Chapter 11:

Assembling A Team

Hue's Current Team: Douglas(Squirtle): Water Gun, Withdraw, Tackle, Bubble

Ace(Pidgey): Mud-Slap, Gust, Quick Attack, Whirlwind

Gumshoe(Growlithe): Odor Sleuth, Dig, Reversal, Flame Wheel

Egg: Occasionally Moves, Should Hatch Soon


"But I don't have a psychic type or a ghost type pokemon." Hue told Freddie for the eighth time that morning.

"And since Ace would already be over working herself, I don't have a pokemon that can substitute for it. I can't create the dish this way…"

"Okay, okay, fine…" Freddie said, closing his large cookbook, full of exquisite recipes and even containing a few recipes that he wrote himself.

Aura was busily doing some sort of morning exercise routine with all her pokemon.

Her Jigglypuff, Purin, seemed to have performed enough for the time being, and was behaving himself this time.

Karakara was participating very enthusiastically for once.

Koko buzzed happily as she carefully tapped her thin legs with her stingers.

Fushi was on his hind legs, actually doing the same stretch as Aura. Hue was impressed with Fushi's dedication to detail.

"One..two..One..two.." Aura said as she alternated between touching her toes on each foot.

Hue hadn't brought up what he had seen yet.

Everyone was having too much fine, and besides,

they were almost at the Route 4 Pokemon Center, right near Mt. Moon, where some of TNR was allegedly located.

He could bring it up with them when he had the time.

Now was the time to have some fun.

He sent out his own pokemon.

"Squirtle!" Douglas called as if to say 'good morning'.

"Pi-dgey!" Ace cooed a strange battle cry as though she was ready to fight today.

"Groowwlithe!" Gumshoe yawned, probably still a little tired from helping Aura catch her Jigglypuff.

"Come on guys!" He said as he ran to join Aura in leading some morning stretches.

"And make sure you work up enough appetite so that there are no leftovers!" Freddie yelled as he sent out his Charmeleon.

"Meleon!" Charmeleon said. He looked around for a grill.

"No…" Freddie shook his head. "You need to stretch too. I'm a trainer too after all. But...well...someone has to make breakfast."

"Meleon!" Charmeleon beat its belly and ran over to join the other pokemon.

This was a great morning to what would become an otherwise very stressful day…


"The Route 4 Pokemon Center…" Aura said, her eyes gleaming.

"And over there…." She turned and pointed to a small cave in the side of the mountain. "That's Mt. Moon…"

"Ahh yes, and what a beauty she is." A familiar voice said behind Hue and Aura.

Davon Le Rouge waltzed in front of you and took a look at the Egg.

"How is the little one faring?" He asked. "Have you figured out what will hatch from it yet?"

"N...no…" Hue said. "Like you said back when you gave it to me...This could be anything…"

"Davon...How did we get ahead of you?" Aura asked. "You left Pewter before we even challenged the gym there…"

"Well you see…." Davon said, turning slightly red. "I'm waiting for someone here. I was just on a bit of a stroll and happened to run into you two, my friends."

He ran his hand back along his gelled hair.

"Have either of you seen a girl with a Magnemite recently?"

"We've seen a boy with a Charmeleon." Hue shrugged. "Is that close enough?"

"Hah." Davon laughed. "Hardly. I'm looking for a girl named Karen. Karen Walls. Should you run into her, please do let her know that I'm here and waiting just like I promised."

"Oh...okay…" Hue said.


Once inside the pokemon center, Hue, Aura, and Freddie all put their pokeballs in trays and handed them to Nurse Joy.

"Excuse me…" Aura said to Nurse Joy, starting to show signs of anxiety.

She looked around to make sure no one other than Hue or Freddie was listening.

"I heard that TNR was sighted in Mt. Moon...Is that true?"

"I sure hope not…" Nurse Joy said as she took everyone's pokemon to that strange healing machine.

"Though I suppose there was one trainer who seems to believe those rumors...A strange girl that one, you should be able to find her in the commons lobby…"

Aura and Hue exchanged looks.

"Do you think-?" Hue began.

