Beginning at the end…

* I do not own any titles related to Pokemon

The ground rumbled from Rhydon's Earthquake attack, tearing the gym floor in two, rippling towards Jolteon. I stayed calm. The massive figure that was Rhydon had no chance to keep up with my Jolteon's speed and intelligence.

"Jolteon, use Quick Attack, and don't touch the ground, use the walls!"

As commanded, Jolteon jumped before the fissure could reach him and began bounding off the walls, striking the earthy rhino again and again. Poor Jolteon was getting hurt each time he struck the beast, but my plan soon paid off. After the third strike, Rhydon stiffened up and fell on his face, paralyzed from the static charge of Jolteon's fur.

A smile broke my solemn glare, and I pointed at Rhydon. I gave the order for Jolteon to attack, and like the well trained companion he is, he obeyed.

"Finish this with Hyper Beam Jolteon. We're done here."

Jolteon jumped into the air and a bright orange ball formed in his mouth. With a loud hiss, the ball expanded in a forward line, glimmering like shattered stained glass window. Rydon didn't even have the energy to face Jolteon, and perhaps that was good. The poor beast probably didn't want to know what was about to hit it. The brilliant beam made contact with Rhydon's rocky exterior, and dust sprayed into the air. When the cloud of debris cleared, Rhydon wasn't even moving.

Unconscious…

The gym referee raised his flag and called in a triumphant voice, "The winner is Jolteon!" I pulled the miniature red and white ball from one of my four breast pockets and pointed it towards my faithful Poke'mon. " Excellent work Jolteon. Return," and with that, a beam of red light shot forward and made contact with Jolteon's fur. He glowed red momentarily, and then disappeared inside the Poke'ball. I returned it to my vest and began to walk towards my opponent, who only called himself "Blue."

He spoke to me, "Tanin, that was a battle well fought! You're a fine young trainer, and you've definitely EARNED, this badge. Take it, and with you, the ability to succeed in the challenges of the Elite Four and the Indigo Plateau."

I nodded and took the badge from his hand, placing it in a small silver case I kept in my back pocket. "Thank you, have a nice day, sir," I said as I began to On my way out, I looked around the gym. Remnants from our battle were scattered around the building. A few patches of ice, holes in the ground large enough to fit a subway in, and a few patches of scorched tile. I couldn't help but smirk, but my Poke'mon had mopped the floor with this gym, and I wanted something more…challenging. I grabbed a poke ball from my bottom right breast pocket and threw it in front of me. It popped open and a massive snake burst forth. The difference from this snake and others was that this snake was made of massive boulders. It was my Onix, and I was going to ride him to the next town where I could get some rest and relaxation.

"Onix, we're heading south. Pallet town, if you've ever heard of it before. It's supposed to be quiet and calm. I think we could all use a rest." I pat his side, where a large gash in one of his rocks was. He had taken a forceful blow from Blue's vicious Gyarados. Onix let out a sound that was oddly similar to purring as he bowed down and allowed me to sit on top of his head. We expected to rest in Pallet Town.

We were dead wrong.

I was half-way to Pallet when I noticed the smoke pillar rising up from the distance. My hand reached for Lapras' poke ball and I pushed Onix faster. The first building came into sight and it was on fire. I threw Lapras' poke ball to the ground and yelled, "Water Pulse!" The beautiful creature burst forth and began dousing the flames with gouts of water from her mouth. When the fires weren't going out fast enough, I released all of my Poke'mon at once and gave them their separate orders.

"Magmar, go in and get people trapped inside out! Lapras! Keep the water coming! Farfetch'd, I need you to fly to Viridian to get help," I attached a short letter to it's foot, "Onix, throw dirt on the buildings! Pinser, you help Onix with Megahorn! Jolteon, go get some water from the well, and be quick about it!"

My partners all nodded in unison and went to work. Within a few minutes, the majority of the fires were out and everyone was safe and accounted for. Farfetch'd returned with a note saying that help would be there shortly, but it was already under control. I looked around, and there was only one building that wasn't on fire, and that was the laboratory of the famous Professor Oak. I looked at Magmar and told him to follow me. I put everyone else back into their poke'balls and we took off to the laboratory.

