Chapter Seven

Opening the doors to the gym once again, the three preteens stood within the doorway and then made their way into the dark building. The lights turned on as the sensors picked up o the newcomers to the gym and Forrest stood at his end of the gym, happily tending to one of the rock-type Pokémon that was there. He had paused in what he was doing as the main lights overhead came on and he stood up to face whoever was there. Giving a knowing smile he welcomed the three young trainers back into the arena.

"Welcome back to the Pewter City Gym..." Forrest said, looking to the youngest dark-haired girl in particular. "Dixie, wasn't it? It's been at least a week since the first time you stepped foot in here and challenged me. I certainly hope that you and your team have been practicing hard enough to take on the Pokémon I have."

"You bet!" Dixie chirped back to Forrest, smiling a bit. "I bet my team and I can definitely beat you this time around!"

"Mm... we'll be seeing about that." Forrest replied, placing a hand upon the head of the Pokémon that was next to him.

Shifting her attention to it, Dixie lit up for a moment and then whipped out her PokéDex. The Pokémon that was standing next to Forrest was one that she had never seen up close before. Looking down to her Dex, it gave her the information of the Pokémon that it was aimed at, 'Nosepass, the Compass Pokémon. Nosepass had been said to be completely unmoving, with its magnetic nose pointed due north. However, close observation has revealed that the Pokémon actually moves by a little over 3/8 of an inch every year.'

"Huh... most likely not going to be one of the Pokémon he's going to be using against me..." Dixie mused, closing her PokéDex and then pocketing it while turning her head to be looking up to Forrest. She glanced around the gym for a moment and then pulled out a PokéBall from her messenger bag.

"So, is this battle going to be like last time? A two-on-two singles battle?" Dixie questioned, tossing the PokéBall up and down in her hand as she awaited an answer from Forrest.

Nodding to her, Forrest confirmed the question. "Yep, it'll be the same as when you were here before." Bringing out a PokéBall from where they were on his belt, Forrest expanded it and held it out. Glancing over in the direction of where the bell was, the Gym Leader shrugged off the fact that there was no referee once again and then turned his attention back onto Dixie.

"Alright... so are you ready for the battle to start?" Forrest asked, continuing to hold his PokéBall out.

"Ready as I'll ever be!" Dixie replied, grinning from ear to ear and gripping the PokéBall that she had a little more tightly.

"Then let the match..." Forrest started, throwing out his own ball capsule. "Begin!"

Before Dixie, a purple bat Pokémon with a sinister look on it's face flitted about the air for a moment and Dixie throw out her own PokéBall. The dark-haired girl quickly whipped out her PokéDex again as her own Pokémon, Riese, burst out onto the field. Pointing the scanner towards the bat-like Pokémon and got it's information: 'Crobat, the Bat Pokémon. Crobat is the evolved form of Golbat. With its two additional wings, Crobat is able to fly much faster than Golbat.'

"Nn... I thought that this was supposed to be a rock-type gym..." Dixie muttered, pocketing the PokéDex and then looking out onto the field to her Butterfree and then to the Crobat that looked to its opponent. The two flying creatures evaluated one another, waiting for either one of their trainers to be telling them what attack to be using first.

"Crobat, start off the match!" Forrest finally called out, waving an arm outwards to motion his Crobat to attack. "Use your Air Cutter!"

Quickly flapping its wings in compliance to its trainer's wishes, the Crobat sent strong gusts of winds in Riese's direction, blowing her back a bit. The Butterfree struggled to stay in place in the air, though didn't have much luck. Her delicate wings pounded the air, trying to keep her stabilized, though such was not her luck once the Air Cutter picked up and sliced through the air and into her. As the sharp bursts of air hit her, Riese fell back more with a slight wail, as the attack was of a type that she was weak against.

"Fight back, Riese!" Dixie called out, not exactly liking seeing her Pokémon get hurt by the Crobat's attack. "Hurry and use Poison Powder!"

"Hah... useless..." Forrest commented as Riese flapped her wings at a high speed and released the toxic spores that resided on her wings out onto the field and towards her opponent. The noxious cloud engulfed the Crobat and Dixie pumped a fist into the air.

"All right! We have the battle now no doubt!" Dixie said, grinning even more widely. As she kept her eyes glued onto the battle that was happening before her, the young girl's grin immediately disappeared and a look of shock appeared on her face. "Wh-what? Why isn't Poison Powder doing anything to it?"

"Don't you know?" Forrest asked, folding his arms over his chest and tilting his head in a rather cocky fashion. "Poison-type Pokémon aren't affected by attacks and moves that are poison-based. Your Butterfree's Poison Powder was a wasted effort. Crobat! Go in and use Mean Look!"

Tearing through the poisonous cloud, Crobat appeared in front of Riese and had its eyes glow an eerie red colour. Soon that colour surrounded Riese and made her tremble for a brief moment. Looking up to her Pokémon with heavy concern, Dixie brought out her PokéDex once again and hoped that it may be able to provide with some answers as to what Mean Look did.

'Mean Look; Mean Look is an attack that prevents a Pokémon from switching out or running away during battle unless the Pokémon that used it is called back or runs away.'

