Jason and I woke up in the guest room. At first, I was confused about why I was smelling breakfast, but then I remembered that we were at Misty's. After getting ready, we walked out of the room and into the kitchen. Misty was cooking breakfast and Michelle was sitting at the table with Eevee by her chair.
"Morning, boys." Misty greeted as she turned off the stove.
"Morning," I replied groggily.
Jason just muttered a very unhappy, "Morning."
Michelle gave a small wave in greeting as we sat down. Once we were served our food, Misty sat down with her food.
"Michelle, just as a reminder, but you need two Pokemon to compete in a contest. One for the appeal round, and one for the battle. I suggest checking out the Cerulean Cape; there are many Water Pokemon there." Misty said, as she took a sip of her coffee.
"That's north of here, right?" I asked.
"Yes,"
"I think that Jason and I might catch one, too. We have no Water Pokemon yet."
Once we finished our breakfast, we left Misty's house. Jason and I lagged behind while Michelle walked ahead.
"Why are we walking slowly?" Jason asked stupidly.
"I need to tell my mom something. I think we should tell her that Team Rocket is back." I said. I had thought about this since we encountered Team Rocket in Mt. Moon. I decided that my mom needed to know and Michelle would need to know too.
"Are you crazy?"
Michelle glanced at us, confused as she heard Jason yell, but shrugged and continued walking.
"She deserves to know." I said quietly. "We won't tell her our secret; that we're looking for dad. We just need to let her know. Maybe the more people we tell, they sooner they start to believe us about Team Rocket."
"...I guess your right."
"...Remember what Misty said. This wasn't a coincidence, my dad disappearing and Team Rocket appearing again."
"True...okay, we'll tell her."
"Hey Michelle, we need to stop at the Pokemon Center before heading to Cerulean Cape." I said.
Michelle nodded her head, although she didn't know why we had to go there first, and we headed towards the Pokemon Center.
We walked towards the video phones and I dialled my mom and waited for a few minutes. All of us were able to see the screen so mom should be able to see us.
"Hello?" my mom's voice asked.
"Hey, mom!" I said.
My mom came into view.
"Hey, you two. Who's this?" she asked, noticing Michelle.
"Michelle Waterflower. It's nice to finally meet you, Mrs. Ketchum." Michelle greeted.
"Likewise, Michelle. Are you travelling with the boys? What's your goal?"
"Yes, I am. I want to be a coordinator. You really inspired me."
"Well, good luck in your contests, Michelle. I'll be watching you on TV!"
"Thanks!"
"Mom, we need to tell you something important." I said in a more serious tone, motioning to Jason and myself. Michelle was going to walk away, but Jason made a noise that was a sign for her to stay.
"What is it?" my mom asked, concerned.
"Well...Adam, she's your mom...you tell her." Jason said, chickening out.
I knew why he had backed out. I remembered when we had gotten into trouble when we were younger and my mom, when she's mad...not a pretty sight.
"Mom, on our way here, we went through Mt. Moon. In Mt. Moon, we came across Team Rocket. They were searching for Moon Stones. Mom, I realized something. Dad's disappeared and Team Rocket has reassembled at around the same time. Mom, this isn't a coincidence." I explained.
Mom looked saddened by what I had just told her. "Did they try to harm you two?" she asked.
"Yes. We fought them, but when we gained the upper hand in the battle, they ordered their Pokemon to attack us directly. We were saved by some mysterious person hiding nearby and their Fire Pokemon."
She looked at us and said, "You know, Ash used to get in trouble a lot during his travels. Hopefully, it doesn't happen to you. You three be careful. When I was travelling, Team Rocket was a joke. It was Team Galactic that you had to worry about. Just be careful, because this is years later. There's no telling what Team Rocket is like nowadays. After being defeated by your father and the Elite Four all those years ago, who knows what they'll do now? Don't go facing danger alone."
"We won't,"
She looked over to something at the house and frowned. "Mamoswine, why?" she asked.
She turned back to us again. "I have to go. Mamoswine knocked over the poffins and is working on eating them all. The others are having a fit. Nice meeting you Michelle, and good luck to you. Adam, Jason, good luck. Bye." she said.
"Bye,"
"Piplup, stop!" she cried as the screen went black.
