FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

After resting at a cheap hotel, Cilan, Tensa and I finally set off from Nacrene City. We had managed to find a shortcut to Skyarrow Bridge, bypassing a lot of the busy main route. The bridge was absolutely fantastic. Magnificent silver light glinted from the bridge in the early morning. It was foggy today, but a regular bridge crosser was kind enough to guide us through the fog. After we crossed the magnificent bridge, we gazed upon the city from up close. Even from a distance the city looked impressive, the buildings towering for miles, but now that were here we truly got a sense of the scale of things. We then moved through the next gate area, and entered the city.

One of the first places we visited in the city was its Pokémon Center. From there, everyone rested and then we headed for the Gym. When we arrived at the Gym, Cheren exited. He was there first it seemed.

Cheren looked pleased with himself. "I just challenged Burgh. He's a seasoned Gym Leader. He made me work for that Gym Badge. But for me Bug-Type Pokémon aren't a challenge. I'm going to keep winning like this against all over the Unova region's Gym Leaders! Then I'll head for the Pokémon league and become a Champion! If I do that... maybe I'll live up to you. That will make me feel truly alive."

"Cheren, you probably shouldn't try to base your efforts on what I have done. You're only thirteen, after all. I can appreciate being a role model, but... I wouldn't recommend trying to duplicate my results right away." He paused for a moment and I could tell that he was thinking about it, but he didn't really say anything after that. He just walked away and made his way into the city.

Shortly after he left, Burgh emerged from the building.

Burgh, after seeing me, snapped his fingers. "Ah hah! You're the one who beat Team Plasma at the Nacrene City Museum! If I remember correctly from what Lenora told me... your name is Kynexn! Come to challenge the Gym, I suppose? Aww. Sorry but can it wait for a bit? Team Plasma is here! They've been spotted at the Prime Pier." Of course. Typical. Right when I really feel good about having a battle, something comes up. I hope all of the Isshu Gym leaders aren't like this.

I sighed and we headed down to the central pier, where I spotted Bianca and anunknown female with her.

Burgh frowned. "Team Plasma... They took this young lady's Pokémon." I had no idea why Bianca was here in Castelia City before I was. Cilan, who had never before heard of Team Plasma, was curious. "Is this Team Plasma a really big problem?"

I sighed, exasperated. "They are starting to become one, yes."

Bianca sniffled, trying not to sob. "Kyn... My Munna... Team Plasma took it..."

"Bianca, I'm a bit confused as to what you expect me to do about it. They're probably long gone by now. What are the chances I'll be able to do anything about it?" I said, rather coldly.

"I... I... I guess you're right." She wiped her eyes with her handkerchief, before looking back up at me again.

"Who is that young lady next to you, Bianca?" I said, pointing at the brown skinned girl with the rather large and long hair.

"Oh, me? My name is Iris! Basically, I heard this lady's scream and ran after the thief as fast as I could. But this city is so big and so crowded... I'm afraid I lost them." She said.

Burgh was trying to reassure her, "Iris... You did everything you could."

Iris stamped her left foot on the ground. "But that's so bad! Taking people's Pokémon is really bad! 'Cause it's really nice when people and Pokémon are together! They each have something the other doesn't, and they help each other!"

I sighed again. "This is one of them Burgh... you'll only get in my way." Suddenly a member of Team Plasma, a female grunt came running near us, panting.

"What's a Gym Leader doing here!? Last time went so well, I thought I'd grab another Pokémon... Rethinking... I need to get out of here!" She said, before fleeing the scene.

Burgh looked in the direction of the fleeing Team Plasma member. "Kynexn, let's go!"

I frowned at Burgh, wanting to get things done as quickly as possible. "I don't need your help, nor do I want it."

"Nonsense! Iris! You stay by that young lady's side." He said. Seems I was getting his help whether I wanted it or not.

Iris nodded her head and then turned towards Bianca. "I'm gonna be Bianca's bodyguard. So you got after those guys, OK?" We went deeper into the circle, and eventually make our way to Gym Street, and immediately found a most clearly not even trying to be inconspicuous trio of Team Plasma members outside of a building across from the Gym. We approached the middle grunt and asked if he'd seen another member of Team Plasma run by. I knew that they would probably protect their own members but, I had no idea what was happening right in front of our eyes.

The male grunt in the center whistled nonchalantly. "No one's here! Not a soul! No other members of Team Plasma, nor any of the Seven Sages are inside."

I quickly brought the palm of my hand up to my forehead, before beginning to speak. "You know that only works in the movies right? Well, if there's no one there then you won't mind if we go in right?"

"Uh no! You can't do that... really there's no on in there! You can battle me if you don't believe me!" The grunt said, not convincingly at all.

"I don't believe you." I said.

"Fine! Let's battle! Guys I'll take care of this weak looking guy so you can show off by taking that tough-looking guy over there!"

"Weak looking? I'm sorry, but you have that reversed. I'm the one who is going to bring you down." I taunted, not at all pleased by the unknowing insult.

