The rising sun marks the beginning of a new day in Sandgem Town as well as the beginning of a new adventure for our heroes, if only only a certain one of them was willing to wake up for it...
A sleep deprived Carly and Freddie stand over an unconscious Sam in her room, debating how to wake her...
"Want me to try screaming again?" Carly's voice was already hoarse from exertion, and she was still running on fumes from the previous day.
If she was honest, she kind of envied Sam. It was strange how she looked so peaceful compared to the chaotic hurricane she had gotten to know over the past few days. Still...
"No. It's not gonna do us any good for you to blow your voice out..." The boy looked pensive for a moment before pulling out a certain Poké Ball.
"What are you planning...?" Carly asked, backing away slowly.
The boy gulped audibly. "Something I think I might regret... I hope I picked the right one... Piplup, come on out."
Unfortunately, he didn't grab the right one, as instead of the blue and white Penguin Pokémon, he got something entirely different: a pink and blue pile of triangles made into the shape of a duck... It immediately tackled its owner, gleefully chattering its name.
"Porygon, Pory, Pory!"
It wasn't long before it turned its attention to Carly, and both were laughing quite a bit before it stopped cuddling up to them.
"Why not show our new friend Sam some love, too?" Freddie quipped after calming down.
That's exactly what it did. Little did it know that she wasn't the "cuddling" type. It ate the girl's fist for its trouble.
Freddie cringed. "Uh oh..."
All it took was a look in the direction of the Pokémon to see what the problem was. Porygon's formerly docile and even jovial eyes melting into a look of fury that would've been rather cute if energy wasn't being bundled in its beak ready to fire...
Any sleepiness Carly was experiencing vanished instantaneously. "F-Freddie! What's that thing going to do? Call it off!"
The boy briefly scrambled for the Virtual Pokémon's Ball before finally recalling it, collapsing in a trembling heap. He stared at the orb in horror at what had almost happened.
Carly would've said something, but they both heard a yawn come from the bed. Sam had woken up as if she had heard nothing of the past ten minutes or so.
The blonde rubbed her eyes before looking at her shocked companions. "What? You two look like you've seen a Gastly or something..."
It was about fifteen more minutes before they got to the lab. In that time, Freddie broke the news about what happened to Sam. Predictably, the blonde dealt him a left hook to the jaw for his role in the incident. What was surprisingly, she didn't seem to care too much about Freddie's apologies afterwards. It really was as if nothing had gone on...
Carly, for her part, expected the punch, but was more confused that Sam had dropped the situation so quickly. Most of all though, she just wanted to move on from this...
There was someone else there along with Rowan. Both older men turned to the group as the less mustached one smiled warmly.
"Hello, Freddie! Long time no see. I see you've made some friends after all."
"Professor Oak? What are you doing in Sinnoh?"
Rowan answered that question himself. "In part, he's just visiting, but there's also what I wanted to talk to you about yesterday, so if we may...?"
"Okay..."
"Now, as you're no doubt aware, myself and Professor Rowan are just two of the many professors scattered throughout the world. The problem is..." Oak paused, chuckling nervously. "...well, we're not exactly getting any younger. Currently, the youngest professor around is Magnolia's daughter in the Galar Region. There's Juniper, too, but..."
The blonde interrupted his ramblings. "Get on with it, already!"
"Silence, Samantha," Rowan ordered, only for his compatriot to step in.
"Don't worry about it. She kind of reminds me of how my son was at that age. Anyway, she proves my point. We're mostly a bunch of rambling old men who can't even hope to connect with the younger generation. In a world of internet and live streaming, I still run a radio show, for Pete's sake!"
Oak was laughing, but there was just a touch of sadness to it.
Rowan took it from there. "That's where you three come in. We want you to take a trip around the world and stream your adventures together."
The trio's reactions were ones of shock. They exchanged looks before the male member spoke up.
"You're serious?!"
"As serious as it gets, Fredward. We had intended to tell you of this before recent events forced us to change plans... Anyhow, there is another reason why we set this up.
"There are some that, for one reason or another, won't be able to become trainers. Not only that, there are those who are currently too young to go out on their own journeys.
"What better way for them to experience the world we live in than this, something far more hands-on than any lecture we could give."
"So..." Sam began, sizing up the situation. "Let me get this straight. You're offering us an all expenses paid vacation around the world, and all we have to do is stream it sometimes...?"
"Exactly. All I ask is that you keep things family friendly. What you do will reflect upon us, as we'll be posting this on our website..."
Sam didn't even have to think about it further. "Sign me up!"
Freddie was at a loss for words. "Um, wow... This is i-incredibly generous! I..."
He was interrupted by a thud. Sam was carrying a passed out Carly.
It was now the researchers' turn to exchange looks.
"She'll be fine. Er, uh, she's in too..."
Freddie and Sam (carrying an unconscious Carly) walk out of the building, blissfully unaware that they're being watched by a spyglass poking out of the water off of the town's coast. Said glass was connected to a Magikarp-shaped submarine piloted by a familiar duo with vibrantly-colored hair.