We walked out of the Pokemon Center and Michelle instantly faced us. "Okay, let me get this straight. Those Team Rocket goons are back together, your dad is missing - well, I already knew that - but you think that Team Rocket had something to do with it, and they nearly killed you?" Michelle asked.
"Yes, they are back together. We wouldn't lie about something like this." Jason said.
"And I'm pretty sure that they have my dad captured." I added.
"Wait a second, my mom told me about the story and the news did, too. What did I drag myself into?"
"Well...if I tell you, you must promise not to tell a soul. Not your mom, and definitely not my mom. Understand?" I said lowly.
"Got it," Michelle said.
"Okay. Well, I'm on my journey to be a Pokemon Master, but I'm also looking for my dad. I know that I can get him back and everyone and everything will be right again. My family's been broken and...you have no idea how much my mom and I miss him and hope that he's okay." I explained.
"Well Adam, if I knew who my dad was and this happened to him...I would do the same thing you're doing. I'll help you find him." Michelle said honestly.
I just gave a small smile. Michelle was on our side now, too. With that matter settled, we headed towards the north of Cerulean City and headed up the path towards Cerulean Cape. We crossed over Nugget Bridge along the way. I have no idea why it's called that.
"My dad caught his Krabby at Cerulean Cape." I said, starting a conversation since it was boring to walk in silence.
"There's also a lighthouse there." Jason said, remembering that he heard about a lighthouse.
"Yes, the lighthouse was owned by a guy named Bill. Bill moved away when I was young, or was I even born yet? My mom told me about him when she was there with Adam's dad." Michelle said, telling about the lighthouse and its owner.
"Hey, I was wondering..." Michelle said suddenly.
Jason and I stopped walking and looked at her oddly.
"I need to have my Eevee scanned with a Pokedex. I don't know her moves and you guys have Pokedexes."
I removed my Pokedex and pointed it at Eevee and handed it to Michelle.
The Pokedex spoke, "Eevee. The Evolution Pokemon. It has the potential to evolve into one of seven different kinds of Pokemon."
"Thanks," Michelle said, handing the Pokedex back to me as we continued on.
After a while, we were close to Cerulean Cape, when I started hearing sounds and stopped suddenly.
"Do you guys hear that?" I asked.
Jason and Michelle listened. The faint sounds of Pokemon cries could be heard.
"Sounds like a battle." Jason said.
"You know what that means." I said as a determined grin spread across my face.
"Let me guess, we're going to go see it?" Jason asked after a moment.
"Why not?" I asked.
We turned off the path a little ways before we would get to Cerulean Cape and headed towards the sounds we were hearing. When we stopped, we found a guy and girl in a battle.
"Now, Vulpix! Dodge and use Fire Spin!" the girl cried.
"Gastly, Shadow Ball." the guy said in a monotone voice.
The Shadow Ball went through the Fire Spin and slammed into Vulpix.
"That could be a contest move." Michelle commented quietly as we watched.
"Hypnosis, Gastly." the boy said. The Vulpix was put to sleep, causing the girl to frown.
"No fair, you ended the practice battle too soon. I need to practice." the girl whined.
"Yeah? Well, I don't think you want your battle ideas to get picked up on, and I don't want my strategy known, either." the guy said as he motioned towards the three of us. He must've seen us arrive.
"Oh..." the girl said, just noticing us.
Judging from how he acted and battled, I had a feeling that the boy was a trainer who took training way to serious. I remembered my dad telling me that he had met a trainer like that before. The trainer trained his Pokemon to be strong and if they were defeated, no words of appreciation were given for their hard work.
The two mysterious kids looked to be our age. They looked similar, almost like they were related.
The guy had dark red hair that covered his eyes, dark green eyes, and he was tanned. He wore a pair of black cargo pants, a purple tank top, a black and gray jacket over the shirt that was opened, and gray sneakers.
The girl had dark red hair that was the same shade as the guy's and it went down to her mid back. She also had dark pink eyes, and she was also tanned. She wore a pink short sleeve tight shirt, a red bubble vest over the pink shirt, a white scarf tied around her neck, white short shorts, red knee high socks, and pink below the knee boots.
She reminded me of a candy cane and I wondered if Jason and Michelle thought the same thing.
