to like Q."

"That's what I like to hear, Red," Orange grinned back as he took his own backpack and sleeping bag.

A minute later, Red, Orange, and Violet had stuffed their sleeping bags into their backpacks, put the backpacks on their backs, and withdrew their Pokémon. Then, all of them trying and failing to stifle large yawns, they set off into the depths of the Ivadirin Forest.

~~~~~~~~
End of Chapter 5.​

 

[Missingno. Master]

Chapter 6: Challenge of Rewept Gym
~~~~~~~~​

The trio dashed through the forest for a solid half hour before they finally broke free of the natural maze of oddly shaped trees. Barely registering the mass of buildings before them, they continued to run until Orange pointed out the Pokémon Center, distinguishable from the other oddly designed buildings only by the large sign over the entrance which read "Pokémon Center".

"Oh, my!" exclaimed the nurse as she approached Red, Orange, and Violet, who had all collapsed into the seats nearest to them while trying to catch their breath. "What on earth made you run in here like that in the middle of the night?"

"We..." gasped Orange. "Wanted... out of forest... quick as possible... Team Debug..."

"Ah," replied the nurse, a sudden frown on her face. "Say no more. What were they up to now?"

"Tried... to start... forest fire... stole Charmander... got it back..."

"They what?!" exclaimed the nurse, now looking shocked.

"They stole my Charmander to try and start a forest fire," Red explained, as he wasn't quite as out of breath as Orange. "We got it back, but they escaped."

"This is outrageous!" the nurse half-shouted. "I knew those nutcases wanted to eliminate all sorts of Pokémon, but setting the Ivadirin Forest on fire?! Every Pokémon in that forest would have died!"

She continued on in this vein for some time, pacing in circles and ranting about Team Debug. About three minutes in, Red, Orange, and Violet exchanged glances. Violet then cleared her throat, reminding the nurse of their presence.

"Er... nurse?" said Violet. "Could you maybe heal our Pokémon?"

"Oh- oh! Of course, I'm so sorry, it's just these Team Debug crooks have got me so worked up... of course, of course, right this way..."

Not five minutes later, the trio's teams were fully healed. As the nurse got the Rewept Police on the phone to inform them of Team Debug's arson attempt, the group made their way to the rooms in the back that the nurse allowed them to use for the night, flopped down on the beds, and fell asleep within seconds.
~~~~~~~~
When Red opened his eyes at 7:00 the next morning, his first thought was that an angry mob was attacking the center with chainsaws. Then he realized that the hideous, grating noises he was hearing were coming out of Orange's mouth; Orange was snoring extraordinarily loudly.

"Ugh... what the hell?" Red muttered, clearly at a loss as to how such noises could come out of one mouth. He then looked at Violet's bed; she was sound asleep. At that moment, however, Violet stirred, sat up, stretched, and pulled two small objects out of her ears. She then walked over to Orange's bed and nonchalantly slammed a pillow onto his head.

"Zzzz-hmm?! What?! Huh?!" exclaimed Orange as he woke up abruptly.

"You wear earplugs?" Red asked.

"Everyone in Talpel Town wears earplugs at night," Violet explained. "I'm guessing you figured out why."

"My snoring is not that loud," said Orange defensively.

"It sounded like about fifty chainsaws all going at once," Red said.

Choosing not to comment on this, Orange instead said, "We should probably get some breakfast, and then it's off to the Rewept Gym."

"I could eat, I guess," conceded Violet. With that, the trio walked out of the room and made their way to the Pokémon Center's cafeteria.

"What the...?" muttered Red as they all sat at a table and began to examine the menus. "Even number salad? Fried nine? What?"

"Oh, get the fried nine," Orange stated. "My mom makes that for breakfast sometimes and it is amazing."

"Um... I guess I'll give it a try," Red said uncertainly.

"Let me guess- numbers aren't generally on the menu in Kanto, are they?" asked Violet.

"No, not really," Red said quietly.

"Well, numbers make up most of what we eat in Tanko," Violet explained. "Each digit has its own sort of distinct flavor. Why don't you order the even number salad? That way you could try a nice variety of numbers, see what you like best?"

"Yeah, and I'll let you try my fried nines," added Orange.

"Thanks," Red smiled.

Just then, the three were approached by a large, pink, egg-shaped Pokémon with a real, white egg in a pouch on its stomach. It held a pad of paper and a pen in its short, stubby arms. Instinctively, Violet took out her Pokédex.

"Chansey, the Egg Pokémon," said the Pokédex. "Very rare and elusive. It will share its nutritious eggs with any injured Pokémon it meets."

"Chansey," the Chansey said, looking expectantly at the trio.

"Are you here to take our orders?" asked Red. Chansey nodded.

"OK, I'll have an order of fried nines with a glass of the fresh-squeezed four juice," Orange said.

"I'll have whole wheat zero toast with six jelly," Violet said.

"I'll have the even number salad," Red said.

"Chansey, Chansey!" exclaimed Chansey as she scribbled something down on the pad of paper she was holding, then walked away.

"So how are we gonna do this, anyway, challenging the Gym Leader?" asked Red. "I don't suppose they'd let us all battle the Gym Leader at the same time?"

At this, Orange burst out into laughter. Violet shot him a nasty glare, which went unnoticed by Orange for several minutes. Once Orange saw Violet glaring at him, he quieted down somewhat.

"Heh... And what, the Gym Leader would use three Pokémon at once, and each of us would only use one?" he chuckled.

Red shrugged. "Just an idea."

"It's against Pokémon League regulations for a trainer to use more than one Pokémon simultaneously in an official battle," Violet said. "I doubt any Gym Leader would go against that. We'll probably have our matches one right after the other. My mom told me that Gym Leaders have instant healing machines like Pokémon Centers do, so they can take on large amounts of challengers in a short period of time."

"What type does the Rewept Gym Leader specialize in anyway?" asked Red.

"I think I heard that Rewept Gym's specialty is Rock-types," answered Violet. "Nothing Chompy can't handle."

"Q and I are ready to rock!" added Orange, now grinning widely. "According to my Pokédex, Q's learned Water Gun since it evolved!"

Red, however, looked thoroughly downcast.

"What's up?" asked Violet.

"I thought you were supposed to be the smart one?" Orange said. "It's obvious Red's realized his team doesn't stand a chance against Rock-types. Rattata and Charmander, that's not exactly-" At that point, however, Orange fell silent as Violet gave him yet another glare; Orange's words had very clearly done nothing to improve Red's mood.

"It's not hopeless, Red," Violet said patiently. "Remember one of those Debug Grunts had a Rattata that could use Water Gun? Maybe if you teach your Rattata the move, you'll have an easier time in the gym."

"How would I do that, though?" asked Red.

"Easiest way would be to use a TM," said Violet. "You know what TMs are?"

"Yeah," said Red. "Technical Machines. They're little disc-like things that can teach new moves to Pokémon. There's one for Water Gun?"

"I think so."

"Where are we gonna get one, though?" Orange asked. "TMs are kinda rare."

"Damn," sighed Red.

"There's another way," said Violet. "Red, you could have Rattata train with Q a little bit. If a Pokémon watches a move it can learn being used by another Pokémon, it can learn the move that way."

Red didn't answer for a moment, apparently considering this. At that moment, however, Chansey approached their table, carrying three large platters and placing them in front of the trio. Orange's plate contained what appeared to be large, dark brown number nines, looking as though they had been carved out of thick pieces of wood, along with a tall glass full of a bright orange liquid. Violet's plate contained what appeared to be a bagel sliced in half, though with a larger hole, each half coated in an odd blue jelly. Red was given a bowl containing multicolored twos, fours, sixes, and eights. He took small bites of each number, and found that Violet was right- each one had its own unique flavor. The twos tasted like carrots, the fours tasted like oranges, the sixes tasted like blueberries, and the eights tasted like ketchup.

"Hey, the sixes and eights aren't bad!" Red observed. "I'm not that fond of the twos or the fours, though."

"Mmmm," sighed Orange as he took a large bite out of a nine. "Red, you gotta try these."

Red speared a nine on his fork and took a bite of it. His eyes widened as the delicious taste of bacon filled his mouth. "Holy crap, this is good!" Red exclaimed.

"Huh? Huh? What did I tell you?" grinned Orange.

Once everybody had finished eating (many of the twos and fours of Red's salad remained untouched), Chansey came back over with a large scanner-esque device. She held the device over their Pokédexes, and then walked away.

"What was that about?" asked Red.

"Chansey was verifying that we're Pokémon trainers," explained Violet. "All Pokémon Centers allow trainers to use their services for free, didn't you know?"

"Oh, yeah," murmured Red as they got up out of their seats and walked towards the exit. "I think Professor Oak mentioned something like that, now that I think of it..."

Once they were out of the center, Orange took out a Poké Ball and enlarged it. Taking the cue, Red did the same. They both then tossed the spheres into the air simultaneously, and let Q and Rattata out into the open.

"OK, Rattata, we're gonna teach you the Water Gun attack," Red explained.

"Rattata?" replied Rattata questioningly. In answer, Q unleashed a stream of water from the center of one of the sides of its body, reducing a nearby boulder to gravel. Having observed this, Rattata took a deep breath, opened its mouth wide... and nothing.

The two repeated these motions for a whole hour. Red got excited at one point, claiming to have seen something fly from Rattata's mouth after one attempt; it turned out, however, to be spit. Once Rattata started to show signs of tiring, however, Red reluctantly called off the training session.

"Maybe it won't be as bad as I think it will," he said halfheartedly.

"Doubt it- OW!" exclaimed Orange as Violet stomped on his foot.
~~~~~~~~

"Well, here we are," said Violet as the trio approached a massive structure that appeared to have been built out of tree limbs (complete with leaves), walls of solid rock, sixes, fours, and ice cubes. "Rewept City Pokémon Gym."

"Let's do this!" Orange exclaimed as he ran up to the large hedges which turned out to be double doors, shoved them open, and dashed inside. Violet and Red hastened to follow.

The inside of the gym was dark as dark can be. There was absolutely no telling how big it was. This was quickly rectified, however, as many spotlights on the ceiling turned on simultaneously, revealing the interior to be positively massive- the room was very long and wide, with a high ceiling. A large, rectangular area in the center of the room was marked off, obviously to serve as the battlefield. On the opposite side, a teenage girl with long, dark brown hair sat, clad in a pair of blue jeans and a light brown t-shirt.

"Welcome to the Rewept City Pokémon Gym," the girl said in a voice that echoed all around the cavernous structure. "My name is Minerva, and I'm this city's Gym Leader. And who are you?"

"I'm Orange McPixel from Talpel Town," announced Orange.

"Violet Scramble, also from Talpel Town," added Violet.

"Red Vershunn, from Pal- er, Talpel Town," said Red. Violet and Orange blinked, but otherwise showed no surprise at Red's lie about his hometown.

"We've all come to challenge this gym," Violet explained.

"Very well," Minerva answered. "But I cannot take you all on at once, it would go against Pokémon League regulations. I'll battle you in the order in which you introduced yourselves. Orange, was it? You first."

"Fine by me," grinned Orange as he stepped into a small, painted rectangle just outside the battlefield boundaries- obviously the spot in which the trainer was to stand.

"Here are the rules," stated Minerva. "We are each allowed two Pokémon, and the match is over when all Pokémon on one side are unable to continue. I'm not allowed to switch my Pokémon unless one faints, but you can switch at your leisure. Understand?"

Orange nodded.

"Then we begin," grinned Minerva as she produced a Poké Ball and threw it. "Geodude, go!"

The ball split open, and in a flash of light, what appeared to be a large, levitating boulder with eyes, a mouth, and thick, rocky arms materialized. "Geodude," it grunted.

"A Geodude," remarked Orange as he took his Pokédex out and pointed it at this airborne adversary.

"Geodude, the Rock Pokémon," said the Pokédex. "Geodude are a common sight in fields and mountains. When at rest, they are easily mistaken for ordinary rocks, and subsequently tripped over or stepped on."

"Let's do this!" Orange exclaimed, heaving a Poké Ball into the arena. ".4, I choose you!"

In a flash of light, Orange's .4 appeared, squealing happily in a high pitched voice and zooming around in circles, eager to fight.

"Geodude! Tackle!" Minerva ordered.

".4, use TM05!" Orange called.

Both Geodude and .4 zoomed forward, headed for each other at high speeds. At the last second, however, .4 pulled up and turned invisible.

"Geo?!" Geodude exclaimed, looking around frantically, trying to see where its opponent had gone.

"Use TM28 now!" commanded Orange.

The air behind Geodude exploded, sending it tumbling to the ground. .4 reappeared and gave a shrill giggle.

"Dude..." growled Geodude as it rose back into the air.

"Geodude, use your Rock Throw attack!" commanded Minerva.

".4, Agility!" Orange shouted.

.4 flew in circles around Geodude with increasing rapidity. Rocks formed out of thin air in Geodude's hands, and though it threw them in every direction, it failed to strike .4. Then. .4 rose high into the air and caught fire!

"What the hell?!" exclaimed Orange. His Pokédex, however, spoke up.

"TM09, an attack of the IIIItoto-type. An immensely powerful technique that no Pokémon type is resistant to."

"Awesome!" Orange exclaimed as .4's flaming form slammed hard into Geodude, causing a catastrophic and fiery explosion, kicking up dirt and dust. Once the dust settled, however, both Geodude and .4 were laying on the ground, not moving at all.

"What?!" Orange exclaimed as both he and Minerva withdrew their Pokémon.

"While TM09 is powerful, it causes the user to faint," continued the Pokédex.

"I really could have used that information sooner!" snapped Orange as both he and Minerva threw new Poké Balls. "Q, let's go!"

"I choose you, Rhyhorn!" exclaimed Minerva.

The thrown balls split open, and each one poured out bright white light. Before Orange materialized the cube-shaped form of Q. Before Minerva stood a creature that looked to be made entirely of gray rock, standing on four stumpy legs.

"Rhyhorn, the Spikes Pokémon," said Orange's Pokédex. "Rhyhorn's bones are a thousand times harder than those of humans. Though not very bright, it is incredibly strong, and can demolish whole buildings just by charging into them."

"Alright, Q, Water Gun now!" Orange called.

"Use Horn Attack!" Minerva commanded.

Q unleashed a stream of water as Rhyhorn gave a loud roar and charged forward, its pointed horn aimed right at Q. Though it managed to muscle its way through the stream of water initially, the overwhelming type disadvantage became too much, and Rhyhorn collapsed to the floor. Down, but not out; it still attempted to climb back to its feet.

"Q, use your Confusion attack!" ordered Orange.

"Rhyhorn, Bide!" shouted Minerva.

Q launched a ray of blue light, while Rhyhorn's body took on a bright yellow glow. The Confusion met its mark, but Rhyhorn continued to glow. Then, Rhyhorn roared loudly, and launched a massive beam of yellow light right at Q, striking the Deep Sea Pokémon hard.

"Q!" exclaimed Orange. Fortunately, Q was still conscious; it floated in midair, albeit while wobbling dangerously.

"Never seen that attack before, have you?" smirked Minerva. "Bide allows a Pokémon to store energy from attacks it is hit with, and then it hits the opponent for twice that amount of damage. It's won me many battles against trainers who didn't see it coming."

"I got an idea," muttered Orange. "Q, use Disable!"

"What- no!" exclaimed Minerva. as Q's body took on a pink aura. The aura then spread to Rhyhorn's body.

"Not so confident now, are you?" sneered Orange. "It takes a little while for Disable to wear off, by which time this match will be over! Finish it, Q! Water Gun attack!"

Q gave its soft cry as it shot off another blast of water, striking Rhyhorn head on and causing it to collapse on its side. This time, Rhyhorn made no effort to move.

"Rhyhorn, return," sighed Minerva, holding out its Poké Ball as Orange did likewise with Q. Minerva then walked across the battlefield and approached Orange. "A fine battle, Orange. You've definitely earned this." And she held out her hand to Orange. In it was a small, gray object, which looked like a small cluster of gray circles. "It's the official Pokémon League Gravel Badge."

"Sweet!" Orange exclaimed as he swiped the badge from Minerva's hand, held it up, and gazed at it. Minerva then handed him what appeared to be a light gray CD. "What's this?" asked Orange.

"It's Technical Machine number 34," replied Minerva. "It'll teach Bide to a compatible Pokémon. Use it wisely. Violet, you're next, ready?"

"As I'll ever be," smiled Violet.

Minerva walked back over to her side of the battlefield, and placed her two Poké Balls in a small tray that protruded from the wall. She pressed a red button above the tray, and the Poké Balls quivered slightly. She then took them back off and reattached them to her belt.

"OK, now that my Pokémon are healed, let's get this started!" declared Minerva.

Violet took a Poké Ball, enlarged it, and threw it. "I choose you, Flutters!" called Violet.

In a flash of light, Flutters the Metapod materialized. Minerva blinked in surprise. "A Metapod?" she asked dubiously. "Well, OK..." She then produced, enlarged, and tossed a Poké Ball of her own. "Let's go, Geodude!"

Minerva's Geodude re-emerged in a brilliant blast of white light. It floated in midair, staring down its mainly immobile opponent.

"Geodude, Rock Throw!" commanded Minerva.

"Flutters, Harden attack!" ordered Violet.

"Metapod," replied Flutters as its body took on a green glow. Geodude threw a pair of stones at Flutters, but they bounced off its body with loud clanging noises.

"Flutters, String Shot, go!" Violet shouted.

"Metapod, Metapod," droned Flutters as it fired a blast of sticky white silk from the pointy topmost point of its body. Geodude made to dive out of the way, but moved too soon- the attack had hit, and Geodude was covered in gooey string.

"Now, Flutters, return!" Violet called, as she held out the Poké Ball. Once the Metapod had been withdrawn, Violet threw the other ball. "Chompy, let's go!"

In a flash of light, Chompy the Bellsprout materialized. It stared at its close to immobile opponent and chuckled.

"Geodude, Tackle attack!" Minerva ordered.

"Chompy, dodge it and use Growth!" Violet exclaimed.

Geodude dove down at Chompy, but moved so slowly that the Bellsprout was able to sidestep the move with ease. As Geodude attempted to extricate itself from the ground, Chompy's body took on a green aura and doubled in size.

"Now, Vine Whip!" commanded Violet.

"Sproooout!" exclaimed Chompy as it produced a pair of thick green vines from behind its leaves and slammed them into Geodude, who subsequently abandoned its attempt to get back into the air and ceased all movement.

"I see, now," Red nodded. "She had Flutters slow Geodude down to give Chompy more time to set up Growth."

"Cool," remarked Orange.

"Geodude, return!" said Minerva as she held Geodude's Poké Ball in one hand and threw her other one with the other hand. "Rhyhorn, you're up!"

Rhyhorn reappeared in a flash of light and glared at the oversized Bellsprout, who glared right back.

"Chompy, let's win this! Vine Whip attack!" Violet ordered.

"Rhyhorn, Bide now!" Minerva shouted.

As Rhyhorn took on a yellow glow, Chompy dashed forward and slammed its vines into Rhyhorn's body repeatedly. Though the move was clearly taking its toll, Rhyhorn was still standing, holding its ground defiantly. Then came the massive beam of yellow light. Chompy was plowed backwards by the force of the close-range attack, and as it came to rest half-buried at Violet's feet, it shrank back down to its regular size.

"No! Chompy, NO!" exclaimed Violet, though her frantic shouts did nothing to change the fact that her Bellsprout- her best hope against a Rock-type- was unconscious.

"Didn't think it'd be that easy," remarked Minerva, smirking as Violet withdrew Chompy. "I will say this, though, that Bellsprout really gave Rhyhorn here a good fight."

"It's up to you, now," sighed Violet, addressing the Poké Ball now in her right hand. "I know it's not the best matchup, but the battle's not over until it's over. Flutters, go!"

Violet heaved the Poké Ball, from which re-emerged the solid and nearly immobile form of Flutters the Metapod. Rhyhorn gave a derisive snort upon spotting its opponent.

"Rhyhorn, Horn Attack!" ordered Minerva.

"Flutters, Harden!" called Violet.

"Metapod," replied the Metapod as its body took on a green glow. Rhyhorn's lowered its head as it charged, and plowed into Flutters, sending it flying into the air and out of the arena. Violet scrambled backwards and caught Flutters in her arms.

"Flutters, if you don't want to do this anymore, it's OK," Violet said quietly. "It's my fault, I didn't even think that Chompy wouldn't have been able to take out Rhyhorn."

"Pod..." Flutters said quietly before its body took on a brilliant white glow.

"Wha-Flutters?!" Violet exclaimed, holding her now-blinding Bug-type out at arm's length. Through the bright light, Red could vaguely make out Flutters changing shape. The evolving Metapod rose into the air, and a moment later, the glow stopped. Flutters was no longer a Metapod. What hovered before them now had a purple body with two small blue hands, a pair of large red eyes, and a pair of large, white wings with thin black lines forming simple designs.

"Freeeh, freeeh!" exclaimed the newly evolved Butterfree as it rose higher in the air, flying around in circles.

"Woah!" exclaimed Orange, who no longer seemed frightened of Flutters. "A Butterfree!" Red, equally in awe, held his Pokédex out.

"Butterfree, the Butterfly Pokémon, and the evolved form of Metapod," droned the Pokédex. "A water-repellant dust coats its wings, allowing it to fly even in the rain. Butterfree are capable of using such techniques as Confusion and Sleep Powder."

"Consider me impressed," Minerva smiled. "First time I've ever seen a challenger's Pokémon evolve mid-battle. OK, Rhyhorn, use your Thunderbolt attack!"

"Flutters, Sleep Powder!" exclaimed Violet.

"Freeeh, freeeh!" Flutters exclaimed as it flapped its wings and flew directly above Rhyhorn, scattering a fine blue dust. Rhyhorn growled as its body crackled with electricity, but this quickly gave way to rumbling snores to rival Orange's as it slumped to the ground.

"Finish it! Confusion attack!" Violet commanded.

"Wake up, Rhyhorn!" Minerva was screaming, but no use; Flutters unleashed twin beams of blue light from its eyes, striking Rhyhorn hard. The Spikes Pokémon rolled over three times and came to rest at Minerva's feet- though the Confusion had jolted it awake, it had knocked it out almost immediately afterwards.

"Well done," sighed Minerva as she withdrew Rhyhorn and approached Violet. Once Minerva reached the challenger's side of the arena, she handed another Gravel Badge and TM34 to Violet.

"Thanks," Violet grinned as she accepted the items.

"You earned them," smiled Minerva. "OK, Red, your turn. Are you ready?"

"...I guess," sighed Red. In truth, he didn't feel ready at all, given that none of his Pokémon had any sort of move that could be effective on a Rock-type.

"You know, you don't have to do this now, Red," Violet said kindly. "We can help you train-"

"Thanks, Violet, but... I want to at least give it a shot," said Red, giving a brave attempt at a smile. "I'm not always going to be at an advantage, so I might as well get some practice trying to win in spite of a disadvantage."

"Wow," Violet said as Minerva crossed back over to her side of the battlefield. "Well, good luck, Red!"

"Thanks," Red smiled as he turned to face Minerva.

