I continued walking down the path toward Azalea town, when I looked up and realized that it was starting to get dark quick and I decided it would be best to stop for the night, because she knew that not even the bravest Pokemon Master would wander around in the growing darkness. So I decided to stop, set up camp, and continue my trek to Azalea Town the following morning. The next morning, I finished my trek to Azalea Town. As soon as I arrived in town, I immediately went to the local Pokemon center to heal my Pokemon and to catch up on the latest news. The breaking news was that Team Rocket was on the rise again, and they were capturing weak, beginner trainers to convince them to join them on threat of death.
After my Pokemon were healed, a boy ran up to me and asked "Excuse me, miss, but by any chance do you have a Pidgey?"
I turned to the boy and said, "As a matter of fact I do."
Then I asked, "Why do you ask?"
His reply was "Well, I was hoping that if you had a Pidgey, that you would want to trade it for my Marill."
"Oh, so you want to trade your Marill for my Pidgey. Is that it?" I said and asked him.
"Yes, that's it," the boy replied.
Then he asked, "So will you trade with me?"
I turned back to the boy and said, "Sure, why not, this sounds like too good a trade to pass up."
"Yay!" The boy exclaimed.
"Okay then, let's go upstairs and trade before we change our minds." I said.
"Yes, let's," the boy said.
So we went upstairs and found the trade lady who set up the machines and when the machine was ready, she said, "If you both agree on each other's Pokemon, place the poke balls containing them in the teleporter and I'll start the process."
We both said that we agreed on the others Pokemon. So we put the poke balls in the grooved slots and she pressed a button and the balls were sucked up and went through the machine. When they came back down into the slots, we both knew that we each had a new Pokemon to train and raise.
After the trade, we turned to each other and said, "Be sure to take good care of my old Pokemon."
We both said "Don't worry, I will." Then we went our different ways.
He headed out to do some more training, while I headed out to the Azalea Town Pokemon Gym. At the gym, it took me a while to locate the leader, and I finally found him sitting in a tree since the gym was built around a portion of the Ilex Forest.
When I found him, I called up "Are you the gym leader?"
He looked down and called back, "As a matter of fact I am."
Then he asked, "Do you want to battle?"
I replied and called back to him, "I sure do."
Then he climbed down from the tree, and he led me to a place in the forest where there was a battlefield, and Bugsy then turned to me and said, "Rosella, we will have a three on three Pokemon battle."
As the battle was still getting started, Lance snuck in and quickly ducked out of sight, and hid behind a large oak tree. In his rush to duck out of sight, Lance almost crashed head on into the tree. With our anticipation of the upcoming battle, we were both so busy selecting our Pokemon, so we didn't see him.
The fact that we didn't see him was good news to Lance because he thought to himself, "I want her to see and be able to feel that she talk freely to me and trust me, soon."
Then he thought, "I hope that I can gain her friendship, like Falkner who holds his friendship with her so dearly."
He was jerked from his thoughts when Bugsy, the gym leader, yelled, "Go, Spinarak!" Then I yelled,
"Go, Togepi!" Both Pokemon appeared with a cry of readiness.
Then Bugsy laughed and said "Hah, you're trying to beat me with an egg?"
I yelled back "Yes, that's my plan. So you'd better be sure you don't underestimate it!"
"I seriously doubt that your Togepi can beat my Spinarak, but a match is a match so let's get going!" He retorted.
"Spinarak, use poison sting." Bugsy called.
"Togepi, double-team and dodge." I called.
Then Bugsy said "Clever, very clever, but let's see you counter this." Then he said "Spinarak, tackle."
Next I said "Again double-team, dodge, and then headbutt it."
The tackle attack missed and headbutt hit straight on, and knocked Spinarak out with a critical hit. Bugsy was surprised, and he said "Spinarak, return."
Then he said, "Well Togepi beat Spinarak I'll admit that, but you better watch what you're doing."
Then he yelled, "Go, Metapod!"
I thought, "A cocoon huh, there must be some reason he's using it because no one uses a cocoon in a heated battle if it wasn't fairly powerful."
So I said "Togepi, return attack!"
I was hoping that by using this attack, I would catch Bugsy off-guard, since not many Pokemon knew this move. Togepi got up, jumped up and down a couple of times, and then backed up a couple of steps before it charged and attacked. The attack hit home and Bugsy's Metapod went flying, and it landed with a thud.
Bugsy yelled "Metapod, try to stand up."
Metapod then got up, stood for a minute, and then collapsed from exhaustion.
Lance thought "Whoa, I didn't expect that from a Togepi! Its obviously been trained well."
Bugsy was shocked because he said, "Return attack, I never expected that."
Then he said, "You're good, but with this next Pokemon this battle is just beginning."
Then I said, "Why do I have the feeling that your last Pokemon is a Scyther."
Bugsy then stared at me for a good couple of seconds, before he said, "I'm shocked, you made a guess based on your instincts and you are exactly correct, my last Pokemon is a Scyther."