"Whatever! Let's go!" He sent out his first Pokémon which was a Sandile. I had planned on surprising Burgh by using a Whirlipede, just like his, but this was a perfect time to use him instead.

"Very well... Pendragon, come on out!" The Whirlipede emerged from his Poké Ball, and then started spinning, showing off as usual.

"Ah, you... Knowing these crocodiles... you probably want to fight, right? Well sorry, this time Saigo takes the cake." He turned around and looked me with what I interpreted to be frustration. He still wasn't used to my odd sense of humour yet.

"Uh... Pendragon... I'm only kidding... you and Saigo together create a double weakness for that Sandile. Sorry if I angered you..." I'd read that it was best not to anger them, when they are recently caught.

Together they both used their respective type based attacks, easily defeating the Sandile. I was noticing a pattern with these grunts. All of their Pokémon were really basic. Then it dawned on me, Team Plasma members were probably using the same Pokémon that they had stolen, to battle with! The other two grunts still remained silent, but the main middle grunt spoke up. "Come on. Seriously? All I did was take people's Pokémon."

"Yet another person who is spouting out their useless ideals. And that's bad. Keep embarrassing yourselves by getting beaten by a 'kid' guys, it's really entertaining. As long as you all keep following those ideals, you're going to keep getting beaten by me."

"This is bad! Bad bad bad bad bad! I must report this to the Seven Sages right away!" He said, before running into the building. I looked over, and Burgh's Whirlipede had defeated the other grunts much the same way as mine had. Burgh asked me to wait a bit, so I decided to wait. Only a minute passed before Iris and Bianca showed up, after our encounter with Team Plasma ten minutes before.

Iris rubbed the back of her head nervously. "We got lost. Even with the map on the Xtransceiver we still got lost! I took us 10 minutes to find this place!" She said.

I rolled my eyes at her, though not when she was looking.

Burgh pointed at the building that we were standing outside of. "Team Plasma is inside. The stolen Pokémon may be inside there as well. Let's go!"

Iris perked up and suddenly decided to enter herself into the equation. "This time I'll join the fight! Come on Bianca!" We all entered the building and found Ghetsis, the three Team Plasma members we fought, as well as two more of the Seven Sages.

Ghetsis, upon noticed Burgh, immediately addressed him, as if it was an everyday thing to talk about Gym Leaders as if they were lower than him.

Ghetsis grinned. "My word, if it isn't the Gym Leader, Burgh."

"So, what would you say is the guiding principle of Team Plasma, anyway? "Take what you want away from people'?" Burgh said, slightly tolerant, but I could sense a bit of frustration under his exterior.

The Sage wearing black, turned to Ghetsis and started to speak. "I thought it would be amusing to prepare a hideout right in front of a Pokémon Gym, but we were detected more quickly than I imagined."

Ghetsis, nodded, agreeing with him apparently. "Indeed. No matter. We already have an exceptional base of operations."

The idea of having a base of my own would actually be very interesting. "I will find it, even if I have to take down EVERY SINGLE member of Team Plasma."

Ghetsis continued with his speech, not really paying much attention to me at all. How arrogant.

"Is everyone familiar with the legend of the founding of the Unova region?"

Iris, who seemed to be overly excited recently, spoke up. "I am! It's the black Dragon-type Pokémon, right?"

Ghetsis blinked, before continuing, "The truth is this... The black dragon appeared before a hero who sought the ideal way to knit together a world full of warring people. This black Dragon-type Pokémon shared its knowledge--and bared its fangs at those who stood against it."

I smiled, as I actually knew about this legend. "So that's Zekrom then? I thought that it was just a legend." Everyone, even Ghetsis was shocked at my knowledge.

"Kynexn... how would... you know that?" Bianca asked

"Why do you know that?" Burgh asked, with Bianca.

Ghetsis blinked, before asking a question in a similar manner.

"Indeed... I am curious as to how you came into knowledge of this... Are you going to answer us?"

"No. I'd rather not talk about it. Just say, that I heavily research each region that I go to, and leave it at that." I said flatly.

"Very well. I shall continue. Together, the power of this Pokémon and the hero brought unity to the hearts of everyone in the land, and that is how Unova was created. We shall bring back the hero and that Pokémon to Unova once again! If we can win people's hearts and minds, we can easily create a world that I--I mean, Team Plasma--desires!"

Burgh came up with a counter mini-speech of his own, which I still listened to, despite hitting my speech limit for the day. "Here in Castelia, we have a lot of different kinds of people. Everyone's ways of thinking and lifestyles are very different. Honestly there's something about what you're saying that I don't quite understand."

"Yes? What is it?" Ghetsis responded.

"One thing we all have in common is that we all care a lot about Pokémon. Even people meeting for the first time can talk about Pokémon. Talk or battle or trade... Remember your speech at Accumula Town? You were responsible for leading me to rethink my relationship with Pokémon. For that, I thank you. At that time, I made a promise... I swore to myself that I would dedicate to Pokémon even more strongly! What you guys are doing... Aren't you going to strengthen the bond between people and Pokémon even more?" Burgh said.

