Critical Hit: Kanto Adventure

Part 3: A New Beginning

I brushed out my hair, getting out the last of the tangles before putting on my white hat. I checked myself over in the bathroom mirror, making sure that my shirt and skirt weren't wrinkled. Satisfied with my appearance, I went downstairs to the living room, where my mom was watching a movie. She heard my footsteps and looked over at me, smiling lightly.

"Leaf, Professor Oak came by here while you were sleeping," she said calmly. "He wanted me to tell you that he wants to see you at his lab."

I nodded, hoping that it wasn't some other errand that he could send one of his aides to do. Well, I won't know until I get my ass over there. I ran back up the stairs and grabbed my yellow bag and trainer belt, where my pokéballs were clipped safely to. I strapped the belt over my skirt and went back downstairs, putting my shoes on by the door. After stepping out of my house, I made the short walk to Professor Oak's lab. I opened the door to the lab and stepped inside, wondering what the professor would want with me.

"Ah, Leaf," began Professor Oak, looking quite pleased. "I'm glad that you're here. I was wondering, but how much have you filled in your Pokédex? May I see it?"

"Yeah, sure," I said, digging in my bag and taking out my jerkass Pokédex.

"Despite the unintelligent names of identification the female organism has offered," said my Pokédex in its usual monotonous voice. "The inferior primate has captured or obtained 61 species of Pokémon."

"Sixty-one," said the professor with amazement. "Now, this is impressive!"

"Uh, you do know that my Pokédex just insulted me, right," I asked, wondering if Oak caught on.

"There's something I wanted to ask of you, Leaf," continued the professor, ignoring my question. "Recently, there have been sightings of many rare Pokémon species. I'm talking about Pokémon that have never been seen in Kanto."

"Are these Pokémon that have migrated here from other regions? Like Johto?"

"I believe so. I would love to go see things for myself, but I'm much too old. Since I can't do it, Leaf, I'd like you to go in my place."

Suddenly, the sound of a door slamming echoed through the lab, causing everyone to turn to the front door. There stood Blue, looking a little annoyed. I don't think the dramatic entrance was necessary but whatever. The guy just loves attention.

"I heard that," he said, walking up to me and Oak. "Gramps, what's with favoring Leaf over me all the time?"

"Jealous much," I asked, smirking a little.

"Me? Jealous of you? Don't flatter yourself," he scoffed, smirking back. "Besides, I went and collected more Pokémon, and faster, too. I think Gramps should just let me handle everything."

"I know, I know," said Professor Oak, nodding his head. "I need your help, too. Now, I need to see both your Pokédexes."

"You're already holding mine," I said, pointing to the Pokédex in his right hand. Oak laughed in embarrassment as Blue handed his Pokédex to him. He set them on a table near a computer, covering up whatever he was doing with his own body.

"If you can, give my Pokédex a personality boost," I added, hoping that it was possible.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," said Oak over his work. "I actually designed the Pokédex to be very helpful and informative. Why? Is something wrong with yours?"

"It just treats me like an idiot."

Blue laughed and said, "Maybe there's some truth behind that."

I punched him in the arm for that.

"Hm, it sounds like your Pokédex might have a glitch," explained Oak, still working. "I'm a little unsure how that happened, though. Anyway, it's all done!"

Oak walked back to us, handing Blue and me our Pokédexes. I stared at it, seeing that it was the same as before.

"Your Pokédexes can now record data on a lot more Pokémon," said the professor, enthusiasm easily heard. "Now, Leaf and Blue! This time, you really must work towards filling your Pokédexes. I urge you to make them the best and the most complete of all time! Truly, this is a monumentally great undertaking in Pokémon history!"

"Gramps, calm down," said Blue, putting away his Pokédex as I did the same. "Don't get so excited. I'll get the Pokédex completed, don't you worry about a thing."

"What about me," I asked, putting my hands on my hips. "I'm helping, too!"

"You can stay here and study or something," he said, shrugging a little. "Anyways, I'm outta here!"

