Following his defeat at the Raikou Race, Logan had to stay in Ottawa and found another way to earn some money before continuing his journey. Luckily, he happened to have an aunt and uncle living in the town. He decided to go see them and, to his relief, they allowed him to stay with them until he managed to get enough money. Good thing because he hated to sleep outside in the wild. With a place to sleep both for himself and his Pokémon, Logan searched and found a few part-time jobs he could take in the town to start getting back all the money he used for Merlin and his inns.
Five days later, the money pocket of his backpack was once again full, and he could resume his Pokémon journey. The young man thanked the bosses who accepted to pay him and his aunt and uncle for letting him stay with them. While driving away from their house on his tricycle, they waved at him from the entrance door, a gesture he returned. "Grimmer!" Pudding sadly sighed while waving his muddy hand too. During their stay, he grew very attached to the two of them.
"Don't worry, Pudding. We'll come back to see them again someday," Logan assured his friend, reaching a hand to pat his sticky head. The little pile of mud smiled a bit in response just before a loud growling noise providing from his non-existent stomach was heard.
"Wow! Looks like you're still hungry after breakfast, dude!" the young trainer exclaimed with an amused chuckle. "Come on, let's get you a little something to eat." Stopping on the side of the road, he opened his backpack to take out a treat... only to widen his eyes when he couldn't find any. "Crap! I've forgotten to make the full of snacks before leaving Ottawa! But we're too far away now. Bah, we'll just make a stop to buy snacks in the next town or village we come across."
Pudding had to deal with his poor, hungry stomach for a long time, lying back in the tricycle's basket while staring at the landscape moving around him. All his worries quickly melted away when a little village came into view, making him jump on Logan's shoulder (the one that wasn't already occupied by PK) and beamed.
"Alright, time to go shopping!" Logan announced once they arrived at a local convenience store. While chaining his vehicle to a bicycle parking, the young boy couldn't help but notice that the village was surprisingly calm - he hadn't met a singe person since entering. And it was pretty late in the day. Strange. But maybe they were all sleeping in or were gone to do something somewhere. Lucky for him, the convenience store wasn't closed.
Logan crossed the door, a little bell announcing his arrival. He had expected to see complete ranges of candies, potato chip bags and even slush machines... So imagine the deception and surprise of seeing the store half-empty with barely a few gum packets in the ranges. And the terrible smell clearly indicated the place hadn't been washed in a while. It started feeling less like a convenience store and more like a trashed bar.
"Hello, sir, welcome to my shop," the man behind the counter announced without the slightest trace of enthusiasm. He seemed to be a bit older than Logan, but the folds on his face made him looking like a tired adult. "Buy whatever you want... if you want anything that is."
"Wow, business isn't going well here," Logan pointed out as he approached the counter. "Say, is it normal that your village is so empty? I haven't met anybody except you since entering. Is something wrong around here?"
"Yes, you can say that. Let's just say that things aren't going well for our village because of a certain group of people." The shopkeeper pushed a loud yawn - the kind that served as proof of a bad night's sleep. "I'm not in the mood to explain everything. If you want to understand the trouble my village is in, go see at the south end of it. Everybody is gathered there, protesting or something."
After choosing a few treats, Logan handed them to Pudding and exited the store with a frown on his face. "I don't know about you, Pudding, but this guy managed to pick up my curiosity. I think we should go see the place of the village he mentioned and find out what's going on." Looking down, the young trainer saw all the sweets gone with only the wrappings remaining and his poison Pokémon patting his stomach with a happy expression. "... Wow, you WERE hungry!"
###
Logan, PK and Pudding walked all the way south to the end of the village. The first thing they took notice of was the large crowd of unhappy people gathered before something, but they couldn't see what. All of them frowned angrily and also held their fists in the air, shouting protests like: "Get out of here!", "You have no right to do this!" or "Our village is dying because of you!"
"Jeez, I wonder what's making them so mad," Logan remarked to which PK responded with a shrug from his shoulders.
After managing to force their way through the crowd, the Pokémon Trainer and his friends got to see what the center of attention was. A group of men was standing toward the entrance of the village with what looked like many destruction vehicles. They were probably here to destroy a building or something. Before them was a young man who seemed to be arguing with the bosses. This man's dark brown hair was tied into braids and his clothes included multi-colored silk pants and shirt... Wait a minute!
"J-Juice? Juice-Roy Baratier?!" Logan asked with approaching.
