Episode 2: Meeting Melinda

"Treecko, the wood gecko pokémon. Grass type. Treecko is cool, calm, and collected—it never panics under any situation. If a bigger foe were to glare at this pokémon, it would glare right back without conceding an inch of ground."

"Torchic, the chick pokémon. Fire type. If attacked, it strikes back by spitting balls of fire it forms in its stomach. A torchic dislikes darkness because it can't see its surroundings."

"Mudkip, the mud fish pokémon. Water type. In water, mudkip breathes using the gills on its cheeks. If it is faced with a tight situation in battle, this pokémon will unleash its amazing power—it can crush rocks bigger than itself."

"Look Niko! My mudkip is stronger than your treecko!" Jake teased eagerly. The group had sat down for a quick lunch before moving along on their journey, reading the pokédex entries of their three newest pokémon while they were resting. They didn't have a map for their journey yet, nor one of those trusty pamphlets that JJ used. However, they figured that travelling north would eventually get them somewhere.

"Well Jake, treecko is a grass type, and is strong against water types. You know that," Niko responded in a professorial tone.

"But mudkip crush WHOLE ROCKS!" The young boy said excitedly, throwing his arms into the air for emphasis.

"Well, maybe we'll need to test that strength out then, shall we?" Niko said as he got up. "Hey, treecko!" He said, beckoning his new pokémon to come and join him. "Want to battle?"

The wood gecko turned to its trainer and nodded eagerly, running over from the tree trunk it was laying against.

"Wait, Niko you want to battle?" Jake asked, eager as ever.

"You betcha!" Niko winked, "Now, you gonna fight me or what?"

"Of course! Mudkip, let's go!" Jake said, motioning over his water type. "So…mudkip, what do you know?" Jake opened his pokédex and read more about mudkip's moveset. "So…tackle. Let's use tackle!"

Niko did the same with treecko, discovering that the grass type knew pound. "Treecko, use pound on mudkip!"

The wood gecko pokémon leapt into the air with surprising grace. It then somersaulted through the air and slammed its tail atop mudkip's head, just in front of the fin. The water type fell face-first into the ground ad treecko landed on two feet.

"Mudkip, turn around and use tackle!" Jake commanded. The water type got back up immediately and rushed at its opponent, who merely slapped the mud fish with its dark green tail once again. Mudkip fell to the side, not defeated but not willing to continue the fight. "Mudkip…?" Jake said as he walked over to his first pokémon. "Are you alright?"

"It looks like mudkip doesn't really want to fight right now, Jake," Niko said as he and treecko walked over. The wood gecko placed its hand on mudkip's head and smiled warmly at it, as if to say that everything was fine between them. Mudkip smiled in return, but jumped into Jake's arms and sat there for a while.


The group packed up and got back on the road. After walking for an hour or so, they noticed a young woman running around with a seagull-like bird. She looked to be about as tall as Brittany, with long, straight black hair, glasses, and light freckles on her face. She wore slim black jeans and a white dress shirt with tiny black speckles on it. She looked to be roughly Niko's age, but he wasn't able to confirm that.

"Niko…who's that?" Jake asked, whispering.

"I don't know, Jake! Some woman, I guess…" Niko replied, looking at his brother with confusion.

"Maybe we should see what she's up to?" Brittany suggested. "She looks friendly."

"I can hear you," the woman turned to look at the four trainers standing in front of her. "I swear I don't bite…most of the time," she finished with a wink. "Name's Melinda. Who are you four?"

Niko gulped. "Well, I'm Niko. These are my friends Brittany and JJ, and this is my younger brother, Jake. We just arrived in the Hoenn region."

"Oh, really? From where?" Melinda asked, sitting down on a nearby log, her bird perched on her shoulder.

"Pallet Town in Kanto," Niko responded. He was getting an odd vibe from Melinda, but figured it best not to say anything about it. He found it strange that she was striking up conversation with them seemingly out of nowhere.

"Oh, Kanto!" Melinda said with familiarity in her voice. "My parents are from Kanto…I think. Can't remember. Anyways, what're you all doing in Hoenn?"

"Travelling," Brittany responded rather curtly. "Niko is challenging gyms and we're all just here to see the world. I'm thinking of being a pokémon breeder."

Melinda raised an eyebrow. "Gyms, eh? You a strong trainer?"

"Well, I'm not…no," Niko replied nervously. "I want to get better, though, so that's why I'm here."

"Good for you, Niko," Melinda said, turning to her bird. "Wingull and I are thinking of challenging gyms, too, actually. Never have, though. Say, how old are you guys?"

"I just turned 19. JJ is also 19, Jake is 11, and Brittany is…" Niko paused. He forgot how old his brunette friend was. Embarrassed, he looked down at the ground. Fortunately for him, neither Melinda nor Brittany seemed to care, at least on the outside.

"I'm 17, actually," Brittany replied with a grin. "How old are you, Melinda?"

"I'm 20, turning 21 soon," Melinda responded. "I worked as an assistant for Nurse Joy for a while before deciding that I needed a break from medicine. That's when I started travelling. Right, wingull?"

The bird nodded happily, rubbing the side of Melinda's cheek with its beak. Curious, Jake pulled out his pokédex to get more information on this wingull:

"Wingull, the seagull pokémon. Water and flying type. Wingull has the habit of carrying prey and valuables in its beak and hiding them in all sorts of locations. This pokémon rides the winds and flies as if it were skating across the sky."

"That's a cool pokémon!" Jake said, complimenting the little bird.

