Dreamers

by Jaydeis

A series set approximately one generation after the anime. Focuses almost exclusively on the collective journey of several original characters.

3. Chapter 3 Discoveries

Dreamers
Chapter 3
Discoveries

Mount Moon continued to grow larger before the three trainers as they treaded the path towards it. This path seemed to be growing rougher by the minute, the yellowish dirt marked by the footprints of the hundreds of footprints of trainers who had already taken this path being broken more constantly by large rocks embedded halfway into the earth or long gnarled roots that seemed to have failed at submerging themselves fully underground. Such a detail was not much of a problem for the humans as it was for the Dratini, but even he was able to travel over the bumps and stones without too much difficultly, stopping only to listen to the call of a far-off Pokémon.

It was Keria who first tried to make conversation again. "So, how did you two meet?" she asked.

"Who, me and Flip?" Cascata said, looking up at her. "It's kind of funny, actually."

"She was fishing, and her hook became caught on my sleeve..."

"And I thought I had a bite, so..."

"She pulled me into the river..."

"But I pulled him out afterwards, and that was how we met!" Cascata finished.

Keria laughed. "Oh, really? That's a very funny coincidence," she said, shading her eyes to get a better look at Mount Moon. "I assume you've heard of the trainer Ash Ketchum?"

"How could we not have heard of him?" Flip asked, watching his Dratini to make sure it did not fall too far behind.

"I had an excuse to not hear about the new Cerulean City gym leader," Keria said with a smirk. "You don't seem to. The only reason I can think of is that you might have lived in a hole in the ground before you became a trainer."

"Hey!" Flip snapped, looking up suddenly. However, he dropped his anger when he saw Keria's smile since it told him she had only been joking.

"Anyway, it's not a very well known fact, though like most trivia facts rather interesting," Keria started, "that he met the Cerulean City gym leader in a similar way. He jumped into a river, and she literally fished him out."

Cascata looked surprised. "Really? No joke?"

Keria nodded, then paused a moment in thought. "You know, it's actually an intriguing idea. Fishing for a boyfriend. I'll have to try it sometime."

Flip and Cascata both stopped. Flip's face had turned bright red and he seemed completely frozen. Cascata was blushing as well as she stammered in surprise, "H-he's not my boyfriend! What gave you that idea!"

"Oh, he isn't?" Keria asked, looking mildly surprised herself. "My apologies, then. It's just that the way you were walking with him in the rain yesterday and the way you hugged him after that battle... I dunno, little things like that just gave me the wrong impression, I guess. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."

"I'm sorry!" Cascata said for no real reason. "I've always been a little clingy."

Keria smiled. "And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that."

"Yeah, nothing at all," Flip sighed, looking off to one side.

"Be proud of your faults, they make you more interesting. That's what I think, anyway. Well, it seems we've finally arrived at Mount Moon," Keria stated, striding up to a large sign. It had a map on it detailing all the different routes that existed through Mount Moon and the approximate time for each. She and her two fellow trainers started studying it carefully.

"So, which one should we take?" Flip asked, looking at the key. He could tell that while some of the routes were entirely inside or outside of the caves, most of them, particularly the long ones, had different portions in and out.

"How about this one?" Cascata said, tracing one with her finger. "It's short and straightforward, and it's in the caves for the first half and outside them for the second."

"It's okay, I guess, but-" Keria started.

"Oh!" Flip said. "This one's pretty good! See, it goes along the edge of the mountain, and it goes into a deep cave here. It should give us a chance to see lots of Pokémon!"

Oh, come on, you two, where's your sense of adventure?" Keria said, unfolding her arms. "We have all the time in the world. Why not make the most of this mountain and take the longest route?" She traced the long, winding line for them to see.

"I dunno." Cascata said. "It is really long..."

"And it looks a little dangerous..." Flip spoke.

She smiled reassuringly. "We won't make it back to Cerulean City before dark, but it should show us the best scenery Mount Moon has to offer and I can guarantee we'll see a lot more Pokémon than if we went another way."

It seemed she had said the magic words. "That's right! I've heard stories about how beautiful the view can be from Mount Moon!" Cascata said, her eyes glimmering.

"And I'm always up for more Pokémon! You think we'll find a Clefairy?" Flip said, looking a lot more eager than before.

"We'd be a day late for that. I've heard they've only been seen on Mondays, and unfortunately it is currently Tuesday. Still, anything's possible, I suppose. Let's go!" Keria said, leading the way for the other two.

Flip turned and called, "Come on, Dratini!"

The little dragon lifted its head from investigating some rather uninteresting bushes and slided on its belly back to its trainer. Not a moment later, a Jigglypuff popped out of the bushes and cried, "Jiggly!" while blinking its enormous eyes.

"A Jigglypuff!" Flip said, pulling out a Pokéball. "This is great!"

"Dibs!" Cascata called out, stepping in front of him.

"Hey, no fair! Dratini found it!" Flip said, looking at her sadly.

"But I really like Jigglypuff!" Cascata said, pouting at him and looking with teary eyes. "Let me catch it, please!"

Flip was completely useless in resisting her cuteness. "Fine," he sighed.

"You new trainers. There will always be more Jigglypuff," Keria said, taking a seat on a nearby rock to watch the battle.

"Alright, Cira, let's go!" Cascata said, throwing a Pokéball. The Pidgey appeared instantly, holding up its wings to show that it was ready to fight.

"Purgey purge!" it cooed.

The Jigglypuff was quick to act, throwing the weight of its marshmallow-like body onto the bird. However, since this wasn't really very much weight at all, the Pidgey was only knocked back a little bit.

"Sand-attack!"

The Pidgey began blowing up sand with its wings, hitting the Jigglypuff straight in its enormous eyes. Being unable to see the opponent, the Jigglypuff decided to sing it to sleep instead, but the moment it opened its mouth some sand landed in there, too, causing it to cough and sputter instead.

"Now, use Quick Attack!" Cascata called, getting an empty Pokéball ready.

The Jigglypuff managed to rub some of the sand out of its eyes, but only to find the Pidgey gone. It looked around, confused, only to be dive-bombed from behind by the small bird. It went rolling a few feet and bumped into a tree.

"You're mine, Jigglypuff!" Cascata called out, throwing the Pokéball at the puffball. It wriggled around for a few moments, but the ball broke open and the Jigglypuff appeared again. "It's not weak enough. Tackle it, Cira!"

The Pidgey lifted itself into the air again, then dived upon the balloon Pokémon. It rolled forward again, this time stopping right in front of Cascata. The Pokémon stood up, stumbling a bit.

"Perfect!" Cascata said, tossing another Pokéball on it. The ball rolled around as the Jigglypuff tried to escape, but this time it failed to do such. It stopped and Cascata heard her Pokédex being updated. "I did it!"

"Not bad. I'd say that was a great start for today," Keria said. "So, ready to go?"

"Just a minute, just a minute! I want to give my new Pokémon a nickname," Cascata said, pulling out her Pokédex and checking the information on the Jigglypuff. "Aw! My Jigglypuff's a girl!" She looked up in thought. "I think I'll call her Cream!"

"As in creampuff, right? Cute," Keria said, standing up.

"Uh-huh!" Cascata said, smiling. She held out a Pokéball. "Great job, Cira! Return!"

"Alright, now, let's go!" Flip said, posing dramatically. "Mount Moon, here we come!"

There was a pause.

"Say, Keria, which way was it, again?"

---

"Light the way for us, Montague!" Keria called, her voice echoing off the walls of the cave. There was the sound of a Pokéball dropping on the hard ground, and in a burst of light a Jolteon appeared before the three trainers.

"Jowlt!" it barked, and the spikes of its hair began crackling with electricity. Soon a glow appeared around it similar to one of a lightbulb, making it possible to see in the darkness of the cave.

The entire cave seemed to glisten with the light reflecting off the surfaces of many crystals too tiny to be seen. Through the labyrinth of stone formations a clear path could be seen that was lightly dusted with sand. This was the only way to go, so the trio began walking it.

"Come on, Dratini, don't get distracted," Flip said, noting that his dragon Pokémon was deciding instead to wind around on the sides, poking its head into any little hole in the way.

"Might as well let him, Flip," Cascata said, watching the Dratini explore. "He might flush out a Pokémon or two that way."

"Speaking of which, I get to catch the next one we encounter," Flip said, still looking a bit unhappy.

"Of course. In fact, how about we take turns?" she suggested. "You get the next one, I get the one after that, you get the one after that, and so on. Making exceptions, of course, for Pokémon the other has already caught, favorites..."

"That works for me," Flip said, looking around for another Pokémon.

"You know, if I didn't have such a large Pokémon collection already, I might be a little upset you're not including me in this little agreement," Keria said, watching her Jolteon.

"Oh, sorry!" Cascata said. "If you want-"

"Like I just said, I'm not actually upset," she responded, looking over her shoulder. "However, if we come across an Onix, I would like to have it. That is probably one of the only ones in Mount Moon I haven't caught. Well, besides Clefairy, but I have a feeling it'd be difficult to talk either of you into letting catch a Clefairy if we happen to see one. Anyway, is that alright?"

"Sure thing, Keria," Flip said. "How many Pokémon do you have, anyway?"

She laughed. "If you must know, my Pokédex is well over 200 and counting."

The other two said in unison, "Over 200!"

"I've been training for four years, so what do you expect?" Keria said, smiling smugly. "That's about average. I've been meaning to catch more, but I've focused more on training my team. It's nice to have a lot of Pokémon, but in the end it's not how many you have that determines how good of a trainer you are; it's how strong of a team you can build."

