'Where am I?' Eric asked himself. He wasn't too sure of his location, it
looked similar to his old bedroom, only everything was a dreary blue. He
could hear some faint voices coming from the hallway, so he slipped out
from under his bedcovers, his bare feet hitting the cold wooden floor. Eric
slowly crept to the door, and listened intently.
"Becoming a Gym Leader is a full-time job! How could you even think about abandoning your family for something like that?!"
"You know that it's always been my dream to do something like that! Now that I've finally gotten my chance, I'm not about to let anything else get in my way!"
"If you want to 'follow your dream' then fine! But I refuse to be any part of it!"
"So then what are you saying?!"
"I'm saying, I don't want you to be part of this family any more!!"
Those voices, the yelling, all of it haunted Eric. They echoed within his brain, and reverberated around inside his head until he couldn't take it anymore. Eric slowly curled up into a fetal position and leaned against the wall, his parent's arguments keeping him company.
Eric gasped as he woke up from his deep sleep. It was still dark out, and the cries of Hoothoot and Noctowl echoed through the forest.
"It was a dream..." Eric muttered.
He looked around the camping grounds. Kristen, Neptune, and Nail were sound asleep. Eric looked over at Talon, who was also sleeping. He put his hand onto Talon's soft body. He stroked his thumb along the small bird's feathers and smiled.
The next morning, the Pokemon were noisily eating breakfast, and the trainers were enjoying some biscuits and stew. Eric lowered the soup ladle down and poured some of the stew into Talon's bowl, to which the chick Pokemon happily chirped.
"You shouldn't feed them human food." Kristen said, "It's not healthy for them."
"You train your Pokemon your way, and I'll train mine my way." Eric retorted.
"Whoa, snappy today, aren't we?" Kristen said.
"I'm sorry, I'm just nervous about seeing my dad." Eric replied.
"Well, I don't know what happened between you two, and it's not really my business, but Petalburg isn't too far ahead, and..."
Some rustling in the bushes cut off Kristen. Eric quickly stood up and looked behind him. The rustling intensified and out popped a small, bristly raccoon-like Pokemon. "It's a Zigzagoon!" Eric laughed as he flipped out his Pokedex.
Zigzagoon: The Tiny Raccoon Pokemon. These common Pokemon can found almost anywhere. They have a keen sense of smell, which allows them to easily detect food or other Pokemon. They also tend to dig up various objects. If threatened, the Zigzagoon will stiffen the bristles in their fur and fire off Pin Missiles.
The Zigzagoon approached Talon's food bowl and sniffed cautiously, then attempted to steal some of the food. Talon was already on top of this, and scratched at the thief while chirping angrily. The Zigzagoon quickly jumped back, and hissed, its nose scrunching up tightly.
"Hmm, why don't you try and capture it?" Kristen suggested.
"I may as well, I mean it doesn't look like it's going anywhere," Eric replied, "Funny, I always thought my first Pokemon capture would something less common then a Zigzagoon. Oh well. Talon! Ember attack!"
Talon reared back and fired a volley of embers at Zigzagoon, who screeched when the red-hot fireballs scorched its fur. Immediately, the tiny raccoon leaped backwards, and stiffened its fur into bristles. Aiming carefully, it fired off glowing needles at Talon, which made direct contact.
"Torrr!" Talon cried out in pain.
"Ah! That must've been its Pin Missile attack." Eric exclaimed.
The Zigzagoon fired another blast of Pin Missile, but Talon countered with an Ember and negated the attack. Then, the small bird rushed at the raccoon and used its Peck attack, knocking Zigzagoon out. Eric reached into his bag and pulled out an empty Pokeball.
"Ok! Pokeball! Go!" Eric cried, as he chucked the red and white sphere at the wounded Pokemon. The ball struck Zigzagoon and bounced into the air, opening up. Zigzagoon's body turned into red energy and sucked into the ball, causing it to close. The Pokeball fell to the ground, shaking violently. One shake, two shake...