"Oh... no..." Dixie started, furrowing her brow out of worry before pocketing her Dex and looking back out to the arena. Now knowing that she couldn't call back Riese until she either got knocked out or was able to knock out the Crobat was something that Dixie mulled over in her mind. This was one of the things that she hadn't planned happening in the scenarios for the tactics that had planned to use against Forrest.

Taking in a breath and trying to remain calm about the situation, Dixie looked back up to Riese and then called out the next attack, "all right, Riese! If Poison Powder isn't going to work, then why don't we take a different approach and use Sleep Powder!"

Nodding and then flying up overhead, Riese spread a light cloud of the sleep inducing spores over the field. The Crobat's focus was kept up on the Butterfree as she did so.

"Crobat, send it ba–"

"Now quick! Use Gust and send it into that Crobat before it can do anything!" Dixie shouted quickly before Forrest could tell his Crobat to be doing anything.

Furrowing her brow and flapping her wings even faster, Riese sent the Sleep Powder spores down into the Crobat as both trainer and Pokémon were stunned by the sudden combination of attacks that Dixie had just commanded the Butterfree to be doing. As the Sleep Powder started to reach Crobat, the bat-like Pokémon started to waver in the air and his eyes grew heavy.

"Crobat! Before you go down! Use Air Slash!" Forrest shouted, hoping that his Pokémon would be able to react accordingly.

Giving a tired cry, Crobat, lifted his wings lazily and then moved them forwards with no real power behind them. With the Butterfree keeping her Gust attack strong and continuously blowing the powder in his direction, the Crobat soon closed his eyes and plummeted to the ground in a slumber. Upon seeing that, Riese ceased all of her attacks and then fluttered to Dixie happily, cooing to her trainer as she did.

"Yay! You did it Riese!" Dixie cheered, raising her hands up to the Butterfree while giving a light laugh. "You were able to send that big bat to sleep! Hah, I'm so proud of you, Riese. Good job!"

The Butterfree fluttered happily around Dixie for a moment as Forrest returned the Crobat back to its ball capsule and gave a slight smile. He recognized that Pokémon to be that Caterpie that Dixie had sent out before. It seemed that both girl and Pokémon had done a lot of work with one another during the week that they hadn't come back to the Gym. It was certainly something to be proud of... but that being the case, it was time to get a little more serious. Taking another capsule from his belt and expanding it, Forrest hesitated for a moment before throwing the PokéBall out.

A metallic cry echoed throughout the building as that familiar Steelix was released. Dixie and Riese both stared up at it – Dixie a little more calmer about seeing the huge behemoth than her partner was. Riese flitted from her trainer's side and then back out onto the arena. Shaking her head a bit, Dixie rose Riese's PokéBall and called back the Butterfree now that she was able to because Crobat was no longer her opponent.

"Sorry girl... this battle's not gonna be yours..." Dixie said as she looked back to the Butterfree's PokéBall and then minimized it. Placing it back into her messenger bag and then pulling out another PokéBall, Dixie smirked a bit and then threw the capsule out. Zalaras appeared before the great Iron Snake Pokémon and then clenched his little hands into fists, ready for the battle that was about to begin.

"Using that Charmander again?" Forrest wondered aloud, looking down to the golden lizard. He noted it's determined facial expression and then turned his attention up to Steelix. Giving a faint smile, Forrest called out to his Steelix to starting off the battle, "Steelix! Rush in and give that Charmander your Iron Tail!"

"Using the same first move as last time...?" Dixie asked, not exactly addressing anyone in particular as she watched the Steelix's tail grow white. Zalaras stood at the ready, anticipating the Steelix's moves. There was no way that he was going to let Dixie down – not with all the training that they had done over the week.

The metallic cry rang out once again and Steelix charged for Zalaras, his tail up and ready to strike.

"Zalaras, dodge it at the last second and use Smokescreen to give yourself cover!" Dixie shouted, hoping that this tactic would work.

Steelix slammed his tail down, hoping to get the small Charmander in the process. However, much like last time, Zalaras leaped out of the way, having the iron snake's tail smash into the ground. It was still rather intimidating to see those small fissures and cracks form in the ground by the sheer power that Steelix boasted. Looking at that for a split second, Zalaras immediately turned his attention back to what he was told to do and then opened his mouth. A cloud of smoke burst from his open mouth and rose up over him, providing the covering that was called for.

"Nn... Steelix, do your best to just bide your time! Wait till it attacks to attack back!" Forrest called out, a little wary now that the Smokescreen attack had obscured both his and his Pokémon's vision of seeing the golden lizard.

Tensing as the smoke billowed across the arena, Dixie still kept her eyes glued to where she saw Zalaras last, hoping that this tactic that she had formed would work. She took in deep breaths, pushing down her anticipation and trying to keep calm about what was going on at the moment.

The Steelix looked around for a moment and then the ground shook as it shifted to get a better view of the things around.

"Now, Zalaras! Flamethrower!" Dixie yelled.

Through the smoke, a plume of fire shot out and towards the the Steelix. The metallic beast's eyes widened in shock, and even Forrest seemed a little stunned that Zalaras was actually able to be using the Flamethrower without it being that weak little stream that it was last time. The teen Gym Leader gave a wince as Steelix cried out in pain and thrashed about, trying to rid his body of the burning sensation that spread through his body.

"Retaliate! Put that fire out and use Sandstorm!" Forrest shouted to Steelix.

