Back at the Goldenrod Pokémon Center, three things happened at roughly the same time.

Firstly, everyone ate dinner. Tom, April, Peter, Opal, and June all released their Pokémon to allow them to do the same in the Pokémon pen area provided by the center.

Before eating, Peter and April, accompanied by June, went down to the basement, where the trading machines were located. Peter used one of these to forfeit ownership of the Sudowoodo to April.

While those three were in the basement, and Opal was visiting the Pokémon pen, Tom stood near the PC, accompanied by Buddy and Manny. Tom looked at his Butterfree mournfully. "This is it, Buddy," he said. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to switch you out of my party now." Buddy stared at him blankly. "I mean, I'll still, technically, be your trainer," Tom continued, "but I won't be carrying your Pokéball around or using you in battles anymore. It's not your fault; you were great, the best that I would ever have wanted you to be. But, well, having you just doesn't work with the rest of my team, and I need to change things up a little. I hope you understand. You'll be sent to Bill's, and he'll take great care of you, I'm sure. I'll even take you back every once in a while – you'll still be my Pokémon, just not, you know, full time." More blank stares from Buddy. "You always seem like you don't care," Tom said, softer this time, "but I know that you do, deep down inside. I figured out that much back when you helped me get my first badge. You just never show it. Well, anyways, the time I had you was short, but I won't be forgetting it anytime soon. So good-bye… for now." Tom finally withdrew Buddy into his Pokéball.

"He'll be just fine," Manny said while Tom used the PC. "You'll always mean a lot to him, whatever happens."

"I hope you're right," Tom said. He began the process of replacing Buddy with his Eevee. "This just feels kind of weird, though. Like I'm throwing someone away just because they weren't useful enough to me."

"Oh, you're not throwing anyone away," said Manny, "not even close. Buddy will be in your PC box and in Bill's care whenever you need him; and even if you don't see him again, you've done wonders for his life in just a few days, and he'll always remember that. No, you're not anything like the people who really do treat their Pokémon like trash – I've seen some of those in action myself. There are people out there who don't give a lick about how their Pokémon feels as long as they win battles, who are more attached to their wallets than to their Pokémon. Then, as soon as they aren't as strong as their master wants, the Pokémon really get thrown away – left out in the wild with nothing to help them, with no idea how to survive on their own… don't compare yourself to people like that, Tom. You're way better than them."

Tom looked deep in thought, and a bit grim, as he finally picked up the Pokéball from the PC. It contained the Eevee that Bill had given him. "Thanks," Tom said to Manny. "Maybe you're right. I hope so." He held out his Pokéball. "For this Eevee's sake." He opened the Pokéball to release a beam of light that quickly became his brown, furry, four-legged little Eevee. The Eevee glanced at Tom, with a look of only the mildest interest on its face. "Um, hi there," said Tom. "I'm you're new trainer, Tom." The Eevee yawned and lay down.

"Eh, she'll get used to you," said Manny. He had to shut up then, though – Opal was coming towards them.

"Aw, what a cute little Eevee!" Opal exclaimed. She kneeled on the ground to put her face up to the Pokémon's, and then spoke to it in the most disgusting baby-talk I'd ever heard. "Awen't woo a cwute wittwe one?" The Eevee looked back at her with an expression indicating both boredom and slight annoyance. When Opal tried to pet it, to my sadistic pleasure, it scratched her face.

"OUCH!" she shrieked, jumping up and grabbing her face. Someone chuckled – Peter had just arrived, as well as June and April. April stared at Peter angrily as he laughed at his sister's pain. "It's not funny!" said Opal. "That really hurt!" She looked at her hands. "Ugh, it's bleeding – I have to go!" She ran off. The Eevee yawned again and rested its head, as if it were unaware of the commotion it had caused.

"Hey, that's the Eevee that Bill gave you, right?" Peter asked.

"Yeah," said Tom. "I just took her out of Bill's PC."

Peter looked at the Eevee. "You nickname all of your Pokémon, right? So have you given this one a name yet?"

Tom looked thoughtful. "Not yet," he said. "I want to evolve her into an Umbreon, so that means I want a name that begins with U-M… Dexter, can you find some for me?"

"You're fresh out of luck, kid," I informed him. "There aren't any names like that. I know you're disappointed, but you're going to have to act like a normal person and either call her 'Umbreon' or give her a less stupid nickname."

"I already have a pattern going, though," said Tom. "It'd all be pointless if I break it now." (It was already pointless to begin with, but I'd probably reiterated that fact enough by then.)

"Well, you don't have to use a name that already exists," said Peter. "You can make one up." He thought for a moment. "You know, 'Umbreon' sounds a lot like 'Umbrella'."

"Uh, too obvious," said Tom. "And that'd be sort of a weird thing to use as a name anyways. At least, without a reason."

"Well, you could name her 'Umanda'," said Peter.

"'Amanda' is spelled with an 'A'," Tom replied.

"It doesn't have to if you don't want it to."

Tom thought about this. "I guess it's the best I can come up with," he sighed. "Go ahead and name her 'Umanda', Dexter." So I did, despite it somehow managing to be the stupidest nickname yet. (Seriously, misspelling a normal name doesn't make it more original, just much more obnoxious.)