The ball leaped into the air and burst open, the shimmering light reforming into Zigzagoon, who immediately tackled Talon to the ground.
"Zig! Zigzagoon!" it rasped.
"Ah man, it didn't work!" Eric whined, "Ok Talon! Try another Ember!"
Talon obeyed its orders and fired off another blast of Ember, but the Zigzagoon dodged the move easily by running and zipping from side to side.
"What the heck?!" Eric yelled.
"Why do you think they are called Zigzagoon?" Kristen said, dully.
Eric ordered Talon to spray Ember everywhere, and it obeyed, blasting the Zigzagoon with enough firepower to give a pyromaniac a field day. The tiny raccoon, burnt to a crisp, fell down to the ground, unconscious. Eric grabbed the empty Pokeball and decided to give it another go.
"Pokeball, go!" Eric exclaimed again, while throwing the ball.
Once again, the ball sucked Zigzagoon into it and fell to the ground. It shook once, twice, finally three times before the button popped out and a "ping" sound could be heard, signaling capture. Eric laughed, it was a nervous chuckle at first, but it exploded into hearty laughter. Then he danced crazily around the Pokeball, whooping loudly. Talon, watching his trainer dancing, decided to join in, and the duo were both shaking it like it was 1999 around the Pokeball, leaving Kristen and her Pokemon to stare on in disbelief.
"Hehehehehe! Talon we did it! We captured our first Pokemon together!" Eric laughed.
"Tor! Torchic!" Talon chirped happily.
Eric grabbed the Pokeball and opened it, releasing his newly captured Zigzagoon. It groaned slowly, still hurt from the battle. Eric reached into his bag and pulled out a Potion. Shaking the bottle up, he sprayed it onto the raccoon, which writhed from the stinging sensation.
"There, there." Eric said, soothingly, "it's gonna make you feel better."
"Gooooon" the Zigzagoon cooed, within seconds, its wounds disappeared, and it got up.
"There. Now, you need a name. I was thinking Tanooki. How does that sound?" Eric said.
"Zig! Zig!" the Pokemon cried happily.
"Then it's settled. You are now known as Tanooki!" Eric laughed.
Tanooki sniffed at Eric's jeans, going up the pant leg to his pockets. Then he stuck his muzzle into Eric's pocket and grabbed a Pokemon Treat.
"Hey! You only get that whilst we're training!" Eric cried in protest.
But it was too late, the raccoon was already snacking on the treat, leaving Eric to scratch his hair in awe. When it suddenly occurred to him that his Pokemon wasn't following orders, he reached down and attempted to grab what was left of the Pokemon Treat. However, Tanooki growled viciously at Eric, causing him to quickly retract his hand.
"Whoa! What's your problem, buddy?" Eric cried.
"It looks like this Zigzagoon is very food motivated." Kristen chuckled.
After finishing the first treat, Tanooki began to sniff at his trainer for another, but Eric quickly recalled it into its Pokeball. Eric was dumbfounded. The concept of having a Pokemon that was as rambunctious as Tanooki was unforeseen by him.
"Geez, that little guy has got some issues. Anyway, Petalburg ain't too far from here. Let's go." Eric said.
The rest of the walk to Petalburg was rather monotonous, as Eric and Kristen were forced to follow the linear road in the blazing summer heat. But they finally reached the bustling city, which was plagued by heavy traffic and congested walkways. Eric saw some bums asking for money on the sidewalk, blind people begging, and the occasional Rattata or stray Meowth. In the windows of buildings, people whose apartments weren't equipped with air conditioners were panting on the windowsills. Overall, the bustling left both Eric and Kristen surprised, as they were used to the quiet backwater town of Littleroot. Trying to find the Pokemon Center, Eric stopped the nearest man, who looked to be in a hurry to work.
"Um, excuse me sir, where's the nearest Pokemon Center?" Eric asked, politely.
"Urrgh, I don't have time for this, sorry kid," the man replied, rather gruffly before walking off. Eric and Kristen decided to attempt to find the Center themselves, and after about an hour of wandering, they came to the conclusion that they couldn't.
