Chapter 14

Splash! Drops of water splashed into the muddy ground around it as a tan boot stepped into the puddle. With every step, the mud sucked at the boots, the sound loud in the eerily quiet forest. The boots belonged to a tall, muscular man, who walked with an air of confidence. He held his head high, his dark brown, almost black, eyes scanned the forested area. A light breeze rustled the leaves and blew the man's dark, wavy hair behind him. One of his hands rested against the leather knife scabbard on his hip while his other hand held a small piece of paper with a picture of a yellow bird on it. Wild pokemon took refuge behind trees and bushes, sensing this man was very dangerous. They watched as he walked briskly through the forest, only moving when they felt he was at a safe distance away.

Ahead of him a large clearing was spotted with many tents and cars sat idly near by. His ambitious eyes shifted to the left, focusing on stacks of cages, each containing a different pokemon. Like the pokemon inside them, they varied in size, but they all had one thing in common. A very valuable pokemon. As he walked by, a feisty scyther banged on the cage, while a fraxure viciously screamed at him, but overall most of the pokemon backed away at the sight of him. He paid them no mind, and instead focused his attention on the tent just up ahead.

In the center of the tent was a large table with a map spread out of it along with a couple of other papers scattered on it. A couple of men were standing around the table, but the man with the dark hair only had in interest in one of them.

"Lyle," The dark haired man approached the table and stopped next to a boy no older than 15.

The boy glanced up at the sound of his name, his eyes such a pale blue they almost looked like ice. His blonde hair was extremely light as well, and fell in loose curls just below his ear. Lyle straightened up and smiled as he recognized the man talking to him.

"Aaron," Lyle said in response, titling his head to the side in a questioning manner.

Aaron gave a wave of his hand and immediately everyone but Lyle cleared the room. He casually walked over to the other side of the table as he studied Lyle. A prodigy they called him. He looked nothing like the stereotypical prodigy though, as he had a muscular build and was attractive. Aaron could care less what he looked like though, as long as he performed the tasks that he had given him. So far, Lyle had not failed him once, and Lyle had been working for him just over a year. Even though he was much younger than everyone else there, he was already the one of the highest ranked men.

"Have you learned anything interesting about the bird while you've been here?" Aaron asked.

"There have multiple sightings of it during thunderstorms from locals and many have heard it crying out at night. I believe it is very close by and I don't think it'll be long before we manage to find it. I've had the scientist working on electric resistant technology so when we actually find it, it won't fry us," Lyle explained.

"Good, now I'm sure you're wondering the real reason I'm here. You see, I've received some very interesting news from one of my spies," Aaron started.

Lyle cocked his head to the side, intrigued.

"I'm sure you've heard about the scientist who went rogue and took all of his discoveries and fled. He lasted only for a few months before team rocket found him living just outside of a small town called Pallet Town. He tried to flee, but after putting up a small fight he was injured. Instead of facing torture, he choose to kill himself with some type of pill. But here's the catch, he didn't write any of his very important discoveries down, probably deeming them too valuable to fall into team rocket's hands," Aaron paused and studied Lyle's face for a moment.

"That is where you come in. He did not write anything down, but there is strong evidence that he told someone. That someone is a boy about 13 or 14 years old traveling with a girl about his age. I have some sketches of them and a little bit of information about each of them, but otherwise not very much. I'm very surprised they've managed to avoid Team Rocket for this long, but I'm also very grateful. Why the scientist didn't just have his secret die with him, I don't know. I do know that the information he uncovered has something to do with a very powerful pokemon though. And I intend on you finding out this secret,"

Aaron finished, waiting for Lyle to reply. Lyle took a moment to think, and then said, "You want me to go undercover, and what, become their friend? You think they'll tell me this secret of theirs?"

"That's exactly what I think. It shouldn't be too hard, and if worse comes to worse, you can always just kidnap them and take them back to base," Aaron replied.