"So, the average trainer catches about fifty Pokémon per year?" Flip asked, trying to calculate it in his head.

"No, of course not. The number changes. The first year a trainer usually has about a hundred Pokémon in their Pokédex since they don't have any of the common ones. They catch less and less each year as they have less well known Pokémon to catch. It's not uncommon for a trainer to always catch about half as many new Pokémon one year as he did the year before. Of course, the average goes up all the time as people learn about new Pokémon and their habitats," Keria explained.

"That sort of makes sense," Cascata said. "There sure are a lot of Pokémon in the world, aren't there?"

"More than we'll ever know, I think," Keria said. "It's a pretty big world. And there are some who believe there might be even more Pokémon in space."

The conversation was cut off by a curious squeak and the flapping of wings. A Zubat fluttered down from the ceiling and began circling, or at least flying in some sort of shape, around the heads of the three. It did a complete turn around Flip's head and brushed against his nose, dropping down accidentally and flying straight between Keria's legs before rising up again and settling awkwardly in Cascata's hair. The girl also made a curious squeak as it turned its head to look at her with a lack of eyes.

"A-a-ahm..." she started, doing her best not to show she was afraid. "C...could you... uh... y-you know... do s-something about this... Zubat?" It flapped its wings a bit, causing her to let out a small shriek that wasn't quite enough to scare it away from its spot upon her head.

"Heh!" Keria laughed. "Scared of a little Zubat, are we?"

"Normally I wouldn't be, b-but..." Cascata started, trying to look up at the Zubat on her head. "It, uh... seems kinda hungry..." The bat attempted to drain some energy from her head, but was stopped by the hair and decided to just chew on that instead.

"Yeah, sure, Cascata," Keria said. "Though you do make a good point. And it might ruin your hair if it keeps trying to eat it like that."

Flip was approaching slowly with a Pokéball in his hand. "It's okay, Cassie. Just stay perfectly still, alright?"

The Zubat lifted up its head as if to look at him for a moment, and the boy froze. It wiggled its ears a few times, then went back to trying to get some blood from the hair. Flip took another step closer and dropped the Pokéball on it. The bat was sucked into the sphere and it bounced off Cascata's head and onto the ground. The Pokémon wrestled furiously to escape the Pokéball, causing it to ricochet off some of the rocks on the cave floor. However, despite this, before it could break out it seemed to start calming down, and slowly yet surely the Pokéball stopped moving altogether. Flip picked it up.

"That had to be the luckiest catch I've ever seen," Cascata said, smoothing out her hair. "Good job!"

"Well, Zubats have never been known to be the most difficult Pokémon in the world to catch," Keria said. "But you two are making progress already, I think. Shall we continue, then?"

Before she finished saying then, they started hearing something. It sounded like some sort of singing, though it was faint and distorted by echoes and thus none of them could make out what it was. It had a very mystic tone to it and consisted mostly of the same three nones over and over.

"What in the world?" Flip said. Then he gasped as he managed to make out what was being said for those same three notes."

"Clefairy..."

"What is it, Flip?" Cascata asked in a whisper.

"A Clefairy!" he spoke, his eyes very wide.

"Are you sure?" Keria said, boggling. "I mean, I suppose it makes sense. Clefairies can't just disappear on every day of the week but Monday. They have to live... somewhere..." She jumped up, holding the Jolteon in her arms. "Wait! If we can find that one, maybe it can lead us to where they live!"

Cascata's eyes grew very large. "A whole colony of Clefairy?"

Keria grinned. "Exactly!"

Cascata squealed.

"Keep your voices down!" Flip said, and the two girls instantly became quiet. "Now, let's go. I think it's coming from that direction," he said, pointing off into the darkness.

The three of them began walking as quietly as they could manage, and they found that the voice was indeed growing a bit louder. Dratini, noting that they were leaving, quickly checked another hole and then followed. A Paras, completely unnoticed, poked its head out after, looked around a minute, then returned to its nap.

After a short trip down one of the more curved and narrow passages of the cave, Keria, Flip, Cascata, the Jolteon, and Dratini all poked their heads around the wall separating them from a larger room in the cave. They saw no Clefairy. They continued further into the cave, still listening to the strange song. None of them could doubt now that it was indeed a Clefairy, and they all expected at any moment for the little Pokémon to appear before them.

The singing was very peaceful, actually. Almost hypnotic. Cascata let out a small yawn, but they all continued on, determined to find the fairy Pokémon.

The voice was starting to echo in their ears. "Clefairy... Clefairy... Clefairy... Cle-"

"Groooooo-nix!"

They all jumped in surprise. Flip found Dratini coiled on his head and Keria found her Jolteon in her arms.

"An Onix!" Keria exclaimed, looking around excitedly. "Where could it be?"

However, before she ever laid eyes on it, the ground began shaking beneath them. Cracks started appearing in the ground, and a stalactite came loose from the ceiling and shattered behind them. The floor caved in beneath them moments before pieces of it went flying up with the head of an Onix, which let out another rumbling roar above them.

"It's enormous!" Cascata squeaked, clinging to Flip for safety.

"It sure is!" Keria said, grinning wildly. "And it shall be mine! Montague, Double Kick!"

The Jolteon leapt up onto the Onix's body and began running as fast as its electric legs could take it. The Onix tried to shake it off, but the Jolteon was more than nimble enough to stay on the giant snake. The Jolteon reached the head and delivered a mighty kick to the left cheek with its hind legs, causing shards of stone to scatter off.

The Onix was able to grab the electric type in two enormous jaws and throw it back to the ground. Keria ran over to where her Pokémon landed only to see it leap back to its feet, still ready to fight. The Onix did not seem to be as willing, however, and burrowed back beneath the cave floor. The tunnel collapsed behind it with a deafening crash, and the Pokémon was gone.

"No!" Keria cried, falling to her knees. "No, no, no, no, no! That wasn't supposed to happen! Agh, it's not fair! Why do all the Onix continue to elude me!"

Flip and Cascata were looking around the collapsed area they had fallen into. "You old trainers," Flip said.

"There will always be more Onix," Cascata finished, mimicking Keria to the best of her ability.

"That's not funny!" the trainer shouted, jumping to her feet. "It's a lot harder to catch an Onix than it is... a..." She trailed off, switching from anger to a blank stare very quickly.

"What is it?" Flip asked. Keria only responded by pointing behind him. He turned around to see what she was staring at.

Lying on a large boulder directly behind him was a Clefairy. "Fair..." it murmured in pain.

The three sat frozen in place for a moment. Then, Flip slowly scooped the little Pokémon into his arms and started looking at it closely.

"I don't believe this!" he said as Cascata peeped over his shoulder. "This a Clefairy! A real Clefairy! I never actually thought I would get to see one, never mind hold one!"

"Is it hurt?" Cascata asked.

"Actually, no. It looks like it's fine. Maybe it bumped its head, though," he said, touching the Pokémon on the forehead.

As if responding to his touch, the Pokémon's eyes fluttered open and its wings flapped a few times. "Clefaaairy," it sang, jumping out of his arms. It rubbed it's head, then looked up at Flip. "Clefaaairy!"

"Hello," he said, smiling at it.

"Clefairy!" it said happily, dancing around a bit. Then, it jumped back on the rock they had found it on, and from there jumped onto Flip's head.

"I think it likes you," Cascata giggled.

"Really?" Flip said, looking up at the fairy Pokémon.

"Fairy fairy!" it sang.

"May I see it?" Keria asked, walking towards them. "This is the first time I've seen a Clefairy and-"

Keria was cut off by the floor collapsing beneath her, causing her to fall straight down. She screamed for a moment, and then was cut offagain by a loud splash.

Flip and Cascata peered down the hole, the Clefairy still resting atop Flip's head. They could only see the dark shape of Keria due to a dim blue glow coming from around her. She looked around a moment, and a few ripples appeared and vanished accompanied with a very small splashing sound. Her head shifted, and now they could see the light reflecting off her eyes since she was looking up at them.

"Uh, do either of you have a rope?"

Flip and Cascata looked at one another. "No," Flip said.

"Sorry!" Cascata called down.

"Perfect. Well, don't just sit there! Find someone who does!" Keria yelled back up. "This water is really cold!"

"How are we supposed to do that?" Flip yelled back.

"There should be other trainers in this cave somewhere. Send your Pokémon to find them! Your flying types should do it in no time!" the voice of Keria echoed from within.

The two stood up. "Alright then. Go, Cira!" Cascata said, throwing a Pokéball to the ground.

"Go, Spazzy!" Flip called, doing the same. The Pidgey and the Zubat appeared beside each other. The Pidgey began preening its feathers while the Zubat began flying in circles.

"You named your Zubat Spazzy?" Cascata asked.

"Yeah," Flip said, holding his arm out for the bat to land on. "It just seemed like a fitting name. Why?"

"Oh, I was just a bit curious, but a name's a name, I guess," she said. "Okay, Cira, I want you to fly around and look for another trainer. When you find them, bring them back here, okay?"

The Pidgey chirped, "Purdge!" and fluttered off.

"Help her out, Spazzy," Flip said, and the Zubat stopped trying to gnaw at its trainer's arm and followed after the bird.

"Your Zubat is a little strange, don't you think?" Cascata said, watching it fly crookedly away.

"A little, yeah, I guess," Flip said. "Of course, things stop seeming very strange when there's a fairy sitting on your head."

"Clefairy!" the Clefairy said, smiling happily and braiding the boy's bangs for no real reason.