"Yeah, we're behind you all the way, Red!" added Orange. He then leaned over and muttered to Violet, "He's screwed, isn't he?"

~~~~~~~~
End of Chapter 6.​

 

[Missingno. Master]

Chapter 7: Red's Rattata Run
~~~~~~~~​

Red took several deep breaths to steady himself as he stared across the giant battlefield, though he know that his Charmander and Rattata didn't really stand a chance against a Geodude and Rhyhorn. Across the arena, Minerva had finished healing her Pokémon, and so heaved her first Poké Ball onto the field. "Geodude, go!" she called out.

The ball split open, allowing the spherical floating boulder to materialize yet again. "Geodude," grunted Geodude.

"OK," Red said quietly to himself as he frantically racked his brain for possible strategies. When nothing that seemed likely to work came to him, he ceased this and instead simply took a Poké Ball off his belt, enlarged it, and tossed it onto the rocky field. "I choose you, Rattata!" called Red.

Rattata emerged onto the battlefield as soon as the Poké Ball opened up. It landed on the ground and faced Geodude defiantly, not seeming to care about its apparent disadvantage.

"Geodude, Tackle attack now!" Minerva called.

"Rattata, Tail Whip!" Red ordered.

As Geodude charged forward, Rattata wheeled around and wagged its tail. Bewildered at this pointless action, Geodude slowed down.

"Don't let your defense down, Geodude, that's what they're after!" Minerva warned. "Use Defense Curl!"

"Geodude," replied Geodude as it landed on the ground and folded its arms tightly, seeming to now form a perfect sphere.

"Use Quick Attack!" Red shouted.

"Rrrrrrrrrattata!" shrieked Rattata as it charged across the battlefield at blinding speeds and struck Geodude. Thought the Rock Pokémon obviously wasn't hurt that much by the attack, it remained unable to, in its current spherical state, stop itself from rolling backwards uncontrollably as a result of the impact. Geodude rolled back until it crashed into the back wall.

"Wow," Orange said. "That was pretty cool."

"I wasn't sure if that would work," said Red. "Nice job, Rattata."

"Rattata!" exclaimed Rattata happily.

"Come on, Geodude," encouraged Minerva as her Pokémon unsteadily rose back into the air, still apparently dizzy from its unexpected trip.

"Duuuude," groaned Geodude.

"Shake it off, Geodude, you've taken harder hits than that before. Show them your Mega Punch!"

"Rattata, return," Red said as he held out the Poké Ball. The red beam of light exploded forth from the Poké Ball's button, recalling Rattata before Geodude could even begin its attack. Red then threw another ball. "Charmander, let's go!" he shouted.

The Poké Ball split open in midair and spilled out a mass of shapeless white energy which quickly formed itself into Red's Fire-type. "Char, char!" it exclaimed.

"Geodude, Rock Throw!" Minerva called out.

"Charmander Growl!" Red ordered.

"Chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!" Charmander shouted, its voice noticeably more grating than usual. Geodude held out its arms, but before the rocks could form, it was clapping its hands over what Red supposed were its ears, groaning in agony as Charmander continued the Growl attack.

"Smart move," Violet commented. "Growl lowers an opponent's attacking power."

"Now, Charmander, Ember!" Red commanded.

"Char char char!" Charmander responded as it wheeled around and wagged its tail as Rattata had done. Small flames flew off of its tail and struck Geodude, who had only begun to recover from the Growl attack.

"Mega Punch now!" Minerva called out.

"Dude!" Geodude shouted as it suddenly charged forward, its right fist connecting with Charmander's stomach, sending it flying backwards Charmander screamed as it landed on the ground in front of Red and began to unsteadily climb back to its feet.

"Charmander, take a rest," said Red as he held the ball out. Once Charmander had been withdrawn, Red threw his other Poké Ball. "Back out again, Rattata!"

"Rattata!" exclaimed Rattata upon being sent out again. Red then got a proper look at Geodude and noticed that parts of its rocky hide had been blackened.

"Yes!" Red exclaimed. "Charmander's Ember attack burned Geodude! Rattata, let's finish this! Use Quick Attack!"

"Ratta...TAAAA!" bellowed Rattata. Instead of charging forward, however, a stream of water issued from its gaping mouth, striking Geodude hard.

"WHAT?!" Minerva screamed. "How the..."

"I can't believe it!" Violet exclaimed. "The training worked after all! Red, Rattata's learned Water Gun!"

"Yes! YES!" cheered Red. "It's not over yet! Rattata, Water Gun once more!"

"Ratta... TAAAA!" repeated Rattata as it issued another jet of water.

"Quick, Geodude, Mega Punch now!" Minerva ordered, but too late; Rattata's Water Gun connected with the semiconscious Rock-type, and it fell to the floor with a loud crashing noise, where it made no effort to get back up.

"Geodude, return," scowled Minerva, clearly displeased that her Pokémon had been defeated by such a stroke of luck. "Not bad, Red, but you'll soon learn that luck can only get you so far. Rhyhorn, I choose you!"

Minerva yelled these last four words as she launched her second Poké Ball, unleashing her Rhyhorn into the fray.

"Rattata, Water Gun! Let's end it here and now!" Red called out.

"Rhyhorn, Bide!" Minerva shouted.

As Rhyhorn began to focus, Rattata fired off a continuous stream of water from its mouth.

"Don't give it a chance to launch Bide!" Red warned Rattata. "You keep that Water Gun going, Rattata! Soak that Rhyhorn until it faints!"

After many tense seconds of watching, Rhyhorn suddenly fired off a large yellow beam of energy, cutting through the continual Water Gun, and plowing Rattata halfway into the ground. As the Rat Pokémon struggled to climb back out, Minerva gave another command; "Finish it with Stomp!"

Rhyhorn dashed forwards at a high speed. Despite Red's frantic commands for more Water Gun usage, Rattata was too worn out to do much more than continue to pull itself out of the ground. Rhyhorn then reared up upon approaching Rattata and brought its right front foot down hard on it. As it backed off, a clearly unconscious Rattata could be seen.

"No... Rattata, return," Red sighed as he withdrew Rattata. "I can't believe I made the same mistake Violet did."

"I can't believe that Water Gun couldn't knock out Rhyhorn," Violet said.

"I can't believe it's not butter," said Orange. "What?" he added defensively as Violet glared at him.

"Well, this is it, then," Red said as he threw another Poké Ball. "Charmander, it's up to you!"

As Charmander reappeared, it was clear that though it had recovered somewhat, it had retained most of the damage dealt by Geodude's Mega Punch.

"Let's make this quick, Rhyhorn," said Minerva. "Horn Attack!"

"Charmander, Ember attack!" Red shouted.

Charmander wheeled around, wagging its tail and sending embers flying as Rhyhorn charged forward. The flames pelted its body, but it did not slow down. It collided with Charmander, horn-first, knocking it backwards.

"Charmander!" Red shouted as his Pokémon struggled to get back to its feet for the second time in one battle. This time, however, most of the attempt was obscured by the sudden appearance of a dazzling white glow around Charmander's entire body.

"Oh, come on!" Minerva exclaimed. "It was kinda cool when the Metapod did it, but now it's downright repetitive!"

Indeed, Charmander was evolving.

"Yes! YES!" Red exclaimed loudly, as he tried and failed to conceal a wide grin as the glow faded, revealing Charmander to have been replaced by a slightly taller creature. Though built similarly to Charmander, this Pokémon looked decidedly more powerful. Maybe it was what appeared to be a perpetual look of total confidence in its eyes, maybe it was the fact that its tail was thicker and longer, topped with a larger flame, maybe it was the fact that its formerly orange scales were now a bright crimson.

"Chaaaaaaaar!" roared the new Pokémon in a decidedly deeper voice.

"Oh, sweet! It evolved into a Charmeleon!" Orange breathed, holding out his Pokédex as Red did the same.

"Charmeleon, the Flame Pokémon, and the evolved form of Charmander," said both Pokédexes simultaneously. "Charmeleon is at its happiest when engaged in a tough fight. It attacks its foes mercilessly and will not stop until it has won."

Red then looked at his Pokédex- it was displaying a new move for Charmeleon. Still grinning, he and Charmeleon exchanged looks. Both of them were now very confident.

"Ready to win this, Charmeleon?" asked Red.

"Char," Charmeleon replied, nodding.

"Then let's give them a Flamethrower!" Red commanded. Charmeleon was more than happy to oblige as it unleashed from its mouth a massive stream of flames. Rhyhorn, on Minerva's frantic command, prepared to use Bide, but the move proved to be far too much for the Spikes Pokémon to handle. Charmeleon stopped the attack after a few moments, at which point the completely charred and blackened Rhyhorn tipped over and fell on its side with an earth-shaking crash, and moved no more.

"WE DID IT!" Red cheered loudly. "I won! We won! Come here, Charmeleon!"

As Red and Charmeleon hugged each other, Minerva sighed, wordlessly withdrew Rhyhorn, then approached Red.

"Well, even if it did seem a little too much like how Violet won," said Minerva, "the fact remains that you beat me, fair and square, Red." She then held out her hand, in which was contained a Gravel Badge and a TM34. Red accepted them gratefully.

"Thanks," he said as he withdrew Charmeleon. "I still can't believe we did it, though!"

"So where are you three headed next, anyway?" asked Minerva. "Going after all the badges?"

"That we are," said Red. "I don't suppose you'd happen to know where the nearest Gym is?"

"Well, there's the Ivadirin Gym, though I heard the leader's been absent for some time now," said Minerva. "There's a Gym in Ruceelna City, you might want to check that out. It's just on the other side of Moon Canyon.

"Moon Canyon?" repeated Red.

"Yeah," said Orange. "It's supposed to be this large canyon that supposedly started forming when a huge meteor from space crashed into the ground and split it in half."

"Correct," said Minerva.

As the trio exited the Gym and made for the Pokémon Center, Red spoke up again. "In Kanto, there's a city just east of Pewter City, called Cerulean City. I'm gonna go ahead and guess that Ruceelna is spelled R-U-C-E-E-L-N-A?

"Yeah, why- ohhhhhhh," said Orange. "Those letters when rearranged, spell Cerulean?"

"Yep," said Red.

"Still freaky," sighed Orange, shaking his head.

"What about Moon Canyon?" asked Violet. "Anything like that in Kanto?"

Red shook his head. "No canyons, but between Pewter City and Cerulean City, there's this huge mountain called Mt. Moon, which supposedly formed from a large meteor. I'm guessing Moon Canyon was named because the meteor that crashed was supposed to have been from the moon?"

"Bingo," said Orange. "According to rumor, the meteor broke into thousands of fragments- Moon Stones, which can be used to evolve various Pokémon."

"Those I know about," Red nodded. "Professor Oak told me about them. So, should we head out?"

"I'm thinking we should hit the Pokémon Center first, actually," said Violet. "Almost all of our Pokémon are kinda wiped out from the gym."

"Good point," conceded Red, who then proceeded to lead the way to the Pokémon Center, ignoring Orange's whining about how they were supposedly wasting valuable time. Orange continued in this vein as they entered the center, as the nurse healed their Pokémon, and as they exited.

"...and furthermore, going back to the Pokémon Center is gonna take so long, you know how crowded these places get at this time of the day, and-"

"ORANGE!" shouted Violet. "In case you haven't noticed, we just left the Pokémon Center. It took less than two minutes for that nice nurse to heal our Pokémon. And we most certainly have not wasted our entire day!"

"...oh," Orange replied lamely at length. "Well, it still could've gone that way easily."

"Orange?" said Violet.

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

Minutes later, they approached a road of roof tiles, drywall, and tree bark, flanked by what appeared to be large heaps of crushed ice, pencil shavings, and clumps of grass. According to a nearby sign, they were leaving Rewept City and approaching Route -3.

"Alright, let's try and catch more Pokémon!!" Orange exclaimed excitedly as he ran down the road, looking excitedly in all directions. Violet sighed and followed at a leisurely pace, followed by Red, who was warily eyeing a distant swarm of .4.

Before long, Orange screeched to a halt, as he spotted floating before him a rectangular Pokémon with orange and purple markings. It was at least three feet wide, though no more than a foot tall. It gave an unintelligible squeak upon noticing Orange, Red, and Violet, the latter two of whom had just caught up.

"What is that?" Red asked. As an answer, Orange held out his Pokédex.

"A, the Speed Demon Pokémon," droned the device. "A has exceptionally pitiful offensive capabilities, but is among the fastest of any known Pokémon. Very rare, A prefer to live solitary lives."

"Oh, sweet!" Orange exclaimed. "A are so rare! I gotta catch this!" Wasting no time, he took a Poké Ball and launched it. "Attack it, Q!" he exclaimed.

The ball opened up, allowing Orange's Q to materialize. At the sight of its Water/Psychic adversary, A rose slightly to match Q's height.

"Q, use your Headbutt attack!" ordered Orange.

"Kyuuuu," replied Q softly as it charged forward. A reacted swiftly by cartwheeling in place, resembling an oddly colored propeller as it unleashed a powerful wind. Q cried out in pain as the attack landed.

"That's A's Razor Wind," warned Violet.

"Yeah, I know that!" Orange replied impatiently. "Q, try Confusion!"

Q launched a beam of blue psychic energy, to which A responded by firing off a barrage of gold coins from the center of its body. The Pay Day attack was not nearly enough to keep Confusion at bay. Indeed, as the Psychic move struck its Normal/Normal-type target, Q made use of its psychic powers to pick up the coins and drop them in Orange's pockets. Upon taking the hit, A did not hit the ground, but it did seem a little less steady in its floating. Satisfied, Orange produced an empty Poké Ball from his backpack. A squeaked in fright at the sight of the sphere.

"Poké Ball! Go!" Orange shouted. Screaming in protest, A zipped away and was back within seconds, shoving what appeared to be a brown bird with red wings into the path of the sphere instead. This new Pokémon was violently struggling against the A, but was suctioned into the ball nonetheless. Once this happened, A flew off into the distance with such swiftness that Red merely had to blink before the Speed Demon Pokémon was gone.

"Awww!" Orange complained as he picked up the Poké Ball. "I wanted A! Not this thing!"

"What did you catch, anyway?" asked Red. "It all happened so fast I didn't get a good look."

In answer, Orange threw the ball straight up. In a flash of light, his new Pokémon materialized. Its plumage, though mainly brown, was also black in some spots, mainly the back of its head. Its wing feathers, on the other hand, were crimson.

"Spearow, the Tiny Bird Pokémon," droned Orange's Pokédex. "Spearow will fly at great speeds in order to defend its territory. It is known for its vicious temperament."

"Speeeeeeeeeearowwww!" cawed the Spearow, obviously displeased at having been captured as it dove towards Orange, who ducked just in time.

"Call it back, Orange!" Violet shouted.

"Spearow, return now!" Orange called hastily, holding out the Poké Ball as Spearow wheeled around for a second attempt.

"Orange, maybe you should release Spearow," said Red. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you finally caught a Pokémon I'm actually familiar with, but it seems a bit unruly."

"Are you kidding?" responded Orange, breaking out into a wide grin. "Spearow's just gotta get used to me, that's all. Nothing a few battles won't fix. Come on!" And he took off down the road yet again.

"Don't take it personally, Red," sighed Violet as the two of them began walking after Orange yet again. "The better the advice is, the less likely he is to take it."

"I'm beginning to pick up on that, yeah," replied Red.
~~~~~~~~
"Hey! I saw you in Ivadirin Forest!" exclaimed a young boy dressed in a white shirt, shorts, and a wide-brimmed hat. A butterfly net was slung over his shoulder.

Orange screeched to a halt and addressed the youth. "Jimmy?"

"No, no, my name's Calvin," replied the Bug Catcher. "I know Jimmy, though. No, I just saw you running for the exit last night, like your life depended on it. What was that about anyway?"

"Long story," shrugged Orange as Violet and Red caught up. "But you didn't stop me just to hear that."

"That's what I want to hear from a Pokémon Trainer!" exclaimed Calvin, suddenly producing a Poké Ball and throwing it. "Pokémon fight! Go, Caterpie!"

Calvin's Poké Ball split open to reveal the diminutive Bug-type, identical to what Flutters had looked like when Violet first caught it. Orange suppressed a shudder at the sight of Caterpie, then threw his own Poké Ball. "Let's do it! Spearow, I choose you!"

"Orange, are you insane?" Violet demanded as Spearow emerged from the ball, cawing loudly.

"I know what I'm doing," Orange said dismissively as he consulted his Pokédex. "Spearow, use Peck!"

"Speeeeee!" was Spearow's response as it rose high into the air and dove back down- right at Orange. Calvin and his Caterpie exchanged glances as Orange evaded an attack from his own Pokémon.

"Not me, birdbrain!" exclaimed Orange. "Attack the Caterpie! Peck!"

"Rooooooowwwwwwwwwwww!" replied Spearow as it dive-bombed its trainer yet again, who had to back up hastily to evade it (stepping on Violet's feet in the process)

"Yeah, this is going nowhere fast," Calvin said as he withdrew Caterpie. "Good luck with that angry bird."

"Hey... HEY, THAT MEANS YOU FORFEIT, YOU KNOW!" bellowed Orange as Calvin walked away. "I WIN BY DEFAUL- OW! Spearow, cut that out!" he added as Spearow slammed into its trainer's head. Orange hastily made to withdraw Spearow. "What?" he asked, for Violet was looking at him and rolling her eyes. "It's a forfeit if the other guy just gives up and walks away, right?"

"Pretty sure in an official match, you'd have been disqualified for using a disobedient Pokémon long before the opponent would have thought to quit," said Violet.

"Well, how else is Spearow gonna learn to obey me?" Orange said defensively. "Gotta work with it, don't I?"

"He's got a point, I guess," conceded Red.

"Fine," Violet sighed, rolling her eyes yet again. "Just don't use it against other trainers until it starts listening to you."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever- ooh! Another trainer!" Orange exclaimed, having spotted a figure in the distance. "Hey! HEY! You want to battle my Spearow?" he shouted as he ran after the figure.

"I see what you mean about how he takes advice," said Red as he and Violet walked off after him.

~~~~~~~~
End of Chapter 7.​

 

[Missingno. Master]