"Why me? What makes you think I won't just take the information and capture the pokemon myself?"

"You're the only one young enough to do this task, and because I have some trust in you. If you wanted to have gone rouge there have been opportunities for you to do so already. Besides, you don't have the technology or the resources to capture the pokemon. I'm banking a lot on you Lyle, so don't you let me down," Aaron replied, Lyle hearing the unspoken threat in his tone.

"What's in it for me?" Lyle cocked an eyebrow.

"Rumor has it that he knows something about more then one legendary pokemon. You get one, I get one," Aaron replied.

"Very well, I'll do it."

Psyduck emerged from the water, droplets of water rolling off her yellow head. She pulled herself up onto the circular platform and looked over at Leaf. Leaf gave her pokemon a big thumbs up as Goldeen emerged from the water close to the yellow pokemon.

"Your Psyduck is impressively fast in the water, and training with you has been very fun. But before you go I want to show you one more technique," Misty explained, returning goldeen and enlarging a different pokeball.

"Come on out Poliwrath," Misty released her next pokemon.

A blue pokemon now stood on the platform, eyeing Psyduck curiously. The pokemon had two small eyes on the top of its head and its stomach was white with a large black swirl on it. Leaf stared in awe at the pokemon, impressed by its obvious strength.

"Wow!" Leaf exclaimed.

Misty chuckled, her eyes gleaming.

"Poliwrath is going to help teach your psyduck how to use the move ice beam. Since grass types have a major advantage over water type, this move could help Psyduck fight back. This is a pretty advanced move, so don't be frustrated if Psyduck can't get it. You'll have to keep working on it, and it'll take a lot of practice, but it'll be a great move to have once Psyduck masters it," Misty explained.

"Okay, sounds great!" Leaf agreed excitedly.

"Alright Poliwrath, let's show em!"

Poliwrath took a deep breathe as a glowing blue light began to form in its mouth. A beam of chilling ice shot from the water type's mouth and struck the water, almost instantly turning it to ice. Psyduck watched in awe, a look of excitement passing over her face.

"Alright, your turn to try Psyduck," Leaf encouraged her pokemon.

Psyduck eagerly took a deep breath, trying to copy Poliwrath and opened her mouth wide. Her face reddened with concentration, but nothing happened. Finally Psyduck sighed in defeat and looked to her trainer for help.

"Your fine Psyduck, I would have been amazed if you actually could have created any type of ice on your first try. Why don't you use a water pulse so I can study how you create that attack," Misty instructed.

Psyduck nodded and opened her mouth to create a small ball of dark blue energy. She fired it and it struck the far wall, creating a large splash of water. Misty watched Psyduck thoughtfully and then stopped a moment to think.

"Poliwrath, now you use water pulse and then ice beam,"

Poliwrath used to two moves as its trainer had instructed while she watched him intently. Psyduck watched as well, wanting nothing more than to be able to perform the move.

"Good. Psyduck you need to dig deep down. Creating ice is similar to creating water, but it is also different. It may be harder for you to do, but you can do it," Misty encouraged the water pokemon.

Leaf nodded encouragingly at her pokemon. Psyduck took a deep breathe and then tried again. For a moment, a pale blue light flashed in Psyduck's mouth, but it was as gone as fast as it had came. Psyduck looked down in disappointment, feeling that she had failed her trainer.

"Don't give up Psyduck! Like Misty said, it's just going to take some time. I know you can get this buddy, you just gotta believe in yourself," Leaf gave her pokemon and reassuring smile.

Psyduck nodded, a look of determination now on its face. Misty offered a bit of advice on how Psyduck should stand as she attempted yet another unsuccessful attack. Psyduck tried again, and again, determined to get it. Leaf knew as she watched her pokemon that they would get this technique down sometime, if not today. She had no doubt about it.