Clenching his mighty jaw and taking in the pain, Steelix looked down to the cloud that obscured Zalaras and then started to twist parts of his body. The ground around then kicked up and a sandstorm started to whip up within the building. It was weaker than most, but it still made Dixie, Jaxx and Jakkaru raise their arms to shield their eyes from the sand and dirt particles.

The smoke cleared a bit as Steelix continued with his attack. Luckily for both Dixie and Zalaras, the Steelix couldn't keep up the attack for that long without making its burns hurt a little more than they had been. Zalaras had curled himself over his tail flame as the Sandstorm brewed and then cautiously stood up, making sure that he didn't act too soon.

Looking down at the Charmander, the Steelix narrowed his bronze gaze and then gave a slight snarl. It was obviously irritated by the small Pokémon as he had been able to deal quite a bit of damage to the Steelix's iron body. Giving a slight snort, Steelix shifted and curled around Zalaras, keeping him enclosed.

"Steelix, what are you doing?" Forrest questioned, a little uneasy about the giant iron snake acting on its own instead of waiting for direction. Watching the Steelix more carefully before calling out his next attack, Forrest observed its movements and then its facial expression to see if he could make out the thoughts that were going though its head.

"This is perfect..." Dixie said to herself with a slight smile as she saw how the two Pokémon were in the arena. She glanced over to Forrest for a moment, not noticing how uneasy he seemed and then shouted out to Zalaras, "use your Ember, Zal!"

Increasing the size of the flame on his tail, Zalaras waved his tail vigorously. The flames flew off and around the area that Zalaras was enclosed in. Uncertainty rose within the Steelix as it looked around at the small embers that started to land on him from the small golden lizard and then quickly withdrew himself from being curled around Zalaras.

"Endure the Ember and go in for a Crunch attack!" Forrest yelled after some time, now a little calmer about commanding Steelix to do something. He shifted his gaze to the demolished part of the gym for a short moment and then looked back out to the two Pokémon in the arena.

Opening his mouth, Steelix rose up higher, readying himself to strike down at the golden lizard. It glared down at him before starting off – he wasn't exactly pleased by the defiant look that the Charmander was giving him.

"Now's your chance Zalaras!" Dixie shouted as the iron behemoth rushed in for the attack. "Go in and do what we planned!"

Bracing himself, Zalaras furrowed his brow and then opened his own mouth. He mustered up a bit of power that he had and then let loose another Flamethrower attack, aiming it straight for the inside of Steelix's open maw. The flames licked the inside of his mouth, spreading and enveloping the Steelix's mouth.

Immediately after receiving the attack, Steelix reared up, crying back out in pain and rattling the inside of the building. The lights shook and made the inside of the Gym look as if it were swaying. Shortly after, the Steelix moved back, writhing on the ground in pain like before when Zalaras had used Flamethrower for the first time.

"Steelix..." Forrest murmured, frowning as he watched the Pokémon try and rid himself of the burning pain that coursed through his mouth and head at the moment. Raising the PokéBall capsule, Forrest called back the Steelix to it and then started to walk across the arena with a warm smile on his face.

"We won...?" Dixie asked, obviously stunned. Her shocked expression quickly changed from that to a happy one and then looked to Zalaras, who was running back over to her with a sense of triumph in his expression.

"Yep..." Forrest replied, digging in his pocket and pulling out something. He kept his fist clenched around it and then waited till he was right in front of Dixie before holding it out to her and then having his smile widen a bit. "You know... I was very surprised when you had your Butterfree do what you asked it to do against Crobat.... And... I'm actually glad to see that you and your Charmander have improved over the course of time that you took to do training. I'm glad to give you this Boulder Badge in recognition that you have in fact defeated me of the Pewter City Gym."

"Oh... wow... I don't really know what to say..." Dixie admitted. "It's... this is just so cool." Holding out her hand, Dixie grinned and Forrest put the Boulder Badge in her palm. Giggling as she clutched her hand over the badge, the dark haired girl bounced on the balls of her feet and then stooped down, scooping up Zalaras in her arms and lifting him up high with a laugh.

"We did it, Zal! You, me and Riese!" Dixie happily said, spinning around once and then cradling Zalaras in her arms before turning to Jakkaru and Jaxx, holding the badge up in her hands with a proud grin on her face. Her expression was met by a smile from Jakkaru and a slightly amused look from Jaxx. Giving another slight laugh out of being excited, Dixie said to her friends, "I did it, guys! I got my first badge fair and square! It's all thanks to the both of you, too. So thanks!"

"Dixie... right?" Forrest started back up. The colourfully dressed girl pivoted on her heel and then looked up to Forrest with a quizzical look on her face. Even though there was still a rather approving look in Forrest's expression, his voice was rather stern, "just know that as you go on, gyms will be getting tougher. I'm also not sure if you've heard about certain things going on with Pokémon all around... but all of you..." Forrest looked up to both Jaxx and Jakkaru, "be careful on your journeys... and I wish all of you the best of luck."

Giving a slight nod, Dixie smiled back to Forrest and then gave a reply, "thank you, Forrest. It was a great experience to battle you. If I come back, I'll try coming back for a battle that's just for fun."

"Heh... sounds like a plan."

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"Hey Ruth... do you think it'd be a good idea now to be getting on our way to Cerulean City?" Harold asked, scratching at his Murkrow's breast. He looked to his partner who had been watching the battle between Dixie and Forrest through the shoddily repaired area of the demolished portion of the Pewter City Gym.

