In this chapter, there's going to be some more gym battles. Also, we're going to see some Team Shadow Grunts. You can probably guess what they're selling...

Chapter 10: Birds Of A Feather

As Sarah left, she noticed two Team Shadow Grunts standing right outside Violet City. What were they possibly planning?

At that very moment, they noticed her as well.

"Hey, Jellylegs! We're selling Slowpoketails!" exclaimed one of the Team Shadow Grunts.

"Slowpoketails?" questioned Sarah.

Sure enough, they were carrying bags of Slowpoketails.

"Yeah...you'd be surprised how well they sell." answered another Team Shadow Grunt.

"Wait, why do you call me Jellylegs?" inquired the girl.

Her question was answered when she lost her balance and fell on her stomach.

"Oh." said Sarah.

"If you need more, try going to the Slowpoke Well. We're in a middle of an operation there." continued one of the Team Shadow Grunts.

"Isn't that kind of...cruel to the Pokemon?" questioned Sarah. She was under the impression that the Slowpokes would want them NOT to do that.

"Relax. Slowpoke tails grow back fast. Besides, Slowpokes hardly feel pain." answered the other Team Shadow Grunt.

"I suppose that makes sense." stated the female Team Shadow Grunt. Still, she wondered if Officer Jenny was going to find out about their operation and shut it down. She would not tolerate Pokemon cruelty...or cruelty against people for that matter.

Immediately, one of the Team Shadow Grunts handed her a bag of her own.

"Hmm...where I should sell these?" questioned Sarah.

Sarah quickly determined that it was not a good idea to try selling them in Violet City. If Officer Jenny witnessed her doing so, she would try to shut her down for sure.

She would need to try elsewhere.

She decided to try going south. She heard that there was a Pokemon Center close to the Union Cave.

On the way there, she met the man who was demanding Pokemon trainers get the Zephyr Badge before going to visit Azalea Town.

"Hey! You should really get the Zephyr Badge before coming through h-"

Suddenly, he realized who he was talking to.

"Aah! It's a member of Team Shadow!" bellowed the man.

Frantically, he hid behind some bushes.

Sarah simply continued walking to the Pokemon Center.

On the way there, she decided to sit on a rock.

"You're probably hungry again, aren't you Totodile?" questioned Sarah.

"Totodile!" exclaimed Sarah's Totodile. His Pokemon trainer certainly understood him.

"Alright then." answered the girl as she pulled out some Pokechow.

However, as she was feeding Totodile, a wild Pokemon suddenly crept from the bushes. This particularly wild Pokemon had a forked tongue.

It was an Ekans. The snake Pokemon had noticed the egg that Sarah was carrying in her backpack.

And the serpent Pokemon was up for an omelette.

"Ekans..." hissed the wild Ekans as the reptile slithered over to Sarah's Pokemon egg.

However, Sarah's Totodile noticed the wild Ekans, and decided to take a bite.

"Ekans!" exclaimed the wild Ekans. Those teeth were sharp.

Quickly, Sarah noticed that her Totodile and the Ekans were fighting.

"How do I break them up?" asked Sarah.

She then remembered that she had some Pokeballs.

"Oh right..." remembered the young girl.

Immediately, she tossed a Pokeball at the wild Ekans.

"Alright, I got it!" exclaimed Sarah.

She then scanned the Ekans with her Pokedex.

"Ekans, the Snake Pokemon! It has a tendency to hide in grass. When first born, it is not poisonous, so being bitten is harmless, if painful!" exclaimed Sarah's Pokedex.

"P.S. Ekans have infrared vision..." read Sarah.

This one happened to be a girl.

"Well, I guess that's the second Pokemon I've caught." noted the girl.

"Totodile!" exclaimed Sarah's Totodile.

Sarah wondered what she should do with it.

Well, for now she should go look for the Pokemon Center.

Problem is...she had no idea where it was. It was a shame since a lot of Pokemon trainers would inevitably be gathered there.

Suddenly, she got an idea. Didn't the Pokedex say that Ekans had infrared vision? She might be able to use hers to pick up a heat signature.

"Go, Ekans!" exclaimed Sarah.

"Ekans!" bellowed Ekans.

"Excuse me, could you help me find a Pokemon Center?" asked the Team Shadow Grunt.

Ekans nodded. It was the least that she could do since they were partners now.

Immediately, she stuck her forked tongue out.

Sure enough, there was a large amount of heat in a nearby area...

...that area happened to be the Pokemon Center!

"Alright, you did it! Give me f-oh wait, you don't have hands...maybe you could use your tail?" questioned Sarah.