Red sat indian style on his bed, papers scattered around him. Pikachu peered at the papers from his shoulder, only mildly interested in what its trainer was looking at. Red silently scanned the paper he held in his hand, and then grabbed a small notebook on his right. He pulled a pencil out and jotted down a few notes under the giant word Important! He then continued to read, every few minutes pausing to jot down a couple important thoughts or notes. Pikachu yawned, finding his trainer's work no more interesting than a game of chess.

The sound of footsteps thundered up the stairs, signifying the return of someone. Red, with lightning speed, began to shove all the papers scattered on the bed back into the tan file. Keys jingled and then someone was beginning to fiddle with the lock. The lock clicked as Red shoved the file and notebook into his backpack. The door opened with a click just after Red had pulled Pikachu from his shoulder and into his lap. Leaf entered the room, her face as radiant as the sun while she walked over to Red.

"So how'd it go with Misty?" Red asked, trying to be extra friendly after what happened yesterday.

"Great! She's so awesome, and a really big help. Psyduck is learning ice beam too," Leaf bragged.

One of the best things about Leaf, she couldn't hold a grudge.

"Cool, can I see it?" Red scratched behind Pikachu's ear absentmindedly.

Leaf's enthusiasm faltered for a moment.

"Well, Psyduck hasn't actually been able to do it yet. But, we'll get it. We just need to practice," Leaf explained.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll get it. You just about ready to get going?"

"Yeah, just let me grab all my stuff and then we can go," Leaf hurried to repack her yellow satchel.

Red gathered his stuff as well and stood by the door waiting for Leaf. Pikachu sat on Red's shoulder, as usual, while it watched Leaf. Once they had everything, they checked out of the pokemon center and were on their way. After learning that Saffron City was off limits, they decided the next best city to head to was Vermilion City. The two trainers were outside city limits and on a dirt path when Leaf heard a rustle. Charmander, who was by Leaf's side, immediately tensed, the flame on his tail flaring. Red paused, watching as Leaf raised a finger to her lip and plucked a rock from the ground. She tossed the rock towards the noise and listened as it thumped against someone, or something.

"Ah!" A non-human voice cried.

Suddenly, a royal blue pokemon with leaves growing from its head and no arms dashed out of its hiding spot and onto the path. The pokemon stood shorter than Charmander, and was staring at the fire lizard with large eyes. Before Leaf could issue an attack, the pokemon was running off as though a Liepard was chasing it. Without a second thought, Leaf and Charmander were after it, weaving through trees as they struggled to keep up with the fast but small pokemon. Noticing Charmander was having a hard time keeping up, she quickly returned him and released Beedrill. The bug pokemon navigated through the tree tops with ease as it tracked its prey.

"Twin Needle!" Leaf commanded.

Beedrill obeyed, dropping down on the fleeing pokemon and striking it hard. The pokemon was round in shape, so when Beedrill hit it, it simply rolled forward and continued to run. It turned quick on its heels and faced Beedrill, its eyes narrowed.

"Oddish!" It cried, releasing a purple powder into the air.

Leaf recognized the attack as poison powder, watching as it formed a purple cloud around Beedrill. Unaffected, Beedrill dove forward, stingers poised to strike, and hit Oddish with another twin needle. Oddish rolled backwards with grace. Realizing that it was beat, it turned to flee, but Leaf was quicker. The red and white ball sailed through the air before bouncing off the wild pokemon and engulfing it in a red light. Leaf watched in anticipation as the balls shook once, twice, three times before clicking. Leaf retrieved the pokeball, staring at in awe a moment before she released her newest pokemon.

"Odd? Oddish?" The pokemon looked at her questioningly.

"Hey there Oddish! I'm your new trainer," Leaf knelt down next to the pokemon and extended her hand.

The oddish regarded her for a moment, and then jumped into Leaf's arms happily. Leaf giggled as she petted the cute pokemon. Leaf noticed Red standing near her smiling, and she gave him a thumbs up. Leaf unclipped her pokedex and collected data on Oddish.

"Thanks for the help," Leaf returned her pokemon with a smile of gratitude.

