Heheh. This chapter's a bit shorter than usual.

So, seems like you guys all want a sequl soon, huh? OK then.

I forget if I said this already, but I've also started working on another Zelda fanfic (It's not on fanfic yet). So, once I finish this, I'll start putting up both the Zelda one and the new Pokemon one. I'm hoping that that won't be biting off more than I can chew. I've never done 2 big fanfics at a time. But I've started the Zelda one and I have a lot of the info down for the next Pokémon fanfic too. So, I'll probably upload slower, alternating which story I update every week. Anyway, we'll see how it works, huh? Anyway, we're not there yet. Cara still has one last thing to get through before she can take a break.

Polaris-Ponyta, Kinesis-Alakazam, Skeppy-Scyther, Charren-Charizard, Uber-Umbreon, Eon-Espeon.

An Invitation.

Let's see… It's been about five months since the Pokémon League. Since then, well, Ben and I have been taking few of a few last things. For me, I wanted to catch the last Pokémon missing from my Pokédex. Mainly the exotic-ish ones like Likitung, Jynx, Hitmonchan, ex.

During some of that time, Ben was busy doing what he did best: messing with mechanical stuff. Can you say Game Corner?

So, I thought he was crazy when I left him in Celadon's Game Corner. And I couldn't forget the first time we were there… when the game corner had blown up and we found Team Rocket's base hidden beneath it…

Of course now it's all good to go.

So, like I said, on this day, I abandoned Ben in the game corner and went to search for a Mr. Mime. I was so close. So close to getting one Pokémon from each family. I still hadn't evolved all of my Pokémon. I didn't have Dragonite or Kabutops or anything. But thanks to Ben, we founf a guy in Pewter City with a machine. A machine thatcan revive fossils. That's how we got Aerodactyl, Kabotu, and Omanyte. I just needed two more.

It was much much later in the day when I returned to the Game Corner. I was tired, but pleased. It had been a few days of tracking before I reached this point. I'd finally managed to locate and capture a Mr. Mime.

I was ready to gloat to Ben. Except for the legendaries, I only needed on more Pokémon.

I entered the noisy arcade and squinted around to try to find Ben. He wasn't at any of the slot machines. Where was he? Had he left already?

My eyes scanned the edges of the room. There was a couch there. And on it, there was a person. Ben. I walked up to him to find him practically passed out. He'd fallen asleep on a couch in the middle of the Game Corner?

I stared down at him. Ben was so weird sometimes.

For a moment I toyed with the idea of waking him up in some mean way, like having one of my Pokémon use Water Gun at him. I smiled and shook my head. I would think those things, but I would never do them for real. I wasn't that mean.

"Oy. You're gonna want to wake up."

Ben didn't even move. I touched his shoulder and he blearily opened his eyes and blinked up at me.

He quikly sat up.

"Oh! You're back! I thought I'd wait here for you here, and I guess I fell asleep."

I smirked. "I noticed. How on earth can you fall asleep in a place like this?"

Ben yawned widely. "I was tired."

"Did you not get enough sleep last night?"

"It's not that. It just took a really long time to get this." He grabbed a paper bag from beside him and handed it to me.

"This is a thank you. For all you did on the journey, helping me train and all. And also a late congratulations on the Pokémon League and almost beating Lance. I would have given it to you sooner, but it took me a long time to win enough coins."

I peered curiously into the bag. There was a Pokéball in it.

Interested, I pulled it out.

"Let's go outside before you open it," Ben said.

I nodded and the two of us left the arcade.

"OK. Let's see what's in here." I tossed out the Pokéball and waited with interest to see what would appear. As the Pokémon became visible, I stared at it in disbelief. It was the last Pokémon I needed to complete my "collection."

"Ben, it's a Porygon," I gasped.

Ben nodded, smiling.

Porygon floated around, pecking at a branch and watching Pidgey fly overhead.

"Where did you get it? I never knew where to find one."

"I told you. I won it at the Game Corner."

"This guy was a prize at the Game Corner?"

Ben nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to surprise you. Beseides, you're really bad at those kind of games."

I stuck my tongue out at him. Porgygon drifted up to me and I patted him.

"Thanks, Ben."

