I realize that Amy's journey is going at a much slower pace compared to my first story. Well that could be bad or good. Good: It's not rushed at least. And I think my writing has improved since then.
Bad: It's a lot slower…
So I'll try and pace it right and get Amy to her gyms without rushing it and without taking my time.
Amy, Isaac, Rose, and Terrence walked into a town and the four felt so relieved to finally be in a civilization again!
"Ugh, have you guys noticed that every stop we make for a break always tend to be outside a city or town?" Isaac pointed out as the group walked towards the Pokémon Center.
"Hey, that's quite true…" said Amy nodding her head, "But I personally like the outdoors better. That's where all the Pokémon ar-AAARRGH!" Amy completely tripped over something and fell right on her face in front of the door to the Pokémon Center.
"Ow…What was that?"
"EEEK! It's so CUTE!" Rose squealed as she bents down to look at the tiny Pokémon that was nearly trampled by Amy.
"Smooch?"
Amy sat up and stared at the Pokémon that is officially afraid of her now since the Pokémon quickly leapt into Rose's arms.
"Aww…It's okay, little one, Amy won't hurt you anymore!" Rose cooed.
"Oh wow! It's a Smoochum!"
"A what?" Isaac repeated with a brow raised, not exactly believing such a Pokémon could exist.
"A Smoochum?" Amy stood back up and stared at the little kissing Pokémon.
"I wonder what Smoochum is doing in a town like this?" Terri asked out loud.
"That's because that's MY Smoochum!"
The four looked at the person that just stepped out the Center.
"Hey, aren't you…?" Before Isaac could even finish, Amy cuts in,
"April!"
"AH! Amy! EEP! I can't believe it's you!" April pushed past Isaac and went right up to Amy, "It's been so long! How have you been? How many badges do you have? Have you caught new Pokémon?"
The other three plus their Pokémon and even Smoochum just stared with a sweatdrop.
"…So who is she?" Terri asked.
"That's April, we met her when we first got here in Johto," Rose explained, "She's a bit of an Electabuzz fan."
"Oh! I know April! At least I've hear about her because her mom is really good friends with Mrs. Ketchum," said Terri.
"Really?" Rose and Isaac repeated in confusion, wondering why Amy didn't know about April when they first met.
After greetings were finally done and April got her Smoochum back, they finally got into the Pokémon Center.
"Your Togepi is so cute, Isaac! Oh Rose! You're so lucky your boyfriend is really good with babies!"
"I know!" said Rose with a bright smile.
"WHAT? Wait a minute! That is completely UNTRUE!" Isaac shouted pointing at April with a large anime vein.
"Oh I get it; he's still in his denial stage," said April to Rose completely ignoring Isaac.
"That's a boy for you!" said Rose and the two giggled.
"HEY! That goes for you too! Why are you agreeing with her?" Isaac pointed at Rose, his vein not getting any smaller. Terri lightly sweatdrops at the situation and was trying to focus on examining Smoochum but it was hard to concentrate with Isaac's yelling.
Amy just dropped off her Pokémon to Nurse Joy and was over at the magazine stand.
"Wow, I can't believe I haven't been keeping up with some of my favorite magazines," Amy thought to herself and picked up one of them, "Oh! I need to have my friends take the Pokémon quiz and find out what Pokémon they'd be!"
Amy looked through this month's issue of "Pokémon Now!" and a smile spreads to her face.
"I'm mentioned?"
"Ash Ketchum's only daughter is currently in Johto and we were recently informed that she's recently gotten a badge from gym leader Morty. We will continue to do our best to inform Pokémon fans everywhere of this young trainer's progress…"
Amy was about to giggle to herself but remembered that things like this should not effect one's ego. On second though, how do these people even find out about these things?
She continued to look through the magazine and even found a mention of a Ray.
"This young trainer recently entered a nonofficial contest and won it! We were even there to get a word from him:
"Ray, as a trainer why do you do contests when you can?"
"I love contests. It's really fun but my only love is being a Pokémon trainer. While I may not hold the same passion for Pokémon contests or have the skills of Pokémon coordinators, I do love doing it so I try to kick back and have fun if I can! A Pokémon journey should be something for trainers to enjoy!"