They continued on the path, Oddish now bounding along happily at Leaf's side. Pikachu, curious to meet the new pokemon, was walking by Oddish. A light breeze drifted by, kissing Leaf's check as it passed. Occasionally, Oddish would run ahead, or dash into the forest, but the grass pokemon would always come skipping back. The day drug on as they walked, though the scenery was changing from forested to grassland . Red and Leaf took a small break for supper, which consisted of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that they had made that morning and some crackers.

Leaf watched as Oddish ran off once again to do who knows what. The little pokemon seemed to have an endless amount of energy, it was even tiring Pikachu out. Just as they were finishing up, Oddish came dashing back, a green stick in its mouth. Behind Oddish, a furious looking pokemon flew after the grass type. It was tan in color and a black V shaped mark was on its forehead, enhancing the bird pokemon's angry look.

"Far! Farfetch'd!" The pokemon shrieked.

"Odd!" Oddish cried, running as fast as its small legs could take it.

Pikachu jumped up, its checks crackling with electricity. Leaf ran at Oddish, fearing the bird pokemon would dive down and strike before Oddish could reach safety. Farfetch'd dove, hitting Oddish and sending it tumbling forward. The green stick Oddish was holding in its mouth went flying, striking the ground before bouncing up into the air. With grace, Farfetch'd caught the stick in its mouth and landed. It turned and glared at Oddish, who was still recovering from the attack. It shifted the stick from its mouth to its wing and charged at Oddish. Leaf reached her pokemon just in time. She protectively covered her pokemon and turned her face away as Farfetch's whipped her with his green stick. Pain immediately soared through her arm and caused her to cry out.

A bolt of electricity flew past the bird pokemon, narrowly missing and instead scorching a tree. Farfetch'd stepped back in shock, but the wild pokemon looked like it wasn't done yet. Oddish jumped out from underneath Leaf and feeling inspired by Leaf's heroic attempt to protect it, slammed into it. Farfetch'd stumbled backwards, but before it could retaliate, Oddish released a green powder into the air. Farfetch'd took one deep breathe before passing out cold. Oddish stared at the sleeping pokemon satisfied.

"Thanks Oddish, but for future reference, you probably shouldn't put pokemon to sleep and take their possessions," Leaf advised, clutching her wounded arm.

"You okay Leaf," Red rushed over, a note of concern in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It just looks worse than it actually is," She replied.

Leaf slowly removed her hand, which was now painted crimson red, from her arm. Even though the wound wasn't very deep, it stretched out almost across the whole top half of her arm. Red examined it for a moment, and then rushed over to his bag. Leaf followed, and Oddish scampered to Leaf's side. Oddish watched embarrassed as Red began to treat its trainer's wounds.

"Now this might hurt a little. I have to disinfect it though, 'cause who knows where that stick's been," He explained.

Holding Leaf's arm steady, he poured a clear liquid over the cut. Leaf couldn't help but let out a gasp of pain as the liquid touched her wound. Clenching her teeth, she watched as Red wrapped and bandaged her arm.

"Odd, Oddish," Oddish whimpered, sounding very ashamed.

"It's alright Oddish, I'm fine. I know it was a mistake. Just promise me it won't happen again," She smiled at Oddish, who nodded vigorously.

Leaf glanced at her arm, and grimaced.

"That's gonna leave a scar isn't it," She moaned.

"Probably, but it'll be a cool scar," Red shrugged.

Leaf stared at him for a moment, and then turned shaking her head with a small laugh.

Red smirked, and then added, "It's all part of the experience. What's an adventure without a cool scar to go with it?"

First off, happy late Easter! I hope you guys had a great day, cause I know I did! Sorry about not posting earlier, I did post as soon as I could though. I know not a lot of action happened in this chapter, but I really wanted to introduce Lyle. Remember to look for him in upcoming chapters! Anyways, leave your thoughts, questions, suggestions, and etc. in a review. Thanks!