"Perhaps so... that's the closest gym from here..." Ruth replied, leaning up against a sturdy part of the building. She turned her attention to Meowth at her feet and then detached a PokéBall capsule from her belt, returning the feline Pokémon to it. Shortly after, Harold followed the example with his Murkrow, awaiting more information from Ruth since it has sounded like she had more to say than just that.

"Besides... it may provide a good chance to be looking for more Pokémon to expand our collection than just trailing on this Charmander like you had suggested once before...." Ruth turned her attention from Harold to the sky and then pushed herself from the building. Looking back to Harold for a moment, she started back down towards the pathways of Pewter City and then fell into thought.

Harold followed after, fumbling with the dark PokéBall capsule in his hands while watching Ruth to see if she had anymore to say.

"You know... with all the newscasts and reports of alternately coloured Pokémon being seen and whatnot, I believe that we could just give up on that Charmander for now and get to expanding our collection by looking in different areas..." Harold suggested, minimizing the PokéBall and attaching it to his belt.

"But even then, finding them is going to be a difficult task. Even if there are more showing up, that doesn't mean that they're suddenly going to be easier to find..." Ruth responded, bringing a hand to her chin and taking that into deeper thought. "However... as we know that the regions just crawl with trainers, breeders and coordinators of all types... we may find ourselves to be rather lucky in the near future if we do set something up that appeals to all types of trainers."

"The only question at the moment is what can we be doing that would attract attention from other trainers..." Harold said, shoving his hands into his pockets and then kicking at a rock.

"I suppose that's one of the things that we'll have to be thinking about on our way to Cerulean." Ruth adjusted the bag that she had slung over her shoulder and continued along the pathway, Harold catching up to be beside her.

"Could always do what we did last time..." Harold said, shrugging his shoulders and looking ahead. "I mean... it worked quite effectively last time. With the Pokémon from the Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh regions and the other rarer finds that we have on us, there's no way that this'll fail – it didn't in the past."

"This is true..." Ruth replied, pausing and looking ahead, though not really focusing on anything in particular. "And Cerulean City is pretty much bound to have more of a population than this place, considering what goes on in that place...."

Nodding in agreement, Harold took a few extra steps further and then looked back to Ruth for split second. Turning his attention in the direction to the exit of the city and to the next route, Harold started for it, turning and walking backwards, watching Ruth and motioning for her to hurry up and follow him. His motion had caught her attention rather quickly and Ruth trotted up to her partner's side, still mulling over some things in her mind about what they should be doing about their initial plan.

"Do you think that trainers will be drawn in to take the offers that we put up?" Ruth asked after a moment, looking over to Harold, her greenish-blue eyes glinting in the sunlight.

"News of us has died down. It's been at least five years since the last things we've pulled. Not to mention the changes that we had specifically done so that people don't exactly recognize us," Harold responded, turning to be walking properly and bringing a hand up to his dark green hair. "Granted they're just a change of both hair style and colour, but it's worked so far – so I wouldn't worry about it so much...."

"That wasn't really my question..." Ruth said, giving Harold a slightly irritated look.

"Ah... sorry...." Rubbing at the back of his neck, Harold rose his blue gaze up to meet Ruth's for a moment and gave her a slightly apologetic look. Receiving a roll her her eyes to his look, Harold said something more, "you know... to answer your question.... I suppose we'll never know until we actually go out and try it out."

"Of course..." was all that Ruth said before silence fell between the duo and they were steadily making their way out of the city.

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"So amazing, and it's all thanks to the training that we did!" Dixie was saying, fawning over the Boulder Badge that she was holding in her hand. She grinned and looked back to both Jakkaru and Jaxx, the happiness portrayed in her facial expression seemingly unmeasurable. Holding the badge up high to have it catch the light from the sun, Dixie gripped the new, multicolour badge case that was in her other hand.

"You know... you bought that before leaving Pewter for a reason..." Jaxx said, getting a little tired of hearing Dixie's cheerful sayings and quips.

"Yeah, I know... but just... look! I mean... it's my first badge, it's awesome!" Dixie replied with that grin still upon her face, turning to look up at him and practically shoving the badge in his face. Jaxx had a rather disgruntled expression on his face as he stopped abruptly and placed a hand up over Dixie's and pushed her hand out from his line of sight.

"Uh huh... and you've been waxing poetic about it this whole time, Dixie..." came Jaxx's response as he let go of the younger girl's hand and then glanced over to Jakkaru for a moment. "Anyways... you should probably put that badge in the case you bought before you end up losing it – or worse, a Pidgey or a Spearow comes to make off with it just because it's shiny."

At that, Dixie's expression quickly became panicked for a moment and she fumbled with the badge case, putting the Boulder Badge in there nice and snug. Putting it in her messenger bag, she looked back up to Jaxx and noted his amused expression and then immediately narrowed her eyes at him for but a moment. The moment was cut short when Jakkaru made her way over and made a quip.

"You two really need to stop flirting~" this was said in a singsong and rather teasing manner as Jakkaru walked forwards, shifting the incubator in her arms and looking to both Dixie and Jaxx with a rather playfully smug expression. It was promptly met with scowls from Dixie and Jaxx as they hurried to walk ahead or beside the brunette.