Chapter 8: Bad Day At Moon Canyon
~~~~~~~~​

"Spearow, Fury Attack!" commanded Orange.

"Z4, use your own Fury Attack!" said Orange's Bug Catcher opponent.

The enemy's Z4 sprouted several sharp stingers all over its body and threw itself through the air, though Orange's Spearow took no notice as it flew up high and attempted to dive-bomb its own trainer.

"Hey! HEY!" roared Orange as he narrowly avoided being skewered by his own Spearow. "Not me, Spearow! Attack the enemy!"

"...OK..." the Bug Catcher said slowly, as he realized that the battle wasn't likely to go anywhere fast. "I'm just gonna... leave now." He then proceeded to withdraw Z4 back into its Poké Ball and slowly walk away.

"Hah! I win again! You forfeit! I win aga-OW!" Orange exclaimed as Spearow slammed into him. "Spearow, return!"

Once Spearow was back in its Poké Ball, Red and Violet approached him. Orange grinned at his companions.

"Another victory for me!" he said. "That's four in a row now!"

"They didn't forfeit," sighed Violet for what felt like the trillionth time that day. "They knew your Spearow wasn't gonna attack their Pokémon, so they just left."

"Hey, they're the ones with no patience!" Orange said. "They leave, they forfeit!"

"Orange?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

Though Orange stopped talking, he still shot a glare at Violet as the trio continued walking.

The scenery changed somewhat. Though it still looked as random as ever, there was more rock than ever mixed in with the weird square puddles of water, stacks of roofing tiles, and tall trees that looked like they were shoddily built out of fragments of drywall, chunks of brick, ice cubes, and tin cans. Then, Red saw it.

"Whoa," he murmured. For at that point, the ground looked as if it had been cracked open, on a massive scale. The resulting chasm was several miles across, easily.

"Yep," nodded Orange. "This is Moon Canyon."

The walls of Moon Canyon looked very much like the ground on which they walked- random chunks of rock, dirt, grass, odd and out-of-place puddles of water, and the occasional number. Numerous large holes could be seen in various parts of the walls, presumably leading to a network of underground tunnels.

"So how do we get across?" asked Red.

"Oh! I got it!" exclaimed Orange. "Maybe if we get up a good running start, we can jump across it! What?" he added defensively, for Red and Violet had both turned to him with odd expressions on their faces.

"Orange, a Hitmonlee wouldn't be able to make that jump," Violet said. "You can't seriously think you'd be able to."

"Wait a minute," Red said thoughtfully. "I got an idea. What if we just have Q float us across with its psychic powers?"

"Huh... that's actually a good idea," nodded Violet.

"Yeah!" added Orange.

"Nope," came a gruff voice from behind the trio. Simultaneously, they wheeled around to find themselves face-to-face with a very bulky man in hiking gear. "'Fraid that won't work. You ain't the first trainers with ideas like that, I'll have you know."

"Who are you?" asked Red.

"Name's Marc," replied the man. "I'm a hiker, see. Came out to Moon Canyon for a little fun. Gonna climb down one side, then go up the other. That's yer best bet, far as getting across this thing is concerned."

"I'm no good at that sort of thing," Violet said quietly. "Why didn't they just build a bridge across it anyway?"

"They did," Marc said. "Only thing is, there weren't enough funds, so they had to go with one of them cheap rope bridges. Snapped like a twig just two weeks back. Just glad no one was hurt, it had just been due to some Zubat gnawing on the ropes."

"So why don't they fix it?" asked Orange.

Marc shrugged. "Damned if I know," he said. "Probably they realized that kind of bridge weren't that safe, and they're saving up to build something more reliable."

"Wait a minute," Red said. "Why wouldn't using Q's psychic powers to float across the canyon work anyway?"

"Ah, now, as fer that, I can't really say for sure. Telekinetic power never seemed to work right around this canyon. Some say it was cause of that giant Moon Stone what formed this thing to begin with, but I dunno. So anyways, I dunno about you, but I'm climbing my way across that canyon." With that, he headed towards the edge and slowly began to climb down. Red peered over the side and saw that Marc was taking advantage of places where the rocks and numbers jutted out of the canyon's sides, using them to climb down the sheer slope as if it were a ladder.

"That doesn't look too hard, actually," said Red. "What say we give it a shot?"

"I dunno," Orange said warily.

"Orange, stop being such a wuss," snapped Violet. "Red's right, it looks a lot easier than I thought it would be. What's the worst that can happen?"

Though still clearly uncertain about the whole thing, Orange relented. Red started down the side of the canyon, followed by Violet, who was followed by Orange. Red was right- it was easy. The rocks and numbers that jutted out proved to be more than capable of supporting their weight, and were very easy to grip. About halfway down, however, a loud cracking noise could be heard from above Red, followed by Orange's mutter of "Uh-oh."

"I'm almost afraid to ask-" began Red before Orange, having accidentally dislodged a seven with his foot, lost his balance completely and fell onto Violet, who fell onto Red, sending the three trainers plummeting into the abyss.

Down they fell, until with a great SPLASH, they landed in what appeared to be a small pond at the bottom of the canyon, except it seemed to be immeasurably deep. As Red climbed out, he saw Violet doing the same. Then he looked around and realized who was missing.

"Where's Orange?" asked Red.

"Oh, no," gasped Violet. "He can't swim! And these things can get up to fifty feet deep!"

"Oh, man," said Red as Violet got ready to jump back into the water, tears starting to form in her eyes. "Oh, damn! Violet, we gotta do something."

"I'm gonna jump in after him," Violet declared as she approached the edge of the water. Just as she bent her knees and prepared to jump, however, a familiar redheaded figure broke through the surface of the water.

"Orange!" Red exclaimed. "Are you OK- What in the hell are you riding?" For beneath Orange was a strange cubelike being, three feet in every direction, with a blocky and random pattern of various shades of blue all over its body. Out of sheer curiosity, Red held his Pokédex out.

"LM4, the Bubble Cube Pokémon," droned Red's Pokédex. "Though famed for its violent battle style, LM4 is kind-hearted. It will always try to rescue any drowning human it encounters."

"L M," cooed LM4, happy that Orange was OK.

"Hey, guys!" grinned Orange. "Sorry about that. That was awesome, LM4 saved me!"

"I'm glad you're OK," said Red, grinning back. Violet, too, was smiling, though she remained quiet. LM4 drifted to the edge of the deep pond, allowing Orange to climb back onto dry land.

"Thanks, LM4," Orange said as the trio began to walk across the bottom of the canyon, making for the other side. They were shortly stopped, however, by Marc.

"You kids OK?" he asked. "I'd have helped out, only I couldn't climb down no faster."

"Yeah, we're fine, thanks," Violet said. "We-"

At that moment, however, a tremendous explosion rocked the entire canyon, coming from the trio's left. Red led the way as they ran over to see what was happening. Once the dust had settled, they could see a group of men, dressed in identical purple outfits, the shirts all emblazoned with a large, orange "E".

"Hey, what's going on here?" demanded Orange. This caused them to notice the trio.

"Hey! What are you kids doing here?" snapped one of the men, stepping forward, a Poké Ball in his right hand. "We're in the middle of an important mission here, so beat it!"

Violet, however, gasped. "Orange!" she breathed. "That's Team Error!"

"Oh, so you've heard of us, have you?" sneered another man. "Fans of ours, are you?"

"Hardly," Violet replied coldly. "I've heard of you, all right, the way you all cause all sorts of trouble, just like that Team Debug!"

At these words, many of the Team Error grunts let out low hisses.

"Do not compare us to those extremist nincompoops!" roared the first man. "Team Debug's goal is to wipe out entire races of Pokémon! We, the noble Team Error, exist to thwart the dastardly efforts of Team Debug!"

"So what do the explosions accomplish, anyway?" asked Orange.

"Simple," the second man replied. "Team Debug is funding research to have the fossils of ancient Pokémon restored, so we're trying to destroy all the fossils-"

"Idiot!" roared the first man, slapping the second grunt in the face. "What did you tell them that for? Don't you remember what the boss said? Never, never reveal our plans to outsiders!"

"Hey, what gives?!" said the second man defensively. "I didn't reveal our plan to... to... oh, I guess I kinda did, didn't I?"

The first man facepalmed. "I knew the boss was having trouble with finding good recruits, but this is ridiculous," he muttered.

"Uh, Jeff?" the second man said. "Don't we still gotta deal with these kids?"

"What do you mean, deal with us?" Orange exclaimed defiantly.

"I dunno. I mean, they can't be all bad, Larry," Jeff said fairly. "That LM4 there really seems to like the redhead."

"Hmm?" Orange said in surprise. He turned around, and sure enough, the LM4 from before was flopping around his feet, happily exclaiming "L! M! LM4!"

"Yeah, that's true," the second man, apparently called Larry, said. "It's rare to see a trainer that's so liked by Modern Pokémon."

"Modern Pokémon?" repeated Red questioningly.

"Yeah, Modern Pokémon," said Jeff. "The ones that are really geometric in shape. LM4, .4, 44Hy, and the like. Team Debug, see, hates those kinds of Pokémon, calls them Glitch Pokémon." Jeff made a distasteful face as he spoke those last two words. "They seem to think Modern Pokémon aren't natural, and prefer to stick with Old Pokémon, stuff like Raichu and Goldeen and Weezing. Still, for kids who like Modern Pokémon, why are you opposing us?"

"Well, for one thing, fossils belong in museums," stated Violet. "You're blowing up pieces of history."

"It's a little iffy, yeah," conceded Jeff, "but we got our orders. The boss wants us to stop Team Debug's plans before they start. Say, could we see the rest of the Modern Pokémon you all have?"

"OK..." said Orange as he took all the Poké Balls off his belt and threw them. "Come on out, everybody!"

The balls burst open and unleashed blasts of energy which formed themselves into Q, .4, and Spearow. Larry nodded approvingly at .4, but Jeff narrowed his eyes at the sight of Spearow.

"You dare possess an Old Pokémon?" he exclaimed. "What are you, a Debug loyalist or something?! You try to gain our trust with your Modern Pokémon, and then you pull this garbage?!"

"What's the difference, anyway?!" Orange exploded. "Pokémon are Pokémon! I'll admit Spearow and I don't get along that well, but I still love him the same as the rest of my team!"

Spearow, meanwhile, had paused in his ascent, which would probably have led to dive-bombing. Unknown to anyone else, he was listening to what Orange was saying.

"Well, then, we'll just have to teach you proper respect, won't we?" sneered Jeff as he threw a Poké Ball. "Go! pPkMnp!"

Jeff's Poké Ball unleashed into the open a black-and-white being with sparse blue and red markings. It was rectangular in shape, though it was more vertical than A had been. Its entire left side was cloaked in a sinister purple aura. It let loose a deep roar. Orange took out his Pokédex and pointed it at the creature.

"pPkMnp, the Fortress Pokémon," said the Pokédex. "pPkMnp moves slowly and cannot attack with much effectiveness. Its true strengths lie in its rock-solid defense. pPkMnp is of the Poison-type."

"This will be tricky, Orange," warned Violet. "Physical blows will do almost nothing to a pPkMnp!"

Before Orange could reply to this, LM4 had flopped its way in front of Orange. "Four!" it exclaimed defiantly.

"Wow," Red said. "Orange, I think LM4 wants to fight p... pkm... that thing!"

"I'd say so," Orange murmured. "Is this true, LM4?"

"L! LM!" LM4 exclaimed in an encouraging tone.

Orange then broke out into a wide grin as he consulted his Pokédex for a list of LM4's attacks. "Ooh," he muttered. "Lot of good ones here. All right, LM4! Water Gun!"

"Foooouuur!" bellowed LM4 as it let loose a stream of water from the front of its body.

"pPkMnp, use Sludge!" Jeff growled.

pPkMnp roared as a stream of thick, smelly, black liquid blasted forth from its body, meeting the Water Gun halfway. Neither move allowed the other to make any further progress, and the two combatants quickly ceased to use them.

"LM4, Quick Attack now!" Orange commanded.

With blinding speed, LM4 leapt off the ground and lunged at pPkMnp, only to bounce off the Poison-type's body with a resounding CLAAAAANG.

"Orange, I told you, physical moves won't do much to it!" Violet hissed.

"We got 'im now!" Jeff exclaimed. "Use Thunder!"

"Aurora Beam now!" Orange called desperately.

As pPkMnp's body crackled with electricity, LM4 unleashed a rainbow-colored ray from one of its corners, causing the Fortress Pokémon to roar in pain. It fell backwards and hit the ground with a thud, and moved no more.

"Nice one, LM4!" Orange exclaimed as Jeff withdrew his pPkMnp. Larry, however, took Jeff's place, throwing a Poké Ball of his own.

"Now it's my turn!" he declared. Go, 7g!"

In a flash of light, a small, pink cube with strange, dot-like black and white markings materialized. It floated in midair, appearing to be not much larger than a .4.

"G...." it muttered in a voice which suggested an overall lack of intelligence. Curious, Red held his Pokédex out at this newcomer.

"7g, the Slow Pokémon," it droned. "Though low in intelligence, it will always obey an order given to it. Even if ordered to use a move it does not know, it will attempt to use it anyway."

"LM4, you can't do this," insisted Orange. "You're a Water and Fighting-type, and 7g is a Water and Psychic-type. You're at a disadvantage."

"M!" replied LM4 defiantly as it made a motion similar to shaking one's head.

"Are you sure?" Orange asked.

"Four," was the response. This time, LM4 seemed to be nodding.

"Your funeral," said Larry. "7g, Confusion!"

"Seeeevvveeeeen...." yawned 7g as it unleashed a ray of blue Psychic energy.

"Dodge it with Quick Attack!" Orange exclaimed. Swiftly, LM4 bounded out of the way of the attack, then lunged at 7g and tackled it to the ground.

"Use Double-Edge, 7g!" roared Larry.

"LM4, PoisonPowder!" Orange commanded.

7g rose back into the air and prepared to slam into LM4, only to be met with a cloud of shimmering purple dust, sprayed from the four topmost corners of the cube that was LM4. 7g instead fell to the ground and began coughing.

"Let's wrap this up!" Orange shouted triumphantly. "Rolling Kick!"

"Foooooooooooooooooour!" LM4 called out as it bounded into the air. Out of its side sprouted a mass of glowing brown energy which formed itself into a foot-like shape. LM4 then began spinning around as it descended, and slammed its foot into 7g, plowing it into the ground.

Scowling, Larry withdrew his unconscious 7g. "This is not over," he said menacingly.

"Oh, I think it is," sneered Violet as she took out a Poké Ball of her own. "Flutters, use your Sleep Powd-"

"Error Smoke Screen!" one of the grunts randomly shouted as he threw a small, grey sphere to the ground. Almost before the Butterfree was clear of its Poké Ball, the smoke cleared, revealing the Error Grunts to have fled. Then, a familiar pinging sound could be heard from behind Orange and Violet- the sound of a Poké Ball successfully catching a Pokémon. Simultaneously, they turned around to spot Red gleefully scooping up a Poké Ball.

"Red, what's that?" asked Violet.

"Didn't you see me and LM4 battle?" asked Orange dejectedly.

"Of course I did," said Red. "But I saw that one of those rocks that was loosened by the explosion was about to flatten a wild Paras, so I did the first thing I could think of- I threw a Poké Ball at it. The ball knocked Paras out of the rock's path, and then caught it. OK, Paras, come on out," he added as he held out the ball. In a flash of light, a small, orange creature appeared. It had four small legs, and two larger front ones, which more closely resembled claws than anything else. A pair of large, beady eyes poked out of its front, directly above its small mouth. On its back sat a pair of small mushrooms.

"Paaaras?" squeaked the Pokémon, seeming to only just become aware that it was not about to be crushed by a falling boulder. Orange stifled a squeak as he hid behind Violet and held out his Pokédex.

"Paras, the Mushroom Pokémon," droned the device. "Paras burrows underground to suck on tree roots. Its mushrooms grow by absorbing nutrients from the bug host. Paras is a Bug and Grass-type."

"It's kinda cute," smiled Violet.

"It's kind of a Bug-type," shuddered Orange.

"Well, I like it," declared Red. "I was only trying to rescue it, but now that I see it up close, I kinda like this little guy." At these words, Paras happily climbed up onto Red's shoulder.

Orange opened his mouth, possibly to object to Paras's inclusion in the group, when a small cry of "Fooooour?" distracted him. He looked down to see LM4 gently nudging him.

"Wha- Ohhhh," smiled Orange as he knelt down to LM4. "You wanna come with me, don't you?"

"L! LM4!" exclaimed LM4 happily.

Now grinning widely, Orange took a Poké Ball out of his backpack and wordlessly tapped LM4 with it. The Bubble Cube Pokémon was transformed into transparent red energy and vacuumed into the sphere. The Poké Ball barely wobbled before making its telltale ping sound.

"All right!" Orange exclaimed. "I caught an LM4!"

"Cool, I guess," said Red as Orange withdrew Q, .4, and Spearow. "Truth be told, I'm still really weirded out by all these different Pokémon."

"You'll get used to them, Red," Violet said kindly. "I know, Tanko is still kind of a strange place to you-"

"Oh, come on," scoffed Orange. "What part of this place could possibly be considered strange?

"Orange?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

~~~~~~~~
End of Chapter 8.​

 

[Missingno. Master]

Chapter 9: Adventures in Psyduck-Sitting
~~~~~~~~​

The rest of the journey through Moon Canyon was relatively uneventful. The trio climbed their way out of the canyon, ending up on the opposite end from where they started, with not a single issue.

"Well, thank goodness we got out of there," remarked Orange as he looked back at the vast chasm. "Should be smooth sailing the rest of the way to Ruceelna City."

"Good," said Red. "Though with the Gym coming up, don't you guys think we ought to get in some training?"

"Good thinking, Red," nodded Violet. "OK, so who's gonna battle who first? Wait, hold that thought, what's that?"

Confused, Red turned to look, for something behind him had caught Violet's attention. It quickly became evident what it was; making its way unsteadily across the rough and uneven terrain was a plump, yellow creature with a large, flat bill on its face. It waddled on a pair of webbed feet that seemed to be directly attached to the bottom of its body, without any legs, and it was clutching its head with a pair of limbs that appeared to be halfway between arms and wings.

"Oh, a Psyduck!" said Red, having spotted the Pokémon. "I've seen those before." Violet took out her Pokédex and pointed it at the Psyduck.

"Psyduck, the Duck Pokémon," the device droned. "Constantly plagued by a headache. It has been known to exhibit mysterious powers on occasion."

"Wait, so that thing always has a headache?" asked Orange. "That is weird."

"Well, I like it," grinned Violet as she readied a Poké Ball. "I think I know what I'm catching today!" She then threw the sphere. "Chompy, I choose you!" she called out.

The ball split open, and in a flash of light, Violet's Bellsprout appeared. "Bellsprout," it said as it faced Psyduck, who had only just noticed the group.

"Psy?" asked Psyduck as it tilted its head, its face registering a look of total cluelessness.

"Chompy, Vine Whip now!" Violet ordered.

"Sprooouut!" exclaimed Chompy as it extended a pair of slender green vines, intent on whipping the Psyduck with them. Psyduck, however, moved quickly; it stopped clutching its head and instead used its wing-like arms to grab the ends of the vines and yank on them, pulling Chompy in close. Psyduck then wrapped its arms around the Bellsprout and began to wrestle with it in a reckless manner.

"Is that a Submission attack?" asked Orange, somewhat impressed. "I didn't think a Psyduck could pull off such a move!"

"Chompy, use Growth!" said Violet.

"Bell... sproooooouuuut!" replied Chompy as its body began to increase in size, forcing Psyduck to let go. Then, without waiting for orders, the Bellsprout coiled its root-like body around Psyduck and began to squeeze hard. Frantically, Psyduck launched a stream of water from its bill, but the Water Gun failed to hit its target.

"Whoa, check it out!" Orange breathed. "What's going on with Chompy?" Violet's Pokédex spoke up, answering the question,

"Wrap," it said. "An attack involving the binding and squeezing of the opponent with one's long body, vines, or tentacles. Inflicts damage and temporarily immobilizes one's foe."

"Nice!" Violet exclaimed. "Chompy, you learned how to use Wrap! OK, keep it up!"

Red, however, was remembering how the Pokédex had mentioned Psyduck's mysterious powers. At the same time, he couldn't help but notice that an ominous blue glow had appeared in Psyduck's eyes- the sort of glow he'd come to associate with the usage of the Confusion attack.

"Violet, look out," he warned, "I think it's about to use-"

"DUUUUUUUUUCK!" screamed Psyduck suddenly, blasting Chompy with a ray of blue light, forcing the Bellsprout to relinquish its grip and throwing it through the air, where it landed at Violet's feet, struggling to get back up.

"...Confusion," Red finished lamely.

"Chompy, are you OK?" asked Violet.

"Sproooout..." moaned Chompy as the Bellsprout unsteadily climbed to its root feet.

"So what's the deal with this thing, anyway?" asked Orange. "What, is it Water and Psychic?"

"No, just Water," said Red. "Professor Oak told me that a Psyduck's psychic powers are more potent when its headache was worse. I'm guessing that Wrap attack didn't do much for its headache."

"Didn't even think of that," muttered Violet. "Chompy, let's try Sleep Powder!"

"Sproooooout," replied Chompy as it exhaled a cloud of glittering blue dust from its mouth. Psyduck's eyelids began to droop as the powder settled all around it. Finally, the Duck Pokémon slumped to the ground, snoring softly.

Wasting no time, Violet pulled a Poké Ball out of her fanny pack, enlarged it, and threw it. "Go, Poké Ball!" she shouted as she did this. The ball whizzed through the air, and once it struck the sleeping Psyduck, split open. At the same time, Psyduck was turned into a shapeless mass of translucent red energy, which was then sucked into the open ball. The Poké Ball snapped shut and hit the ground, whereupon it began to rock back and forth. Violet held her breath, her eyes focused upon the wiggling sphere, as if convinced here persistent glare would help keep it shut.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the ball emitted a single pinging sound and fell still. Violet exhaled and scooped up the Poké Ball. "I caught Psyduck! Yes!" she exclaimed.

"Nice," said Orange, grinning.

"Congratulations, Violet," added Red. "What are you gonna name it?"

"Migraine," she responded. "I know that once it evolves into Golduck, it won't have a headache anymore, but by that time, its psychic powers will be intense enough that it could give its opponents headaches if it wanted to."

"Clever," replied Red, clearly impressed.

"Or, you're just too lazy to think of a name that would suit it as a Golduck," chimed in Orange.

"Orange?" sighed Violet exasperatedly.

"Wh-Ohhhhhhh, no, no, no, you do not!" Orange exclaimed suddenly. "Don't think I haven't noticed this, Vi. You want me to go 'What?' so you can tell me to shut up, like you always do. Well, not this time! You know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna just stay quiet and not answer you!" As if to prove his point, Orange slammed his mouth closed, and gave Violet a very smug grin. Violet raised her eyebrows at this, but did not question his logic.

"Come on," she said to Orange and Red as she withdrew Chompy. "We keep walking now, we should get to Ruceelna before nightfall." With that, she led the way, Orange still smirking smugly, mouth tightly shut. Within minutes, however, Orange's smug demeanor slowly gave way to a look of dawning comprehension.

"Hey, wait a minute!" shouted Orange suddenly. "That's not fair!"

"Took you long enough to figure that out, Orange," laughed Violet. "Mind you, I'm not complaining. The silence was a nice change of pace."

"Change of pace!?" repeated Orange indignantly. "Are you implying that I talk too much? Huh? Are you saying I talk too much? Red, do I talk too much?"

Red jumped slightly, clearly not having expected to have to participate in this conversation. "Well... I... Uh..." he stammered. Fortunately for him, Orange was far too impatient to wait for a coherent answer.

"There, you see?" he said to Violet. "Red doesn't think I'm too talkative. If he was, he'd have said something." Violet facepalmed.

"So, yeah, about training for the next Gym?" Red prompted Violet.

"Red, I thought you'd want to rush through this region as fast as possible, though," Orange said in surprise. "Don't you wanna get to Bincanar Island as quick as possible, get some answers, and get home?"

"I do," Red assured him. "But truth be told, I find Tanko to be fascinating. I do want to go home, but I figure as long as I'm here, why not make the most of it?"

"That's a good attitude to have, Red," Violet said, smiling approvingly.

"You're still not used to some of the Pokémon here, though, are ya?" asked Orange. "When are you gonna start warming up to .4 and Q and-"

"When you start warming up to Paras and Caterpie," retorted Red. This shut Orange up. Violet was quick to notice this, and smiled at Red. Orange saw this, and it seemed to further annoy him.
~~~~~~~~
Not much later, Violet voiced the notion that they should all take a break for a little while. Red, whose legs were starting to ache from the constant walking, combined with the previous bout of rock climbing, was more than happy to agree with this. Orange, on the other hand, was not so obliging.

"Come on, guys!" he whined. "I thought we were gonna try to get to Ruceelna City before nightfall!"

"Orange, relax, we're making good time," said Violet. "We can afford a short break. Why don't we let our Pokémon out, let them relax too?"

"Sounds like a plan," replied Red as he threw three Poké Balls into the air. "Charmeleon, Rattata, Paras, come on out!"

"Chompy, Flutters, Migraine, let's go!" added Violet as she launched her three Poké Balls.

"Q, .4, Spearow, LM4, we might as well," sighed Orange, who seemed to finally accept that Violet and Red weren't about to listen to his constant whining any time soon.

With a great display of dazzling white light, the ten Pokémon materialized. Charmeleon stood a fair distance from the rest of them, arms folded, and Spearow began to fly in large circles over everyone's heads, but the rest of the Pokémon began to interact with one another eagerly. Migraine, however, didn't seem too interested in talking; LM4 approached the Duck Pokémon and began to talk to it, but its responses of "Psy? Duck?" were apparently not what the Water/Fighting-type was hoping to hear, as it flopped away shortly afterwards.

"I'm so bored," whined Orange. "Why can't we keep going?"

"You don't want to rest a little bit, Orange?" asked Red, who was currently seated upon what appeared to be an aluminum tree stump. "That climb wasn't exactly easy."

"Red's right, Orange," added Violet. "We can't just wear ourselves out with constant physical activity, it's not healthy. We got to take it easy every once in a- Q, what is it?"

For at that moment, the Deep Sea Pokémon had floated over to the trio (Red, who hadn't seen it coming, tumbled backwards in shock, falling off his stump). "Kyuuu, kyuuu," it said, its voice full of urgency.

"It's trying to tell us something," observed Orange as Q motioned in the direction of the other Pokémon. The group looked at the Pokémon, trying to figure out what was wrong, when Violet suddenly gasped.

"Migraine's gone!" she exclaimed. "We have to find him!" Immediately, Red and Orange ran over to their Pokémon.

"Charmeleon, Paras, Rattata, any of you see where Migraine went?" asked Red.

"Char?" replied Charmeleon in a confused voice.

"Parrrras?" added Paras, seeming to be equally confused.

"Rattata?" chimed in Rattata.

"The Psyduck! Violet's Psyduck," said Red. "Which way did the Psyduck go?"

Charmeleon merely shrugged, while Rattata shook its head. Paras, however, gave a call of "Par! Paras!" and began scuttling off.

".4, go and search for the Psyduck from the air!" Orange was saying as Red called out.

"Guys, come on! Paras saw which way Migraine went!"

Immediately, Violet and Orange withdrew the rest of their Pokémon, only for Orange to realize Spearow had evaded the ball's beam; it was instead flying alongside .4.

"Red, check it out!" exclaimed Orange. "Spearow's looking for Migraine along with .4!"

"That's cool and all, but come on!" Violet said urgently. Paras saw which way my Psyduck went, we're following it!"

Though clearly reluctant to follow a Bug-type, Orange nevertheless took off after Red and Violet, both of whom were keeping close behind Paras, who was scuttling along the rocky, grassy, muddy, metallic, wet landscape as fast as its legs would carry it. After several minutes of this, however, Paras had lost the trail.

"Never mind, Paras," said Red consolingly as he held out its Poké Ball. "You did great. Take a rest."