"Okay, that's one crisis resolved!" said Peter. Opal then joined the rest of the group; she now had a band-aide on her face. "And that's another crisis resolved!" said Peter. "We're on a roll, here."

"What are you guys talking about?" asked Opal.

"Your face," said Peter, but I don't know if he was being sarcastic or literal or what. "Anyways," he said, turning to face Tom, "I was going to battle you after I caught that Murkrow until that whole mess happened… but I can still battle you without it! Come on, I want to see how good you've gotten!"

"If you want to battle now, then sure," said Tom. "But, um, where?"

"There are stadiums for that sort of thing at any Pokémon Center," said June. "You could use one of those provided here."

"Sounds like a plan!" said Peter. "Is three-on-three okay with you?"

"Sure it is," said Tom. He looked at Umanda. "You can sit back and watch to help learn the basics, okay?" Tom said. Umanda yawned in reply.


"Go, Albert!" shouted Tom.

"Go, Geodude!" shouted Peter.

Both Pokémon appeared near their respective trainer. They stood across from each other in the large ring, the floor of which resembled a Pokéball. "Use Confusion!" ordered Tom.

"Rock Throw!" said Peter.

For a second, Albert and Geodude simply stared at each other, as if in a standoff. Albert made the first move – but that's what Geodude had been waiting for. As soon as Albert began focusing his mind, a stone appeared in Geodude's hand. Albert was concentrating too much on his Confusion to dodge the oncoming Rock Throw, and as a result, both attacks hit their target.

"Now, use Disable!" said Tom.

"No biggie," said Peter; "use Magnitude!"

At the former command, Albert directed psionic waves at Geodude that, while undetectable to the humans in the room, would render her unable to use Rock Throw again for a short while. At the latter command, Geodude smashed her fist against the floor, creating a quake that caused Albert to lose his balance. "Keep using Confusion!" Tom ordered.

"Another Magnitude!" said Peter.

This time, Albert was cleverer: as soon as Geodude pounded the ground, he jumped high into the air, landing behind his opponent and avoiding the worst of the quake. He then let loose his own attack, hitting Geodude with the Confusion just as she turned around to face him.

"Okay, Geodude, finish it off with Selfdestruct!" shouted Peter.

Tom had no time to give another command, not that any would have been of much use; Geodude immediately exploded. The enormous blast threw Albert into a wall, which he collided with hard enough to make him faint; as you could probably guess from the attack's name, Geodude fainted as well.

Both trainers withdrew their Pokémon. "I guess that makes us even," said Peter. "Next up, Mankey!"

"Your turn, Manny!" said Tom; Manny jumped in front of Tom as the furry white Mankey appeared in front of Peter.

"Two fighting-types… this should be interesting," said Peter. "Mankey, Seismic Toss!"

"Low Kick!" shouted Tom.

Manny and Mankey ran towards each other. Once near each other, Mankey made to grab Manny by the arm, but before he could, Manny ducked as he slid on the floor to successfully execute his Low Kick.

"Quick, Karate Chop!" shouted Peter.

"Block it with your hand!" ordered Tom.

Mankey jumped up above Manny and attempted to Karate Chop his opponent, but Manny grabbed ahold of Mankey's hand just before it made contact. Mankey tried to use Karate Chop with his free arm, but Manny grabbed the other hand, too. "Now – Seismic Toss!" Tom commanded. Manny jumped high into the air, dragging Mankey along with him; at the peak of his jump, Manny threw his opponent at the ground, which Mankey hit with a thud. "Karate Chop!" said Tom.

"ROLL!" cried Peter, and his Mankey rolled, just barely missing Manny's Karate Chop from above. "Seismic Toss!" Peter instructed. Mankey grabbed Manny, jumped high into the air, and returned the Seismic Toss treatment. Manny hopped to his feet and leaped back just in time to dodge Mankey's aerial follow-up attack.

"Finish it off with Revenge!" said Tom.

Manny reared his fist and then delivered a devastating punch to Mankey's face; Mankey fell to the ground, unable to continue the fight.

"Come back," Peter said as he withdrew his Mankey. "Okay, last one – go, Grotle!" What was once Peter's Turtwig had since evolved into something significantly larger, though it was still a green, four-legged, shelled creature; a couple of bush-like plants rested atop its shell. Peter gave Grotle his order: "Use Razor Leaf!"

"Low Kick!" said Tom.

The bushes on Grotle's back shot a flurry of tiny, sharp leaves at Manny. Manny zigzagged over to Grotle, attempting to dodge as many leaves as possible but getting hit by a good number of them. Once Manny got within striking distance, Grotle attempted to slide out of the way, but Manny quickly adjusted his aim and made contact. Grotle was in pain, but all of the damage Manny had taken was starting to catch up to him. "That's enough for now," said Tom, and he withdrew Manny back into his Pokéball. "Finish this, Charlie!"

Charlie was beamed into Tom's side of the battlefield. "Use Ember until it's over!" said Tom.