Ekans nodded. That seemed like a good alternative.

Immediately, she gave her trainer a high five using her trainer.

"Now all I need to do is give them some Slowpoketails..." noted Sarah.

Already, her Ekans was starting to munch on one.

"Ekans, those are for the customers..." explained the girl.

"Ekans..." murmured the sad snake Pokemon.

Curious, she noticed that Totodile was munching on a Slowpoketail as well.

"Didn't you hear what I said to Ekans?" asked Sarah.

"Totodile..." muttered the depressed crocodile Pokemon.

Immediately, Sarah stood outside the Pokemon Center and began to sell Slowpoketails.

"This might be a good business..." noted Sarah.

Meanwhile...

"You ready to fight the Gym Leader, Lucy?" questioned Jake.

"I sure am!" exclaimed Lucy.

"Which Pokemon are you going to send out first?" asked the preteen boy.

"I think I'll send out my Mareep." noted the girl.

Immediately, she sent out her new Mareep.

"Mareep!" exclaimed the sheep Pokemon.

"I think we need to cut your wool a bit." said Lucy.

Mareep nodded.

Immediately, her Clefairy pulled out some scissors.

"You better not run with those." warned the young girl.

Clefairy nodded.

"Did you steal them?" asked Lucy.

"Clefairy..." said Lucy's Clefairy. She had been caught red-handed.

"Something tells me you got them from the Pokemon School..." noted the young girl.

Immediately, Clefairy used the scissors to cut some of Mareep's wool.

"Feeling better now?" asked Lucy.

"Mareep!" nodded Lucy's Mareep. Once she evolved, she wouldn't need to shave her wool nearly as much.

Immediately, Lucy stepped inside the gym along with her Mareep and her Clefairy.

"Are you ready to challenge me? I see you brought an electric-type...rather clever." noted Falkner.

"Yeah...I figured I would plan ahead." nodded Lucy.

"Good...but don't assume that I'm going to win just because you have a type advantage..." warned the Gym Leader.

"I expected as much..." answered the female Pokemon trainer.

"Hoothoot, i choose you!" exclaimed Falkner.

"Hoothoot!" bellowed the owl Pokemon.

"Go, Mareep!" shouted Lucy.

"Mareep!" exclaimed Lucy's Mareep.

Immediately, Hoothoot used Whirlwind to try to blow Mareep away.

However, Mareep stood her ground.

Immediately, she zapped Hoothoot with electricity.

"Hoothoot!" exclaimed Falkner's Hoothoot.

In retaliation, she attempted to peck Mareep.

"Um, Hoothoot, I don't think that such's a good idea..." warned Falkner.

"Hoothoot?" questioned Falkner's Hoothoot as she pecked Mareep.

Unsurprisingly, she ended up getting zapped, and Hoothoot fainted.

"Good job...but I'll have you know this is a two-on-two battle..." stated Falkner.

"Alright..." nodded Lucy.

Immediately, Falkner sent out his Pidgeotto.

"Pidgeotto, go!" exclaimed Falkner.

"Pidgeotto!" bellowed Pidgeotto.

"Maybe I should have sent out my Pidgeot..." acknowledged Lucy.

On the other hand, her Pidgeot seemed to be enjoying herself in Professor Oak's bird cage. Maybe she should let her stay inside for a bit longer.

Unfortunately for Mareep, Pidgeotto did not try attacking Mareep at close-range.

Instead, he swallowed Mareep up in a twister.

"Mareep!" exclaimed the sheep Pokemon as she was sent flying.

As soon as the twister disappeared, Mareep collapsed on the ground. She had fainted.

"It's up to you now, Clefairy..." noted Lucy.

"Clefairy!" exclaimed Lucy's Clefairy. She was going to do her best...that was what her trainer wanted her to do, right?

Once again, Pidgeotto sent a twister towards Clefairy.

However, Clefairy used Metronome.

Immediately, Clefairy sent the twister right back at Pidgeotto, who ended up being caught in his own attack.

Pidgeotto ended up fainting.

"I can't say I'm not impressed." noted Falkner. "Maybe you should try challenging my dad...he's one of the strongest bird Pokemon trainers out there."

"Maybe he could challenge my dad...he's really strong. He's been in the Pokemon League several different times." suggested Lucy.

At that very moment, Jake showed up.

"Is it my turn?" asked Jake.

"Yes. Let's fight now, shall we?" inquired the flying type Pokemon trainer.

Suddenly, he noticed Clefairy doing something that she shouldn't.

As it turned out, she was being rather mischievous and was picking the lock on one of the bird cages.

"What are you doing?" asked Lucy.