Ghetsis lets out a maniacal laugh. "You are quite hard to figure out--a little more intelligent than I'd expected. I am fond of intelligent people, you see. You'll enjoy hearing about this. From every corner of the world, I have gathered knowledgeable people for our king's benefit. You could call them the Seven Sages. Very well! We will submit to your opinion and be on our way. That girl over there... Return her Pokémon!" The second male grunt sets her Munna free, and then gives her the Pokéball.

Bianca becomes cheerful again, after almost crying. "Th-Thank you! Munny, I'm so glad to see you again!"

I sighed. "Well of course. It would go against their... ideals if they were to hurt her. I may want to have a talk with her later."

Ghetsis chuckled again. "The friendship between Pokémon and people can be very touching. But, in order to liberate Pokémon from foolish people, we will revive the legend of Isshu--and win the hearts and minds of everyone. Farewell..."

I decide to leave, getting all the information, and Team Plasma followed me out, though not directly. I headed for the Gym, and waited for Burgh. Burgh finally arrived after ten minutes of conversing with Bianca and Iris.

"Ah... Kynexn, you've shown quite a lot of skill. I'm glad that I finally get to face you on the battlefield! Let's go!"

He sent out his Whirlipede first, and in return I sent out my Tranquill.

"Sally go! Rule the air! Use Air Slash!" The hit connected perfectly and caused his Whirlipede to flinch from the pain. That allowed us to get in another Air Slash, which was a critical hit, severely damaging his Whirlipede. Burgh finally managed to get in an attack, a very ineffective Steamroller. However, it did minor damage surprisingly, and I suppose that that meant that Burgh had trained it very well. His Whirlipede fought valiantly but was finished off with a third Air Slash.

"Whirlipede, you did great... come back for a rest now. Dwebble, come on out!" He called, and a Dwebble emerged.

"Ah... well then. Sallyreturn..." I pointed her Poké Ball at her and then a red light engulfed her and reformed her back into it.

"Fine. Then it's up to you Pendragon! Steamroller!" Pendragon begins to spin rapidly, causing his spikes to become a blur as he moves across the ground towards his Dwebble. He countered with Sand-Attack, which I didn't expect and it caught us off guard.

"Nice one Burgh! But don't think that that's all we've got!" The next attack was an extremely lucky Venoshock. It was not only a critical hit, but it was a poisoning critical hit, meaning that if it was used again, it would do double damage if use again, so of course it was used again. His Dwebble never stood a chance, even with a resistance to poison, so Burgh was down to his last Pokémon. So, that was that. In order to quickly finish the battle, I sent out Tensa, who used Leaf Storm, knocking his Leavanny across the room, knocking it out in one hit.

Burgh, at first was disappointed by his loss, but that quickly changed.

"Aww... I lost. Whatever! Losing to you doesn't bug me because you are a-MAZ-ingly strong! I'm so glad that I lost to someone like you! This is the Gym Badge! It's insectible--I mean, incredible!"

"...You're a strange one, Burgh. You're the happiest Gym Leader that I've defeated in this region." I grinned and offered a hand to him, which he gladly accepted.

"Battling you was like seeing a one of a kind piece of artwork."

"Burgh, I will look forward to a rematch with you. However, you better be stronger, because I won't go easy on you next time." I said with a smile, before heading out to leave the Gym. Almost immediately after I left the Gym, Bianca called me on the Xtransceiver.

"Hey there Kynexn! Where are you now?"

"I... I literally just walked out of the Castelia City Gym."

"Can you do me a favor? Let's have a Pokémon battle! Iris trained me, and I've become a little stronger. I should be able to protect my own Pokémon now. You wanna me at the gate of Route 4?"

"Sure. I guess I'll have a battle with you." I seriously doubted that her Pokémon could have gotten that much stronger in just the short amount of time between our last meeting. I suppose her technique could have improved and all, but that wouldn't really do much. It was also worth mentioning that she mentioned her own personal strength. Perhaps this meant that she'd finally be able to face her father when he tracked her down and confronted her. It was obvious that it was going to happen, considering how much of a control freak, and borderline abusive he was.

"Great! I'll see you then!" Bianca said, before hanging up. After she hung up, the Pokémon Center was my next stop. After resting my Pokémon I headed through the city, and made my way to the Route 4 gate, to meet Bianca.

Bianca, waved at me. "Heeey, Kynexn! You remember the promise you made on the Xtransceiver, right?"

I grinned at her. Well it wasn't exactly a promise, but sure.

"Yeah, ok." I said.

Bianca, smiled again, and began digging through her mess of a purse. "So, let's get right to our Pokémon battle!"

"Alright, let's get to it." I started to walk towards the exit but Bianca stopped me.

"Kynexn, where are you going?" She asked.

I was a bit confused, and so I asked her what she meant. "Don't you want to battle outside?"

Instead of answering me Bianca went over to a gate attendant and asked something rather quietly that I couldn't make out.

"I talked to the attendant and she said that we can have a Pokémon battle in the gate as long as we're careful enough to not break the electric bulletin board." At least she remembered what happened in my room.

