Chapter 4
Politics and New Travelling Partners?

Jack was more than a little surprised when on his eventual return to the campsite he spotted Ivy sitting on a nearby log, slowly sipping at a bottle of water. Jack stopped in his tracks when he saw his friend. He certainly hadn't expected her to have calmed down and returned so quickly. Immediately his mind started to race and panic took hold of him. Had he spent more time dawdling in that forest with the Pidgey than he thought?

The Pidgey…

He cringed. The thought of having to explain all this to Ivy made him want to turn around and go straight back into the forest and not come out again. However, knowing his friend was likely to still be upset, he forced his feet forward. This knowledge however still did nothing to calm his nerves.

He took a seat opposite her. "Are you feeling any better?"

"… a little…" she said stiffly.

"Good, I'm glad."

She mumbled something unintelligible and rested her head on her hand. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry I got all… angsty…"

"You're forgiven, my dear." Jack accepted the apology gracefully and smoothly.

Ivy nodded, before raising her red face to look at him. "So… what were you doing in that forest…?"

Jack swallowed, knowing this was going to be incredibly difficult to say. He couldn't accurately judge how Ivy was going to react to this. "Well… I thought I better go and get the Pokeball you lost…" Jack trailed off, not sure how to continue.

Ivy shot her friend a suspicious look. "I'm sensing a "but" here,"

"You know me too well…" Jack said with a forced laugh. He delved into the pocket of his jeans and brought out the Pokeball, in its minimized form. With a click of the button he maximized it until it was the size of a baseball. He then tossed it lightly to the ground.

Ivy cried out in surprise as the Pokeball opened. For a moment, she didn't know what to expect. She didn't even know what was happening.

"Oh my God," she squealed as she caught sight of the tiny Pokemon that escaped from it. "Jack! Where did you…?"

Jack chuckled as the Pidgey jumped onto his shoulder and began cooing happily. "Ivy, meet Phoenix."

"…Phoenix…?" Ivy repeated incredulously. "Jack… that's a Pidgey."

"I know it's a Pidgey. I'm not that clueless, you know?"

"I know, but you don't call a Pidgey "Phoenix", it just doesn't fit!"

"It will do when he evolves!"

Ivy gawped. "I… I can't believe this. You caught a Pidgey. A Pidgey! With my Pokeball! Oh my God, you caught a Pidgey! You caught a Pokemon before me!"

"Sorry," Jack apologised as humbly as he could.

Ivy let out a theatrical groan. "I don't believe this… I don't believe this at all. How can someone who's not even doing the course that they have to pass catch a Pokemon before me! It's not fair!"

"Easy, Ivy, easy." Jack comforted his friend. "I only caught this Pidgey because it wanted to be caught. And look on the bright side, okay? Now that we have a Pokemon, it'll be much easier to catch one for you."

"Jack…" Ivy looked nervously at the tiny baby Pidgey on Jack's shoulder. "No offence, but I don't think that thing can even fly, let alone fight and take down other Pokemon,"

"Hey!" Jack recoiled, insulted. "Phoenix can handle himself just fine. Well… at least, he will. When I train him up a little."

"Do you even know howto train Pokemon?"

"W-well! Not—not really. But how difficult can it be?"

"Famous last words," Ivy quipped.

Jack opened his mouth to recover with a snappy retort, but it was at this moment that Phoenix the Pidgey chose to take flight. With a flap of his tiny wings, he propelled himself into the air. Jack cried out in fright, half-expecting the young Pidgey to fly away and escape, but it only remained airborne for a few seconds. It landed firmly on Ivy's shoulders, nudging his beak into her reddened cheek. Ivy froze.

"Jack… What's it doing?" she hissed, her whole body completely immobile apart from her eyes which darted comically from the Pidgey to Jack, and then back again.

"He likes you," Jack said with a smile.

"… why?"