"Okay...we are getting no where." Kristen mused.
"Yeah, and I didn't even see my dad's Pokemon Gym." Eric muttered.
A flock of Pidgeys flew overhead, surprising the two trainers. Since they were only ones on the street who jumped, their status as newcomers was made blatantly obvious. A Pokemon trainer walking her small tiger-colored Pokemon wandered by Eric, who scanned it with his dex.
Growlithe: The Puppy Pokemon. This Pokemon's fur is able to store heat, allowing it to burst powerful Flamethrower attacks. Growlithes are very friendly and loyal Pokemon, they will guard their trainers to the bitter end. When battling against them, take caution, as they usually hunt in packs in the wild.
"She's probably going to a Pokemon Center, let's ask her." Kristen suggested.
"Yeah, good idea." Eric replied as he made his way over the young woman. "Excuse me," Eric started, "Where is the nearest Pokemon Center?"
The woman was slightly surprised by the question, but then she figured that the kids were travelers. "The nearest one is about....3 blocks from here, that way." she said, pointing east.
"Thank you so much!" Eric said, before he and Kristen headed off.
The interior of the Petalburg Pokemon Center wasn't too different from the Oldale one, but at the same time, it was. Above all things, it was certainly larger, due to the fact that it was in an urban environment. Also, it was much busier, trainers were out and about, some of them cuddling their Pokemon, others looking worried as if they had pushed one of their loyal companions too far.
After the nurse revitalized Eric's Pokemon, he noticed that Kristen had relocated to the phone stations at the other end of the lobby. Upon approaching her, he saw a familiar face on the videophone screen. It was hard for Eric not to recognize the rugged beard and grizzly brown hair. It was Professor Birch, whom he hadn't seen in quite awhile. The professor saw Eric from behind Kristen through the camera.
"Hello Eric. We were just talking about you," the professor said in his gruff voice.
"Yeah Eric. I was just telling dad about those bug trainers we met a while back." Kristen said.
"Did you tell him how I kicked that Jake guy's butt?" Eric exclaimed.
"No," Kristen said dully, "I told him how he utterly destroyed you."
At that, Eric and Kristen burst into another argument, Eric bantering about how Kristen lost to Jake as well, and Kristen retaliating with how she didn't try and lie about it. It finally took a loud shout from Birch to calm them down, and he proceeded to change the subject.
"So how are your Pokemon doing?" Birch asked nervously, "Did you capture any others?"
Kristen released Neptune the Mudkip and Nail the Swellow. Both Pokemon cried happily upon being released from containment.
"This is my new Swellow, Nail." Kristen said.
"Hmm, this Pokemon looks like it's got some age on it." Birch said.
"Yeah, he's pretty old, but strong." Kristen said, establishing the bird's gender to the professor, "He's got years of battling experience."
"Neptune is looking well," Birch said, smiling, "I'm glad to see you're taking good care of him."
"Want to see my Pokemon, professor?" Eric asked.
Professor Birch nodded, and Eric released Talon, his Torchic first. Birch commented that Talon was certainly looking healthy and a lot tougher, due to the recent battles it engaged in.
"Yeah Talon is really tough. His Ember attack has gotten me through a couple of tough battles. And I captured a new Pokemon today! Check him out."
Eric grabbed Tanooki's Pokeball and popped it open, revealing the prickly Zigzagoon. It shook its fur around a bit, blinked, and barked happily.
"This is Tanooki! My new Zigzagoon!" Eric exclaimed.
"Hmm, he looks healthy as well. Good to see you have a fine eye for wild Pokemon." Birch said.
"Hey Tanooki, say hi to the professor." Eric suggested, but the tiny raccoon ignored Eric's command and sniffed around the lobby floor.
"Looks like it needs a lesson in obedience." Birch said, "Pokemon aren't automatically your friends you know, you have to work with them."
"Yeah, I guess," Eric sighed, "On another note, I'm challenging my father today."