"Well, I guess we can try. If it does happen, I could probably replace it, but it would set me back a bit." I said with a frown.

"This is great! I'm the new-and-improved version of me! Let's start up our Pokémon battle again!" She started with a Herdier and so I sent out Saigo. Saigo used Vine Whip and heavily damaged her Herdier.

"Oh my goodness! Kynexn how could you be so rough!" She yelled at me. Somehow Bianca had managed to procure a Hyper Potion, and was about to waste it, as a Super potion would have probably healed her Pokémon.

"Um, we are in a battle, are we not?"

"Yeah but you don't have to be so rough do you?" She said, with a pout on her face, and worry in her voice.

Both Saigo and I sighed. "Bianca, I would have thought that having your Pokémon taken would have enlightened you. If I hold back with you now, you'll never learn."

"Oh, I see." Bianca's tone immediately changed to something more serious, something that surprised me greatly. Her Herdier then used Crunch, damaging Saigo slightly, and he countered with another Vine Whip that was a critical hit. Bianca immediately rushed over and used another Hyper Potion.

"Bianca... why didn't you use Super Potions? Those Hyper potions are for really serious injuries... Well anyway, Do whatever you want. Saigo, use Leaf Storm to finish off her Herdier." Bianca's Herdier appeared to withstand the onslaught of leaves, but after several attempts to get up, couldn't make it, and so he was then classified as unable to battle. She sent out her Munna next.

"Go Munny!" She said, activating the Poké Ball, trying to maintain an outer look of strength. Her Munna attempted to use Psywave, but Saigo dodged, as he was too fast for her due to our training. Saigo, performed a powerful Leaf Storm that knocked her Munna back quite a bit. Tensa looked on at Saigo's performance, impressed. I was surprised that even with all the leaves blowing everywhere that the sign had still managed to stay intact. Bianca switched to a new tactic. She had her Munna use Hypnosis. Even though it was successful I shook my head.

"Bianca, you didn't anticipate me well enough. I have this." I reached into my bag and pulled out a vial that contained the extract of a Chesto Berry. The vial was just a simple glass vial. However, it had a release mechanism for the liquid inside which was highly complicated looking. The stopper was made out of a metal which I was unfamiliar with, and it had an adjustable nozzle for controlling the outflow. I twisted the nozzle to its lowest possible setting and then moved over to Saigo. I opened his muzzle an tilted his head back so that I could pour the liquid in. Two small drops came out and landed on his tongue. He awoke instantaneously.

"This little vial contains something more powerful than anything you can find in stores. Too much at once will cause a Pokémon to stay awake for at least few days to a maximum of a few weeks, unless the opposite effect is given, which I don't have. I guard this vial with my life." I said, seriously. Bianca didn't ask any questions at this time, and continued the battle. Saigo used a Vine Whip this time, causing her Munna to faint. She sent out her Pansear next, which meant that she was down to her last two Pokémon.

"Ah. Bianca, you've finally gotten a type advantage against me. Too bad you won't get the change to use it. Tensa... use Slam." Tensa moved in front of Saigo who moved back to where I was standing. After the battling order was reestablished, he used Slam, instantly knocking out her Pansear. After that she was forced to use her last Pokémon, her recently evolved Dewott.

"Alrighty then, Saigo you're up again." Saigo and Tensa switched again, and so Bianca sent out her Dewott. This battle didn't last very long due to Saigo having the type advantage. I won the battle, and Bianca was disappointed. I could tell that she really wanted to win.

Bianca began solemnly, "I trained with Iris but I still couldn't win... I'll never be a strong Trainer like you or Cheren or Iris, but... You know, since we left Nuvema Town, I've met a lot of people and I've been thinking about what I want to do in life. When you look at it that way, Pokémon have given me a lot of new experiences. Having my Pokémon stolen was just really hard, and I felt really unsure... Still I'm really glad I went! I've learned so much on this journey. And I also learned that being with Pokémon is really, really important! Ok, well I hope to see you again soon! Bye-bye, Kynexn!"

I quickly stopped her. "Oh no you don't. You're not leaving yet. Saigo and I have a few things to say to you first. First of all, speeches, why does everybody seem to be giving speeches lately? Second, No, you never will be as strong as me. Neither will Cheren, because I keep improving. That doesn't mean you should give up. Like I told Cheren, I'm older than you... it's just natural that I'd have more experience than you. Don't talk yourself down like that okay?"

Saigo spoke up finally. "Kynexn is a different type of Trainer, and a different type of person. He can bring out the best in all of us. You just need time. If you still don't know, then I wish you well in whatever you choose to do."

I raised an eyebrow at Saigo. "Whoa... I wasn't really expecting you to say all that. You really believe in her. Bianca, he says that I'm a different type of Trainer than you. I bring the best out 'us', referring to both you and Pokémon, and that you just need time to do the same. I wasn't instantly good either. He also gives best wishes in whatever you choose to do with your life. I do too."

Bianca was flabbergasted, and it took her a while before she could form a sentence. "...Kynexn you're amazing..."

She paused, and then postulated a question for me. "You understood that?"

