Hey everybody, I'm back with an update for 'Rise to the Challenge'. Now with Nacrene City behind us, it's time to get a move on to Castelia City. Now, sit back and enjoy the chapter.

Last Time: Tom and his friends battled Lenora for their second gym badge for the Unova League. The group gave all they had against Lenora and were successful in achieving their goal save for Corey and Kenta who lost their matches. As they were leaving the gym, Tom spotted his brother's name on Lenora's plaque of certified trainers.

Bold- Message Bulletins/PA System/Plaques/Books

Italics- Thoughts/Letters/Flashbacks

Bold Italics- TV/Radio/Pokedex (AKA Dexter) Descriptions/Xtransreceiver Messages/ Xtransreceiver Conversations

Tom had woken up early the next day. As he was lying in bed, he thought about his friends that traveled with him since he started his journey in Unova. He made a lot of memories in a short amount of time, but when he did that, he lost sight of what he truly came to do in Unova. His biggest priority was to find his brother and while he wanted to stay with his friends, he knew that he would be able to move faster if he was alone. Since Kenta and Corey had to have their rematch with Lenora today, he would take the chance to leave. Tom sighed as he got out of his bed and trudged over to the small table of his room. He pulled out a page from his notebook and began to write a note for his friends. He knew they would most likely be mad that he left them behind, but he was sure they would respect his decision. If anything, they would most likely do what they could to catch up to him.

Tom finished writing the note and got dressed quickly. He put on his hat and folded the letter he wrote before walking out of the door. Sparks took the letter from Tom with his paw and scurried across the hall to Eri's room. He set the letter on the floor and gently pushed it under the door.

"Let's go, buddy," Tom whispered.

"Rai," Raichu replied as he jumped up to Tom's back and rested on top of the bag.

The two of them hustled downstairs and into the lobby of the Pokémon Center. Tom walked to the counter and slipped the room key to the clerk.

"Heading out so early?" She asked.

"Yeah, I have to get going," Tom replied.

"Okay. I hope you enjoyed your stay."

"I did. Thank you."

Tom made his way to the entrance and departed the Pokémon Center. He stepped into the cool morning air. The sun would not start rising for another hour which gave him time to gain some decent ground. He pulled out his map and looked at the route he had to follow through the Pinwheel Forest. The walk itself would not take long, but the bridge at the other end of the forest that required a bus to be taken would take forever with the morning commute. Tom rolled the map back up and tucked it into the large pouch of his bag and zipped it shut. Sparing a glance at Sparks to find him dozing off to sleep, Tom started to walk slowly to avoid waking him.

Pierce had been unable to sleep despite having an active and busy day. After Langdon told him to return the skull they stole, he was that they wasted their time on the wrong target. He avoided Langdon for the rest of the day too by shutting himself in his room and refusing to leave it only to get food. While he stayed in his room, he used the cell phone that Clint gave him when he was in prison so he could relay information about Team Plasma. He sent information about what they did today at the museum and then he gave them the location of their base in the Pinwheel Forest. Clint had yet to respond to his messages and each passing minute that Pierce waited, the more he expected Langdon to burst through his door and catch him in the act.

"Come on, Clint. Say something so I can turn this damn thing off," Pierce thought as he closed the phone.

Not being able to take the stress anymore, Pierce turned the phone off and tucked it under the loose floorboard by his bed. After he closed the board he glanced at the clock. He had been awake all night and even though he was exhausted, he could not sleep.

"Maybe if I chill in the library I'll feel better," Pierce muttered.

He rubbed his eyes and left his room, closing the door behind him. The hallways were deserted since everyone was sleeping. Pierce's footsteps echoed as they touched the wooden floor. He came to the double doors of the library and could see the lights were dimmed down inside. Pierce strode into the room and started his trek to the back where there was a fireplace with armchairs and couches. He quickly found what he was searching for and was glad that he had the couch to himself. He fell face first to the couch and stared at the fireplace as flames continued to burn. Pierce could feel his eyelids drooping and was just about to drift off to sleep, but that was not to be.