"I suppose I should catch this Clefairy, but I get the feeling it's not going to be running off anytime soon. It seems very content where it is," he said, looking up at it.

"It's such a cute Pokémon!" Cascata squealed, rubbing the top of the Clefairy's head.

"Fair fairy!" it laughed.

"It's so rare, and I've heard they can be really strong," Flip said. "I like it. I think I'm going to call this one Sugar. Like a sugarplum fairy, you know."

Cascata laughed. "Cream and Sugar?"

He paused. "Hey, I didn't even think about that. Now all we need is a Pokémon nicknamed Coffee and we'll be all set!"

The two laughed a while before they heard Keria calling from inside the hole.

"Hey!" she yelled, trying to get their attention.

"Oh, what is it now, Keria?" Flip asked.

"Guys, this pool of water... I think it may be lined with Moon Stone!"

The two suddenly found themselves staring down the hole again excitedly. "Seriously!" Cascata asked.

"I can't tell for sure. It's too dark. Montague, do you think you could jump down for me?" her voice echoed.

"Joul-teon!" he called. The Jolteon had been sitting at the edge of the hole from the moment Keria fell down it. Without a second thought, the electric Pokémon jumped down into the hole.

As soon as he reached the bottom, the entire cave Keria was floating in lit up with the Jolteon's light and glowed a mystic greenish blue. There was no doubt about it now, even for Flip and Cascata. The cave was completely lined in a sheet of Moon Stone.

"This is incredible," she said to herself as the Jolteon swam over and beganlicking her face. "My father once told me that the largest piece of the Moon Stone meteorite was the core, and that it had been shattered by a large explosion of some sort back when he was a trainer! He said that after that had been destroyed, the largest piece that exists on earth was only about the size of a basketball." She hugged her Jolteon close. "This means enormous things! If we could miss a piece of the meteorite that's this big, buried deep in the heart of Mount Moon..."

"And if a fossil like the Lunadrago could go undiscovered for so long..." Flip spoke, looking up at Cascata.

"What else could be hidden in this mountain?" Cascata finished.

Keria looked around in the chamber as she pocketed the Moon Stone. "It's so beautiful..." She noticed something strange that seemed to have been embedded on either side in the Moon Stone lining. The girl squinted a bit, and then let out a small gasp.

The mystery objects seemed to be bones, and they arranged themselves in a pattern that looked like massive wings. She turned around, and saw the skeleton of what appeared to be an enormous dragon. There were some missing with the indents of where they had been left behind as the biggest clue that they had fallen out, and the ribs only poked out a little since they had been eroded by the water.

Before she could yell to the others, something else caught her attention. At the very bottom of the pool, there were some of the missing bones, Moon Stones, pieces of something thin and white, and what appeared to be old coins. Keria took a deep breath and dived under the water to take a look at the debris without the surface distorting the view. It was still somewhat unclear, so she swam close and picked up one of the coins in her hand only to discover it was a soft decayed scale of some sort, a very dull and faded blue. She admired it for a bit before dropping it and moving onto one of the white shards. She nearly let go of her breath as she realized it was a piece of eggshell. Her mind started humming with joy as she began thinking about how labs in Cinnabar had reconstructed Pokémon from DNA from fossils. Keria found a piece of the eggshell large enough to fit over her head, and as she lifted it up to get a better look at it she saw something beneath it that made her know she needed to take another breath. Her head returned to the surface and she gasped for air.

"Did you find something, Keria?" Cascata asked.

"Yes!" she yelled before diving again. She lifted her find up in both hands as she resurfaced a second time, turning it over and finding it was in absolutely perfect condition. Her breaths became rapid, and she could feel her heart racing with excitement.

"Keria, what's that? It almost looks like..." Flip said, trying to make out what the object was.

Keria held it close to her body. "This is possibly the greatest thing I've ever found in my four years of training Pokémon! This is... I don't believe this!" She held it up in both hands. "This is an ancient Pokémon egg!"

---

The wind brushed through the rough, thin grasses that surrounded him on all sides. He took in a deep breath of fresh air and let out a long, contented sigh as he mentally noted what a nice day it was. Clouds had begun moving in, but these were all too light and thin to not be torn by the wind every time they seemed to be clumping together. The sun had already reached its peak in the sky for the day and was well on its way back down, and he had a feeling that in a few hours or so he wouldn't welcome the cool breeze as much as he did now. Below the sky was a lush green bed of treetops, and at one place on the horizon he could start to see the ocean beyond. Somewhere far off, a bird Pokémon of some sort let the world hear its song.

"Perfect day for a nap," he yawned, stretching his arms out across the grass. With that said, he closed his eyes and listened to the wind.

"Grow growl! Gro-oowlithe!" a Pokémon barked from beside him. His eyes opened again to see an excited looking Growlithe with its tail wagging starting to tug on the corner of his long brown coat, giving a clear message that it wanted to play. He grinned and looked around quickly. An ordinary stick was located, so he picked it up, waved it around for the puppy to see, then threw it forward. He sat up so he could watch the Growlithe retrieve it.

Something green dangled in front of his vision. A blade of the grass somehow had made its way into his bangs, so he pulled it off and allowed it to be swept up by the next breeze. His hair was completely black except for the bright shines and, oddly enough, the same seemed to be for the irises of his eyes. He thought back for a brief moment to when he was much younger and would sometimes wonder why his eyes were so dark. He quickly pulled his mind back in, deciding that he would play with his Growlithe now and let his mind wander off again later.

The fire puppy trotted back to him, holding the stick in his mouth ready to be thrown again. It showed no reluctance in letting go of it, though the boy did when he realized the stick had caught on fire. The Growlithe caught it again, fire and all, and brought it back once more.

"Maybe it would be a better idea to not have a fire Pokémon retrieve flammable objects," he remarked, rubbing the Growlithe on the top of its head and taking the stick from it by the very end where the fire had not spread yet. He tossed it onto the sand-covered path. "Hey, could you go kick some dirt on it, Pax?"

The Growlithe jumped up eagerly and ran over to the stick, picking it up again and starting to head back to its owner.

"No, Pax, go back," he ordered. "Yeah, right there. Now drop it."

The Pokémon cocked its head slightly, trying to understand. It placed the stick back on the ground and looked at it before turning back towards the human, tail still wagging excitedly.

"Now kick some dirt on it. Good. Okay, now kick more dirt on it. Yes, like that. Good boy!" the owner commanded, dictating every step to the puppy.

It didn't mind that it didn't understand what was going on since it must have been doing something well to be called a good boy. Dirt flew through the air behind it, and the flame was smothered. The Growlithe barked again and ran back onto the grass, jumping on the boy's chest and making him fall backwards the short distance into the grass. He rubbed its head, and for a while the two just sat there while the human's thoughts went back into space again.

They crashed back to the ground swiftly and suddenly when his Growlithe returned to having all paws on the grass and growled at the nearby cave entrance. The Pokémon started barking loudly as a Zubat flew out in a jerking manner.

"Ignore it, Pax, there's a million more inside the cave," he sighed, picking up a long blade of grass and observing it.

However, despite his relative relaxed attitude about the Pokémon, he still jumped up and yelled in surprise when it dropped in his lap and started snapping at his knees.

The Zubat returned to the air immediately, and the Growlithe leapt at it in a failed attempt to stop it. The human just watched in a somewhat stunned manner, trying to figure out what had gotten into this Pokémon, until he heard something else coming from the cave. A Pidgey flew out in a more graceful manner than the hyperactive bat and grabbed the bottom of his long coat with its talons in an attempt to pull him towards the cavern's entrance.

"Something's up, Pax," he said, failing to keep his coat away from the bird. "I've never heard of a Pidgey living in a cave. Leave that Zubat alone and come on!"

He ran into the cave as the Pidgey let go and began flying beside him. Pax the Growlithe, more interested in its owner's orders than a crazy Pokémon, was almost instantly right on his heels. The Zubat flew in a few circles and made some screechy squeaking sounds before remembering that it was supposed to come back and diving after the three.

---

"Okay, Cassie, here's a thought. You've got that fishing pole of yours that managed to pull Flip out of the river, right? Why not use that?" Keria asked from below, still admiring the egg.

"Well, I considered that, but I don't think it would work. The cave looks too deep for one thing, and... um..." Cascata said, her voice dropping swiftly. "...it only just managed to pull him out, and... he's, well, smaller than you, you know? I don't want to risk breaking the line. Sorry."

They could hear the older sigh even with the great distance between them. "Okay, fine, I get the point, I'm not exactly lightweight. I was already aware of that."

"Sorry!"

"And stop apologizing so much. It's not even your fault."

"Oh! Sorry!"

Keria let out a frustrated sigh. "Cascata..."

"Anyway, how many Moon Stones have you found?" Flip asked, quickly changing the subject.

"There's a lot of them, but not many I can fit in my pockets. We'll have to get these bigger ones out somehow later," Keria said, still hugging onto the egg tightly.

"Pur-gee!" a familiar coo came from the side. Cascata turned and saw her little bird flying back, closely followed by a person wearing a large coat and a Growlithe. In the back, she could see the Zubat every now and then, but not long enough to make out more than its blue wings flapping furiously.

"Oh!" she said, standing up. "Thank goodness! Cira found someone. Hey, you there! Could you help us out?"