Once Paras was back in its ball, an agitated chattering noise could be heard as .4 zipped up to Orange.

".4, you found Migraine?" said Orange. In response, .4 gibbered unintelligibly, zipped three times around Orange's head, and took off in a different direction. The trio gave chase, though not without difficulty; in order to follow .4, they had to navigate their way around a lot of strange rock formation/tree combinations and several odd tree-like structures that seemed to be made entirely of drywall and machine parts. After a few minutes, they came to a small clearing, with two identically dressed men in dreadfully similar white uniforms, each one with a green D emblazoned on the shirt.

"Team Debug!" exclaimed Orange, Red, and Violet simultaneously. At this, the two men wheeled around. Red could now see two steel cages on the ground behind the men- one contained Migraine, the other had Orange's Spearow.

"You twerps again!" exclaimed one of the men, who Red recognized from Ivadirin Forest.

"You're that bunch from Ivadirin Forest!" said Violet. "Give back my Psyduck!"

"And my Spearow!" Orange added.

"I'm afraid we can't do that, kiddies," said the other grunt, who Red recognized as Lou. "You see, if we're gonna thwart Team Error, we need all the extra Pokémon we can get our hands on- OW!" he exclaimed, for his associate, Will, had slapped him.

"You idiot!" roared Will. "When are you gonna stop revealing our plans to non-Debug personnel?!"

"Oh, relax, we can take 'em," said Lou as he readied a Poké Ball. "Mankey, let's go!"

"Tangela, you too!" Lou added, throwing a Poké Ball of his own.

In twin flashes of light, Mankey and Tangela materialized. Both Pokémon narrowed their eyes, recognizing their opponents.

"Let's do this," announced Red as he threw a Poké Ball. "Paras, I choose you!"

"Chompy, let's go!" added Violet, throwing her own Poké Ball.

Both Paras and the Bellsprout Chompy appeared before their respective trainers, facing their foes defiantly.

"Tangela, Constrict!" called Lou.

"Mankey, Mega Punch!" Will ordered.

"Chompy, use Wrap on Mankey!" said Violet.

"Paras, use Leech Life on Tangela!" commanded Red.

Tangela made the first move, extending a pair of teal vines from the tangled mass that was its body. Paras scuttled out of the way, then lunged at Tangela and bit one of its vines. Tangela gave a squeal of pain and tried to shake the Bug and Grass-type off, but Paras held on tight. Mankey, meanwhile, attempted to slam its fist into the Bellsprout, but Chompy merely wrapped its body around its foe once it got close enough.

"Enough of this!" Will said angrily. "Mankey, use Swift!"

Mankey screeched angrily as it unleashed a cluster of glowing star-shaped fragments of energy from its nose. The stars maneuvered through the air, returning to strike Chompy with excellent precision, causing the Bellsprout to loosen its grip momentarily. Seizing the opportunity, Manky wrenched its right arm free and executed Mega Punch, slamming Chompy to the ground. At the same time, Tangela used the vine Paras was sucking energy from to unleash its Slam attack. Paras was forced to let go as it was slammed against the ground, and it landed next to Chompy, who was struggling to get back up.

"Come on, guys," said Red quietly, desperately. Then, a stream of water struck Mankey squarely in the back, while a brown-and-red blur crashed into Tangela.

"Wh- Orange?!" exclaimed Violet. At this, Will and Lou wheeled around. There, standing triumphantly beside a pair of opened and vacant steel cages, was Orange. Q was floating by his side, and as they watched, Spearow landed on his shoulder. Migraine, meanwhile, waddled back to Violet as fast as it could.

"Little tip for you," said Orange, a smug look on his face. "You might want to consider cages with a more reliable lock. Q barely had to do anything to get it open."

"Kyuuu..." Q murmured modestly.

"Spear! Spearow!" cawed Spearow angrily, glaring at the Team Debug grunts.

"That abomination again! It's hideous!" exclaimed Lou as he pointed at Q. "Come on, Will, let's take it out! Tangela, Skull Bash now!"

"Mankey, use Thrash!" added Will.

Orange turned to face the Spearow on his shoulder and gave it a small smile, which Red could have sworn the Spearow had returned. "Use Razor Wind," Orange said simply. Immediately, Spearow took off and flapped its wings rapidly, unleashing a blast of air at Tangela and Mankey, both of whom screeched in pain.

"It obeyed him!" said Red. "Spearow's listening to Orange now!"

"Probably because Orange went to the trouble to save it," remarked Violet. "Though come to think of it, that little speech of his back in Moon Canyon, I'm willing to bet Spearow was moved by it."

"Spearow, let's finish it! Take Down now!" called Orange.

"Speeeeeeeeeeaaarrrowww!" screeched Spearow as it dove down at Mankey and Tangela, plowing them into their respective trainers. Knowing that this was probably the best time to cut their losses and leave while they still could, Will and Lou withdrew their Pokémon and fled into the woods.

"This isn't over, twerps!" roared Lou. "This isn't over!!"

"Nice going, Orange," said Red as everyone withdrew their Pokémon. "You finally got Spearow to listen to you, and you saved Migraine."

"Yeah... thanks," added Violet, albeit somewhat reluctantly, a fact that Orange was quick to pick up on.

"You really hate the fact that I did something right, don't you?" laughed Orange. "You're happiest when you get to argue with me and tell me to shut up and stuff, aren't you?"

"No," scoffed Violet. "It's just that you doing things right and saving the day, it's a new concept to me. I'm gonna have to get used to it."

"Whatever, let's get moving," said Orange.

"Yeah, we might as well," conceded Red. "Especially if there's more Team Debug goons in the area."

"Good point," Violet admitted. The trio began walking again, managing to make their way out of the grove of rock/drywall/machine part trees with little issue. As it turned out, however, their little detour had taken them quite a distance, and it was therefore not very long before the skyline of a city came into view, all the buildings appearing to be made of pieces of fence, odd numbers, gravel, and various pieces of landscaping. Some buildings seemed to have pools of water built into walls, with the surfaces seeming to be completely vertical, which, as far as Red knew, defied the laws of physics.

"We're here," said Orange. "Ruceelna City!

~~~~~~~~
End of Chapter 9.​

 

[Missingno. Master]

Chapter 10: Walter, Water, Everywhere
~~~~~~~~​

The sun was starting to set as the group made their way down the streets of Ruceelna City. At one point, Red noticed a large stone archway in the middle of a street that seemed to be paved with threes, fours, and bricks. To his confusion, Orange and Violet walked around the arch, though it was definitely tall enough for them to walk through.

"Hey, guys, why'd you walk around this arch? It's- agh!" Red exclaimed, for as he was speaking, he walked under the archway, and immediately found that both of his feet were suddenly stuck firmly to the road. Red managed to not fall over, having nearly lost his balance, but simply could not budge his feet an inch.

"Hmm? Red!" exclaimed Violet as she and Orange wheeled around at the sound of his voice. Together, they walked over to Red, each one taking one of his arms, and they yanked hard. With a loud popping sound, Red's feet were pulled free, and the trio fell to the ground.

"Ow," groaned Red as they climbed back to their feet. "What the hell was that?"

"A freeze arch," replied Violet. "They're these stone archways that immobilize anyone who steps through them. You don't have those in Kanto?"

"Nothing even remotely close to them," said Red, looking back at the innocent-looking structure warily, as though fearful that it would suddenly come to life and attack them. "Are there many of these in Tanko?"

"A fair few," said Orange. "Each major city has at least one or two, though they can sometimes be found on routes. They're easy enough to spot, though. I got stuck in one when I was five, back when I lived in Miliovern City. My dad was close by, luckily, so he pulled me out no problem."

"Miliovern City?" repeated Red, frowning. "Wait... How do you spell that? M-I-L-I-O-V-E-R-N?"

"Yeah, why- ohhhh, I see," said Orange. "You rearrange those letters, you get the name of a city in Kanto, right?"

"Vermilion City," nodded Red. "I'm guessing Miliovern is south of here?"

"Right," nodded Violet. "Just past Fansfor City. Which is spelled F-A-N-S-F-O-R, by the way."

"Thought so," nodded Red. "That would correlate to Saffron City in Kanto."

"This is kinda cool," chuckled Orange. "I mean, for years, I've only known of Kanto as an urban legend, a myth about some parallel universe. And now I know, not only is it real, but its city names are the same as ours, just with the letters all scrambled. Well, c'mon, guys, we better get to the Pokémon Center before it gets dark." With that, he took off, running down the street.

"So, Violet," said Red, "Why don't people just take down those freeze arches?"

"They're indestructible," Violet answered. "Nothing in existence can so much as scratch those things. Someone once tried to destroy a freeze arch by telling their 'M to hit it with Take Down, but nothing happened. And 'M have really high attack power, there's not much that can withstand a physical attack from one of those.

Curious, Red took out his Pokédex at the mention of 'M. On the screen appeared an image of a large, rectangular Pokémon, white with black, orange, and purple markings all over. Jutting out from one side was a smaller rectangle with vague facial features.

"'M, the Shoreline Pokémon," droned the Pokédex. "'M thrive in coastal areas, though are not particularly adept swimmers. It flies through the air with style and grace, and hits with the force of a freight train."

"Guys! Come on!" exclaimed Orange, having finally realized his two companions were moving a lot slower than he was. For some reason, judging by the look on his face, this seemed to annoy him more than usual.

Violet sighed. "Yeah, yeah. Come on, Red."
~~~~~~~~

Ten minutes later, the trio walked through the double doors made entirely of pencil shavings and entered the Pokémon Center. The nurse greeted them warmly and was more than happy to tend to their Pokémon.

"So," said Red as they waited for their Pokémon to heal up, "What type does the Ruceelna Gym Leader use anyway?"

"Water-types, I think," replied Violet. "Chompy should do fine in this one."

"That's what you said about Rewept Gym, though," observed Orange. "And as I recall, Chompy got one-hit KO'd by Bide."

"Orange?" said Violet.

"Yes?"

"Shut up.

"Water-types, huh?" said Red. "Looks like I'll be trying out Paras here."

"Does it know any Grass moves?" asked Orange.

"Lemme check," replied Red as he took his Pokédex in one hand and Paras's Poké Ball in the other. "OK, Paras's moves... Leech Life... Stun Spore... Scratch."

"Well, at least it's still resistant to Water moves," Violet said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Orange said. "OK, I got nothing that's especially good against Water-types, but Q and LM4 can at least let me go with the same kind of stuff the leader will be using."

"Huh... that's actually a good point," said Violet, sounding very surprised to be saying such a thing to Orange. "Well, maybe I can use Migraine as well, then."

"All healed!" the nurse said suddenly, as she approached the trio with three trays full of Poké Balls.

"Ah, thanks," said Red as he took his Poké Balls and attached them to his belt. Orange and Violet did likewise, and then the group walked off towards the cafeteria for dinner. Red enjoyed a fiveburger with eight sauce; Orange happily wolfed down a nine casserole; and Violet had an even number salad. After this, the nurse showed them to their room, where a tired Red flopped down onto his bed and fell asleep at once. Not even the inhuman cacophony that was Orange's snoring could awaken him.

At least, not until five o'clock the next morning.

Red woke up to the earsplitting noises Orange was emitting and groaned upon noticing the clock.

"I need earplugs," he groaned as he tossed and turned in his bed, trying to block out the noise with no success. After several minutes of this, however, Red gave up the attempt and climbed out of bed. At that moment, however, Violet yawned as she awoke. Casually, she pulled out her earplugs, walked over to Orange, and slapped him with her pillow, waking him up.

"Zzzz-hmm?! What?! Huh?!" exclaimed Orange as he woke up abruptly.

"I really need a pair of earplugs," said Red, shaking his head.

"Here, take these," replied Violet as she pulled another pair out of her pants pocket and tossed them to Red, who barely caught them. "I keep extra pairs on me just in case."

"Geez, Vi," grumbled Orange. "You act like I snore really loudly or something like that.

"Maybe because, oh, I don't know, you do?" Violet replied sarcastically. "Did you think I wear these earplugs to keep my ears warm?"

"Yeah, whatever, let's eat and get to the Gym," said Orange.

"Orange, it's five in the morning," said Red. "You really think the Gym's gonna be open that early?"

"It's worth a shot, at least," shrugged Orange. "Come on, Red, Vi."

As the trio entered the main lobby of the Pokémon Center, they noticed that it didn't seem closed at all. All the lights were still on, and the cafeteria was still open.

"Knew this'd still be open," said Orange as they took seats around a small table in the cafeteria. "Pokémon Centers run 24/7, because you never know when a trainer's gonna come in from a late-night training session, or some sort of sudden emergency or something."

At that moment, a Chansey had noticed the trio and came waddling right over, ready to take their orders.

"Fried nines, please," said Orange.

"Make that two," Red added. "Those are good." At this, Orange grinned and high-fived Red.

"A small bowl of fresh sixes for me, please," said Violet. Chansey nodded as it scribbled down their orders, then walked away.

"You know, one of these days, Orange," Violet said, "You're gonna get tired of having fried nines every morning."

"Yeah, sure," scoffed Orange. "I'll start ordering something different when that happens, no problem. If that happens, anyway."

"They are pretty good, Violet," said Red.

"She wouldn't know, though," Orange said. "She's an evenetarian."

"Come again?"

"An evenetarian," repeated Orange. "She only eats even numbers."

"Orange, if I've told you once I've told you a hundred times," sighed Violet. "I am not an evenetarian. Evenetarians eat only even numbers because they choose to. I only eat even numbers because I don't like how odd numbers taste."

"You're still an evenetarian," said Orange stubbornly.

"I am not."

"You are too."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am too!"

"Are not!"

"Am too!"

"No, you are not!" declared Orange. "You are most certainly not an evenetarian and that is final!!"

"Whatever you say," shrugged Violet.

"You're darn right, whatever I say," grinned Orange. Then, as he sat there, his grin slowly gave way to an annoyed expression. "Hey, wait a minute!" he exclaimed suddenly, at which point both Red and Violet started laughing.

"Sorry, Orange," chuckled Red. "But that was hilarious."

At that moment, however, Chansey returned to the table with their meals. Red and Orange happily started in on their fried nines, while Violet picked up a spoon and started to slowly scoop the small sixes out of the bowl and into her mouth.

Once they were done eating and Chansey had scanned their Pokédexes to confirm that they were trainers, Red, Orange, and Violet exited the Pokémon Center and began to walk down the street.

"OK, if I remember the nurse's directions correctly, the Gym should be right around here," stated Orange as he looked around. "Not much farther-aha!" he added in triumph as he pointed down the road, having only just spotted the large structure at the end of it.

The building was massive, constructed from what appeared to be large concrete bricks, pieces of wooden fence, various shrubberies, and a bunch of ones and threes. In the very front, where a set of doors ought to have been, there was instead a large wall of water. As Orange and Violet continued to walk towards it, Red stopped, confused.

"Where's the door?" he asked.

"Right here," replied Orange as he walked right through the wall of water as if it was absolutely nothing. Violet followed with similar results. After taking a moment to stare at the strange entrance, Red tentatively walked through the wall of water. Oddly, it didn't feel a thing like water; indeed, it felt as though a cool breeze was blowing on Red's body from above, like from an air conditioner.

The inside of Ruceelna Gym was brightly lit. The floor, ceiling, and walls were all white, with numerous windows near the ceiling letting in large amounts of sunlight. Most notably, in the middle of the room, there was a large swimming pool built into the floor, with two large, white floating platforms bobbing in place. Then, Red could see someone at the other end of the pool. A teenage boy, looking somewhat older than Orange. His head was covered in unkempt blond hair, and he was wearing only a pair of blue swimming trunks. His exposed torso showed obvious muscle.

"Hey, what's up, dudes?" called the youth. "Welcome to Ruceelna Gym! I'm, like, Walter, the Gym Leader."

"Hi, Walter," breathed Violet, sounding as though she was extraordinarily pleased to make his acquaintance. "I'm Violet Scramble from Talpel Town, and I came to challenge you to a battle!"

"Ahem," butted in Orange, sounding very annoyed. "I'm Orange McPixel, also from Talpel Town, and would like to remind Violet that she is not your only challenger today!"

"Red Vershunn, also from Talpel Town," added Red. "Also here for a battle."

"Right, dudes," nodded Walter as he took his place at the far end of the pool. "I can only battle, like, one of you at a time, so, how about I battle the pretty girl first?" At this, Violet blushed and giggled.

"Heh heh... Fine by me!" she said.

"Two Pokémon each sound cool to you?" called Walter.

"You're the boss," replied Violet.

"Right on," he grinned as he reached for a nearby duffel bag and pulled out a Poké Ball. As he threw it, he shouted, "Let's go, Tentacool!"

In a flash of light, a small, blue Pokémon materialized in the water. Its blue body was vaguely bell-shaped, and possessed two very large red dots, with one smaller red dot between the two. A pair of gray tentacles could be seen coming out of the bottom. Violet took out her Pokédex and aimed it at her opponent.

"Tentacool, the Jellyfish Pokémon. Tentacool drifts in shallow seas. Fishermen who hook it by accident are punished by its stinging acid."

"OK, let's get started!" said Violet as she threw a Poké Ball. "Chompy, I choose you!"

The ball burst open to unleash Violet's Bellsprout, who expertly landed on the floating platform closer to Violet's end of the pool. "Bellsprout, sprout," said Chompy.

"Tentacool, Skull Bash!" called Walter.

"Chompy, Wrap it!" ordered Violet.

With surprising speed, Tentacool sprung out of the water, lunging at Chompy. The Bellsprout, however, merely stretched out its root-lke body and bound it tightly around the oncoming Tentacool.

"We got it now," said Violet. "Tighter, Chompy!"

"Tentacool, like, use Acid!" Walter commanded.

"Cool," replied Tentacool in a slightly nasally voice as it aimed one of its tentacles at Chompy and unleashed a blast of purple liquid from the tip. Chompy screamed as the Acid made contact, and involuntarily released Tentacool.

"Alright, little dude, way to go!" Walter congratulated his Pokémon. "Now, let's show them what, like, a real Wrap attack looks like!"

"Tentacool, Tentacool," chanted Tentacool as it wound its tentacles tightly around Chompy, immobilizing the Bellsprout.

"Use Growth now!" Violet ordered.

"Sprooooooooooooout!" bellowed Chompy as its body took on a greenish aura and began to double in size. A surprised Tentacool was practically forced to let go.

"Whoa, dude," murmured Walter.

"Vine Whip attack!" continued Violet.

"Bellsprout, sprout!" replied Chompy as it extended a pair of thick vines from behind its leaves and smacked Tentacool clear across the pool with them. The Jellyfish Pokémon skidded to a stop on the opposite platform, unconscious.

"Impressive," grinned Walter as he withdrew Tentacool. "Usually, like, Tentacool's good for taking out at least one Pokémon, you know? I've won entire battles just using it."

"It's very well-trained, though," Violet said quickly.

"Well, you thought that was something, you ain't seen my best yet!" said Walter as he produced a second Poké Ball and launched it. "LM4, go!"

In a flash of light, the Poké Ball unleashed an LM4 into the pool. It looked rather identical to Orange's, if not somewhat larger.

"Four four LM4!" it exclaimed as it began to swiftly swim laps around the pool.

"OK, Chompy, try to hit it with Vine Whip!" ordered Violet.

"LM4, like, dodge it!" Walter called out.

Chompy's vines plunged into the water and flailed about, but LM4 deftly evaded each and every attack.

"OK, now, like, hit it with Quick Attack!" said Walter.

"Fooooooouuurr!!" bellowed LM4 as it leapt out of the water and rammed into Chompy's back, sending it into the pool.

"Chompy, get out of there!" exclaimed Violet.

"Aurora Beam!" exclaimed Walter.

As Chompy flailed about in the water in a pathetic attempt to swim to the nearest platform, LM4 unleashed the Ice-type move at point-blank range. The rainbow-colored ray sent Chompy flying out of the pool and crashing down on the platform as it slowly shrunk back down to its original size.

"OK, LM4's a Fighting-type," muttered Violet as she withdrew Chompy. "I think I got an idea!" She then threw another ball. "I choose you, Migraine!"

The ball opened up and unleashed the Psyduck into the open. Migraine landed in the water and began to swim around, eyeing its opponent with its trademark blank look as it climbed onto the platform.

"LM4, like, use ThunderPunch!" exclaimed Walter.

"L M!" replied LM4 as what appeared to be a fist covered in the same patterns as the rest of its body sprouted out of its top side and crackled with electricity. LM4 then zoomed through the water, preparing to leap out at Migraine.

"Migraine, Confusion attack!" called Violet.

"Psy?" was the Psyduck's response as it turned around and tilted its head, obviously not having understood the order.

"Migraine! Come on, I know you know that move!" Violet exclaimed. "Migraine, look out!"

"Psy? DUCK!" exclaimed Migraine as it looked back just in time to see LM4's electrified fist make contact with its gut.

"What's wrong with Migraine?" wondered Red out loud as LM4 retracted its fist. Orange, who didn't seem especially keen on watching the match, merely shrugged.

Meanwhile, the battle wasn't going so well for Violet. Following Migraine's failure to use Confusion, Violet decided to stick with its other attacks, but its Water Gun was overpowered by LM4's BubbleBeam easily.

"Migraine, Submission!" said Violet.

"LM4, like, Wrap!" ordered Walter.

Immediately, a pair of tentacles unraveled themselves from LM4's sides and wound their way around Migraine's torso, squeezing it tightly.

"Let's end this- Rolling Kick!" he ordered.

"Migraine, Water Gun!" Violet cried. It was no good, however- LM4 pulled Migraine in close and slammed a newly-grown foot right into Migraine's head.

"Violet, there's still a chance!" Red exclaimed. "Remember the last time Migraine used Confusion?"

"Right- its headache!" exclaimed Violet as Migraine's eyes took on a blue glow. "A Rolling Kick to the head would give anything a headache! Migraine, use your Confusion attack!"

"Psy..." droned the Psyduck as it unleashed a ray of blue light from its eyes. LM4 screeched horribly as the super effective move made contact, and released its hold on Migraine. The Bubble Cube Pokémon floated on the surface of the water, unmoving.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Walter as he withdrew LM4. "Like, you totally blew me away! Awesome battle." At that point, he reached into his duffel bag, pulled out a blue disc and a small, glittering blue object, then leapt into the pool and swiftly swam over to Violet.

"That was cool," giggled Violet as Walter climbed out of the pool. Orange rolled his eyes.

"Thanks," smiled Walter as he held out the glittering object- small and blue, in the shape of a tidal wave. "Here you go- the Drench Badge. You've totally earned it." As Violet accepted it, he then offered the blue disc. Oh, and here's TM11- it teaches BubbleBeam."

"Thank you," said Violet as Walter went back in the water and swam back to his side.

"Alright, which one of you dudes wants to go next?" he called.

"I'll go," voluteered Red.

"Oh no, you don't," said Orange suddenly, stepping up to the pool. "I'll battle you next!"

Walter shrugged. "Whatever, little dude. Let me heal my Pokémon first." With that, he took both his Poké Balls and placed them on a machine in the back of the room, identical to the one Minerva used back in Rewept Gym. After a few seconds, he took the Poké Balls back and faced Orange. He placed one ball back in the nearby duffel bag and threw the other one. "Tentacool, go!"

The ball split open in midair, and Walter's Tentacool rematerialized in the water, looking as healthy as ever. "Tentacool, Tentacool," it said.

"Spearow," Orange exclaimed as he heaved a Poké Ball into the air, "I choose you!"

In a flash of light, Spearow appeared in midair, screeching loudly as it circled above the pool.

"OK, Tentacool, like, your target's, like, flying around and stuff," explained Walter. "We'll need to try, like, long-range attacks. Use BubbleBeam!"

"Tentacool!" squealed Tentacool as it unleashed a barrage of bubbles from the tips of its tentacles. Spearow, however, evaded them with ease.

"Spearow, Razor Wind attack!" ordered Orange.

"Speeeaaaaarrrowwww!" screeched Spearow as it flapped its wings furiously, sending a gust of razor-sharp air straight at Tentacool, who couldn't dive underwater quickly enough.

"Good job, Spearow, keep it up! Rapid-fire Razor Wind!" grinned Orange.

"Spea! Row! Spea! Row!" grunted Spearow with each flap of its wings, sending wave after wave of wind flying at Tentacool. Occasionally, Tentacool could attempt to block an oncoming Razor Wind with BubbleBeam, but the attack would always get popped by Razor Wind.

"OK, let's finish it! Take Down!" Orange ordered. Immediately, Spearow did a backflip in midair and dove down at Tentacool, who was too tired to try and dodge it. Skimming the surface of the pool with its talons, Spearow plowed Tentacool into the platform, though fell into the water briefly. As Walter withdrew Tentacool, Spearow got out of the water and flew over to the floating platform near Orange, though clearly had a hard time doing so; its feathers were drenched with water, making them much heavier than normal.

"Well done, little dude," remarked Walter. "But now let's see how you handle LM4!" he added as he threw the second Poké Ball, unleashing his Water/Fighting-type into the water.

"Spearow, it's a Fighting-type! Use Peck!" Orange exclaimed. Spearow flapped its wings rapidly, but only succeeding in spraying water in all directions.

"LM4, like, use Aurora Beam!" commanded Walter.

"Fooouur!" shouted LM4 as it unleashed the rainbow-colored attack. Spearow attempted to dodge it, but the flight back to the platform had worn it out too much to be able to get into the air, and the attack sent the soggy Spearow flying into its trainer's arms, clearly unfit for further battling.

"I'm sorry, Spearow," sighed Orange as he withdrew his Flying-type. "If I had just stuck with Razor Wind, you'd have been able to dodge Aurora Beam easily. But that's in the past," he continued as he readied another Poké Ball. "They say to fight fire with fire. Well, in this case, I'll fight Fighting with Fighting!" And he heaved the sphere into the air. "LM4, let's go!"

In a flash of light, Orange's LM4 materialized, landing in the pool. Now able to see the two side by side, Red realized that Orange's LM4 really was somewhat smaller than Walter's, but not by too much.

"Righteous, dude," grinned Walter. "You got an LM4 too! This is gonna, like, be really interesting. LM4, go! ThunderPunch now!"

"Use PoisonPowder!" Orange commanded as Walter's LM4 zipped through the water, electrified fist already at the ready. Orange's LM4 unleashed a plume of purple dust, which stopped its enemy cold. Walter's LM4 now had a purplish hue all over its body, and it was coughing.

"It's poisoned," remarked Red.

"Not bad, little dude," said Walter. "But try and beat our Quick Attack!"

"We'll use Quick Attack, too!" Orange replied. "Go, LM4!"

Simultaneously, the two LM4 darted through the water and collided in the middle. Walter's LM4, being larger, rammed Orange's LM4 hard, sending it crashing onto the floating platform.

"Come on, LM4, you can do it!" Orange exclaimed.

"Four... Four... FOOOOUUUUR!" bellowed Orange's LM4 suddenly as it stood on the floating platform and took on a bright glow. Orange's jaw dropped as LM4's body rounded out somewhat, and sprouted small arms, legs, and pointed ears. A tail and a pair of small wings grew out of its back as the glow faded, revealing a pale pink Pokémon to be standing in LM4's place.

"Did... LM4... But..." stammered Red.

"It evolved into Clefairy!" exclaimed Violet as Orange held out his Pokédex.

"Clefairy, the Fairy Pokémon, and the evolved form of LM4," droned Orange's Pokédex. "Exceptionally cute, Clefairy has many admirers. It is exceedingly rare and appears only in certain areas." As the Pokédex finished speaking, however, Orange's Clefairy began to glow once more. This time, the change in shape was much more drastic. Its small tail became large and thick. Its petite body grew drastically, and its ears became larger. Numerous spikes jutted out of various spots on its body, mainly its back and ears. As a large horn jutted out of its forehead, the glowing stopped, revealing a monstrous purple Pokémon, who roared loudly.

"Now that's more like it!" Orange exclaimed, holding his Pokédex out once again.

"Nidoking, the Drill Pokémon, droned the Pokédex. "Although it is the evolved form of Nidorino, when LM4 evolves into Clefairy, it will promptly evolve again into Nidoking. Nidoking possesses steel-like hide which functions much like armor. Its horn can pierce even diamonds, and its tail packs enough power to destroy concrete structures."

"Very cool," nodded Walter. "Here's the deal, though- Nidoking are, like, Ground-types, which is, like, weak to Water! How are you gonna deal with that?"

"See for yourself," said Orange, grinning widely. "Nidoking has one other move it knew since it was LM4, but I never had it use it before. Didn't really have an opportunity to, but now I do. Nidoking, TM05!"

Nidoking roared as it leapt into the water and, despite its weakness to it, swiftly swam towards LM4, but at the last second, changed direction and vanished into thin air.

"Whoa!" breathed Walter. "My LM4 didn't even learn that move yet! Awesome! LM4, be careful, it could come from anywhere!"

"Nidoking, Quick Attack!" Orange commanded.

With a sudden roar that seemed to come from nowhere, LM4 was suddenly slammed into the side of the pool as Nidoking rematerialized.

"LM4, BubbleBeam now!" called Walter.

"Not happening!" Orange declared. "Nidoking, finish it with Rolling Kick!"

As LM4 unleashed a barrage of bubbles, Nidoking leapt out of the water and expertly delivered a roundhouse kick, sending LM4 crashing into the back wall of the Gym, where it fell to the floor and moved no more.

"Wow," sighed Walter as he withdrew LM4. "Now, that was a battle, little dude." As he took another badge and TM out of his bag, Orange withdrew Nidoking, allowing Walter to swim across the pool, at which point he presented Orange with a Drench Badge and a TM11.

"Good battle, Orange," said Violet. At this, Orange grinned, and then stood back, allowing Red to take his place near the pool.

"OK! Red, right?" asked Walter.

Red nodded.

"Excellent!" Walter said happily. "Just let me heal my team and I'll be glad to battle you, dude."

"You ready, Red?" asked Orange.

"As I'll ever be," Red replied.