"Crap!" Peter exclaimed. "Oh well, just use Tackle!"

Grotle charged towards Charlie. Charlie sprayed small flames at Grotle. Charlie managed to avoid his opponent's Tackle just long enough; before Grotle could make contact, he finally – so to speak – burned out.

"That's enough," said Peter as he withdrew his last Pokémon. "Man, you were great!" he told Tom. "You've gotten way better since last time we did that! So have I, obviously, but apparently not enough."

"Well, I'm not sure you were using your full potential there," said Tom. "I mean, for example, you might have done better if you'd switched out your Geodude to save it for later, so you could use it against Charlie, or Ralph if I'd brought him out instead. Thanks, though."

"Hmm…" Peter said thoughtfully. "I dunno, but still, the trouble your Charmeleon gave me just made me more sure that I need to get a Water Stone to use on my Eevee."

"Hey, what are you doing?" said Opal, who had been cheering Tom on throughout the battle, though he'd been so focused on the battle that I don't think he had really noticed. "You just beat Peter fair and square! You should be demanding money from him like all trainers do!"

"He's my friend, though," said Tom. "I wouldn't really expect that from him. And it's not like I need the money, anyways."

"But…."

"Wait a moment," Peter interrupted. "Didn't you mention having lost to Tom this morning? You gave him your money then, right?"

"Well of course not!" Opal said indignantly. "But it's different! You see…."

As Opal struggled to come up with increasingly convoluted excuses for this hypocrisy, Tom shifted over to where April stood. "You know, we still haven't battled like you said we would," he pointed out.

"I said I'd battle you when I'm ready for it," April replied. "I've watched you battle twice today, and I can tell that I'm not yet. I still have some more work to do – but I'll get back to you soon enough."

"Okay then, I guess," said Tom. "Anyways, it's getting late – I need to go heal my Pokémon now." He checked me for the time. "I should be able to get at least a little bit of training in before going back off to Peter's house for the night."


Tom spent the rest of the evening training on his own, by the light provided by the city and the moon, on Route 34. There, he realized that his greatest problem was the need to get his new team adjusted and motivated. His less recent Pokémon were doing fine: Ralph, after a timid start, was finally giving his all, and Charlie, Pippa, and Manny were as eager to improve as ever. But Umanda in particular was giving Tom trouble. Though she did everything Tom demanded of her, she did so almost pointedly using as little effort as possible, all the while looking bored and uninterested; upon completing the task, she'd simply yawn and lie back down. Albert was another problem. He did actually participate and exert himself in the training, but he still made things difficult with his mischevious antics. He'd find it funny to, say, light up a stick with Charlie's tail and then place said stick under Pippa when her back was turned, or to replace the water in Ralph's bowl with salt water from the ocean when Ralph wasn't looking. It both disheartened the rest of the team and made them less connected as a group.

"I don't know what I can do," Tom said to Manny as they watched Ralph push a large boulder. "I can tell them what to do, but I can't tell them how to feel about it, and that's at least as important."

"You're right," said Manny. "How your Pokémon feel about their training, and about their trainer, is definitely important. And you can't really control it. But if you know what strings to pull, you can guide it in the right direction."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Tom.

"Well… let me show you," Manny replied. Nearby, Umanda was lazily lying around as usual. Manny walked over to her. He began talking to her in Pokémon Speak, making cackling, croaking noises. As he croaked and cackled, Umanda began to show the first sign of any emotion since joining Tom's team. She looked angry. When Manny finished talking, Umanda stood up and ran over to Ralph. Ralph had just finished pushing a boulder from one tree to another, as Tom had specified. As Ralph watched, Umanda put her own head against the boulder and began shoving it forward. She pushed it across the distance and reached the first tree in far less time than Ralph had taken. Then, as if just to show off, she pushed the same boulder again back to where Ralph stood. Umanda finished pushing the boulder, stuck her tongue out at Ralph (who looked very confused), ran back to where she had been resting, and then yawned and lay back down.

"Um… what was that all about?" asked Tom.

"She always had a lot of potential, she just thought of herself as being above your training exercises," said Manny. "That was probably just an excuse to laze around, though. Anyways, I told her that Ralph and the other Pokémon thought she wasn't trying hard because she just wasn't very good. That we were laughing at her behind her back. But what really got her going was when I said that Ralph thought he was better than her."

"Was that all true?" asked Tom.

"Who cares?" Manny replied. "It got her motivated, at least for a moment. Eventually she'll come to trust you and respect you enough to not need a reason to get motivated, but to ever get to that point you have to do whatever you can now."

Tom looked at his resting Eevee. "Looks like she's still going to need some work," he said. "I guess I wouldn't expect her to snap to action permanently just like that. But what about Albert? He's clever enough to find a way around any punishment I assign to him…." This was true: angered by his Kadabra's antics, Tom had tried to use him as target practice for the Pokémon who'd been the butt end of his petty jokes, but Albert had grabbed on to Tom and used him as a human shield. Any other punishment Tom could think up would likely meet the same fate of having some loophole exploited; Kadabra are not idiots. "How am I supposed to get him on the right track?" Tom asked, looking back at Manny. "You knew how to deal with Umanda – can you think of something else to tell Albert?"