I sighed. "Pretty much..."

Bianca was both impressed and still a little bit shocked at the same time. "How long have you been able to do that? Understanding Pokémon I mean."

"I've been learning for five years, and only having 'mastered' it in the past year, so not very long," I explained. "I had to learn even more things with Saigo... because he speaks with a different syntax... uh... never mind. Anyway, I wish you well too Bianca."

Bianca bowed her head, and turned away. "Thank you both for believing in me but, I still don't know what I'm going to do."

Bianca walked off in the opposite direction, and then I walked back through the city and began exploring. I continued roaming the streets, though this time with three of my Pokémon out. It seemed that the people this city were almost always in a hurry. Most of the time they didn't even care to recognize the fact that my Pokémon were roaming free. Though eventually we were getting some looks. There'd be an occasional double take by random passerby. Eventually we wound up in a caf?, where I took my Pokémon's orders, which the waitress found a bit strange but didn't really question it that much, because she was getting paid and probably had seen a lot of weird things. Our next goal was to find a hotel, that would allow Pokémon. Most hotels did, but there were many that did not. I usually purchased a room that had two king sized beds in it, which sometimes raised questions since there was nobody else besides me, since Pokémon weren't usually included in the mix. We made our way to a deceptively luxurious hotel. It was pretty nice looking on the outside, but on the inside it was even better. There was a giant chandelier in the middle of the room in which we entered, that had several tiers. The floor was covered with fancy waxed and polished porcelain that we could see our reflections in. If this was just the lobby, then I wondered what the rooms looked like.

With the way I was currently dressed, I felt a little bit out of place in this luxurious hotel. Though I guess the reaction I get will probably reflect the type of people that visited this hotel. After standing there for who knows how long, looking lost or idiotic, we finally made our way to the front desk.

"How may I help you sir?" She said in a professionally polite matter. She was dressed in a blue business suit, modified to fit the hotel. I guessed from the way I was greeted, and based on the manner of dress in which she was, that this hotel probably a high end hotel, that would be considered rather expensive.

"Will that be all for tonight sir?" The clerk at the desk said, with a bow.

"Yes, that's all for now." I said, and then she handed me the room key. I could tell that this clerk wasn't one to ask questions, regarding why I had purchased two king sized beds, but only Tensa and I showed up, which in a way I appreciated, but it also made me wonder even more what types of customers this hotel catered to.

We spent the night together, enjoying ourselves. The other Pokémon did not seem to mind. After we woke up the next morning, I turned on the television and watched the local news.

"...sandstorm is not as intense today, but travelers are still advised to be cautious. Construction will continue in about a week." The weather forecast for the Resort was over, and the regular afternoon news began again.

"Gym Leader and artist Burgh, has unveiled a new painting today, which focuses on the importance of good relations between a Trainer and their Pokémon." The newscaster said.

"A little odd timing, right after our Gym battle, Burgh reveals a painting about that. I'm certain it's just a coincidence though. Now... regarding our next move. We have to go through that desert, which means I get to pull out the goggles."

"You were looking for a legitimate excuse to wear those again, weren't you?" Tensa said with a grin.

"Why... Hm, why would you believe that?" I said teasingly. I turned off the television, and admired the room one last time before preparing to check out. I let out my Pokémon on hand, and informed them of the situation.

"Lady and Gentlemon... this is how the situation looks right now. There's one of the many cycles of sandstorms going on right now at the deset area, and since none of you are Ground-types, you aren't used to that. We'll walk through the city for a bit, before heading to the gate. So, please decide amongst yourselves which of you would most like to visit the city.

"Well, I'm pretty much already used to most cities so, I think the others should get an opportunity." Sally quickly spoke up. The next to speak was Flare.

"I'm certain they'll be other opportunities for me to be able to be outside, so I can wait."

"Well, then, it's settled. Pendragon and James, will be the ones to explore the city with us for a while." They all nodded, and then returned to their Balls. We then checkout of the hotel and make our way into the city. Pendragon and Lady Jane accompanied us as we made our way through the city, once again getting a few looks due to them being outside of their Poké Balls. We visited the Central Plaza and just watched people for a few hours.

"So many people in a hurry. I'm pretty sure they're all used to it. They probably barely even notice me talking to you all."

"Busy busy busy. The humans of this place seem to not have time to just stop and admire things. The undercity is part of where I explored." Pendragon added.

"You've been all the way to Castelia City? But I met you in Pinwheel Forest." I said surprised. It seemed like it was a long distance for a Pokémon to travel, though I've encountered Pokémon that have migrated across continents before.

"It is not such a far distance for us. Venipede colonies can spread vast distances without interference."

After a few hours, we finally decided to move on to the desert area. When we arrived, the two were returned to their Poke Balls, and then Tensa tied a plastic hard mask around his head, that had the eye holes covered with a transparent hard plastic. I lowered my goggles over my eyes and then we proceeded. As we proceeded through the desert it was evident why there were few people in it. After we were what I assumed was about in the middle of the desert, we were interrupted. Seemingly emerging out of nowhere, but really popping out from the sand, was a Pokemon that I had no knowledge off. I quickly whipped out my Pokédex and it identified it as a Sandile.