"You two, you're trainers, right?" the guy asked motioning to me and Jason.
"Yeah, we are." Jason replied.
"A one-on-one battle with each of you. I challenge you first, spike-head."
Jason didn't quite catch the "spike head" comment, which shocked me. If Jason had caught the comment, he would've been mad.
"I accept." Jason said, walking over to one side of the field.
Michelle sat down on the ground to watch the battle and the girl did, too. I remained standing to watch the battle.
"Graveler, go." the guy said, tossing a Pokeball.
"Graveler." Graveler said.
Jason recorded the data into his Pokedex and I recorded the data into my Pokedex, too. Jason smirked and removed a Pokeball from his belt.
"Charmander, let's do this!" Jason cried, tossing his Pokeball.
"Char! Charmander!" Charmander cried looking at Graveler.
"A Fire Pokemon against a Rock/Ground Type? It's like you're begging me to beat you. You know nothing about battling!" the guy said to Jason.
"Charmander, Metal Claw!" Jason commanded, gritting his teeth from the insult.
"Graveler, dodge."
Charmander's claw glowed and it ran towards Graveler. Graveler went to dodge, but wasn't quick enough since it was such a slow Pokemon. The attack did a good amount on Graveler, since Steel type attacks are strong against Rock Pokemon.
"Graveler, Rock Throw."
"Smokescreen!"
Graveler started the attack. But soon, Smokescreen covered the area and the attack stopped since Graveler couldn't see.
"Clear the smoke with Flamethrower! Then use Metal Claw!" Jason cried. A Flamethrower came and burned through the smoke, then Charmander was running towards Graveler.
"Grab it, Graveler!" Charmander slammed into Graveler with the Metal Claw once again, but Graveler grabbed Charmander immediately afterwards.
"How about we heat this rock up, Charmander? Flamethrower on Graveler's feet!" Jason yelled. Charmander shot the attack at Graveler's feet and after a few minutes, its feet were glowing slightly and Graveler felt it hurting.
"Rock Pokemon may be resistant to Fire attacks," said Jason, "But heat it high enough, and even a rock will melt!"
"Drop it and use Strength." said the boy.
"Metal Claw." Jason countered.
The Graveler charged at Charmander, but Charmander jumped and hit Graveler with the Metal Claw. Graveler fell to the ground, fainted.
"Way to go, Charmander!" Jason cried, praising his partner and returning him. "And you said that I knew nothing about battling? Type advantage doesn't always predict the winner of a match!"
The mysterious boy returned his Pokemon without saying a word in reply to Jason, nor a word of satisfaction to his Pokemon. It seemed like my gut was right about him, he was one of those trainers who cared for nothing but winning.
I approached the other side of the field and waited. It was my turn to face this guy.
"Gastly, go." the guy said, tossing a Pokeball.
"Gastly." Gastly said spookily.
"Bulbasaur, let's show 'em!" I cried, tossing the Pokeball.
"Bulba! Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur cried happily.
"Razor Leaf!" I called. Bulbasaur launched the attack, but Gastly vanished and reappeared right next to Bulbasaur.
"Shadow Ball, Gastly." Gastly charged the Shadow Ball and launched it. Bulbasaur was thrown a few feet.
"Now, Confuse Ray."
"Dodge!" I cried, hoping to get Bulbasaur out of the way. But it was too late. The Confuse Ray hit Bulbasaur and it became confused.
"Snap out of it!" I yelled. "Use Leech Seed!" But Bulbasaur couldn't hear me and hurt itself in its confusion.
"End this with Will-O-Wisp." he said. Bulbasaur was still confused and the attack hit Bulbasaur, knocking it out.
"You did good. Take a rest." I said, returning my partner.
Once again, the guy returned his Pokemon without a word. Jason and Michelle approached me while the girl that we still didn't know approached the boy.
"You're pitiful. How many badges do you have?" the guy asked me.
"I have two, and I am NOT pitiful!" I yelled.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Adam Ketchum," I said.
"'Ketchum?' As in, Ash Ketchum, The Pokemon Master?" he said in disbelief. He must've noticed the resemblance. "Don't tell me YOU'RE the son of Master Ketchum! What a shame, you don't live up to his name, power, skill, or reputation at all. Not even close."