Manny shrugged. "Hey, you're the trainer," he said. "You're going to have to figure that kind of stuff out. I'll just help out sometimes when I can."

This disappointed Tom. "You seemed to know right away what made Umanda tick, though. You have an insight into other Pokémon that I don't… you'd probably be better at making them have the right attitude about training and stuff."

"Tom, I'm gonna have to repeat myself here," said Manny. "I may have the body and traits of a Pokémon, but up here…" (he pointed to his head) "…I'm basically all human. Sure, I spent a little while living among Pokémon and can speak their language, but beyond that I can't tell any more about how any individual Pokémon thinks than you can. Look, I'm already sure that you're a great trainer, and great trainers understand their Pokémon – how they feel, I mean, and what can be done to make them feel differently. That thing I just did with Umanda… if you tried hard enough, you could probably have done something like that yourself. And you're the trainer – our trainer – so we're going to be expecting that kind of thing from you. We need to know who's in charge here, and you need to learn how to interact with your Pokémon as a trainer. Because I know you can do it really well, once you get the hang of it… better than I could, that's for sure."

Tom nodded. "Yeah, I think I get it now," he said. "Thanks for that."

"Any time," said Manny.

"This is certainly odd, now, isn't it?" I commented. "A Pokémon is training his own trainer how to train Pokémon."

"Don't get used to it," said Manny. "From here on out, it's all Tom."

The rest of that night's training session went fairly well. No more breakthroughs were made, but Tom did manage to defeat several wild Pokémon and even a couple of trainers before finally packing it up and heading back to Peter's house for the night.


The plan for the next morning was simple enough: after breakfast, Tom and Peter were to head out to Goldenrod Gym and spend the rest of the morning there training. But complications arose.

Tom and Peter, accompanied by Manny, Umanda, and Geodude, reached the gym as planned, only to find a crowd gathered around it. Many of these were simply onlookers, but the real point of interest was the organized group surrounding – and blocking access to – the gym. Most of them were holding signs with pitifully thoughtless slogans such as Pokémon Training = Pokémon Slavery and Don't be Evil, Free your Weavile. The door to the gym was completely hidden behind a large, colorful banner that said:

People for the Protection of Pokémon

(P.P.P.)

Saving Pokémon from the horrors of oppression

"Oh, great," Peter muttered. "Like the Pirates weren't bad enough; now we're getting invaded by these nutcases."

"Aw man, how am I supposed to get my third badge now?" asked Tom.

"They'll probably be gone soon enough," said Peter. "Back into whatever hole they crawled out of."

A young woman with curly red hair had, up to that point, been speaking through a megaphone about how the gym was a symbol of oppression and such and such. Then, however, she noticed Tom and Peter standing near her, and the three Pokémon with them. Peter noticed her staring in his general direction. "Hey, bitch," he shouted, "let us through! We're trying to earn a badge here!"

"Watch your language, young man!" the woman shouted back. She walked closer to him (Tom, red in the face, tried to remain unnoticed). "Disgusting – they're teaching kids to engage in this vicious practice nowadays! Young man, do you have any idea how your Geodude feels?"

"Hmmm…" Peter began, "…I'd say she feels really hard. And smooth and round at the head. Not that you'd know what anything like that feels like." (It was a pretty weak analogy, but I guess he had to come up with something phallic, being him.)

She shot him a stone-cold glance before looking back down at Geodude, whom she kneeled down to get closer to. "Poor little thing," the woman said, "being forced into violence at your master's will. It's not too late," she told Peter; "you can still redeem yourself if you just free your… huh?" Geodude was pointing at the woman's megaphone. "What is it? …You want to hold this?" The woman held out the megaphone, and Geodude grabbed it from her. "Oh, do you have something to say?" The woman watched attentively as Geodude inspected the megaphone, held it at various angles… and then vigorously smashed it against the ground, shattering it into bits.

"What the heck?!" the appalled woman exclaimed. Geodude was cackling in laughter; Manny and Peter were laughing as well, and Albert found it hilarious. Tom simply grimaced and continued hiding himself away in humiliation.

The woman jumped to her feet, furious. "YOU, sir," she snapped at Peter, "have clearly been abusing and mistreating your Pokémon, and now their personality and behavior have been warped and twisted for the worst thanks to your ignorant notion of how to treat fellow creatures!"

"My what?" Peter snapped back. "Oh, you little…."

"Um, Peter," Tom chimed in nervously, "I think we should just go. We aren't going to get anywhere here. It isn't worth our time."

Peter looked at the P.P.P. woman, then at Tom, and then continued shifting his eyes between them. Finally, he turned to Tom. "Fine," he sighed. "Let's get going then." He gave the woman a one-fingered expression of his opinion of her before he and Tom set off.


Tom and Peter lay on their backs in the field in front of the Embs' home. Their Pokémon were either roaming around or resting. The two boys didn't seem entirely sure of what to do next, nor did they act like they were trying very hard to make that decision – they'd spent the last half-hour or so lying in the grass and chatting. I occasionally contributed to the conversation by telling them how dumb something they said was, but I don't think it fazed them much.