"A Ground-type eh? Make sense considering all this sand."

"Raaagh!" The Sandile roared in an attempt to intimidate me.

"Is there a problem?" I said, completely calm. There was no way that a two feet tall crocodile would be able to intimidate me.

"You're not supposed to be here!" It said with an assumed sense of authority.

"I believe I have the right to traverse this desert whenever I please."

"Humans don't come this way during sandstorms!"

"Well, this human does. But, it'd be a bit easier if I had a guide through the desert to the other side though. I'd be out of the desert faster."

The Sandile seemed to ponder this, before finally saying, "Fine, alright, by don't make a habit out of it." We were lead through the desert and when we finally, after what seemed like half a day wandering, managed to reach other other side. The desert was not as big as I thought it was, but of course, I'd never seen it from the air so I would not have had any idea.

"We're here. Now hurry up and get out."

"Before I go... I was just wondering if... you'd maybe consider joining me on my journey?"

"Keh! Why would I even want to join you? You're just another human, passing by."

"Well... first of all... I think you'd make an excellent companion. Plus, if you accompany me, you'll be able to show your strength. Not to mention that you're the first Ground-type I've met here... in addition to have the addition of Dark-type attributes as well. So, what do you say?" I intentionally left out some of what I usually say, and tried a different approach with this Sandile.

"No, I'm fine on my own." It said firmly. I had a feeling that it wouldn't be easy.

"Very well. Perhaps I'll see you again later, but maybe not. Though, other Trainers will certainly try to catch you. I think you'd hate to be in the hands of an incompetent Trainer."

"Keh, you think I can't handle myself?"

"Not at all. But, anyway, I'll be going now." With that, it said nothing and we proceeded to the completed area. I then revealed my Xtransceiver, and activated the GPS. According to the GPS we were around the middle of the desert area. Surprisingly, the first person who I encountered after I got out of the first part of the desert area was Cheren!

"Ah, there you are Kyn. I've been waiting for you. Let me see your Badge Case really quick." I reached into my bag and took it out like he requested. He then opened it to examine the badges inside.

"You've got the Insect Badge now. Let's battle again."

"Alright. I'm willing to battle you again. Let's get started."

The battle commenced, and we both sent out our Pokémon. His first choice was his Pidove, and since I didn't have any Electric-type or Rock-type moves, I merely went with the Normal-type attacks of Lady Jane. He followed up with Pansage, which gave me the opportunity to use Pendragon in battle again, whom luckily landed a critical super effective hit, taking it out in one shot. Of course, being the strategist that he is, he switched to his now evolved Pignite. I however, decided to throw him off, by using Saigo, instead of Sally.

"Oh? This is... most unexpected," was his only comment. His first attack was a completely expected Flame Charge. However, due to Saigo's speed training, he dodged it, avoiding an elemental hit. Once again, completely defying convention, I asked Saigo to use Leaf Tornado. It didn't do much apparent damage at all, but it was enough to have Cheren ask his Pignite to eat a Sitrus Berry.

"Ah, so you did take my advice about using the Berries."

"Yes, they did indeed give me an advantage like you said." He said with a grin. This time he ordered a series of Arm Thrusts and Flame Charges. A lot of these didn't hit however, due to my continued use of Leaf Tornado. Saigo was just a bit stronger than his Pignite. Enough to slightly override the type disadvantage, and do a normal amount of damage. Saigo came out the winner of that battle, but just barely.

"Saigo, that was great... please take a rest now." Saigo nodded, and went back to the sidelines to rest. Cheren though, returned Pignite to his Poké Ball.

"Hm... down to my last... and you still have all but one." He sent out his newly evolved Liepard, which I hadn't seen any others of in a long while.

"Lord James is my choice then." The first move was given to Cheren, who ordered a Sand-Attack She countered with her best Crunch, even though it wasn't as effective as normal, it still did a minor amount of damage. Once again Cheren ordered a Sand-Attack, immediately followed by a Torment. Well that was no problem. Using Work Up twice in a row, followed by a series of Take Downs finished off his Liepard, leaving Lord James barely standing. It was quite a tough battle due to me not having any super effective attacks.

"Well... as usual, you're strong."

"You're getting stronger too Cheren. I don't think I've ever had to push my Pokémon that hard during a battle with you."

"Well thanks. I always strive to improve. But... It's clear to me now why are so tough. You have such an incredible bond with your Pokémon. But... that shouldn't be a problem for me. I can get more out of Pignite and my other Pokémon,

too."

"I have no doubt of that Cheren." I said, agreeing with him. Almost immediately after we finished our conversation my Xtransceiver rang. The Caller-ID identified it as Professor Juniper, so I picked it up after seeing that.

"Hello? Professor Juniper."

"Hello there! Kynexn, do you have a second?" I didn't see why not. We were in the middle of the desert, wandering, so we had plenty of time.

"Yeah I do, and Cheren is with me so I'll patch him in too."

"Professor Juniper, do you need something?" Cheren asked.