"Hmm…maybe I should take up some lessons on Pokémon coordinating…" Amy thought to herself with a light blush. She flipped to the next page.
"Ray, before we go, what do you think about your father's new title?"
"I'm quite happy for him! And it only inspired me to be stronger! Like any other trainer, if their role model gets stronger it only inspires one more."
"That does sound like something Ray would say…wait! New title?"
Amy flipped back to the front to look in the contents and found 'Richie' in one of the titles and she flipped to that page.
"Richie, now former member of the Elite Four of Kanto is now officially made the new Champion of Kanto."
Amy's jaws dropped at that instant and she ran to her friends the very next second.
"Guys! Guys! Did you hear?"
"Calm down, Amy! Where's the fire?" said Terri seeing Amy all excited and jumpy.
"It's Richie! He's now the Champion of Kanto!" Amy nearly shouted and showed them the page from the magazine putting down on the table on the pages showing Richie and the other Kanto members of the Elite Four.
"Wow! Ray's dad sure is skilled!" said Rose with her hands together.
"Hm, about time," said Isaac, but his face showed that he was impressed as well.
"That's amazing! Did you guys know Professor Oak used to be the Champion of Kanto before he became a full-time professor?" Terri asked,
"Really?" Amy raised a brow, never heard this story before.
"Yeah! While Professor Oak loved researching Pokémon, he did take a break from that and go back to Pokémon training for a bit and while doing so he was the Champion of Kanto. Then he decided that he loved being a Pokémon researcher more and stepped down and that's when he took all his time being a Pokémon researcher."
"Then who became the new Champion after him?" Amy asked and Terri stared at her dumbfounded,
"Your father..."
"…Oh! Right! He did say he was Kanto's Champion for a bit too. Heh…" Amy sweatdropped and blushed at her unorganized memory.
"Wait, if Richie is now Champion of Kanto, then who are the Elite Four? I mean, if Richie left the Elite Four and is now Champion, then there's only three of them left. Is there a new Elite Four member now?" Rose asked and Amy looked back down at the magazine.
"Oh! Hey it says right here!" Amy pointed and read.
"While Richie may have left the Elite Four, the other three members are still holding their positions: Giselle, A.J. and Jeanette.
The new Elite Four member has already been decided. While we have not yet received much information of this new member, we were still informed it's a young man named Mikey…"
"Hm, never heard of him," Isaac admitted,
"Well he must be good if they're going to take him in," Amy pointed out.
"That's true! Never underestimate a member of the Elite Four!" said April proudly.
"You sound like you know a lot!" said Rose.
"Of course I do! My mommy's on the Johto Elite Four as the electric trainer!" said April proudly. Isaac suddenly looked like a celebrity just walked in…scratch that: a professional electric trainer.
"Are you being serious?" Isaac almost demanded.
"Yeah! And my daddy is working in Hoenn right now but I think he's being considered being a member of the Elite Four in Hoenn!"
"You really aren't making this up?" Terri asked suspiciously.
"I'm telling the truth! My mommy is Casey!"
"Your mom is Casey?" Amy exclaimed, "I don't remember her telling me you were a trainer!"
"That's probably because she didn't become a trainer until earlier this year…" Isaac pointed out with a sweatdrop.
"Oh…right…my bad!"
"So you do remember my mommy!" said April with sparkling eyes.
"Yup! I see her a lot because Casey always comes over to see my mom!"
"So she really was telling the truth I guess…wow, an electric trainer of the Elite Four…" Isaac started thinking, or dreaming, of his possible future. Maybe he can gain a bigger dream, higher than an electric gym leader.
April then sighed dreamily,
"I can't wait to be as great as my parents!"
"Me too…" Amy agreed and also did a dream sigh.
"Sorry to burst your bubbles, but waiting won't do much," said Isaac and the girls' smiles turned to frowns as they stared at Isaac, in a mean way.
April rolled her eyes and turned to Amy,
"Amy, I have a question! I met this trainer while watching a recent unofficial contest. His name is Ray and is son of Richie. Have you two ever crossed paths?"
