What it is, this is BlackSamurai-JJ with chapter three as I promise. I know I said I would post this one the same weekend as chapter two but did not had enough time. So I hope you guys enjoy it; I put a whole lot of time into it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or its characters.

Chapter 3: Old Faces and New Rivals

"Wow! Look at the all the Pokémon on this route!" "Cynda, Cynda!" The little Fire-type squealed agreeing with its trainer. "I know little buddy, it's amazing."

Walking down the grassy path of Route 29, Ethan and his partner Cyndaquil were heading west towards Cherrygrove City to meet Mr. Pokémon. Along the way, the two were admiring the scenery and wild Pokémon around them, especially Ethan.

There were Rattata scurrying around the trees, a Sentret poking its head out of its burrow, and a few Pidgey sitting on a branch watching the two.

'This really is amazing; I never thought this would happen today' Ethan thought to himself; it almost didn't seem real. Just earlier this day Professor Elm called him to his lab to ask for a favor, and in doing so he got his first Pokémon, Cyndaquil. He now had a Pokémon companion like his friend Lyra.

"Cyndaquil, how are you doing back there?" He turned his head checking on his little buddy. "Quil," Ethan chuckled at the response. He was truly enjoying the company of the Fire Mouse Pokémon. Ethan always wanted to have a Pokémon of his own and at times was envious of Lyra and her Marill. Now, just by helping Elm's research and visiting Mr. Pokémon, his wish came true.

Suddenly, a Rattata jumped out of the grass and landed in front of the two, snapping Ethan out of his thoughts. "Waah!" he shrieked in surprise.

"R-rattata!" the Mouse Pokémon roared as it bared its fangs at the two prepared to attack.

'Looks like he wants to fight' "Cyndaquil, you ready to battle?" Cyndaquil moved in front of Ethan igniting its flame. "Quill!"

"I'll take that as a yes; ok Cyndaquil battle ready!" Ethan readied himself as he started his first battle with a wild Pokémon.

'Let see, what moves did the Professor say Cyndaquil knew?' he pondered as he tried to remember what Professor Elm told him before leaving.

"Now Ethan, in order to get to Cherrygrove you must go west through Route 29 which is filled with wild Pokémon hiding in the tall grass."

"Which is why I have Cyndaquil with me; to protect me right Professor?"

"Right my boy. The three Pokémon that I showed you know three moves each; Cyndaquil knows Tackle, Leer, and Ember."

"Only three?" Elm saw the confusion in the boy and elaborated. "For the moment yes. The more battles your Pokémon fight the more experience they gain. With more experience, your Pokémon will learn more moves as it grows."

"Oh." Ethan finally understood why.

'Alright then, I guess I'll start on the offensive.' "Ok Cyndaquil," Ethan commanded. "Start off with a Tackle attack!" Cyndaquil went straight for Rattata ready to hit it but Rattata charged in with its own Tackle. The two Pokémon kept tackling each other in deadlock until Rattata use Tail Whip to knock Cyndaquil off balance and then strike with another Tackle.

"Cyndaquil, you okay?" Cyndaquil shook the attack off and got back up. "Quil!"

"Good, now let's try Ember!" Cyndaquil opened its mouth and shot bolts of fire at the Mouse Pokémon doing damage and stunning it for a moment. "Now finish it with Tackle." With that final attack, knocked out Rattata winning the battle.

"Alright Cyndaquil!" Ethan exclaimed giving a thumbs up. "You Rock!" Cyndaquil jumped with joy over its victory and the two went on their way.

As they continued down the route, they encountered more wild Pokémon. They battled more Rattata, some Pidgey, and a Sentret. With each encounter, the duo could chalk up another victory until they reached the entrance to Cherrygrove City.

"Looks like we made it buddy." He spoke to his Pokémon as they walked further into the city. From what he could tell, Cherrygrove wasn't a real big city but it was still bigger than New Bark with a few more buildings. As the two moved further into the city they were stopped by someone calling them.

"Excuse me youngster," an elderly man came up to them and spoke. "You are a rookie trainer aren't you? I can tell."

"As a matter of fact, I am." The man, known as the Guide Gent, smiled at the answer. "I thought so, everyone is a rookie at some point. If you'd like, I can teach you a few things"

"Well I guess-" "Ok then! Follow me!" Without letting Ethan finish, the guide took off only to turn around to look back at him.