"It's not flirting..." replied Jaxx, a tad miffed by Jakkaru's comment.

"Whatever you say, Jaxx," Jakkaru laughed, cradling the incubator in her arms as the trio walked along the route that led from Pewter City to Mt. Moon. The trip was fairly silent save for the occasional bickering that arose between Dixie and Jaxx – though as they continued, it was merely to be expected of the two. Jakkaru didn't seem to mind any longer, and to her, as long as it wasn't as bad as when Dixie argued with Ivan, then everything would pretty much be A-OK.

"Chu pika pika kachu!" a series of chatters rang out that sounded rather winded and tired.

Looking around for the source of the noise, Jakkaru, Dixie and Jaxx had stopped, turning their heads to see if they could spot something. A few moments passed by, though a rustling sounded from the bushes and the three preteens immediately looked over to see a Pikachu jump from the foliage and up on Dixie. A small scream resonated from her mouth as the small electrical mouse frantically clung to her. The crackling sound of lightning could be heard from his cheeks as he got situated on the younger girl's shoulder and looked back in the direction in which he came.

"H-hey..." Dixie started, nearly stumbling backwards at how fast the Pikachu had made it's appearance. Looking a little closer to the Pikachu, the dark-haired youth noticed that there were some blood stains on his fur and that when he had jumped onto her, he had gotten blood stains on her purple shirt. Concern rising a bit, Dixie furrowed her brow and looked out in the direction that the Pikachu had come from as did both Jakkaru and Jaxx.

It took a few moments, though a man dressed in hiking gear and sporting a rather large build came out, looking rather peeved. His onyx gaze looked from the kids to the Pikachu that had perched himself upon Dixie's shoulder and then a slight laugh escaped his lips and the three younger trainers looked up to him rather quizzically.

"Thinkin' you can just use these kids as a somethin' tha' can protect you, eh?" The man's accent was thick and it was quite obvious that he intended no good to the Pikachu that Dixie had risen an arm up over defensively.

"Who are you?" Jakkaru asked, furrowing her brow slightly and stepping forwards some.

"None of yer business, kid.... But if ya wanna know somethin', then it's gonna be the fact that I'm the rightful owner to tha' Pikachu ova there," the man sneered, giving the Pikachu a glare. He took a step forwards and held his hand out to Dixie. In response, Dixie had backed up, slightly intimidated by the man's size and uneasy because of how the Pikachu was acting towards the man that had claimed to be its 'owner'.

"I-I don't believe y-you..." Dixie stuttered, backing up into Jaxx and having the Pikachu wobble a bit on her shoulder. Losing its balance, the Pikachu tumbled forwards and luckily for him, Dixie had held out her arms and quickly prevented him from falling any further. As she glanced down at it, she noticed that the rodent's tail had been damaged and looked as if something had torn a chunk of the tip of his tail right off.

So it seemed that that was the source of the bleeding.

"Hand 'im ova!" bellowed the man, making Dixie flinch and back up more into Jaxx with uncertainty.

Noting her actions, Jaxx had started to wrap his arms around her protectively, though quickly caught on to what it was he was doing then sidestepped and put his arm out in front of Dixie and the Pikachu defensively. He glared up at the man, not happy with how his actions were effecting any of the beings that were there.

"Don't talk to her that way..." Jaxx growled, keeping his defiant gaze locked with the man's. "It's not like she did anything wrong."

"Boy, mind yer own damned business!" the man shouted, swinging his hand over and pushing Jaxx back into Dixie. The two kids toppled over, Dixie protecting the Pikachu with her body so that he didn't get anymore injured than he already was.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" Jakkaru asked, getting more heated up than before. She hurried over to where Jaxx and Dixie were, helping them both up and brushing the dirt that clung to them off their shoulders and backs.

"Listen, ya kids jus' gimme the rodent and we'll all be good, alright?" The man looked from Jakkaru to the other two kids then finally back to the Pikachu in Dixie's grasp. When the Pikachu picked up on the man looking down at him, sparks flew from his cheeks a little more violently and he curled more in the younger girl's grasp, not wanting to get out of her arms.

"Dixie..." Jaxx said quietly, nudging her to grab her attention. Once she had turned her head to look at him, Jaxx continued, "just... hang onto the Pikachu and... start running...."

"What?" Dixie looked at him quizzically.

"Go!" Jaxx shouted, grabbing a PokéBall from his chain and pushing Dixie forwards down more along the route, stepping in front of the man as he heard Dixie start to tear down the pathway. Pressing the button in the center of the capsule, Jaxx expanded it and narrowed his eyes back up at the man. He honestly didn't really care about some of the things that were going on at the moment, though he knew if he were to do nothing, then Dixie would bark his head off later.

"Boy, get out of my way!" snarled the man, looking at the PokéBall that Jaxx held.

"I don't think so..." Jaxx replied, glancing over to Jakkaru, hoping that she'd catch the hint to be helping him out.

Going over next to him, Jakkaru shifted the incubator to be cradling it in one arm and then dug in her bag with her other hand, pulling out a PokéBall as well. Both preteens stood at the ready, ball capsules expanded and aching to be thrown to release the Pokémon that were contained within.