"Huh?" Amy quickly turned slightly red, "Well…yeah, we've definitely ran across each other from time to time…"
"Really? Don't you think he's cute? And he's so nice!" April giggled as she puts her hands together as if she was ready to prevent herself from squealing.
"Uh, well um…" Amy hesitated, not really want to give any hints away. Sure Ray's cute, but then again, everyone says that so it's okay to say it too right?
"Oh yes!" Rose replied, "He's beyond CUTE!"
Leave to Rose who never seems to be afraid to express her opinion.
"I agree! Do you know who else is cute?"
"ISAAC!"
Isaac turned stiff and he quickly turned around; him and Terri both started to slowly back away, not wanting to get involved with girls' conversations on guys, especially if your name is in it already.
"I need to feed Togepi…"
"And I need to study Togepi!"
With those excuses, the two boys slipped away but Isaac pulled Amy along with them.
"Amy! As soon as you get your Pokémon back, go out and train! Especially that Houndoom of yours!" said Isaac strictly.
"Oh, right…"
"If you need someone to battle against, you know we can all help you," Isaac volunteered.
"I know…"
"Don't let that Houndoom lead you around!"
"Okay already! It's just that…well, I've never had a Pokémon that won't listen to me before. So I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to do to get him to listen to me…" Amy pouted hoping Isaac will take pity on her and just tell her how to do it. Or even better: get Isaac to tame Houndoom for her. He and Houndoom can be equally scary.
"Ugh, that is why you have to learn it through experience. Houndoom, being a former pack leader, probably doesn't like being told what to do. You have to tell that Pokémon that you are the new leader now! So be the boss!" Isaac advised. Amy nodded, but was a bit nervous about even doing such a thing considering Houndoom is obviously the stronger of the two, physically at least. Amy then started thinking.
"Maybe I just need more will power than Houndoom…"
"Okay! I can do this! Thanks Isaac!" said Amy confidentially. Not long after, Amy's Pokémon were finally ready and she headed out on her own to do some training at a nearby park she found but left Pikachu with the boys so she could give her other Pokémon some equal quality time.
"Okay! Butterfree! Eevee! Come on out!" Amy released the two and she looked between them, "Hmm…okay guys! Even I've noticed that you guys have been out of battles than most so we're going to work hard! Okay?"
"Free!"
"Eie!"
Amy nodded and then stared down at her Friend ball.
"I think I should work with Houndoom afterwards. Don't want him accidentally burning Butterfree or Eevee."
Isaac finished up taking care of Togepi for the time being so he headed out to meet up with Terri and Pikachu. When he stepped out, he saw Terri watching a battle between Rose and April.
"Um…what happened?" Isaac asked walking up to Terri.
"I'm not sure. One moment they were chatting happily and the next, they were arguing about marrying someone I think…"
"Ugh…" Isaac rolled his eyes, "Of course. So who are they fighting over?"
"I'm not sure…they said some guy's name that begins with 'R' I think."
"Ray?" Isaac guessed,
"Maybe? I have no idea…"
"Okay Flareon! Flamethrower!" Rose pointed,
"Go Pichu! Thundershock!"
"I'm a little concerned about a Pichu battling against a Pokémon twice its size," Isaac admitted and Pikachu couldn't agree more. It didn't take long before Rose wiped out April's party. Though it's only expected when you put the skills of a gym leader against the skills of a trainer just starting out. Especially if that trainer loves yellow-striped Pokémon or just yellow Pokémon in general, which are usually electric types, against Rose who is a rock type gym leader with both her gym leader Pokémon on hand with her plus a Flareon to take out April's evolved Bayleef.
"Yes! Good job, Rhyhorn!" Rose cheered. Rhyhorn snorted and then started glowing.
Isaac's eyes opened wide in surprise and Terri got some good snapshots.
"Ah! Rhyhorn evolved into Rhydon!" Rose said to herself in glee. She jumped on to her new rock Pokémon and hugged it tightly.
April was on the contrary as she pointed at Rose with a bat she had sticking out her bag.
