Pokemon is not mine.

ooooo

Yesterday & Today

Chapter 3

Edith awoke late the next morning and was disappointed to see cheery morning sunlight streaming in through the blinds. She descended to the dining hall, which was full of trainers talking in near-deafening volumes. Grabbing enough food to feed her and her pokemon, she managed to find some space at the end of a table, where they ate quickly. Several trainers gave her strange looks, curious as to why someone so old was eating with the rookies. By the time she had gathered up her pokemon and cleared their dishes, there was a rumor circulating around the room about a mysterious gym leader visiting from another region and trying to blend in with other trainers.

The late-morning sun outside was fairly blinding as it reflected off the highly polished stones of most of the architecture. The paved and bricked streets didn't help either, pushing the temperature up and making everything look slightly shiny behind the intense heat waves. Edith inspected a town map displayed outside the Pokemon Center. Someone had mentioned getting Cut from someone in town, and she wanted to at least scope out the gym today, if not challenge it.

A short walk west of the Pokemon Center soon led her to a squat stone house. On the door hung a nicely painted sign labeling it as "Cutter's House." Edith was just about the knock when the door suddenly swung inward, revealing a grizzled old man. He smiled toothily and said, "That determined expression… the limber way you move… and your well-trained pokemon…you're obviously a skilled trainer!" Edith simply stared for a moment, then opened her mouth to formulate some sort of response, but the man cut her off with, "No, wait, don't say a word. I can tell just by looking at you. I'm sure that you can put this HM to use." From the folds of his coat he produced a familiar-looking disc and handed it to Edith, adding "No need to be modest or shy. Go on, take it!"

She took the disc and tried to thank the man, but was cut off by his lengthy explanation of how he came by it (he had used it himself to help clear the town's current location of trees when he had first come to the area as a strapping young lad and oh, weren't those the days?), how it could be used (don't know quite how it works, but you just turn it on and hold it by the intended pokemon's head and they learn it, bit of a mystery, really), and when she could use it (anytime in battle is fine, but outside of battle you need the Stone Badge from Roxanne, she's quite the precocious little firecracker, she is). When the man seemed to have run out of useful tidbits to add, he clapped Edith on the shoulder, wished her good luck, and disappeared back into his house as quickly as he had come. Edith stood on his doorstep, slightly shell-shocked, for a few moments. Clearly, some people in charge of dispensing HMs had a great time with theatrics. Gathering herself, she set off for the next destination: the gym.

Unfortunately, after about 10 minutes of fruitless wandering, Edith had to admit that she had taken a wrong turn somewhere and now needed to ask for directions. Fortunately (or unfortunately, seeing the overexcited trainers clustered outside) she stumbled on the local trainer's school. Certainly someone here could point her in the right direction. She walked inside, and the reason for the excitement was immediately clear; there was a gaggle of trainers surrounding an extremely famous recruiter. Edith cursed under her breath, shielding her eyes and pointedly heading away from the man currently being bombarded with questions. She immediately ran into someone.

"Oh!" Edith cried, startled, fearful that the recruiter had somehow magically teleported away from his adoring fans and had found her. Seeing that this was not the case, she apologized to the short, somewhat plump man she had banged into.

"It's quite alright, my dear," he responded genially. He scrutinized her for a moment. "Are you a student here?"

"Oh, no," Edith replied, briefly glancing towards the recruiter to ensure he hadn't moved any closer. "I'm actually looking for the gym, but I'm afraid I'm a bit lost."

The man smiled understandingly. "I can give you directions. I'm a teacher at this school, so I know my way around," he added with a friendly wink. Edith nodded gratefully. Unfortunately, the man then continued, "Wouldn't you like to meet the recruiter before you go? Most of the students here are still studying, but as a trainer it could be really beneficial to you to start making friends in the professional world." He took hold of Edith's elbow and began to lead her towards the noisy crowd. She resisted, trying to think of a polite excuse.

"Well, I don't need to waste his time; I don't even know if I'm going to pursue any field with training or anything like that; it's really alright, I can just go on to the gym anyway…" she rambled, eager to get away. Her excuses fell on deaf ears; the teacher marched her right up to the recruiter and tapped him on the shoulder. Many of the students vying for his attention groaned audibly.

"Trust me, this will be a great career move. He's from the Kanto region…" At this point, Scott turned to face them and the teacher began, "This is Scott. Scott, this is…err, what did you say your name was?" he turned to Edith.