The trainer approached to a distance that even the dim light coming from Jolteon in the cave allowed Flip and Cascata to get a good look at him. He towered over the two of them and might have been tall enough to see over the top of Keria's head, though it was difficult to judge exactly without Keria actually being there. The brown coat swept about him like a cape of some sort. The only other noticeable piece of clothing was a red cloth tied around his neck like a camper might have except looser. He gave a very friendly and relaxed smile. "I guess, if I can. What's the problem?" he said, speaking a bit slower and calmer than most.

Flip turned towards the pit. "Our friend fell down a hole."

"Not on purpose, I hope," the trainer said, walking over and looking downwards.

"No, the floor just kinda collapsed beneath her," Cascata explained.

"So, do you have something that could pull her out? Like a rope?" Flip asked, looking back up at the other boy.

"I have something better than a rope," he said, reaching into one of the deep pockets of his coat and pulling out a Pokéball. "Go, Verd!"

A blue toad-like Pokémon with a budding flower on its back appeared from the Pokéball, turning its head towards the cave ceiling and calling "Ivysaaaaur!" It blinked and looked around confused, unaccustomed to the dark.

"Verd, could you reach down with your vines and lift their friend out of that hole?" the boy asked, kneeling to rub his Pokémon's head.

The Ivysaur grinned back and two vines appeared from the base of his flower, extending themselves into the whole and wrapping around the girl's waist. She was somewhat surprised by this, but had the sense to shift the egg so that she was holding it in one arm and wrapping her other arm around the waist of her Jolteon before she was lifted out of the cave pool and set back onto the rough stone floor of the cave. Her Jolteon leapt from her arms and shook itself dry. Water was already forming in pools at her feet, and her clothes clung tightly to her body.

"Ah, thank goodness! I was afraid I was going to be stuck down there all day," she said, using her one free hand to tuck a lock of wet hair behind one ear. "I don't know how to thank you... uh..."

His face turned a bit red and he didn't make eye contact with her. "The name's Lucien. You know, you might want to zip up that vest of yours," he said, still looking somewhat below her face.

"What? Why?" she asked, then gazed downwards and remembered what happens when a white shirt gets wet. Keria let out a surprised yelping sound and turned bright red while fumbling with the wet zipper of her vest with her one free hand.

"Anyway, my name is Flip, and this is Cascata," Flip said, doing his best to avoid looking at the sight.

"Uh huh," Lucien said, not turning to look at either of them.

"And her name is Keria."

"Uh huh."

"We're all Pokémon trainers, though Keria's the only one with much experience."

"Uh huh."

"We've been getting a lot of stuff in here, have you? Cascata and I both have caught some new Pokémon, and the cave Keria fell into is full of Moon Stones."

"Uh huh."

"By the way, a Mankey flew by here about an hour ago. You might want to be careful. He had a robotic arm and looked like he was trained in deadly ninja arts."

"Uh huh."

"You're not listening to a word I'm saying."

"Uh huh."

"Which I suppose means Keria is having trouble with the zipper on her vest."

"Uh huh." Lucien said, right before Keria hit him in the head.

"Well, at least he was honest," Cascata said, holding a hand over her mouth in an attempt to stop giggling.

"Alright, look that way," Keria snapped, forcing Lucien's head to point off to the side. "And hold this." She pushed the Pokémon egg into his arms, allowing her to use her left hand again and zip up the vest.

"What are you so upset about? You should be proud of your body. I was merely enjoying your beauty for as long as I could, just as one would pause to observe artwork. Is it not natural for one to do such?" Lucien said, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

She finished closing her vest and took the egg back from him. "A girl's diary might be a literary masterpiece, but that still doesn't give you a right to read it. If you really think so highly of my chest, you should respect it and not stare."

Lucien sighed. "Ah, well, I suppose you're right. Now, then, would you people care to join me for lunch?"

Keria blinked in surprise. "Wait, what?"

He smiled and turned towards Flip and Cascata. "I'm sure I could make enough food for all of us, although I admit I hadn't planned any company today."

"We'd love to!" Cascata said, hugging her Pidgey.

"Yeah, thanks. But first there's some big moonstones Keria wanted to get out of the cave as well." Flip said, his Zubat chewing contently on his shoulder.

"Ah, no problem! Verd should be able to lift them out, right?" Lucien said, looking down.

"Saaaaur!" Verd cheered, shaking the plant on his back.

Lucien looked back up "Though I expect to get at least one of them. You know, as payment of some sort."

"Oh, sure, no problem!" Flip responded. "We're just happy to have some help. In fact, you can have the biggest one!"

As they set to work, Keria stood off to the side, still somewhat surprised. "Lucien, huh? He's without a doubt a pervert, and yet he's polite, admitted he was wrong, wasn't angry or disappointed at all... he even complimented me. Huh." She smirked to herself and held the egg tightly. "This guy definitely has potential."

"Potential for what?" Cascata had walked away from Flip and Lucien, and has managed to hear the end of what Keria was saying to herself. "As a Pokémon trainer?"

Keria laughed. "Ah, Cascata, you're more young and naive than I thought. But I'm sure you'll soon realize that there are some better catches out there than any Pokémon."

Cascata puzzled over this for a moment. "So, you mean... Lucien has the potential to catch these better things?"

"Not quite," Keria chuckled, shaking her head. Cascata walked away, still very confused.

Flip and Lucien were sitting on either side of the hole, watching as the Ivysaur pulled the first large Moon Stone out of the darkness. It had to be at least three feet in diameter. Lucien whistled to show he was impressed.

"Amazing. Absolutely amazing. This one alone has got to be worth a fortune. Sell it and you could live like royalty." Lucien said, taking it from the Ivysaur's vines and setting it on the ground. He ran a hand across the smooth, wet surface. "You guys are probably the luckiest people alive."

"You're telling me! And you saw that egg Keria found, right? Museums and labs alike are probably going to offer more money than any of us has ever seen for it. Though she probably won't part with it for any small sum of money anyway, and I don't blame her," Flip said, gazing off into the cave. "Oh, and we won't just be rich, either. These are the biggest Moon Stones that have been seen in years. We'll be famous!"

Lucien looked up. "Fame and fortune. The dream of so many who walk this planet. Wonder if it's as nice as everyone imagines it."

"Hey, guys?" Cascata asked, looking around with a worried expression. "Do you hear that?"

Flip and Lucien looked at each other. "Hear what, Cascata?" Flip asked.

"You mean that buzzing sound?" Keria said, standing up. "Yeah, I noticed that a while ago. You can hear it very well from inside that hole. I think it might be miners drilling."

Cascata shook her head. "No, not that! I mean that rumbling! Listen!"

They all stopped talking at once, and the buzzing Keria had mentioned was suddenly underlined by a very low rumbling sound, and it wasn't too hard to tell that they were coming from the same source. Not to mention that it was getting louder. A single tiny stone dislodged itself from the ceiling and dropped into the hole, creating a faint splash sound. Then a larger one fell off to the side of the large ditch they had been standing in. They became aware that this was happening all around them, and the smaller ones began jumping off the ground as soon as they landed. Everything around them was vibrating.

"Guys, I think we should run," Cascata said, starting to back towards the general direction of the exit.

"Considering the cave is collapsing, yes, that'd be smart," Lucien said with only the smallest hint of worry in his voice as he stood up.

The four and their Pokémon started to run as a stalactite broke off from the ceiling and plummeted, narrowly missing Flip and hitting the second large Moon Stone. It broke into many pieces, the largest of which being knocked back into the hole and crashing against the side. They started heading towards an exit only to watch it cave in before them and swiftly ran to another. Chunks of the ceiling were falling on every side. Further on the floor collapsed beneath Cascata's foot and sent her plummeting into some cavern below.

"Cass!"

Flip leapt after her, ignoring any kind of common sense, and he was followed by Keria, Lucien, and then the Pokémon. This cave was collapsing even more than the one above. They were surrounded by chaos, made even more intimidating by the scattered way the Jolteon's light hit the surfaces of the things around them. They started panicking until they noticed it was pierced by the distant light of an exit.

"Over there!"

"Let's go!"

The last sprint was by far the hardest with the cave threatening to completely fall apart at any moment. Keria let out a shriek as a large rock collided into her left arm and she immediately slowed down a lot, focusing more on not dropping the egg than escaping with her life. Lucien spun around in response and scooped her up in his arms, making a frenzied dash for the exit as the ceiling started to completely break away behind them. The group finally ran into the open sunlight, but Flip tripped over something and caused the others to fall on top of him. A cloud of dust came from behind as the rock behind them shifted and the tunnel caved in. Pax was the first to get up and immediately starting licking his trainer's face.

"Hey! Someone just ran out of the cave!" a voice called out as the group started to slowly lift themselves up again.

"What? That's impossible! We closed off that tunnel from both ends!" a second voice said, and a miner appeared, standing atop a nearby boulder. "What? Agh, not more crazy trainers! You could've gotten yourselves killed!"

Flip looked up from beneath the pile, his face covered in dirt. "Did you make the cave collapse?"

The miner puffed out his chest. "Well, yeah! Not on purpose, mind you, but there was bound to be some damage to this cave since we were mining so close."

Keria jumped to her feet suddenly, knocking everyone around her off to the side. "Well, you caused a lot more than just this one cave in! We weren't anywhere near this one, but the cave we were in started to collapse, too, and while we were running out we fell from above into this one! Didn't it even occur to you the effects might be more spread out than one little tunnel?"

"Our apologies, miss," the first voice came again, and a second miner appeared, this one considerably younger. "I told him his calculations were off when he was figuring out the area of effect, but he wouldn't listen."

The older miner crossed his arms and growled, "Oh, sure, blame it on me. Besides, these kids are probably lying! Come on, we've got work to do." With that, he walked off, leaving the younger miner to just shake his head.