"What are you waiting for lets go!" Ethan gave in and just followed the man until they came to a small building with a red roof and a white symbol of a Poke Ball.

"This is a Pokémon Center; they will heal your Pokémon in no time at all. You will be relying on them a lot." From there they went to a similar looking building but with a blue roof instead.

"This is a Poke Mart; they sell Poke Balls for catching wild Pokémon and other useful items." Next they went up north to a route that leads away from the city.

"Route 30 is out this way; trainers will be battling their Pokémon there. If you go a little further, you'll se Mr. Pokémon's House." After hearing that, Ethan came to a startling realization.

"Mr. Pokémon's House? That's where I'm heading next." The guide chuckled at this. "Heh, I bet you're glad now I decided to give you a tour huh?" Before Ethan could reply, the guide took off once again.

'Geez, he's fast for an old man.' He thought as he tried to keep up. After a little walking, they come to a small shore in the west part of the city.

"This is the sea, as you can see." A drop of sweat fell down Ethan's head after hearing that piece of bad humor. "Some Pokémon are found only in water." They then went back into the city and came to a small house.

"Here . . . is my house!" the guide proclaimed after dragging Ethan through the whole city. 'Finally!' Ethan said in his head being glad that he doesn't have to keep up with the old man. "I see, well thanks for the tour but I have an errand to finish."

"Wait for a moment." The guide when inside his house and then came back with a box in hand. "For your effort in keeping up with me, I'll give you my Running Shoes!" Ethan opened the shoe box and took a look at its contents. The shoes looked like his but a little newer. "Wow thanks a lot."

"Your welcome, plus they're still warm." Ethan did a double take at the comment. "Wait . . . what?" "Got you, didn't I?" the guide laughed at Ethan confused face. Ethan just looked at the old man with another sweat drop on his head. 'What is with this old man; these jokes are horrible.' "Don't worry, they are brand new."

Ethan took off his old shoes, putting them in his bag, and slipping on the Running Shoes. After a little adjusting, he took a few steps to test them out. "They fit great."

"I'm glad you like them." The guide began to go back in his house. "Well I'll let you be on your way now, good bye."

"See ya, and thanks." Now with his new shoes, Ethan and Cyndaquil took off for Route 30. But before that, he decided to stop at the Pokémon Center to rest. The center was a bit bigger than Professor Elm's lab; there was a front desk with a nurse behind it, in the back right corner there were some PC's, a small lounge area where some trainers were resting, a cafeteria on the left side, a set of stairs leading to upstairs, and in the back of the center there were rooms for trainer who spend the night.

Ethan went up to the front desk and spoke to the nurse behind it. "Hello and welcome to the Pokémon Center. I'm Nurse Joy." Nurse Joy was a tall and fairly thin woman in her thirties. She wore a pink and white nurse outfit and had bright pink hair with two loops in the back of her hair. "How may I help you?"

"Nurse Joy can you restore my Cyndaquil to full heath?" Ethan returns his little buddy to its Poke Ball and hands it to the nurse who smiles in return. "Of course, it will only take a few minutes." She takes the Poke Ball and puts it in the healing machine. While he waits Ethan takes a look around the center. He decides to head upstairs to see what's up there. Once he reaches the second floor, a lady behind a smaller desk beckons him.

"Hello young man, are you a new trainer?" Ethan goes up to her and speaks with her. "Yes I am. I got my first Pokémon today." "That's good, do you have a Trainer Card"

"Trainer Card, what's that?" Ethan asks. The lady goes under the desk and pulls out an ID card. "A Trainer Card is proof of your status as a Pokémon Trainer while you're out adventuring." Ethan thought that the card would be useful.

"How do I get one?" The lady gets from behind her desk and leads him to a door. "Just follow me and we'll get you set." In the back room, she has Ethan sit in a chair with a white screen behind it. Once he sits down, she prepares the camera and takes his picture. Then after waiting in front of a small machine a card came out. She walks up to Ethan and hands it to him.

"Here you go, sign your name on the back of the card please." Ethan takes the card and signs the back of it. "There you go and you are all set." With that, Ethan puts his Trainer Card up and heads back downstairs to the front desk.

"Hello there," Nurse Joy greets him. "Your Cyndaquil is fully healed." Ethan takes his Poke Ball and brings out his buddy who is fully rested.