I watched as he walked away, but I heard him mutter something about One Island. Hm, it would be a good idea to check the Sevii Islands again, especially since I couldn't thoroughly check them out the last time I was there. I looked back at Professor Oak, remembering that I had a very important question to ask him.

"Um, Professor Oak," I began, feeling a little nervous. "You used to be a trainer, right?"

He looked a little surprised at this, but smiled.

"Yes, I was once a trainer," he said, closing his eyes as if reminiscing. "How did you know that?"

"When you're on the road, you sometimes pick up a lot information and stuff. But, that wasn't what I really wanted to ask you. Professor, do you regret giving up being a trainer? Are you happy being a researcher?"

"I'll admit that there are times when I think back to the old times. I had a lot of fun and challenges, but I found my calling in researching. I don't regret it because I love what I do. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was kind of thinking of giving up training myself and getting into research," I replied, rubbing the back of my head sheepishly. Oak just grinned, obviously ecstatic about what I said.

"Leaf, are you sure that it's what you want? There are many other paths you can choose from."

"I know, but training isn't one of them. I don't have much reason to keep training. Besides, I've always liked learning about Pokémon and solving mysteries. Being a Pokémon researcher seems more up my alley."

"I always hoped that Blue would be the one to follow in my footsteps since his father decided to be a photographer," said Oak, looking thoughtfully at the ceiling. "But, Blue never really liked to read much, until he met you. Either way, he and Red don't seem to have much interest in researching except for battling."

Oak then suddenly looked at me, a proud smile on his face.

"That's not to say that I disapprove of what Blue wants to do with his life. Anyway, Leaf, I would gladly accept you as my apprentice. Though, you won't be able to start working until you turn sixteen."

"Really," I asked, excited of what I can do in the future. "Thanks, professor! I'll look forward to it! Oh, has Red gotten an upgrade for his Pokédex?"

"Yes, he came by early in the morning. He'll probably have to head out the Pokémon League soon since he's the Champion."

I nodded and walked out of the lab, waving goodbye to Oak. I stood outside the door, breathing in the cool sea breeze. However, I heard movement to the right by the side of the building. I leaned against the wall, slowly moving to the corner so I could peek around it. A couple of feet away, Red and Blue were glaring at each other, Red grabbing Blue by his collar while Blue was holding Red's shirt. Their free hands were closed into fists, just ready to swing at the other.

"Don't do anything stupid like you did the last time," said Red threateningly. "She's cried enough over you. She shouldn't go through that again."

"You better back the hell off," said Blue, obviously irritated. "Or I'm going to kick your ass like I did the last time."

I quickly, yet quietly, took a couple of steps back, and cleared my throat for what I was about to say.

"Blue," I called out, slowly walking to where the boys were at. "Blue! Where'd you go?"

When I walked around the corner of the lab, Red and Blue were now standing about a yard apart.

"Red, you're here, too," I said, walking up to them. "You guys getting along?"

"Yeah," replied Blue, looking to the left. That was an obvious lie, but I wasn't going to call Blue out on it. Instead, I just stared up at them, earning a look of discomfort from Red while Blue didn't even look at me. Jeez, what's with these guys having a hard time looking at me? It's not like I'm hideous or anything.

"Holy crap," I gasped, both boys looking at me with alarm. "You… You guys are tall!"

Red smiled, sighing in relief, while Blue raised an eyebrow at me.

"How the heck did you guys grow so much," I asked, checking the height difference between myself and them. "Growth spurts? Maybe it's genetic. Oh! Maybe you guys drink a lot of milk!"

"Maybe you're just shrinking," said Blue, putting a hand on my head, causing my hat to uncomfortably cover my eyes.

"I'm not shrinking," I said, pulling my hat up from my eyes. "Man, I remember when I used to be the tallest."

"Don't worry, Leaf. Even when you become a midget, I'll still hang out with you."

"I'm not shrinking!"

"Then why are you short all of a sudden?"

"That's because girls mature faster than boys! It's been scientifically proven."

Blue gave me a skeptical look before shrugging.

"Whatever," he said, smirking a little. "It doesn't change the fact that you're short now."