"This isn't over yet! A good wife doesn't have to be just good at Pokémon battling!"
Rose's fire started burning again,
"You're right! I challenge you to a cook-off!"
"No way! You challenged me to a battle first! So I decide the event!" April looked around, "The first person to run around town and back here first wins!"
"Okay! Isaac! Terri! You two time us!"
"Huh?" the two boys could only exchange glances before receiving threatening glares from the girls.
"One thing I've learned on this journey is to never mess with a girl in love. And I've just learned a new lesson today."
"What, Isaac?" Terri asked,
"Never mess with TWO girls in love. Because once there is more than one person involved: All is fair in love and war. And this is war."
"Great job Butterfree!" Amy congratulated as Butterfree lands on her shoulder, "You're gaining your confidence aren't you?"
"Free!" Butterfree nodded.
"That's good! See how powerful you really are? You're awesome!"
Amy turned to Eevee,
"You too Eevee! You did a nice job today! I suddenly have the urge to battle now! Ha ha!"
Amy called back Butterfree and Eevee and took out the friend ball. She sighed and puts it back.
"I'm taking a break before taking on Houndoom…" she thought before finding out a vending machine for a drink.
"Still…putting it off won't change a thing…How can I get Houndoom to obey me? Why does Houndoom even disobey me in the first place? Well besides having pride at least. How am I supposed to show Houndoom that I'm the leader and he can just step down? I'm starting to think that he just doesn't like me…Am I unlikable? Am I just a bad trainer?" Amy wanted to start crying anime tears at that very thought.
"Houndoom! Come on out!"
Houndoom sat and looked at his surroundings again.
"Houndoom! I'm sure you remember my gym battle a while ago? Why weren't you listening to me?" Amy demanded to know. Houndoom blinked and walked towards a garbage can and started sniffing for food.
"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Amy shouted but Houndoom only continued to ignore her.
"Gr! What is it Houndoom? Am I just not good enough to be your trainer? What am I lacking? Just what do I have to do to get you to listen to me?"
Houndoom turned and stared at her. The only problem between them is that Amy can't understand Pokémon and Houndoom just didn't feel like telling her if she can't even understand him so he only continued to ignore her much to Amy's frustration.
"Houndoom!" Amy shouted again. Houndoom turned his head and blew fire at her and Amy ducked to avoid it. She turned around to see where the fire hit and saw a melting street light pole.
"Uh oh…" Amy was about to panic that she let Houndoom destroy public property but then again, it was Houndoom that did it. She didn't let him!
"Houndoom!" Amy growled in frustration.
"Girls, come on, stop; the future is way ahead of you two," said Terri trying to stop this ridiculous fight. The girls have gone from a cook-off to an eating contest.
"This guy can't be that great…" Isaac muttered only to receive glares from both Rose and April.
"Okay, I'm sorry for insulting him…at least tell me who it is!"
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Night had fallen by that time and Amy decided to not give herself a reason to turn her back on Houndoom so she stopped training Houndoom for the day and headed back to the Center and saw her friends sitting at the table. As soon as she walked in, Isaac shot up and looked extremely angry.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU TWO FOUGHT OVER THIS!" he shouted at the top of his lungs before walking, actually stomping, out of the center and past Amy while muttering to himself. Togepi bursts into tears at Isaac's voice and that brought Isaac back to the table in an instant. Taking Togepi with him, he still left the center but in silence this time.
"…"
"…Um, do I want to ask what happened?" Amy asked walking up to her friends and Pikachu who rejoined Amy and climbed onto her head.
"Well Rose and April were fighting over this guy…" Terri started, "With silly contests like who can stay in the hot spa the longest or even a staring contest and even how many hits you can do with a bat."
"O…kay…?" Amy nodded her head slowly. How can you determine one's spouse with 'contests' like those? Rose nervously smiled,
"And in the end, we were fighting over two completely different people!"
April sighed,
"Now I kind of feel bad for making Isaac and Terri go through those contests with us…"
"So who were the guys?" Amy asked sitting down next to Terri.