Pierce had just closed his eyes, but footsteps met his ears and they immediately snapped open. He peered over the couch and saw Melanie walking towards him, completely unaware of his presence. His eyes narrowed into a glare as he saw his partner. She was the last person he wanted to see now. Melanie finally noticed him sitting on the couch and stopped dead.

"What do you want?" Pierce asked bitterly.

"I don't want anything. I thought I was alone," Melanie replied as she shifted her feet.

"Well, you're not. I'm tired and I just want to sleep."

"So why don't you sleep in your room?"

"I tried, it wasn't working."

Melanie nodded and continued walking to the sofa and took a seat in the armchair beside it. The two them sat in silence as they listened to the fire crackle. Melanie glanced at Pierce from the corner of her eye and could see the exhaustion in his face. Now that she had the chance to talk to Pierce she would take it, even though he would be bitter about it since h just wanted to rest.

"Pierce, I needed to talk to you about something," Melanie said.

"Can't it wait until later?" Pierce mumbled out.

"No, I need to talk to you now."

"Damn-it, I said I'm tired!"

"And I said I wasn't going to wait!"

Pierce glared at Melanie and sat up to lounge against the rest of the couch. He crossed his arms and looked at his red-headed partner with irritation. He already knew he was not going to like what she wanted to talk about and he had a hunch on what the topic was.

"Why are you being so distant from me now? Why are you treating me badly?" Melanie demanded.

"If you seriously are asking me that question then I guess you are not that smart," Pierce retorted.

"See, there you again!"

"Melanie you know why I am acting the way I am towards you now! Use your head!"

"Is this about what happened back in Striaton City?"

Pierce let a satirical smile come to his face as he raised his hands and began to clap slowly.

"Look who's starting to catch on," Pierce said as he stopped clapping.

"Hey, that was not my fault! You were the one who told me to leave you behind!" Melanie snapped.

"I know I told you to leave me behind, but that's not why I'm angry."

"Then why are you?"

"It's because you are trying to prove yourself too much and the second Liam gave you the chance to do his job that day you took it!"

"What's wrong with trying to prove myself? I'm not a kid! I want people to know I am reliable!"

"While you may not be a kid you are acting like one!"

Melanie closed her mouth and matched Pierce's glare with her own. Her temper was running thin with the jabs Pierce was hitting her with.

"I am not acting like a child! Don't you dare say that!" Melanie sneered.

"Yes you are, don't give me that crap!" Pierce shot back.

"How am I acting like a child?"

"You adopt this stupid persona that acts like a strong leader and serious person so you can seem like some type of grown up! That's not who you are and you know it! This is just you lying to yourself!"

"Shut up!"

"Truth hurts, doesn't it?"

The two partners continued their argument back and forth, unknowingly getting the attention of two others that were dwelling the library. The first person was Liam who had a twisted smirk on his face as he leaned against the bookshelves behind them. Liam had taken great pleasure in causing problems for his cohorts and was more than eager to fuel the fire. He pushed himself off the shelves and walked up behind them.

"Now, now, this is no for two partners to act," Liam said as he wagged his finger.

"Piss off, Dots. This doesn't concern you." Pierce spat.

"Hey, don't be like that. I'm just trying to defuse a hostile situation."

"No you're not. All you do is make it escalate."

Liam smiled at Pierce and folded his arms. He enjoyed getting a rise out of Pierce and was glad he was succeeding at the moment.

"He's right, Liam. Get out of here." Melanie hissed.

"Ah, Melanie, you need to take it easy. Although, I have to say I agree with Pierce about your superiority complex," Liam replied.

"Shut up and leave!"

"You redheads do have terrible tempers, you know that?"

Melanie's face turned scarlet at Liam's comment and she picked up the book lying on the table. She threw it as hard as she could at Liam who simply ducked under it, his smirk growing with each passing second.

"I think I have proved my point," Liam said with a clap.

"Liam, I'm angry with you as it is for what you did back at Striaton City! So I am only going to say this once. Get the hell out of here!" Pierce sneered.

"You know as well as I do that entertainment is needed on missions to keep my interest, so you should have known what was coming."

"I made the mistake of trusting you once and I learned from that. I will never trust any words to come out of your mouth now since I know it's a load of BS."