"Why does anyone like you?" Jack teased, and had it not been for the Pidgey on her shoulders, Ivy would have reached out and punched Jack for that. Instead, she compromised by snapping "shut up Jack!" with as much vehemence as she could muster.

Jack smiled, before remembering that the two of them still had a goal to achieve. Clearing his throat, he spoke up again. "So, shall we get going up to Cerulean?"

Ivy frowned, casting a glance up at the sky. It had already been a long day, and she was already exhausted. She wasn't entirely sure she wanted to go traipsing off to Cerulean right now. "What time is it?" she inquired.

Jack consulted the time on his watch. "A little after five,"

Ivy pretended to consider this, but in reality, her mind was already made up. "It might be a little late to start travelling now," she mused, shooting Jack a defiant look. "It'll be getting dark soon. I don't really want to travel when it's dark,"

"Fair enough," Jack said with a swift nod, while whistling for Phoenix. The Pidgey flapped over to Jack, settling down comically on his head. "Shall we set up camp, then?"

Time passed slowly as the two friends set up their campsite. Neither of the young adults had had much experience with erecting tents, and their initial results were pitiful to say the least. Eventually, their patience grew thin with it, and they decided to leave the tent in its bag and sleep under the stars, knowing that with it being summer, the nights would still be pleasantly warm. Their attempts to start a fire however, proved surprisingly much more fruitful, and they were able to cook a small dinner of soup and bread which they ate with much appreciation. Even Phoenix the Pidgey was appeased, gobbling up the stray crumbs of bread that fell to the ground.

Ivy watched the baby Pidgey as it hopped around their campsite while she was chewing thoughtfully on a piece of bread. She had to admit that the little thing was cute, and she was happy that Jack had been able to catch a Pokemon with so little difficulty, but she'd be lying if she said she wasn't jealous. She had wanted to be the first one to catch a Pokemon. It only felt right that she should, being the one who had to go through this stupid course in the first place. At the same time however, she knew that Jack was right in what he had said earlier. Having Phoenix the Pidgey would be an advantage to them when it did come time for Ivy to catch a Pokemon, she knew that, but she still felt bitterly jealous that Jack had gotten there first…

The route was quiet all night. Neither Jack nor Ivy saw a single other person traversing there that night. Both young adults found this strange, as it was fast approaching the deadline for achieving badges to compete in this year's Indigo League and had anticipated routes to be filled with trainers running to and from the cities collecting their last badges, or looking for battles.

The League was an interesting point. There had been many shake-ups in the world of Pokemon training in the past few years, Ivy remembered. The Kanto League had started offering a lot of money to trainers who took part as an incentive to draw more people to it, and after a series of protests two years ago; there had been a radical upheaval in the way Pokemon training operated. For a while there had been worrying talk of the legal age to raise Pokemon to increase to sixteen, alongside attaining a certain degree of education. However, after many protests from the League Champions, Gym Leaders, and Elite Four members, particularly Lance, the Dragon Master and former champion of Kanto, they had reached a compromise. Now generally children had to wait if they were fourteen, but if they attended a Pokemon Academy specifically for the purpose of becoming trainers, and received good grades, they could be "fast-tracked" and be allowed to embark earlier. Assuming they had written consent from their parents, that is. Ivy's sister Michaela had not attended such a school, and thereby had to wait until she was fourteen. And even when she reached fourteen, Ivy's parents had not been comfortable with sending her out at that age, and had forced her to wait another year.

Ivy thought about this for a little while. There had even been talk of banningPokemon training altogether, if she remembered rightly. There had been protests by the Anti Pokemon Protestors all over Johto after the events of Team Plasma in the Unova region some time ago, but thankfully the incident had been contained. However, it had raised worrying questions about the statistics of injuries and deaths caused by Pokemon training, and the age requirement had been raised subsequently. Many people had been outraged, especially the current Champion of Kanto and Johto. Ivy remembered a speech he had made in the aftermath of the incident. He had started his training at the tender age of ten, and had risen to become champion after several years of region-hopping and intense training. Ivy wasn't quite sure what she considered better. To start young and fresh before you had any other responsibilities to deal with, but run the risk of accident and injury because of inexperience and childishness, or to begin when you were older, wiser and able to handle yourself, but likely to have outgrown the notion and have adopted a new goal in life…

"Hey, earth to Ivy!" Jack suddenly waved his hand in front of Ivy's face, making her snap forcefully back into the present. "Where did you go? What are you thinking about?"

