"Wow, so you're already level 25?"

"Yes. I come from my homeland high in the Almia region," Ch'Ding began to explain, "The father of that little girl raised me to be strong and endure the harsh winters. Then he sent me to live with that vile female after she begged him, over and over, to have the Pokemons of her own. I shall never forgive him for that injustice…"

Pixel looked nervously at Ch'Ding. Flambo chimed in to avoid the awkward silence.

"Well, it's good to have you on the team!" Flambo said enthusiastically as he patted the Farfetch'd on the back. The team made their way to the S.S. Anne with the ticket that Pixel had received after speaking with the eccentric man known as Bill. Pixel recalled the encounter quite well…


"Hello? I was told that a Bill lives here?" Pixel said as he peered inside the doorway.

A figure in the center of the room turned towards him. Pixel's face flushed in fear as the enormous pink Clefairy turned to greet him. Pixel's eyes widened when the Clefairy began to speak.

"Hello! I am Bill! So sorry for you to see me like this, I was trying an experiment that seems to have gone horribly wrong, and now I can't fix it by myself. Would you mind helping me?"

Pixel nervously walked in as the enormous Pokemon gestured towards a computer. "When I say so, please press the button," Bill said as he entered what looked like a chamber with a tube connecting to another similar chamber on opposite sides of the room. "Okay, now!"

Pixel pressed the button and began to hear a humming noise. A flash of light penetrated Pixel's eyesight, leaving him stunned for an instant, and a man appeared out of the other chamber.

"Ahh…" the man sighed in relief, "that's much better! Anyway, we have not been properly introduced. Hello, my name is Bill." Bill held out his hand to shake Pixel's hand. "And who might you be?"

"My name is Pixel. I'm one of Professor Oak's Pokemon trainers," Pixel said plainly.

"Oh my! How many Pokemon have you caught so far?" Bill asked energetically.

"Um…Counting when Flambo evolved…five."

Bill simply laughed to himself slightly as he began to speak. "Well," he said rather mystically, "I suppose I can't blame you there. There really are two kinds of trainers in this world: those who believe that Pokemon are simply items to be collected, and only the strongest of them are to be used, and those who take the time to raise their Pokemon with passion and care." Bill turned to see Pixel's Pokemon, Flambo, Rampage and Sheila all standing behind him with content smiles. "And it seems to me," Bill continued, "that you are the latter of the two. Your Pokemon look like they trust you completely and you seem to be doing a fine job of raising them." Bill held out a small slip of paper to Pixel with the words "S.S. Anne" written in bold letters across them. "Here," Bill said, "I want you to take this ticket. The trainers on that boat will most definitely help you and your Pokemon become stronger, without a doubt."

Pixel smiled warmly at Bill as Bill smiled back. Pixel's Pokemon looked up anticipant with wide grins on their face.

"Thank you for helping me to believe in trainers like you again," Bill thought to himself as Pixel walked out the door.