"Well, I guess I just need to get more creative with my methods then."

It happened so fast that Liam had no chance on countering the attack. Pierce had leapt from the couch and tackled him to the ground. One hand had Liam by the collar of his shirt and the other was retreating from his face. Pierce punched Liam again and was about to go for another blow, but his arm was caught by someone else. Turning around, Pierce's gaze came into contact with N's.

"What's going on here?" N asked.

"Sir, Liam was being a pest and would not leave when Melanie and I told him to get lost," Pierce replied as he got off of Liam.

"So you decide to hit him to solve the problem?"

"He aggravated me into doing it."

"It didn't cross your mind to ignore him."

"No."

N frowned and shook his head as Pierce wrenched his arm free from his grasp. He did not understand why colleagues would get into scraps with each other over such petty matters. The three before him were supposed to be friends who helped and worked with each other, not at each other's throats. N was a man of peace and did not condone violence in the slightest, so he found Pierce's behavior unacceptable. As he thought about it, he was not entirely sure what the conversation was that sparked the fight between Pierce and Liam, but given his known knowledge about Liam that he heard from his father, Langdon and some other members of Team Plasma, he was sure it had to do with something that Liam had done.

"Regardless of whether he aggravated you or not, violence is never the answer," N said as he looked at Pierce. "Now, I don't want to see this happen between you two again. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sir," Pierce said after taking a deep breath.

"I'll try, but I'm not making any promises," Liam said with his cheeky grin.

N shook his head at Liam's response and crossed his arms. The boy before him was indeed a handful and it would take some time getting used to his attitude. While N was busy not taking Liam's comment to mind, Pierce straightened his clothes after the scuffle he had with Liam.

"I'm out of here," Pierce said as he turned to leave. "Sir, I'm sorry."

"It's fine. Just try to keep what I told you in mind," N replied.

"No, not that."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry for this."

Pierce made a fist and gave one last jab at Liam and hit him under his ribcage. Liam hunched over and his face scrunched up in discomfort as the pain hit him. Seeing Liam hunched over in pain, Pierce continued his walk out of the library and back to his room.

Tom and Sparks were making great progress as they were now halfway through the forest and the sun was just starting to come up. They continued down the dirt path as the sunlight started to peek through the trees an illuminate it. While they were walking, they would hear an occasional chirp from the bird Pokémon that hid in the trees. Tom felt Sparks shift on his back and turned to check on his partner. Sparks' head perked up and he was sniffing the air for something.

"What is it, buddy?" Tom asked.

"Rai!" Sparks said as he hopped off Tom's bag and took off into the trees.

"Sparks, come back!"

Tom cursed under his breath as he gave chase for his partner. He hurdled over a pair of thorn bushes, occasionally sniffing the air. His nostrils with a delicious aroma coming from ahead. He now knew why Sparks ran after getting a whiff of the scent. His legs came to a stop in a small clearing that had a campfire cooking someone's breakfast. Sparks was in front of the fire and his paw was reaching out for the food that was cooking on the grid.

"Don't even think about it you little turd!" Tom warned.

Tom's voice surprised Sparks as he jumped and inadvertently touched his paw to the searing grid. Sparks' eyes widened in pain and he gave a loud yelp as he waved the burning sensation free from his paw. His yelp got the attention of somebody as rustling came from the trees on the opposite side of the clearing. A girl made her way out of the trees and into the clearing.

The girl looked familiar to Tom as he had seen her a couple of days ago when he first met Hayley. She was her friend, Chris Walker. Tom walked towards Sparks and unslung his bag to pull out some medicine to reduce the pain Sparks was feeling from the burn. As he walked forward, the girl took notice of him and cocked her head in curiosity.

"Tom? What are you doing here?" Chris asked.

"Sparks and I were on our way to Castelia City, but he took off when he smelled the food you were cooking," Tom replied as he knelt by Sparks.

"Oh, I see."

Chris walked over to the fire and set her bag down and pulled out some bandages. She reached out for Sparks, but he slapped her wrist with his tail and sent her a glare. She was rather taken aback at his hostile attitude to her. All she wanted to do was help Sparks with his burnt paw, but he obviously only trusted Tom to come near him. Tom gave her an apologetic look for Sparks' action, but she waved it aside.