~~~~~~~~
End of Chapter 10.​

 

[apenpaap]

I've read up to chapter five so far, I'll read the rest later. This has got to be the most original idea for a fic ever, setting it in Glitch City. XD I love the descriptions of the world and the pokémon. I especially loved the line "my mother's crop of even numbers was fantastic this year," that had me in stitches. (Come to think of it, I wonder if that means the people of Tanko eat the numbers? I wonder what they'd taste like... And what Red's reaction to being presented with them at dinner will be XD) I also like Team Debug and Team Error a lot.

 

[Missingno. Master]

I've read up to chapter five so far, I'll read the rest later. This has got to be the most original idea for a fic ever, setting it in Glitch City. XD I love the descriptions of the world and the pokémon. I especially loved the line "my mother's crop of even numbers was fantastic this year," that had me in stitches. (Come to think of it, I wonder if that means the people of Tanko eat the numbers? I wonder what they'd taste like... And what Red's reaction to being presented with them at dinner will be XD) I also like Team Debug and Team Error a lot.

You got up to chapter 5, you said? The next chapter should answer your questions. Glad you like it!

 

[Missingno. Master]

Chapter 11: Paras's Gym Debut
~~~~~~~~​

Walter placed his Poké Balls on the healing machine once more, then removed them seconds later, once the device had done its deed. He then returned to the edge of the pool to face Red, who already had a Poké Ball in hand.

"Let's get this going, dude!" exclaimed Walter as he threw one of the Poké Balls. "Tentacool, like, go!"

The ball split open, unleashing a blast of energy which formed in the water into Walter's Tentacool, once again looking ready for action. "Tentacool," it said in its nasally tone.

Red threw his own Poké Ball. "Rattata! Go!" he shouted.

In a flash of light, Red's Rattata materialized on a floating platform, and proceeded to stare down Tentacool.

"Tentacool, like, use your BubbleBeam!" ordered Walter.

"Rattata, Water Gun!" commanded Red.

As Tentacool launched a stream of bubbles from the tip of its left tentacle, Rattata unleashed a torrent of water from its mouth. The two attacks met in midair, each cancelling the other one out. Both combatants stopped their attacks very quickly.

"Quick Attack now!" called Red.

"Rrrrrraaattata!" screeched Rattata as it leapt into the water and began to swim towards Tentacool with incredible speed. Tentacool was unable to move out of the way in time, and thus was slammed backwards by the force of Rattata's Quick Attack, and crashed into the platform. Rattata then continued to swim towards Tentacool as the dazed Jellyfish Pokémon attempted to shake off the blow. Rattata leapt out of the water, prominent front teeth bared, and sank the aforementioned dental hardware into Tentacool, causing it to screech in pain.

"Tentacool!" Walter exclaimed. "Like, are you alright, dude?"

"Cool," Tentacool responded albeit feebly.

"Whoa!" Orange exclaimed. "Was that a Hyper Fang?!"

"I think it was!" Red replied, sounding just as surprised as Orange.

"Hyper Fang- Rattata's special attack," droned Red's Pokédex. "An exceptionally powerful biting technique which makes full use of Rattata's prominent teeth."

"Tentacool, use your, like, Skull Bash attack!" ordered Walter.

"Hyper Fang again, Rattata!" yelled Red.

As Tentacool rammed into Rattata at full speed, Rattata refused to give in, and sank its teeth into Tentacool yet again. Tentacool, however, was able to push Rattata away this time with its tentacles. Rattata swam back to its platform and looked on as Tentacool passed out in the water.

"Dude," murmured Walter as he withdrew Tentacool. "You, like, can't catch a break today. Bummer." He then put Tentacool's ball back in his bag and threw the other one. "OK, like, let's get him, LM4!"

In a flash of light, Walter's LM4 rematerialized, and promptly proceeded to swim laps around Rattata's platform.

"Rattata, return," said Red, holding out the Poké Ball as it sent forth its red beam, withdrawing the Rat Pokémon to its spherical innards.

"Smart move, little dude," smirked Walter. "Major, like, type disadvantage, there."

"My thoughts exactly," replied Red as he enlarged and threw another Poké Ball. "Paras, let's go!"

Red's Poké Ball split open, unleashing his most recent capture into the open. Paras landed on the platform, and eyed its swimming adversary warily.

"This'll be interesting," remarked Walter. "LM4, Aurora Beam!"

"Aw, crap, I forgot about that," groaned Red. "Uh, Paras, dodge it!"

Paras did not need telling twice. At the sight of the oncoming ray of rainbow light, Paras scuttled off to the side, narrowly evading the Ice-type move.

"Paras, Stun Spore!" Red ordered.

"Paaarraaaaas!" said Paras as the mushrooms on its back began to shake, unleashing a golden dust into the air. As LM4 readied another Aurora Beam, the dust settled on its body, and it seemed to freeze in the water.

"No, dude! Go underwater and, like, wash it off!" Walter ordered.

"F-f-four..." LM4 replied as it slowly sank into the pool's depths. Once it resurfaced, however, it wasn't looking particularly better.

"It must have breathed in the Stun Spore," remarked Violet.

"Paras, Scratch attack!" Red commanded.

"Paras par!" exclaimed Paras as it leapt off its platform, landed on LM4, and took a swipe at the Bubble Cube Pokémon.

"Foooour!" screeched LM4 as it tried to shake Paras off.

"Aurora Beam at, like, close range!" called Walter.

"L... M... FOOOUUUR!" bellowed LM4 with a great effort as it unleashed another Aurora Beam, this one hitting Paras dead-on, sending the Mushroom Pokémon flying right into its trainer's arms.

"Paras!" Red gasped; upon examining his Bug and Grass-type, it became clear that LM4's Aurora Beam had done its job; Paras was out cold.

"This is not good," murmured Violet as Red withdrew Paras. Red then took the other Poké Ball off his belt, enlarged it, and stared at it for a few seconds.

"You can do this," he sighed as he threw the ball. "I believe in you. Rattata, go!"

In a flash of light, Red's Rattata re-emerged from its Poké Ball, and landed on its platform.

"LM4, like, use BubbleBeam!" Walter ordered.

"Rattata, Water Gun!" called Red.

Rattata unleashed a stream of water at the same time LM4 let fly a blast of bubbles. Unlike with Tentacool, however, LM4's BubbleBeam cut right through Rattata's Water Gun. Noticing this, Rattata hastily jumped into the pool, narrowly evading the attack.

"Oh, we got him now, dude!" grinned Walter. "Rolling Kick!"

"Rattata! Hyper Fang!" Red called.

A foot sprouted from LM4's body as it sped through the water, headed right for Rattata. The Rat Pokémon treaded water in place, waiting... then, as LM4 got close, Rattata sprung out of the water, landing right on LM4, and sunk its fangs right into the Bubble Cube Pokémon.

"Fooour!" howled LM4 in pain.

"No, dude! Shake it off!" Walter was saying, somewhat stunned at the expertness of Rattata's jump.

"F... f... fooouuur..." whined LM4 as it merely shuddered in place, the paralysis obviously kicking in again.

"We got it now!" said Red triumphantly. "Rattata, finish it! Hyper Fang!"

"Rrraaaattaataaaaaa!" bellowed Rattata as it raised its head high, then brought it back down, biting into LM4 once more.

"Fooooooouuuuur," LM4 whined again as it ceased any sort of voluntary movement and merely began drifting on the water's surface. As Rattata swam back to its platform, Walter sighed, then withdrew LM4.

"We... we did it! We did it!!" Red exclaimed as it slowly dawned on him that he had in fact won against Walter.

"Nice going, dude," said Walter as he and Red withdrew their Pokémon. Walter then grabbed another badge and TM, then swam across the pool. Once he reached their end, Walter climbed out and presented Red with his Drench Badge and BubbleBeam TM.

"Thanks-" Red began.

"Yeah, yeah, let's get going," interrupted Orange, already halfway to the odd wall of water that served as a door. Rolling her eyes, Violet started after him, followed by Red. Once they were out of the Gym, Violet grabbed Orange by the shoulder and spun him around.

"What?" Orange asked defensively.

"Orange, what the hell is wrong with you?" demanded Violet. "You were so rude in there!"

"Oh, well, excuse me," Orange replied. "Mew forbid I should be rude in front of your boyfriend in there!"

"I- what- excuse me?!" Violet spluttered, her face starting to turn red.

"Oh, don't give me that crap!" snapped Orange. "You think I didn't notice? You were practically drooling all over him!"

"And why do you care?" Violet swiftly retorted, now taking the defensive.

"I don't!" Orange half-shouted. "Your little display was embarrassing! I was doing you a favor, getting you out of there when I did."

"Alright, stop it!" Red shouted suddenly, Startled by Red's sudden outburst, Orange and Violet stopped their bickering and turned to face him, both bearing expressions of mild surprise on their faces. Red's expression showed that he himself was surprised by his reaction. "...Look," he said at length, "...I'd just prefer it if the two of you... didn't argue like that, OK? I don't know, I just... I prefer it when we all get along, you know? I mean, I'm liking this, traveling with you two, and, well..." Red broke off, seemingly unable to finish what he was saying. Violet got the gist of it, however, and now looked somewhat ashamed of herself.

"Sorry, Orange," she muttered. "I mean, you were a little rude, but I guess I didn't have to explode at you like that."

"Yeah, I'm sorry too," Orange replied, also looking slightly ashamed. "I probably shouldn't get on your case like that when you're flirting with someone."

"I was not flirting with him!"

"Oh, come on! What kind of fool do you take me for?"

"I take you for the fool you are!" Violet retorted as they headed for the Pokémon Center, Red in the rear, facepalming as Violet and Orange continued to bicker.
~~~~~~~~
45 minutes later, the trio emerged from the Pokémon Center, all of their Pokémon having been restored to full health. Violet and Orange had also stopped arguing, a fact Red was pleased with.

"So where to next?" he asked.

"Well," Orange began, "The nurse said the nearest Gym was in Fansfor City. I think the leader there's supposed to use Psychic Pokémon."

"Psychic-types?" said Red, raising his eyebrows. "Those are supposed to be the strongest kinds of Pokémon. You sure we're ready?"

"I dunno," Orange admitted with a shrug. "I mean, Q's a Psychic-type itself, but still..."

"You're right," Violet added. "The closest thing I've got to a Psychic-type is Migraine, and it can only use Confusion when its headache is severe."

"Yeah, we should probably get in some extra training before that Gym," Red nodded. "We gotta find some more trainers and challenge them to battles."

"I heard one of the trainers in the Pokémon Center talking," said Orange. "The one with the Pidgey on his shoulder? He mentioned that a lot of trainers gather in the area north of Ruceelna for training."

"Well then," Red said, now grinning, "What are we waiting for? Let's get going!" As he said this, however, Orange rushed ahead, as if determined to be the one in front. Violet rolled her eyes at this, but said nothing as she followed the two boys.

They walked for around fifteen minutes, before finally locating the path which led to the northern exit of the city. As soon as they came to the top of a small hill, however, the trio stopped simultaneously.

"Whoa," Orange stated.

Sprawled before them, surrounded by lots of randomly-placed trees made up of wood, ceiling tiles, roof shingles, and threes, was... what appeared to be a large, smelly pond, filled with stagnant, greenish slime. A swamp.

"...Uh..." Red said, "...Are you sure we went the right way?"

"Positive," replied Violet, though she seemed rather disgusted at the marshy landscape before them. At that moment, however, a young boy came wading towards them. He was dressed in shorts and a white shirt, and wore a wide-brimmed hat. A net was slung over his shoulder.

"Hey, are you three trainers?" he called.

"Yeah," Red replied.

"Well then, welcome to Nugget Swamp!" the youth exclaimed. "Here's what happens around here; passing trainers get to challenge the five trainers, and if you beat us all, you win a great prize! Now, which one of you wants to take the challenge?"

"Well, we're kind of all trying to train here," said Violet. "Any way us three can take the challenge simultaneously?"

"Not really," the boy replied. "The Nugget Swamp challenge was really only made for one trainer at a time. But you know what? How about you go through and take turns? One of you battle me, then someone else battles the next guy, and so on? You'd only get one prize, though, you'll have to share it."

Red shrugged. "Sounds good to me," he said. Orange and Violet murmured their agreement.

"So who's first?" the boy asked.

"I'll go first!" Orange volunteered enthusiastically.

"You will not," replied Violet, stepping forward, near the edge of the swamp. "I'll go first."

"Hmph," grunted Orange in annoyance, though he raised no objection.

"Very well," said the boy, as he produced a Poké Ball. "Two Pokémon each, that sound good?"

"Fine by me," replied Violet.

"OK, then!" the boy exclaimed as he threw the Poké Ball in his hand. "I choose you, Kakuna!"

In a flash of light, a small, yellow Pokémon materialized in the thick slime, which didn't appear too deep; it was able to stay mostly unsubmerged. Red turned to Orange, who was steadily starting to back up, moving away from the Kakuna. Meanwhile, Violet held out her Pokédex.

"Kakuna, the Cocoon Pokémon, and the evolved form of Weedle," said the device. "Kakuna is almost incapable of movement. In most cases, it can only use Harden."

Violet snorted as she produced a Poké Ball from her belt and enlarged it. "This should be a breeze," she scoffed as she threw the ball. "Chompy, let's go!"

In a flash of light, the Bellsprout materialized. It stood in the swamp slime, swaying slightly as it faced Kakuna.

"Chompy, Vine Whip!" ordered Violet.

"Kakuna, Harden attack!" yelled the boy.

"Kaku!" replied Kakuna as a faint glow came over its shell for a moment. At the same time, Chompy unleashed a pair of vines and slammed them into Kakuna, sending it flying backwards, landing in deeper mud. Inexplicably, it seemed able to get back into an upright position and sort of hop its way back to the battle, though it took several minutes to do so.

"Now, Kakuna, Poison Sting!" the bug catcher said.

"Kakuna kuna!" Kakuna exclaimed as it extended a small pair of arm-like stingers from the front of its shell, and fired off volleys of glowing purple spikes from them. Chompy wailed as the attack made contact.

"Chompy!" exclaimed Violet, shocked that the Kakuna was capable of attacking.

"That's what you get for underestimating Bug Pokémon," sneered the boy, obviously very pleased with himself. "Poison Sting again, Kakuna!"

"Chompy, Vine Whip!" Violet commanded.

Kakuna unleashed another volley of poisonous needles, but Chompy was too quick for it this time. Using its vines, it grabbed a branch of a nearby tree and pulled itself up, evading the Poison Sting completely. Chompy then swung itself around the branch and launched itself at Kakuna, meeting the Bug/Poison-type with its vines, this time sending it flying into its trainer's stomach, knocking the wind out of him, and just knocking the Kakuna out.

"Oof..." gasped the trainer, holding the Poké Ball out. "Kakuna... Return..." Once Kakuna was back in its ball, the Bug Catcher wordlessly threw a second Poké Ball as he attempted to get his breath back. This Poké Ball yielded a small green wormlike creature- a Caterpie.

"Chompy, Wrap it!" commanded Violet.

"Tackle attack!" the Bug Catcher said, having recovered from the sudden Kakuna attack.

As Caterpie made its way through the swamp mud, Chompy leapt at Caterpie and wrapped its rootlike body around the Bug-type, rendering Caterpie incapable of executing its Tackle. After about a minute of continual squeezing, Caterpie fainted.

Sighing, the Bug Catcher withdrew Caterpie. "I did my best, I have no regrets," he said humbly as he stood aside and gestured further into the swamp, indicating that they should go on.

"You were great, Chompy," smiled Violet as she withdrew her Bellsprout. "Come on, guys, let's go," she added. Winning the battle, Red noticed, seemed to have put her in a somewhat better mood than before about having to wade through a swamp. Deciding not to question it, he and Orange followed Violet, slowly trudging their way through the mercifully shallow marsh.

~~~~~~~~
End of Chapter 11.​

 

[Missingno. Master]

Chapter 12: The Trainers of Nugget Swamp
~~~~~~~~​

It was very slow work, moving through the swamp. Though it got progressively deeper, the trio were only up to their waists in smelly swamp water. The swamp water, however, was also thick, restricting their movement somewhat.

"Ugh," grunted Violet. "This is disgusting."