"Tch... if it's a double battle that ya brats are gonna be wantin', then fine..." the man scoffed, drawing two PokéBalls from the belt that was slung across his hip. Expanding them, he threw them both out. Bursting out before the two preteens a Vaporeon and a Sandslash stood. The water Pokémon growled, lowering its head and swishing its tail fiercely. The Sandslash, on the other hand, looked up to the two kids and had beat its claws against the ground's surface rather rapidly.

Taking in the two Pokémon's appearance, Jaxx and Jakkaru threw out their own capsules.

"Fang, go!"

"Come on out, Sparky!"

From Jaxx's PokéBall, the Growlithe burst out, giving a happy yip and then looking to the two other Pokémon. Beside Fang, Sparky stood, shaking his yellow head and then looking up to the man and then back to Jakkaru. He was a little confused by what was going on, though quickly shrugged it off and assumed a battle ready stance.

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Panting and gaining a stitch in her side from running a rather far distance, Dixie tripped over her own feet after a while, the Pikachu flying from her hold and she landing face-down against the ground. She stayed like that for a moment, breathing heavily and then pushing herself up. Turning her gaze upwards, Dixie looked to the Pikachu. He was standing a distance away in a stance that said that he was prepared to take off at any time.

Gulping and still trying to recover her breath, Dixie pushed herself up into a sitting position and then said in a soft tone, "it's alright. I'm not going to hurt you...." The Pikachu tilted his head at her, his cheeks sparking out of being cautious.

"If..." Dixie started, still breathing rather heavily. "If you want to run away and be free... go... I'm not going to stop you, all right?"

"Chu pikachu pi!" With that, the Pikachu bounded off and into the grass that lined the route. Dixie simply watched after him, sighing a bit and then crawling on her hands and knees over to a tree and sitting up against it. She had made up in her mind that she was going to wait till she had recovered enough of her stamina or until Jaxx and Jakkaru had come back from dealing with that man.

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"Vaporeon! Start this'un off! Take that brat's Growlite outta tha picture! Use Water Gun!" the man commanded, looking to his water-type.

Vaporeon growled slightly and then opened its mouth, firing a strong stream of water at Fang. The canine looked relatively concerned about the attack and then shifted on his feet slightly, hoping that his trainer's command would be shouted out soon.

"Sparky! Go out in front of Fang and use Thundershock!" Jakkaru yelled, noticing that Jaxx seemed to have been hesitating for some reason. After her command, Sparky quickly darted out in front of Fang and then released a powerful jolt of electricity from the sacs at his cheeks. The electricity contacted the water and rushed for the Vaporeon, electrocuting the water-type where it stood and immediately ceasing her attack.

"Vaporeon!" the man shouted, obviously seeming concerned for his Pokémon. "Shake it off and go in for a Quick Attack! Sandslash, use Swift!"

Both Pokémon reacted accordingly to the commands that were given to the both of them. Vaporeon's body shook as she regained her composure and then darted forwards for her attack. Sandslash, on the other hand, opened his mouth and shot a collection of star-shaped small energy projectiles towards the two other Pokémon.

Vaporeon's Quick Attack made contact with Sparky and sent him rolling backwards and after a while, Sandslash's Swift attack hit both Growlithe and Sparky. Fang winced and gave a slight whine to the attacks that hit him and then shook his head, ridding himself of the smarting that resonated at the top of his head. Sparky staggered back up to his feet, giving a slight scoff and narrowing his dark blue eyes at the Vaporeon.

"Fang, focus on that Sandslash and rush in with a Flame Wheel!" Jaxx shouted, clenching his fists. In the back of his mind, he was hoping that Dixie had gotten relatively far away with the Pikachu and was still okay.

Barking in acknowledgment, Fang rushed forwards, his body becoming cloaked in fire as he ran. With all the force that he could muster, Fang leaped and tackled himself into the Sandslash before the man could command the Pokémon to be doing anything further.

Skidding back, Sandslash dug his claws into the ground and stopped himself. He staggered back up to his feet and then glared at Fang.

The group of Pokémon stood there after the attacks, seeming to have a stare down with one another. Things had come to a slight standstill – Pokémon on either side awaiting further attack commands from their respective trainers. Vaporeon's tail swished irritably, Sandslash flexed the muscles in his back, making the quills upon him stand up more. At the other side of the field, Sparky panted, his legs shaking somewhat from being worn out; Fang seemed to be fairing better than his rodent partner, though his mouth was curled up at the corners, his teeth bared and a snarl escaping his mouth.

"Fang!"

"Sparky!"

The shouts from Jaxx and Jakkaru were simultaneous, almost as if they knew that they were about to call out attacks right then and there.

"Sparky, go in and use Quick Attack!" Jakkaru continued, swinging her arm forwards in a motion to have Sparky hurry and use the attack.

"Use Helping Hand, boy!" Jaxx added to what he had to command.

Barking and yipping in rapid succession, Fang reared up several times, doing his best to cheer on Sparky so that he could perform the Quick Attack more efficiently. Sparky rushed forwards a little faster, slamming his body against the Vaporeon and being able to send the feline-like creature back some and into Sandslash. However, even though the two Pokémon took the hits, it seemed that they were no where close to being done in quite yet.

"Alright, Vaporeon, Sandslash..." the man started, a slight smirk on his face. "Team up with tha Helping Hand and Rollout combination!"