"I appreciate the help, but Sparks doesn't trust anybody but me and nurses when it comes to treatment," Tom said as he held out his hand.

"Oh, it's okay. It's only natural for a Pokémon to be like that around strangers," Chris replied as she gave Tom the bandages.

Tom gently wrapped the bandages around Sparks' paw and cut it with his knife when he had a few layers. He handed the bandages back to Chris and thanked her for the help.

"Sparks, apologize to Chris for trying to take her food and for slapping her," Tom said as he looked down at him.

Sparks gave him a defiant look and then a pout, but found himself losing his nerve with Tom's gaze. He glanced at Chris out of the corner of his eye and turned around to face her. After a few seconds he finally raised his uninjured paw out for Chris with a shamed look. Chris smiled at Sparks and gently shook his paw. The second she let go of his paw he turned around and hid behind Tom's leg.

"Sorry about that," Tom said as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"It's no trouble. No harm done," Christ replied as she pulled off the cornbread from the grid. "Do you want some? I can't eat all of this."

"Are you sure? It is your food."

"I cooked more than I needed and I'm sure you are both hungry."

Tom was about to deny the food, but his stomach gave a loud growl. His face flushed in embarrassment and he tipped the bill of his hat down. Chris smirked and held out a chunk of cornbread. Tom took the bread and thanked her as he took a bite from it. Sparks eagerly snatched the bread from Chris' hand when she handed him a piece and practically swallowed it whole. A look of satisfaction spread across Sparks' face as the cornbread went into his stomach and he gave a crude belch.

While Tom was eating his bread, Chris silently observed Sparks. She was familiar with the Pokémon from her studies to become a researcher, but she was interested with how much the Raichu in front of her differed from others she had seen. The one in front of her was smaller than most, but its height was not proportionate to its weight. The Pokémon in front of her appeared overweight and while it was not uncommon for a Pokémon to be a little overweight, she could not help but wonder if it had a certain diet.

"Tom, can I ask you something?" Chris asked.

"What's up?" Tom replied.

"Your Raichu. What is its diet?"

"He eats both Pokémon food and human food, but he usually has access to human food more."

"I see."

"Why, is something wrong?"

"Not exactly, but I would recommend you put him on a diet. Since he is a smaller than average Raichu he should be lighter than he is. He looks pretty overweight."

When Chris said that, Sparks turned around and sent her a glare. She gave him an apologetic look and was surprised when Sparks raised his paw in what she assumed to be a rude hand gesture.

"Yeah, I know he's fatter than normal, but I prefer him that way," Tom said.

"Why's that?" Chris replied.

"Since Sparks is overweight, he has the ability reduce his chances of being sent airborne from an attack and if he is sent airborne, he'll be able to recover quicker because of gravity."

"I see. I guess since you do battling it keeps him in shape and this does give you some form of defense in battles, but I still think you should have him diet and eat Pokémon food more. It will be healthier for him."

Tom shrugged at her advice, but decided not to argue against it. She was right that Sparks had to eat more Pokémon food to be healthy, but he would not make him switch his diet to meet the standard that Chris had in mind for what he should be. He finished eating his cornbread and felt his growling stomach quell. He looked down to see Sparks looking up at him and then back towards the trees where they came from. Getting the message from his partner, Tom decided to thank Chris again and head back to the road.

"Well, Chris, it was nice seeing you again," Tom said as he held out his hand.

"It was good to see you too," Chris replied as she shook it. "You're going to Castelia City now, right?"

"Yeah."

"I don't suppose I can tag along?"

"You can if you want. Do you have to do something in Castelia City?"

"I have to drop off some terrain samples at a research lab and check in with professor Oak. We're trying to analyze terrain and learn migration patterns of Pokémon here."

"Sure, you can come along if you want."

Chris smiled and stood up as she reached for her bag. She slung her bag over her shoulder and made sure that the logs in the fire pit were spread apart to allow it to die. After she finished cleaning up her things, she looked at Tom and nodded and followed him out of the clearing and back to the road. They arrived on the road a few minutes later and started walking north. By this point the sun had risen and the day was just starting to get underway. The buses that would take travelers to Castelia City would not start running for another hour and with the daily commute, it would take a while to get to the city, if not a couple hours. The downtime that this day would bring was what Tom would need to prepare for his gym battle against Burgh later.