"Yeah...probably…" Aura said with a nod, interrupting him. "Come on." She walked towards the commons lobby.

Hue gulped and followed.

He knew she would get like this again when they got here.

Alright Hue, deep breaths. She might try to do something reckless, but you can be the mature one and set the example. Remain calm…

"I feel so out of the loop right now…" Freddie sighed as he followed Hue, who was following Aura. "Why did I agree to go along with these two again?"


Aura, Hue, and Freddie instantly noticed the trainer that Nurse Joy had been talking about.

She was sitting at a table, overlooking a bunch of newspaper articles about TNR.

Then, just as Hue had expected, a Magnemite appeared and handed her more newspapers.

"Thanks Magnemite…" She said with a quiet smile. "Don't worry. We'll get him back."

"Get who back?" Aura asked as she eagerly set next to the girl and leaned in towards her.

"Are you going to fight TNR? Are they in Mt. Moon?"

"Who...are you…" The girl asked, leaning as far back as she could.

"Aura…" Hue grabbed her hakama collar and hoisted her away from the trainer. "Let's not harass the girl that Davon is waiting for."

He turned to the girl with the Magnemite.

"Am I correct in assuming that your name is Karen Walls?"

"Yes…" Karen said, raising an eyebrow suspiciously.

"But, I'm afraid I don't have a clue who either of you are."

"Well, surely you know Freddie Franks…" Freddie said. "I'm a famous chef after all…"

"Hm...sure, I guess I know the name Freddie Franks…" Karen shrugged. "I don't really care all that much though, to be honest. I've kind of got a situation on my hands here…"

"TNR?" Aura asked. Her eyes were getting all...dagger-y, again.

"Aura's got a bit of a vendetta against them." Hue explained. "Normally, she'd be acting more like me…"

"Normally, I behave even better than you." Aura cracked a sly smile. "But, I guess you're right, Huey…"

"Huey?" Karen asked. "That's a weird name."

"Please don't use it." Hue said getting embarrassed. "I prefer that my friends call me Hue…"

"O-oh…" Karen said. "I get it, so she's your girlfriend or something?"

"N-no!" Aura denied adamantly. "We're just traveling companions! I only call him that because I heard his sister use it and I think he's cute!"

Hue froze up.

"What was that you just said?" Karen cracked a smile.

Aura skimmed her memory, mouthing what she had just said. Her face then went bright red.

"Gahh! I mean, I mean, you know, I thought the name was cute! I'm just a little distracted lately because of TNR-"

"Mmm-hmmm…" Karen said as she went back to her newspaper. "And I suppose Magnemite is close to evolving the way your hairs are standing on end…"

Hue was still frozen in place.

"You know…" Freddie said. "I'm pretty sure I shouldn't be here. I'm going to go...somewhere else. Come get me before you head into Mt. Moon."

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Aura said, waving him off.

"Hue?" Karen asked.
Hue was still frozen in place.

This was the first time he had ever been put in this situation…

"Davon Le Rouge is waiting for you Karen…" He said, still in a bit of trance.

Did Aura really just call him cute?

"Oh, not that fop again…" Karen rolled her eyes. "I told him that I'm glad for his help, but I'm not about to travel the country with him…"

"Help?" Aura asked, eager to change the topic away from herself. "What did he help with?"

"I'm heading in Pewter City's direction…" Karen said.

"But on my way through Mt. Moon, TNR ambushed me and tried to steal my Bulbasaur…"

"Another Bulbasaur?" Hue put his hand to his head. "Why does nearly everyone I run into have one of those things?"

"They're Bulby bundles of joy, Huey!" Aura chimed. "Just because you weren't smart enough to get one doesn't mean you can be rude to those of us who did!"

Hue froze up again. He didn't quite get it. He got a sort of tingly feeling when Aura used that name...

"A-anyway…" Karen got back on topic. "One of the grunts managed to steal my Bulbasaur, but Davon helped me out. He trained my Magnemite, and helped us track the grunt down and take Bulbasaur back…"

"Uh-huh…" Hue said. "Then what?"