I kept my eyes closed, so it looked like they were showing no emotion. But really, what that guy had said really hurt. I knew that I wasn't pitiful, I just didn't have the experience of how to fight against Ghost Pokemon yet.
The girl next to him shot him a look, but he just ignored her.
"Don't talk to him like that." Jason said coldly, knowing that the comment had hurt me.
"Whatever, spike-head." he retorted.
"'Spike-head?' My name is Jason Oak!" Jason cried.
"Oh, Professor Oak's boy?" He then turned and looked at Michelle. "So you must be...something Waterflower, right? You look like the Cerulean gym leader." the guy asked as his eyes lazily moved to Michelle.
"I'm Michelle Waterflower and I'm going to become a coordinator." Michelle said.
"Well, well, well. I run into the kids of Kanto's three most well-known trainers all at the same time? What are the odds?" he said with an amused look on his face.
The girl standing next to him finally decided to speak up. "Hi! I'm Nikki...well, Nicole. Don't ever call me Nicole, got it? That's my brother, Trevor, excuse his manners...well, never mind, because he has none." she introduced. "You're Michelle, right? I'm a coordinator, too." the girl now known as Nikki said. Nice for her to step in, it looked like her brother had a lot of insults for people.
"Nice to meet you, Nikki. Looking forward to seeing you in contests." Michelle said.
"I have one ribbon so far. Do you have any?" Nikki asked.
"No, not yet."
"Nicole, let's go." the guy known as her brother Trevor interrupted.
"Don't call me Nicole!" she protested.
"Whatever, let's go."
"No. Until you apologize, I'm not going anywhere." Nikki said, frowning and placing her hands on her hips.
Trevor glanced at us. "Sorry," and with that, he started walking away back towards Cerulean City, where we had come from.
"That's how he apologizes. I'm really sorry, but that's just him, not you guys." Nikki said, sighing.
"You might want to catch up to him before he leaves you." Jason said.
She glanced towards her brother and saw that he was a good ways away.
"Bye! Hope to see you in a contest, Michelle! Adam and Jason, good luck in your gym battles. We'll meet again!" Nikki cried as she skipped and followed her brother.
"Wow, those two are total opposites." Jason muttered once Nikki was out of hearing range.
"That's for sure. She's so friendly and happy, compared to him. Anyway, let's go." I said, distracted.
"You okay, Adam?" Jason asked. He was concerned since he knew those comments Trevor made to made would affect me.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
We continued to head towards Cerulean Cape. Once arriving at the beach area, we saw that it was very packed. When my dad first came here, it was a very quiet place. It had really grown in popularity over the years.
"We should go swimming...later," Michelle said, remembering that we were here to look for Water Pokemon first.
"Yeah, I agree. Let's try to find some Pokemon." Jason said, glancing around.
We walked further down the beach and Michelle walked ahead while Jason and I followed a little ways behind her. I could hear Michelle talking to her Eevee, who was walking beside her.
"What kind of Pokemon should we look for, Eevee?" Michelle asked. She and Eevee had really hit it off and become fast friends, almost like they were made for each other.
A deep bond with your Pokemon is very important when training it, because the more you understand how your Pokemon behaves and lives and battles, the stronger the two of you can become, thus forming a powerful friendship. My dad's relationship with Pikachu was living proof of that.
"Hmm. I could always try to catch a Starmie. They're good at battling and appeals would be amazing with the moves Starmies know. Maybe a Poliwag? They're cute, can be used in bad situations, and appeals would be good, too. Hmm, should I get a Psyduck and hope it's not like my mom's? That would suck if it was. Poor duck always got yelled at. Maybe a Golduck? Battles would be good with that Pokemon, it can really fight!...but could we win against a Golduck? After all, it is your first battle, whichever Pokemon we decide to go against." Michelle said, thinking out loud.
The further we walked down the beach, the less people there were, and the sandy ground had some rocks in it. As we climbed over these rocks, Jason glanced around and saw something.
"I'm gonna catch that Golduck." Jason said, motioning towards a Golduck that was sitting on a few rocks. Jason walked towards the Golduck while removing Tangela's Pokeball from his belt.
"Tangela, let's go!" he cried, tossing the Pokeball.
"Tangela!" Tangela cried, landing in the sand.