"It's Edie…" she replied quietly, trying to pitch her voice lower and not look too closely at Scott, who was looking rather jovial as usual. Wearing a Hawaiian shirt, shorts, and flip-flops, he looked more ready for a day at the beach than a trainer meet-and-greet. He adjusted the sunglasses perched on his nose (despite the fact that they were inside) and his pudgy face quirked into a smile. Edith thought of the last time she had seen him, the last time she had turned down his recruiting attempts.

"Nice to meet you, Edie!" Scott said cheerfully, shaking her hand energetically. "Are you a trainer?"

"Well, yes, but I just—" she began.

"Have you beaten the first gym leader yet?" he barreled on, hardly hearing her.

"Well, no, I was just on my way—"

"You'd better get a move on! Beating gym leaders is a trainer's first step on the grand staircase to glory! Tell me, Edie, how interested are you in battling professionally?"

"I dunno, somewhat interested, I don't really—" and once again she was cut off.

"Wait a minute." Scott pushed his sunglasses into his hair and peered at Edith. "You look really familiar. Where are you from?"

Edith blanched. "I'm from…uh…Littleroot Town," she answered at last, hoping her longer hair and slightly more mundane choice of clothing, coupled with a totally different location, would be enough to convince him they had never met.

"Huh." Scott thought for a minute. "You got a sister in Kanto or anything?"

"Oh, no, I don't know much about other regions," Edith said hastily.

Scott was quiet. "Ah well; you just look a lot like this trainer from Kanto. One of the best of our time, really. A real shame, that…" he sighed heavily, then immediately perked up. "Edie, I don't want to keep you from your gym battle any longer than I have." He shook her hand again. "Good luck to you! Remember that we're always looking out for bright and upcoming trainers!" Edith nodded and allowed herself to be led away by the teacher, relieved.

"He seemed to really like you," the teacher remarked casually. They stepped outside and he directed Edith to the nearest corner. "From here, you're gonna want to go straight along this street, then take a right after the big gray house. The gym is well-marked, so you should find it easily." Edith repeated the instructions back to him, and he nodded. "Also, just for kicks, I'd like to give you this," the teacher held out a small claw. "Do you know what this is?" he asked.

"It's a quick claw. If you give it to a pokemon, they have a greater chance of attacking first," she answered without thinking. The teacher laughed in surprise.

"Great! You really know your stuff! This will definitely not be wasted on you."

"Thanks! Thanks for your help!" Edith took her leave and headed in the direction of the gym.

The sun had just passed the midpoint when she reached the gym. Heat waves shimmered around it, and light reflected brilliantly off the industrial metal-plated walls. It was quite an imposing gym, all rock and steel, with high ceilings and lots of fashionable angles. The sign outside proclaimed it as:

RUSTBORO CITY POKEMON GYM

LEADER: ROXANNE

"The ROCK-loving honors student!"

She couldn't help but smile, ready for a battle. She ticked through her pokemon, thinking of type advantages. Glade was probably her best choice against rock types; Lotad would work just as well, but she doubted it was a high enough level to take on a gym leader, even the first one, since she hadn't been training it. It would be nice to use Waltz and train her more, but Edith didn't know if she could handle the many physical attacks rock types generally favored. Pecha only knew normal type attacks, so that was out. Edith released Glade.

"I think it's up to you," she told Glade. Glade barked and pawed the ground. They then stepped together into the cool darkness of the gym, tingling with excitement.

The cave-like interior of the gym was a welcome change to the oppressive heat from outside. Edith took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dim lighting, taking in the shapes that were slowly becoming apparent. Past the two customary pillars at the very entrance that listed conquering trainers' names and scheduled battles were tall stone walls that appeared to weave back and forth, creating a maze. There was no one on the current battle list or the waiting list, much to Edith's relief. She marked her name down on the current battle list and called to Glade, who picked an entrance to the maze and set off.

They walked in silence, unconsciously being careful to not let even their footfalls create enough noise to disturb the oppressive silence of the gym. Every once and a while voices could be heard, but they encountered no one. Edith began to suspect that Glade was leading her in such a way that they avoided all the junior trainers, something she wasn't sure if she wanted to do or not. Still, before long they exited the maze into a cavernous room. The dim lighting barely reached the vaulted ceilings, but there was more light on a rise in the center of the room, revealing a tiny figure.

The figure turned to face them as they approached. Her pokemon were already out and surrounding her: two Geodude and a strange, squat pokemon that look like a giant head with stubby arms and legs. Edith surreptitiously fished out her Pokedex.