"Well, you still have my apologies," he said, laughing slightly. "Are you alright? Oh, miss, your arm!"

She winced a bit as she looked at it. It had been scraped fairly badly. "Ah, yeah, I know. Wait, if my arm was hurt this much, then... eep! The egg!" She began turning it over in her hands, inspecting it carefully.

Flip stood up and looked behind him at the rubble that blocked what had been the cave entrance. "The Moon Stones..."

"Fairy," the Clefairy said, sitting on his shoulder and patting the back of his head to comfort him.

Cascata stood up. "I know, Flip, but there's nothing we can do about them now. They're buried in there somewhere."

The miner looked confused. "What Moon Stones are you talking about?"

Lucien shook his head. "Ah, don't ask right now. Come on, we really ought to do something about her arm."

"Thank goodness!" Keria said, hugging the egg tightly. "Not a single crack. I want this to stay perfect."

"Keria, remember that it's just an old egg," Lucien said, taking off the cloth around his neck. "And you almost let yourself get crushed back there for it. How about getting your priorities in order, hmm?" He took the red piece of fabric and tied it tightly around the wound.

"Excuse me if I don't think well on my feet, okay!" she snapped, pulling her arm away quickly. "You know as well as I do that there's no chance I'll ever find another egg like this, and at the time I still thought I would be able to make it outside in time! I'm not perfect, you know!"

He just shook his head and laughed. "Awfully defensive, aren't we? I never accused you of being perfect. I'm just saying that there are better things to die for than an egg."

Keria glared at him for a moment before turning away. "Look, I already told you, I don't think well on my feet. Would you just leave me alone about it?"

"You know, you're getting really upset over someone being concerned about you," Lucien said, suddenly changing his expression to a much more serious one. "I help you out of that hole, I save you from being crushed by rocks, and I bandage your arm and tell you to be a little more careful. And I get this. Not a word of thanks, just anger."

"First off, I already thanked you for helping me out of the hole! Second, I didn't need your help to get out of the cave in time!" she shouted back. "Yeah, you're right, it wasn't smart of me to hold onto the egg, but it wasn't like we made it out just in the nick of time!"

"Oh, my mistake, then, since you obviously would have made it out with that whole extra half-second between when we got out of the cave and when it collapsed. But I wasn't asking for your gratitude, just for you to listen to what I'm saying without taking it as some sort of attack on your character!" he snapped.

"Then stop giving me such a hard time about that one mistake!"

"I'm not giving you a hard time!"

"That's enough, you two!" Flip said, causing the two to turn towards him. "Just drop it. Relax. We just lost an enormous find and we almost lost our lives. It's only natural for you guys to be worked up. But the last thing we need right now is for you both to make things worse by arguing over nothing. So just let it be."

The two looked at each other for a moment before turning away in frustration.

"Fine."

"Fine!"

"Good. Now I want you to kiss and make up, just to be sure this doesn't start again," Flip said, crossing his arms.

"What!" Keria demanded.

"Hmm? I thought you'd agree to that solution," Flip responded, tilting his head slightly.

"And what, exactly, gave you that idea!" she stammered, her face starting to turn red.

"Oh, come on, do you think I'm deaf? I could hear you talking to yourself about Lucien's potential as a boyfriend."

"Is that what she meant?" Cascata asked. "Ah, I get it now!"

Lucien grinned. "Why, Keria, I'm flattered. Why didn't you say something? If I had thought that all this anger was just the manifestation of your feelings for me..."

She backed away from the others. "Will you all cut it out? I was considering him. I wasn't pledging my undying love for him. How's a girl supposed to find true love if she doesn't explore all her feelings, great or small?"

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Ah, but you admit you have feelings for me! So, tell me, do they fall in the great category or the small category?"

"Currently, they're dropping into the negatives," Keria said through clenched teeth.

"Excuse me," the young miner said, approaching them again, "but I've just thought of a way to make up for the trauma we've caused you all. We're going to be quitting for the day in a little while, and perhaps you'd like to join us for dinner when we do. I might even be able to convince the others to let you all spent the night at our campsite."

"Is it that late already?" Cascata asked.

Lucien turned his head towards the horizon. "I'd say based on the sun's position, there'll be a little over an hour of daylight left, maybe two. Definitely not enough time to reach either Pewter City or Cerulean City. And I don't know about any of you, but I'm not the sort of person who'd pass up a free dinner."

Flip nodded. "I think we can all agree on that last point."

---

"Absolutely not!"

"Oh, come on!" the younger miner pleaded to the older one. "It's not like we don't have enough food anyway. And it was our fault..."

"For the last time, it wasn't! It was their own for being there. I'll not share my meal with some dumb trainers who can't stay out of trouble!" the man bellowed angrily. The shouts of the other miners rose to show they were on the older miner's side.

Flip and his friends had backed awkwardly into the corner of the tent while the two argued. He shook his head. "Maybe this wasn't a great idea after all." The other three nodded in agreement.

The younger miner slammed his hand down on the table he and the other miner were standing over. "It's not fair! You know as well as I do that they're not making it up! They were almost killed because of a stupid mistake on our part, and the least we can do is give them something to eat for dinner!"

"When you become my boss, you can decide what's fair and what's not! Until then, we're not eating with these kids!" the older miner shouted.

"Alright, I can't take this anymore," Lucien said, stepping forward. "Sir, you carry Pokéballs on your belt, so you must be something of a trainer yourself. Battle with me. If I win, we get dinner. If you win, we leave right away and never bother you again."

The man snorted. "Huh! And why should I? This is my tent, and I could throw you out right now."

Lucien shrugged. "Alright, then. I assumed you weren't a coward, but, meh, we all make mistakes, I suppose."

"Coward!" the man snarled.

"You heard me. Only a coward would be afraid to take up a challenge from a 'dumb trainer' like myself," Lucien said calmly, turning to leave.

"You think you're so smart, don't you?" the older growled under his breath, nearly knocking the other miner to one side.

"No. But I do know I'm not a coward," Lucien said.

"Alright, that's it! You want a battle, kid? Fine! You'll regret the day you challenged me!"

Cascata whispered to Keria, "Does Lucien know what he's doing? That miner's probably been training his Pokémon for years."

Keria turned away in thought. "Well, experience helps, but training for longer doesn't guarantee a better trainer. On the other hand, it doesn't seem like a well thought-out plan. Lucien seems awfully confident, though, which could be either a really good or really bad thing."

Lucien smiled. "Well, then, let's step outside, shall we? I think a one-on-one battle should do. I wouldn't want my dinner to get cold."

"Cocky punk! Let's go!"

The two stepped outside the tent, followed by the other miners who had begun hooting and hollering already. The young miner stayed behind a moment, waiting for the other three trainers who hadn't budged yet.

"I'm sorry about this," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I would have never suggested dinner if I knew the other miners were going to be so against it."

"It's not your fault," Flip said, letting Dratini climb up onto his shoulders again. "We'd better go and see how this turns out."

As the four walked out of the large tent, they could see Lucien and the miner were already in their appropriate positions on either side of an area more than large enough to accommodate as a battle field. The miners were already cheering for their companion, who confidently ripped a Pokéball from its place on his belt.

"Come on, Makuhita! We'll teach this kid who he shouldn't mess with!" he shouted, hurling the Pokéball to the ground.

The fat little Pokémon appeared, punching its fists together and posing to indicate it was ready to battle. Lucien paused for a moment, then reached into one of his large pockets for a Pokéball.

"This shouldn't be too hard. Go, Tarn!" Lucien said, tossing out the ball in an unusually casual manner. A Rhyhorn appeared and stomped the ground, causing the Makuhita to lose its footing.

On the side, Keria let out a loud sigh. "Why did he have to choose a rock type? Rhyhorn's odds of victory are a lot lower than Ivysaur's or Growlithe's, and it looks like it's had about the same amount of experience as that Makuhita. This could be a very short battle."

"Have a bit of confidence in him, Keria," Flip said. "We don't know how they compare as trainers."

"I've got my fingers crossed for him, because his ability as a trainer is probably what this battle's going to come down to. However, the fact that he chose a Rhyhorn against a fighting type when he has better Pokémon for this situation is already saying something about how good of a trainer he is," she remarked.

The Makuhita stabilized itself, taking on a stance very similar to that of a sumo wrestler, and awaited its first command. The miner called out, "Makuhita, Arm Thrust!" and the Pokémon charged at its opponent.

"Tarn, Fury Attack!" Lucien called, and the Rhyhorn began to charge as well.

When the Pokémon both reached the middle of the field, the Rhyhorn lowered its head and mauled the Makuhita with its horn. This caused the Makuhita to be tossed into the air, which it used to its advantage by coming crashing down on the Rhyhorn's head with its extended arm. The Rhyhorn attempted to gore the Makuhita, but the fighting type leapt out of the way and punched with the other arm. It was smacked off to the side by a heavy stone leg of the Rhyhorn, still continuing its attack by landing a third hit on the large beast. The larger Pokémon swung around clumsily and smashed the side of its horn into the Makuhita's head.

Keria was still shaking her head as the two Pokémon brawled. "I told you. He's losing."

The Rhyhorn was knocked back by a fifth punch and was starting to take in longer, deeper breaths. Luckily, the Makuhita's attack rush seemed to have stopped. So had the Rhyhorn's, and he had landed fewer hits. The miner laughed.

Lucien closed his eyes. "This battle's not over yet. Tarn, use Stomp!"