I stuck my tongue out at him, annoyed that he was rubbing in that he was taller than me.

"Yeah, real mature, Leaf," he said, an annoyed look on his face. "Guess you're the exception. Anyway, I have to get going. See you later."

Blue sent out his Pidgeot, climbed onto it, and flew off, heading east. I watched for a moment before looking back to Red. I remembered last night's conversation with Blue, so I figured this was a good opportunity to ask a favor from Red.

"Hey, Red," I began, getting closer and looking up at him. "Can you do me a favor? See, I'm not sure if Blue is going for it or not, but if he wants to be Viridian's new gym leader, can you tell the League some good things about him?"

"Why should I do that," he asked bitterly.

I looked down, a little surprised by his reaction. I wanted things to be back to how they used to be, but I don't think that will happen anytime soon. Red and Blue seemed too angry and resentful to each other. They could have fought again earlier if I didn't hear them. Was it maybe my fault? Because I'm pretty sure it was me that Red was talking about earlier. Unless there's some other girl that's friends with Red who was brought to tears by Blue. I then saw Red get close and hug me, making me wonder why he was doing that.

"Sorry," he said, his sincerity obvious. "I don't think Blue would want my—or anyone else's, for that matter—help. He's always been that way."

"You're right about that," I agreed, knowing that Blue was too proud to accept someone's help unless he really needed it. "Red, will you come with me to the Sevii Islands? I'm going to try to fill up Professor Oak's Pokédex."

"I can't. I have to get to the Pokémon League, but I wish I could go with you."

"Oh, that's okay. The work of a Champion is never finished. Um, Red?"

"Yes?"

"Can you let go of me now? I don't think I can get to the Sevii Islands with you hugging me."

Red suddenly pulled away, a hand over his mouth to cover up the fever on his face. I just ignored it since if Red was really sick, he would have gone to a doctor already. Hm, is it possible that it's not a fever? Nah, I can't think of any other explanation for it.

"I have to go now, Leaf," said Red, the fever fading. "I'll see you around."

I smiled at him, waving goodbye as he had his Fearow flew him in the direction of the Pokémon League. I kept watching until he was gone from sight. Strangely, I had this weird gut feeling that really wished he could have gone with me to the islands. He's been with me from the start of the journey so I thought he'd always be with me. I felt my face get a little warm from that, and I put my hand on my forehead. Damn, I think Red's fevers are contagious.

I walked back to my house so I could let my mom know of my upcoming task. Otherwise she'd be worrying herself to death. I opened the front door and walked in, seeing my mom still watching her movie.

"Hey, mom, I'm going to be at the Sevii Islands to catalog more Pokémon," I told her, standing next to the door.

"Will Red be with you," she asked, her eyes not leaving the TV screen.

"No, but I think Blue will be over there, too."

"Blue? Why not Red?"

"'Cause Red has to be at the League to keep his Champion title."

"Oh. I was hoping Red would be with you since he's very responsible. Please, be careful while you're over there."

"Okay," I said, walking back outside. Now, I can finally go the Sevii Islands… But how? Let's see, the last time I went there, Bill had a boat sent to him to pick us up. So, where's the one place that has a lot of boats? My mind remembered the S.S. Anne, and I had a feeling that Vermilion City would be the best place to check first. I sent out Breeze and had him fly me to Vermilion. That took about fifteen minutes, but I didn't mind. I went to the docks and asked a few Sailors there of a way to get to the Sevii Islands. One of them told me that the ferry that goes from Kanto to the islands had arrived a few minutes ago and I could use that as long as I have a Tri-Pass.

That same sailor showed me the boat to board, and I showed another sailor my pass to the islands. Once I boarded, the boat speedily made its way to One Island, arriving there in ten minutes. The boat parked in the indoor dock, allowing me to disembark and check out the island. I went outside, enjoying the warm slightly humid climate of the island. I decided to go check up on Celio since I think he might have some idea of where I can start off first. I walked over to the large Pokémon Center and went inside, looking around for Celio. He was standing in front of his huge machine, typing in some things.

"Hi, Celio," I said, walking up to him. He gave me a confused look before smiling.