"What's up?" asked April, who then appeared standing above Tom and Peter.

Peter shifted forward until his head was directly between April's legs. "Well, from this angle…."

"Shut UP!" April snapped as she backed away, her face red.

"We couldn't get into the gym," Tom explained. "We were going to go there to train, but it was being blocked by a bunch of P.P.P. people."

"No way!" said April. "Ugh, I can't believe those… well, whatever. You don't need the gym yet, right? You could probably even just train right here."

"Yeah, maybe," said Peter. He sat up and looked around the field. "I guess there's enough room here for training." He lay back down. "Bah, that would mean getting up and doing something."

"Uh, we're going to have to do it eventually," Tom needlessly pointed out.

"No rush, right?" said April. "Besides, it's almost late enough to have lunch now. The weather's nice – we could have it out here!"

"A picnic?" said Peter. "Might be nice. Just don't tell…."

"Hey what's going on?" Judging by their surprise, Tom and Peter hadn't seen or heard Opal approach them. She looked down at Peter. "I bet you were about to say something mean about me, weren't you?"

"…my sister."


The picnic was no small ordeal. Food had to be prepared not only for four humans, but also their eighteen Pokémon. By the time it was fully underway, the field was teeming with activity. The four trainers sat and talked. Pippa and Bayleef were both intent on staying at their master's side. Elsewhere, Albert and Geodude exchanged jokes; Charlie and Flareon (April's newly-evolved Eevee) played some variation of tag; Manny looked on with a slightly sad expression as Grotle and Smeargle played and talked. Ralph disappeared to the edge of the field for five whole minutes, where he held a flower he had picked in his hand. He kept shifting his eyes between the flower and the field; finally, he ran over to Pachirisu, put the flower down in front of her, and then tried to run back away in embarrassment – but Pachirisu stopped him with a demobilizing hug, causing April and Opal to simultaneously make an irritating, high-pitched "Awwwww!" noise.

Eventually, they transitioned from picnicking to Pokémon training. Tom had mostly only trained alone up to this point, and training in a group proved to be a very different endeavor; all of them – trainers as well as Pokémon – learned from each other's mistakes, picked up on each other's strengths, and generally had a lot more to work with than one lone trainer and his Pokémon would have. With four trainers each making decisions, it was also a lot less organized and more chaotic. As the day went on, Umanda and Albert seemed to be less of a problem than before, if only a little. Opal spent considerably less time actually training than everyone else; instead she watched the other three for insights and occasionally tried to apply this knowledge with her own team.

The disorganized day was scattered with appropriately random events. April went home and came back again a couple of times, bringing food back with her the second time; Tom, Peter, and Opal were given dinner by Peter and Opal's parents, who dropped by for a visit at one point. As the sky began turning orange and the four kids finished eating, June also came by for a visit – to bid them farewell before leaving the city.

"I'm going back to Indigo Plateau now," said June. "I suspect one or more of you will meet me there sometime in the future… for a more work-related visit. But for now, I bid you all farewell. Take care of yourself, sis. You too, Opal. And Tom – it was nice meeting you. Peter… just don't be too much of a jerk, especially if I'm going to have to hear of it later." He gave them all one last wave. "See you later, then," he said before finally leaving.

"Now what?" Peter asked when June had left. "Should we just keep on training? Or what?"

"Actually," said Tom, "I think I'd rather train on my own for the rest of the evening. At Route 34, like last night."

"If you say so," said Peter. "Go ahead; I'll probably be home by the time you get back, so I'll see you there."


"Manny… I've been thinking…."

Tom had been at Route 34 for a few hours, and the sun had now completely set. The Pokémon were all taking a break (not that Umanda needed prompting), and Tom sat next to Manny, their backs against a large tree.

"The P.P.P.," Tom continued, "well, don't get me wrong, they're pretty crazy. Nobody takes them seriously anymore – they've sort of become a joke – and they know it. Still, I can't help but feel like, at some level, aren't they kind of… right?"

Manny looked intrigued and possibly worried. "What do you mean by that?"

"Think about it," said Tom. "I mean, we trainers attack wild animals until they're too weak to escape, then we capture and keep them in a little Pokéball, give ourselves total power over them, and force them to fight each other until they're knocked unconscious, usually just for our own entertainment. Doesn't that seem sort of… cruel?"

A half-minute silence ensued. Finally, Manny spoke up. "You know, Tom," he said, "captured Pokémon aren't the only ones who battle each other. Pokémon battles happen in the wild too. But in the wild, the loser isn't just taken to the nearest Pokémon Center to get healed. No, wild Pokémon battles end when the loser dies, or is left to die slowly and painfully, or is killed and eaten… in that order, if they're lucky." He hopped to his feet and walked in front of Tom so as to face him; he met Tom's gaze with a fierce, serious expression. "Listen," Manny continued, "I need you to really get what I'm saying here. Wild Pokémon live in constant fear – fear of predators and death; fear of not finding the food and water and shelter needed to live another day. When a wild Pokémon is captured by a human trainer, it's given a chance to escape from that fear and live in safety. But that's not all it's given. With the guidance of a trainer seeking improvement, the Pokémon is given a goal, something to work at, a reason to live. Its life is given meaning beyond searching for food and trying to stay alive. And, if the trainer is good enough, the strong bond between trainer and Pokémon gives its life even more meaning. I'd know, Tom – don't forget that I was a wild Pokémon not long ago; would I have made the free choice to get captured if it was so horrible a thing to do? That crazy group at the gym isn't just wrong, it's completely and totally wrong. Capturing Pokémon doesn't enslave them, it saves them. Am I getting through to you here? Because I really hope so."