"… Politics…" Ivy said, a little dumbfounded.

"Politics?" Jack frowned, wrinkling his nose. He then pressed his hand to her forehead. "You sure you're feeling okay?" he joked.

"Just fine, thank you," she said, huffily sweeping his hand off her. "I was just thinking—"

"Don't hurt yourself,"

"Jack!" Ivy said sharply.

"Sorry," he smirked, as Phoenix fluttered onto his shoulder again.

It was getting late now, the sky was slowly starting to tinge with deep blue, and the sun was sinking into the horizon, casting multi-coloured hues everywhere. Even as Ivy thought this, she stifled a yawn.

Jack looked at his friend sympathetically, while passing Phoenix another small piece of bread. "Tired…?"

"A little…" she admitted.

"It's been a long day," he said with a nod. "Maybe it is best to get some sleep. We can travel to Cerulean tomorrow."

"Yeah," Ivy said noncommittally, her eyes inexplicably drawn to the darkened horizon far off in the distance. "Tomorrow…" she said musingly, wondering what exactly would be waiting for her in the still unknown city of Cerulean.

The two friends left early the following morning, much to Ivy's distaste, who was very much nota morning person. Jack however was used to early mornings and had no trouble getting up and setting out a slight breakfast for them. Jack didn't want to travel on too heavy a stomach, especially if they had a long way to go. He certainly didn't want to hear Ivy complaining about being bloated or having a stitch the whole way there.

After some amount of gentle coaxing, Ivy was eventually prised from her bed. After an even longer period of encouragement and prodding, Jack finally succeeded in getting her dressed and ready to go, promising her a hearty lunch in Cerulean as an incentive.

However, a thought struck Jack as they were on their way, and his heart sunk a little as he investigated his wallet. "We're going to have to watch how much money we spend," he said warningly. "I'm already running low."

"Me too…" Ivy said mournfully. She didn't even have to check her purse to know just how much of a dire situation she was in. "What on earth are we going to do…?"

Jack knew the only sensible solution to their money problem and chuckled nervously. "Pokemon battles…" he said under his breath.

"Pardon?" Ivy's sharp ears still picked up on it.

"Pokemon battles…" Jack repeated, cringing slightly.

Ivy let out a long groan. "Are you kidding me? Pokemon battles?"

"Yeah. It's part of the rules, apparently. If you lose, you have to hand over money to the winner… something like half of how much you have on you or something."

Ivy blinked. "But what if you don't have any money?"

Jack shrugged. "I have no idea,"

"But…" Ivy ventured worriedly as Phoenix the Pidgey soared above their heads, without a care in the world. "You only have Phoenix to battle with. How do you expect to win any battles with just him? Do you even know if he can fight?"

Jack had to answer in the negative. "I'm not sure if he can. I guess we'll have to try it out, won't we…?"

"Try it out?"

"Yeah," Jack said with a smile, before whistling to get his Pidgey's attention. "Now, what moves do Pidgey have…?" he murmured out loud to himself.

"Tackle?" Ivy suggested helpfully.

Jack shot Ivy an incredulous look, but then shrugged, realising he didn't have any other options. "Phoenix," he called. "Try a Tackle attack, okay?"

Phoenix cocked his head to one side and cooed loudly. Jack grimaced, wholly expecting his little baby Pidgey to not understand his instructions. However, to his intense surprise, Phoenix sped up his flight, put his head down and sailed forward like this for a good few metres, before eventually slamming into the branch of a tree.

