In which Bugsy is kind of creepy.

Despite the Team Rocket man's words, it was actually pretty easy for Ethan to defeat him. He used a Zubat, which fell almost immediately to Pidgey, and a Koffing that Avery managed to take out despite the disadvantage type-wise. The man howled with rage, throwing a tantrum like a big baby, and Ethan backed up quickly.

"This isn't fair!" the main wailed. "No one defeats Team Rocket this easily! Not even that other boy with the stupid color name! It's not FAIR!"

The grunt who had refused to battle Ethan, the one without a Pokémon of her own, put a comforting hand on her boss's shoulder. "It's not the end of the world, Mr. Proton," she pointed out. "Why don't we just give up on the Slowpoke expedition? I'm sure our next project won't be such a spectacular failure..."

"Nonsense!" Proton declared. "I can still beat him! Bring me...the Bazooka!"

The grunt cringed. Ethan gulped. And a male grunt stepped forward nervously, his hands hidden behind his back.

"Are you sure you want the Bazooka, Mr. Proton?" he asked nervously, and Proton rolled his eyes.

"If I didn't want it, why would I ask for it?" The question made the grunt hang his head in shame. "Now, hurry, before he gets away!"

Ethan turned to run. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know what the Bazooka was. But he found out three seconds later:

"I asked for the Bazooka! This is a Rattata!"

"Yes, but it's a Rattata we named 'the Bazooka.' Pretty cool, right?"

"If it's any consolation, Mr. Proton, I told him not to."

Ethan shook his head as he heard Proton give up and accept that he and his troop would have to leave Slowpoke Well alone. He hid behind a different boulder as they passed, calling both Pidgey and Avery to their balls to keep them from being seen. And then, as he stepped out, he nearly tripped over a large pink blob in the middle of the path.

"Slow..." it said in a manner that Ethan thought was happy. He couldn't really tell. He COULD, however, tell that its tail was mostly regrown, and would probably finish the job within a few days.

"Um...you're welcome?" Ethan managed, getting to his feet. "Get off the path, all right? People are going to trip over you again, and you might even lose your tail."

The Slowpoke blinked but otherwise didn't move. Ethan rolled his eyes. But then he thought: what if he caught the Slowpoke? Professor Oak gave him a Pokedex to help Elm's research, right? And it would help him out in Gym battles, not to mention put him above Kris and Lyra in catch count.

No sooner had he made up his mind than he dug a ball out of his bag and dropped it from about waist height. The ball conked the lump on the head, sucked it in, and clicked closed. Two little wiggles, and the Slowpoke was his.

Ethan tensed up at the sound of footsteps, but it turned out to only be Kurt, still a little shaky but much more mobile. He checked all the Slowpoke but Ethan's, seeming to recognize all of them and find none missing(which was a good thing, since Ethan didn't want to be an unintentional thief) before declaring that the boy should get off his butt and help an old man get all these lazy blobs out of the well.


"I just can't believe you actually CAUGHT one," Kris was saying an hour later, having just reunited with the others and listened to the story. She was fidgeting with her pink Pokegear phone as she spoke, trying not to think of Team Rocket. "Slowpoke are annoying."

"You're just jealous," Ethan said smugly, gently patting the egg in his arms. He'd recently sworn to start carrying it in his arms wherever he went, something Lyra had already started teasing him for. "I have four Pokémon, or at least I will when this thing hatches. What's your catch count again? Two?" He smirked as she gritted her teeth.

Lyra interrupted before Kris could say anything. "Hey, Ethan, the Gym Leader here uses Bug-type Pokémon. Avery and Slowpoke are both weak to Bug-types. Do you have a plan other than 'send in Pidgey and see how far he can go?' Or did you forget to set up a Plan B again?"

"What's a plan?" Ethan asked, and, seeing his friends stare openly, laughed. "Calm down, Lyra," he said simply. "I was going to ask you two if I could borrow a Pokémon from each of you."

"Picking on me isn't going to get a yes," Kris reminded him.

Ethan thought it over. "What if I gave you permission to insult me to my face once with no retaliation?"

She thought about objecting, but decided against it. "Make it twice," she suggested, "and throw in a corn dog."

"The corn dog, I'll do," Ethan decided. "But once is my highest offer."

He held out his hand. Kris looked down at it, then reluctantly shook it. Lyra just smiled happily, pleased that everyone was getting along.

And Marill just hoped it would stay that way.


After trading Avery to Kris and Slowpoke to Lyra, and getting Chomper and Skyrocket in return, Ethan walked through the doors of the Azalea Town Gym, prepared to face anything.