"Welcome," the girl on the platform said, startling Edith a bit. She hastily returned her Pokedex to her bag. "I am Roxanne of the Rustboro Gym. As you can see, I am a rock type trainer," she gestured to her pokemon. Then, stepping towards Edith, she extended a hand, saying politely, "And you are?"

Edith was surprised to see how young she was—she looked as if she had just completed her own pokemon adventure. Edith had only ever known one other gym leader to start so young…she shook her head to clear away the sudden loneliness she felt. "I'm Edie." They shook hands.

"Do you understand how the gym leader challenge works, Edie?" Roxanne asked. Edith nodded. "Then, if you have no questions, shall we begin?" Edith grinned.

"Let's go!" She motioned to Glade, who chirped happily and crouched, ready. "Since this is a rock type gym, we wanna use Water Gun a lot, ok, Glade?" Edith called. Glade nodded.

Roxanne sent out her first pokemon: one of the Geodude.

"Do a Water Gun!" Edith shouted.

"Geodude, use Tackle…!" Roxanne began, but it was too late. Glade's Water Gun caught the Geodude square in the face, and it tumbled off the platform and into the dimness. Roxanne looked shocked. She raced after the Geodude, only to return with it in its pokeball. She looked at Edith, her gaze challenging Edith to do the same thing twice. "Geodude, it's your turn!" The second Geodude dispatched.

"Use Water Gun again!" Edith suggested, extremely curious if Glade could repeat the maneuver.

"Avoid it, Geodude! Tackle it!" Roxanne cried. At first it seemed as though the attack would miss; the Geodude swiveled out of the path of the stream of water and was heading for Glade when Glade simply turned, redirecting the stream and catching the Geodude in the side. Again, the Geodude was knocked back and Roxanne was forced to recall it.

Now Roxanne looked appalled, if not a little annoyed as well. She called forth her last pokemon. "Nosepass, use Rock Tomb!"

Edith frowned. "Ready, Glade? Get this guy with Water Gun too!" Glade managed to hit the Nosepass with Water Gun, but the opposing pokemon merely shook its head and responded with Rock Tomb. Rocks crashed down around Glade, who huddled in a ball until it stopped, then struggled out of the rubble.

Roxanne seemed relieved that the Water Gun had not demolished her Nosepass in one shot.

Edith noticed that Glade was slowed by a slight limp. "Just a little more, Glade!" she encouraged. "Try to circle around and use Water Gun again!" Glade obeyed, running off in a circle around the Nosepass.

"Don't let it get away, Nosepass! Use Block!" Roxanne countered. Nosepass stamped a foot, and suddenly a wall of rock shot up from the floor of the gym, cutting off Glade's route. Glade reacted quickly, stopping and using Water Gun from where he was. The surprised Nosepass couldn't move in time and was knocked back. Edith cheered. Unfortunately, the Nosepass produced an Oran berry from somewhere, which it ate, getting some strength back. Edith groaned audibly.

"Oh well, Glade. Just keep using Water Gun!" Edith shouted.

"Nosepass, use Tackle this time!" Roxanne suggested.

Glade waited, unmoving, while the Nosepass barreled towards him. Right before they collided, Glade sprayed a stream of water into Nosepass's face, slowing him down and lessening the force of the tackle. They sprang apart, looking exhausted. Roxanne called Nosepass to her and administered a potion.

Edith called to Glade, "Do you need a potion too?" Glade shook his head, a comically human gesture. "Then, keep up the good work!" she said encouragingly.

As Nosepass lumbered back onto the battlefield, Glade shot him with another blast of water. He responded with Rock Tomb, which left Glade hurting and limping. While Glade extracted himself from the pile of rocks, moving slowly and painfully, Roxanne took the opportunity to give Nosepass another potion. Edith cursed under her breath.

"Glade, come back here and get a potion!" she called. Glade ignored her. "Hey! Come here and get a potion!" Glade ran away from her, going to meet Nosepass as it reentered the battlefield. Nosepass was looking tired, but still fresher than Glade. "You don't have to be a martyr, you know!" Edith shouted in frustration.

Glade stopped between the two trainers, breathing heavily. Nosepass clumped towards him, gearing up for an attack. Edith shouted from the sidelines. Glade slumped to one side, looking wearily at his attacker. Finally, Nosepass began to pick up speed, bearing down on the ostensibly exhausted Glade. At the last possible second, Glade rolled to the side and blasted the unsuspecting pokemon, suddenly powered-up despite being near-fainting.