"If it isn't the 'heroes' of Hearthome City..." James remarked sourly.
"They make me sick! Especially that sniveling brat responsible for sending those bird brains after us. I say we strike back!" Jessie declared, clenching her fist.
"Of course, but how? I wouldn't put it past them to have even more Pokémon on them. They just walked out of that Professor's lab, after all..."
"Hmm," Jessie thought on her feet. "Maybe we could take one of the little girl's Pokémon during her little nap. Then we can hold it up for ransom and organize a little trade. I'm sure that when she wakes up, she'll be more than willing to comply. Let's do it!"
Back at the hotel...
Instead of listening to one of Freddie's more sensible suggestions, Sam had decided on her own way of waking up her sleeping friend. She laid her down on her bed, leaned in close to her ear, and screamed as loud as she could.
Carly shot up from her sleeping position, nearly hitting the ceiling before coming back down. Trembling in shock, the brunette looked at a recovering Freddie, and back at Sam, who smiled and waved as if the girl hadn't been screaming her head off.
"'Sup."
"You will NEVER do that again, Sam. Got it?"
"Meh, I'll think about it."
Carly's glare became more piercing than it already was, if that was even possible. "You better do more than think about it..."
"All right, all right. Enough with the dramatics."
Leaving the blonde with a dirty look, she moved on. "What did I miss, anyway?"
"Not much," the boy responded. "The Professors did basically offer us a globetrotting vacation as long as we essentially vlog most of it."
"Wait. I didn't dream that up? You mean that actually happened?!"
"Yup," the other two replied.
Carly was absolutely giddy, having apparently forgotten all about what Sam had just done. "You said yes, right?" The girl started shaking her companions manically. "TELL ME YOU SAID YES!"
"Yeah, yeah, we said yes already," Sam had to pull the brunette's surprisingly strong grip off of her. "Enough with the mushiness."
"Say, uh..." Freddie seemed awkward making the suggestion. "Since we just got our Pokemon, shouldn't we battle 'em?"
"Fredrina, that might just be the best idea you've had all day. Let's take this outside." Sam took off for the beach.
"It's Freddie!" Remembering that he'd left his team in his room with his bag, he ran into his room...only to run back out to meet the two girls with a look of distress on his face.
"My bag's been stolen!"
A female voice laughed evilly. "Finally noticed have you? Consider this payback for humiliating us back in Hearthome!"
"A smart twerp is still a twerp, after all," a male voice added.
All it took was a look up to confirm the sources of those voices. A woman with long red hair and a man with short blue hair stood in a small hot-air balloon with a red "R" emblazoned on it. The red-haired one was smirking while struggling to hold Freddie's rather overstuffed bag.
Any fear in Freddie turned into exasperation instantly. Sam just shook her head. Carly herself was confused.
"Just who are you people?!"
"Glad you asked, brat," the woman answered haughtily. "You'll learn who we are once you prepare for trouble."
"And make it-"
The boy cut James off mid-motto. "Just give me back my bag, Jessie."
"I don't think so. We'd be awful thieves if you did that!"
"Since Nerdy here beat you, you're already awful thieves." Freddie glanced at the blonde, who looked utterly unapologetic for the statement. "Besides, who do you think sent that Murkrow over to 'play with you', but moi." Sam pointed at herself cockily.
Jessie growled in response to Sam's grin. "Yeah, well, if you're thinking of trying that again, don't bother. Hit it, James!"
He pulled out a remote and hit a button, producing a shield that encased the balloon with a reddish glow.
Now it was Jessie's turn to adopt a smug grin. "Ha! Let's see you get past this Pokemon-proof shield."
More than eager to take the evil duo up on that offer, Sam had her own Pokémon tee off on the shield, including ones she hadn't used previously such as a Koffing and a Zubat. No attacks seemed to work. After a while, she reluctantly recalled her team, to the delight of their enemies.
"This is getting boring, twerps," James readied a Ball of his own, sending out his own Koffing. "Smokescreen."
Jessie stopped her fit of triumphant laughter once she heard the order. Looking at her partner questioningly. "James, you remembered to make it so our attacks would be free to go out, didn't you?"
The blue-haired man's smile faded as well. "Of course I...didn't."
The area inside the shield was soon filled with smoke and the sounds of coughing.
The commotion bought the trio precious time to think.
"We're not gonna be able to just bust that thing open from the outside..." Freddie admitted, stating the obvious, "...but maybe we don't need to. We just need some way for them to let us through it."
Sam gave Freddie a quizzical look. "And how do you suppose we do that?"
The group looked over to the two the shield to clear the air. Once they had their bearings, they would likely take off.
"We can't let them leave," Freddie said quickly. "We need to stall them for now."
Thinking fast, Carly ran over called out to the thugs. "Uh, hey!"
Jessie and James looked down at her, trying to play off what they had just been through. "Come to grovel, little twerpette?"
"We wouldn't blame you if you did."
The girl sucked in her teeth, but said, "I'll...I'll give you all my Pokémon. Sam will, too!"