"Well," Ivy deadpanned, as Jack cried out in shock and the dazed Pidgey dropped to the ground. "At least we know he has one attack."

"Phoenix, return!" Jack recalled the Pidgey to its Pokeball, cringing slightly. He certainly hadn't expected his Pokemon to slam straight into the tree like that. He had to keep reminding himself that Phoenix was still likely to be very young, and possibly not completely capable of battling yet. He made a mental note to start to train up the young Pidgey as soon as it recovered from its collision. He was still glaringly aware of the fact that the longer it took him to get Phoenix strong, the longer it would take to get Ivy her first Pokemon. He certainly didn't want to disadvantage Ivy any more than she already was.

The two young adults continued on their way to Cerulean City in the hazy light of the morning. It was surprisingly cold for a summer morning, and Ivy's teeth chattered as the cool air bit at her exposed skin. Eventually, as the sun rose higher into the sky, it began to warm up, the hazy pink and light blue sky eventually darkening into a deep blue hue, with the occasional wisp of cottony cloud.

The azure city of Cerulean eventually rose from the horizon, and both Ivy and Jack were deeply enchanted by this new city. They were both used to the hustle and bustle of city life, but there was something different about Cerulean. Even though it was also a hive of activity, no different from Ivy's home in Pewter City or her university life in Saffron, there was something infinitely calmer and more serene about this place. Jack in particular was well taken with the stretches of ocean that seemed to go on for as far as the eye could see, and he couldn't help but admire the way the slabs of sky and sea blended into each other effortlessly, like paints mixed by a skilled artist.

"It's so beautiful," Ivy found herself saying as they overlooked the city.

"Isn't it?" Jack said with a little smile.

"We should definitely come back here for a holiday once all this training is done with," Ivy ventured, a little nervously, looking up at her friend.

Jack nodded. "Definitely."

Talking excitedly about what the two would do if they came to a place like Cerulean for a holiday, the two young adults continued. Both were completely taken with their new surroundings and were eager to explore much of the city, but they knew that the sooner they got to Viridian Forest, the better. They decided to stop only to eat lunch, knowing that they would need all the strength they could get to tackle the horror that was Mt Moon, the giant, treacherous mountain that cut off Cerulean City from Pewter City.

They ate lunch in one of Cerulean's many restaurants, engaged in light and brief conversation over the table. Ivy remembered that Cerulean City housed one of Kanto's many Gym Leaders, a woman by the name of Misty, who favoured Water Pokemon. Ivy then also got particularly excited when she opened a gossip magazine she had just bought that had reported that Cerulean Gym Leader was now "secretly" dating the Kanto and Johto League Champion. At this point, Jack swiped Ivy over the head with said magazine, and told her not to be so stupid, that magazines made up stories like that to ensure more gullible readers like her.

After lunch, the two left on their way. Cerulean City was a big city, yes, but nowhere near the size of Saffron, which both young adults knew like the back of their hands. It was easy for them to navigate the streets, and a couple of buses and about an hour's travel later, the students found themselves at the cusp of Route 4, which would lead them up to the towering intimidation that was Mt Moon. It was a difficult route to cross, being mainly uphill, and with a lot of steep ledges to climb. Phoenix flew above their heads, circling them, as the two friends huffed and puffed their way across the route.

However, no sooner had they reached Mt Moon, they were faced with a problem. The entrance to the mountain was currently being blocked by two trainers. Ivy and Jack could hear their heightened, raised voices before they could even see them.

"What on earth is going on…?" Jack murmured as they approached, the aggravated voices rising to almost deafening heights.

Upon closer inspection, they saw that both trainers were male and they were practically nose-to-nose in the other's face, yelling about, what Jack understood as, the result of a Pokemon battle. Ivy and Jack exchanged nervous looks, anticipating both these young men to be strong, powerful trainers. Hoping to avoid being challenged, or even spottedby the two young men, Ivy and Jack began to edge away nervously.