The Nosepass fell on its back, waving its tiny arms and legs feebly before fainting. Roxanne let out a squawk of surprise. Edith produced a similar noise and ran to Glade, who was standing shakily and looking quite pleased with himself. She gave him a potion (this time accepted willingly), but was startled when he began to glow.

Glade looked even more startled. He gave a small cry and looked at Edith fearfully. It had been a while since she had seen anything like it, but she couldn't forget something as important as this.

Laughing, Edith said, "Glade, you're evolving!" Glade continued to look at her apprehensively, his body suddenly growing and morphing. After a few moments, the glow faded, and Edith looked more closely at her pokemon. Glade was also checking himself over for any strangeness. He now stood on two short legs and had flexible arms, and the fins on his head and backside had grown. Finally satisfied that the evolution was at least not a disappointment, Glade toddled over to Edith on his two legs. Roxanne also approached her.

"That was a battle well fought," she began, looking serene and collected again. "League rules state that I must now confer upon you this Rustboro City Stone Badge along with your winnings." She presented Edith with a silver, angular badge, which Edith promptly pinned inside her backpack on the pocket she kept her trainer ID in. Roxanne continued, "Also, I'd like you to have this TM." She gave Edith a silver disc, which was also packed. "It's Rock Tomb, one of my favorite moves. I hope it benefits you as well."

"Thanks," Edith said with a grin. "That was a great battle."

Roxanne smiled and gave a little wave before retreating into the darkness beyond the stage. Edith walked triumphantly with Glade back to the entrance.

"That was awesome!" She exclaimed as they walked. He chattered back excitedly. Edith was surprised to suddenly understand a few words interspersed in Glade's response. Even though he definitely wasn't speaking human language, she found that every couple of words, something would resonate within her that contained a very specific meaning. She told him as much, feeling extremely pleased with herself. He responded with even more energetic responses, which she half-understood and tried to reply to.

At the door, Edith was pleased to see that her name had already been added to the digital display of conquering trainers. She and Glade admired it for a moment, before Edith recalled Glade. She stepped out into the blinding afternoon sun, planning to visit the Pokemon Center again before continuing on her way to the next town.

As she neared the main drag, Edith became aware of shouts and pounding footsteps.

"Get out of the way!" People in the street cried out as a man in a familiar uniform pushed angrily through them, clutching something to his chest. He blew past Edith and ran north, towards the other end of town. From where he had come another familiar-looking man suddenly followed, breathing heavily and looking quite distressed.

"Wait! Please!" He bent over, hands on his knees, struggling for breath and looking miserably at where the thief had disappeared. Edith recognized him as Brian, the scientist she had helped before and threaded through the crowd towards him. He noticed her as she approached and brightened considerably. "Oh! You're the girl who helped me in Petalburg Woods!" He grabbed her shoulders desperately. "Team Aqua took the goods! Please help me! I have to get them back; if I don't…" he shook his head sadly, "I'm going to be in serious trouble."

Edith couldn't shake a feeling of impending doom. This situation was similar to so many before—it starts innocently enough, helping someone out, but there's always something more, something bigger and something sinister, something that she gets caught up in, unable to sit by and do nothing but in the end it messes everything up… She shook her head, annoyed and apprehensive.

She looked at Brian and said determinedly, "I'll go after him and get the Devon goods back."

He looked elated. "Oh, thank you, thank you! You'd better hurry, since he just left!" Edith couldn't help but feel annoyed at his complete willingness to leave everything to her, but nonetheless took off in the direction she had seen the thief run.

She at first went north once she left the town, but discovered only steep hills and no apparent signs of recent passage. Backtracking, she instead left the town through its east gate, entering a lightly wooded area with invitingly long grass. There were trainers everywhere, but she sprinted past them, ignoring their challenges to battle. There was a rather destroyed path of brush and grass, which she followed eagerly.

It finally led her into a clearing containing a somewhat haphazardly constructed house. The other side of the clearing ended abruptly in an impassable rocky hill. She stared at it in confusion for a few seconds, catching her breath. Walking slowly past the house towards the rock, she noticed an elderly man pacing worriedly back in forth in front of what appeared to be an entrance to a cave within the hill. As she approached, she could hear him muttering furiously to himself. He noticed her with a start

"Ohhh, what shall I do?" He noticed her with a start, then continued, sounding more pleading, "I was taking a walk with Peeko and we were suddenly jumped by a thug!" Without waiting for her response, the man shouted, "The scoundrel made off with my darling Peeko!" He let out a strange anguished roar. "Peeko!"