The Rockets were delighted, while Sam seemed outraged at first, only for said anger to vanish upon remembering the last time she'd heard something like this.
Darting over to her side, Sam played along. "Y-yeah. Sure, let's go get your team, Carly, so they can meet their new masters..."
They ran to Freddie, who was flabbergasted. "What are you doing?!"
"I have a plan," the brunette answered. "Just be ready to tackle James when I say 'now'." She turned to Sam. "You do the same with Jessie."
So the plan was in motion. Soon enough, she was carrying her bag, trying to play up the surrender card with her companions following close behind.
"What do you know? There are twerps that can see reason after all."
The duo lowered the shield and walked off the balloon as the trio inched closer and closer until...
"Now!"
Sam rushed Jessie full force as Freddie did so (much more awkwardly with James. Unfortunately for the latter, he just happened to have the remote in his hand, having intended to use it to gloat a little more. The second it was out of his hands, Carly leapt for it, with the antagonists unable to stop her on their preoccupied state.
In one swift motion, the girl hurled the device with all her might. into the nearby water. James watched in despair as it sank and shorted out.
The two crooks eventually squirmed free, fuming that they'd been had.
"Hey! We had your Pokémon fair and square!" Jessie growled, sending out the purple and yellow Snake Pokémon, Ekans.
"No one out-crooks the crooks," James quipped as he tossed out his Koffing.
Freddie, having recovered his bag by now, took a certain Ball from it (this time, intentionally) and sent out its inhabitant.
Porygon turned to cuddle its trainer, only for him to quickly turn the Virtual Pokémon in the right direction.
Carly turned to ask her blonde friend if she wanted to do the honors.
"Why don't you take this one? Might as well let Nerd-Boy get his moment, and I don't think I've actually seen what that Ralts of yours can really do. Besides, these jokers aren't worth my time."
"Hey!" The Rockets said in unison. They didn't have time to dwell on it, however, as they had to concentrate on having their Pokémon dodge The Ice Beams coming for them.
Carly was about to refuse what seemed to be an unnecessary fight. but then she remembered the events of the past few days.
The Rockets had this coming, she decided.
"Ralts, come on out!"
The Feeling Pokémon came out. It turned to Carly, raising its tiny arms in the air.
"Ralllll..."
A blinding white light halted the battle in its tracks. Everyone stared at the scene. Freddie was especially shocked, having never seen this happen naturally before.
"Its evolving..."
The process ended as suddenly as it began. A larger Pokémon reminiscent of a ballerina with two red horns stood in place of its pre-evolution.
"Kirlia!" It danced around in happiness at its evolution before giving Carly a reassuring look.
"So this is evolution..." Carly mumbled in wonder.
"Just tell it to use Psybeam," Freddie advised with a smile.
Snapping back to reality, she did as instructed.
"Ra-er, I mean, Kirlia, use Psybeam!"
"Porygon, Hyper Beam!"
The pink and white beams fired swirled into one another as they headed straight for Team Rocket, who hugged each other and screamed before they and their Pokémon were sent flying.
"Next time, try not to make your inventions suffocate us?" Jessie scolded ad they were flying.
"Next time, don't let your guard down in front of those twerps..."
"Yeah. Next time..." Jessie pounded her fist in her hand.
"Wait, there's really going to be a 'next time'?" James asked wearily.
"Absolutely, I've had it up to here with that mouthy blonde brat sticking her nose into our business!"
James groaned. "Oh, boy. I have the feeling that this is the beginning of a long headache..."
"We're blasting off again!"
Down below, the winners were celebrating their victory.
"By the way," Freddie added after a few minutes. "Porygon says he's sorry for almost hitting you with a Hyper Beam back there..."
The blonde glanced at the Pokémon that was trying its best to bat its nonexistent eyelashes.
Sam said nothing until Carly elbowed her.
"Apologize."
"Fine. Sorry, Porygon."
"Pory...Porygon!"
All was apparently forgiven, as it immediately nuzzled Sam as if it were her lifelong friend.
"G-get this thing off of me!"
Every other human and Pokémon was laughing at the scene when a familiar growl emanated from not only Sam's stomach, but everyone's.
Freddie cringed. "Did we ever get around to eating at all today?"
"Nope. And Mama's hungry!"
"Please don't impoverish me this time, Sam," Carly pleaded.
"Ah, I can cover the bill. How much could she possibly eat?"
Sam grinned mischievously as she rubbed her hands together. "Brace yourself, Freddie-boy..."
Dread began to show on the boy's features. "Do I want to know what I've just done?"
"If it helps, I'll split her bill with you..."
His stomach dropped. "Just hers is gonna be that much?"
The brunette nodded sadly and added. "I'd hide that oversized bag of yours, too. Just in case..."
"Hopefully the hotel has some decent food."
The trio walk off in the setting sun towards the hotel.
With someone like Sam around, one thing's for certain: no one leaves the same way they come in. With her newly evolved Kirlia by her side, Carly's journey with all her new friends has only just begun!
TO BE CONTINUED...