"He escorted me out of Mt. Moon, and said he would wait for me outside this pokemon center." Karen said.

Hue had a feeling…

"The pokemon used to steal your Bulbasaur from you…was it a Golbat?"

"Yes!" Karen said, as she gasped surprised. "How did you know?"

"I think whoever took your Bulbasaur, also took a Moon Stone from the Pewter Museum…"

"Hue…" Aura's eyes became fixated on his. "If you're bringing that up...I don't suppose…"

"It's a theory…" Hue nodded. "But, there was something that bothered me about that murder at the museum…"
"I thought you said something was stolen!" Karen said, gasping again. "Who the hell are you?"

"Hue, Aura, Freddie, your pokemon are all back up to full health!" Nurse Joy called from her counter.

Hue quickly grabbed his pokemon and returned to where Karen was sitting.

He showed her Gumshoe's pokeball.

It still had its Kanto Police Department symbol on it.

"I'm a detective." He said. "I became one after solving a murder case that Aura and I accidentally walked in on."

"Talk about bad luck…" Karen mumbled. She turned to Aura…

"And you're-?"

"The trainer that will lock every last member of TNR up." Aura said.

"Good luck with that…" Karen returned to her newspapers.

"I'm busy trying to figure out what cities to stay away from…Once Magnemite, Bulbasaur, and I all get our bearings, we'll challenge a few TNR members ourselves, but as it stands now, we're just heading to Pewter, trying to get a badge, and then we'll go south to Viridian. I heard the Gym Leader there is really strong. I feel like it would be better to get that battle out of the way early on, so that he can't use his best pokemon against me…"

"How many badges do you currently have?" Hue asked.

"Just the Cascade Badge…" Karen said as she showed Hue and Aura a badge that looked like a drop of water. "I got it from Cerulean City's gym. The gym leader there, her name is Cassy. She's a relatively new gym leader, but you can tell why she has the position. She's usually out and about though, so you might have to comb the town to find her if you want to challenge her to a match…"

"Cerulean City…" Hue looked at his map. "If we head through Mt. Moon, Cerulean City is just past Route 4 on the other side…"

"Hm." Aura nodded. "We kick some TNR butt and then kick some Gym Leader butt."

"Sure…" Karen said. "You two do that…"

"Karen…." Hue got himself back on track with his previous line of questioning. "The grunt who stole your Bulbasaur...was he wearing anything that you could use to identify him in a crowd?"

"Aside from the standard TNR uniform that he had on at the time…"

Karen began.

"He also had these weird glasses...Not like yours...His were...like, huge. He looked like the kind of kid that would get picked on easily. He probably stole my Bulbasaur because he thought it would impress his superiors…"

"I knew it…" Hue muttered to himself.

"Crap…" Aura bit her nail and looked away, realizing the conclusion that Hue had come to.

"Karen…" Aura said. "We know the boy who stole your Bulbasaur. His name is Morren Rex... If you want to track him down specifically, he's probably in Mt. Moon right now…"

"He's definitely in Mt. Moon right now…" Hue said. "He stole the Moon Stone for a reason…"

Just as Hue thought.

He had wondered why Morren had just happened to visit the museum that day, and he had found the fact that Morren didn't want to battle him or Aura rather suspicious. After all, it was the least he could have done for their assistance in clearing him of suspicion for murder…

Now Hue knew the truth…

Morren avoided battling them to avoid revealing his golbat to the public after Hue had correctly identified the pokemon responsible for the Poison Fang red herring…

The reason Morren had come back at all was to make sure that the only witness to his robbery had been taken care of…

"Just what is TNR planning?" Hue wondered. He could feel his arms tense up. His eyes began to quickly analyze everything again…

This was the same feeling he had gotten at the Pewter Museum…

Was this connected to his shots from eight years ago?

If so, what did this mean?

Karen's attitude towards Hue and Aura seemed to have changed.

"Go get Davon." She told them. "Tell him that the two of us are going to accompany you into Mt. Moon."

"I'm back…" Freddie said glumly.

"Alright." Aura said.

Hue wasn't sure she was talking to Karen or Freddie.