"How?" Birch asked quizzically, "You don't have any badges."
Eric cocked his head in confusion, "What do you mean? I'm going there to get my first badge."
"You don't understand. Your father is a 5th level Gym Leader. Which means you need 4 Badges to face him for the Balance Badge. The only level 1 Gym Leader around here is the one at Rustboro City." Birch corrected.
Eric was at a loss for words. He had come so far only for his Gym Match to be shot down.
"It's not that bad," Kristen said, "Rustoboro City is only on the other side of Petalburg Woods. We could get there in a couple of days."
"Alright...we should leave now, then." Eric said, anxious to go. He recalled Talon into his Pokeball and then got Tanooki's ball out and went to recall him. Then, he realized that the raccoon was nowhere to be found.
"Um, where's Tanooki?" Eric asked, his head swiveling like a Noctowl.
Through her peripheral vision, Kristen caught sight of the rascal scampering out the front door of the Pokemon Center. She quickly alarmed Eric that he was making a break for it, and after closing the video phone connection, the two trainers quickly dashed outside after him. Birch simply sighed and wished Eric good luck as he went back to his work.
"TANOOOOOOOOOKIIIIIIIII!!!" Eric roared as he ran down the streets of Petalburg. There was no sign of his Pokemon anywhere. Soon he began to worry, and started to run faster, nearly crashing into people on the street.
"TANOOKI!! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Eric called.
Turning a corner, he collided into someone hard, they both fell to the ground. When Eric opened his eyes, he saw the person he ran into was a young boy, about his age with wavy dark green hair. He was very sickly looking, pale for lack of a better word, and too skinny to fit his white shirt and navy blue pants.
"O-Oh, I'm s-s-sorry," the boy stammered.
"No, it's my fault. Can't talk now though, sorry!" Eric said.
"Wally, are you okay? What happened?" an older voice called from behind the fallen boy.
Eric looked over whom he assumed to be named Wally, and lost his breath at what he saw. The black pants and suede shoes, the corduroy red sweater. The face, the hair, Eric recognized all of his features. He gasped quietly.
"Dad?"
"Eric?"
Next Chapter: Wally's ambition
"Becoming a Gym Leader is a full-time job! How could you even think about abandoning your family for something like that?!"
"You know that it's always been my dream to do something like that! Now that I've finally gotten my chance, I'm not about to let anything else get in my way!"
"If you want to 'follow your dream' then fine! But I refuse to be any part of it!"
"So then what are you saying?!"
"I'm saying, I don't want you to be part of this family any more!!"
Those voices, the yelling, all of it haunted Eric. They echoed within his brain, and reverberated around inside his head until he couldn't take it anymore. Eric slowly curled up into a fetal position and leaned against the wall, his parent's arguments keeping him company.
Eric gasped as he woke up from his deep sleep. It was still dark out, and the cries of Hoothoot and Noctowl echoed through the forest.
"It was a dream..." Eric muttered.
He looked around the camping grounds. Kristen, Neptune, and Nail were sound asleep. Eric looked over at Talon, who was also sleeping. He put his hand onto Talon's soft body. He stroked his thumb along the small bird's feathers and smiled.
The next morning, the Pokemon were noisily eating breakfast, and the trainers were enjoying some biscuits and stew. Eric lowered the soup ladle down and poured some of the stew into Talon's bowl, to which the chick Pokemon happily chirped.
"You shouldn't feed them human food." Kristen said, "It's not healthy for them."
"You train your Pokemon your way, and I'll train mine my way." Eric retorted.
"Whoa, snappy today, aren't we?" Kristen said.
"I'm sorry, I'm just nervous about seeing my dad." Eric replied.
"Well, I don't know what happened between you two, and it's not really my business, but Petalburg isn't too far ahead, and..."
Some rustling in the bushes cut off Kristen. Eric quickly stood up and looked behind him. The rustling intensified and out popped a small, bristly raccoon-like Pokemon. "It's a Zigzagoon!" Eric laughed as he flipped out his Pokedex.
