"Finally!" Steven exclaimed as the gate came into view. With everything covered in flower petals, they had gotten turned around a few times. It was getting dark. Every time they paused to ask for directions or Steven put Little Bud down to rest his arms, a certain pokemon- Connie had said it was a skiddo- would appear and try to take a bite out of him.

"Is it still following us?" Connie asked, looking back.

"I don't think so."

"But that's what you said last time," she said as she walked through the arch. There was a line of people on their way out, but they were moving quickly. As the kids walked by the gatekeeper they were asked to step aside. "Is something wrong?" she peeped.

"Those pokemon are yours?"

"Yeah," Steven answered enthusiastically.

"Do you have any gym badges?"

Connie and Steven exchanged a look before she answered. "... No. Is that a problem?"

"I'm sorry, you two. I can't let you leave the city unless you have an adult with you or at least one of you has a gym badge.

"But we're trying to save someone!" Steven said desperately.

"I'm sorry. It's for your own safety."

They both frowned. "Can we at least have a town map so we can find the gym here?" Connie finally asked. He nodded and handed her a basic paper map. They made their way outside as she examined it. "It looks like the gym is by Mayor Dewey's office."

"Who's that?"

"He's like the city manager." She paused and looked up from the map. "You know what a pokemon gym is right?"

"Mm." He nodded. "I used to read comic books about the champion. I bet I can get a badge."

"Cool. I'm sure you can, too. According to the guide," she looked at the legend on the map. "It's a water gym! That means you have an advantage."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Grass types are super effective against water types."

"This will be easy, then! Right, Little Bud?"

The budew let out a cry and scampered between his legs, pursued by the skiddo.

"Hey!" This time, Steven grabbed it by the horns instead of just chasing it away. "I said no biting!" It tried to back up, its hooves slipping on the petals. Steven held on tight, and it pulled him along. Seeing that he was refusing to let go, it started pushing him instead. "Woah!" He struggle to stay on his feet and hold his ground. "It's really strong!"

"Hold on, Steven!" Connie said. Little Bud ran behind her when it saw that Steven wasn't driving the skiddo away. "Scyther, try a..." she paused to remember what moved she had seen it using. "Quick attack!"

It sped forward, moving so fast that it was just a green blur, and rammed into the goat pokemon. Skiddo was knocked onto its side and Steven fell down with it. Jumping back up, he called "Little Bud, use your yellow dust!"

Little Bud hopped forward and dusted the skiddo with stun spores. Skiddo shook off the spores as if they were nothing. It climbed onto its feet. Looking at the group around it warily, it made a quiet bleat and took a step back.

Connie tried to step closer, but Archimicarus put out an arm to stop her. "Steven, I read somewhere that skiddo can sense how people feel with their horns. You could try grabbing them again."

"I don't know, Connie. That didn't work so well last time," he huffed. He was still pretty close to it. It had backed against a wall.

"Try to really talk to it but with your mind," she suggested. "Say that eating Little Bud is not acceptable... and maybe try to get it to come with us?"

"That sounds really complicated," but he was stepping forward slowly, his hands up. "But I'll try." Skiddo pulled back the first time he reached for them, tossing its head nervously. "No, no... It's fine. I'm friendly." He put his hands on them and held on. The skiddo was still. "Uh..." He closed his eyes and started thinking about Little Bud. He thought about the worst thing he had ever eaten: when he had put a sea sponge in his mouth. Lapis had to pull it out and he almost choked. He tried to get past that memory quickly, before he felt sad. Then he thought about Connie and how she was his friend. The pokemon was just standing there when he opened his eyes. "Did... did it work?" Letting go, he took a few steps back. The skiddo followed him. "You like me now?" It sniffed at his hand.

"You did it, Steven!" Connie said excitedly.

He patted it on the head. "I did! Are you my pokemon now?"

"Ski!"

"I'll take that for a yes." He beamed at Connie. Little Bud came to his side, and he scooped him up. "Let's go find that gym!"

"Actually, Steven..." She pointed at the skiddo, who had began chewing on Steven's shirt.

"...Okay. Food first, then we go to the gym."

…

"I hope that the gym is still open." Connie murmured. By the time they had gotten food, stopped at the pokemon center again, and reached the gym, it was completely dark. Little Bud was asleep in Steven's arms, and they were all dragging their feet. To their relief, the gym's lights were on. He pushed the double doors open, and blinked the brightness from his eyes. Connie, Archimicarus, and the Skiddo, who he had decided to name Munchy, followed more slowly.

"Hello!" he called. "I need to challenge the gym leader!" His voice echoed in the mostly empty building. A long pool made up the battlefield, with several floating platforms.

"Maybe they're out looking for the Crystal people," Connie suggested, stifling a yawn.

"No!" Steven exclaimed. "We need to get the badge so we can find Lapis!" He ran around one edge of the pool; on the right side there was a white door with a glass window. Knocking on it, he called "Hey! I want to challenge the gym leader!"

"Steven, I don't think... Wait a second." He stepped back as she came over to the door and stood on her toes to get a better peek through the window. "Are you hiding in there?"