"You ready to go buddy?" Cyndaquil squeals in joy and jumps on top of Ethan's head. "Quil!" "I guess that is a yes, thanks Nurse Joy." With Cyndaquil on his head, Ethan waves Joy goodbye and leaves the Pokémon Center. Using the directions from the Guide Gent, he heads towards Route 30. But before he can go any further someone once again calls him out.

"Wait!" Turning around he saw the Guide Gent running towards him. "Good thing . . . I . . . caught you." The guide held his knees trying to catch his breath.

"What's wrong?" Breathing normally, the guide pulled out a card from his pocket. "I forget one thing; this is another token from me." It was a data card for Ethan's Pokegear.

"What is this?" Ethan looked over the data card that was handed to him. "That is a Map Card; you can see the map of the region you are currently in." He takes the card and inserts it into his Pokegear. "Wow thanks again." The guide heads back to his home.

"Its' nothing; good luck on your journey." Now with a map, Ethan once again heads toward Route 30 and to Mr. Pokémon.

"Now Cyndaquil, Ember!" Cyndaquil unleashed its small flames and took down a Ledyba. While on Route 30, Ethan ran into more Pokémon. Although fought with the same ones that were on Route 29, he also encountered Bug Pokémon like Caterpie, Weedle, and Ledyba. As he kept walking he came to a house with a small tree bearing some kind of fruit. Thinking its' Mr. Pokémon's house, he goes up to it and knocks.

"Hello?" Opening the door is a man in his forties and is balding a bit. "Are you Mr. Pokémon?" "Sorry, I'm not; most people who go through this route confuse me for him." "Oh sorry; mind if I come in for a bit?" The man, glad to have a visitor, lets Ethan in and they sit down for a bit to talk.

"Tell me, do you . . . have any Apricorns?" he asked Ethan. "Um no . . . what are Apricorns?" After hearing this, the man begins to explain.

"Apricorns grow on special trees that bear this fruit once a day; I have one of those trees too." Ethan then was reminded of something. "I think I saw one of those trees on Route 29." "Yep, they can be found all over Johto. Apricorns are really something; you can make Poke Balls out of them." Ethan was shocked at what the strange fruits can be used for.

"Really, you can make Poke Balls out of them?" The man chuckled at the boy's reaction. "Yep, they are very useful." The man gets up and go gets a small carrying case. "Here, I want you to have this; this is an Apricorn Box. You can use that to carry Apricorns you pick." Ethan takes the box and puts it in his bag. As the man walks Ethan outside, he point to behind his house.

"If you go a little further north you should reach Mr. Pokémon's house." Ethan grabs the man's hand and shakes it. "Thanks a lot, and thanks for the Apricorn Box as well."

"It was nothing, thank you for stopping by." The man walks back into his house waving. "Good luck on your journey." With that, Ethan and Cyndaquil continue down Route 30.

After a couple more encounters with wild Pokémon, the duo come across another house surrounded by trees. Ethan goes up to the door and knocks. 'I hope this is the right house.' Ethan tells himself. This time when the door opens, he sees an elderly man in a suit with a matching hat staring at him.

"Yes, can I help you?" "Are you Mr. Pokémon?" Mr. Pokémon opened the door wider and has Ethan come in. "Yes I am; you must be Ethan. Come on in and give me one minute." He motions Ethan to have a seat and goes to a glass case to fetch a certain item.

"This is what I want Professor Elm to examine." The item in question was a Pokémon Egg. "An egg?" Ethan was confused at this so called "rarity". "Yes it is; a friend of mine in Ecruteak City gave it to me; I bet you can't find this kind of egg in Johto." Ethan was still confused. "Yeah I guess." 'The professor was right; it's just a Pokémon Egg. Though there does seem something different about.' "I thought Professor Elm might be able to tell what it is." Ethan takes the Mystery Egg and carefully puts it in his bag. "Well I'll make sure he gets." Mr. Pokémon stops him before he leaves. "Before you go, there is someone you should meet first." He leads Ethan to another part of the house and there he meet a man the same age as Mr. Pokémon. He had dark gray hair, wore a gray dress shirt and brown pants, and had a white lab coat similar to Elm's but stopped at his knees.

"Hello Ethan, I'm Professor Oak, a Pokémon researcher from Kanto." Oak walks up to Ethan and spots Cyndaquil by his feet. "Oh! What's this? A Cyndaquil; that is a rare Pokémon." Ethan knelt down and petted his Pokémon. "Yep, Professor Elm gave him to me to help his research and to get here." Oak studied the two before speaking.

