Pokémon - The Journey Begins

Chapter 16: Still Alone



'Day Four,' Matt started to write; 'still no sign of Lizzie or Jordan, and my birthday is today. I got a little card from my parents and my sister, along with about 100 Pokébucks. I don't know if this should be used as spending money or not, but I still have to keep on going. Staying at this center will only slow things down even more.' Matt closed his book, and began to pack his clothes neatly into his backpack. He had recently done the laundry with his clothes and now they smell fresh.

Squirtle had still been asleep on the bed, and Matt felt like he may have gained a little weight. His mother would have prefered that he did. It started to warm up outdoors little bit again, but probably by only a couple of degrees. It felt like autumn, and it was. Looking at his watch with the date, it was already past the twenty-first of September, and his birthday was today, the twenty-fifth. Matt had completed packing his things, and woke Squirtle up gently. Matt carried him outside the room and made sure that if Jordan and Lizzie came by the center, Nurse Joy would give them the message.

As they step outside, they headed east, to the port. Matt had to walk slower than normal, since he hadn't been walking much for the past three days. It took only twenty minutes to reach the port, it was pretty much entirely visible from the Pokémon Center. He reluctantly spent eighty of his hundred given to him by his parents for a ticket to cross over; only twenty remained. He felt guilty, but he realized that the money was a helping hand, not to be used for materialistic matters unless absolutely necessary.

The ship set sail just five minutes after Matt got on. It was like a small cruise ship. The deck was recently cleaned, and there were to his surprise a good number of passengers there. He rarely said anything all morning; of course, there really wasn't anybody to talk to. "I could have gotten that Golden Pokéball for a prize if only Team Rocket hadn't showed up," he muttered.

Since Matt didn't feel like talking to anyone, he followed directions to his guest room. It wasn't as nice as First Class, but there was some soft-coloured wallpaper, a comfortable bed, and a bathroom with a shower. Since Matt didn't shower in about three days, he decided to have one today. He took a quick shower then slid back into his clothes.

Matt stayed in his room for almost the entire trip, reading magazines and talking to Squirtle. He got up once and a while to walk around his room. After staying up for an hour, he decided to nap which lasted two hours. After waking up, he checked his watch: it was 1:30pm.

"Attention, this is the captain. The ship will arrive in Maiden's Peak in just fifteen minutes. Please pack your things and head to the bow of the ship," a voice said over the PA.

Matt got up and stretched, surprised to find Squirtle awake.

"Hey, were you awake for the entire time?" Matt asked.

Squirtle shook his head in reply.

Matt yawned and picked up his backpack. "We're landing soon; let's go." Matt picked up his Squirtle and left the guestroom. He then ascended up a flight of stairs, and since he didn't know exactly where the bow of the ship was, he followed others, which was outside. He could see the ship getting closer to its destination. It quickly landed as Matt tried to push through the crowd trying to get off the ship. As he got off he saw a statue of a beautiful woman, holding her hands open-palmed up to her neck as if she was waiting for somebody. He already heard about its legend, and didn't feel like staying a moment longer. He saw that there was a lively festival in town, but he just rested for only a few days. He couldn't afford to take anymore breaks and his Pokémon needed exercise.

After exiting Maiden's Peak, Matt and Squirtle found Route 8; a path which will lead them towards Saffron City; a city which obtains another official gym, where Matt challenge the gym leader for his sixth badge.

Matt took out his map. "They have the Marsh Badge there, and they use Psychic Pokémon. If I can remember...no I don't remember which Pokémon have the advantage against Psychic. Possibly Ghost Pokémon."

"Squirtle?" Squirtle asked, almost seeming like he wanted Matt to explain.

"Well, Psychic Pokémon can also be beaten by other Pokémon with the perfect strategy." Matt put his map away, then he sighed. "You know Zenigame, it bites not having another person to talk to. I guess I've gotten far too social the past little while, and now, I'm starting to get a little bit doubtful if I'll see them again."

