Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.

With the city freed from Nevermore, it went back to its usual business. As the four of us descended, I wondered about Allan. For some reason, the guy had rubbed me the wrong way more than most Nevermore goons. I tried to shake off the feeling, but still…

As we left the building, we were greeted by applause, led by the man who had helped us distract Nevermore.

He came up to me and said, "Thank you, White Fury. Without you…who knows how long we might have been under their control?"

I gave him an odd look from under the shadow. "Uh…what about the police? They could have helped."

He shook his head. "Nope. First day, surprise attack by Nevermore on the HQ. Caught them all in 15 minutes. Well…except me."

He smiled and shook my hand. "Detective Thesbos. Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

I grinned. "Well, how did I not know that? Thanks for the help."

He chuckled. "I'm not surprised you couldn't tell. Undercover's my specialty."

"Ah. So, you've got recovery all in hand?"

He nodded. "Yes, I do. Go and stop Nevermore."

I nodded in response. "I intend to." And with that, the Revivers left the city.

As we hadn't found the next ring in Goldenrod, we continued going south. As we got to the city limits, though, Eoniai stopped us. He asked, "What's the next type?"

I turned back towards him. "Sorry?"

"Next type. What is it?"

I shrugged. "No clue."

Eoniai shook his head. "Wow. You seriously should think more sometimes."

He pulled out a map and unfolded it. On it was all of Johto. He pointed to a city near the middle of the region. "This is us, Goldenrod. And here…" His finger went north. "Ecruteak. Where we found the Ghost Ring. Now, I've done some research, and Ghost is weak against-"

I grabbed his hand. "Dude, hold on. What's your point?"

He rolled his eyes like it was obvious. "Well, in all of your guardian battles so far, you've had a type disadvantage for more of a challenge. Using that and the information of the old Gyms, we can determine the approximate next destination."

Alyssa, Tardon, and I looked at each other. Then I smacked my forehead. Should've figured he find something.

Eoniai shook his head. "Simple. Just…wow. So, using all the data I've collected, I would guess our next destination is…" He pointed to a town on the far right hand side. "…New Bark Town."

I looked at where he was pointing, then back at him. "What makes you say that?"

Eoniai looked at me. "Well, actually, our destination is beyond that, but New Bark Town would be a good waypoint for us." He folded up the map and pointed north. "With that reasoning, we should head towards Violet City. Quickest way to get there."

I nodded, and with that, we re-entered the city and exited the other end. When we got to the junction leading to Ecruteak, Eoniai pointed the other way. We went that way, but a little while after that, it started to get dark, and with no city in sight, I suggested we make camp. Tardon set up the tents, Eoniai got some kindling together, and I got firewood. We looked at the wood pile, wondering how to alight it, when Alyssa got two stones together and got a spark going. With that done, we piled around the campfire.

As we sat together, enjoying each other's company, I heard a sigh escape from Tardon's mouth.

I looked at him. "Problem?"

He looked at me a little hesitantly, then back at the fire. "Well…we're useless to you. Pretty much dead weight."

I shook my head. "No, you guys have been very helpful. Eoniai's the smart one, Tardon's the strong one, and Alyssa's the pretty one." No sooner had those last words left my mouth that I covered it and looked at Alyssa with fear, as did Eoniai and Tardon. See, Alyssa was more of tomboy to us, so we weren't sure how the hell this was gonna play out.

She looked at me, and said nothing, but her eyes said, "Talk later."

And with that, Tardon stretched and said, "Well, I'm getting tired. What about you guys?"

Eoniai and I nodded quickly, but Alyssa just got up and went into her tent.

I gulped, and said nervously, "Well, night, guys."

"Night," they said. We went into our respective tents.

Half an hour passed. I was still awake, of course, because so many things were whirling around in my head, when I heard my tent flap open. I looked and saw Alyssa. Fearing the worst, I transformed, but she chuckled lightly and said, "No need for that. I just wanna talk. I promise."

I didn't believe that, of course, but I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, so I changed back. She came over to where I was lying and sat next to me. I sat up next to her and said, "Am I in trouble?"

She looked at me, then looked away. "No…I was just surprised." She looked back at me, blushing a bit. "You really think I'm pretty?"

Now it was my turn to look away, also blushing a little. "Well…yeah." There really was no other way for me to say that.

I saw her trying-and failing-to hide a small smile. She looked at me again, and I her. We were silent for a few moments, then she shook her head like she was dismissing something and started to leave.

As she got to the tent flap, I asked, "That's it? That's all you have to say?"

She looked back, and for a brief second, I saw a mixture of emotions in her eyes. Then without a word, she left, leaving me to wonder.

The next morning, as we all started to pack camp, Eoniai and Tardon came over and asked, "So? Wht happened?"

I replied, "Nothing. She just wanted to talk. That's all." My tone made it clear that they should take that explanation and not pry further.

As we were about to set off, I saw Alyssa give me an odd look. As soon as she saw me look, she turned away quickly, once again leaving me to wonder.

A few hours later, we arrived in Violet City. Looked like an average city, except for the tower extending from the middle of the city.

I nodded. "Nice place."

Eoniai replied, "Yeah, just a thoroughfare for us, though. Let's go."

We started walking, and I noticed Tardon was looking more and more uncomfortable as we moved on. Eventually it got to a point where I whirled around and asked, "Dude, what the heck is it?"

He looked around nervously. "I don't know…just…something about this place…" He clenched his fists and kept looking. Then he perked up. "I have a lock-on! Follow me!" He ran off so fast we didn't have a choice.

Eventually we got to this average-looking building that Tardon just bust into. We followed, and it turned out the place was an aviary, filled to the brim with birds. In the middle, a woman was tending a parrot. She looked up from the bird as we came in, smiled, and said, "Hello, welcome to Summer's Exotic Flock. I'm Summer. How may I be of assistance?"

Eoniai, Alyssa, and I stopped to catch our breaths, but Tardon was still on a rampage, like he was desperately searching for something. He came back to Summer and asked her, "Do you happen to have any aggressive birds?"

She nodded. "Yes, just follow me." She started walking, and we had no choice but to follow her and Tardon.

We got to an area that was just plain loud. Birds of all kinds were just cawing in no certain way. It hurt to hear, but Tardon looked unaffected. He pointed to one in the center and asked, "Tell me about this one."

Summer looked at the bird he had pointed to, then back at him. "That's the most aggressive bird here."

I wasn't sure if that was true, because it was a swan. But as she went on to explain, it was a mute swan, which is usually more violent than the non-muted variety.

Tardon turned to Summer. "Open it, please."

She looked at him with alarm. "You sure? This bird could kill you if you're not careful!"

He nodded. She shook her head and, with lots of protective gear, opened the cage door. The swan flew towards Tardon, but stopped before it got to him. It stood on the ground, looking at his face, then moved away from its cage. Tardon stepped forward and took out a small brown package. He looked at us and said cryptically, "Let's go. We're done here. Thanks, Summer."

As we walked away, she still had a look of shock on the face we could see through the mask.

When we got to the door, though, five bald men in robes were waiting for us.

The center one stepped forward and announced, "Well done, young Tardon. You have claimed the package. Now…" He and the other monks got into fighter's positions. "…let's see if you can use it!"

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