I knocked and I heard something crash inside, but no one answered. I tried the handle and it was locked. Everything was very suspicious…I looked at Magmar and nodded, stepping back. The volcano poke'mon began to glow, and lunged forward, shooting star-shaped points of energy into the door, blowing it open. We rushed inside to find the Professor bound and gagged, and two people in black hoods and white robes shoving many of the handheld machines into brown sacks.

Stop!" I yelled, and the two figures jumped, apparently not knowing I was there until that point. The spoke to one another, in quick, hushed tones that I couldn't make out. They looked directly at me and smiled, reaching for their waistlines. They each pulled off a poke ball and threw it at me.

"Go, Ariados!""Go, Sviper!"

Two Pokemon appeared and charged at us, not even waiting for an order. Poorly trained, I thought to myself, as I placed my hand on Magmar's shoulder and tapped him gently. He turned to look at me and I nodded. A smile appeared on my poke'mon's face as he stepped forward and inhaled. As he exhaled, the temperature of the room rose at least 15 degrees, and he began to glow red hot. It grew hotter and hotter, until the heat was unbearable. My eyes flashed red and I yelled, "OVERHEAT!" Magmar yelled and threw his arms forward, releasing a stream of red-hot lava from mouth, engulfing the two opponents in molten rock. Needless to say, they were incapacitated and the two trainers at the other end of the hall had opened their robes and removed their hoods, most likely because of the extreme heat from Magmar. They wore full-face masks and sunglasses to conceal their identities and one shouted, "We'll get you kid! Damien will NOT be happy about this!" They brought their pokemon back to their poke balls and jumped through the window, leaving the brown sacks behind. I pat Magmar on the head and told him good job, then put him back in his ball around my neck. I untied Professor Oak and he thanked me saying, "Young man, I cannot express my gratitude to you. Those ruffians were stealing my equipment! I don't really have much else but the tools of scholars, but take this, and I hope it aids you on your journey! It's a poke'dex, and I've upgraded this one to be not only a poke'mon encyclopedia, but a journal too. You can keep track of your progress, names you need to remember, phone numbers, things like that, all in this convenient package! Use it well!"

He then handed me the odd little device. It was a brilliant shade of blue and it fit comfortably in the palm of my hand. I pressed a button, and a holographic display screen appeared and a list of every poke'mon and their possible attacks appeared before me.

This was EXACTLY what I needed. "Thanks Professor Oak, I will, you have my word." I slid the device into my back pocket with my badge case, and turned around, heading for the door. Once outside, I noticed Blue was there with his poke'mon and some volunteers.

"Tanin? What a surprise! Was that your Farfetch'd with the note?" "Yea."

"I suppose it was you who put out the fires too then?" I nodded " Well alright then. The volunteers and I will start putting people back into their homes in no time. Hey, we just saw two guys run past us like their lives were on the line. Did you know them?" My heart skipped a beat. The thieves had gotten away, but, someone had seen them go. This was good news indeed. The Indigo Plateau could wait, I wanted to catch these crooks, and punish them for what they did to this town and it's people.

"Yea, they tied up Professor Oak and tried to rob him. I don't know why they wanted his equipment, but I'm about to find out!" I released Onix from his poke ball and I readied a special saddle made from loops of leather around his tail. I placed the special saddle on Onix and climbed on.

"Onix, those two had on clothes like I had never seen before. The one that spoke to me also had a strange accent. I'm pretty sure they are going to run to Vermillion to catch the next ship back to wherever the hell they came from. You need to dig a tunnel and get us there, pronto, alright?"

The massive rock snake nodded with a big smile on his face. My Onix didn't get to dig very often, and he loved to dig. I felt that digging so many tunnels weakened the structural stability of the ground, but I needed to get to Vermillion before those thieves did. Onix began his drilling, and before we knew it, we were off to Vermillion.