Chapter 3

"Whatcha doin'?" Lyra asked as she sat down next to me.

"Waiting for Nurse Joy to get done with my Pokémon," I mumbled.

"OOH! So you DID get a Pokémon?" she asked. "What's his name?"

"Othello," I said.

"Cool! What is he, an Umbreon or something?"

"NO!" I shouted. I got up and moved across the room. Lyra was right behind me. She lived several doors down from me in between Ethan and some other 10 or 11 year old whose name I can't spell. It was something like Cory, but it had a weird spelling, like Khory. She had a thing for match making and Ethan or Khory.

"I got a Pokémon too!" she said. "He's a Chikorita, and I named him Oscar. He likes me a lot!"

"Joy," I muttered.

"Yes, Willow?" Nurse Joy asked. "Othello is nearly done, ok?"

"Not you!" I shouted at her. I shook my head and buried it in a midst of cloth. I ignored Lyra as best as I could until Nurse Joy called me over. I grabbed Othello's Pokeball and ran out of the Pokecenter, heading north.

Eventually, I slowed down to a walk and let Othello out of his Pokeball. He looked up at me quizzically.

"Huh, that was Lyra. You'll probably meet her personally soon enough."

And what do you know? There she was. She passed me and stood in my path with her arms outstretched.

"Hold it!" she said. "I wanna battle you!"

"Great. I'm going to whoop you, though," I said.

"Have you ever even battle, Ms. Grumps?"

I smiled and looked at her from under the brim of my hat. "You don't know this, Lyra, but I used to live in Kanto."

"And what does that have to do with anything?"

"Oh, you'll see soon enough. Go, Othello!" I shouted.

"Ok, then. Oscar, you're up!" Lyra said, throwing the Pokeball high in the sky. Oscar came out, spotted me, and immediately came over.

"Lyra, control him!" I said, backing away. "Othello, use Smoke Screen!"

Othello followed my commands down to the letter. Then again, he only knew tackle, leer, and smoke screen.

Any way, the smoke covered the mini battle field, keeping Oscar from seeing me or Othello. "Now, use Tackle!" I said. I could see their shadows moving around in the darkness, but Othello's attack struck home. Oscar tumbled out of the smoke, unconscious after one hit. Must have been a critical hit.

"Awww, no!" Lyra said, picking Oscar up. She gave me a small smile and came over to me. "I think I now know what you meant. You used to be a really good trainer back in Kanto. But then something happened and you came here and forgot how much you love Pokémon. Am I right?"

I didn't say anything, but she had gotten it. Lyra reached into her bag and tried to give me some money for winning.

"No, just keep it," I said. "You had no idea what you were up against. But next time, it'll be a different story!"

"Ok, then. Bye, Willow!" she shouted over her shoulder as she went back to the Pokecenter. I continued forwards with Othello by my side. Eventually, we reached a house. I knocked on the door. An older looking man answered.

"Um, are you Mr. Pokémon?" I asked. "I am here for Professor Elm's package,"

The man looked at me like I was crazy. "No, Mr. Pokémon lives up the road a little ways. I'm Mr. Apricorn,"

"Huh?"

"What, have you never heard of an Apricorn?"

"No…"

"Well then let me show you!" Mr. A. told me. He pointed to a nearby tree with several green fruits hanging from it. "That's a GRN Apricorn tree. Apricorns are amazing little fruits. I mean, that's what the ancient people used to keep Pokémon in! There are actually still some people out there who make special Pokeballs out of them as commemorative objects. Another cool thing you can do with them is make juice,"

"Sounds… neat…" I said slowly, choosing my words carefully. I didn't want to upset this man, but I needed to hurry up and get on with my assignment.

"Now… er, what did you say your name was?"

"Willow," I said.

"Ah, yes. Willow. I'm going to give you a gift! I'm going to give you a box so that you can pick Apricorns!"

"Um… Ok, thanks," I said. Two gifts from random old dudes in one day. Cool!

Mr. A. handed me a small basket. "It's expandable, too," The man said.

"Uh, yeah… Thank you, sir," I said. "But now… I kind of need to find Mr. Pokémon,"

"Of course, Willow. As I said, he lives just up the road from here. But I'm warning you, there are trainers up there who like to battle."

"Trust me, sir," I said. "I can take care of myself."

"And off you go!" he said. He shooed me off, and I continued down the path.

Just as Mr. A. had said, there were some trainers. But they were occupied with each other. Joey with his 'Top percentage' Rattata and some other kid with his Pidgey. I watched them for a little while, but then started on my way again. They told me that once they were done they'd take me on.

So, I finally made it to Mr. Pokémon's house. There were two other trainers who had challenged me, but I easily took care of them. I went up to the door and hit the bell. There was a loud crashing from inside, but then I heard a voice say, "Just a moment!"

In several seconds, another older man opened the door. "Are you Willow?" he asked.

"Yes sir," I said. "And please tell me you're Mr. Pokémon? The last house I was at had some Apricorn-Fanatic."

"Yes, I am Mr. Pokémon. Please, come on in!" he said. Then he shouted over his shoulder, "Yeah, she's here!"

"Wait, whose here?" I asked, pushing my way past Mr. Pokémon. I was surprised to see who was sitting on the couch.

"Professor Oak?" I cried in amazement.

"Well, if it isn't Ms. Willow Green," Professor Oak said. "Long time no see, am I right?"