Anything, that is, except for an enormous wooden Scyther built entirely out of craft sticks, which was waiting by the door like an old, broken exoskeleton. Ethan was not about to admit to the distinctively un-manly squeak that escaped his clenched teeth, and wondered for a moment if Avery would take the heat for it.

"I'm sorry if my project scared you," said a cool voice, and they turned around to see a young boy, probably somewhere around their age, carrying an enormous butterfly net over his shoulders. He was staring at them all with blank eyes, watching them. "I was planning to redecorate."

Ethan looked back up at the huge 'project.' "And this thing was going to be the centerpiece, was it?"

"One of many," the boy agreed, seeming to come to life a little more as he thought about his other projects. "I'm also planning on building a Heracross, and a Pinsir." Here Lyra shuddered, she hated Pinsir with a passion, but the boy was preoccupied with his thoughts to notice. "And I'm halfway done with a Beedrill that will hang from the ceiling," he added happily.

"And how will you keep them from catching on fire?" Kris challenged. "People who know the Gym specializes in Bug-types will bring Fire-type Pokémon, and there can be a lot of collateral damage..."

"I have my ways."

The girls shared a look, but said no more. Ethan saw his chance to take control of the conversation, and hopefully lead it away from the wooden bug project. "If you're the one in charge of redecoration around here, that means you're the Gym Leader, right?"

"Gym Leader Bugsy," the boy confirmed. "The walking Bug Pokémon encyclopedia."

"So, can I have a battle?"

Bugsy looked back at the giant wooden Scyther, as if asking for its permission. "Sure," he finally said, turning back to his new challenger. "The field is this way."


The two young boys faced each other on the field, the half-finished wooden Beedrill lying on the ground like a broken toy. Ethan tried to ignore it as he picked out a Pokémon to open with.

"I'll open with Metapod," Bugsy said, his eerie stare really starting to annoy and terrify his challenger.

But Ethan pretended he didn't care. "Then my first choice is Skyrocket!"

No sooner had the Sentret appeared on the field than the Metapod began trembling, as if it knew exactly how the thing preferred to battle. Ethan had to laugh. Metapod wasn't exactly known for being a difficult opponent, and Bugsy certainly didn't seem like he'd be a difficult Gym Leader.

But, within an hour, he'd lost both Skyrocket and Pidgey, and was standing alone with the Totodile of some girl he'd known for just a few days.

On the bright side, he'd managed to take down both Metapod and the Kakuna that Bugsy had sent out immediately afterward. It was only the real Scyther that stood between him and his second badge, and this one was the tough opponent.

Kris looked on from the stands, her Hoppip in her arms, Avery's head resting on the seat right beside her. Lyra had chosen to keep Slowpoke in his ball, but Marill was out in the open, sitting on her lap and staring at the field. Lyra's eyes, however, were completely diverted from the fight, and it did not escape Kris's notice.

"What are you doing?" Kris finally asked, looking almost pained as Lyra's pencil swirled across the sketchbook page.

"Drawing the battle," was the only reply given. "Scyther and Chomper both look amazing out there."

Kris focused on a small doodle of a dress that stood out among the Pokémon sketches. "And that?"

"I like playing dress-up," Lyra said simply, gesturing to her outfit. "That's inspired by a Pikachu. I'll ask my grandmother to help me make it sometime."

"You still play dress-up?" Kris asked, and when Lyra just nodded, she looked impressed. "That explains the Mario costume."

"Funny." But Lyra was no longer paying attention, and Kris, figuring she'd gotten the last laugh, looked back at the field as well, if only to see how her Totodile was doing.

Ethan struck a pose. "Now, Chomper, use Ice Fang!"

Chomper's expression suddenly looked very, very much like the one his trainer usually wore when dealing with Ethan's antics, and the boy quickly found himself backtracking. "Or Scratch. No, better yet, unleash your Rage!"

Bugsy was not about to lose easily. "Fury Cutter," he ordered calmly, and the Scyther swung at Chomper, connecting with the small blue body and increasing the power of both Rage and Fury Cutter.

"Keep Raging, Chomper!" Ethan commanded, and the Totodile jumped at Scyther again.

"You keep using Fury Cutter, too," Bugsy ordered, and Scyther nodded.

But eventually, the Fury Cutter attacks missed, and with one final, overpowered lunge, Chomper had taken it down and won Ethan the Hive Badge.

With the new badge in hand, the Slowpoke saved and Team Rocket gone, Ethan and the girls headed back to the Pokémon Center to get their Pokémon back to their original trainers. They planned to head right into Ilex Forest after the healing and trades, but...

"Who let you three into this town?"

Silver had other ideas.