"I think I understand why Elm gave you that Pokémon; he knew you would treat it with love and care it seems." Oak then came up with an idea. "Ah! You seem to be dependable. How would you like to help me?" Ethan pondered for a second and stood up. "Sure, how can I help?"

Professor Elm reaches inside his lab coat and pulled out a red device. "See, this is the latest version of the Pokedex." Ethan studied this Pokedex Oak was talking about, "What does it do?" he wondered as Oak began to elaborate. "It automatically records data on Pokémon you have seen or caught. It is a high-tech encyclopedia and I'd like you to have it." Oak then hands the electronic encyclopedia to Ethan. "Thanks but what do you want me to do with it?" Ethan was still confused on what he was supposed to do.

"With this I want you to go meet many Pokémon and complete that Pokedex." Ethan pondered on this mission and got excited. "Okay Professor, I'll do it!" A grin spread across Oak's face at the youth's response. "Atta boy, I wish you good luck; well I've stayed too long, I've got to get to Goldenrod City for my usual radio show." As Oak said good bye to Mr. Pokémon and open the door, he turned back. "Ethan, I have a feeling that this is not the last time we'll meet . . . Lets exchange numbers just to be on safe side." Ethan gave his Pokegear to Oak and he put his number into it. "Until next, see you later by boy." With that Professor Oak left and Ethan followed as well.

"Well I guess I better get back to New Bark, see ya Mr. Pokémon." The two walked to the door and said good bye. "Farewell Ethan, be careful on your way back." As Ethan and Cyndaquil stepped out of the house, they both notice that the sun was going down. It was after all 5:00 PM. "It's getting late, we better get back Cyndaquil." "Quil!" His little buddy agreed as they head back down Route 30. But only after a few steps, his Pokegear began to beep indicating someone was calling.

'I wonder who is calling.' Ethan thought to himself as he opened the device. "Hello?" he asked only to see a panicking Professor Elm. "H-hello, Ethan?" Ethan wondered what got the professor so worked up. "It's me Professor, what's wrong?" "It's a disaster! Uh, um, it's just terrible! What should I do? It . . . Oh, no . . . Please get back here now!" Click, Elm hung up leaving Ethan worried. "Hello . . . Professor are you there . . . Professor?" Hearing this, Ethan put up his Pokegear and looked at Cyndaquil. "Looks like there's trouble back home; we better hurry little buddy!" "Quill!" Cyndaquil agreed as the two took off at full speed down Route 30.

Exiting Route 30, the two ran through Cherrygrove making their way towards the entrance to Route 29 until they spotted someone familiar. Coming towards them was that red-headed boy whose was staring through Professor Elm's lab earlier today. He came up to the duo and stared at them. ". . . You got a Pokémon from the lab too. What a waste." "Say What!" Ethan spoke with anger in his voice as the boy continued. "That's a Pokémon that is too good for a wimp like you." Ethan continued to become angry at the boy's insults.

"Wimp! Who do you think you are calling a wimp?" The boy just gave him a cold stare. ". . . Don't you get what I'm saying? Well, I too have a Pokémon. I'll show you what I mean!" The boy took out a Poke Ball and got into a battle position. Seeing this Ethan and Cyndaquil got ready as well.

"Fine! It's a battle you want; it's a battle you get. Cyndaquil, battle ready!" "Cynda-quill!" Setting its back aflame, Cyndaquil prepared for battle. "Well then," the boy said tossing his Poke Ball. "Go! Totodile!" What came out was the Big Jaw Pokémon like the one he saw at the lab. "Toto!" It roared bearing its many teeth. Ethan was surprised by this, but only for a moment.

