The next morning Ricki got up early and stuffed herself and her Pokemon stuffed themselves with pancakes. Ricki and her tour group left and headed deeper into the cave. It wasn't cold like most caves, in fact it was freezing. Ricki shivered as the cave seemed to grow colder and colder with each step and breath that she took. The tour group leader had also begun shivering as they headed past rock formations and nesting zubats. Ricki looked around and sighed, still shivering in the cold.
"Yahoo! Looks like we've finally reached the exit!" An excited man yelled running outside. The tour guide sighed and walked outside to the warm air and the rest of the group walked outside. Ricki looked around and turned to Pichu,
"I'm a little worried about Houndour…do you think we'll ever see him again?"
"Hey you trainer," Ricki felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see a tall man with a yellow beard and two beaming eyes,
"Yes, do you want to trade Pokemon?"
"Trade? I could never trade my Pokemon…"
"Alright then, we'll have a battle, how does a four-on-four battle sound?"
"I don't have four-"
Ricki heard a howl as a Houndour leaped in front of her,
"Houndour?!"
"I'll battle Ricki…this is the man…that ruined by life"
"Eh?" The man stated.
"You…took my family, said I was puny, but it all changes today"
The man laughed,
"Ah yes, the little yelp, it'd be a pleasure, lets also duel using four at once"
"Are you crazy" Ricki said confused.
"Nope, and the winner gets the others Pokemon"
Ricki threw out Scyther and Chikorita,
"This battle is for Houndour"
Ricki's Pichu, Scyther and Chikorita stood along side Houndour and watched as the man sent out his Pokemon,
"The names Mounty, my Pokemon are golem, Machamp, Rapidash and Blastoise, you don't stand a chance.
Ricki gazed at the evolved Pokemon,
"Houndour attack Machamp, Chikorita attack Golem, Pichu you take Blastoise, Scyther cover the others!"
"You guys, attack that Scyther first!"
Hounour launched a fierce flamethrower at Machamp, who fell down, wincing in pain,
"Houndour, you burned him"
"Yeah so?"
Ricki regained her posture,
"Now, lets get them for Houndour!"
Mounty's Pokemon slashed and based Ricki's as soon Chikorita began weakening,
"Chikorita finish his Golem, he's almost down!"
"Golem use roll-out on all her Pokemon!"
Golem formed a ball and rolled right over Chikorita. Ricki recalled Chikorita and hugged Chikrita's pokeball,
"It'll be okay buddy"
"Now Blastoise, use water gun on Houndour!"
"Pichu counter it and use thundershock on Blastoise!"
Pichu released a mighty thundershock, which sent Blastoise into a world of pain. Mounty recalled him and Machamp,
"I'm impressed with you little Ricki and the same for you Houndour,
"But this isn't over, Rapidash burn that Pichu to a crisp!"
"Get out of the way Pichu and use a thundershock, Scyther use a slash attack!"
Each trainer countiued their on slaughter against the other for the next hour,
"Now…. hold it right there both of you!" Houndour said gulping in air. Scyther had fallen, leaving only Houndour and Pichu against Golem and Rapidash, everyone was growing more and more tired by the minute.
Houndour launched a powerful flamethrower at Golem and Rapidash. Golem collapsed and Rapidash still stood weak,
"Pichu, Houndour finis Rapidash with a fire combo bolt!"
Houndour shot out a stream of fire while Pichu charged it sending it straight into Rapidash who slowly collided head first into the ground. Mounty grimaced and recalled his Rapidash,
"You want my worthless Pokemon? Take them!" Mounty screamed throwing his pokeballs at Ricki's feet. Houndour growled at Mounty,
"Tell me where my family is!"
"You really want to know, well I have no idea after I sold a few years back" Mounty hoarsely laughed and walked off, straight into officer Jenny,
"Well, Well, if it isn't Mounty Beaten, finally it looks like we've caught you" Officer Jenny said slapping a pair of handcuffs on him. Ricki grabbed the four fallen Pokeballs and handed them to Officer Jenny,
"He had these," Officer Jenny took them and thanked Ricki for her help and threw Mounty into the cop car and drove off. Ricki and Houndour watched as they disappeared from sight and Houndour began to leave. Ricki caught up with him,
"Yeah, you okay?"
"What part of leave me alone don't you understand?" Houndour said a little irritated.