Edith stared at the man, slightly disturbed by his strange wailings. "I'll do my best to get back your Peeko, sir," she said quickly before running into the cave, leaving him moaning miserably at the entrance.

The inside of the cave was extremely foggy and eerie, and Edith found herself nervously humming under her breath. There was enough light to see by, but shadows loomed along the walls in a less-than-comforting way. She moved as quickly as she could through the rapidly narrowing path, peering into the gloom for the Aqua thief.

There was a frustrated growl ahead of her, and Edith couldn't help but jump in surprise. The Aqua grunt materialized out of the fog before her, looking extremely annoyed. His expression changed into worry when he recognized her.

"What, you again? Come on!" He released his Poochyena again, continuing to gripe. "Keelhaul it all! That hostage pokemon turned out to be worthless!" Edith became aware of a Wingull on a leash tied to a rock. "And my escape plan leads to a dead end! So you'll battle me again, huh?"

Edith glared at him and released Glade. "All I want is to recover the things you stole." The grunt snorted stubbornly. "Alright, then, use Water Gun, Glade!" Glade blasted the surprised Poochyena into a rock.

"Bite it, Poochyena!" the grunt countered. The Poochyena managed to bite Glade ferociously on the foreleg. Glade howled in annoyance. Without being told, he discharged another, more powerful Water Gun. This one hit the Poochyena before it could retreat sufficiently and sent it tumbling head over heels into the wall. It struggled to its feet, hesitated, then ran whimpering to cower behind the Aqua grunt.

The Aqua grunt looked pleadingly at his pokemon but also seemed unwilling to deal with Edith a second time. He threw up his hands in frustration and growled to himself, "The boss said this would be an easy job to pull." He rounded on Edith, thrusting the package towards her. "You want it back that badly, take it!"

Edith grabbed the package, surprised, and the grunt pushed angrily past her, snapping his fingers for his pokemon to follow. She let him go, instead releasing the frazzled Wingull and inspecting the surprising end to the tunnel. It looked as if the workers had simply turned around and gone home, leaving a rough wall of rock blocking the way.

The Wingull took off towards the entrance of the cave, and Edith hurried to follow. They met the distraught man from outside near the entrance. He gasped when he saw them, crying, "PEEKO! You're safe!" He hugged the bird. Looking at Edith around the pokemon in his arms, he added, "Peeko owes her life to you!" Tears of elation streamed down his cheeks and he reached to shake Edith's hand heartily, saying, "They call me Mr. Briney. And, you are?"

"I'm Edie," she replied, giving Peeko's head a pat.

Mr. Briney continued, still shaking her hand, "I sincerely thank you! Now, if there's anything that troubles you, don't hesitate to tell me! I'm usually in my cottage by the sea near Petalburg Woods." He finally released her hand, still nuzzling his pokemon. "Come, Peeko, we should make our way home." He bustled away joyfully, singing loudly to Peeko and leaving Edith to stare, dumbfounded, after him.

She shook herself from her stupor and remembered the package she had recovered. Resisting the urge to peek inside, she followed the path Mr. Briney had taken out, feeling less claustrophobic as it widened near the entrance. On the walk back into town she accepted all challenges, especially the ones she had sprinted past on the way in. Despite knowing only Confusion, Waltz did an excellent job battling and was getting stronger very quickly. Edith finally realized how much time she had spent battling and, feeling a little guilty, headed back into town.

Brian was waiting anxiously at the edge of Rustboro, wringing his hands and checking his watch. When he caught sight of Edith he let out a little cry and practically ran to her.

"How did it go? The Devon goods…?" She handed him the package. "You did! You got them back! You're amazing!" He gripped her shoulders, stopping just short of hugging her in relief. Then, reaching into his pocket, he said, "As my thanks, I'll give you a great ball!" Edith took it in surprise. Before she could thank him, something seemed to occur to him and he grabbed her hand, saying, "Oh, I know! Come with me!"

They took off through the town, heading towards a very official-looking building. Giant silver letters above the ridiculously tall doors spelled out DEVON CORPORATION. Brian pushed open the doors and headed straight for the stairs, flashing a pass at a security guard and indicating that Edith was with him.

As they climbed, Brian explained, "This is the third floor, where our president's office is." He led them to a receptionist and spoke briefly with her before returning. "I really appreciate your help." He paused, looking a little sheepish. "And, um…I was thinking…Could I get you to deliver that to the shipyard in Slateport?" Seeing Edith's too-late concealed expression of surprised annoyance, he quickly added, "I don't want Team Aqua to come after it again, so maybe…could you…?" At the desk, the receptionist motioned for him to come over. "Oh, right. Hold on a second." After another quick conversation with the receptionist, she opened one of the double doors behind her and Brian beckoned to Edith. "I arranged for you to meet with the president. Please come this way."