"Stop that!" bellowed Falkner.

Unfortunately, it was too late. Clefairy ended up opening the bird cage and she let out a Pidgeot.

And to make matters worse, the bird cage tipped over and ended up releasing several other birds as well.

"Pidgey!" exclaimed a Pidgey.

"Spearow!" bellowed a Spearow.

"Hoothoot!" shouted a Hoothoot.

"Hoppip!" yelled out a Hoppip.

"Farfetch'd!" exclaimed a Farfetch'd.

Immediately, the five of them left their cages and began to fly elsewhere.

"What should we do?" asked Lucy.

"I don't think they'll get too far...we should search for them." nodded Falkner.

Suddenly, Jake remembered that he had a Pokemon that could help with catching the bird Pokemon.

He decided to send out his Sentret.

"Sentret!" exclaimed the Pokemon.

"Hey, Sentret. You're a good lookout, are you not? I think you might be able to help us.." noted Jake.

"Sentret?" questioned the sentry Pokemon. What exactly did they need help with?

Falkner pulled out pictures of the bird Pokemon that had escaped from their bird cages.

Sentret nodded. He could help them look.

Immediately, Jake and Lucy stepped outside.

Sure enough, the Pidgey was right outside, pecking the ground.

Sentret quickly pointed out the Pidgey to his trainer.

Jake picked up the Pidgey and put it back in her bird cage.

"Pidgey!" exclaimed the Pidgey. It looked like she was going back home.

Next up was the Spearow. She was on top of a tree, thinking about making a nest.

Sentret quickly climbed up the tree and grabbed Spearow for his trainer.

Jake put the Spearow back in her cage as well.

"Spearow!" exclaimed Spearow. Perhaps she didn't need a nest after all.

Next up was a Hoppip, who was bouncing around.

"Wait...you're not a bird Pokemon." noted Jake.

"Well, she is a flying type..." answered Lucy.

"True..." nodded Jake as he put Hoppip in her cage.

Next up was Farfetch'd. He was looking for some sticks.

"Farfetch'd?" questioned the bird Pokemon. It would always help to have a spare.

Since Farfetch'd already had a stick, Jake put Farfetch'd back in his bird cage.

"Farfetch'd." stated the bird Pokemon. Now that he thought of it, there were a lot of sticks inside the cage. Maybe he shouldn't have left.

Now all that was left was Hoothoot. Since it was the daytime, he was feeling rather sleepy.

"Hoothoot..." murmured the sleepy bird Pokemon.

This made him rather easy to catch and put back inside his bird cage.

"Thanks for the help, Sentret." said Jake.

"Sentret!" exclaimed Sentret. It was his job to be a lookout.

"Wait, what about the Pidgeot?" asked Lucy.

"I took care of that one myself." answered Falkner.

"Oh, that's a relief. I'm sorry for the trouble." apologized the girl.

"Clefairy..." murmured Lucy's Clefairy. She wasn't going to try picking locks using bird cages in the future.

"It's alright...anyways, you're probably wanting a reward, aren't you?" inquired the Gym Leader.

"I suppose that would be alright if it's OK with you..." nodded Jake.

"It sure is. Here is your Zephyr Badge..." said Falkner.

"The Zephyr Badge?" questioned the boy.

"Well, you sure proved yourself to be resourceful...I think you have what it takes to be a Pokemon trainer..." answered the flying Pokemon trainer.

"If you say so..." nodded Jake.

"I guess we should get going now..." answered Lucy.

"You've got a point there." nodded Lucy's older partner.

"Let's go!" exclaimed Jake's younger partner.

Immediately, the two of them went to search for more Pokemon...and for another gym.

"I'll give you a hint...the next Gym Leader uses bug types!" exclaimed Falkner. He would probably dominate that gym now that he thought of it. However, he had decided on giving out badges instead of receiving them. He already had trained himself to be like his father, after all.

Well, if he changed his mind, he could simply fly his Pokemon all around Johto. They had been in all sorts of places.

At that very moment, Ned and Chris showed up.

"Are you here for a rematch?" asked Falkner.

"Yes, he is. Don't keep me waiting." demanded Chris.

"Yes, Chris!" exclaimed Ned.

This time, he had sent Hoppip to Professor Elm's Lab for the time being. He didn't want a repeat as to what happened last time.

Right now she was hopping through the meadows.

"Hoothoot, I choose you!" bellowed the boy.

It looks like Lucy has a Zephyr Badge now. That means she can make her way towards Azalea Town where the next badge is. Of course, she could have simply gone to Goldenrod or Ecruteak if it weren't for that strange tree. Darn it.