Chapter 20

"An Offer Of Assistance"

"Are you all right?"  Maxie asked me after he had helped me up.

"I think so."  I replied.

"I probably just got the wind knocked out of me when I fell."

"That's good."  Maxie said.

Maxie now became a little more serious, because he asked me "How is it that Archie captured you?"

I replied "Well I had just gotten off the boat from Olivine City."

"Olivine City!  You've come a long way!"  Maxie exclaimed.

"Do go on."  He said.

"Anyway, once off the boat I was trying to find the Pokemon Center when I got lost."

"That's certainly easy to do."  Maxie remarked.

"Please go on."  He added.

"It was when I was lost and trying to figure out what to do when Team Aqua's leader…"

"Archie." Maxie corrected me.

"…approached me."

"Let me guess.  You weren't sure what to do to get out of that situation."  Maxie said.

Then he asked, "Is that what happened?"

I replied "Yes, that's exactly what happened.

Maxie now looked a little worried.

He now asked me, "Not to be intrusive or anything, but I was wondering how long have you been a trainer?"

"I've only been a trainer for a little under a week."  I replied.

"Oh, my!"  Maxie said.

Then he asked, "Do you have any badges?"

"I have two."  I replied.

"Can I see them?"  Maxie asked me.

"Sure."  I replied as I pulled the two badges out of one of the side pockets of my bag.

Maxie saw them and was intrigued, because he asked "What League are these badges from?"

"They're from the Johto League."  I replied.

"That's really neat."  He said.

I now took the opportunity to put my badges back in my side pocket of my bag.

Now Maxie said "Rosella, I'm worried about our safety since you're a fairly new trainer.  So I was hoping that you would allow us to protect you until you can fend for yourself."

I didn't know what to say.

So Maxie asked, "So what do you say?"

"Okay, that will be fine."  I replied.

"Of course we'll help you train your Pokemon too, so when you do go out on your own you won't be ill prepared.  But I tell you more about that tomorrow."  Maxie added.

"Now the grunt spoke up and said, "Boss, we should probably get moving because the sun is about to set."

"Yes, yes I think we should."  Maxie said.

Now he said, "Please follow me, Rosella."

He then motioned for me to follow, which I did and together we walked off towards their base.