"Yes, we heard you," sighed Orange, rolling his eyes. "We heard you the first twenty times."

"Orange?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

At that moment, however, a young boy in a yellow t-shirt and blue shorts approached them, drifting on a small raft that appeared to be made of, curiously enough, concrete pillars bound together with vines.

"Hey, you!" he exclaimed to the trio, rowing himself towards them with what appeared to be a giant 7. "I'm the second trainer of Nugget Swamp, which of you is to be my opponent?"

"That'd be me," volunteered Red as he took a Poké Ball off his belt and enlarged it.

Grinning, the Youngster acted likewise, and threw his Poké Ball. ".4! Go!" he shouted.

The Poké Ball split open, and in a flash of light, a .4 materialized, gibbering excitedly. Red then threw his own Poké Ball. "Go, Rattata!"

In a flash of light, Red's Rattata appeared, expertly treading water in the swamp with ease.

".4! Agility!" the Younster ordered.

"Rattata, Quick Attack!" Red commanded.

.4 began to fly all over the place, zigzagging here and there, and picking up speed all the while. Rattata, meanwhile, leapt out of the water at high speed, slamming .4 into a nearby aluminum tree.

"Don't give in, .4!" the Youngster said. "Use Psywave!"

"Rattata, dodge it!" Red yelled, but his order was in vain; .4 launched a volley of glowing blue energy rings from its body, which Rattata was unable to evade. When the attack concluded, Rattata looked worn out already.

"That .4 must be pretty strong," Violet observed. "That Psywave looked like it did a lot."

"Use TM28 now!" the Youngster ordered. .4 complied, zooming forward and exploding in Rattata's face, sending the Rat Pokémon flying backwards. It landed in the swamp water before Red and slowly sank into it.

"Come on, Rattata," Red pleaded, plunging his hands into the muck in an attempt to locate Rattata, when suddenly a blinding flash of light forced his eyes shut. The glow brightened as its source breached the surface of the swamp, allowing the shocked onlookers to better observe Rattata evolving. Finally, the glow faded, revealing a larger creature with light brown fur to be swimming in front of Red. Orange took out his Pokédex and aimed it at Red's newly-evolved Pokémon.

"Raticate, the Rat Pokémon, and the evolved form of Rattata," droned the Pokédex. "Raticate's webbed hind feet make it an excellent swimmer. It hunts for prey by swimming in rivers."

"Yeah!" exclaimed Red. "We got it now, Raticate! Hyper Fang now!"

"Rrrrraticate!" shrieked Raticate as it zipped across the swamp with great speed and sank its prominent front teeth into .4, causing it to shriek in obvious discomfort. As Raticate let go, .4 fell into the swamp, where it bobbed on the surface, making no effort to move.

".4, get back!" exclaimed the Youngster, returning the Caffeine Pokémon to its Poké Ball. At the same time, he threw another Poké Ball. "Let's go, now, Ekans!"

In a flash of light, a long, purple creature was unleashed into the swamp, where it dove down and promptly resurfaced. It sported a pair of yellow eyes, and a single yellow band was visible around part of its body. It might have had more, Red supposed, but as it was half submerged in the swamp at the moment, there was really no way to tell. "Ekanssssss," it hissed menacingly. This time, it was Violet's turn to hold out her Pokédex.

"Ekans, the Snake Pokémon," it stated. "Ekans moves silently and stealthily. It eats the eggs of Pidgey and Spearow whole."

"Raticate, Hyper Fang!" Red ordered again.

"Ekans, Wrap it!" the Youngster commanded.

"Ekansssss!" Ekans hissed as Raticate swam towards it. As it came close, however, Ekans's long body emerged from beneath the swamp water and tightly bound the Rat Pokémon.

"Raticate, no!" Red exclaimed.

"Raticate can't move!" said Orange.

"R... Raa... Raaticaaaate..." Raticate grunted as it tried to break free of Ekans's grasp, but with no success. More than once, it tried to position its fangs so as to be able to bite Ekans, but it was unable to even do this. Once Raticate had fainted, Ekans relinquished its grip, allowing Red to withdraw it.

"OK," said Red as he took out another Poké Ball and threw it. "Charmeleon, let's go!"

The Poké Ball opened up, and Charmeleon was unleashed, landing on a low-hanging tree branch which, despite the fact that it appeared to have been made up entirely of tissue paper, held the Flame Pokémon's weight well. Though Charmeleon looked ready for action, it eyed the swamp water below warily.

"Ekans, Bite attack!" ordered the Youngster.

"Charmeleon, Flamethrower!" called Red.

"Char!" roared Charmeleon as it let loose with an impressive stream of flame, just as Ekans leapt out of the water. The Poison-type was caught in the Fire move, and upon its conclusion, Ekans's charred form fell back into the water, where it floated on the surface, making no attempt to move.

"Gah!" grunted the Youngster as he held out the Poké Ball. "Ekans, return!" Once Ekans was back in the ball, he rowed off to the side as Red withdrew Charmeleon. "I did my best, I have no regrets," he sighed, gesturing deeper into the swamp.

"I get the next one," Orange told Violet and Red.

"Sounds fair to me," Red agreed as they continued to wade.

Deeper and deeper into the swamp they wandered, wading sluggishly through the thick, smelly liquid. Then, Violet gave a violent cough.

"Ugh!" she exclaimed. "Something reeks around here!"

Orange responded by raising his left arm and sniffing the armpit. He then shrugged and said, "It's not me, I can tell you that much."

"No, this is worse than you," argued Violet, earning a glare from Orange. "This... ugh! It smells like an overflowing dumpster on a hot day!"

"Koff Koffing," came a deep voice from directly behind the trio. Simultaneously, they wheeled around, and could now see- and smell- the source of the particularly foul stench. A large purple sphere with small bumps all over it was floating in midair, giving off a strange, yellow gas from aforementioned bumps. It was drinking the swamp water, and it seemed to be enjoying itself, for it would occasionally give off a contented sigh, each one accompanied with another puff of smelly, yellow gas. It then turned around, having just noticed the trio; its face consisted of a pair of eyes above a wide, grinning mouth with only two small, yet sharp, teeth within. Below its face could be seen a skull-and-crossbones design, the same shade of yellow as the smoke it was emitting.

"It's a Koffing!" exclaimed Violet, holding out her Pokédex. "Oh, those are so cool!"

"Koffing, the Poison Gas Pokémon, droned the device. "Koffing stores several different types of toxic gases within its body, and mixes them to create potent Poison attacks. It feasts on raw garbage to add chemicals to these gases."

Orange turned and looked at Violet. "You're gonna catch this thing, aren't you?" he asked.

"Is it that obvious?" Violet replied, grinning happily, already holding a full-sized Poké Ball in her right hand. "Migraine, I choose you!" she added, throwing the ball.

In a flash of light, Violet's Psyduck materialized, landing in the swamp water and swimming around.

Koffing made the first move- it opened its mouth wide and unleashed a plume of black smoke from within, causing Migraine to give weird, quacking coughs.

"That's Koffing's Smog attack," Red warned Violet. "It could poison Migraine if you're not careful!"

"Migraine, Water Gun!" Violet ordered.

"Psy aye aye aye aye!" quacked Migraine as it unleashed a blast of water from its mouth, striking Koffing with expert precision as the Smog faded away.

"Koff!" groaned Koffing as the Water Gun made contact. Migraine unleashed another Water Gun, but this time, Koffing was ready, and responded by unleashing a thick stream of smelly, dark liquid from its mouth, meeting the Water Gun in midair, each attack blocking the other.

"What was that?" wondered Orange out loud.

"Koffing's Sludge attack, duh," replied Violet. "Migraine, use your Submission attack now!"

"Psy!" replied Migraine as it swam towards Koffing, then leapt out of the swamp water. Koffing, however, was ready for this one. The skull and crossbones briefly flashed with a white light, and then a pair of arms made entirely of yellow smoke burst forth from two of Koffing's pores. The gaseous arms grabbed Migraine, and Koffing began to wrestle it into a nearby tree.

"OK, since when can Koffing learn Submission?" asked Orange.

"It can't," Red replied, as he checked his Pokédex. "That Koffing knows Mimic, though, that must be what it's doing.

Meanwhile, Koffing had slammed Migraine headfirst into a tree, a fact Violet was quick to notice.

"Migraine, use your Confusion attack!" she ordered.

"Psy...." replied the Psyduck, its eyes glowing light blue. Then, a pair of blue beams of psychic energy exploded forth from the Water-type's eyes, striking Koffing directly, and sending it falling into the swamp water below. Groaning, it struggled to get back into the air, but Violet was wasting no time; she had already dug a red-and-white sphere out of her fanny pack.

"Poké Ball, go!" she exclaimed, throwing the orb at Koffing. Upon contact, the sphere split open, and Koffing, now turning into a shapeless mass of transparent red energy, was sucked inside. The ball then snapped shut and landed on the surface of the swamp water, where it wobbled back and forth, sending small ripples across the rancid surface of the marsh. After several moments, the ball fell still. Beaming, Violet waded over and picked up the Poké Ball.

"Nice," grinned Orange.

"What are you gonna name it, Violet?" asked Red.

"Skulls," replied Violet.

"'Skulls'?" repeated Orange. "Not 'Skull'? It only has the one skull, you know-"

"And when it evolves into a Weezing, it'll have two," Violet replied smoothly. "Now, let's keep moving, we have to find the next trainer- WAH!" For at that moment, some of the swamp muck in front of her started to rise up. As some of the water fell away, though, it became clear that what had risen wasn't really a part of the swamp. It did look to be roughly the same consistency, though, a pile of odd, purple gunk- with a pair of eyes.

"Eeeewwww," whined Violet as she backed up hastily, holding her Pokédex out like a shield. "Koffing are cool, at least, but Grimer are just creepy!"

"Grimer, the Sludge Pokémon," said Violet's Pokédex in its usual mechanical monotone. "Grimer appears in filthy areas. It thrives by sucking up polluted sludge that is pumped out of factories."

"Shoo! Get going!" Orange exclaimed to the Grimer. Grimer shook its head, however, defiantly standing its ground. At this, Orange waded his way in front of Violet and threw a Poké Ball into the air. "Q, let's teach this thing some manners!"

In a flash of light, Orange's Q materialized. "Kyuuuu," it hummed in its soft, melodic voice.

"Q, Confusion attack now!" Orange ordered. Q complied with the command, firing off a beam of blue energy. Grimer yelled out as the attack made contact, but immediately fought back by launching a stream of Sludge from its mouth. Q squealed in discomfort as the Poison move hit.

"That's one tough Grimer," remarked Red.

"Q! Headbutt!" exclaimed Orange.

"Kyuuuuu," replied Q as it dove down and slammed into Grimer, knocking its sludgy form backwards. Grimer got back up, however, and its eyes started to glow green. Immediately, several green orbs of energy floated out of Q's body and into Grimer's, seeming to revitalize the latter.

"Grimer can learn Mega Drain?!" exclaimed Orange. "That does it! Q, use TM50!"

"Wha?" Red replied, as his Pokédex spoke up.

"TM50, a move with no type. A frenzied technique in which the user slaps the opponent repeatedly."

A pair of glowing, rectangular appendages sprouted out of Q, one out of each side, and it dove down on Grimer, slapping it repeatedly with these appendages.

"Gri-i-i-i!" exclaimed Grimer, unable to react to the repeated slaps. As Q finished the attack, Grimer ceased movement, collapsing in a small, sludgy heap that bobbed about lazily on the water's surface. Orange then took out a Poké Ball.

"Orange, you wouldn't!" Violet exclaimed.

"Consider this payback for Flutters!" Orange cackled. "Poké Ball, g-" However, before Orange could throw the ball at Grimer, it turned into red energy and was sucked straight up. The trio's collective gaze followed this energy, until they saw where it ended up; inside a Poké Ball being held by a brown-haired girl around Red's age, who was standing on a tree limb.

"That Grimer was yours?!" exclaimed Violet, outraged.

"Yep!" the Lass replied. "I like to test trainers by not actually giving my Grimer commands, so they can't tell what they're up against. I was very impressed with that battle, though. I did my best, I have no regrets. Go on through."

Still glaring and grumbling audibly, Violet continued to wade through the swamp, Red and Orange following close behind.

~~~~~~~~
End of Chapter 12.​

 

[Tyrfing]

I have read all the current chapters, this is pretty cool. I can't wait to see more.

 

[apenpaap]

I just finished reading everything. I'm glad I had the right idea with the numbers being eaten, the scene where Red was introduced to Tanko cuisine was a very funny and cool one. Once again, Tanko is a really awesome cool and fantastic world, and I enjoy every time the story reminds us what an odd world it is.

However, I don't enjoy the battles quite as much. The problem is that they're somewhat repetitive and static, and very common. Unfortunately, a lot of pokémon fanfics have this problem, but there are ways to improve it. In my own fic, I do as few battles as possible, restricting myself to plot-critical ones to avoid battle fatigue in readers. At one point I've had six chapters in a row without a single battle (which is not to say the characters didn't have any battles in that time, but the way I see it the story doesn't need to portray everything).
Another thing I do is to change the battle style to a more realistic one. The pokémon battle system works well in-game, but in a story one-on-one fights, with the pokémon taking turns using predefined attacks determined by their species, called out by the trainer first, never resulting in serious harm to the pokémon, doesn't make for a very interesting read. In official battles, like against Gym Leaders, it's reasonable to assume the battle is regulated, meaning it would have to be one-on-one battles in which the pokémon fight only until they're unable not to or called back by their trainers, but in a battle against an evil team all rules should be out of the window in my view. In my fanfic, I have battles against Team Plasma be matters of life and death, fought with the entire team at once in a big, chaotic, and very dangerous situation where trainers and pokémon are both free game. Another tip I can offer is to not have the pokémon fight simply as a member of their species, but as a character. Have them develop their own unique moves, and their own battle styles. I realise this point is a lot harder for a fic where the main characters are the trainers, not the pokémon, though. Another thing I would suggest is not to have the characters go around winning every battle, but create some suspence by having them lose a battle on occasion too.
One final tip I would give you is not to portray the Gym battles of all three main characters, but take one of them for each leader whose battle to portray, and do the other two offscreen. Because having three people battle the same opponent in a row is very repetitive.

That said, the glitch pokémon do make your battles a lot more interesting and unique, and I enjoy them a lot more when glitch pokémon are in them. I should also note that the ideas and solutions offered above are simply the ones I used, not ones you should neccessarily use; I just want to give you an idea of things you could use to improve the battles. There are other things, probably better things as well, you could do.

EDIT: By the way, congratulations on getting Fic of the Monthed You deserve it for this amazing new world of yours, really. I hope you're feeling as happy about it as I was.

 

[Missingno. Master]

Chapter 13: Attack of the 6-Foot Weepinbell
~~~~~~~~​

"Finish it, Skulls! Sludge attack now!" shouted Violet.

"Koff!" Skulls exclaimed as it blasted its opponent, a white-and-orange frilly fish-like Pokemon with a single, sharp horn on its head, with a stream of thick, smelly, dark goop. The Goldeen was blasted backwards by the Poison move, and it came to rest right in front of its trainer, who was clad only in swim trunks, and was, for reasons nobody in the group really wanted to know, swimming in the deeper portion of Nugget Swamp. Sighing, the Swimmer withdrew Goldeen.

"I did my best, I have no regrets," he stated simply as he swam off to the side. "Proceed."

"You do know you can just stand up in this, right?" asked Orange. "It's not that deep."

"I know that," scoffed the Swimmer. "I just don't like to take the easy way out. Most trainers will ride an aquatic Pokémon across the waves, but not me. Besides, if I ever pass up an opportunity to swim, how will I keep up this buff physique?" he added, flexing his left arm in order to show off his muscles.

"Sounds reasonable to me," Violet said, eyeing aforementioned muscles.

"Let's go," said Orange pointedly, leading the way. Violet shot him a particularly nasty glare, but followed him, albeit somewhat reluctantly. Red said nothing, and merely waited for the fight to break out once they were out of earshot of the Swimmer. To his mild surprise, however, this never happened. Violet and Orange remained silent as the trio made their way through the waist-deep swamp water, though they would occasionally shoot dirty looks at each other.

Before long, a boy around Red's age approached the group, dressed in a green jacket with matching pants and a cap.

"Let me guess, you're number five?" asked Red.

"You got that right," nodded the Jr. Trainer. "Which one of you am I battling?"

"I'll go," volunteered Red. "Violet, you got the last one, and Orange, you took the one before that."

"That one shouldn't count, I didn't know that Grimer had an owner," Orange replied stubbornly.

"It still counts, though," Violet added.

"Violet?" said Orange.

"What?"

"Shut up."

Violet looked to be at a loss for words, obviously not having expected this. Orange smirked at the dumbfounded expression on her face.

"Yeah, how do you like it?" he asked. "Not so funny when it's turned around on you, is it? How was that, Red? Er... Red?"

For Red had already started to battle the Jr. Trainer. His Paras was floating on the surface of the swamp water, glancing warily at its opponent- a Mankey.

"Mankey, go! Scratch attack!" ordered the Jr. Trainer.

"Paras, Stun Spore!" Red commanded.

"Paraaas!" exclaimed Paras as it unleashed a cloud of yellow dust from its mushrooms. Mankey, who had been swimming expertly through the pond water, approaching Paras at a fast pace, was forced to stop as the spores stunned it.

"Now Scratch it!" called Red.

Paras clumsily swam through the swamp water, and took a vicious swipe at Mankey with its right claw. Screeching in pain, Mankey swam, with great difficulty, over to the nearest tree, which appeared to be made entirely out of popsicle sticks, duct tape, and toilet seats. Slowly, the Pig Monkey Pokémon climbed its way up the arboreal anomaly, and stood on a branch hanging over the swamp, glaring down at Paras.

"Good, Mankey!" the Jr. Trainer exclaimed. "Use your Body Slam!"

"Paras, Leech Life now!" Red commanded.

Mankey screeched as it leapt out of the tree, attempting to land on Paras, who simply bared its teeth, and chomped down on Mankey as it landed, sucking away some of its energy.

"That does it, Mankey, let's get ready to finish it!" the Jr. Trainer shouted. "Use Rock Slide!"

"Paras, Bide!" Red exclaimed, causing Violet and Orange to exchange surprised looks.

"Bide?" repeated Orange. "Since when-"

"I used the TM I won in Rewept Gym while Violet was battling that Swimmer," Red explained. "I figured Paras could use another move."

Paras's entire body took on a bright yellow glow as Mankey fired a pair of red beams from its eyes. The beams flew over Paras, leaving a number of strange, glowing red circles in their wake. Then, from each circle fell a number of brown boulders, each one landing on Paras. Most of them fell into the swamp water after striking the Mushroom Pokémon, but some remained on top. Then, once the attack was done, the glow intensified, and Paras launched an intense beam of yellow energy at the surprised Mankey, knocking it off the tree limb and into its trainer's arms. Mankey made no further effort to move.

"I did my best, I have no regrets," sighed the Jr. Trainer as he withdrew Mankey and stepped aside.

"Is that all you guys can say when you lose?" asked Orange. "More importantly, that's five of you guys we've crushed now, so where's our reward?"

"You're almost out of the swamp," replied the Jr. Trainer. "The guy in charge of the challenge should be standing at the edge of the swamp, he's the guy you talk to about a reward."

"Thanks," said Red as he withdrew Paras. Red now led the way, and sure enough, not two minutes later, the group found themselves back on dry ground/aluminum siding/floor tiles. They had left Nugget Swamp. Standing nearby was a man wearing a nondescript gray hoodie sweatshirt and white pants. He approached the trio immediately.

"I must congratulate the three of you," he said. "You have defeated our five contest trainers, and have earned this great reward- a genuine gold Nugget!" At this, he reached into a bag slung over his shoulder and pulled out what appeared to be a solid gold sphere, about the size of a Poké Ball.

"OK, I'm just gonna come right out and say it," said Orange. "Which one of us holds onto it?"

"I volunteer Red," Violet replied. "I think we can both trust him."

"Thanks, Violet," grinned Red as he accepted the Nugget from the man and placed it into his backpack.

"When we go back to Ruceelna tonight, we'll stop at the Pokémart" suggested Orange. Those places will buy literally anything off of a trainer. We sell it there and split the profits three ways, that sound good?"

"Fine by me," said Red and Violet simultaneously.

"One more thing," the man added. "Would any of you be interested in joining Team Debug? We're a-"

"An extremist criminal organization who tries to wipe out entire races of Pokémon," Violet interrupted. "Thanks, but no thanks."

"Over my dead body," added Orange.

"Same here," put in Red.

The man scowled at the trio. "You can't be serious," he stated. "Sure, Team Debug gets some bad press, but we're going to save the world! Now, it looks like you three need convincing! I'm gonna make you an offer you can't refuse!" As he said this, he unzipped his hoodie, revealing his shirt which displayed the Team Debug insignia, and then took three Poké Balls off his belt and threw them all at once. "Diglett! Venonat! Weepinbell! Go!"

In three flashes of light, a trio of Pokémon materialized; a small, brown creature with a simple face consisting of two small, beady, black eyes, a large red nose, and no visible mouth, which appeared to be at least partly underground; a spherical insect covered in purple fur, with a pair of large, round, red eyes, a mouth with two small fangs, a pair of antennae, and two small hands; a yellow, bell-shaped creature that looked something like a larger-than-life replica of a Bellsprout's head, with a pair of leaves on its sides, not unlike what a Bellsprout had on its twig-like torso. Simultaneously, Red, Orange, and Violet held out their Pokédexes at these creatures.

"Diglett, the Mole Pokémon," said Red's Pokédex. "Diglett lives about one yard underground, where it feasts on plant roots. It sometimes appears aboveground."

"Venonat, the Insect Pokémon," droned Orange's Pokédex. "Venonat lives in the shadows of tall trees. It uses its large, radar-like eyes to move about in darkness."

"Weepinbell, the Flycatcher Pokémon, and the evolved form of Bellsprout," stated Violet's Pokédex. "Weepinbell's Acid can dissolve anything. This Acid in addition to its PoisonPowder are its main means of subduing its prey."

Once the Pokédexes had finished speaking, Red took out a Poké Ball and enlarged it, Orange and Violet following suit. They then threw the balls simultaneously.

"Charmeleon, I choose you!" Red shouted.

"Chompy, let's do it!" exclaimed Violet.

"Go! .4!" exclaimed Orange.

In another three flashes of light, Red's Charmeleon, Orange's .4, and Chompy, Violet's Bellsprout, materialized at the same time. The Debug Grunt scowled at the sight of .4.

"Attack that abomination first!" he ordered. "Diglett! Scratch!"

"Wait a second, Scratch?" asked Orange, as he cast a dubious glance at the Mole Pokémon, who seemed to sport no obvious appendages, let alone anything sharp. "With what?" he asked.

As if in response, Diglett moved forward, plowing its way through the rock, the ceramic tiles, and the aluminum siding, and its nose began to glow. As the nose glowed, it lengthened, coming to a point. Diglett then twisted around in the ground as it approached .4, the point of its nose raking the Caffeine Pokémon's side.