The Golduck glanced at Tangela and waited. It was ready for a battle.
"Tangela, use Vine Whip!" Jason cried. Tangela's vines shot out and the Golduck dodged, but the vine locked onto its ankle. Tangela ran backwards and the Golduck was pulled down.
"Alright, Tangela! Now use Stun Spore!" Tangela ran towards the Golduck and tried to use Stun Spore, but the Golduck glanced at Tangela as its eyes glowed, and then Tangela was in the air from a Confusion attack.
"Vine Whip, Tangela!" But Tangela couldn't move against the Confusion and was driven into the ground.
"Tang!" Tangela hopped up. Tangela was hurt, but wasn't about to give up.
"Okay Tangela, let's get this over with! Use Vine Whip once more!" Tangela's vines shot towards Golduck and hit it a few times. The Golduck had taken a good amount of damage, but Jason felt he needed to do one final thing before trying to capture it.
"Sleep Powder!" he ordered. Tangela ran close to Golduck and used Sleep Powder before it had time to move. Its eyes drooped and soon, it was asleep. He tossed a Pokeball and watched as the beam engulfed Golduck. After a few seconds, the Pokeball stopped, indicating he had caught the Golduck.
"Alright, Tangela! We did it!" Jason cried, praising the Grass Type Pokemon. He returned Tangela and retrieved the Pokeball that contained Golduck. He attached the two Pokeballs to his belt.
"Way to go, Jason." I said. "Seen any Pokemon you want to catch, Michelle?"
"No, not yet. There are many choices and I have to be careful. This will be Eevee's first battle ever. Not too tough of an opponent." Michelle replied as she looked at the beach.
"Squirtle!"
We glanced behind us and saw that a Squirtle was looking at us. It wanted to battle.
"You can battle Squirtle if you want, Adam." Michelle said, seeing that I was waiting to see if she wanted to battle the Water Pokemon.
I lowered my hand to my Pokeballs, but remembered that Bulbasaur had fainted from my last battle.
"Pidgey? No. Charmander is a no. Bulbasaur has fainted, and now recovering. Pikachu?" I muttered. I didn't want to use Pikachu since Pikachu had a lot of experience, but it seemed like the only way possible.
I shook my head and grabbed Pidgey's Pokeball. Pidgey was able to do good against Misty's Pokemon, so Pidgey could take on a Squirtle.
"Pidgey, let's show 'em!" I cried, tossing the Pokeball.
"Pid! Pidgey!" Pidgey cried.
"Pidgey, use Gust!" Pidgey created a Gust, but the Squirtle hid in its shell. Then it shot a Water Gun from inside of its shell towards Pidgey.
"Dodge it! Then Quick Attack!" Pidgey successfully dodged the Water Gun and Squirtle popped out of its shell. Pidgey landed the attack on Squirtle, who stumbled back slightly.
Squirtle used another Water Gun and it headed towards Pidgey. "Pidgey, dodge! Then use Gust!" Pidgey dodged successfully again, but instead of a Gust, Pidgey used Twister.
"Way to go Pidgey! You learned how to use Twister!" I cried as the Twister hit Squirtle. Squirtle fell onto the ground and wasn't showing any signs of getting up. I threw a Pokeball and Squirtle was engulfed into the ball. After it wiggled twice, the Pokeball was still; I had caught Squirtle.
"Good work, Pidgey!" I cried as I returned my Pokemon. I walked and grabbed Squirtle's Pokeball and attached it to my belt. I realized that I now own a Bulbasaur, a Charmander, AND a Squirtle, just like dad used to have!
"So which Pokemon are you looking for?" Jason asked Michelle.
"I think I want to find a Poliwag." Michelle answered.
"Well Michelle, you're in luck. Look, there's a Poliwag at the shore line." I said, pointing towards the Poliwag.
Michelle looked over and saw the Poliwag. She headed towards the Pokemon and Eevee jumped into position for battle.
The Poliwag looked over at Eevee and then at Michelle. "Poli!" it cried, jumping out of the water and onto the sand. It wasted no time to attack with Bubble.
"Eevee, use Sand Attack to cancel out the attack!" Michelle cried. Eevee successfully cancelled out the Bubble attack with the sand. Being on a sandy beach made the Sand Attack even easier to use!
