A/N: And so we continue! Heads up, Lyra won't get much screentime until Silver arrives properly. :D

Chapter 2: Route 29/Cherrygrove/New Bark Town

"Pokémon hide in tall grass. Who knows when they'll pop out..."

Kris cocks an eyebrow, crossing her arms, regarding the man in the grass with a look of skepticism. "But you're just standing in the same spot. And you're barely out of town. Pokémon tend to live deeper in this route, don't they?"

The man blinks, then frowns. "Pssh, you say that now, but you'll be sorry when we get ambushed here."

"Uh, no. I'll be going now." Kris flips her blue pigtails and walks off.

"Pssh, she'll see." The man goes back to his alert stance, surveying the area. Then, at his feet, a Rattata pops up, growling at him. He screeches, falling onto his ass. "A MONSTER SOMEONE SAVE ME!"

Kris looks back at the man, then walks back to him, staring at him in disbelief. "Dude. It's a Rattata. Relax." She throws out her pokéball, and from it emerges her starter.

"Tackle it, would you, Chikorita?" The little leaf pokémon obliges, and the Rattata runs away after one Tackle.

"Oh, my wonderful goddess, my savior!" The man's face was streaked with tears of relief, and he hugs Kris's legs in gratitude. "That Rattata was obviously in the top percentage of Rattata! I would've been killed for sure! How will I ever make it up to you?"

"By getting off..." Kris mumbles.

-#-#-#-

"Ooh, a berry..." Kris notices, plucking it out of the tree.

"HEY LADY!"

She winces, turning to the right to find a complete stranger breathing down her neck. "Uh...?"

"I'm waiting for pokémon that only appear at night."

"...That's nice. I'm gonna, uh, leave. Good luck with that." Kris skedaddles, acknowledging the fact that it was about 11 in the morning.

-#-#-#-

"See those ledges? It's scary to jump off them, but you can go to New Bark Town without walking through the grass." The woman points to the topic of her conversation, nodding.

"Those are ledges?" Gold squints, crouching down to observe them to the best of his ability. "They kinda look like logs or something."

"Well, all kids love log!" The woman smiles and nods. "It's big, it's heavy, it's wood. It's better than bad, it's good!"

"...Hee, logs are pretty cool."

-#-#-#-

Kris crouches a bit to read the short sign to the side of the path. "Oh...I'm close."

Indeed, after just a bit of walking, she reaches Cherrygrove. She smiles, looking around the city. It's small, but cozy feeling, a few flowers dancing about and people walking around. The water was also in eyesight.

She feels a tap on her shoulder. She looks up to see a sweet elderly man. "Hello, you're a rookie trainer, aren't you? I can tell!"

"Aw, is it that obvious..." Kris says, laughing sheepishly.

"Bah, that's okay!" he says, waving his hand dismissively. "Everyone is a rookie at some point. If you'd like, I can teach you a few things."

"Aw, that'd be great mister! That's really nice of you!" Kris says, smiling. What a good guy!

"Okay, then, follow me!" He walks up to the pokécenter, Krys on his heels. "Pokécenters heal your pokémon for free, so use them liberally!" He then drags her to the pokémart next door. "This pokémart here sells balls, among other things."

Heh heh, balls, Krys thinks to herself.

The old man points to a path up north. "Route 30 is out this way." Krys takes special note of that, knowing she has to go that way. "Trainers will be battling their prized pokémon up here!"

He brings her to the edge of the water. "This is the sea, as you can see."

"OH HO HO HO I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE!"

"...Ah, yes, well – "

"WAIT I'M NOT DONE AHA. AHAHAHA. AHA. Haa. Okay, continue." Krys beams up at the man innocently, who sighs, looking at her oddly. "Yes, and...some pokémon are found only in the water."

He brings her to a small house, saying that it was his. "Thanks for your company! And here's a small gift." He hands her a town map card to add to her pokégear. "Good luck on your journey!"

He retires to his house, and Krys looks quizzically at the sign next to his house. "His name is Guide Gent? That's a weird name."

-#-#-#-

"Cyndaquil what are you doing out of your ball you silly pokémon."

Gold looks down to see Cyndaquil hugging his leg. He grins. "Aww, cute pokémon. Are you scared or something?"

And suddenly Cyndaquil tackles Gold to the ground, mounting his back. Gold looks up, horrified, coming face to face with the evil sneer of his fire starter.

"No! Get off of me! CYNDAQUIL STOP HUMPING ME AGH RAAAAPE!"

-#-#-#-

"Moooom!" Lyra calls out from her room. "Can I go get my pokémon today?"

"NO ONE WANTS YOU TO HAVE A POKéMON. YOU ARE SHUNNED BECAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE BLUE HAIR. STUPID SLUT," her mom replies from the kitchen.

Lyra pouts, crossing her arms. "Everyone else thinks having Billy Mayes for a mom is cool, but it sucks."

"I HEARD THAT."

A/N: They always looked like logs to me...