Zigzagoon: The Tiny Raccoon Pokemon. These common Pokemon can found almost anywhere. They have a keen sense of smell, which allows them to easily detect food or other Pokemon. They also tend to dig up various objects. If threatened, the Zigzagoon will stiffen the bristles in their fur and fire off Pin Missiles.
The Zigzagoon approached Talon's food bowl and sniffed cautiously, then attempted to steal some of the food. Talon was already on top of this, and scratched at the thief while chirping angrily. The Zigzagoon quickly jumped back, and hissed, its nose scrunching up tightly.
"Hmm, why don't you try and capture it?" Kristen suggested.
"I may as well, I mean it doesn't look like it's going anywhere," Eric replied, "Funny, I always thought my first Pokemon capture would something less common then a Zigzagoon. Oh well. Talon! Ember attack!"
Talon reared back and fired a volley of embers at Zigzagoon, who screeched when the red-hot fireballs scorched its fur. Immediately, the tiny raccoon leaped backwards, and stiffened its fur into bristles. Aiming carefully, it fired off glowing needles at Talon, which made direct contact.
"Torrr!" Talon cried out in pain.
"Ah! That must've been its Pin Missile attack." Eric exclaimed.
The Zigzagoon fired another blast of Pin Missile, but Talon countered with an Ember and negated the attack. Then, the small bird rushed at the raccoon and used its Peck attack, knocking Zigzagoon out. Eric reached into his bag and pulled out an empty Pokeball.
"Ok! Pokeball! Go!" Eric cried, as he chucked the red and white sphere at the wounded Pokemon. The ball struck Zigzagoon and bounced into the air, opening up. Zigzagoon's body turned into red energy and sucked into the ball, causing it to close. The Pokeball fell to the ground, shaking violently. One shake, two shake...
The ball leaped into the air and burst open, the shimmering light reforming into Zigzagoon, who immediately tackled Talon to the ground.
"Zig! Zigzagoon!" it rasped.
"Ah man, it didn't work!" Eric whined, "Ok Talon! Try another Ember!"
Talon obeyed its orders and fired off another blast of Ember, but the Zigzagoon dodged the move easily by running and zipping from side to side.
"What the heck?!" Eric yelled.
"Why do you think they are called Zigzagoon?" Kristen said, dully.
Eric ordered Talon to spray Ember everywhere, and it obeyed, blasting the Zigzagoon with enough firepower to give a pyromaniac a field day. The tiny raccoon, burnt to a crisp, fell down to the ground, unconscious. Eric grabbed the empty Pokeball and decided to give it another go.
"Pokeball, go!" Eric exclaimed again, while throwing the ball.
Once again, the ball sucked Zigzagoon into it and fell to the ground. It shook once, twice, finally three times before the button popped out and a "ping" sound could be heard, signaling capture. Eric laughed, it was a nervous chuckle at first, but it exploded into hearty laughter. Then he danced crazily around the Pokeball, whooping loudly. Talon, watching his trainer dancing, decided to join in, and the duo were both shaking it like it was 1999 around the Pokeball, leaving Kristen and her Pokemon to stare on in disbelief.
"Hehehehehe! Talon we did it! We captured our first Pokemon together!" Eric laughed.
"Tor! Torchic!" Talon chirped happily.
Eric grabbed the Pokeball and opened it, releasing his newly captured Zigzagoon. It groaned slowly, still hurt from the battle. Eric reached into his bag and pulled out a Potion. Shaking the bottle up, he sprayed it onto the raccoon, which writhed from the stinging sensation.
"There, there." Eric said, soothingly, "it's gonna make you feel better."
"Gooooon" the Zigzagoon cooed, within seconds, its wounds disappeared, and it got up.
"There. Now, you need a name. I was thinking Tanooki. How does that sound?" Eric said.
"Zig! Zig!" the Pokemon cried happily.
"Then it's settled. You are now known as Tanooki!" Eric laughed.