"Makuhita, Vital Throw!"

The Rhyhorn raised up on its back legs for a moment before crashing down with its front legs on the Makuhita. The Makuhita stumbled a bit, and almost seemed as if it was going to fall over, but quickly recovered and grabbed the Rhyhorn by the horn on its nose. It lifted the heavy Pokémon off the ground with an incredible feat of strength and began swinging it around in a circle. When it gained enough momentum, it released the Rhyhorn which was sent flying into a steep side of the mountain. The Rhyhorn stayed there for a moment, its jagged back having created many cracked holes in the rock for it to be stuck in, and then fell to the ground with a loud thud. It attempted to stand, but its knees buckled and it collapsed with a sigh. The miners cheered.

Lucien was stunned. "But... Tarn..."

Jared laughed proudly. "Hah! I told you. Get out of my sight!"

---

The trainers had set their things down in a place a good distance away from the miners' tent. It was on a very wide path that overlooked a peaceful valley between Mount Moon and two other mountains to the north. Off to the side, the mountains curved away just enough to give a wonderful view of the setting sun. The wind had died down a lot and the evening was starting rather warm because of it. A calm buzzing could be heard, though this was not the drill of the miners but the faint, distant noise of bug Pokémon who loved warm evenings like tonight. Everything gave the trainers the impression that summer wasn't too far away.

They sat around a small campfire which snapped and cracked every so often, except for Lucien who was busy digging through his backpack. The fire had a grate suspended above it to hold up whatever they were planning to cook. They had all decided to let their Pokémon out. It was quite a sight. Flip had his three, Dratini, Hazard, and Spazzy, while the Clefairy Sugar had fallen asleep beside him. Cascata's Pokémon were close by, being Wade, Cira, and the newly acquired Cream. Lucien had a contribution of four, being Pax, Verd, Tarn, and a Vaporeon.

"His name is Rio," Lucien had said when the blue Eevee evolution had first appeared before them.

Keria's Pokémon were a large contrast to the many unevolved ones the others owned. There was Brenner, Sandy, and Montague, as well as an Arbok and a Lapras which none of the others had met before.

"The Arbok is Redda, and the Lapras is Nentes," she said, rubbing the head of the massive snake.

"Keria, just out of curiosity, why do you only have five?" Cascata asked. "Most of the trainers who are at tournament level have full teams..."

Keria paused as if in deep thought. "If you must know, the sixth slot is reserved."

"For what?"

"It's a secret," she said.

"Why?"

"Why would I tell you if it's a secret?" Keria responded, smirking.

Lucien pulled an iron pot out of his backpack. "Here we go. I'll have to wash it off, but it should be large enough that I can make us all dinner. It's been a while since I've cooked for anyone but myself."

"Really? Then you've been traveling alone?" Flip asked.

"Since the day I became a trainer," he said.

"Most trainers do," Keria explained. "I traveled with some people for the first two years, but I decided that in some cases the company is worse than no company."

"You've got that right," Lucien said, standing up with the pot. "I've been eagerly awaiting the day my little brother is old enough to become a trainer, to tell the truth, just so I can have someone to travel with."

Cascata smiled. "Oh, you have a little brother? I love little kids!"

Lucien grinned. "Yeah. His name is Adrien. He's still got three years before he can become a trainer." He stared off toward the setting sun for a bit, watching it disappear. "Anyway, I'm going to go wash off this pot and fill it with some water. I'll be right back." He turned and headed back up the path to where they had passed a stream.

"You know, I'm kind of impressed," Flip said. "Lucien lost a battle and has been talking about how he's been traveling alone, yet he still hasn't seemed very sad about any of it."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that second one. There was a hint of sadness in his voice when he was talking about his brother. It wasn't obvious, but I'm sure it was there," Keria spoke, looking off in direction Lucien had left. "But, I'm also impressed with how he's coped with losing that battle. It's almost like it never even happened." She folded her arms. "I just hope he cares a little. Losses are an excellent opportunity to learn from your mistakes and become a better trainer."

The other two nodded in agreement but said nothing. A silence descended upon them as the sun vanished behind the mountains, throwing the valley completely into shadow. There was still a large orange area in the sky surrounding the spot where the sun was last seen, but in the sky above the opposite end of the valley everything had turned a dark shade of indigo which was just bordering on the black it would be soon. The other mountains had golden light covering one side and total darkness on the other.

"...pretty..." Cascata murmured to herself as she looked out over the view.

"Hey, guys. Sorry that took so long," Lucien said, balancing the pot carefully to make sure no water splashed out. "So, any requests for dinner?"

"Ah, well," Cascata said, rubbing the back of her head. "I'm kind of a picky eater. I'd prefer something without onions, or peppers, or mushrooms. But, don't worry about me! I can always just pick them out. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned it at all."

"Oh, don't worry. That shouldn't be too much of a problem," Lucien laughed.

"You'll probably like them more as you get older," Keria said, as her Jolteon jumped into her lap and started rubbing against her. "in the meantime, don't be ashamed. I personally have never found myself fond of any sort of seafood."

"I think I might the biggest problem here, anyway," Flip said. "I don't eat meat."

Cascata was surprised. "At all?"

"At all."

She stared for a moment then smiled. "Cool! I never would have thought you were a vegetarian. I considered it once. It is kind of sad to think about where it comes from."

Flip shook his head. "True, but that's not why I'm a vegetarian."

"Oh? Then why? Is it healthier?" she asked.

"No, that has nothing to do with it either."

"Well, then, why?"

"It's better for the environment."

"Oh," she said, then thought about this with a puzzled expression on her face. "It is?"

"Sure. The second law of thermodynamics states that whenever heat energy is converted, some of this energy is lost as low-quality heat. So, the amount of energy available at each trophic level is less than the level below it, and the typical ecological efficiency is only ten percent. If the producers have ten thousand kilocalories available for usage, then the primary consumers will have one thousand, and the secondary consumers will have one hundred, and the tertiary consumers will have ten," he explained.

Cascata blinked. "What?"

Keria laughed. "I know what he's talking about. Here, look," she said, picking up a stick off the ground and drawing two rectangles. She began drawing little symbols that looked like wheat in one of them and a few Miltank in the other. "Let's say you use a piece of land to grow crops, and another to raise cattle. The land with the crops will provide a lot of food for us, whereas the land used for grazing will provide a lot of food for the cattle, who in turn will provide less food for us. Flip already said that the typical ecological efficiency is ten percent, meaning that ninety percent of that energy is lost as you move up on the food chain. So, for the same amount of land we produce less food by raising meat instead of plants."

She looked at the pictures. "I think I get it. Um..."

Keria shrugged and dropped the stick. "It's not the easiest concept to understand. Besides, agriculture itself has a lot of environmental downsides as well. Fertilizers and pesticides getting into the water, salinization, soil erosion..." Keria said.

"Sounds like someone's planning on becoming a farmer," Lucien remarked, beginning to cut up some carrots into the pot.

"I considered it once, actually. Raising Pokémon on a ranch, growing berries... I might still do it someday," she said.

"It sounds like it'd be a nice life," Cascata said, leaning forward and resting the side of her chin against her fist. "Living away from the stress of the city, beautiful scenery and fresh air, spending all that time with Pokémon..."

Keria added under her breath with a strange grin on her face, "A husband coming home covered in sweat from doing chores..."

"Huh? What'd you say, Keria?" Cascata asked.

"Oh, nothing!" Keria said, lifting her egg off the spot on the ground where she had left it. "Huh, that's odd."

"What is it?" Flip asked.

"This egg. I guess I had it too close to the fire, because it's a lot warmer than before," she said, resting a hand on it.

Cascata touched it. "Odd. You think it means something?"

"Well, probably that I'm insane, considering I almost died because I wouldn't drop, and here I am putting it close enough to the fire to cook it. Speaking of which," she said, pausing a moment to put her thoughts in order. "Lucien, I'm sorry I didn't say this earlier, but thanks. You did save me back there."

He looked surprised. "Huh? Oh, right, that. Well, you're welcome. Though I still think you really should have dropped the egg."

"Don't start that again!" Flip said, glaring at Lucien.

"No, he's right," Keria sighed. "I'm sorry about getting so upset back there, too. I can have a short fuse sometimes."

"Don't worry about it. Besides, you're cute when you're angry. Oh, by the way, we never kiss and made up," he said, flashing a large grin in her direction.

She closed her eyes. "Didn't I just tell you I have a short fuse?"

"And didn't I just tell you you're cute when you're angry?"

Keria fumed a bit before changing the subject. "So, how long do you think dinner will take?"

"Might be a bit. And don't expect anything gourmet. I have plenty of vegetables. Normally I'd have some hotdogs for all of us but Flip to skewer and cook over the fire, but Pax and I finished them off last night. Still, I think I have some rice that could help make the meal a bit more filling," Lucien said, locating the bag of rice and pulling it out of his backpack.

"It's kind of surprising. You don't meet many people who can cook these days," Cascata said. "I guess it's useful when you're a trainer, right?"

"Yes, it can be quite difficult when you can't," Keria said. "I couldn't cook for a while, and things became rather difficult. I had to find routes between towns that took less than a day, or I would have to calculate how many days it would take and pack food accordingly. And if something caused me to take longer than normal... well, it's not fun to sleep on an empty stomach. Eventually I started teaching myself to cook, but I'm still pretty bad at it unless I'm in a kitchen with a recipe."

"It does take a lot of practice, just like many other things," Lucien said as he finished adding to the pot and placed it on the grate above the fire.