"Don't worry," said Tom. He, too, got to his feet; his body felt relaxed and relieved, especially compared to how it had been a minute before. "I understand what you're saying. I had already felt like those things P.P.P. said must be wrong… I just got a little worried when I thought about it and couldn't figure out why."

"Well, there wasn't any need to worry. If I'm ever feeling oppressed or something I'll just go ahead and say it."

Tom chuckled. "Being able to talk has its benefits, huh? For both of us." He looked at Albert, who was telekinetically bending his spoon in the distance. "You know, Albert hasn't been causing that much trouble lately. I think he was using it as an outlet – he wasn't comfortable being with my team yet, and whenever he got frustrated with his training he'd take it out on another Pokémon. I just need to be there to make sure he feels more confident for a while." Tom looked back at Manny. "I'm going to need to train you the hardest, though. The gym leader in this town uses normal-type Pokémon, and your fighting-type moves will be perfect for countering that. You've all gotten so strong already… we may even be able to face her sometime tomorrow."

"You think so, huh?" said Manny. He assumed a fighting stance. "Sounds fine with me. Now whenever you're ready – let's get back to work!"


Tom awoke the next morning to the pitter-patter of rain against the window. "Ugh," he said. "Rain."

"Zat so?" Peter managed to say as he awoke. He tilted his head up to see the window and then put his head back down on his pillow, closing his eyes. "Oh well. Sleeping in is fine."

About a minute passed before Tom finally got out of bed. "Well, I'm going to go out to train anyways," said Tom.

"What?" said a re-awakening Peter. "In this weather? You don't hafta now… it'll prolly blow over soon… you can just sleep if ya want."

"No," said Tom, "I want to keep training. I need to, if I ever want to beat Jude… I don't know where he went off to, but no doubt he's out training now himself. Besides, exposing my Pokémon to a new condition to train in, like heavy rain, will help them learn how to adapt."

"Suit yourself," said Peter. "I'm still staying here to sleep. I guess I'll meet back with you at lunch."


During the first break Tom gave his Pokémon that morning, Manny came under Tom's umbrella to talk to him.

"I've had a lot to say lately, haven't I?" said Manny.

Tom thought about it for a second. "I guess you have," he replied.

"Well, I've come to realize something," said Manny. "A lot of the time I want to say something, but I can't because you're around other people. Now I've been getting all that blabber out whenever you're alone, but I'd rather not have to hold it all in in the first place; you get what I'm saying?"

"Um… kind of… where are you going with this, exactly?"

"Okay, here's the deal. I don't want too many people making a scene of my… unique condition, but if you're around someone a lot, and you think you can trust them enough to keep a secret, I think it's best if we let them in on it. Like that Peter kid, for example. We share a room with him every night; I think it's about time I let myself talk in his presence. If you ask me, I think we should tell him about it tonight, if we can."

Tom nodded. "Actually, I was wondering when you'd bring that up," he said. "Having to pretend that you're mute all the time does get sort of tiring for both of us. Tonight's as good a night as any for telling Peter."

Soon they were back to training. Though the downpour continued, Tom decided not to use his umbrella for the rest of the morning. It was a minor gesture, but he wanted to let his Pokémon know that he was working under the same conditions as they were.


Peter had predicted correctly: by the time he and Tom had lunch, the storm had already blown over. After lunch, the two of them trained for a few hours at the National Park until Tom told Peter that he was finally ready to face the town's gym leader, Whitney.

Goldenrod Gym's interior wasn't as quirky as those of the last two gyms Tom had been inside of, but the main room was just as large and open. There weren't many trainers there today. Tom and Peter introduced themselves to Whitney, a cheerful young woman with pigtailed red hair.

"Haven't I seen you somewhere before?" she asked Tom.

"Um…."

"Oh, I know!" Whitney exclaimed. "You helped fight off the Space Pirates, didn't you? I remember now – I was there too!"

"It's true, we did!" said Peter. "Do you recognize me too?"

"Yep," said Whitney. "I saw you both on T.V." Tom blushed and Peter smiled. "Oh, sorry the gym is so empty today. We're still trying to get back on schedule after all those protests, ya know. But anyways, you both came here to battle me, right?"

"Actually," said Tom, "it's just me for now."

"Oh, say no more!" said Whitney. She turned to Peter. "Um, you might want to get out of the way," she told him.

"No problem," said Peter, and he ran off to one of the stands lining the side of the challengers' arena.