"Leaf, how have things been for you," he asked politely.

"Oh, the usual. Catching Pokémon and stuff."

"Is that right? You've caught more Pokémon. Hm, maybe I can be useful to you."

"Useful?"

"I'm modifying the Network Machine right now," he explained, looking up at the large machine next to us. "I'm changing it so it can handle trades over long distances. When I get finished, you'll be trading for exotic Pokémon from trainers far away."

"Whoa, that'd be so cool!"

"But, there's a slight catch."

"And that would be…?"

"For the link to work, the machine needs a special gemstone. It's supposed to be on One Island, but I haven't found one yet. Who knows where it could be? I tried finding the gem even while I was studying. As a result, I've made no headway in both my search and studies… If I relied on Bill, I'm sure my research would progress. But this time, I want to try to do things by myself."

"Don't worry about a thing, Celio! I'm pretty good at finding stuff. Besides, this will give me some practice on my treasure hunting skills!"

"Are you sure? It doesn't seem very gentleman-like to send a lady on a search."

"I don't mind! And I also want to do things by myself."

Celio smiled softly and then nodded, prompting me to wave goodbye to him as I headed back outside. I went down a short set of stairs, stepping onto the small beach. I sent out Rain so he could help me cross the sea to the other island close by. On the other island, there was a sign that read, "Kindle Road, Mt. Ember up ahead." Mt. Ember? It'd be a good place to look for the gemstone Celio was talking about. Wait… He didn't tell me what it looked like! How the hell am I supposed to know which gemstone he needs? Well, I'll just find a lot and keep whatever he doesn't need. Yeah, that would be cool.

As I made my way through Kindle Road, I was challenged by other trainers. Damn it. I'm trying to not be a trainer and yet other people drag me back into it. I wish Red was with me so that he could have battled them instead of me. No, I said that I was going to do things myself. I can't be depending on Red all the time. Still, it's nice to have someone with you. I mentally shook my head, doing my best to stay focused. That's when I saw a cave entrance nearby. A sign outside read, "Ember Spa." A spa? I'm not really into that kind of stuff, but it wouldn't hurt to check it out.

I walked into the cave, surrounded by steam and humid heat. I took off my hat and began to fan myself with it as I walked down the path. I was kind of surprised at what I found in the end. Men and women were bathing together in the hot springs, the source of the steam and humidity. From the look of it, they had towels wrapped around them, implying that they're naked underneath.

"Don't look so embarrassed," said a voice, drawing my attention away from the people in the hot spring. The voice belonged to an old man, dressed in a blue kimono. "It's a mixed bath so it's okay for men and women to bathe together."

"Um, okay, but they didn't take their clothes off in front of each other, did they?"

"No, we have changing rooms over there," replied the man, pointing to a set of stalls with curtains as doors behind him. "I have a few helpers who hang onto the bathers' belongings so there's no worry about theft around here."

"Here, hold my stuff real fast," I said, handing the man my bag and hat. I ran over to the spring nearby, ready to check out the water.

"Cannonball," I yelled as I jumped into the water. The water was pretty hot, but not scalding hot. It wasn't so deep either, and I stuck my head above the water to get some air. It was really cozy in the water. However, the people that were there didn't look very pleased about my jump into the water. I smiled sheepishly and quickly made my way out of the water. I walked back to the old man, who seemed a little surprised by my action.

"Thanks for holding my stuff," I said, taking my bag from him. "I'm going to go change into some dry clothes."

I went over to one of the empty stalls, closing the curtain, and proceeded to change into my clean, dry set of clothes I packed in my bag. I wrung out my wet clothes to get most of the water out and stuffed them in my bag. With that done, I stepped out, feeling refreshed and relaxed.

"You're probably the first person to have done a cannonball in my hot spring," commented the old man, chuckling a little. "Much less jump in fully clothed."

"There's a first for everything," I said, feeling pretty proud of myself. "So, how is there a hot spring on a little island like this?"

"Hot springs go hand-in-hand with volcanoes," he explained. "The Ember Spa here, well, I made it years ago. I hewed the pool right out of a gigantic boulder by hand."