"Well, I'd like to help you"
"Well don't, perhaps…we'll meet again"
With that Houndour raced off leaving Ricki shaking her head,
"Poor Houndour, if only I could help him" Ricki looked up at Pichu who was weak looking, "The center should be just ahead" Pichu brightened up as Ricki began towards the center.
"What were you thinking?!"
Ricki felt horrible and leaned against a post to get out of Nurse joy's way. Ricki looked at Chikorita who panted for breath, she had gotten hurt in the last battle, and Ricki hadn't noticed it, one of Chikorita's lungs had collapsed. Nurse Joy disappeared into the back room and a doctor approached her,
"So you say that Mounty did it, the Pokemon thief?"
"Yes" Ricki said weakly.
"Officer Jenny is mad at you for the battle, the proper authorities could've handled the situation," The doctor said stopping, "Better"
Ricki slid out of his way and took a seat in a nearby chair and looked around. She noticed a magazine and read it a little before putting it down and sighing. A girl sat next to her with red hair,
"Hiya, the names Monica" The trainer said putting out her hand. Ricki shook her hand and smiled,
"Hi, Ricki"
"Ricki…. that name sounds familiar, last name?"
"Ketchum, the master's daughter"
"Oh wow! You're on a journey? What about your other sisters?"
"They don't like it…. they're more interested in make-up and stuff"
"So you're the tomboy of your family?"
"I guess so" Ricki said quietly and noticed a red light go off and Nurse Joy stepped outside,
"Chikorita would like to see you"
Ricki stood up and walked into the emergency room and saw that her Chikorita was strapped to ventilator, her only source of breathing. Ricki sat down on a chair next to Chikoritas bed and felt like crying,
"Chika, I'm so sorry"
Chikorita didn't move but looked up at the ceiling.
"Nurse joy, how long will she be like this?"
Nurse Joy looked at her charts and sighed,
"Two weeks at least"
"Two weeks?!"
"Is that a waste of time to you like your Chikoritas life? I should turn you in for abuse"
Ricki stared hard at Nurse joy,
"Listen, I didn't know, you should blame mounty"
"Your Chikorita's trainer, you should know better"
Ricki stood up and walked out into the main lobby, Monica was reading a book and Ricki sat down a few chairs down from her and took out her sketchpad and began drawing. Monica looked puzzled at her and countiued her reading. Ricki heard a elevator noise and walked up to the counter and received her Pokemon from a second nurse joy,
"You look like your sister"
"I know, but at least I don't act like her"
Ricki titled her head in confusion,
"What she said to you, I heard from Officer Jenny what happened, Mounty admits that he tried to hurt you, your were protecting yourself, you lucky none of your other Pokemon got hurt" Nurse joy said noting Ricki's confusion.
Ricki took Pichu and Scyther's pokeball and Pichu got on Ricki's shoulders. Nurse Joy smiled at Ricki,
"You're just like your father, black hair and you view Pokemon as friends"
Ricki nodded and looked glumly at the emergency center. Nurse Joy put her hand on Ricki's shoulder,
"Listen, Chikorita will be like this for at least a week, but no more than two weeks, maybe you can visit the town"
Ricki slapped her head,
"My aunts live at the gym, so does my cousin Nick"
"There, you can visit them and Cerulean city is too big to pass up"
Rick clipped Scyther's pokeball onto her belt and Ricki walked outside into the sunshine. Her PGN suddenly rang and she answered it,
"Hello?"
"Ricki? This is Anthony, hiya, where are you?"
"I'm in Cerulean for two weeks"
"Oh? I'm just leaving Pewter, I got my first badge!"
"Great job, so did I"
"Sweet, hey, I'll give you a call when I get into Cerulean city, okay?"
"Sure thing, bye"
"Bye"
Ricki put away her PGN and walked towards the gym.
Ricki ran the doorbell to a large pink mansion and a boy about Ricki's age answered the door,
"Ricki! How are you?" Nick said giving Ricki a hug.
"I hate it when you do that" Ricki said irritated.
Nick put down his cousin, he was 7'0" tall and he loved to pick on shorter people in his family,
"So Ricki, come on in, we've been expecting you"
Ricki walked in and looked around the house had changed a lot since the last time she was here. The wallpaper had raindrops and the rooms theme seemed to circle around water,
"You have redone, it looks very good"
"Thanks, my mom did it, she's so creative, I wish I could be more like her"
Ricki nodded,
"Don't worry, your both creative, remember your art project you did last year in college?"