"Like battling!" Cascata said in her normal cheery tone, before noticing Lucien froze when she said that. "Oh! Uh, sorry! I didn't mean it like that, really!"

He laughed, though this time there was almost a pained sound to it. "No, no, it's alright. I never want to admit it, but I've always had trouble with Pokémon battles. It's the one part of Pokémon training I never got the hang of."

"You know, perhaps we could help eachother," Keria said. "You've heard of me being a prodigy, right?"

"Huh? You mean..." Lucien said, studying her face. "Oh! You're that Keria? Strange. I read something that said you committed suicide after your loss."

Her eye twitched. "I assure you it was a rumor, as I am still alive. At least, I think I am."

"Good to hear!"

"Anyway, despite that embarrassing loss at the Pewter City gym, I'm as talented at raising and battling Pokémon as they all originally thought I would," Keria explained.

"She's also very humble, too," Flip added sarcastically.

"Silence!" she shouted at Flip as she pointed a finger at him. She then regained her composure and continued. "As I was saying, despite this, I'm still rather bad at fending for myself, and I've always had to stick closer to civilization than I would like. Why don't the two of us travel together for a while? I could help teach you to be a better battler, and you could teach me to be a better cook, and perhaps some other survival skills you might know. If you've been traveling alone for so long, then you're bound to know a few."

"Sounds intriguing. Could I also teach you to be a better kisser?" he asked eagerly.

"No."

"Fine, fine. You can teach me."

"That's not what I meant!"

Lucien sighed. "You drive a hard bargain. Tell you what. Tomorrow, we'll battle and you show me you're as good as battling as you say you are. If you win, I'll train you in the ancient art of cooking something edible."

"The things I do for dinner. Alright, sounds good."

Flip shook his head. "Are you sure it would be wise for the two of you to travel together? You don't seem to get along very well."

Keria laughed. "I put up with someone a lot worse than him in every way for two years. I can tolerate him long enough to learn how to fend for myself."

---

The night had passed without incident, and by the time Flip had woken up the next morning Keria and Lucien were already getting ready to have their battle. Lucien had his back to the campsite, and Keria was walking away from him to create enough distance between them for the battle. It was going to be farther than most, to accommodate for the fact that the width of the path made it a narrower battlefield than normal. She turned around when she felt there was enough room.

"Okay, then, to make this a real test of our skills, we'll use four Pokémon each. And I'll even let you pick which member of my team I can't use. Does that sound fair?" Keria said.

"Sure," he responded. "Uh... Charizard. You can't use Charizard."

"Okay, then. Before we start, may I ask you something?" Keria asked.

"Sure, anything!"

"What made you decide on the Charizard?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. It's the one you started with, so I'm guessing it's your strongest. Why?"

She folded her arms. "Just trying to understand how your mind works in terms of battle tactics. If I'm going to be helping you, I have to identify where your problem areas are. And I can already tell one of your biggest ones. You don't think much about type match-ups, do you?"

"Not really, no. Come on, let's get this battle started!"

"Fine," Keria said with her typical sigh, and she pulled out a Pokéball. She kissed it and threw it onto the battlefield. "Go, Montague!"

The Jolteon appeared in a flash of light and cried out, "Jow-olteon!" Its spikes bristled with electricity, and it dragged its paw against the ground twice like a Tauros might before charging.

Lucien gave his opponent a strange look. "You kiss your Pokéballs before you throw them?"

Keria grinned. "Of course! A kiss for luck for all my Pokémon!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Some prodigy you are! I don't understand why someone who's supposed to be a great trainer would believe in such superstitions."

She shrugged helplessly. "Hey, there's no harm in it, right? I mean, luck's rarely on my side and I fight with skill anyway, but a little good luck never hurt anyone! And even if it doesn't work, I love my Pokémon and don't mind giving them a kiss!"

He shook his head and pulled out a Pokéball of his own. "Whatever. Your Jolteon's going down! Go, Tarn!"

The Rhyhorn appeared, but the Jolteon wasn't as shaken up by its appearance as the Makuhita had been. The electricity vanished from its fur, possibly already recognizing that it would be worthless in a fight against a ground type, and the spikes attempted to flatten themselves against its body.

"Hey, he didn't make as bad a choice this time," Cascata remarked.

Flip sat down along the side to watch. "Actually, the Ivysaur probably would've been a better choice, I think."

She looked down at him. "Huh? Why's that?"

"Just keep watching."

"Tarn, use Horn Attack!" Lucien called.

"Montague, Flash," Keria commanded.

The Jolteon responded the moment the words left Keria's mouth, and the spikes around his neck all flared outwards again. Sparks rippled through them, and then for a split second light flashed from the Jolteon's spikes, though unlike in the cave this was concentrated into a single blinding beam pointed straight into the Rhyhorn's face. While this happened, the Rhyhorn had been readying a charge but now stumbled around and seemed to have trouble seeing the opponent. It closed its eyes and shook its head a few times, then charged at the electric type, managing only to scrape against its back leg with the tip of the horn.

Keria clenched her fist. "Okay, Montague, now use your Double Kick!"

"Double Kick!" Lucien repeated, knowing very well how much that would damage his Rhyhorn. "Quick, Tarn, use Stomp! Maybe it'll flinch!"

"Quick? Do you really think your Rhyhorn can outrun a Jolteon?" Keria taunted.

Montague had already responded to the command, and was running at the Rhyhorn with all the spikes on its body flattened, running like a bolt of lightning. It leapt up and struck with its paw across the Rhyhorn's face, causing small splinters of rock to scatter. The Rhyhorn smacked it with a thick leg, but the Jolteon didn't seem particularly injured by this. It landed and struck the opposite side of the Rhyhorn's head with second kick. The Rhyhorn went tumbling onto its side, waving its legs around in the air to try and right itself. When it did return to its feet, it was panting heavily and seemed to be losing the will to fight quickly.

"I'm starting to see what you mean," Cascata said, taking a seat beside Flip.

"Finish it, Montague!" Keria yelled.

Her Pokémon did a quick nod, then charged into the Rhyhorn with all its strength, causing it to go flying. It skidded to a stop right in front of Lucien's feet. The Jolteon had to shake off the impact but otherwise still seemed ready to fight.

"Ah, Tarn! Not again! Return!" Lucien cried, quickly holding out the Pokéball for the Rhyhorn to be recalled to.

Keria laughed proudly. "Lesson one, Lucien: electric types don't always just have electric type attacks! It's very rare that you'll meet a Jolteon who doesn't use Double Kick. You've got a lot to learn about type match-ups for both Pokémon and their attacks!"

He gritted his teeth. "Not a problem. I can still win this! Let's go, Verd! Start with Sleep Powder!"

"Montague, Quick Attack!"

He threw a second Pokéball onto the field, and the turquoise Pokémon appeared, shaking out the plant on its back. A cloud of sparkling blue powder appeared around the Ivysaur. The Jolteon rushed at the enemy and slammed against it, then flipped back a few feet. Some of the powder could be seen on the white spikes. The Jolteon started to stumble a bit, and then passed out on the battlefield.

"Good job, Verd!"

Keria reached over her shoulder and into her backpack. "Not bad, not bad, but that won't slow us down for long!" She pulled out what looked like a Pokéflute made of blue glass. "Lesson two: be prepared for bad situations! Montague's little nap won't last long thanks to my Blue Flute!" She brought the instrument to her lips and began playing a lively melody. Her Jolteon's ears perked up at the first note, and it began waking up.

"We've still got time to take it out! Verd, Razor Leaf!" Lucien yelled.

The Ivysaur positioned itself with the flower pointed towards the Jolteon. Where the leaves met the stem, one could now see many smaller leaves with edges that gleamed like blades in the sunlight. These launched themselves from the Ivysaur's plant and cut against the Jolteon's body. The Jolteon recoiled in pain, whining "Jolt!"

"Return, Jolteon. I can tell you're still worn out from helping us out in the caves, and there's no need to get you any more hurt than you are right now," Keria said, recalling the Pokémon. She switched the Pokéball with another and gave this one a quick kiss as well before sending it into battle. "Your turn, Redda!"

A large Arbok appeared, coiling itself as if preparing to spring. Its tongue flicked in and out of its mouth, and it hissed, "Chaarbok..." The Ivysaur seemed to quiver in fear for a moment.

"This should be good," Flip commented. "It's harder to judge who has the type advantage in this situation." Cascata nodded quickly.

"Use Acid, Redda!" Keria called.

"Verd, Vine Whip!"

The snake lowered its head and released a spray of acid from its mouth. It covered the Ivysaur, causing an unpleasant hissing sound and a whimper of pain. Two vines extended themselves, wrapped themselves around the Arbok's body and attempted to throw it into the air, but the Arbok was large and the Ivysaur was weakened, so it wasn't enough to inflict much damage.

"Now, Redda, Bite it!"

The Arbok rolled back onto its stomach and slithered toward the plant type. The Ivysaur tried to escape only to run into the Arbok's tail. The snake had slithered around it and now had the other Pokémon trapped by its body. It watched the opponent for a moment, then lunged to bite its leg with gleaming white fangs. The Ivysaur struggled in an attempt to escape, but found the jaws of the Arbok too much and submitted to defeat.

"Verd! Return!" Lucien said, calling back his second Pokémon. He pulled out another one and threw it. "Well, you're definitely skilled, I'll give you that. Go, Rio!"

The Vaporeon appeared with the cool and calm grace that all the Vaporeon tend to have. It flicked its tail and turned its ears a bit, but otherwise did nothing but stare at the Arbok with icy eyes. The Arbok slided back towards the side of the field closer to its trainer and awaited a command.

