Celebrating the 25th chapter and 50 thousand words!

I understand that at some points this story can be slow but the so-called filler parts are what started this story. I thought, how cool would it be using Pokémon for practical purposes like odd jobs? What job could each Pokémon do? I don't know exactly why that interests me but it does. I'm a weirdo.

One concern I've heard is the lack of a diverse group of Pokémon. I guess I agree with you at this point but there are

1 psychic

4 normal (1 to be water (Azurill), 1 to be fairy (Cleffa))

1 poison

1 bug/flying

1 ground/fighting

No grass, fire or water yet but the wait won't be much longer!

daniel: thank you for reviewing! My next chapter should be up soon!

I.C.2014: Sorry I'm afraid there isn't a lot going on in this chapter either but conversely, the next chapter will be all action! I'm glad you liked the Clefairy battle and I'm putting extra effort into the next chapter to make sure that the battle is up to par! Thank you for being such a dedicated and helpful reviewer!

whakamole: Yes, after the next chapter there will be more of the minor Pokémon! They will continue to grow, but right now, they're really just young. Nova pulling off a Shadow Ball, yes I need to put that in. And don't worry about Gold knowing an attack, he'll get there soon. I hope that this chapter can live up to your expectations. Good news is the next chapter will be pretty eventful. PS: I'm really interested in your possible pokémon war fanfic so PM me when you write it! Or if you just want to bounce ideas of me, I'm pretty good at that.

Gold and I were nearly back to the city hours after the moon was above our heads. I was about to ask whether we should rest here or keep moving. Getting into the city from where we were wouldn't take more than twenty minutes. But then Gold stopped walking and sat down on a small cliff ledge with a beautiful view of the big, bright moon.

"…Rusty…thanks fer…all that." He said, not looking at me. Surprised, I followed and sat next to him, looking at the city's lights. They were bright too. They were more yellow than the opal glow of the moon and more intense than the gentle light of the stars. The city lights washed a strange orange glow through the sky making the stars just a tiny bit harder to see. Humans and civilization were both amazing and terrifying. I looked towards Gold.

"Why did you leave?"

Gold frowned slightly and for a moment I was afraid he wouldn't say anything.

"Tell me about yourself. Come on, Gold!"

"How 'bout this? I tell you my little story but you gotta answer five questions and you can't lie and you can't say no."

I considered this. "Three."

"Alright, fine." Gold fiddled with a blade of grass in his paws as he slowly began to recount his life. "I was born to that Sandshrew colony ya saw back there. There were about thirty of us, give or take. I was kind of the odd one out though. You…probably noticed but I'm different than them. My claws for example," Gold opened and closed his claws, "are too short to dig properly and I can't breathe well covered in dirt so I'm really useless for burrowing. I'm just a little too long to roll into a perfect ball. Instead of learning to dig tunnels like the other Sandshrew, I spent a lot of time on the surface.

"No one really cared, so I kept to myself most'a the time." Gold tore up a paw full of grass and roots and dropped down to the ground below us. "So eventually-and it would've happened sooner or later-a Pidgeotto scooped me up. Easy prey I guess. I remember two Sandslash watching the Pidgeotto as it swooped down at me but they didn't do anything. I thought I was done for when the dumb bird started climbing higher in the air and deeper into the forest when the impossible happened… a Hitmonchan that was training in the that part of the woods that day heard me calling for help and in seconds he had scaled the tree. Fought off the Pokémon, despite the type disadvantage."

I was listening with rapt attention now.

"He offered to help me get back but I didn't want to go so he took me in. I learned his name-Zinc- and named myself Gold. I started training with him and learned how to fight."

"Where is Zinc now?"

"His trainer came back for him. He wasn't wild but apparently he had been separated from him for a year after some Pokémon poachers came after them. He and his trainer were headed to the Pokemon Boxing Tourney. When I found out I was so upset I refused to come. He left after he realized he couldn't convince me and I put some space between me and Cerulean City."

Wow, there's so much I never knew about Gold… Zinc is why Gold wants to be a fighting-type. He seems like a good Pokémon. I hope we can meet him some day so I can thank him for saving my friend… Did he name himself Gold because Gold and Zinc are both metals?

"Rusty." Gold said, getting my attention.

"Hm?"

"I'm gonna use my first question now. Why do you trust Sam so much?"

I hesitated before speaking. "There's a connection between a trainer and their Starter. It's almost like I know what he's feeling without looking at his face or hearing the tone of his voice. I can always trust that he'll do the best for us."

"Ha. I coulda' sworn he just ditched half his Pokémon in this forest yesterday," Gold pointed out, gesturing around us. I looked at him disbelievingly. He had spent all this time thinking that? Under the circumstances, I amended, it's not too hard to understand how he could have felt that way.