The Vaporeon gave a slight laugh – if one could call it that – and then yipped a couple of times, wagging her tail and cheering on the Sandslash as he curled himself tightly into a ball and spun at an incredible rate, barreling straight into Fang and Sparky. A deep trail was carved into the ground as Sandslash rolled into Sparky and Fang, sending the two back.

Sparky had been tossed up from the ground and had sailed into Jakkaru, making her stumble backwards and onto the ground. She had quickly wrapped her arms around her Pokémon, looking down at him with an apologetic look and then looking back up to the man with a glare.

Fang had skidded on his back past Jaxx's feet, a small whine being emitted as he looked back up to his trainer. Jaxx quickly went over and knelt by the fire-type's side, his brow furrowing in concern. He rose the PokéBall that was used to hold Fang and then returned him to the capsule. Jakkaru had done the same thing with Sparky and put the ball back into her bag.

"Tch... kids are always weak..." the man said with a hint of disgust to his voice. He called the Sandslash back to it's PokéBall and then returned Vaporeon to hers before starting off in a sprint down the trail that he saw Dixie run off to.

"Jaxx, we need to get to Dixie, and fast!" Jakkaru said, a little panicked.

"I know... but..." Jaxx started, looking back to the brunette and then just taking the initiative, pulling another ball capsule from the chain at his side. Throwing it out, he released Spearow and gave him the instructions, "go and find Dixie, make sure she's okay and make sure she knows that she's probably going to be caught if she's not still running!"

"Hey... that's a good idea..." Jakkaru commented, taking two PokéBalls from her bag and throwing them out as well. Both Pidgeotto and Fearow were released, the two of them taking to the skies with Jaxx's Spearow. Instructing them to do the same thing that Jaxx's Spearow was told, the three bird Pokémon took off. Holding her incubator close to her and looking over to Jaxx, the two preteens started down along the route path, not exactly pleased by the situation that was at hand.

-------------------------------------------

Taking in a breath, Dixie got up from her sitting position against the tree and then slung her bag up on her shoulder, looking back down the trail. Figuring that Jakkaru and Jaxx were still being held up by that weird man, Dixie started off back in the direction that she had come from, wondering what was going on and hoping that the two of them were okay.

Looking down at her shirt as she walked, the colourfully dressed girl frowned and then grabbed at her shirt so she could examine the blood stains a little more closely. Looked as if whenever she and the others were to be getting to the next town or city, then they'd have to see about getting to a laundromat.

Footsteps were heard and Dixie tore her attention away from the bloodstains to the sound, smiling as she heard them. She was about to say something before the smile on her face disappeared as quickly as it had come and her eyes widened. Standing there for a moment as that man neared her, the dark-haired girl pivoted on her heel and then took off down the rest of the route.

"Girl, get back ova 'ere and gimme back that damned Pikachu!" the man shouted, gaining on Dixie.

"No! Get away!" Dixie shouted back, cursing herself for never having been that great in P.E. when she used to be going to school. She knew that she was going to be caught, she knew that the man could easily outrun her. As she was thinking those things, it was almost as if it had been on cue that her arm got snagged and she was actually dragged up into the air. Dixie kicked her feet a bit, not really taking too kindly to the fact that this man – whoever he was – was merely holding her up with one arm and pretty much by her wrist.

The man looked her up and down and even checked her multicolour messenger bag. Disgruntled, the man tossed Dixie to the side as if she were a rag doll and growling a bit.

"O-ow ow ow..." Dixie repeated, sitting up and rubbing at her side. The young girl looked up to the man, drawing her brow together and then clumsily getting back up to her feet.

It was then when Jaxx's Spearow had spotted Dixie and then circled overhead before fluttering down and landing on her shoulder. It looked around for a moment, noticing that Dixie had her hand pressed up against her side as if she had been hurt and then shifted his gaze to the man that stood before her.

"Tell me where tha' Pikachu's at!" the man yelled, spit flying from his lips as he spoke.

"I-I don't know!" Dixie replied, taking a few uneasy steps backwards. She had noticed that Jaxx's Spearow had landed upon her shoulder, but she was more preoccupied with wanting not to get hurt again.

"Don't lie to me, girl! Yer tha one tha' made off with it, now tell me!"

"I told you I don't know! I-I let it go!" Dixie responded, taking a few more steps back. "A-and even if the Pikachu was still with me, I'd never give it back to you!"

"You what!?" the man bellowed, advancing on Dixie, red in the face out of fury.

Cawing, Spearow flew from Dixie's shoulder and then started clawing and pecking at the man, trying to keep him away from the preteen. It had worked for the most part – the man had brought his hands up to protect his face from Spearow's attacks and started swatting at him as if he were an annoying bug that had somehow managed to make themselves known.

In the process of attacking the man, Spearow looked to Dixie and then cawed again – this time a little more loudly.

Picking up on what it was that the Spearow was telling her to do, Dixie started down the path in a run, a slight limp to her gait. Each step she took, her side throbbed a little, but it wasn't so bad that she couldn't keep going. Dixie had to keep reminding herself that – though, again, she didn't really have that much time before she was grabbed again.

Looking back up, Dixie's gaze met with the man's and she flailed a little in his grasp, only making the man tighten his grip on her arm. The increased pressure to her arm made Dixie wince, though she refused to show the fact that it hurt in her facial expression. It failed, though – namely because clearly seen within her expression, she was scared.