Whitney walked to the other side of the arena and then turned to face Tom. "It'll be my two Pokémon against however many you've got!" she shouted. "Are you ready?"

Tom clutched his first Pokéball. "Any time!" he shouted.

"Okay! Go, Clefairy!"

"Go, Ralph!"

The Clefairy and the Pikachu appeared in front of their trainers. "Use Thunder Wave!" Tom shouted.

Whitney remained silent as Ralph released a quick jolt of electricity from his cheeks, zapping the Clefairy so as to paralyze it. The Clefairy, however, was prepared: it took a Lum Berry out of its hold-item necklace and ate it. Then Whitney finally spoke: "Great, now use Mimic!" The Clefairy stopped shaking and crackling with static; the berry had cured its paralysis. Now it raised its arms and concentrated.

"Quick, use ThunderShock!" Tom ordered. But Ralph had no time to act before the Clefairy zapped him with a Thunder Wave. Now it was Ralph who was shivering and cackling in paralysis.

"Clefairy, use…."

"Come back!" Tom said before Whitney could finish giving her order. His paralyzed Pikachu went back into Pokéball. "Go, Albert!" The Kadabra materialized in front of Tom.

"Use another Thunder Wave!" Whitney shouted.

"Disable!" said Tom.

The Clefairy raised its arms once again. Albert began directing psionic waves at his opponent. A paralyzing bolt of electricity zapped Albert as soon as he finished his own attack. Tom's Pokémon was now paralyzed, but Whitney's could no longer use the Thunder Wave it had mimicked.

Tom couldn't switch out Albert yet, so Whitney called out her next attack: "Metronome!"

"Use Psybeam!" said Tom.

Albert was too paralyzed to move. Fortunately for him, the Clefairy merely splashed around, doing no damage whatsoever. Tom looked at my screen – as he did routinely – to learn that Splash was the move brought forth by the random attack generator that is Metronome. So Tom waited, and then the thirty seconds were up. "That's enough for now!" said Tom, and he withdrew Albert.

"Using Disable was a clever move," said Whitney. "You'll have to do better than that, though - my Clefairy just paralyzed two of your Pokémon and hasn't even taken a hit."

"That's about to change," said Tom. "I wanted to save this for later, but… go, Manny!"

Manny jumped onto the battlefield. "Use Karate Chop!" Tom ordered.

"Now, Metronome!" said Whitney.

Manny ran towards the Clefairy, who began wagging its finger back and forth. Manny successfully landed a Karate Chop on the Clefairy; as soon as his attack finished, a large amount of water appeared out of nowhere and rushed at Manny. Tom glanced at me to learn that, through Metronome, the Clefairy had used Brine.

"Just one more Karate Chop!" Tom shouted.

"Another Metronome!" said Whitney.

The Clefairy wagged its finger back and forth. Manny raised his arm, ready to attack… and just stood there. "What are you waiting for?" Tom yelled, frustrated.

"Your Machop's infatuated," I told him. "The Clefairy's Cute Charm took effect when Manny made contact with it."

"You mean he can't attack the thing because he's too attracted to it?" said Tom, appalled. Meanwhile, the Metronome took the form of a Charge Beam; Clefairy zapped Manny with a concentrated beam of electricity. "Come on, Manny, it's just a stupid pink puffball!" Tom yelled. "There's a million more like her, and this one just zapped you!"

"Yeah, bros before hoes, dog!" Peter shouted.

"You're not helping, Peter," Tom mumbled to himself.

Manny was not encouraged; he got back up and into a fighting stance, but he only one step forward and then stopped again. He was actually drooling a bit as he looked at his opponent. "Metronome!" shouted Whitney.

"Ugh, forget it," said Tom, and he withdrew Manny. "Finish this, Charlie!"

Charlie was beamed into the battlefield. The moment he appeared, the Clefairy used Vacuum Wave; Charlie got knocked down by an invisible wave of, well, vacuum. "Charlie, use Smokescreen!" Tom ordered.

"Metronome! Again!" shouted Whitney.

After getting back on his feet, Charlie breathed a cloud of smoke towards the Clefairy, who once again wagged its finger back and forth. Two seconds later, the Clefairy tried to deliver a Rolling Kick to its opponent, but attacked the wrong area entirely. "Now, Flamethrower!" said Tom.

Tom had spent quite a bit of money on T.M. 35 so he could teach his Charmeleon to use Flamethrower, but it proved to be a worthy purchase. Charlie opened his mouth and scorched the Clefairy with the stream of flames. Afterwards, the Clefairy looked badly burnt… and unconscious.

"That's enough!" said Whitney, who withdrew her Clefairy. "Go, Miltank!"

A pink, bipedal, cow-like Pokémon appeared in the battlefield. "Use Attract!" said Whitney.

"Crap, not again!" said Tom. "Quickly – Flamethrower!"

The Miltank struck a pose and made an oddly soothing "Moo" sound; Charlie had opened his mouth to release his next attack, but the flames never came out. "You've got to be kidding me!" cried Tom.

"Bro, she make you blind or something?" said Peter, who seemed to be greatly enjoying himself. "She be a total fatty."