"Thanks," Melinda replied, petting wingull. "He's a cutie, isn't he? We've been friends forever," Melinda then got off the log she had been sitting on and looked directly at Niko. "Say, since we're both challenging gyms, how about a battle?"

Niko grinned, looking down at treecko, who had been walking with him most of the day. He turned back to Melinda. "Absolutely. Treecko, you ready?" The wood gecko nodded, leaping in front of its trainer, ready to battle.

"Perfecto! Wingull, I choose you!" Melinda shouted as wingull flew in front of her. "Use water gun!"

"Treecko, dodge the move and respond with pound!" Niko commanded. Treecko then leapt into the air, dodging the burst of water and somersaulting, slamming its tail atop wingull. The water type fell towards the ground, but was able to catch itself in midair, minimizing the damage it would have taken otherwise.

"Wingull, water gun again!" Melinda shouted. The seagull pokémon looked upwards at treecko, who had taken refuge in a nearby tree, and shot another burst of water in its direction. Treecko dodged the attack by leaping over to the branch of another tree. Wingull continuously shot water guns at treecko, who kept dodging them by shifting around in the trees, the seagull pokémon on its tail.

"Treecko, keep it up!" Niko shouted, watching his grass type avoid the water guns. "Now, turn around and use pound!"

Treecko jumped off a tree towards a high-hanging branch, grabbed onto its with its hands and swung around the branch, turning around and attempting to slam its tail onto wingull. The pound missed, and wingull finally managed to land a water gun. The wood gecko fell to the floor of the forest, crashing on the log that Melinda had only been sitting on minutes prior.

"Wingull, finish it off with wing attack!" Melinda commanded, pointing down at treecko, who was trying to get itself off the log.

"Treecko, you have to get up and dodge the attack!" Niko shouted, almost desperately. It was too late, though. Wingull was diving towards its opponent, wings spread out wide and glowing as it crashed into the wood gecko, nearly breaking the log. Both pokémon rolled off the log and onto the ground, but only wingull was able to get back up.

"Wingull, are you alright?" Melinda asked as she caressed her seagull pokémon. She then turned to treecko, who was now in Niko's arms.

"Treecko!" Niko said with a concerned tone. "Do you know where the nearest pokémon center is?"

"In Oldale Town, just north of here," Melinda replied. "C'mon, I'll go with you."

The five trainers then raced down the path to Oldale Town. Fortunately, the pokémon center was the first building they saw. Niko rushed in, Melinda and wingull behind him, as he ran up to Nurse Joy.

"Can you heal my treecko? It was pretty damaged in a battle just now."

Nurse Joy nodded with a warm smile as she took treecko and its pokéball and brought it into a nearby bed, where it would lay down while Joy and her chansey would heal it up.

While treecko was being treated, Niko, his friends, and Melinda sat down to have dinner, as the sun was setting by the time they reached Oldale Town.

"Niko," Melinda began, "I'm sorry about that. I guess I just got carried away, that's all."

Niko put a hand up in front of him. "No worries, Melinda. That's what being a trainer is about. You get used to these things. However, I don't think treecko was strong enough for that wingull."

Melinda laughed. "That's true. You're right. Anyways, I'm going to go check on wingull. I'll be back."

She got up from the table and strode over to the room where wingull and treecko were being kept. Niko then turned to his friends, looking bemused.

"She's…and odd person."

"Yeah, I'm not sure what to make of her yet," JJ responded, turning back to his burger.

"I think she's pretty nice, actually," Brittany commented, looking in the direction that Melinda had walked. "She's…spunky? Maybe that's not the right word to describe her, but I definitely think she's cool."

"Well, we'll see. I definitely want to re-match her. Maybe not now, but when treecko gets a little stronger," Niko said. He sounded more mature than he felt at the time, however. He didn't admit it, but that battle with wingull worried Niko. Treecko clearly liked to battle, but it couldn't take a hit to save its life. If the Hoenn gyms were as tough as Birch suggested, then Niko would have to work with his new pokémon quite a lot before their first gym battle, which might be against Norman.

Melinda returned with wingull perched on her shoulder. "Hey, Niko, treecko is ready now. It seems to feel better."

Niko looked up, smiling at his new rival as he got out of their booth and walked over to treecko's room. Walking inside, he saw the wood gecko sitting up on the edge of a bed, looking up at its trainer.

"Hey buddy, feeling better?" Niko said as he sat down next to the little gecko. Treecko nodded, although it looked a little sad as it did so. "You're not happy that you lost, correct?" Treecko nodded again, this time looking away from its trainer. "Losing is tough, dude. I get that. Let's just promise to get better, alright? One day, you and I will beat Melinda and that wingull, got it?"

This pep talk seemed to lift treecko's spirits a little bit. The two then left the room and rejoined their friends back at their booth. Melinda got up, as if she was about to leave.

"Hey Niko, treecko," the black-haired trainer said, adjusting her glasses a little. "Wingull and I are getting ready to go. But next time we meet up again, let's have a rematch, got it?"

Niko nodded, holding out his hand. "You bet. Say, how far is Petalburg City from here?"

"About a day's travel. It's surprisingly close. Why?"

"Curious. We know someone there."

"Ah, I see. Well, have fun reuniting with your friend. See ya guys!" Melinda said as she waved to Brittany, JJ, and Jake, exiting the pokémon center only moments later. Niko sat down next to his brother, looking back at the exit.

"Looks like you've got yourself a rival, Niko," JJ grinned, sitting back in the booth.

"Guess so. What a day this has been," he commented as he proceeded to finish his salad. The group then walked into one of the rooms provided by the pokémon center and threw themselves into bed. Niko was right: it had indeed been a long day.