They stepped into a large, ornately fashioned office. Handsomely carved furniture displayed various Devon inventions, and plush upholstered chairs crowded around a large desk, behind which a stately looking gentleman sat. Brian gestured to the man. "Please, go ahead."

As Edith approached the desk, the man sitting behind it smiled warmly, standing up to greet her. He reached out for a handshake and motioned for her to sit. "I'm Mr. Stone, the president of the Devon Corporation. I just heard about your great deed saving not only my staff, but also valuable Devon goods!" Edith shook her head in protest of his praise, but he simply leaned forward seriously and continued, "I have a favor to ask of an amazing person like you. I understand that you're delivering a package to Slateport's shipyard." Edith nodded with a sinking feeling. "Well, on the way, could you stop off in Dewford town? I was hoping that you could deliver a letter to Steven there."

Edith sighed mentally. At this rate I might as well go into the postal service instead of pokemon training… To Mr. Stone, she nodded and replied, "Of course I'll take the letter."

Mr. Stone smiled, pleased. He held up a finger. "Now, I would never ask something like this without giving something in return. So, I want you to have this!" From a shelf on the wall he pulled a colorful box and placed it in front of her, indicating that she should open it. Inside she discovered the same phone-like device that Brendan had been carrying.

Edith couldn't help but gasp at the lavish gift; she had talked to her parents and decided that it would be cheaper to just use public phones and maps as needed, rather than plunk down the sizeable investment for any pokegear. "Thank you so much, Mr. Stone!" she breathed, holding the device reverently.

Mr. Stone continued, "That's a Pokenav, from our newest line of pokegear." He showed her how to turn it on and pressed a button to reveal a map of the region, explaining, "It has an interactive map of the Hoenn region, so you can check the locations of Dewford and Slateport easily!" He paused, becoming grave, "And I know that you had to fight Team Aqua to save Brian here, so I'd like to rest your pokemon before you head out." He motioned for Brian to take Edith's pokeballs to a healing device near the room's large window. The machine hummed cheerily, dinged, and blinked. Brian returned her pokeballs, and Mr. Stone stood up to shake her hand again, saying, "Well, then, Edie, go with caution and care!"

She smiled gratefully, quite taken with the fatherly gentleman. "Thank you so much. It was wonderful to meet you!" Brian showed her to the staircase, and she eagerly bounded downstairs, ready to move on. When she passed through the lobby, the security guards and receptionist waved and bowed, thought she couldn't decide if that was custom or because Mr. Stone had told them who she was.

Edith strolled through the plaza outside the Devon building, considering her next move. She had to get to Dewford, and then to Slateport… She flipped open her Pokenav, extremely amused to see her little blinking dot on the map near the larger blinking dot of the Devon building. Distracted by exploring the features of the phone, she didn't hear Brian come puffing up behind her.

"Edie!" He cried, out of breath. She jumped. "Sorry…Can I see your Pokenav for a second?" He popped off the back cover and inserted a tiny chip, fiddled with a few things, then snapped it back together and handed it to her. "I added a new feature named 'Matchcall' to your Pokenav; you can chat with people who have been registered. President Stone should be registered in there, too. Go ahead and call him!" he suggested.

Scrolling through the options, she discovered the new Matchcall and Mr. Stone's phone number. She listened as the phone rang, feeling a little silly calling the president from right outside his building. There was a click.

"Ah, hello? Is this Edie?"

"Hi, Mr. Stone; I was just testing out the Pokenav's Matchcall…" Edith began.

He laughed mischievously. "I know! I can see you from my window!" She looked up quickly, searching for his window on the third floor. More cackling issued from the Pokenav before the call ended. Edith and Brian blinked at each other.

"Well, anyway, I'll let you get on your way," Brian began, heading back to the building.

Edith waved. "See you!" Then, making sure all her precious new cargo was safely packed in her bag, she set off for Mr. Briney's house in the hopes that he would be willing to help her in thanks for saving his dear Peeko. As she neared the southern edge of the town, she was surprised to see a familiar figure standing outside the Pokemon Center, fidgeting with his Pokenav.

Brendan turned when she got closer, smiling boyishly. "Edie! I was wondering when I would run into you!"