The familiar face turned around upon hearing this voice, revealing himself to be exactly who Logan thought he was. "Oh my pine tree! Logan Jindrak?!"
"Himself," Logan confirmed with a smile. He still freshly remembered how the two of them fought in a Pokémon duel because he accidentally tossed his trash outside a trash can, angering the eco-warrior. At least, everything ended on a friendly note between the two of them. "What's the problem around here?"
Roy's happy expression switched to an angered one, and he turned to point an accusing finger toward the destruction people. "Those disgusting and mindless workers are ruining this poor village's economy! Because of their activities, all the shops can no longer get enough supply to live on and, right now, they want to destroy a part of the forest that no only olds plenty of berries and other important materials, but is also the ecological home of many wild Pokémon!"
"Hey, don't insult us!" one of the workers, a man strongly built wearing a yellow protection hat and a grey beard, ordered.
"Yeah, we're just doing it for business and the future of our company; this is nothing personal!" another one added. He looked very similar to his companion with the exception being that he lacked a beard and protection helmet, exposing his messy coal-black hair. "Now get out of the way; our men are eager to start the work!"
"Never!" Roy refused, his facial features twisted into a determined and angered frown. "If you wanna destroy that forest, you're gonna have to go through me, the Wood Warrior, Juice-Roy Baratier first!"
"This boy's annoying!" the grey-beared man exclaimed with a shake from his head. Rubbing his chin, he gave a thoughtful look before smiling and snapping his fingers. "Hey, Eric, I think I've got the perfect solution to get this over with," he told his partner.
"What is it, John?" the black-haired worker asked.
"How about we fix this with a little Pokémon team duel? If Eric and I win, you'll get out of our way and let us get on with our work. But if you win, we'll just leave this village and bring our work somewhere else. Seems fair right?" John suggested.
"A-A Pokémon team duel?!" Juice asked, blinking his eyes in disbelief. He lowered his stare with a frown. "This isn't good; Chikorita is still tired from all the training she took this morning. I can't take them on only with Buizel..." Looking back up, Juice turned around to put his hands on Logan's shoulders. "What do you say, Logan? Wanna team up with me to take out those jerks?"
Logan gave a nod with his head before glaring toward the two workmen. "I might not care about the environment as much as my friend, but destroying a Pokémon habitat and ruining a village's economy is wrong. So bring it on!"
John and Eric grinned before reaching into their jackets to take out one Pokéball which they threw simultaneously. The Pokémon tossed by John revealed itself to be a Houndour while Eric's was a Koffing. "Let's go, Buizel!" Juice called with releasing his water-type friend.
"A fire and poison-type, huh? Better even the field," Logan mumbled. "Come on, Pudding, it's time to battle!"
The little pile of mud nodded and slid forward to stand at Buizel's side. The workers and villagers around stepped back to give the Pokémon enough space to fight. That was it; the fight to determine the future of their village started.
"Grimmer is a poison-type, so I better focus on the other one," Eric thought before launching the first attack of the duel. "Koffing, attack Buizel with Smog!"
Nodding, the purple ball opened his mouth and spat the purple poisoned steam. "Buizel, counter with Water Gun!" The orange Pokémon spat his little jet of water that pierced through the poison attack and touched Koffing. While it didn't deal too much damage, it still pushed him back a little.
"Houndour, attack Grimmer with Ember!" John ordered, sending his little dog Pokémon to spit fire at his enemy. Pudding managed to slip out of the way in time to avoid potentially big damage. "Alright then, use Bite!"
"Pudding, Mud-Slap, now!" The little mud pile fired dirt toward the Pokémon who rushed at him pretty fast.
A grin formed on John's lips before he gave his next order. "Houndour, avoid with Double Team, then use Bite!" The little fire-type made a few clones appear, the ground attack passing through one of them which made it disappear. Before Pudding could locate the true one, it was too late; Houndour planted its fangs into his muddy body, making him yelp in pain.
"Hold on, Pudding, I'm coming!" Juice called. "Buizel, help him with Sonic Boom!"
The water-type Pokémon charged his tail with energy, ready to go help his partner. However, before he could get in action, Koffing caught him sideways with a Tackle, interrupting his move. "Never take your eyes away from an opponent, kid!" Eric remarked with a mocking snarl.
A frown formed on Logan's face. "You haven't seen everything we can do! Pudding, Poison Gas, now!"