"Now, Eevee! Use Bite!" Eevee ran towards Poliwag and clamped her teeth on Poliwag's tail.
"Poli!" Poliwag cried out. The Poliwag turned slightly and used Water Gun. Eevee got hit and released its grip on the tail.
"Quick Attack!" Eevee ran towards Poliwag and slammed into Poliwag. Poliwag ran back at Eevee.
"Eevee, dodge it!" Poliwag was using Body Slam and when it would have hit Eevee, she dodged.
"Great job! Use Sand Attack!" Eevee quickly shielded herself since sand was everywhere.
"Now, Quick Attack!" Eevee ran through the sand and connected with Poliwag. Michelle removed a Pokeball and tossed it. Poliwag was engulfed by the beam and the ball wiggled once and then stopped.
"Yay! Way to go, Eevee! You won your first battle!" Michelle cried as she picked up her partner.
Jason was actually shocked by her battle. She had good strategies.
"Good job, Michelle." I said.
"Thanks,"
"That was a good first battle." Jason complimented.
"Thanks," she said again.
Michelle picked up her Pokeball and attached the Pokeball to her bracelet; the so-called charm bracelet was actually a bracelet that allowed your Pokeballs to be attached to it like charms once the balls were shrunken down. Many of the girls nowadays used those instead of belts.
"Well, how about we go swimming now? Let's let the Pokemon out so they can get to know us and the others?" I asked.
"I'm in!" Michelle cried.
"Sounds good to me." Jason replied.
We made our way back up to the beach and to the old lighthouse, since that's where the changing rooms and bathrooms were now housed.
I walked out in black trunks with white stripes down the sides. Jason wore orange trunks with a black stripes down the sides. Michelle wore a light purple bikini. We walked to the beach and released all of our Pokemon. The Pokemon ran around and played with each other while some others swam with us while we played in the water.
After a long day of fun and swimming, getting to know our new Pokemon, and our Pokemon getting to know the new Pokemon, we headed back to the lighthouse. After we changed into our regular clothes, we walked back to Cerulean City. We were tired from the long day.
"My mom said that she'll let us stay for as long as we need." Michelle said, as she adjusted Eevee in her arms.
We entered back into Cerulean City as the sun started to set.
"My mom should be home by now." she muttered as we headed towards her house. She opened the door and found her mom in the living room watching something on the TV.
"Hey, you three." Misty greeted.
"Hey, mom. We're going to stay here for tonight." Michelle said.
"That's fine. I think you three will be staying for a few more days, though."
"Why's that?"
"The first Pokemon Contest is here in Cerulean City in three days." Misty announced.
"Really?" Michelle cried excitedly.
"Yes. Oh, and Michelle? You still have to buy an outfit for your contests."
"Yeah..."
"What did you three do today?"
"We each caught a Water Pokemon and had a day at the beach." Jason said.
Misty's eyes lit up. "What did you catch?" she asked.
"Golduck," Jason said.
"Lucky. My Psyduck still hasn't evolved yet." Misty muttered.
"I got a Squirtle." I said.
"Just like your dad. Better be careful, it could be a part of the Squirtle Squad." Misty joked.
"I got a Poliwag." Michelle said.
"Just like I used to have. Very good choices for all of you."
After another hour, Misty had fixed supper and soon we were gathered together in the den, talking.
"What did your mom mean, 'get an outfit?'" Jason asked.
"You see, in Sinnoh, you have to dress up for contests. Over the years, the other regions liked the idea and made it a requirement for the coordinators to dress up for contests. This is what I heard from some news program called, 'Your Pokemon are Appealing and You Must Be, Too.' If you ask me, that was kinda mean." Michelle explained.
My mom had told me that if I ever wanted to compete in a contest, to tell her and she would send me an outfit. My dad had participated with my mom in contests before, but I decided that I wouldn't compete.
"I think I'm going to go get an outfit tomorrow, and then practice. The contest is only three days away and I need to get ready!" Michelle said excitedly.
Author's Note: And so, our three heroes have each caught a new Pokemon, met two new rivals, and Michelle has found out about her first contest.
Stay tuned for the next chapter of Pokemon NG, when Michelle will compete in her first Pokemon contest! How well will she perform? Find out next time!