"Peter's right this time!" said Tom. "Come on, Charlie, look at her – she's a cow!"

"That's a terrible thing to say about a lady!" said Whitney. "Miltank, punish them with a Rollout!"

A layer of rock slowly began to surround Miltank; soon she looked as if she was inside of a barrel made of rock. She then fell to her side and rolled right into Charlie, who was still too love-struck to move out of the way. "Come on, Charlie, attack!" said Tom. Charlie did nothing before Miltank rolled over him again. "At least move, for goodness sake!" But now the Rollout was moving faster; Charlie could not have dodged the next attack if he had tried. That third hit took out whatever was left in him.

"Come back," said a disappointed Tom as he withdrew his Charmeleon. Miltank's Attract wouldn't work on female Pokémon, but Tom only had two of those: Pippa and Umanda. Instead, he thought he'd try something different. "Go, Albert!"

Albert, still paralyzed, was beamed out of his Pokéball. "Oh no you don't!" said Whitney. "I'm not falling for that one again! Miltank, use Rollout!"

"Crap!" cried Tom. He had hoped that Miltank would use Attract again so that Albert could then Disable it. "Whatever – just use Psybeam!"

The rock-encased Miltank rolled over Albert, who was too paralyzed to dodge anything. Albert then hit his opponent with a psionic wave similar in appearance to Confusion, but more intense and more visible. "Keep using Psybeam!" shouted Tom.

"More Rollout!" said Whitney.

Though paralyzed, Albert did manage to get one more Psybeam in before Miltank's attacks made him faint. Tom withdrew his Kadabra once again. "I don't have many choices here, so… come on out, Umanda!"

Tom's Eevee appeared in front of him. "Just keep using Quick Attack!" said Tom. "Get in as much damage as you can!"

"Miltank, you know what to do – Rollout!" said Whitney.

Though she was encased in rock, much of Miltank remained exposed – especially at her shoulders and above – and it was here that Umanda took aim at when she charged into her opponent. When Umanda landed back on the ground, Miltank returned the favor by rolling into her. Miltank rolled away and Umanda got back up, looking more pissed off than ever, as if the Rollout had been a personal insult. In the blink of an eye, she had hit Miltank with not one, but two more Quick Attacks. Umanda landed on the ground and faced her opponent; Miltank rolled towards her opponent, but got slower and slower. When Miltank came to a stop, it became clear that she had fainted.

Whitney withdrew her Miltank, Peter cheered from the stand, and Tom ran over to Umanda. "Way to go – you did great!" Tom told his Eevee. Umanda affectionately rubbed her head against his leg.

"Aw, man… I hate losing," said Whitney. "But still, congratulations and stuff… you want this badge, right?" She gave Tom the Plain Badge, as well as T.M. 45 (which taught Attract), before Tom and Peter left the gym.


Tom and Peter talked about the battle with April and Opal over dinner at the Pokémon Center. They also discussed where, exactly, they would go from there.

"The next gym is in Ecruteak City up north," said Peter. "I say we head there after dinner and get there tonight."

"Wait a moment," said Tom. "What about you? You never won the badge here in Goldenrod – shouldn't we stay until you have it?"

"Ah, I thought you might ask that," Peter replied. "Here's the thing… I was never really all that into the whole badge collecting stuff. I mean, sure, it'd be neat to win eight of them and get to the Pokémon League and all, I just don't feel like it's really that important for me to do so, at least not right away. Then there's that Jude kid… man, I'd like to see the look on his face when you become the League Champion and he doesn't." Peter smiled. "What I'm trying to say is, when it comes to getting badges, you're a lot more determined than I am. I don't want to hold you back – and if you're going to keep moving, I'd rather be there with you than stay here just for a badge I can get later anyways."

Tom was taken aback. "You, um, you really want to go with me to Ecruteak City right away?"

"Sure," said Peter, "why not? Like I said, I could always come back here whenever to get the Plain Badge later. Yeah, tonight's as good a night as any… I just need to go tell my parents and say goodbye to them first."


"You know," Tom told April, "we never did end up battling, even with me being here this whole time."

Tom and Peter stood at the northernmost end of Goldenrod City, their backs to the city's exit and their bikes ready at their sides. April and Opal were here to bid them farewell; above, the sun began its descent in the yellow-tinted sky.

"I know," said April. "We'll get to it eventually, though. Johto's a big place, but it's not that big; it's not like I won't see you anymore now."

"Alright," said Tom. "In that case, see you two eventually."

Suddenly, Tom found himself in Opal's arms. "Thank you thank you thank you a million times again for saving my life!" she said. "You were great even if you're modest about it and I won't forget it ever and I'll miss you lots when you're gone!"

"You're… welcome," said a red-faced Tom, who timidly hugged her back.

Opal eventually let go of Tom and ran back a few steps, where she turned to give Peter a quizzical look. "You know what?" she said. "Maybe I'll even miss you a little bit, too."

"Wow, thanks!" said Peter. "That's probably the nicest thing you've ever said to me!"

After a final bout of good-byes, Tom and Peter were on their bikes, riding off to their next destination.