Lance jumped and he asked himself "How on earth did she know that his last Pokemon was a Scyther?"
Next he thought, "The only way for me to know would be to ask her, and I plan to because I want to know."
Then he remembered and said to himself, "Oh yeah, the answer was right in front of me the whole time. I remember now that Sabrina said that she had psychic powers. I don't know how I could have forgotten that!"
Then Bugsy yelled, "Go, Scyther!"
I knew with one look at Togepi that it was worn out and didn't have enough strength left to battle Scyther, so I said "Togepi, good job, come back."
I recalled Togepi and replaced it with another.
Lance and Bugsy were waiting anxiously to see which Pokemon I would use next.
So I selected my next Pokemon, and I threw my poke ball before I yelled, "Go, Vulpix!"
When Bugsy saw Vulpix he jumped in alarm because he knew as well as I did that bug-types didn't stand a chance against fire-types. I was planning this, so I knew that by using Vulpix I would have the
advantage in this battle.
Nervously, Bugsy commanded, "Scyther, use your tackle attack."
Then I yelled "Vulpix, jump in the air and prepare your flamethrower!"
Vulpix jumped and Scyther missed its mark and crashed to the ground.
Then Scyther got back on its feet, and Bugsy yelled "Scyther, use your Sword Dance!"
I guess Bugsy didn't see my Vulpix in the air because the Swords Dance caught Vulpix and suspended it in a spiral whirlwind above Scyther. I saw this great opportunity, so I said "Vulpix, use your flamethrower attack and hurry!"
Flamethrower enveloped Scyther and when the wind and fire cleared and extinguished itself, Scyther lay on the field unconscious and badly burned. Bugsy was shocked and so was Lance.
Bugsy said, "Rosella, you're way better than you looked!"
After Bugsy said that, I decided that now was my best opportunity I had to speak to her. So I climbed out from behind the oak tree, and walked up behind them.
I startled them both when I said, "That was a great battle, you two." Bugsy and Rosella both looked at each other, and then they turned to face me. Bugsy was the first to break the surprised silence.
When he said, "Oh, Master Lance, you really startled us when you snuck up on us like that!"
After Bugsy said that, Rosella got the courage to say and ask, "Master Lance, there was one thing I was wondering."
"Oh, and what was that sweetheart?"
I couldn't believe he actually called me 'sweetheart'? Rosella asked me.
"I was wondering why exactly were you watching us battle?"
To tell you the truth, Rosella I was actually watching you battle, not Bugsy." Lance said.
Then he said, "Rosella, if you will please meet me at the entrance to the gym, after Bugsy gives you your badge."
Lance said. After Lance said that that, he walked to the entrance, where he would wait for me to meet back up with him.
Next Bugsy turned to me and asked, "Rosella, what's wrong, you're trembling?"
I said, "Bugsy, I have to admit this, I'm a little scared of Lance. Because the last time I saw him, he had me kidnapped and held me hostage for a day in hopes that I would stop the evil spell that was placed over the Indigo Plateau."
Then I said, "They set me free, only after I casted a psychic spell to end the evil one."
Bugsy then said, "Those are pretty good reasons for you to be afraid of him."
Then he said, "Oh, by the way, here is your badge."
He handed me the Hive Badge.
After he gave me the badge he turned to me and said, "Rosella, go meet up with Lance. I think that he wants to help you, not hurt you."
Then he said, "Now go, and take care of yourself."
I knew that I would have to go to the place where Lance said he would meet me. At the entrance to the gym, Lance stood waiting patiently for me. When he saw me, he smiled and walked over to where I was and took my left hand and walked me out of the gym. Then he led me to the Slowpoke Well Cave where he took me inside. Inside the cave, I sat on a small rock and Lance did the same. Now that Lance had me in his company, he knew that now was his best chance to talk to me.
Lance broke the silence and said, "Rosella, I know the first time we met wasn't under the best circumstances. But I can asure you that if you would let me, I would keep an eye on you."
Then I asked, "Lance, what exactly do you mean?"
Lance looked at me sweetly and then said, "What I mean is, Team Rocket has heard something about you and your psychic powers and they think you would prove useful in their lush for power. When I found out they knew I was determined to find you before they did, because I was worried that you would be easily overpowered by a group of them. I was hoping to prevent this, by you allowing me to travel with you on your journey."
Then he asked me, "Is that okay with you?"
"It sure is." I replied.
"Whew, thank goodness I couldn't stand to think of the extreme measures Team Rocket would take to try to capture you, but now that I'll travel with you I'll try to make sure that if they should show up that they won't get anywhere near you. In other words, I'll protect you." Lance said.
I felt a happy tingling feeling in my heart that Lance truly meant everything he said to me. Lance was the first one to make the first move, he stood up from his rock and walked over to me and offered me his hand to help me stand up. I accepted and took his hand, and he helped me to my feet. Now that I was on my feet, Lance gently took my hand in a friendly way and together we walked back outside the cave. Outside the cave, we headed out of Azalea Town toward Goldenrod City.