Pudding shot his poison attack in hopes of touching Houndour while he was close, but the little fire-type Pokémon hopped away in time. Rubbing his forehead, Logan mumbled a swear under his breath. "Logan, come here. I think I have an idea to win," Juice mumbled to his friend and whispered something to his ear so that their opponents couldn't hear.
Not wanting to let the kids formulate a plan, John decided to take action again. "Houndour, use Bite on that Grimmer again! Let's take him down for good!"
The black dog obeyed, charging on all four toward Pudding. Getting close, it seemed like his opponent wouldn't have time to react, so he opened his mouth and bared his fangs, ready to bite. However, a little grin formed in the corner of Pudding's lips. "Pudding, use Harden, now!" Logan ordered.
Widening his arms, the pile of mud hardened his whole body just as Houndour came to hit Bite, almost breaking his fangs, and making him yelp in pain. "Pudding, now!" Juice called, making the poison Pokémon move aside to reveal Buizel who had been waiting in retreat. "Use Water Gun, Buizel!" The orange Pokémon spat his water attack that collided with the fire-type, causing a lot of damage.
"And that's not all: use Pound, Pudding!" Logan called, his purple friend hopping and squashing Houndour under all of his weight. Afterwards, he slid away to reveal his opponent unconscious with his eyes comically turned into spirals.
"H-Houndour!" John exclaimed in horror before narrowing his eyes into a glare and pointing an accusing finger at the two trainers. "Hey, that's not fair! You cheated!"
"That's not cheating, dude; it's called teamwork!" Logan replied, crossing his arms with a grin.
"You're gonna regret that! Koffing, use Tackle on that Buizel again!" Eric ordered, sending his toxic ball friend toward the water-type Pokémon once more.
Unbeknownst to him, this gave an opening for Logan. "Pudding, catch him with Mud-Slap!" Pudding shot the dirt directly into Koffing's face, blinding him up and interrupting his attack.
"Buizel, Sonic Boom!" Juice ordered, his friend sending the energy slash attack with his tail to directly hit his opponent. "Now, follow up with Aqua Jet!" Buizel surrounded his whole body with water and charged into Koffing at full speed, knocking him up in the air.
"Time to finish this! Pudding, use Pound and knock him out for good!" Obeying Logan, Pudding hopped in the air with his non-existent legs and squashed Koffing underneath all of his weight. Once he got off him, Koffing was left in the exact same state as his partner.
With both Koffing and Houndour unable to continue, everybody understood this meant Logan and Juice won; the villagers beamed in joy while the workers sighed in disappointment. The winning trainers welcomed their respective Pokémon in their arms for a hug and praise while the losers just brought their unconscious friends back in their Pokéball.
"Alright, you kids have won. As promised, we're gonna leave this village alone," Eric sighed with a less-than-pleased frown.
John, meanwhile, turned toward the other workers. "Come on, everyone, grab your stuff; we're leaving for another city. Let's hope we can keep our business going there."
As the workers left the place, all the villagers congratulated the two Pokémon Trainers who fought for their forest and economy. Thanks to them, they would be able to continue living as they did before with no more money problem.
"Thanks for the help, Logan. If you hadn't been there to back me up, I wouldn't have been able to defeat those guys," Juice gratefully expressed with both of his hands on Logan's shoulders.
"Don't say that, Roy; your Pokémon are very strong too." Logan rubbed his chin and then looked up at the sky with a thinking look. "Though your Chikorita was a leaf-type Pokémon which is weak against both poison and fire, giving you a big disadvantage. So maybe it WAS a good thing I was there to help."
Juice chuckled at his friend's pensive reaction. "So? Have you done anything good since the last time we've seen each other?"
"If by 'good' you mean not tossing trash on the floor, then yes, I did good things. Plus, I won my very first Gym Badge. Look!" Logan expressed with excitation, showing the badge he won from Talsim Donovan.
"Really? That's very cool! I'm also on my way to go win my first Gym Badge. My friends and I are heading to Toronto to face the first Gym Leader known as Talsim Donovan. I heard he's pretty strong, but I'm sure Chikorita, Buizel and I can handle him!"
Logan blinked his eyes multiple times. "... Huh, Roy, Donovan's gym is located in Marieville; that's the complete opposite direction we're going in right now."
An awkward silence settled in the middle of the place. "... WHAAAAT?! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO SOONER?!" Juice-Roy span around on his heels and rushed in the direction Logan came from earlier. An amused chuckle escaped the young boy's mouth.
"Talk about a strange Pokémon Trainer..."