"Redda, Glare!"

"Rio, Water Gun!"

The Vaporeon bent its front legs to lower its chest closer to the ground, and unleashed a heavy spray of water straight into the face of the serpent. The Arbok stopped, but didn't show much sign of being anything but mildly annoyed by this. Its eyes began to glow with a strange aura, and the Vaporeon froze in place, an occasional shiver running along its back. The Arbok slowly slithered closer, creating a gradual illusion that the difference in size between the two Pokémon was greater than it actually was.

"Wrap, Redda," Keria said softer than before.

"Get away from it, Rio!" Lucien called.

The Vaporeon stood up and turned stiffly to run away from the coils of the snake, but the Arbok moved around it to block its path. Its muscles weren't responding quickly enough to let it get away. Soon the Arbok was tightening its grip around the Vaporeon's body, crushing it.

Lucien could only think of one more thing to do. "Rio, Bite it!"

The Vaporeon opened its mouth wide, revealing a set of sharp teeth, and sunk them into the section of the body closest to it. The Arbok let out a surprised cry and loosened, giving the Vaporeon the chance it needed to slip out. The snake opened its mouth and hissed angrily at the other Pokémon, tail lashing about wildly.

"Redda, finish it with Strength!" Keria shouted.

The Arbok glanced about quickly, then dove for a boulder near the edge of the path. Before the paralyzed Vaporeon could act, the Arbok had pushed it out of the ground with the top of its head and sent it rolling straight towards its opponent. There was a loud smack sound as the rock collided with Rio, and the Vaporeon was thrown off towards the edge of the battlefield. It lay there for a moment, making no movement besides taking in slow breaths.

"That's enough, Rio," Lucien sighed, letting his Vaporeon return to the Pokéball. "This looks bad. But, I've still got Pax! Let's go!" he shouted, throwing his fourth Pokéball on the ground.

The Growlithe leapt onto the battle field eagerly and barked, "Grow!" at the large snake. It wagged its tail and seemed completely unafraid of the Arbok.

"Use your Flame Wheel!"

The Growlithe took a deep breath in, then released a spinning circle of fire at the Arbok. The snake Pokémon embraced itself for the hit, but hadn't expected it to be quite so strong. It fell over, screaming from the burns, and the Growlithe rushed towards it and slammed the weight of its small body against the Arbok to finish it off. The Arbok nearly crashed into Keria, who quickly returned it to its Pokéball. The Growlithe, however, fell face first into the ground and received a mouthful of dirt. It stood up and shook itself off.

"Lucien, you've been a good opponent, but not quite good enough," Keria said, taking out a third Pokéball and throwing it onto the field. "Your little puppy doesn't stand a chance against Nentes!"

"Lapraas..." it cried softly as the large Pokémon appeared. It seemed almost completely immobile, since it was obviously designed for battle in the water and not on land, but suddenly a purple aura surrounded its body and it began to float off the ground.

Cascata gasped, "How... ?"

"Didn't you know? All Lapras have psychic powers, though not quite at the level of a Psychic type," Keria explained. "With practice, they can learn to levitate just enough to grant them mobility on land, or speak through telepathy. There are trainers out there who have even been able to teach theirs the Psychic attack."

Flip watched the Lapras with interest. "I heard someone mention something about this, but I never really thought..."

Pax growled at the Lapras. Lucien looked determined. "Psychic powers or not, we can still win. Isn't that right, Pax?" The Growlithe barked again. "Use Take Down!"

"Let's make this quick, Nentes. Hydro Pump!"

The Growlithe began running towards the Lapras, who was already ready with its attack. It stared down at the opponent, then opened its mouth and unleashed a stream of water. The Growlithe yelped as it was pushed far back by the attack. When it was over, Pax lay in a puddle of mud, dazed and whining helplessly. The Lapras lowered itself back to the ground, closing its eyes.

Lucien stood there, dumbfounded.

"That's game," Flip said, standing up. "Keria won this battle by a landslide."

"Well, I suppose that's that. I've lost again." Lucien sighed and rubbed his Growlithe's head. "Good job, Pax. You did very well today. Come on, now..." he said to comfort the puppy before putting it back in the Pokéball.

"See? What did I tell you? There's a lot I can teach you about being a trainer!" Keria said, rubbing her Lapras's neck. "Let's start with that first choice of yours."

"Okay. What was wrong with my choice? I thought I had made a pretty smart decision, not fighting your strongest-"

"Lucien, you were in a situation where the strength of my Pokémon shouldn't have been the major factor. All my Pokémon are a lot stronger than yours and trained to about the same level, though you were correct in assuming Brenner was the strongest of them. However, he would have had a disadvantage against two of your four, and the only one who was weak against him had powder attacks that could have rendered him useless. Nentes, on the other hand, could have taken out your whole team. Your Rhyhorn and Growlithe were weak to his water attacks, and Ivysaur to his ice attacks, and your Vaporeon would have nothing strong to use against him whereas he has Body Slam. Fighting Brenner instead would have at least given you more of a chance. Knowing your weaknesses is the most important thing if you want to win!"

He sighed. "Well, you've definitely proved you're a more skilled trainer than I am, and, you're right, there probably is a lot I can learn from you." He held out his hand for Keria to shake. "I accept your offer. I teach you how to not die of starvation and such when traveling, and you teach me how to win battles."

Keria grabbed it firmly and shook it. "We're partners, then?"

"Partners," Lucien repeated. "Mmm. Yes, I like that. Especially what it could imply."

She sighed. "Not that kind of partners."

"No? Aw."

"I wouldn't mind being friends, however."

He shrugged. "It'll do for now."

"Anyway, we're still going to have to stick around with those two for a while," Keria said, gesturing towards where Flip and Cascata were sitting. They had started packing up their things. "It won't take too long, just until we get to my sister's place. Once we reach there, we can discuss where we want to go next."

He wrapped an arm around her. "Ah, does it matter? Wherever you go, darling, I shall follow!"

She narrowed her eyes. "Didn't I just clarify that we're not that kind of partners?"

He smiled. "Of course. Can't you take a joke?"

She folded her arms across her chest. "Oh, sure, I can barely restrain my laughter. Now, please move your arm."

---

The four continued on the trail around Mount Moon. There was still another cave between them and their destination, but Cerulean City was already in sight because of their altitude. The day was rather calm, with clouds spread in uneven ripples across the sky and trees slowly waving their branches back and forth in the breeze. The only Pokémon still out of their Pokéballs were Dratini, taking a nap on Flip's shoulders, and Sugar, who was fluttering along beside him.

"Don't you think you should put the Sugar in a Pokéball soon?" Cascata asked, watching the little Clefairy.

"I guess. But there's no need to do it now. She's content to just follow me, and, besides, I like having her beside me," Flip said.

"Faaairy!" it sang.

"I'd have to say, this trip through Mount Moon," Keria remarked, clutching the egg to her chest tightly. "I mean, it'd have been better if I could have caught that Onix...but, well, at least I've got this egg. It's weird, though. It was still warm when I went to sleep last night. In fact, I fell asleep holding it. I haven't figured out why, but it seems to be retaining heat really well..."

Lucien said to himself, "Maybe it's just your influence, since you've got such a hot-"

"Hot what?" Keria interrupted, staring at him. "Well? You weren't going to say I'm hot headed, were you?"

He laughed. "No! What gave you that idea? I was talking about your body-" Lucien was interrupted by Keria a second time, but this time it was by her fist instead of her words.

Flip sighed. "Just give it up, Lucien."

"Never!" he declared, recovering from the punch quickly. "I'll never surrender until I get Keria to lighten up!"

"That was a joke?" she stated, unamused.

"Yes!"

Keria's eyelids lowered further. "So, were you serious when you said I have a hot body?"

"No! Wait. I mean, yes! I mean... um..." he stammered, then turned away and began thinking aloud. "If I say no, she calls me a jerk for insulting her and attacks me. If I say yes, she calls me a jerk that only sees her as a piece of flesh and attacks me. If I say nothing at all, she calls me a jerk for holding back the truth to save my own skin and attacks me. This question has no right answer!"

"Exactly. Now, if I were you, I would use this opportunity as a lesson that you should behave around me. Understand?" she stated, turning him to look her straight in the eye.

"One problem, though. You're not me!" he stated in a cheery tone of voice.

"You've been warned, then," she sighed, pushing him away. The four started walking again. It wasn't long before they heard Cascata trying to hold back laughter. Keria was still very annoyed when she looked at Cascata. "Alright, what's so funny?"

"I-i'm sorry, but," she managed to say between giggles, "you two are just too cute!"

Keria was furious. "Cute!"

Lucien held his arms into the air in an exaggerated shrug. "I think we've well established that Keria cannot take a compliment, Cascata. However, I would be happy to be considered cute, as well as take credit for all of Keria's cuteness, if that would prevent her from hurting both of us right now."

Cascata smiled back. "I can deal with not being hurt!"

Flip started laughing. "You know, I don't remember Keria being half as irritable as she's been since Lucien showed up."

Lucien wrapped an arm around her. "She's probably just cranky, Flip. I'm sure we'll get along just fine once she's in a better mood, right?"

Keria growled, "What did I already tell you about that arm?"

He slowly lifted his arm away from her and continued walking. They hadn't gone far when Sugar began singing some sort of bouncy marching song. All four of them began walking in time with it, and their pace was quickened a bit as they headed onwards towards Cerulean City.