"Well, sort of. I have a favor to ask you two. I called Bianca too, but I guess she didn't hear the call. I wonder what she's caught up in. Well, I suppose I'll just have to call her again later. I'll be waiting for you two in front of the gate to Nimbasa City!" There was more to her sentence, but the 'Can you make it there?' was noticeably cut off.

"...Um, hello?! Well, guess that's it. Anyway, Nimbasa City's gate is straight down Route 4. Let's go." The journey down this part of Route 4 was not as bad as the first part where he had to pretty much walk through bare sand, after the incomplete road ended. After we made it to the gate we were greeted by Professor Juniper.

"Hello Kynexn, Cheren! Elesa called and asking me all about Electric-type Pokémon, and I thought about you guys. That's why I wanted to see you. Ta-da! Freebies for you!" She then gave us each a bag that felt a little heavy, but not severely. When we open the bags up, we found... ten Ultra Balls inside! I was completely surprised. I wasn't going to protest after being given free Ultra Balls... though I rarely ever use Ultra Balls.

"If you see a Pokémon that you really like, and want it to join you, be sure to use a good type of Poké Ball. It could be the first and last time you see that Pokémon!"

Cheren hmmed and crossed his arms.

"Please, remember to enjoy your journey, and Kynexn, please enjoy your time here! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go meet Bianca."

"It seems the Professor gave us the Pokédex as a reason to send go on a journey. At least that's what my mom told me. Bianca's mom, and my mom made a request to Professor Juniper. Kynexn, what should we do now? I think I'll show my thanks by catching some Pokémon at Route 4 that I haven't yet caught."

"Be careful Cheren. There's a rather territorial Sandile with a bit of an attitude in there. It might be a bit of a challenge for you."

"Thanks. I'll be careful." Cheren quickly departed to the desert. The bulletin board said that the sandstorm had conveniently died down.

"Right well, you heard what the Professor said. Elesa's interested in Electric-type Pokémon, so you know what comes next, right?"

Tensa nodded. "This means Heji is coming to Isshu."

The next step was to let all of my Pokémon out to explain the situation to them.

"Alright everyone... we're near Nimbasa City. The Gym-Leader there will probably use mostly Electric-types. As such, I need to either have a Ground-type, or one of you with ground-type moves. But, that's not the only issue. I want to bring back one of my other Pokémon, but I can't go over six Pokémon in my party." then I whispered, "Officially that is."

"So, basically, I know I just met some of you, and even some of you have been with me for quite a while but... I'm going to temporarily have to send some of you away." This generated a bit of stirring within the group.

"It's going to be us, isn't it?" Flare said, referring to himself and Lady Jane.

"Well... yes."

"I knew it... you weren't allowing us to battle as much..."

"Flare... please do not think that it has anything to do with your battling ability. I once made the mistake of using only Tensa and my other Sceptile, for a long period of time. Not only did I stunt their development, but... obviously, I did not give them enough attention. I wanted to let you both know, that it is by no means a fault of yours that I am temporarily replacing you. Alright?"

"I understand... but I'll miss you as well. The opportunity to travel with you... for you to explore with me... But... I'll try to contact you as often as possible." This seemed to slightly easy Flare's nerves, but I could tell that he really was affected by this. To make it easier on him, I decided to give him a long drawn out hug. I could tell that he was trying to hold back tears due to being in the group.

"It's alright Flare. You won't be alone. I'll be there with you too."

"Yeah... plus he said he'd talk to us as much as possible."

"I'm glad you understand. Alright, let's go to the Pokémon Center to make the exchange." I said, standing up again. Everyone was returned to their Poké Balls, and as we began to leave, the gate attendant stopped us.

"I've seen some pretty interesting sights in my time here, but I don't think any were quite as interesting as that." She said.

"I suppose not. Normally I wouldn't do that in an area like this, but there was nobody here due to the sandstorm."

"The concern you have for your Pokémon is touching. Most Trainers would just change their lineup without a second thought."

"Ah, well... I do have a different approach. I'll be back in a while. I've decided to go get that Sandile."

"Well, goodbye then, see you soon, and have a nice day, all at once!" She said with a wave. I waved back at her and then headed back into the desert. Not even ten minutes from our initial departure were we ambushed by that very same Sandile again. We were surprised from behind, which was odd considering the direction we first came from.

"Ah, the Sandile from before. Have you reconsidered joining me?"

"I've decided that I'll only go with this if I lose a battle."

"Very well. That can be arranged," I said, reaching for Saigo's Poké Ball. I pushed the button and then he emerged.

"So, who is going first?" I asked.

"I'm going first of course," the Sandile said, letting loose a Sand-Attack.

"Saigo, go ahead and use strategy, Delta one." Most of my battle strategies were named after letters of a different Alphabet. Delta one involves light dodging and using attack moves to defend, or using purely defensive moves. Going up the scale involves more levels of dodging and defending to the point of wearing out the opponent stamina wise.

Saigo countered its Sand-Attack with a Leaf Tornado which itself stirred up more sand.

The next move that it used was Torment.