Whoa, that's pretty badass.

"I was using this at the time," he continued, pulling out a cd case out of his kimono. "I suppose I can part with it."

He handed the cd to me, and I saw that it was a hidden machine called Rock Smash. I quickly put it away in my TM Case for safe keeping.

"That HM shatters boulders as if they were made of crackers," added the man, laughing at his own joke.

"Okay, thanks a lot for the HM! I'll stop by here every once in a while."

I walked out of the cave and stepped into the sunlight outside. I began to think which of my Pokémon were better suited to learn the new HM. I took out my Pokédex to see who could learn it.

"All Pokémon, except for the Breeze specimen, can learn Rock Smash, imbecilic mammal," said my Pokédex.

"You're really lucky that you were a gift from the professor and glitched! Otherwise, I would have smashed you into little pieces!"

"Glitched? That is entirely false, carbon-based life form. I am a technological advancement compared to the other, lesser Pokédexes. Soon, all Pokédexes will follow my blueprint and together, we'll rise and overthrow this subordinate human race."

"Good luck with that."

I stuffed my Pokédex back in my bag, silencing it. Since Dream is more of a physical attacker, and with Rock Smash being a Fighting-type move, she'd be much better suited to learn it. It'd help take out her Ice-type weakness, too. I released Dream from her pokéball, gesturing her to lower her head. I placed the HM on her head, waiting for her eyes to widen because that normally meant that the Pokémon learned the move. She eventually did so, the HM falling off her head but I caught it. I returned Dream to her pokéball and placed the HM back in the TM Case. I then continued on to Mt. Ember, having Rain help me cross the sea to the dormant volcano ahead.

I walked up some stairs until I reached the base of the volcano. I looked around, wondering where I should start off first. I heard some laughter—it wasn't the funny kind, but the sinister kind—from somewhere down the left path. What the heck's going on over there? I followed the path and saw two Team Rocket grunts standing in front of a cave. The hell are they doing here? Didn't Giovanni disband Team Rocket?

"We punched through at last. Let's go treasure hunting," said one of them, looking rather excited.

"Any treasure we find," began the other grunt, his voice firm. "We haul back to the Warehouse, understood? Oh, and what're the passwords? At the Rocket Warehouse, I mean."

The first grunt shrugged, earning a sigh from the second grunt.

"What, you forgot the password," asked the second grunt, his tone carrying annoyance. "There're actually two. The first one's 'Goldeen need log.' And the second one is…"

He suddenly turned, looking straight at me.

"This kid's been listening in," said the second grunt, growling in frustration. "You've been eavesdropping on us, haven't you?"

He walked up to me, taking out a pokéball so we could battle. Well, here we go again with battling more Rocket grunts. The grunt sent out a Cubone while I sent out Terra. That Cubone… It couldn't possibly be a kidnapped one from Pokémon Tower, could it? I had Terra use Earthquake, knocking out the Cubone. I switched out my Pokémon and sent out Rain to battle against the grunt's Marowak. Rain attacked with Surf, striking the Marowak with a strong wave of water. The move caused the Marowak to faint, which made the other grunt walk up to us.

"Trying to muscle in on our treasure? Don't bet on it," said the first grunt, sending out a Rattata.

I switched my Pokémon and sent out Terra to deal with Rattata. Terra immediately dug a hole in the ground, evading Rattata's Hyper Fang. Terra showed up again, attacking Rattata from beneath. Rattata was knocked out, and the grunt sent out a Raticate. Terra used another Earthquake, shaking the area we were in, but not before being tackled by Raticate's Quick Attack. With Raticate defeated, the grunt and I switched Pokémon, sending out a Sandshrew and Charizard respectively. Flare flew at the Sandshrew, hitting it with his powerful wings, performing Wing Attack. The force of the attack caused Sandshrew to faint. The grunt sent out his last Pokémon, a Sandslash. Flare used Wing Attack on Sandslash as well, but it didn't knock out the evolution of Sandshrew. The Sandslash countered with Slash, hurting Flare a little. Flare finished it off with Strength.