"Now... tell me where tha' Pikachu is and everything will be alright – ya can pretend tha' this neva happened, got it?" the man said, a growl to his voice as he kept a firm hold of Dixie's arm.

"I already t-told you...." Dixie started, her voice shaking somewhat. "I-I don't have him... h-he ran off and int– owww!"

"I said 'don't lie'!" the man yelled.

"Hey!"

A rock flew and hit the man on his forehead – pretty hard, too. Dixie heard the 'clonk' as the rock had hit him. However, Dixie was more glad that the fact that the rock had hit him had caused him to let go of her arm almost instantly. He pressed his hand against his forehead, cursing loudly – not caring that Dixie was now running to her friends who had just showed up to where they were.

"Thought I said not to talk to her that way..." Jaxx said, his brow furrowed and another rock in his hand.

"Dammit, kids! Ya have to make this so much harder tha' it 'as ta be?" the man growled, rubbing at his forehead. "What's yer fascination with 'avin tha' Pikachu free, eh? Pokémon are tools for us to command and battle!"

"Tools?!" Dixie and Jakkaru questioned, the both of them highly appalled that they were hearing such things.

"Pokémon are living creatures with feelings and emotions like us!" Dixie shouted, clenching a fist. "How can you call them 'tools'?! They battle for us because they care about us just as we're supposed to care about them! Pokémon are our friends if we work at it long enough! They're not supposed to be 'used' as weapons! How can you live with yourself and that way of thinking?!"

Both Jaxx and Jakkaru had turned their attention from the man to Dixie, slightly surprised by her outburst. So far to them, she had proven herself not to really be all that concerned over things and certainly not so much so to be making logical sense.

"Yer all jus' kids... there's nothin' tha' ya are gonna understand until ya get older..." the man replied, furrowing his own brow. "I'll make sure I'm gettin' that Pikachu back... that little rodent 'as cost me a lot and I'm not about to lose 'im because some idiotic group'a kids decided to meddle in business they had no business bein' in."

After saying that, the man turned and made his way down the route, accepting the fact that it must have been true what Dixie had said – the Pikachu was no longer with her and that he had ran off.

"Dix..." Jaxx started, dropping the rock, returning Spearow to his PokéBall and then looking to the younger girl.

"H-huh?" Dixie answered, still a little shaken by what had gone on.

"You're..." he glanced over to Jakkaru.

The brunette wasn't even paying attention to the two of them at the moment. Instead, she had whistled loudly, calling Whisper and Milkweed back to where it was she was so that she could return them to their PokéBall capsules.

"You're okay... right?" Jaxx asked, looking back down to Dixie.

Giving a slight nod, Dixie responded, "y-yeah. Nothing bad really happened... I just...."

"Just...?" Jaxx cocked a brow, waiting for Dixie to continue.

"Just... maybe a little bruised on my side – nothing big!" Dixie quickly added, not wanting her friend to worry.

"Bruised?" Jaxx gave a slight sigh and then clenched Spearow's PokéBall tighter in his hand. It was clear to see that he wasn't too thrilled about that news. He looked back to her and just gave a slightly irritated sigh, "but... at least you're better than you could have possibly have been...."

A smile made its way onto Dixie's face, "yeah... I guess you're right about that."

"Heh...."

"Oh... and thanks again. Both of you."

"You're our friend, Dixie," Jakkaru replied, having returned Whisper and Milkweed to their capsules and putting the balls back in her bag. She had the incubator cradled in her arms and a warm smile was on her face.

After Jakkaru had said that and seeing her expression, Dixie's smile grew wider into a grin and she said it again, "thanks."

She drew her hands together and giggled slightly, pushing away all the uneasiness that she had felt prior to how she was now and then looking up to Jaxx and then to Jakkaru.

"You know... I'm really glad that I got to meet the two of you..." Dixie admitted, smiling to the both of them. "I mean... you both are really great friends, and I appreciate all the help that you both have offered me and the fact that you both have pretty much agreed to traveling with me. I honestly don't know what this would be like if I were alone – I'd probably still be stuck in Pewter and still struggling to win my first badge."

"Nice speech, Dixie... but can we save the sap for Venomoths?" Jaxx replied, giving a slight smirk and walking past her a bit, ruffling her hair as he did. Jakkaru gave a slight laugh as well and followed after him.

"H-hey..." Dixie started, straightening out her hair and then quickly jogging to catch up with the two of them – disregarding the small amount of pain in her side.

"Wasn't it you that was excited about getting on the road to Cerulean City, Dix?" Jakkaru asked, a slight teasing sound to her voice.

"Well... yeah..." Dixie replied, walking next to the both of them and then starting to fiddle with the ends of her shirt.

"Heh... then we're going to be going – besides... we don't know how long it'll be taking to get through Mt. Moon..." Jaxx said, adding onto what Jakkaru was saying.

"Yeah... hehe, and maybe we'll be able to catch more Pokémon in the process!" Dixie chirped. Though she now seemed as if she were cheerful, there were new things that raced through her mind.

First, there were those two people that seemed as if they were after Zalaras. Now there was this unknown guy that claimed that Pokémon were tools that existed to serve humans. These were all thoughts that bugged Dixie – and though she knew that her friends wanted to keep their minds off of those, it was pretty much a given that the three of them were going to definitely have to keep on their toes while traveling though the Kanto region.