"Oh... what an interesting strategy you have there Sandile... making it so Saigo couldn't use Leaf Tornado on you again for a while. Your strategy is very good."

"Battling other Trainers has given me insights into some of their strategies, allowing me to defeat some that are sometimes far stronger than me."

"You would definitely be very welcome on my team. Anyway, Saigo I can tell this Sandile is going to be difficult... I think you should switch to strategy Alpha two." Saigo switched to an aggressive battle stance. He began moving around the area at an incredibly high rate of speed. The Sandile couldn't keep up with him at first. Saigo leaped high up into the air, his tail glowed green. He positioned his body for a somersault in mid air, to land on the croc with the glowing leaf. Only just in time did the Sandile dodge the attack by digging underground, causing Saigo to his nothing but sand. After emerging, Saigo took a small from it, but it didn't do a lot of damage.

"That's great Saigo, normally that would probably work but, this area is his domain, being full of sand. If you're going to go that route, than he needs to be airborne before you try that again." Saigo nodded in understanding, and began to adjust his strategy.

Saigo did exactly as recommended, and used Vine Whip to attack first, dealing a large amount of damage, and then after the Sandile was stunned, use the Vines to throw it up into the air. He then repeated the mid air somersault and this time connected, knocking it back down the ground. This did a lot of damage, not only due to the type advantage, but also due to the added crashing into the ground. The Sandile tried to get up, but couldn't and so it collapsed and fainted.

"That was a good battle Sai-" but Kyn didn't get to finish his sentence. Saigo started to glow. His body elongated, the main tail leaf that was left over from the Snivy stage to the Servine stage shifted into three smaller leaves at the end of a think tailtip. The traces of arms that were left from the Servine stage migrated back behind his neck. After the glow faded Saigo's new form was completely revealed. His head had grown even more snakelike, and his body was now a complete pale green color. There was a forest green crest in the front and back, as well as two golden royal looking crests just below the forest green one. The forest green crest in the back extended over his pale green body giving him a multicolored appearance of pale green on the bottom and forest green on the top. The forest green crest had inside it the same royal gold as the other two on the outside, giving it the appearance of being a collar. Overall it looked very regal making him look royal.

"Congratulations Saigo... you evolved!"

"It will take a bit of time to get used to this form." He commented. He then slithered over towards me and then turned around to look at the Sandile. It was definitely knocked out without a doubt. I reached into my pack, and pulled out my vial filled with the dark clear golden healing liquid. Since he was definitely a stronger Pokémon it would take more to revive him. His mouth was open slightly, so all I did was pry it open slightly and the pour about a fourth of the liquid into his mouth. After it went down his throat his eyes instantly openned.

"Welcome back." I said casually.

"He... defeated me..." It said, sound a little bit sad at his loss.

"It's alright... don't feel discouraged. It's difficult to overcome a type disadvantage. So, do you want to come with me yet, or would you like some more time to think?"

The Sandile walked over to me and said, "Go ahead and take me. I deserve it for being weak..." His voice was wavering and it seemed like he was on the verge of crying.

"Sandile... come over here please..." It wasn't an order but a request. He did exactly as I asked and came over to me. I picked him up and gave him a deep hug, not saying anything at all after.

"Ar-aren't you going to put me in one those things?" It said, obviously referring to Poké Balls. This was a situation that I had several different choices in which to deal with it. The fact that he even mentioned Poké Balls if not by name, meant that he had encountered other Pokémon Trainers, which would probably explain his strength. He was probably even close to evolving.

"No... At least not right away. You don't have to go in one at this time. If you do chose to come with me, then just walk near me and the other Trainers won't try to catch you. Now, one of the first things we need to do is get you to your next stage of evolution." I said. He seemed a little cheered up by this but not by much. At this point I put him down and then we continued along the path through the desert, but I could tell that he was still affected by this. Since Saigo was in his final form he might be working with him as well.

I wasn't exactly sure how close he was to evolving, but one thing was for certain he was really, really strong. It was obvious because of the sandstorm that there was going to be very few trainers that day. There were, however, a few trainers with their Pokémon, who like Tensa and I had decided to brave the see of the storm. We did manage to get a small amount of training out of them, but it still wasn't enough for him to evolve.

There were also a few Pokémon that did reveal themselves during the sandstorm, but even still, that was not enough. We figured that if anything, Cheren would more than likely want to battle us at the end of Route 4, and more than likely was waiting for us at the gate, due to the fact that he probably arrived earlier than when the sandstorm hit, and didn't have the goggles that I had and experience to be able to navigate through it. I was still a bit surprised though by those trainers that didn't get 'caught' in the sandstorm but chose to stay anyway. They were probably aiming to be Ground-type specialists someday.

As it turns out my suspicion was correct. Cheren was indeed waiting inside the gate for me. Cheren saw the tell-tail signs of my presence, albeit a bit sand blown, something that I'd have to fix later, and then greeted me.

"Hey Kynexn. I've been waiting for you to return. Let's battle again." he said, taking a look at the Sandile that was near me. "Even though it's only been a little while, I'd like a rematch."