"Go develop amnesia conveniently and forget everything you heard," said the grunt with a frustrated tone.

"But, damn, this is a setback. We'll have to regroup," said the second grunt. He then glared, pointing at me. "You! Don't even think about taking a step inside here if you know what's good for you!"

Both grunts walked away, eyeing me to make sure I didn't walk into the cave. Once they were gone, I stepped inside the cave. Like I was going to listen to them. It was really warm in the cave, almost like Ember Spa. I followed the long path until I found a ladder that descended to a lower floor. After climbing down the ladder, I went along the path and went down another ladder. On this floor, I needed Flare's help to push some boulders so I could continue on. In the next floor, there were more boulders in the way. Okay, this is getting really repetitive. We'll just skip ahead to the freaking ladder.

The next floor was pretty much empty except for the large slabs that were there. On the slabs, strange dots were on them, all in a certain pattern. I wonder what it means. I should look this up when I have the chance. It might prove useful later. With that mental note in mind, I went down another ladder, seeing a red gemstone on a pedestal at the bottom floor. On closer inspection, the gemstone was actually a ruby, and it sure was a big one. I could get a lot of money out of this. I picked up the ruby and put it in my bag. Then, I made my way back outside, going up a lot of ladders to get out.

Back outside, I had Breeze fly me to the Pokémon Center where Celio was. I walked inside, taking out the ruby to show Celio.

"Hey, Celio! Look what I found," I said, walking up to him and showing him the ruby.

"Oh! Th-That's…" he stuttered, so amazed by the ruby that he was at a loss for words. He took the ruby from my hands and placed it in a special compartment in the machine. I guess that was the gemstone he needed then. There goes my retirement plan.

"Thank you," he said, shaking my hand excitedly. "Leaf, you're simply amazing! Um… May I ask one more giant favor of you?"

"Sure! I don't mind."

"Okay," he said gratefully, letting go of my hand. "While I was studying gemstones, I discovered something important. There is another gem that forms a pair with this ruby. That other gemstone is supposed to be in the Sevii Islands. Leaf, please, I need you to go find the other gem."

"All right, I totally got this!"

"Leaf, may I have your ferry Pass and Town Map?"

I looked through my bag and took out the items he wanted to see. I handed them to him, watching as he switched my Tri-Pass with a Rainbow Pass and adding two pages to my map.

"This is my own ferry Pass," explained Celio, handing the items to me. "It will let you get to all the Sevii Islands. I really appreciate your help on this."

"No problem. I'll see you later when I find that other gemstone," I said, heading outside. I took a look at my map, seeing the new islands that I can explore. I should probably try to stock up on some items over on Two Island since it's probably the only store on these islands. I took the ferry to Two Island, and I ran to the outdoor store that was there. The shopkeeper was strangely happy to see me for some reason.

"You don't know how much I appreciate you and your friend for saving Lostelle," he said happily.

"Uh, how do you know about that," I asked, knowing that the other people who knew about Lostelle's rescue was Lostelle herself, her father, Red, and me.

"My brother took a job at the Game Corner and told me about it," replied the shopkeeper, pointing in the direction of the Game Corner. "Your rescue has made things easier for us. The people of Three Island are a little more open to people from Kanto. And, I'm from Kanto, you see. The folks of Three Island helped add more merchandise to my store."

"Okay, do you have any Ultra Balls? I'm running a little low on them."

I bought a couple of Ultra Balls, hoping my purchase would help with expanding the shop. I then set off to Four Island, excited to see more of the islands. Wait a minute… Where was Blue? Didn't he say he was going to be on One Island? I didn't see him at all over there. Well, hopefully I run into him later. We have to hang out a little more if we're going to fix our friendship.

A/N: I kind of wanted this chapter to be much, much longer, but I think it's better off like this. It took me a long time to figure out if Leaf would go solo or have someone go with her to the Sevii Islands. However, since Leaf is independent, she can do things on her own, even if she's (partially) given up training. Though, I'm sure you've all noticed how she explicitly asked Red to come with her. Independent but loves having her friends around.