However, Phoenix, who still hadn't learned the concept that not all humans were good and trustworthy, was excited at the prospect of two new people to play with. Without even so much as a warning, it cawed happily and lifted off Jack's shoulders and flew straight towards the two other trainers.

The first trainer, who had a shock of brilliant red hair, was completely disinterested by the Pidgey and didn't even cast it a backwards glance, but the other seemed to take offence at the trilling bird invading his space. He swept his hand angrily at the bird, hoping to scare it off, but Phoenix was undeterred. This time it made even more of an effort to land on the second trainer's head.

"Get away from me, you idiot Pidgey!" the trainer bellowed, trying to catch the bird as it flapped around his head. Seeing that it made little to no effect on the tiny Pokemon, the trainer growled angrily and threw his hand down to his belt, notching a Pokeball from it.

Ivy cried out in panic, but Jack was quicker. With speed Ivy thought she could never attribute to her best friend, Jack had sprinted forward and was now standing firmly in front of the two trainers. As she jogged up to them, she could hear Jack say in his best low, firm, disapproving teacher's voice "Don't you dare touch my Pidgey,"

The second boy, his hand still poised on a Pokeball, shot Jack an incredulous look. "This is yourPidgey?"

"That's right," Jack said as calmly as he could manage, and whistled for Phoenix to come and sit on his shoulder. Thankfully the Pokemon obeyed.

"Bit small for a Pidgey, isn't it?" the boy said critically, eyeing the Pidgey with obvious disdain.

"He's still a baby, yes." Jack said smoothly. "Now, if you don't mind, I have things to do. Would you both please move so my friend and I can pass through Mt Moon?"

The second trainer huffed slightly, but obediently stepped aside, revealing the low hanging mouth of the entrance to Mt Moon. Without saying another word, Jack strode forward confidently, with Ivy bringing up the rear nervously. Both thought they had gotten away free for a few moments, but another voice picked up behind them.

"I hope you have more Pokemon with you than just that Pidgey,"

As Jack and Ivy turned around, they saw it was the red-headed boy speaking. The strands were falling over his pale forehead, tickling the bridge of his long, thin nose. Deep brown eyes peeked out from behind the curtain of hair, and his high cheekbones and perfectly sculpted, full lips for some reason, made Ivy initially very nervous and unsure. Even worse was the fact that he looked even older than she was. He looked almost like he was in his twenties, and he had an air of calm and sophistication, even despite the scruffy and well worn plain jeans and t-shirt he was wearing.

She chanced a look at the other boy. While the red-head was tall and impossibly skinny, the second boy was almost the exact opposite. He was shorter and rounder, and had a face that looked unfortunately squashed, like he'd just run straight into a wall. He had coal black hair, cropped short, large, watery blue eyes and a mouth that looked like it was permanently curled into a frown. He had a generally disagreeable air to him that certainly wasn't helped by the threatening way he was holding onto that Pokeball.

Jack glanced at Ivy at the red-head's question, before clearing his throat and answering him as calmly as he could manage. "As a matter of fact, we don't."

The second boy with the black hair burst out laughing. "You don't have any other Pokemon at all?"

Both Ivy and Jack shook their heads.

"Going into Mt Moon without the protection of Pokemon is asking for trouble," the red-head boy said smoothly. "The wild Pokemon in there are too strong for one little Pidgey to take on,"

Ivy winced. This had occurred to her of course, but hearing it stated so bluntly only served to make it sound even worse. She cast a glance at Jack who still looked very calm.

"Well, you two seem to be trainers," Jack said with a smile. "Why don't you accompany us through?"

The red-headed boy looked a little taken aback. "Well, yes, we're trainers—"

"And you know each other, correct?" Jack inquired.

The two boys exchanged wary glances, but nodded all the same.

"Then I'm sure you wouldn't mind escorting Ivy and I through Mt Moon?" Jack said calmly. "We'd both be very grateful for your help if you were passing that way yourselves?"