Tanooki sniffed at Eric's jeans, going up the pant leg to his pockets. Then he stuck his muzzle into Eric's pocket and grabbed a Pokemon Treat.
"Hey! You only get that whilst we're training!" Eric cried in protest.
But it was too late, the raccoon was already snacking on the treat, leaving Eric to scratch his hair in awe. When it suddenly occurred to him that his Pokemon wasn't following orders, he reached down and attempted to grab what was left of the Pokemon Treat. However, Tanooki growled viciously at Eric, causing him to quickly retract his hand.
"Whoa! What's your problem, buddy?" Eric cried.
"It looks like this Zigzagoon is very food motivated." Kristen chuckled.
After finishing the first treat, Tanooki began to sniff at his trainer for another, but Eric quickly recalled it into its Pokeball. Eric was dumbfounded. The concept of having a Pokemon that was as rambunctious as Tanooki was unforeseen by him.
"Geez, that little guy has got some issues. Anyway, Petalburg ain't too far from here. Let's go." Eric said.
The rest of the walk to Petalburg was rather monotonous, as Eric and Kristen were forced to follow the linear road in the blazing summer heat. But they finally reached the bustling city, which was plagued by heavy traffic and congested walkways. Eric saw some bums asking for money on the sidewalk, blind people begging, and the occasional Rattata or stray Meowth. In the windows of buildings, people whose apartments weren't equipped with air conditioners were panting on the windowsills. Overall, the bustling left both Eric and Kristen surprised, as they were used to the quiet backwater town of Littleroot. Trying to find the Pokemon Center, Eric stopped the nearest man, who looked to be in a hurry to work.
"Um, excuse me sir, where's the nearest Pokemon Center?" Eric asked, politely.
"Urrgh, I don't have time for this, sorry kid," the man replied, rather gruffly before walking off. Eric and Kristen decided to attempt to find the Center themselves, and after about an hour of wandering, they came to the conclusion that they couldn't.
"Okay...we are getting no where." Kristen mused.
"Yeah, and I didn't even see my dad's Pokemon Gym." Eric muttered.
A flock of Pidgeys flew overhead, surprising the two trainers. Since they were only ones on the street who jumped, their status as newcomers was made blatantly obvious. A Pokemon trainer walking her small tiger-colored Pokemon wandered by Eric, who scanned it with his dex.
Growlithe: The Puppy Pokemon. This Pokemon's fur is able to store heat, allowing it to burst powerful Flamethrower attacks. Growlithes are very friendly and loyal Pokemon, they will guard their trainers to the bitter end. When battling against them, take caution, as they usually hunt in packs in the wild.
"She's probably going to a Pokemon Center, let's ask her." Kristen suggested.
"Yeah, good idea." Eric replied as he made his way over the young woman. "Excuse me," Eric started, "Where is the nearest Pokemon Center?"
The woman was slightly surprised by the question, but then she figured that the kids were travelers. "The nearest one is about....3 blocks from here, that way." she said, pointing east.
"Thank you so much!" Eric said, before he and Kristen headed off.
The interior of the Petalburg Pokemon Center wasn't too different from the Oldale one, but at the same time, it was. Above all things, it was certainly larger, due to the fact that it was in an urban environment. Also, it was much busier, trainers were out and about, some of them cuddling their Pokemon, others looking worried as if they had pushed one of their loyal companions too far.
After the nurse revitalized Eric's Pokemon, he noticed that Kristen had relocated to the phone stations at the other end of the lobby. Upon approaching her, he saw a familiar face on the videophone screen. It was hard for Eric not to recognize the rugged beard and grizzly brown hair. It was Professor Birch, whom he hadn't seen in quite awhile. The professor saw Eric from behind Kristen through the camera.
"Hello Eric. We were just talking about you," the professor said in his gruff voice.
"Yeah Eric. I was just telling dad about those bug trainers we met a while back." Kristen said.
"Did you tell him how I kicked that Jake guy's butt?" Eric exclaimed.
"No," Kristen said dully, "I told him how he utterly destroyed you."