"When April confessed she was in love and wanted to marry someone whose name began with 'R' I immediately assumed Ray…" Rose confessed.
"Oh right, Rose still likes him…" Amy thought and can understand what April felt of the competition, "Then again, she likes a lot of guys…"
"So it wasn't?" Amy asked hopefully and April shook her head.
"Nope. I was talking about my good friend, rival, and my future husband: Ronin!"
"Ronin…" Amy thought back to that boy she met before April when her adventures in Johto started, "Hm, wow, I admit he's cute."
"But he's MINE!" April exclaimed,
"O-Okay! I know, heh, you're a lucky one!" Amy then looked outside, "Um, I think I'll go check on Isaac…"
The moment Amy stepped outside, she can hear Isaac shouting to himself somewhere and he still sounded pretty upset about the whole situation and was unwillingly dragged into it. Amy immediately walked back in,
"…He's doing fine!" Amy lied with a sweatdrop.
The next morning, everyone ate breakfast together, except Isaac who was believed to be in his room still.
"Amy, when I battled Rose yesterday, it felt like an actual gym battle. I only have two badges right now, but I do know you've beaten Rose so if I can't beat Rose then I must not stand a chance against you!" said April with some fighting spirit,
"Um, I don't know about that…" said Amy being a little modest.
"So! You're my newest rival!" April pointed at her, "I will meet you in the Johto League! And I will keep training until I am strong enough to beat you!"
At that, Amy went serious,
"Well in that case then I guess I really do have a new rival! We will meet in the Johto League!"
The two girls shook on it as fire burned in their eyes and in their heart.
"I'll be just as good as you Amy! I want to be worthy enough to call myself your rival! I will surpass both you and Ronin!"
"April…you're my new rival in this new region. I already have both Ray and Ivan from way back but it's a nice feeling. Yes, this is a nice feeling knowing I have a brand new rival to inspire me even more!"
Isaac grumbled to himself as he fed Togepi.
"I hate love so much! It annoys me so much! If I was the only boy in this group, I would've left long ago!"
"Togi? Togi!" Togepi was reaching for the piece of Pokémon food that Isaac was holding in the other hand that Togepi was being held in but Isaac was too lost in his thoughts to notice right away.
"Togi!"
"Hm? Oh, I'm sorry Togepi," Isaac apologized and brought the food to Togepi's mouth.
"It's really frustrating that I always get dragged into these stuff because of their stupidity! I've dealt with it for a whole year but I guess what really happened was that it was just piling up and it makes it a lot easier for me to get ticked off by things they do that annoy me. I've forgotten why I put up with them…ugh! There's got to be a way for me to take the stress off my shoulders!"
At that moment, Maylu and her contest performance flashed before him and Isaac flinched.
"Togi?"
"Oh, it's nothing Togepi. I just had this sudden thought that it surprised even me," said Isaac with a small smile and tickled Togepi who giggled.
"You're just lucky that you don't have to deal with my problems. Then again…babies aren't supposed to. But when you're not a baby anymore, I will be expecting you to be as strong as my other Pokémon okay?"
"Togi?"
"Okay never mind…it's not like you're going to remember what I'm saying to you now anyway," Isaac sighed and stood up, "I guess we should be heading back huh? It is a bit late after all."
"Togi! Togi!"
Togepi, never really understanding most of what Isaac says anyway, only smiles and laughs whenever Isaac's happiness is sensed, even if it's just a little bit.
Notes:
-Heh, well I think this is actually the first time I revealed all 4 members of the Elite Four of Kanto plus the Champion. So, without looking back in the anime, can you guys remember these characters from the top of your head? All 4 members are taken from actual characters from the anime and were seen in Kanto. Hope you guys remember them! Well at least I hope the names ring a bell. And I hope Mikey or Jeanette is spelled right…
Next:
While going up a mountain on their journey, the group meets a girl around their age who just might be as interested in Pokémon the same way Terri is; both who love doing what their most passionate about outdoors and with Pokémon. But like some other Pokémon lovers Amy runs into, this girl knows Amy but Amy doesn't know her! Who could this girl be related to that Amy's parents might know?