Tom and Chris conversed with each other as they continued their trek through the forest. As they talked, Tom learned more about Chris from their last encounter back at the Pokémon Center outside of Nacrene City. Chris was a fairly laid back individual. She was from the Sinnoh region and came from a small family. Her parents ran a flower shop in Floaroma Town and her sister was a trainer that was traveling in Johto. She also explained how she became fascinated in research and decided to follow in the footsteps of renowned professors like Oak, Rowan, Elm, Juniper and Birch. Chris was employed as a researcher for professor Oak's staff and was doing field research here in Unova as part of a project he was working on.

"I have to give you credit on following a career like that," Tom said as he looked at her. "I wouldn't have the patience to stay cooped up in a lab and I would get bored way too easily."

"I can't blame you. You don't look like the scientific type," Chris replied with a smirk.

"Hey, don't be so quick to judge. When I was in KNAMA, science was the subject that interested me the most because of the concepts that came with it, even though it was my least favorite subject and I struggled with it."

"Whatever you say, Tom."

Tom rolled his eyes and Chris giggled. The path started to turn as it led down a hill. The pair of them were careful with their steps as it would only take one wrong move to slip and fall. With all the rain that came a few days ago, parts of the forest were still flooded. When they got halfway down the hill, Sparks' ears perked up and he quickly turned to look off into the trees. His sudden alertness made Tom stop and look at him with concern.

"What's wrong, buddy?" Tom asked.

"Rai," Raichu said as he crouched low and his cheeks began to spark with electricity.

Tom narrowed his eyes and looked in the direction Sparks was facing to try and find what he sensed. His eyes found nothing, but he could hear something moving ahead.

"Tom, what is that?" Chris asked.

"I'm not sure, but Sparks doesn't like it," Tom replied as he glanced back at her. "Do you have any Pokémon to protect you?"

"Y-Yes, but…"

"Get them out."

Chris did not argue with Tom as she could hear the seriousness in his tone. Her hand pulled the first ball it found and she tossed it into the air. The ball opened with a snap and a Pokémon began to take shape in front of her. When the white glow vanished, an Espeon stood at the ready. The two trainers continued watching the area in front of them as the noise grew louder. The noise sounded like thundering footsteps as bushes rustled and the ground shook.

"Pede!"

Tom's face went pale as he heard the cry echo from in front of him. He vividly remembered the Scolipede that attacked him after Kenta enraged it and was beginning to wonder if it was the same one. His heart was now beating so fast it felt as though it would burst from his chest. Tom's eyes finally caught sight of of the large Pokémon barreling towards him and Chris.

"Chris, watch out!" Tom shouted as he jumped away.

Chris and Espeon jumped out of the way just in time to avoid the Scolipede as it burst from the trees and onto the path. The Scolipede separated Chris from Tom and it was searching around wildly for its target. It turned and looked at Chris to which she took a step back in fear while Espeon got in front of her. Scolipede glared down at Chris and Espeon and opened its mouth for an attack, but it went rigid and gave a loud cry as Sparks shocked it with Thunder.

"Chris, run! It's after me!" Tom barked.

"What about you?" Chris asked.

"I'll be fine, just keep running and I'll catch up!"

Chris spared Scolipede a glance as it turned around to face Tom. She was hesitant on leaving him behind, but she also had to protect the samples she collected to give to her colleagues in Castelia City.

"Okay, just be careful!" Chris said as she and Espeon turned around and sprinted away.

When Chris and Espeon vanished from sight, Tom locked eyes with the Scolipede and could only see rage in them. He was in for a fight and he was not looking forward to it. If he wanted a chance of getting out of this situation in one piece, he had to fight back. Scolipede was too fast to outrun unless it was weakened.

"Sparks, use Thunder Punch!" Tom yelled.