"Okay then, Cyndaquil Tackle attack!" With that Cyndaquil charged at full speed towards Totodile. The boy just smirk at the move. "Hmm . . . Totodile, dodge and use Scratch." As Cyndaquil got close, Totodile side-stepped out the way and struck with its claws knocking the Fire Mouse Pokémon back. 'Whoa! What speed!' Ethan thought to himself. "Cyndaquil! You okay?" shaking the attack off, Cyndaquil got back up ready. 'Alright, let's try a long range attack.' "Cyndaquil, Ember!" "Hmm," the boy smirked yet again. "Bad move; Totodile counter with Water Gun." At the same time that Cyndaquil shot its bolt of fire, Totodile fired a jet of water. The two attacks collided but the Water Gun pierced through the Ember and hit dead on. "Cyndaquil no!" Ethan shouted. The boy only shook his head. "Pathetic, there's no way your Cyndaquil can win against Totodile; why don't you just give up." As much as he hated the idea, Ethan knew the boy was right about one thing. Cyndaquil ,being a Fire –type, was weak against Water-types like Totodile. "Maybe so, but I don't give up so easily. Let's go Cyndaquil!" Recovering from the attack, Cyndaquil charged right back into battle.

As the battle continued, the two Pokémon kept trading blows doing damage to each other bit by bit; while Ethan cheered on Cyndaquil and the boy staying silent only speaking to issue out and order. "Hmm . . . your doing ok, for a weakling." The boy said making Ethan get even angrier. While both Pokémon where getting tired, Cyndaquil was ready to faint while Totodile was still going strong. "Time to end this," the boy spoke. "Totodile, finish it with Scratch." "Dile!" Totodile declared as it charged at Cyndaquil with claws readied. Ethan knew that Cyndaquil couldn't take another hit and had to think of something fast.

"Cyndaquil! Don't give up!" He shouted. With that bit of encouragement, Cyndaquil opening its mouth but instead of fire, it shot out a stream of smoke surrounding Totodile and stopping it in its tracks. "Toto? Toto?" Totodile looked around unable to see a thing. "What?" the boy was shocked showing for the first time in the battle emotion. Ethan was also surprised by this move as well. 'What? That must have been Smokescreen," Ethan thought as the fire in his eyes burned again. "This means we still have a chance.' "Cyndaquil, Ember straight into the smoke!" Just as he was told to, Cyndaquil shot its attack into the smoke knocking the Big Jaw Pokémon out of the smoke and onto the ground. "Get up!" the boy kept on shouting as Totodile struggled to get on its feet. "Now finish it Cyndaquil! Tackle attack at full speed!" With all of its strength, Cyndaquil charged at full speed and hit Totodile head on, knocking it to the ground again and KO'ing it as well.

"This can't be!" the boy shouted, surprised that his Pokémon lost even with the type advantage. Ethan just jumped with joy. "Way to go Cyndaquil!" He proclaim giving the thumbs up. "You rock and you rule!" Cyndaquil was happy as well jumping into its trainer's arms. The boy just looked at Ethan in disgust as he returned Totodile to its Poke Ball. "Big deal, you just got lucky that's all." The boy walked up to Ethan and stared at him. Ethan ,done jumping around and putting his buddy down, stared back at the red-headed boy.

"Do you know who I am? . . . I'm going to be the world's greatest Pokémon Trainer." With saying that, the boy pushed past Ethan and made his way into Cherrygrove. Ethan just looked at the boy as he went by. 'What is up with that guy?" He looks down and picks up what looks like some kind of card. "This must be that guy's Trainer Card!" He said out loud as he saw the boy's picture and even his name. Suddenly the boy came back and snatched the card out of Ethan's hand.

"Give that back!" he spat. "That's my Trainer Card!" Looking at the card the boy came to a startling conclusion. "Oh no! You saw my name . . ." Once again the boy took off with Ethan staring at him. "Once again," Ethan said to himself. " What is up with him?" Deciding to forget about it, Ethan knelt down and petted Cyndaquil.

"Nice job Cyndaquil, you did well at your first trainer battle." Cyndaquil just squealed with joy at all the praise he was getting. Going into his bag, Ethan pulled out a potion and sprayed Cyndaquil restoring most of his health. He then picks him up and puts him on top of his head, which seems to be his favor spot. "Alright little buddy, lets hurry back home." "Quil!" Cyndaquil agreed as Ethan took off down Route 29.

Today was defiantly turning out to be a surprising day. Ethan got his first Pokémon, made his way past Cherrygrove, encountered many wild Pokémon, got a strange egg from Mr. Pokémon, was given a Pokedex from Professor Oak, and even had his first trainer battle. But still . . .more surprises were to come when Ethan would reach his home town of New Bark.

- Well there you go, I hope ya'll enjoy this chapter. I like to thank CappyT for his review which caused me to work harder on this chapter. You rock Man! So keep sending those reviews. The next chapter will be out by next week so until then . . . Peace!