"Well, that was weird," Orange remarked. ".4, use TM28!"

.4 gibbered excitedly as it dove down at Diglett and promptly exploded. As the dust cleared, however, it became clear that Diglett had evaded the attack by going underground, as evidenced by the small hole in the ground, and the fact that Diglett was resurfacing some five feet away from .4, looking totally unscathed.

"Chompy, Growth!" Violet ordered.

"Charmeleon, hit Venonat with Flamethrower!" commanded Red.

".4, Agility!" called Orange.

The Grunt then proceeded to bark out orders to his Pokémon. "Diglett, Sand-Attack! Weepinbell, you use your own Growth! Venonat, Sleep Powder!"

Chompy and Weepinbell simultaneously took on light green auras and proceeded to grow until they were double their usual sizes. Weepinbell was now just as tall as its trainer, while Chompy was still shorter than its evolved form. As they glared at each other, Diglett spun in place, sending a spray of sand in Charmeleon's direction, though .4 began to fly in circles around the Ground-type with increasing rapidity. Then, on Orange's order, .4 used TM28 once more, and this time, the blast knocked Diglett out. Charmeleon, meanwhile, easily overpowered the cloud of blue dust Venonat had emitted with a powerful stream of fire, rendering the Venonat unconscious in the process.

The grunt withdrew Diglett and Venonat, but didn't look particularly concerned. "Wrap the Charmeleon!" he ordered.

"Bell," grunted the Weepinbell in a deep voice as the brown stem-like protrusion on top of its head lengthened, growing into a lengthy vine, and, before anyone could do anything about it, binding Charmeleon completely, except for its tail. Charmeleon flailed its tail about, attempting to use Ember on Weepinbell, but the attack missed miserably. Weepinbell squeezed tighter as Chompy and .4 moved in to attack. .4, in its excitement, however, used TM28 a few seconds too early. While Weepinbell was hit by the attack, it didn't seem to have taken nearly as much damage from the blast as it ought to have. It did, however, have the effect of forcing Weepinbell to release Charmeleon, though this turned out to not be such an issue; Charmeleon had already fainted.

"Now use Razor Leaf!" the grunt ordered as Red withdrew Charmeleon.

"Chompy, Vine Whip!" Violet commanded.

".4, TM09!" shouted Orange.

Weepinbell swung its leaves around wildly, and a flurry of razor-sharp leaves flew forth from them. Chompy sprouted a pair of vines from behind its leaves, managing to swat down most of them, but some struck .4, who screeched with discomfort as its body caught fire. .4 rose up high into the air, ready to dive-bomb Weepinbell.

"Jump with Vine Whip!" roared the grunt.

"Bell bell Weepinbell," replied Weepinbell as its brown stem extended once again, and this time, it slapped the ground hard, propelling itself into the air just as .4 dove. The Pokémaniac-type slammed into the ground, creating a fiery explosion, which Weepinbell had managed to evade completely. Knowing already that .4 was down, Orange withdrew it, leaving only Chompy to deal with the Weepinbell.

"We are so screwed," muttered Orange to Red.

"I heard that," snapped Violet as Weepinbell landed right where it had started from. "Chompy, Sleep Powder!"

"Weepinbell, Slam!" commanded the grunt.

The Bellsprout exhaled a cloud of glittery blue dust from its large mouth, which Weepinbell hopped out of the way of before slapping Chompy with its vine, sending it flying into a large rock. Shakily, Chompy got back onto its roots and walked back over to Weepinbell, a determined look in its eyes. Without even waiting for orders, Chompy lunged at its evolved counterpart, its body getting longer, and constricted the Weepinbell with its continually lengthening torso. Weepinbell groaned under the pressure of the Wrap attack, and attempted to pry the Bellsprout off with its leaves. This proved futile, however, and only spurred Chompy to squeeze harder. At last, the Bellsprout relinquished its grip; the Weepinbell hadn't fainted yet, but was panting heavily. Clearly the attack had taken a lot out of it, but it still looked willing to battle.

And then Chompy began to glow.

"All right!" Violet exclaimed as her starter Pokémon proceeded to evolve, its slender body shrinking away into the top of its head, the head itself getting larger, the leaves shifting their position. When the white light faded, there were now two six-foot Weepinbell present, each one glaring at the other, though the Debug Grunt's Weepinbell looked noticeably less confident now.

"Chompy, let's end this," said Violet, a confident smirk on her face. "Acid."

"Bell!" exclaimed Chompy as it blasted a stream of corrosive purple fluid from its gaping mouth. The grunt's Weepinbell groaned in agony as the attack landed, and quickly flopped over onto its back, shrinking back down to its regular size.

"All right, Chompy!" Violet cheered as her own Weepinbell shrunk back down to its original size.

"It's a shame," sighed the grunt as both Weepinbell were withdrawn to their Poké Balls by their respective trainers. "Talent like yours, you could have made it big in Team Debug. You, though, redhead, you got a lot to learn about Pokémon. Specifically, what is and isn't a Pokémon-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we've heard that garbage before," interrupted Orange as he walked away.

"Hey, Orange, where are you going?" asked Red as he ran over to him. "We gotta go back through the swamp to get back to Ruceelna."

"Yeah, but we don't have to get back just yet," replied Orange as Violet caught up. "The day's only half done, and I can see some trainers over there. Didn't we come out this way for training in the first place?" When neither Red nor Violet raised any objections, Orange grinned at them and ran off towards the nearest trainer, challenging him to a battle at the top of his lungs.

"I don't know why, but I hate it when he's right," sighed Violet as she and Red walked off after Orange.

~~~~~~~~
End of Chapter 13.​

 

[Missingno. Master]

Chapter 14: Return of the Bug Catcher
~~~~~~~~​

"All right, Pidgey! Quick Attack!"

"Spearow, Take Down!"

The two bird Pokémon streaked through the air, each aiming for the other one, fully intending to collide. When they crashed into each other, they fell to the ground. Spearow shakily climbed back onto its small feet, but its opponent, a slightly smaller bird with brown plumage all over, didn't even try to get back up.

"Pidgey, return," sighed the Youngster, holding out a Poké Ball.

"Yeah, we did it, Spearow!" Orange exclaimed happily.

"That is one awesome Spearow you got there," the Youngster said.

"I know, right?" Orange replied, grinning proudly. "Your Pidgey didn't do too bad itself, either."

"Thanks," said the Youngster before walking off, saying something about getting Pidgey to the Pokémon Center.

"Orange, you've been battling every single trainer we've come across since we got out of Nugget Swamp," Violet complained.

"And I beat them all!" Orange declared proudly, missing the point completely.

"What Violet is saying, Orange, is maybe you should give one of us a shot," said Red.

"Oh, what are you guys complaining about?" chuckled Orange. "Between Chompy and Rattata evolving, not to mention Violet catching Koffing, you two did well enough for yourselves in the swamp."

Violet opened her mouth to reply, when a familiar voice greeted their ears.

"Hey! Red, Orange, Violet, that you?"

Red wheeled around, to see a familiar-looking Bug Catcher running towards them. Orange and Violet did the same, and all three of them looked surprised.

"Jimmy?!" exclaimed Orange. "What are you doing here?"

"It is you guys! I decided to start traveling, see if I could get any more Bug-types. There's only so many different kinds in Ivadirin Forest. Just the Caterpie and Weedle families, plus Z4."

"How'd that go, anyway?" asked Violet. "You were gonna try and get a more obedient Z4, weren't you?"

"Yeah.... that didn't exactly pan out that well," Jimmy chuckled weakly. "But I did get some new ones! Who's gonna battle me and see?"

Violet turned to glare at Orange, but for once, the overeager trainer was keeping quiet. Clearly, his fear of Bug-types was starting to overcome his love for battle.

"I'll go," said Violet. "How many Pokemon should we each use?"

"Two each sound good?" asked Jimmy as he took a Poké Ball off his belt.

"Fine by me," smirked Violet as she readied a Poké Ball of her own.

Jimmy threw his ball first. "OK, Venonat! Let's go!"

In a flash of light, the round, fuzzy, purple form of a Venonat materialized. After sizing it up for a second, Violet threw the Poké Ball in her hand. "Go, Flutters!" she called as her Butterfree emerged.

"Hey, Flutters evolved, pretty cool!" grinned Jimmy. "OK, Venonat! Tackle attack!"

"Veno nat!" replied Venonat as it leapt into the air, trying to slam into Flutters.

"Flutters, use your Confusion attack!" Violet ordered.

"Freeh freeeh!" chittered Flutters as it let loose a pair of blue rays of light from its eyes, slamming into the Insect Pokémon with full force, knocking it to the ground.

"Venonat, Tackle again!" ordered Jimmy.

"Flutters, Harden!" Violet called.

As Venonat leapt at the Butterfree once more, Flutters stuck its wings straight out, and its entire body seemed to gleam in the broken, pixelly sunlight for a moment. Venonat bounced off of the Butterfree's body with a resounding CLAAANG and fell backwards. Flutters proceeded to flap its wings again, rising higher into the air.

"Good, Flutters! Now use String Shot!" exclaimed Violet.

"Freeeeeheeeeheeeh!" trilled Flutters as it unleashed several strands of white string from its mouth, quickly wrapping Venonat up in it until it couldn't move anymore.

"Vmmm nmmmt," muffled Venonat.

"No, Venonat! Try a Psybeam!" Jimmy exclaimed desperately.

"Flutters! Tackle it now!" Violet exclaimed, grinning widely. Flutters dove down at the immobilized Venonat, who couldn't seem to launch Psybeam. Venonat was sent flying into Jimmy's arms once the Butterfree slammed into it.

"Venonat, return!" Jimmy exclaimed as he held out the Poké Ball and calling the Insect Pokémon back. Once Venonat had been returned, he replaced the ball with another one and threw it. "OK, that's it! Scyther, let's go!"

"S-s-s-s-scyyyy.... S-s-s-s-scyyyyy..." Orange started gasping as a rather large winged creature emerged from Jimmy's Poké Ball. It stood on two legs, and was brandishing its arms; more specifically, the sharp, shiny, metallic sword blades on the ends of the arms. In what he evidently considered to be a nonchalant manner, Orange moved off to the side until he was directly behind Red.

"Scyther!" shrieked the large bug. Violet held out her Pokédex at her newest opponent.

"Scyther, the Mantis Pokémon," droned the device. "Scyther moves incredibly quickly and shreds its enemy with its razor-sharp scythes. On rare occasions, it flies with its wings."

"Flutters, use your Confusion!" Violet ordered.

"Scyther, Quick Attack!" Jimmy called.

Butterfree prepared to launch beams of psychic energy, but before it could even begin, Scyther began to flap its wings with incredible rapidity, and zipped forward with even greater rapidity, slamming headfirst into the Butterfree and tackling it to the ground.

"Flutters, return!" Violet exclaimed, holding out the Poké Ball and recalling her feebly stirring Butterfree. She quickly took out another ball and launched it. "I choose you, Skulls!"

In a flash of light, Violet's Koffing materialized, "Koffing," it rumbled in a deep voice.

"Koffing, pretty cool," nodded Jimmy. "OK, Scyther, use Wing Attack now!"

"Skulls, Smog attack!" commanded Violet.

"Koffing," replied Skulls as it blasted a thick, dark green fog from the prominent pores all over its body. Scyther had flown right into its fog, and could soon be heard coughing.

"Now, Skulls, Mimic!" Violet called.

Skulls looked down at the Smog cloud, and its skull-and-crossbones pattern briefly glowed with a bright white light. At that moment, Scyther flew out of the cloud, now hovering behind the Koffing.

"Scyther, Slash it!" ordered Jimmy.

"Skulls, Wing Attack!" yelled Violet.

"Koffing!" exclaimed Skulls as two of its pores unleashed plumes of smog. Each cloud formed itself into the shape of a wing as the Koffing began to fly towards the oncoming Scyther. The smog-wings and swordlike blades collided in midair, to general astonishment at just how solid the Koffing's "wings" had turned out to be. After several minutes of struggling, both attacks got through to their respective targets. Skulls smacked Scyther with its "wings", while Scyther sliced at Skulls with its scythes. Both Pokemon fell to the ground after this, neither one of them able to get back up.

"A draw, who'd have guessed?" remarked Orange as both trainers were recalling their Pokémon.

"It's not a draw, though," argued Violet. "Flutters took a lot of damage from Scyther's Quick Attack, but it wasn't knocked out. I'll admit, it was a pretty close match, though!"

"Yeah," grinned Jimmy. "That was a pretty good battle-"

"Sshhh!" hissed Orange, his eyes wide, staring at something behind Jimmy. Red looked, and saw a vaguely familiar rectangular thing floating a foot or so off the ground. It was covered in black, orange, and purple markings.

"Hey, is that-" began Red.

"It's an A," whispered Orange. "I missed my chance back at Rewept City, I'm not about to let this one get away!"

At that moment, however, the A turned to face Orange, and seemed to do a double take upon noticing him, giving a surprised squeak.

"Huh," remarked Violet. "Orange, I think that's the same A from that last time!"

"You think so?" asked Orange, surprised as A began to squeak in a frightened manner, slowly backing away.

And then, suddenly, a net fell over the A from above it. Orange looked up and gasped in outrage, for a pair of Team Error grunts were standing on an aluminum tree limb, looking very pleased with themselves. A, meanwhile, was squeaking in an agitated manner, struggling to free itself from the net.

"Heh heh, nice work, Larry!" laughed one of them. "A are really rare, the boss is gonna be very pleased with this!"

"Hey!" Orange exclaimed. "Team Error! What do you think you're doing?!"

"Hey, it's the twerps again!" said Larry as he and Jeff wheeled around to face them. Then, as one, the duo leapt off the tree branch and landed on the ground expertly, each on one side of the net.

"What we're doing, little boy, I think would be easy enough to understand," sneered Jeff. "We're catching ourselves a new Pokémon!"

"With a net?" scowled Orange. "I don't think so!"

"Hey, Poké Balls are expensive!" whined Larry. "And our salary is pitiful!"

"OK, less talking, more fighting," snapped Jeff as he threw a Poké Ball. "pPkMnp, go!"

"I choose you, 7g!" added Larry, throwing a ball of his own.

The Poké Balls burst open, revealing the horizontal rectangular form of pPkMnp, and the reddish cube that was 7g. Orange took out a Poké Ball of his own, but Jeff slapped Larry upside the head. "OK, wait, why are we battling them when we can just grab A and make a break for it? pPkMnp, use TM04!"

pPkMnp roared as it let loose a plume of purple dust from the top of its body, Everyone tensed up, but the clouds of purple dust didn't even make them cough, and were gone just as soon as they came.

"TM04, a Water-type move with no discernible effect," piped up Violet's Pokédex.

"Hey, they're gone!" exclaimed Orange. "And so is A!"

Indeed, neither Team Error grunt could be seen. A was also gone, along with the net it had been trapped in. pPkMnp and 7g were gone as well.

"We gotta try and find them," stated Violet.

"Yes, we gotta save A!" Orange nodded.

"Hey, maybe I can help," offered Jimmy, holding up a Poké Ball. "Do you have anything that's ever come in contact with that A?" he asked.

"No- wait!" exclaimed Orange as he threw the ball he had been holding. "Spearow, go!"

The Poké Ball burst open, unleashing Orange's Spearow in a flash of white light.

"When I first tried to catch A, it pushed this Spearow in front of the Poké Ball," explained Orange. "But why-"

"This is why," grinned Jimmy, tossing his own Poké Ball into the air. "Weedle, come on out!"

Orange stifled a scream and hastily backed up as Jimmy's Weedle materialized, landing expertly in his trainer's hand.

"Spearow," Jimmy called up, "Can you please come down here? I need Weedle to smell you."

Spearow simply glanced down at Jimmy, the look on its face implying that it thought he was crazy. After a moment, however, Spearow descended, though still regarded Jimmy warily. "OK, Weedle, get the A's scent and lead us to it!" Jimmy said.

"Weedle," replied Weedle as it placed its nose close to Spearow's left wing and sniffed deeply. Weedle then raised its head and sniffed at the air. And then it tensed up, and blasted a String Shot at a nearby tree limb, and swung by the string. Then it broke off that String Shot and fired another one at another tree limb, further away. Weedle continued this, swinging its way off into the distance. Jimmy raced after his Weedle, motioning for the trio to follow. After exchanging highly confused looks, that's just what they did, Spearow following them in the sky.

"What... was that... about?" panted Orange as they caught up with the Bug Catcher.

"Weedle have... an amazing... sense of smell," Jimmy replied as they ran. "Those noses... aren't just... for show, you know. And they... lose this... sense of smell... when they evolve."

"I've often... wondered why... some Bug Catchers... won't evolve... Weedle," remarked Orange.

Several minutes later, they had caught up to Jeff and Larry. The two were walking at a leisurely pace, each one holding one end of A's net. They had obviously called pPkMnp and 7g back to their Poké Balls.

"Stop, thieves!" Orange called out.

"Weedle, String Shot!" exclaimed Jimmy.

"Weeeeedle!" replied Weedle as it fired off several strands of silk from its horn. These strands stuck fast to the backs of the grunts' shirts, and though the strands snapped easily, they caused the grunts to stumble and drop A's net. Undaunted, Jeff and Larry wheeled around, each one now brandishing a Poké Ball.

"How did you catch up with us?" demanded Larry.

"Like we'll tell you," Violet replied coldly.

"Now let that A go!" added Orange.

"Not on your life!" snarled Jeff, throwing the Poké Ball. "pPkMnp, go!"

"You too, 7g!" added Larry.

Once again, the villains' Pokémon materialized, looking as ready for battle as Pokémon without faces could hope to look.

"Spearow, ready?" called Orange.

"Speeearow!" cawed Spearow as it descended, hovering directly in front of Orange.

Red then threw a Poké Ball. "Go, Charmeleon!" he exclaimed.

In a flash of light, Red's Charmeleon appeared. It stood in front of red, claws bared, ready and raring for battle.

"pPkMnp, use Sludge on Charmeleon!" ordered Jeff.

"7g, Double-Edge on Spearow!" called Larry.

"Charmeleon, Flamethrower!" exclaimed Red.

"Spearow, use Take Down!" commanded Orange.

pPkMnp launched a stream of sludge at Charmeleon, who met it with a stream of fire. The attacks collided, neither one letting the other advance any. Meanwhile, 7g and Spearow flew at each other and collided with great force.

"Now use Razor Wind!" Orange called.

"Speearrrow!" cawed Spearow as it flapped its wings rapidly, the wind slicing at 7g. Unknown to anyone other than A, the attack also grazed the net, slicing through a little bit of it.

"More power, Charmeleon!" Red urged.

"Chaaaar!" roared Charmeleon as its Flamethrower intensified, becoming hotter and wider. Slowly, pPkMnp's Sludge was getting pushed back.

"OK, Spearow, Peck it now!" Orange ordered.

"Roooooowwwww!" Spearow screeched as it streaked towards 7g and struck it with its small yet sharp beak, knocking the Slow Pokémon out of the air and onto the ground. At the same time, Charmeleon's Flamethrower won out completely, scorching pPkMnp. Without waiting for orders, Charmeleon then ran at pPkMnp and executed a Scratch attack. It was clear that pPkMnp's injuries had been severe, for not even its incredible Defense helped out; as Charmeleon unleashed Scratch, the Fortress Pokémon fell to the ground."

"Return!" Jeff and Larry exclaimed simultaneously as they withdrew their fallen Pokémon. Then, something unprecedented happened; they readied two other Poké Balls.

"Wait, what?!" Orange exclaimed. "I thought you couldn't afford Poké Balls!"

"We can, we just gotta save our salaries for months in order to get any," replied Jeff as he threw his ball. "Go, 'M!"

"Let's do it, Z4!" added Larry.

Larry's Poké Ball unleashed a Z4, an all-too-familiar sight to the trio (especially Orange, who whimpered slightly at the sight of it, yet stood his ground all the same). Jeff's however, unleashed something Red had only previously seen on his Pokédex's screen. From a side view, it was vaguely L-shaped, but facing them head on, it proved to have a rather narrow body On the part that protruded forward, it sported a pair of wide, square eyes, one on each side of its body, directly above a wide, grinning mouth. The whole thing stood roughly eight feet tall. Though he already knew what it was, Red held his Pokédex out.

"'M, the Shoreline Pokémon," droned his Pokédex. "'M thrive in coastal areas, though are not particularly adept swimmers. It flies through the air with style and grace, and hits with the force of a freight train."

"OK, Charmeleon, hit Z4 with Flamethrower!" ordered Red.

"'M, Water Gun!" exclaimed Jeff.

"Z4, Body Slam!" Larry called out.

"Spearow, use Take Down on 'M now!" commanded Orange.

Charmeleon launched a stream of flame at Z4, but 'M swooped in front of Z4 and launched from its mouth a blast of water, cutting through the Flamethrower like extremely fiery butter, and soaking Charmeleon, who roared its disapproval. Spearow rammed into 'M's side, however, disrupting the attack. As 'M recovered from the attack, Charmeleon continued its Flamethrower, knocking Z4 out.

"OK, 'M, Sky Attack now!" ordered Jeff.

"M M!" trilled 'M as it rose into the air, its entire body taking on a majestic golden glow.

Red and Orange tensed up, both knowing just how powerful a Sky Attack could be. And 'M's reputation for hitting with the force of a freight train did nothing to improve their spirits.

And then a rectangular blur slammed into 'M, disrupting the Sky Attack's charging. Orange's jaw dropped; A had broken free of its net, and had attacked 'M.

"A, you're free!" Orange exclaimed.

A squeaked excitedly and flew in circles over Orange's head. Orange couldn't understand what it was saying, but he got a vague feeling that it seemed grateful for his rescue efforts.

"'M, take them all out!" Jeff exclaimed. "Use Tri Attack!"

"M!" exclaimed 'M as a large, glowing triangle formed in front of it, then flew towards A.

"No! A, dodge it!" Orange exclaimed. A flew straight up into the air, and managed to evade the triangle completely. A then flew at 'M again, landing another light blow. Now it seemed to be going even faster than usual.

"TM40, a Normal-type move," said Orange's Pokédex. "A light, quick blow which increases the user's Speed."

"OK, A!" Orange exclaimed. "Give it a Razor Wind!"

A squeaked loudly as it rotated furiously in midair like a fan, sending a gust of cutting air right at 'M, causing it to screech in discomfort. Then, A began to glow and change shape!

"Is it evolving?" asked Red.

Orange shook his head. "A don't evolve," he replied. "It's using Transform!"

"Wait, Transform?" Red asked, taken by surprise by this news. "I thought only Ditto could learn Transform!"

"Nope. Ditto and A," Violet stated. A stopped glowing at that point, only now it looked identical to 'M.

"A, try a Mega Punch!" Orange called, after quickly consulting his Pokédex for a list of moves the Speed Demon Pokémon could now use. Despite now looking like 'M, A still squeaked like its old self as a thick arm tipped in a large fist seemed to grow out of the top of its body. A then flew at 'M and slammed the fist into the Shoreline Pokémon. 'M was thrown backwards, where it collided with Jeff and Larry, and they were all sent flying into the distance.