He found out the answer when Aura got up and turned around to notice Freddie.

"Oh Freddie, where have you been?" She asked.

So she had been talking to Karen…

"I thought I was buying dinner…" Freddie said as he held up a Magikarp. "But...I may have accidentally...caught it instead…"

"Karp! Karp!" The Magikarp flailed about.

"Ghastly!" A Ghastly appeared out from Freddie's other pokeball as it tried to sink its fangs into the Magikarp but then retreated back into its pokeball after not being able to break through the Magikarp's scales.

"What was that?" Hue asked. "Was that Ghastly?"

"Yeah, he's my second pokemon chef assistant." Freddie nodded. "And I guess Magikarp is part of the team now too…"

"Uhhhh…" Hue rose his pokedex to the Magikarp. "Let's see if it can help you at all I guess…"

"[Magikarp]," Dean's mechanical voice said. " The [Fish] Pokemon. Magikarp can live in the dirtiest of water. It can jump very well and evolve into Gyarados. Because all Magikarp seem to do is splash around, some consider them weak, but they're actually a hardy pokemon that can survive in water no matter how dirty it is. "

"Well...I suppose...It can….uhh...help squash berries for juice?" Hue shrugged.

"Thanks Hue...but I don't see this thing helping me all too much...I'll just keep it as a pet or something…" Freddie said as he returned his accidentally caught Magikarp to its pokeball.

"I've returned with the fop." Aura told Karen as she entered the pokemon center with Davon LeRouge in tow.

"What's going on?" Freddie asked.

"Oh, right…" Hue put his hand on his head. "Davon and Karen are going to join us as we head into Mt. Moon."

"Umm…heh…" Freddie let out a small laugh. "I don't have enough food for five people…"

"Oh, don't worry." Aura said. "They're only here to help us go looking for members of TNR."

"Oh, don't worry…" Freddie mocked. "We're just endangering everyone by looking to start a fight with a criminal syndicate…"

"Oh, don't be such a baby…" Karen rolled her eyes.

"I'll make sure nothing happens to you, good chef." Davon said, gelling his hair back. He then turned to Karen. "Or to the lovely miss Walls…"

Karen rolled her eyes. "No means no."

"I'll try again in another hour." Davon whispered to Hue as he nudged him in the shoulder.

"Hey Hue…" Aura tapped Hue on his other shoulder. "Before we go in there…There was something I wanted to clear up with you..."

"Y-yeah?" Hue asked, feeling how badly he was blushing.

He was still trying to clear his head of any misconceptions he might have had about Aura's slip of the tongue earlier, so when she acted...normal...It was really hard for him to also act normal.

"I was wondering if you planned to use Ethel's favor to call her here." Aura said.

Oh. Oh phew...That was...that was answerable…

Still though, Hue had a sneaking suspicion that this was not what Aura was originally going to say.

"I...wasn't planning to…" Hue said. "I'd rather not put more people in danger than necessary…"

"Oh, no, I wasn't asking you to!" Aura shook her head.

She bit her nail and looked away.

"It's just that she's pretty strong, so I thought you might-."

"I think you're probably stronger…" Hue shrugged honestly. "You two haven't had an official one on one battle yet. And you only lost in our tag battle because you were saving my sorry ass…"

That was apparently an answer that Aura really wanted to hear, as it filled her up with a ton of energy.

"Thanks Huey!" She said as she finally took her pokemon form Nurse Joy and ran towards the door of the pokemon center.

"Now, team, Into Mt. Moon!" She yelled.

Hue looked at Freddie, Davon, and Karen, who all nodded and followed at a similar pace.

As Hue ran, his mind raced with questions…

Most of which were actually selfish questions he wanted to ask some of the higher ups of TNR. He wanted to know about the shots he was given eight years ago...They had to be the source of the way his body felt right now...

His body was still tense like it was during the Pewter Museum incident, and his eyes were moving all over the place, analyzing every little thing that they saw…

Maybe it was because of that, that his eyes caught a glimpse of something that would have otherwise gone unnoticed…

Hue's egg was finally beginning to crack...