"Funnily enough, we are." The black haired boy said. "We're heading for Viridian City as a matter of fact,"

Ivy couldn't help herself from bursting out "So are we!"

Both boys looked at her strangely, before she cleared her throat and reassessed herself. "Uhh… well, Viridian Forest, actually."

The red-headed boy rolled his eyes and said nothing, but the black haired boy frowned and snapped "Well don't think we're babysitting you two all the way to Viridian Forest. You better catch some Pokemon in Mt Moon if you want to stay alive."

"Thank you for your concern," Jack deflected expertly. "We'll make sure to do that,"

A hint of a smile adorned the red-headed boy's face. "Well, shall we get a move on, then?"

"Wait!" Ivy couldn't help but blurt out. "Sh-shouldn't we introduce ourselves?"

The red-headed boy turned his brown eyes on Ivy, holding out a hand to her. "Of course," he said with a hint of a smile. "Sebastian," he told her. "Sebastian Rhodes,"

Ivy flushed a little before accepting the proffered hand and shaking it. His fingers were long, with perfectly cut nails, and surprisingly cold to the touch. "I'm Ivy McKenzie."

"A McKenzie, huh?" He said with a smile. "You don't see many of them around here,"

"I haven't heard of many "Sebastians" either," Ivy had to fight a giggle as she remembered the song her brother Lewis had sang to her before she had left Saffron. He had sung "Under the Sea" and now, here she was, meeting a Sebastian. Fate certainly seemed to have a sense of humour.

Sebastian smiled, before retracting his hand. Jack stepped forward and shook Sebastian's hand. "I'm Jackson Hartman, but call me Jack."

"Jack," Sebastian repeated, nodding. "Pleasure to meet you both."

Everyone then pointedly turned to look at the black haired boy standing next to Sebastian. He grimaced as soon as all the eyes turned on him. "Robert Rhodes," he said flatly.

"You're both Rhodes?" Ivy cried out in surprise. "Are you guys brothers?"

"Of course not!" Robert snapped. "We're cousins,"

Ivy had to physically stop herself from blurting out "I didn't think so, cos you look nothing alike", but she caught it just in time, swallowed it back and instead compromised by letting out a tiny squeak. Jack shot her a knowing look and she kept her mouth firmly shut tight from that point onward.

"If we're going anywhere, we should go now." Sebastian was quick to exercise his authority over his cousin, and two sudden travelling companions he was supposed to be escorting. They seemed like perfectly pleasant people, he reasoned to himself, but he couldn't help but wonder why people of their age seemed to be such inexperienced trainers. He thought about it for a few seconds. The boy, Jack, seemed to be his age, maybe even older, and Ivy, the girl, was probably the same. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of fascinating stories the two of them carried…

He caught the girl's eye, and was surprised to see her shooting him a wide smile. He couldn't help but smile back, appreciating what a sunny grin she had. He looked in Jack's direction, but was slightly disappointed to see he was distracted by playing with his Pidgey and recalling it back to its Pokeball. Eager to depart and to clear Mt Moon before it got too dark, he summoned his cousin and new travelling partners and began to lead the way through the mouth of Mt Moon.

Author's Note

Well, here's chapter 4 at long last! And I've introduced two new characters, Sebastian and Robert Rhodes. As of yet, I'm still a little unsure as to what their role(s) is going to be, but I hope you enjoy their characters that I'll explore next chapter :)

Thanks to all those that read and reviewed :)

Special thanks go to Sapphire'sDestiny, Sunbean, MasterFreezeman, TwewyReaperGirl, BlackRoses (for your three wonderful reviews!), Kopycat101, Shadow Serenity 57, WildCroconaw and Zoeten.

I'm not sure when the next chapter will be released, as I have to devote a lot of time to my other story Free Spirits, but reviews and reading is still much appreciated on this one :)

Cheers guys :D