At that, Eric and Kristen burst into another argument, Eric bantering about how Kristen lost to Jake as well, and Kristen retaliating with how she didn't try and lie about it. It finally took a loud shout from Birch to calm them down, and he proceeded to change the subject.
"So how are your Pokemon doing?" Birch asked nervously, "Did you capture any others?"
Kristen released Neptune the Mudkip and Nail the Swellow. Both Pokemon cried happily upon being released from containment.
"This is my new Swellow, Nail." Kristen said.
"Hmm, this Pokemon looks like it's got some age on it." Birch said.
"Yeah, he's pretty old, but strong." Kristen said, establishing the bird's gender to the professor, "He's got years of battling experience."
"Neptune is looking well," Birch said, smiling, "I'm glad to see you're taking good care of him."
"Want to see my Pokemon, professor?" Eric asked.
Professor Birch nodded, and Eric released Talon, his Torchic first. Birch commented that Talon was certainly looking healthy and a lot tougher, due to the recent battles it engaged in.
"Yeah Talon is really tough. His Ember attack has gotten me through a couple of tough battles. And I captured a new Pokemon today! Check him out."
Eric grabbed Tanooki's Pokeball and popped it open, revealing the prickly Zigzagoon. It shook its fur around a bit, blinked, and barked happily.
"This is Tanooki! My new Zigzagoon!" Eric exclaimed.
"Hmm, he looks healthy as well. Good to see you have a fine eye for wild Pokemon." Birch said.
"Hey Tanooki, say hi to the professor." Eric suggested, but the tiny raccoon ignored Eric's command and sniffed around the lobby floor.
"Looks like it needs a lesson in obedience." Birch said, "Pokemon aren't automatically your friends you know, you have to work with them."
"Yeah, I guess," Eric sighed, "On another note, I'm challenging my father today."
"How?" Birch asked quizzically, "You don't have any badges."
Eric cocked his head in confusion, "What do you mean? I'm going there to get my first badge."
"You don't understand. Your father is a 5th level Gym Leader. Which means you need 4 Badges to face him for the Balance Badge. The only level 1 Gym Leader around here is the one at Rustboro City." Birch corrected.
Eric was at a loss for words. He had come so far only for his Gym Match to be shot down.
"It's not that bad," Kristen said, "Rustoboro City is only on the other side of Petalburg Woods. We could get there in a couple of days."
"Alright...we should leave now, then." Eric said, anxious to go. He recalled Talon into his Pokeball and then got Tanooki's ball out and went to recall him. Then, he realized that the raccoon was nowhere to be found.
"Um, where's Tanooki?" Eric asked, his head swiveling like a Noctowl.
Through her peripheral vision, Kristen caught sight of the rascal scampering out the front door of the Pokemon Center. She quickly alarmed Eric that he was making a break for it, and after closing the video phone connection, the two trainers quickly dashed outside after him. Birch simply sighed and wished Eric good luck as he went back to his work.
"TANOOOOOOOOOKIIIIIIIII!!!" Eric roared as he ran down the streets of Petalburg. There was no sign of his Pokemon anywhere. Soon he began to worry, and started to run faster, nearly crashing into people on the street.
"TANOOKI!! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Eric called.
Turning a corner, he collided into someone hard, they both fell to the ground. When Eric opened his eyes, he saw the person he ran into was a young boy, about his age with wavy dark green hair. He was very sickly looking, pale for lack of a better word, and too skinny to fit his white shirt and navy blue pants.
"O-Oh, I'm s-s-sorry," the boy stammered.
"No, it's my fault. Can't talk now though, sorry!" Eric said.
"Wally, are you okay? What happened?" an older voice called from behind the fallen boy.
Eric looked over whom he assumed to be named Wally, and lost his breath at what he saw. The black pants and suede shoes, the corduroy red sweater. The face, the hair, Eric recognized all of his features. He gasped quietly.
"Dad?"
"Eric?"
Next Chapter: Wally's ambition