After walking down the straight-forward path of Route 8, Matt passed through the entrance of Saffron City. Looking around, he noticed how strangely quiet it was. Only a few cars were on the road, while watching people traveling in groups, none of them spoke aloud at all. It almost seemed to them that they were like zombies, or more likely, just too serious to speak.

In just a few minutes they arrived at the city's Pokémon Center, which was almost completely filled with Pokémon trainers. Matt walked up to see the nurse who as usual was with a smile. Nurse Joy said that taking care of his Pokémon would take a while, because there were others that needed healing or recovery. Matt decided that it was time for a lunch break regardless, and stated that he had all the time in the world.

Matt looked long and hard at the menu, not sure what to get. The restaurant seemed rather plain to him, and yet rather busy. The restrooms did not impress him however. After a while, he decided to order a small pepperoni pizza with a cream soda to drink.

After eating and paying with help from the remainder of the money his parents had given him, Matt had returned to the Pokémon Center which became suddenly quiet, for most of the Pokémon Trainers seemed to have already left. Matt went up to the service bell and rang it.

Nurse Joy came back as his Pokémon was returning to him. She smiled. "Out of all the Pokémon here, you seem to be the one with the most disciplined Pokémon. I had no trouble getting them to co-operate! When some of these Pokémon evolve, they will continue to respect you and listen to your every command."

Matt blushed. "We have been training hard recently."

"That's good; you're probably ready to challenge Sabrina at our gym. You probably already know that she uses Psychic Pokémon, and that a lot of psychics train there, as well."

"Weird," Matt commented. "That's probably why it's ridiculously quiet out on the streets during such a busy day."

Nurse Joy shrugged her shoulders. "I've never been there, but people have been telling me that sometimes they were scared away from that gym. Some of them have never even returned from there. The Pokémon League doesn't even try to stop Sabrina; she just disposes of them with her Psychic powers. To tell the truth, some trainers actually skip this gym, because of Sabrina's ways. How many badges do you have now?"

Matt took out his small leather bag and dumped his badges on the counter. "I have the Boulder, Cascade, Thunder, Red and Blue Crystal badges."

"Hey, you've found some of the hidden gyms, you mean?" Nurse Joy asked.

"That's right. They're not indicated on the map, but they give you hints to where they're located."

"I see. Well, challenge Sabrina, I'm sure you'll become the victor if you believe in yourself; your Pokémon seem to be a lot stronger than some of the other trainers I've seen here lately. But do NOT take her lightly. It's quite possible that you'll never escape from there."

* * *

"The winner is Matt!" the announcer over the P.A yelled.

"Yes!" Matt jumped in joy. Pikachu also jumped for joy.

Sabrina managed to let out a small smirk for about a second. "Nobody has been able to beat my Pokémon in such a long time. You shall be awarded with the Marsh Badge," Sabrina said quietly and calmly. The little doll dressed in formal clothing held out her palm, as it slowly floated over towards Matt.

"I'll never forget this, thank you." Matt called back Pikachu inside its Pokéball. After challenging the small Abra and failing with both Charmeleon and Bulbasaur, his last hope was Pikachu. Matt returned to the Pokémon Center, somewhat confused and trying to find answers why she only used the one Pokémon while he was allowed to use as many possible.

Once again, the center was crowded with many people as Matt dropped off his Pokémon with Nurse Joy. Sitting down near a magazine rack, he decided to read and check out the trainer's tips, but the noise was starting to bother him. Giving up, he left the Pokémon Center, and walked towards a Pokémon Mart just next door.

Matt picked up a couple of Potions and Antidoes. He then walked over to the Pokéball section. He was pleased, since now they had Greatballs in stock. 'Greatball, for those hard-to-catch Pokémon!' the sign read. Counting his money carefully, Matt was surprised to find more than he originally thought he had. Matt didn't hesitate to grab five of them, since he discovered that they were a much better deal than at Dellesse. He went to pay for them at the front.

"With the total of Antidotes, Potions and Greatballs, your total comes to 54.30," the cash register was opened.