"Yeah, but that was different…"
"How?"
"Well, it just is, it's a little hard to explain, anyway, how long are you staying?"
"Two weeks"
"That long? How come?"
"Well, one of my Pokemon was nearly killed…"
"What? Your dad almost did that with Pikachu"
"Yes, hes told me that so many times, and I was convinced that I wouldn't let something like that happen to me, and look what happened!"
"Well cousin, the things you say you won't do, usually do happen, like a certain someone who hates farming and cows" Nick said in a singsong voice.
"Yeah, yeah, so I hate cows…"
"And…."
"Farming…"
Nick rolled his eyes,
"Anyway, how about I challenge you to a battle when you try for your gym badge, it's either me, Kevin, Lydia, Monica, Amy, or Helena"
Ricki stared at her cousin, how about we head down to the Pokemon center and I'll decide there?"
"Okay" Ricki Agreed and followed her cousin outside to his blue fifth avenue. Nick unalarmed it and Ricki and Nick got in and Nick backed out of the driveway and onto the road,
"Our house used to be the old gym, but ten years ago it was rebuilt, bigger and more up-to-date like many of today's gyms."
"How come pewter city is a little old fashioned though?"
"Easy, Pewter city is deep in its past"
"Oh" Ricki said softly.
The rest of the way was driven in silence and Nick parked his fifth avenue and locked it and led Ricki inside where a water play was going on. Nick waved to the ticket keeper as he entered and showed Ricki to a seat, the play had just begun. A young woman with blonde hair rose out of the water and gently floated on top of it,
"Am I to ever find true love?"
Mist filled the room and the lights went out. After Ricki's eyes had adjusted to the lights she noticed as a fairy hovered above them young woman,
"Is that was you wish?" The fairy said gently.
The woman stopped crying and looked at the fairy who was short and fat with two crescent wings and a baggy purple dress,
"Why pity a lowly water sprite?"
"Because, it doesn't matter who you are, but what's inside that counts"
"Inside?" Ricki said quietly and closed her eyes rembering Jacob.
Ricki and Gabby hopped on there and Jacob smiled,
"Don't be too scared, but Rapidash run to Pewter city, these guys can hit a hundred miles an hour or more,"
Ricki shook her head,
"What am I thinking?" she screamed drawing the crowd's attention around her. Blushing she sat back down and looked at the puzzled look on Nick's face. Neither of them said anything and countiued to watch the show,
"I'll love you always Opathy," The man said stroking the girl's hair and pulling her in for a kiss.
"And I'll always love you Patrica" The two kissed as the girl was swept back into the water and Opathy cried,
"If only you weren't a water sprit"
The lights came back on and Ricki wiped a tear away from her eye,
"What a sad story, but at least it didn't have a sappy ending"
Nick and Ricki stood up and walked behind the stage and Ricki heard a loud voice from behind her,
"Ricki! How's my Pokemon trainer niece?" Ricki felt herself be lifted by her aunt Lily. Her other two aunts arrived, Clove and Flora. Ricki hugged them and her cousins when Flora said,
"So, are you here to have a battle?"
Ricki nodded, "You bet! But, who can I battle?"
Aunt Lily dove into thought,
"I'm sure Nick would battle you, right Nick?"
"Sure mum, but why so quick, your going to be here for two weeks"
"Two weeks? We can go shopping then!" Ricki's three aunts said at once.
Ricki forced a smile,
"Sure, but better easily than sorry?"
"Sure!" Nick said stepping forward, lets go to the gym room and Aunt Lily, Clove and Flora will watch the battle"
Ricki agreed and walked to the gym room and stationed herself on a floating platform,
"Remember Ricki" Yelled Nick, "Keep balance or you'll lose!"
Ricki moaned and turned to Pichu,
"Are you ready?" Pichu nodded and looked at Nick. Nick smiled and said,
"You know the rules, two on two, no cheating and lets home it doesn't turn out like you dads battle"
Ricki laughed, "Jesse and James haven't even been seen in years though!"
Nick threw out his first Pokemon,
"Mantine I choose you!"
"You up Pichu!" Ricki said turning to Pichu who leaped onto a platform in front of Ricki.
"Remember Ricki, you can move across the platforms just not past the red line"
Ricki nodded and prepared for her second gym battle.