"Of course not!" A man rose to his feet where he was standing just behind the door. "I was merely certifying that this surface is hygienic. After all, the hygiene and safety of the city is my main priority." He pushed the door open. "You two say you want to battle the gym leader here? Well you're talking to him. Gym leader Dewey, at your service." He held out a hand and put on a winning smile.

"Wait... aren't you the mayor?" She asked, taking his hand. "Mayor Dewey? I thought you would be out there." She glanced outside, where the city was still covered with fallen petals.

Steven looked up at the man. He had never seen the mayor of Seesea City, but he guessed that Connie was right. Dewey clammed up at the mention. "Now kids, no matter what small problem happens out there, I still have responsibilities right here, in this gym."

"Will you battle me?" Steven asked hopefully.

"I sure can. What would you say about two pokemon each?" He made his way to one side of the pool and Steven went to the other. Connie sat down at the edge to watch with Archimicarus.

"That's fine. Little Bud," he said quietly to rouse the sleeping pokemon, "It's time to fight."

Little Bud gave a little wiggle and hopped out of his arms. "Dew!" Despite being awake and ready to fight, he did not open his bud.

"Budew, huh?" Dewey pulled a pokeball from his coat and tossed it. The beam of light inside at first startled Steven; he had only seen pictures of pokemon being released from their pokeballs. The pokemon that materialized was familiar, though. He had seen wingulls flying out over the ocean before.

"Okay, let's see..." Steven thought carefully about the moves that he and Connie had talked about for their pokemon. He wasn't one hundred percent sure that Little Bud or Munchy knew all the ones they had discussed, but he had to try. He started out with something he knew. "Little Bud, use stun spore!"

Making a mighty leap for such a little pokemon, Little Bud landed on one of the floating platforms. It opened its bud just enough to blow forth a wave of yellow spores at the wingull.

"Use mist, Wingull!"

The pokemon flapped its wings hard, blowing away the spores before they could land and whipping a mist out of the surface of the water. It obscured Steven's view of them both.

"Don't worry!" he said, speaking to his pokemon in the cloud. "Just- just try another attack!" He saw a faint light in the cloud, and the silhouette of wingull. The light was pulled from the bird pokemon and floated back to where he had seen Little Bud: an absorb attack. "Good job!"

"Water gun!" the gym leader called.

"Watch out!" Steven gasped. The water parted the mist and his pokemon took a direct hit from the attack. The budew was knocked on its face. He breathed a sigh of relief that he did not fall into the water. Getting on his feet again, he started to grow. All at once, the budew was nearly twice the size. Without Steven even giving an order, Little Bud had used growth. "Absorb again, Bud!"

"Wing attack!" The light being pulled from wingull hardly seemed to bother it as it dive-bombed Little Bud. Its wing struck him, throwing him across the pool. He bounced on the water once before landing at Steven's feet and shrinking back down to his normal size.

"Ah!" Steven quickly knelt down to pick up his fainted pokemon. "Oh no," he murmured, cradling him. "Are you okay?"

Little Bud made a very soft peep and smiled up at him.

"Do you want to use your next pokemon?" Dewey asked politely.

"Y... yeah," Steven answered nervously. "Connie, can you watch Little Bud, please?"

She came over and took the Budew from his arms. "Don't worry, Steven. He'll be okay. Just try to focus on the battle."

"Mm." He nodded and called Munchy to his side. For Lapis, he thought. "Alright, Let's go! Try a vine whip!"

Two vines rose from the skiddo's back and stretched toward the wingull as it flew. They crisscrossed in an attempt to follow its movement in the air, but it was too fast.

"Another wing attack!"

Munchy jumped from the edge of the pool onto a floating platform to avoid the attack. He reached forth with his vines again. Still, the wingull dipped and dived to avoid them.

"Try razor leaf!" His pokemon looked back at him helplessly. Steven realized that he must not know the attack. "N-never mind."

"Supersonic, Wingull!" The skiddo had been distracted by Steven and was easily hit with the confusing sound wave. When it looked back up and tried to follow wingull's movement, it stumbled dangerously near the edge.

"Watch out!"

"Water gun!" The attack pushed Munchy back toward the center of the floating platform.

Steven breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, you just need to calm down. Wait a minute and- No!" The skiddo attempted to launch itself at wingull, but he failed to even remotely get close. He flopped into the pool. His hooves churned at the water, but he was going nowhere but down. A hand on either side of his own face, Steven let out a cry. Without even so much as kicking off his flip-flops, he jumped in after him. He heard both Connie and Dewey say something, but he hastily swam over to Munchy. Grabbing him with one arm, he hauled the struggling pokemon to the edge of the pool.

Once his feet were solidly on the ground, Munchy snorted out a noseful of water and shook out his leafy coat. With Connie's help, Steven climbed out after him.

Dewey jogged over, careful not to slip on the wet floor. "Are you okay?"

Steven looked at the faces of the people around him, trying not to seem as upset as he was. "...Yeah."

