Chapter 11: The PokéManiac

Now our story takes a lighter turn, as it is here that I met one of the best friends I could ever have. This was someone who gave everything he could to help me on my journey without expecting anything in return. We crossed paths many times on my journey, and to this day he remains one of my best friends and closest allies.

On the way back across Nugget Bridge I wasn't bothered by the trainers. They must have recognised me. I fought them a whole hour ago, for them to remember that far back is for them to surpass my expectations. After healing my Pokémon, I headed towards the bridge again. As I made my way across the bridge, I prepared myself for that fact that the man from team rocket could very possibly be awake and pissed. But as I approached I noticed that he wasn't there at all. I made a second check to be sure and then continued on my way. I was always the paranoid type.

A little down the road I ran into a large, out of place ledge in the middle of the otherwise flat ground. The ledge was too big for me to climb without considerable effort. Luckily however, just down the path was an area where the ground levelled out, and lead up back to the plateau. I followed said route to just above where I was standing before.

*CRUNCH*
"What the hell was that." I looked to the bottom of my shoe, to find the offending object. A technical machine in a CD case. "I wonder if someone threw it up the ledge and was too lazy to come get it?" I said aloud to myself. "Oh well, at least I didn't break it." Before stashing the TM in my bag, I took a quick look at the front. Attract. "Damn. Not really one for status attacks. Oh well, it might sell for a decent price at least."

I jumped back down the ledge and continued along my original path. I entered into route 25 at long last, meaning that the Cerulean Cape was just ahead. First thing I did was check around the tall grass. I skipped it on route 24, because I knew before coming here that they have the exact same diversity of species'. No big surprise, given the proximity that naturally comes with adjacency and the lack of any other defining features to set the two apart. After a while, and a few frustrating attempts to catch an Abra, I left the tall grass with what I wanted to tell myself were the only two Pokémon around I didn't already have, Oddish and Bellsprout. Abra, what's that? Also, on a side note, Pikachu learned Slam, replacing Double Team.

I spent the next few hours trudging along route 25, getting into a few battles on the way. None of them were particularly interesting, although Butterfree could've learned Whirlwind after one of the battles, I decided against it however. I showed some guy up in front of his girlfriend and found TM 43, Secret Power, in a cornered off area behind some thick bushes. Another day in the office.

Continuing along the path, I came to a solitary cottage. Just past that was a scenic overlook of the sea. If one were to sail straight out from this point they wouldn't hit land until they had circled the globe and ended up on the other side of Johto, although they might just barely scrape across the bottom of the newly discovered region, Kalos.

Back to the main topic. I approached the cottage and read the inscription of the mailbox. "SEA COTTAGE. BILL lives here!" Just the place I was looking for. I hesitated to open to door, it felt like I was intruding. Just as I was about to knock, I heard a clatter, followed by a thump and the sound of a Pokémon's cry coming from inside. I pushed open the (strangely unlocked) door and rushed inside. "Hello?" I said to thin air.
"Hello?! Can you help me?! I'm afraid I'm in a bit of a tight situation here." A strangely whiny voice, asked in broken English. It was then I noticed movement among a pile of junk on the floor. I rushed over… and found a Clefairy, staring up at me expectantly. I pulled it out of the junk and put it down upright, but I still couldn't find the source of the voice. "Thanks kid, I owe you." I looked down at the Clefairy. It looked back at me.
"Umm… hi." I responded, being as non-committal as possible with my response.
"Please don't give me that look, I can explain." That time I was watching, and I definitely saw its mouth move in tandem with the words I was hearing… I should sell it; I'd make a fortune.

Fortunately, before I got any other funny ideas the Clefairy managed to blurt out an explanation. It would seem that Clefairy have the mouth formation to just barely form basic words. "Ok, recap." I began, still more than just dumbfounded. "You're actually Bill, and you messed up an experiment which caused you to combine with the Pokémon in the other teleporter?"
"You got it my dude, so do you think you can help a fella out?"
"I… guess? What do I have to do?" The Clefairy beamed at me.
"Great! I just need you to wait until I get inside the teleporter and then run the Cell Separation System on my PC."
"Sound simple enough, let's do it."

A minute and a half later Bill in his human form was standing in front of me. Given what just happened, he was chillin'. He stretched out his limbs and then addressed me. "Thanks bud, I really owe you one! You already know, but I'm Bill, the PokéManiac. You are?" Oh right, where are my manners.
"I literally can't remember my own name right now."
"Yeah, sorry about that, I had a visitor earlier, a young man much like yourself named Blue. Unfortunately, just after he left, I had this little mishap. I'm pretty lucky you happened to come by!"
"Well, you're welcome I guess… I'm Red by the way." I held out my hand. He shook it perhaps a little too vigorously.
"Well Red, my thanks again, let me repay you." He started shuffling around in his desk drawers. He pulled out a ticket for something. I'm not really a fan of large events, so I might turn him down. He held it out to me. "This is a ticket for the S.S. ANNE, a famous cruise ship docked in Vermilion. I was invited but I'd really prefer to stay here studying. I hear there are a lot of powerful trainers getting on board this time around." Well, when he puts it like that, how can I say no? I accepted the ticket.
"Thanks for this Bill."
"Not a problem. Oh, one more thing, I also gave one to that Blue guy I mentioned earlier. Maybe you'll see him aboard?"
"Yeah, about that…"

The sun was setting by the time we were finished talking. There was no way I'd be making it back to Cerulean before it got pitch black out. I was preparing to leave so I could camp on the road, but Bill insisted that I stay the night. I couldn't tell if he was just being nice, or if he just wanted to show off his Pokémon collection. Either way, Bill was a good guy, you rarely meet anyone so friendly and likeable, especially on the road.

The next morning, after giving the seaside cottage one last nod and a wink, I headed back to Cerulean. Bill told me about a shortcut back, and it took no more than three hours to make it back, as opposed to the lengthy trip there. I was back to Cerulean without having to battle anyone too. When I checked in at the Pokémon centre, they told me I had mail come in and handed me an envelope. I went up to my room to open it.

The letter from home was mostly small talk. Largely, the letter was just everyone wishing happy birthday, writing for a celebration a month gone by. Still, the letter did have some interesting information in the form of status update of Green. Apparently she had written home just before I did, detailing her progress. Somehow, in the short two months we hadn't seen each other, she had collected the Rainbow, Soul AND Marsh badges. "No way…" I muttered to myself in disbelief. Her team were all final evolutions too. Thinking back on her team the last time we met, that would mean her current team was Venusaur, Ninetails, Starmie, Wigglytuff and Sandslash, along with a mystery member. Knowing her, I wouldn't be surprised to hear that it's Ditto or something like that. I neatly folded the letter and put it in my bag. "I think it's about time to blow this joint." I said to myself. So, I just got up and took off.