"Goodbye, and good riddance!" shouted Violet as A resumed its usual form.

"Wow," sighed Orange. "A, thank you so much!"

A squeaked happily in response as it flew circles around Orange, this time level with his head.

"Orange, I think A wants to go with you," Jimmy pointed out.

"A, is this true?" Orange asked, a look of mild surprise on his face. A nodded, but then put some distance between itself and Orange, and gave a loud squeak.

Orange grinned and nodded, understanding at once. "OK, I get it, you want a battle first," he said as he withdrew Spearow and took out another Poké Ball. "Let's do this, then! .4, go!"

In a flash of light, Orange's .4 appeared, gibbering excitedly and flying in tiny circles, unable to contain its limitless energy.

A made the first move, and launched a barrage of coins. .4 screeched as the metallic projectiles made contact with its diminutive body.

".4, use your TM28 attack!" ordered Orange.

"EEEEEEEEEE!" shrieked .4 as it zoomed in close to A and exploded, sending the Normal/Normal-type flying backwards.

"Good! Now use Wing Attack!" Orange ordered.

Instantly, a pair of wings seemed to appear out of nowhere on .4, one wing coming out of each side. The wings looked as though they were composed of small purple cubes, giving the wings a distinctly blocky appearance. .4 then zoomed forward and struck A with its wings, slamming the Speed Demon Pokémon to the ground.

Orange wasted no time, and launched a red-and-white sphere at the unmoving A. "Poké Ball, go!" he yelled.

The ball struck A, transformed it into a shapeless mass of transparent red energy, and sucked it inside. It then fell to the ground and began to wobble back and forth, a red light blinking on the ball's button the whole time. For a moment, there was total silence as everyone present watched the ball intently. Even .4 seemed to be holding perfectly still. And then, at long last, the ball stopped moving.

"YES!" Orange exploded, cheering loudly as he ran over and scooped up the Poké Ball containing his newest Pokémon. "I did it! A is mine!"

"Nice!" Jimmy exclaimed. "Hey, so what are you guys doing up here, anyway? Meant to ask you that a while ago, but this whole A business got me a little sidetracked.

"Can't say I blame you," shrugged Red.

"We came up this way to train," explained Violet. "We heard that Fansfor Gym's leader uses Psychic-types, and we figured we should toughen up our Pokémon before going there."

"Good thinking," Jimmy remarked as his Weedle crawled onto his shoulder. "I actually came up here to see if I could meet Meg."

"Who?" asked Red.

"...What did you say?" asked Jimmy. "You mean you don't know who Meg is? Meg Abytte, the extremely cute creator of the Pokémon PC Storage System? ...At-at least, that's what I hear," he added, blushing slightly.

"Riiiiight," Orange said with a smirk on his face as he winked knowingly at the Bug Catcher. This only served to increase the amount of red growing on his face.

"Yes, well, ahem, so, that's where I'm headed," Jimmy said.

"You know what? I think we'll come with you," Orange said. "She did, after all, invent the PC Storage System, it might be good for us to visit her."

"I thought we were supposed to be training today?" asked Violet, a rather irritated look on her face.

"We've been training all day," Orange said dismissively. "Anyway, it can't be that far, right, Jimmy?"

"Not that far, I don't think," Jimmy said as his blushing went away somewhat. "I think it's only a short walk from here."

"Great, then let's go!" Orange exclaimed. With that, the four trainers headed off in the direction indicated by Jimmy.

~~~~~~~~
End of Chapter 14.​

 

[Missingno. Master]

Chapter 15: A Meeting With Meg
~~~~~~~~​

"I am not!"

"You are too!"

"I am not!"

"You are too!"

"I am not!"

"You are too!" exclaimed Orange. "Just admit it, Jimmy, you are in love with Meg."

"I'm not!" insisted Jimmy, who had been blushing the entire time. "The PC Storage System is an absolute necessity for any trainer, and I just wanted to meet the person responsible for it!"

"Uh huh," smirked Orange. "Yeah. That's the entire reason, right?"

"Orange?" said Violet.

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

Orange stopped pestering Jimmy, and for the remainder of the walk, contented himself with grumbling under his breath and shooting the occasional glare at Violet.

True to Jimmy's word, the walk was indeed short. They came upon a relatively small building that seemed to be built entirely out of old computer parts and an assortment of pine cones.

"I think this might be the place," remarked Orange.

"It's the only house up this way," shrugged Red. Jimmy walked up to a cluster of keyboards held together with duct tape which seemed to function as a door, and knocked on it.

"Come in," came a female voice from inside. Jimmy opened up the door and led the way inside.

The interior was somewhat cluttered. A number of notebooks were piled in various areas all over the room. In the back, a pair of large steel cylinders were constructed. A thin metal pipe ran between the two structures, connecting them, and each one had a door on the front. As if to complete the chaotic picture, a .4 was zipping all around the room. As soon as it noticed the group, however, it flew in front of them, still moving constantly. And then, nobody could have expected what happened next.

It spoke to them.

"Oh, hey there, I'm glad someone's here," the .4 seemed to say in the same female voice they had heard earlier. "I need some help."

"I think I need some professional help," muttered Orange. "It sounded like that .4 was talking to us."

"I am," the .4 insisted. "I'm not a Pokémon. I'm Meg Abytte. I was conducting an experiment in teleportation, and I got combined with my .4 by accident. Please, can't one of you help me?"

"Sure, I'll help," Jimmy said, stepping forward. "My name's Jimmy, what do I have to do?" he asked.

"OK, I'm going to enter the chamber on the right," explained the .4. "Once I do that, you go to my computer over there and activate the teleporter. That should do the trick, OK?"

"Got it," nodded Jimmy. The .4 floated over to the door of the steel chamber on the right side of the room, and pushed at it. It didn't budge.

"Um, Miss Abytte, should I-?" began Jimmy.

"No matter," the .4 replied. "I've always wanted to try this anyway. TM28!!!"

The .4 backed up and let off a minor explosion. It was just enough to force the door open. It then floated into the chamber and pushed the door closed again. Jimmy walked over to a wooden table in front of the left chamber. On the screen, there was a large red button labeled "Activate Teleportation System". Jimmy took the computer mouse and clicked the button. Immediately, a humming noise could be heard from the steel device in the back of the room, as something seemed to be transferred from right to left. Then, the door to the left chamber opened up, and a young woman walked out, sighing in relief. She looked to be about Violet's age, if not a year or two older, and had waist-length wavy brown hair.

"Oh, thank you so much," she said as she walked over to Jimmy, who seemed incapable of forming a coherent response; he was too busy staring at Meg, mouth slightly agape. "Your name is Jimmy, you said, right?"

"Uh... Wha... Oh! Oh, yeah, yes, my name's Jimmy. Jimmy Errorcode," Jimmy replied, seeming to snap out of it, though he was blushing once again. "It's... it's a pleasure to... to meet you, Miss Abytte. Oh, yes, these are my friends, uh... um..."

"I'm Violet Scramble," Violet said, rolling her eyes at Jimmy. "This is Orange McPixel and this is Red Vershunn.

"Uh... hi..." murmured Orange. Violet turned to look at Orange, to discover that he was also staring at Meg, mouth slightly agape. Irritated by this, Violet snapped her fingers in Orange's face. When this failed to yield results, she instead opted to stomp on his foot. That snapped him out of it.

As Orange hopped around, clutching his afflicted foot and holding back what was sure to be a whole host of expletives, Red shook Meg's hand. "Nice to meet you," he said.

"Nice to meet all of you," smiled Meg. "So, I'm guessing you're all Trainers?"

"We are," replied Violet. "I'm afraid I haven't used your storage system yet, though. I only have four Pokémon."

"Nor have I," confessed Red. "Only three Pokémon."

Orange said nothing, clearly not trusting himself to not start cursing over his injured foot, but shook his head and shrugged, as if to say that he hasn't used the PC Storage System either.

"I haven't either," admitted Jimmy. "I only have three. This Weedle on my shoulder, plus a Venonat and a Scyther."

"Oh, a Venonat!" Meg exclaimed, her eyes lighting up. "Those are so cute, may I see it?"

"Sure!" Jimmy said as he took out a Poké Ball and tossed it straight up. The ball split open, unleashing Jimmy's Venonat into the room. Meg let out a little squeal of delight, and scooped the Venonat into her arms and hugged it.

"Oh, Venonat are so cuuute," she sighed.

"Veno veno nat," said Venonat, seeming to enjoy the attention.

"Wow," remarked Jimmy. "It's... it's not often I meet a girl who appreciates Bug Pokémon. Most of the ones I've met are creeped out by Bug-types. And not just girls, either, Orange here is downright afraid of them."

"OH, SHUT UP!" roared Orange.

"Oh, I love Bug-types," Meg said as she turned her attention to the Weedle on Jimmy's shoulder and started to stroke its back with her index finger. Immediately, the Weedle gave a contented sigh and relaxed. "Venonat's my favorite, but I love them all."

"You... you like... all... Bug-types..." Jimmy murmured, as if not daring to believe this.

"Oh, yes," Meg said, addressing her guests. "I want to thank you all for helping me out."

"Oh, well, it was really just Jimmy," Violet replied modestly.

"Vi, shut up, we might be getting free stuff," hissed Orange, earning himself a reproving glare from Violet.

"No, don't worry about it," smiled Meg as she produced three strips of cardboard from the pocket of her shorts. "I had won three tickets for the S.S. Nean cruise ship, but I get seasick really easily. The only thing is, I only have the three tickets, and there are four of you..."

"Actually, you can give them to Red, Orange and Violet," said Jimmy. "I, um... Miss Abytte..."

"Please, call me Meg," said Meg.

"...Meg... I was wondering if maybe... I could stay here for a while? Help you with anything you might need help with? I mean, I'm not very knowledgeable about computers, but I'd be... willing to learn..."

"You know, I've been meaning to take on an assistant," said Meg thoughtfully. "And, well, you are really nice, so sure, I'd have no problem with you staying here." She then handed the tickets to Orange, Violet, and Red.

"Thanks," said Red. "Just one question- where does the S.S. Nean dock, anyway?"

"She makes port in Miliovern once a year," replied Meg. "She stays in port for about a week before setting sail again, and during that week, the crew hosts a party for Pokémon Trainers."

"A party?" Orange repeated, his interest piqued. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get going!" He grabbed Violet and Red's arms and practically dragged them out the door, giving them barely two seconds to hastily say good-bye to Meg and Jimmy.

Once they were out the door, Violet wrenched her arm free of Orange's grip. "OK, what the hell was that?" she demanded.

"What? What was what?" asked Orange defensively.

"You know perfectly well what was what," said Violet. "You were staring at her stupidly, mouth agape and everything."

"I was not," scoffed Orange.

"Yes you were."

"No I wasn't."

"Yes you were."

"No I wasn't!"

"Yes you were"

"Was not!"

"Were too!"

"Was not!"

"Were too!"

"Was not!'

"Were not!"

"Was too!"

"Were not!"

"Was too!"

"Were not!"

"Yes, I was!" Orange exclaimed defiantly. "I was staring at Meg like a horny, drooling idiot, and don't you dare tell me otherwise!"

"OK," smirked Violet as she calmly proceeded to walk down a narrow path labeled as a shortcut back to Ruceelna City. Orange and Red followed, the former somewhat confused as to what exactly happened. Then a look of dawning comprehension came over his face.

"Hey, wait a minute!" he exclaimed.

"Sorry, Orange, you already admitted to it," chuckled Violet.

"You tricked me into saying that!"

"Oh, did I?" asked Violet. "I was under the impression I just tricked you into saying you were staring at Meg. From where I stand, that part about being a 'horny, drooling idiot' was all you."

"RRRRRGH!" replied Orange through gritted teeth, which only made Violet laugh in a self-satisfied way. Even Red chuckled a little bit, which fortunately went unnoticed by Orange.

About fifteen minutes and one jump off of an eight-foot ledge later, the trio arrived back in Ruceelna City.

"It's getting late," Violet remarked. Indeed, it was starting to get dark. "I think we should go to the Pokémon Center for dinner, and then turn in for the night."

"I'm all for that," Orange nodded. "Only, I'd like us to go to the Pokémart first, cash in that Nugget we won. Red, you still got it?"

"Right here," Red responded as he pulled the solid gold sphere out of his backpack.

"Oh, come on, Red," sighed Violet. "That can wait until tomorrow."

"Oh, Tauros crap," snapped Orange. "We got plenty of time!"

Red looked back and forth between Violet and Orange, both of whom seemed to be awaiting his decision. Red gulped. He didn't like being put in this position.

"Well..." he began. "I mean... Uh... I mean, does it really matter, either way? Orange, I mean, what would be so bad about waiting until morning?"

"Hmph. Nothing, I guess," Orange grunted, though he looked distinctly disgruntled at Red's decision. "Sure, take her side," he added in an undertone as they headed towards the Pokémon Center.

"I don't want to take sides!" Red whispered indignantly. "No matter what I decided, I'd have gotten one of you pissed at me, and I don't want to do that! You're both my friends, I don't want to have to take sides against either one of you!"

"So why'd you take her side?" demanded Orange.

"I only intended it as an example," replied Red. "Violet's the one who ran with it."

Orange said nothing, though this answer seemed to satisfy him.

Once they reached the Pokémon Center, they entered the cafeteria and ordered dinner. Violet had an even number salad, triggering Orange's usual remarks about her being an evenetarian; Red had a seven burger with eight sauce; Orange had a plate of fried nines, much to Violet's exasperation.

"Fried nines again, Orange?" groaned Violet. "One of these days you're gonna wake up, and you'll have turned into a nine."

"Oh, quit nagging," said Orange. "Nothing wrong with having my favorite food."

"Orange, I swear, if we were married, I would put poison in your coffee." Violet sighed.

"Violet, I swear, if we were married, I'd drink it," Orange retorted.

The meal was pretty quiet after that. Once the center's Chansey had scanned their Pokédexes for identification purposes, the trio asked the nurse for a room, and were able to get the same room they had the previous night. Before going to sleep, Red made sure to take the earplugs Violet had given him and put them in his ears. Sure enough, even though Orange fell asleep first, even though the cacophony his mouth was producing was not unlike that of heavy machinery, Red had no problem getting to sleep, hearing only total silence.
~~~~~~~~
The next morning, Red found himself being awoken, not by Orange's snores as he was starting to get used to, but by Orange yanking the sheets off of him.

"C'mon, Red, get up!" he exclaimed once Red groggily removed his earplugs. "Breakfast! Come on!"

Red got out of his bed and sluggishly got dressed. By the time the trio went for breakfast, he was much more awake and alert, and the fried nines and four juice he had for breakfast helped even more. Once they left the Pokémon Center, Orange spoke up.

"OK, after we hit the Pokémart, where to?" he asked.

"Well, we got in a good amount of training," Violet said. "Maybe we should head for Fansfor City now."

"But wait, what about the S.S. Nean?" asked Red. "Doesn't she set sail at the end of the week? If we're gonna make it to the party, shouldn't that be our first priority?"

"I'd have thought you'd want to get through the region quickly," Violet remarked. "Get to Bincanar Island faster and all that."

Red shrugged. "I do want some answers, but I'm starting to like Tanko. I wouldn't mind making a couple of detours."

"I'm all for that!" declared Orange. "Besides, a ship full of Pokémon Trainers can only mean one thing- battles! No such thing as too much training, am I right?"

"You got a point," conceded Violet. "OK, let's head for Miliovern City first."

"Second," Orange said suddenly. "First, the Pokémart."

"Fine," sighed Violet. With that, Orange led the way down a number of streets until they reached a building constructed entirely out of orange traffic cones, sheet metal, and glue sticks. A wooden sign was attached to the wall, with "Pokémart" painted on it in large red letters.

"I think we've arrived," said Orange.

"Yeah, you think?" said Violet sarcastically as she led the way in through a door made of sheet metal and duct tape.

The inside of the Pokémart was small and cluttered. Entire shelves of Poké Balls and Potions made navigation somewhat difficult. In one corner, a balding man was leaning on a wooden counter.

"Welcome to the Ruceelna City Pokémart," he said in a bored voice that implied he had said this many times before. "Are you buying or selling?"

"Selling," replied Red as he took the Nugget out of his backpack. The man took the golden sphere and eyed it from multiple angles, as if uncertain as to its authenticity. Finally, he took an odd scanning device from behind the counter and pointed i t at the Nugget. It hummed for a second, then made a dinging noise. Seemingly satisfied with this, the man paid Red 6,000 Pokédollars for the Nugget.

"Wow, 6,000!" Red whispered as they exited the Po Bkémart. They didn't have any of that 6,000 on them anymore- the three had unanimously decided to use the profits to replenish their dwindling Poké Ball supplies. "I don't think Nuggets sell for that much back in Kanto."

"Hey, it bought us more Poké Balls," shrugged Orange. "Can't complain about that. I had no idea I was down to just one! What would I have done if that one had failed? I mean, when a Poké Ball fails to catch a Pokémon-"

"We know, Orange, it explodes," sighed Violet.

"So, which way to Miliovern City?" asked Red.

"Should be south of here," Orange replied. "We'll have to pass through Fansfor to get there, though."

"And we can't just swing by the Gym and challenge the leader while we're passing through because...?" asked Red.

"...Huh," Orange muttered. "I guess we can."

Violet facepalmed.
~~~~~~~~
Half an hour of walking later, the trio had left Ruceelna City, and very quickly found themselves facing a large mass of skyscrapers that seemed to be made up of rocks, pieces of fencing, and tree limbs, complete with leaves. Barring their way into the city was a tall fence made of sheet metal, fives, and nines, and a large building made of wooden planks and soda cans. An open doorway faced the group, and through it they could see that the building would lead them directly into Fansfor City. Orange led the way inside-

"Oh, no, no, no, you do not," came a voice. As one, the trio turned to their left, where they saw a rather pudgy security guard sitting behind a counter. "Sorry, road's closed."

"Why?" asked Orange.

"Because I'm hungry," the guard answered.

"So wait," Red frowned. "You're not letting us into Fansfor City because you're hungry?"

"That about sums it up, yeah," the guard replied.

"Come on!" whined Orange. "We gotta get through Fansfor City to get to Miliovern!"

"Take the bridge," suggested the security guard. "There's a bridge that takes you straight across Fansfor."

Orange stormed out of the gatehouse, grumbling audibly and saying rather unkind things about the security guard's mother. Reluctantly, Violet and Red followed.

Outside the gatehouse, Red now noticed a wooden staircase to his left, which seemed to lead to a metal walkway. Violet led the way up the stairs, but once they got to the top, and were faced with the prospect of crossing the relatively narrow bridge many feet above a large, bustling city, Violet hesitated. The bridge had handrails made out of plastic water bottles, so the risk of falling was minimal.

"Violet, what's wrong?" asked Red.

"N-nothing," Violet said. "It's just... a little high up, isn't it?"

"Just close your eyes," Red suggested. "You're not gonna fall, you know we wouldn't let that happen."

"Yeah.... Yeah..." Violet replied. She gulped, then squeezed her eyes shut and began to make her way slowly across the bridge. Orange was not pleased with this slow pace, and made a point of miming the action of checking a nonexistent watch every couple of seconds. Red ignored him, and since Violet kept her eyes shut, she had to ignore him as well.

Ten minutes later, they had crossed the bridge. Violet raced down the staircase, breathing heavily, and once they were all back on the ground, she held onto Red for support.

"I'm guessing you don't like heights too much, Violet?" asked Red.

"N-not really," sighed Violet.

"And you mock me for my fear of bugs," Orange smirked.

"Hey, a fear of heights is a legitimate thing!" snapped Violet. "You're scared of stuff like Caterpie and Metapod and Paras!"

"And Beedrill, and Scyther, and Z4," Orange shot back defensively.

"Oh, please, you're scared of any Bug-type and you know it," said Violet.

"Not any Bug-type!" said Orange. "You don't see me cowering in fear of your Butterfree, do you? Those are OK!"

Violet said nothing more at this. Once she stopped holding onto Red, they continued walking. A swarm of .4 flew overhead, and several Pidgey could be seen pecking at a small patch of grass. Then, they all stopped short, for a large Pokémon was crossing the concrete/water/seven-paved road, and was taking its sweet time doing so. It walked on a pair of skinny legs tipped with bird feet. Its torso was spherical and covered in brown feathers. From the top it sported not one, but two long, black necks, each one tipped with a brown, spherical head. Each head sported a pair of beady, black eyes, and a large, yellow beak.

"Wow, a Doduo!" Red exclaimed, holding out his Pokédex.

"Doduo, the Twin Bird Pokémon," said Red's Pokédex. "Doduo is more skilled at running than flying. It runs at speeds up to 60 miles per hour and leaves giant footprints."

"Pretty cool," remarked Orange. He considered going for a Poké Ball, but Red had beaten him to it.

"Go, Paras!" Red called as he launched a red-and-white sphere, unleashing the Bug/Grass-type. This caught the Doduo's attention, and made both heads turn to face it.

Doduo made the first move, Both heads lowered, and the whole thing charged forward.

"Paras, Stun Spore!" Red ordered.

"Paaaaraaaas!" exclaimed Paras as it unleashed a yellow dust from its mushrooms. Doduo dashed right into the yellow cloud and immediately toppled to the ground, the Stun Spore having successfully stopped the Skull Bash.

"OK, Paras, now use Scratch!" commanded Red.

"Paras par!" Paras replied as it scuttled towards Doduo and took a great swipe at its spherical torso, causing both heads to squawk in pain. Then the heads turned to face Paras and both began to peck at it mercilessly.

"That's Doduo's Fury Attack," stated Violet.

"Paras!" called Red, just as his Pokémon started to glow. Orange slowly backed up and hid behind Violet as the glow faded, revealing Paras to have evolved. What now stood in Paras's place sported one giant mushroom covering its entire back. It was slightly bigger than Paras had been, but other than that and the mushroom, it was relatively unchanged.

"Parasect, the Mushroom Pokémon, and the evolved form of Paras," droned Red's Pokédex. "Parasect spreads a variety of spores from the mushroom on its back. It prefers damp spaces."

"Cool," grinned Red. Then he noticed something as the Pokédex displayed the list of Parasect's attacks. "Hey, guys, what is it with Pokémon learning new moves just after evolving, anyway? It always seems to happen."

Orange and Violet shrugged. "No idea," said Violet. "So Parasect learned something new?"

"Looks like it," grinned Red. "Use Spore!"

"Sect!" hissed Parasect as it unleashed a plume of blue dust from beneath its giant mushroom. Immediately, Doduo slumped to the ground, both heads asleep. Red took the cue at once, and produced an empty Poké Ball from his backpack.

"Poké Ball, go!" Red shouted as he hurled the sphere. Parasect scuttled out of the way as the ball made contact with Doduo, turned it into red energy, and sucked it in. The ball fell to the ground and wobbled back and forth for several tense seconds, before falling still.

"Nice," grinned Orange as Red scooped up the ball.

"Yeah!" Red exclaimed. "I did it, Doduo is mine!"

"Para Parasect!" added Parasect before Red called it back into its Poké Ball.

~~~~~~~~
End of Chapter 15.​