Matt took out a fifty and a five and paid for the items, then collected his change. As Matt returned to the Pokémon Center, he retrieved his Pokémon and was back on the road again. Matt took out a box of Pokétreats and handed them to his Squirtle, who ate them quickly.

As they sat down to rest, Matt pulled out a map. "The next stop is Celadon City. We can get the Rainbow Badge there." While looking at the rest of the map, he found another clue which could lead to a secret gym. "Let's see, 'Ghosts, trees and castles surround this place, as the dark shades of this colour are not afraid to live up to its name'. Weird..." He continued looking at the map, looking for a possible place for this next gym.

"Ghosts, castles and trees? Dark shades of colour--oh Lavender Town! There's a hidden gym there! Nice, let's keep on going, Zenigame!"

Matt didn't have a hard time finding the correct route, for it was the opposite end of Route 8, which leads to Saffron City. It took a few hours to reach Lavender Town. There was a deathly silence; Matt could hear nothing. It was still relatively bright outdoors however; the sun had yet to set. Matt heard a scream from one of the houses as a girl suddenly ran out, looking behind her. Matt only saw her at the last second as she collided directly into him.

Matt's balance was greatly hindered as he tripped over Squirtle and landed hard on his back. He slowly got up and helped Squirtle back on his feet.

"Zenigame, are you all right? You seem okay." He angrily then stepped to his feet to scold whoever just rudely crashed into him without even watching her step.

"I...I'm sorry," the girl hesitated, her words breaking up at times.

Matt looked at the girl. He couldn't see her face, since her hood was covering it. Also, her back facing Matt. Looking at the backpack, Matt noticed that it was very similar to the one Lizzie had. Slowly and quietly he spoke. "L...Lizzie? Are you Lizzie?"

The girl quickly turned around and pulled her hood down. It indeed was Lizzie. "Matt! Where the hell have you been, you creep?! You scared the living tar out of me!"

"Hey, Team Rocket attacked me and I had to run; I had no other choice! Where did you go?"

"Well...I had to quickly call back Val, who was doing great in battle by the way; and I almost completed the comeback, when Cody's voice came over the P.A. I couldn't see Jordan and I just ran into the woods like everyone else. I had been lost for the longest time. I had to take a ferry to the shores of Sando Beach, and it lead me to this creepy place. There's Ghost Pokémon everywhere."

"Jordan? Did you see him at all?" Matt asked.

Lizzie shook her head. "I never saw him at all ever since I ran. And...your birthday's today, isn't it?"

"That's right," Matt replied.

"Here, I got this for you." Lizzie handed Matt a brightly-coloured wrapped box, covered with a shining, purple ribbon. "I hope that you like this."

Matt took the box. "Why did you do this? You should be saving your money." Matt's straight face turned into a smile as he carefully took off the wrapping paper. He opened the box. There was a Greatball inside of it. "You got me a Greatball?"

"Not just a Greatball. Use your Pokédex," Lizzie said.

"You caught a Pokémon for me? But, it can't work; I'm not the original trainer! We'd have to use a trading machine!"

"Actually, if you're just giving it away, there's a simpler way of doing it! Here, let me show you; somebody taught me this on the ferry." Lizzie showed Matt how to change the trainer with the Pokédex. Matt found it rather complicated; he was certain he wouldn't remember how to do that if he wanted to do it in the future. "Here, now you just analyze what's in the Pokémon here." Lizzie pressed a button. A picture of an Onix appeared.

"Onix, a Rock Pokémon. As it grows, the stone portions of its body harden to become similar to diamond, but coloured black," the Pokédex explained.

"How the heck did you get an Onix?" Matt asked.

"In the Rock Cave. There are plenty of Rock Pokémon there. I used Articuno's Ice Beam to stall it, then I captured it in a Greatball that I found. I think somebody dropped it while they were running away from Team Rocket or was just careless."

"I am just really glad that I found you again. But they have a hidden gym here somewhere. Let's try to find it."

"Good, then we'll go to Saffron; I haven't been there yet."

"I just won a badge there earlier today. I'm sure you can do the same."



TO BE CONTINUED.