Sparks jumped up at Scolipede as electricity enveloped around his good paw and he gave a hard punch. The electric punch hit Scolipede and earned a roar of fury from it. Sparks jumped back and smirked as he saw Scolipede become stiff as electricity circle around his body.

"Run, Sparks! Run!" Tom yelled as he took off into the woods with Sparks hot on his heels.

The duo slid down the hill and began running through thorn bushes and jumping over fallen trees. Tom could hear Scolipede give another loud cry as it charged after him and Sparks. His ears could pick up the sounds of bushes rustling and trees snapping like toothpicks. Trying to block out the terrible sound behind him, Tom ducked under a low hanging branch and ran into a series of bushes. His vision was obscured from bushes and branches that he could not see anything in front of him. He was growing tired and he would not be able to hold out much longer.

Tom and Sparks broke free from the trees and bushes only to come to a grinding halt as they came to a cliff. The drop alone was about twenty feet, but it led to a large pond. Tom and Sparks spared each other a look and glanced behind them where Scolipede was still coming.

"What do you think, buddy? Do we run around or jump?" Tom asked.

Sparks looked back down to the pond and then to Tom. Tom nodded as he turned his hat around and braced himself.

"Bones heal," Tom said as he took a step back with Sparks mimicking him. "Now!"

Tom and Sparks jumped off the cliff just as Scolipede broke through the last of the bushes. Everything seemed to go in slow motion for Tom as he fell to the pond far below. His stomach was suddenly in his chest as he descended to the water. He wrapped an arm around Sparks and closed his eyes as he awaited the impact. The two of them hit the water headfirst and everything went dark as they sunk into the depths of the algae filled pond.

Tom's eyes cracked open and he began to kick to the surface. He could see the sunlight reflecting off the green, murky water and gasped for air as he breached the surface. The two partners sputtered as they began to swim to the edge of the pond. Tom glanced back to the cliff to see that Scolipede was gone and smirked in triumph. He and Sparks managed to best the Scolipede again. The two of them pulled themselves out of the water and to the grass. They collapsed on the forest floor and panted as they tried to regain their breath. Tom looked at Sparks and held his fist out to which Sparks returned the fist bump.

"Nice job, buddy," Tom panted out.

"Rai," Sparks replied as he rolled to his back.

Sparks closed his eyes as he turned over on his back to shield them from the sun. While he was doing that, a dark shadow blocked out the sun and made him open his eyes. When Sparks opened his eyes, he froze. He moved his tail slowly and began to poke Tom with it. Tom glanced at him and raised a brow at his partner's look of horror.

"What's wrong with you?" Tom asked.

Sparks said nothing as he pointed up. Tom's eyes shifted to look up and the color drained from his face again. Scolipede towered over them with a livid expression.

"Sparks, if there is a God, he hates us," Tom said.

"Rai," Sparks agreed.

Tom clambered over to Sparks to shield him from Scolipede's next attack. Scolipede opened its mouth again to go for a bite and Tom closed his eyes as he awaited the pain. What happened next surprised him. He heard a voice that he did not recognize followed by Scolipede's cry of anger.

"Charmeleon, use Flamethrower!"

Tom could feel a gust of wind and a wave of heat as the Flamethrower engulfed Scolipede in front of him. He got off of Sparks and hurried over to where the attack came from to get on guard. His eyes came into contact with the two that saved him and Sparks seconds ago. In front of him was a Charmeleon that had a fierce gaze as it stared at Scolipede and behind him was another boy. The boy was just an inch shorter than Tom and had light blonde hair and blue eyes.

The boy looked at Tom and gave him a nod in greeting.

"Looks like you can use a hand," the boy said.

"You have no idea," Tom replied. "Who are you?"

"The name's Russell, but you can call me Russ."

Well, that's the chapter, I hope you all enjoyed it. Yes, Tom split from the group and is on his own right now, but they will meet up again later. I hope you all enjoyed the return of the Scolipede gag that was from chapter four. Be sure to check out the information under the note here. Now, I'm not sure when I'll update again, so like I said last time, keep your eyes peeled. -Captain

OCs featured in this chapter:

Chris Walker (Flypandabear): Last appearance chapter 14

Newcomer: Russell "Russ" Shepherd (Nobel Six)