Dear Dad,

Today I went to the gym first thing to see when I could challenge it. But the man there said that all challengers must climb the Sprout Tower and receive permission from the local sage first. Another roadblock, I guess. It was incredibly easy anyway, since all the trainers had were Bellsprouts and Hoothoots.

As I made it to the top, Who else would I run into but Silas. He had already beaten the Head Sage and was just about to leave when the Head Sage gave him some advice: Be nice to your Pokémon. Silas felt that was bad advice for some reason. He then told me all he cared about was having tough Pokémon and winning. He then left. Dad, thank you for teaching me that the key to good training is trust. I feel sort of sorry for him.

After I beat the Head Sage, Tyson evolved! I am now the proud owner of a Quilava.

At the gym I decided to go straight to the Leader, since Tyson seemed powerful enough. He had also learned Quick Attack while training in the Sprout Tower. He was actually pretty easy, but I had to use Leer a lot because his Pidgeotto because it used Roost a lot.

After receiving the Zephyr Badge, I decided to check out Route 36. There wasn't very many things to do there though, since there was this strange plant blocking a portion of the route. But there was a man who gave me Rock Smash.

Dr. Elm also called. He said that he wanted me to have the egg that I had delivered to him earlier. He said he would have an assistant bring it up tomorrow, so he suggested I stay at Violet City until then. I decided It wouldn't hurt to check out Dark Cave now. Maybe I could find a new team member there.

Dark Cave is certainly true to its name. I didn't get very far into the cave, but I was able to catch a Dunsparce! His name is Sonic. He's very jolly, but also very flighty. He could probably run away from anything.

So now I'm back at the Violet Pokémon Center. I guess I'm spending one more night here. Tomorrow, I'll get the egg and maybe head to Azalea Town!

Love, Austin

PS: Mom just called. She bought something with my money. That was quick! At least she bought it for me. I should expect the delivery tomorrow as well.