"Well," the gym leader said. From his regretful tone, Steven could already guess what he was going to say next. "I can see that you love your pokemon just like I love the residents of Seesea City. However, I must say as a gym leader that I cannot give you the Seashell Badge."

"But if we don't get this badge we can't go save Lapis," he mumbled, hugging Munchy to him. Tears welled up in his eyes and he rubbed them away.

"I'll do it."

He looked up to Connie. Her eyes were on Archimicarus. "We can do it." The scyther nodded, a look of determination on his face. "Here, Steven."

Steven stood to take Little Bud from her. He wiped his eyes again. "Thanks, Connie."

Dewey looked at the wingull perched on his arm. "Is that your only pokemon, young Lady?"

She nodded. "Is that okay?"

"Of course. If I'm going to give you the seashell badge, you'll still have to beat two of mine, though."

"We can do it," she repeated.

Steven took her place sitting at the side as she and her pokemon made their way to the end of the pool. "Go Connie! Go Archimicarus!" he called.

"Okay, let's start with... quick attack!" The scyther lunged forward with blinding speed.

"Woah, there!" Dewey gasped. His wingull narrowly avoided the attack. "Mist! And wing attack!"

It stirred water into the air again, leaving Archimicarus looking around the fog. From the cloud it flew at him, nearly knocking him over with its outstretched wings. He swung his arms in frustration. "Don't worry," Connie said. "Just listen for its wings flapping. Ready? Pursuit!"

He jumped straight up, flapping his wings just a little bit for extra lift. Ensnaring the wingull in his arms, he tossed it hard into the water.

"Good job!" She praised. Before she could ask for another attack, he whirled his blades and stabbed toward where the wingull had fallen. The air twisted around the point that he had punched forward, creating a projectile that spiraled through the fog. Wingull was struck before Archimicarus even landed on one of the floating surfaces. As the fog cleared, she saw the bird pokemon floating belly up in the water.

"What a move!" Dewey whistled as he returned wingull to its pokeball.

"Wow!" Connie gaped. "That was great, Archimicarus!"

"Scythe!" He raised his arms and shouted victoriously.

"Good job, young lady, but you haven't beaten me yet! Prepare yourself; this pokemon has been in the Dewey family for generations." He threw a pokeball and it arched through the air before releasing a dull, brown fish pokemon. Looking at it, Steven thought it looked more like a rock than a fish, but it easily swam through the water. "Say hello to relicanth."

"Relicanth... that's water and rock type, isn't it?" Connie said quietly. Louder, she said "Be careful!" to her pokemon.

"Relicanth, use rock tomb!"

"Dodge it!" She commanded. Archimicarus quickly lunged from one side to another as chunks of stone materialized. They slammed together, creating a tomb, but the moving rocks only clipped him. "Pursuit!"

He bounded forward and slashed at the pokemon where it sat just below the water. The fish seemed indifferent to the attack. "Water gun!" Archimicarus, in his zeal to cause some damage to the other pokemon, did not even try to avoid the hit. He was thrown and landed in the pool. Though he did not sink like Munchy, he struggled toward a platform.

"Aqua tail!" The relicanth accelerated toward Archimicarus, moving easily in the water.

"Watch out!" Steven gasped at the same time Connie did. Whipping its short tail around, it sent the scyther skidding across the water. Archimicarus landed at Connie's feet and struggled to rise. She knelt down beside him. "Are you okay? We..." She glanced at Steven. "We can stop if you need to."

Archimicarus stood and pointed his blades at the water. He stabbed them forward several times, sending forth the projectiles of warped air that it had used to finish off wingull. When they hit the water, they left tiny whirlpools in their wake. The relicanth, now deeper under water, did try to avoid those attacks. "Okay." Connie said, sounding as if she had realized exactly what she needed to do. "Don't get too close. Keep using that attack." She snapped her fingers as she remembered its name. "Vacuum wave!"

The scyther flapped its wings rapidly to warm itself and dry off. All the while, it kept up the barrage. The pool's surface grew choppy, and underwater it was a virtual whirlpool. Dewey was clearly feeling the heat. "Water gun!" he commanded. However, the stream of water was quickly broken up by Archimicarus's attacks.

Breathing hard, the scyther stopped. Steven could tell that it was simply too tired to attack any more. He watched the water. As it cleared, he could see relicanth resting at the bottom, unable to fight.

"Your scyther is the winner," Dewey conceded, returning his pokemon to its ball. "You've earned the Sea Shell Badge."

"You did it!" Steven shouted.

Connie stared at him for a moment. A smile spread across her face. Laughing she threw her hands in the air. "Woo! We did it!" Archimicarus cried out happily as she jumped up and down around him.

She was beaming as the gym leader approached her. "I'm sure you all will be able to protect yourselves outside of our lovely city." He placed a glossy, sand dollar-shaped badge in Connie's hand. "And with a badge like that, people will recognize you as a real trainer."

"Thank you." Unsure where else to put it, she opened her glasses case and placed it inside. She turned back to Steven. "One more stop at the pokemon center, and then we can go."

Seeing the joy on her face, Steven couldn't stop himself from smiling, too.