"He didn't leave us, Gold. It wasn't a punishment. He was offering us time to figure ourselves out. We've kind of been having a strained team lately. But most of all, he was trying to show us that he trusted us."

Gold sucked in a breath. "You think that's why?"

"I know it is. I'm sure. Listen, you can…talk to me about stuff if you…well I know you don't want me intruding on your personal business…" I trailed off awkwardly.

Gold looked at me strangely. "What?"

"When we were in the Pokémon Center…"

"What, when I said 'it has nothing to do with you?'" He asked. I nodded miserably.

"I wasn't talking about me. Listen 'ere, Rusty, we're on the same team whether I like it or not. There isn't a lotta room for privacy. I meant that my getting upset had nothing to do with you. And that you shouldn't call yourself scatter-brained. I've heard it just makes scatter-brains stupider." Gold growled. Him and I looked at each other for several moments before he lay down and curled up several feet away.

Completely relieved, I smiled and wrapped my tail comfortably around my curled body.

Morning

"We can't have more than twenty minutes until we need to be at the Gym, let's go!" I exclaimed, shaking a sleeping Gold. He muttered something unintelligible. "We over-slept!" I said, trying again. This time with more luck.

Within moments, we were making our way down the hill towards the town.

"Rusty!" Gold singsonged. I flinched at his sadistic tone.

"W-what?" I asked reluctantly, wondering what he was up to. Whatever it was, it would be extra bad, knowing he would likely be compensating for his honesty from the day before.

"You still have to answer two questions. That was the deal."

"Oh, uh right. Go ahead." I felt guilty but I completely intended on being as vague as I needed too.

"Why are you so jumpy around people?" Gold asked. We were just entering the city now and I knew I couldn't try to deny it, I was already feeling uncomfortable with even a few people around me.

"I'm short. I'll get stepped on! At least you have some armor, if I get stepped on, you'd be peeling my off the sidewalk. They're all just so big…" I lied.

"Ha. Alright, I can see that. Last question. Why do you act as if what you see is completely new to you?"

I stared at him and he took it as me not understanding his question. " When we were entering that first town, you looked surprised by being in the city. I figured you hadn't been in a city before but last night, you were looking at the town lights like you'd never seen them. You're a curious Pokémon. You would have at least gotten close enough to a city to see the lights. And when-"

My pulse started to elevate and I knew I had to stop him before I panicked so I settled on a half truth. "You know that I was human-bred. I'm a Starter. Professors make a career out of breeding us. Pikachu, Eevee, Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Torchic, Mudkip, Snivy, Oshawott, Treecko, Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Totodile, Fennekin, Piplup, Turtwig, Chimchar-"

"You don't know the names of common wild Pokémon but you can name all the Pokémon raised in Pokémon Breeders." Gold noticed. "And the lights-"

"Pallet didn't have lights." I told him. That was a lie. I think. I'd never seen Pallet at night. Sam and I had left within the hour of becoming partners.

"Oh. Huh. Must'a been hard to do things at night," Gold blinked obliviously. I swallowed the guilty feeling at we kept walking towards the gym. The sun was almost perfectly overhead.

Noon

By the time Nova and Gold reached the entrance of Cerulean Gym, only a few minutes past noon, the Poison and the three trainers were waiting outside. When we reached them, Sam knelt down to pet Nova, apologizing despite him not having done anything wrong in Nova's mind. Gold stopped a few feet in front of Poison and nodded lightly. Poison looked at him with a slight surprise but then grinned and copied the gesture.

"Alright then everyone! Let's go win a Cascade Badge!" Sam broke into a run similar to what Nova had done at the Pewter City Gym. It was clear he was much more confident in himself than ever before.

Upon entering, a tall girl with short orange hair greeted them. "Are you Sam?" She asked, studying him.

"Yep, that's me, nice to meet you…" Sam said, extending a hand, which the girl, a little surprised, took.

"Misty. My sisters are getting ready for the water show later on tonight so I'm your opponent. Follow me to the arena." Misty led them through hallways walled with fish tanks full of Pokémon that Nova had never seen before. She was throughly intimidated but she didn't see anything she wasn't willing to fight for her team. Finally, they reached a large white room with a large pool. Three large round platforms rose up out of the water, providing at least some chance for non water type Pokémon. Nova sighed, she was in luck.

Misty, all ready on the other side of the arena, drew out a Pokéball and threw it at the water. Out came a large orange and white mottled fish with a white horn protruding from its head.

Sam, rather than be hindered by the strange Pokémon, grinned. "Come on out, Missile!"

Please help me to improve myself by reviewing! (Comments, questions, concerns, OCs, ideas, constructive criticism, anything)