It was time. Time to start heading to the Orange Islands. Lance had suggested that we do so. Now we were ready. We started heading towards the Vermillion Harbor.

It was a beautiful day as Ben and I rode down the trail, me on Polaris and Ben on his Tauros. To one side of us was the ocean. Sunlight glinted off of the rolling waves and an occasional Tentacool peered out of the water.

Ben and I stopped on the beach to eat lunch. Polaris and Tauros stayed up near the trail, grazing. Both of them turned their heads up at the sound of wing beats.

A Pidgeotto descended from the sky and landed on the beach directly in front of Ben and I. We examined the Pidgeotto with interest and it stared right back at us. Then he held out his leg and I saw that he was holding a rolled-up piece of paper in his claws.

"For us?" I asked.

Pidgeotto nodded.

Ben and I exchanged curious glances. I took the parchment from him and unrolled it.

"It is addressed to me!" I exclaimed. "Who would send me a letter by Pidgeotto?

"Read it!" Ben urged.

"I'm trying to. Give me a minute without interrupting me."

It was written on nice, thick paper that looked almost old-fashioned. The writing was in a neat, cursive hand, though easily legible.

Dear Ms. Cara Kellan,

You are receiving this letter because of your recent achievements in the area of Pokémon battles. You are one of many who has been invited to take part in a most unique contest. You along with several other chosen trainers will compete against each other, and the one who comes out on top will receive a valuable prize.

A ferry will be departing from Vermillion City Harbor two days from now at 9:00 AM and you will be brought to the site of the competition. If you are able to attend, please fill out the enclosed form and return it to me with the delivery Pidgeotto. If you don't think you can reach Vermillion in time, mark the box on the flyer and transportation will be provided for you.

I hope all of you try your hardest this coming saturday.

Sincerely,

Jed Anders.

I stared at the letter for a while before handing it to Ben. He scanned it with interest, but made a startled sound when he got to the end.

"Jed Anders! Cara, don't you know who Jed Anders is?"

"Uh… the name sounds kind of familiar…"

"He's that guy!"

"Thank you for being so specific."

"I mean that really famous guy that's supposed to love watching Pokémon battles!"

"Oh, yeah. That's right. He's one of those guys that likes to donate his money to good causes and stuff. There's a word for it. A paulist, or something."

"A what?"

"You know, the word that describes those rich guys that like to help people."

"Oh, you mean a philanthropist."

"Oh, that's what it's called."

"How did you get "paulist" from that?"

"I knew it sounded like a guys name that began in P."

"The "phil" isn't a guy's name. It's latin for…"

"I get the point," I sighed. "How do we know it's not a trap?"

"Why would you think it's a trap?" Ben asked blankly.

"He could be part of Team Rocket."

"I doubt that."

"Well, who would have thought that a gym leader would be the leader of Team Rocket? And maybe it's not even Jed Anders. Maybe it's someone pretending to be him."

"Why are you being so paranoid? Usually it's me who's like that."

"Because Giovanni's still out there. After… what we went through, I have a right to be a bit nervous about these sorts of things."

Ben sighed. "Well, you're right about that. Does this mean you don't want to go?"

I slowly tured to Ben and grinned.

"Of course not! If it's a trap, we'll kick their butts! And if not, we'll have a good time playing this game thing that's going on. I wonder what the prize is."

Ben shook his head, but couldn't help smiling. "Of course."

I quickly filled out the enclosed form and returned it to Pidgeotto. I tucked the invitation into my pack as the bird Pokémon flapped off.

So, we rode the rest of the way to Vermillion and I prepared a team.

Polaris, of course. I also have Skeppy-my Scyther from the Safari Zone, Kinesis (Alakazam), Charren, Eon, and Uber.

Ben had his Blastoise, Pidgeot, Arcanine, Tauros, Gengar, and Nidoking.

"I wonder if Amber and Josh got invited too," I said thoughtfully. "I mean, they got second and third place at the League."

Ben shrugged. "Do you think I'll be able to come along with you?" Ben asked.

I froze and loked at him. "That's a good question. I don't know. I hope so. If not… I guess you can wait for me here."

Ben nodded. "Either way, we'll find out soon enough."