Pokemon Sojourn: Against The Odds

by LLSmoothJ

(OT-Story)Three people set off to Hoenn, each with a different goal. However, they don't know about the dangers that lie ahead that may prove to be a major threat to them, and probably the whole world. Chapter 14 Up!

1. A New Beginning

Okay, this is going to be my first original Pokemon Fan Fiction and there's going to be a few changes.

Not sure if it applies in the anime, but the Pokemon will not, I repeat will not be restricted to only four moves.  I find that it's very unrealistic that pokemon would only know how to do four moves, especially moves that they should already knew. (A Machamp knows how use Leer, Low Kick, Vital Throw, and Focus Energy, yet it doesn't know how to throw a punch?)

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Chapter 1: A New Beginning.

A stadium with a picture of pokeball imprinted in the battle field as a young man with slightly unruly but otherwise red hair which just reach his shoulder blades, appearing to be 17 years of age was recalling a fallen Raichu as he seemed to have a bit of worry on his face.  He was now down to his last pokemon.

"Alright..." He says to himself.  "It all comes down to this..." He grabbed out a Pokeball from his belt.  "Go! Drego!"  He threw the Pokeball onto the field.  After it opened, a Charizard popped out with a determined look on his face as he then roared, "CHARRR!"

"It's all or nothing, now! Get ready!" He said to his pokemon.  It was already an intense battle between him and his opponent.  Now they were each down to one pokemon.

"Looks like your Charizard has grown stronger," A man on the opposite field commented.  He had red spiky hair and was dressed in a black and red bodysuit, save for a long cape. Standing next to him was a Dragonite, who had just defeated another pokemon.  "But is it strong enough?"

"It's more than strong enough to defeat you, Lance." The trainer retorted.  He had come this far and was not planning on giving up that easily.

"The next match will be Charizard versus Dragonite." The referee stated.  "Let the battle begin!"

"It's time for you to go down Lance." The trainer looked at Drego. "Drego, use Fire Blast!"

Drego obliged with a loud roar as it released a circle of flames, then forming a kanji-type flame pattern which headed toward Dragonite.

"Always with the powerful attacks...." Lance smiled, as if he knew exactly what he'd do.  "Okay Dragonite, Hyper Beam!"

Dragonite shots from its mouth a powerful beam which collided with Drego's attack.  After a few moments the two attacks canceled out, which caused a bright flash throughout the arena.   Suddenly, a voice was heard.

"Rex?  Rex?"

Seconds later, the voice became louder and forceful.

"WAKE UP, REX!"

The flash was then gone, as a pair of eyelids opened, around him was a room which contained a desk with a computer and empty pokeballs on top of it.  Various posters of scenes from action movies such as mech-like warriors shooting laser guns and missiles at each other were hanging on the walls.  Stood before him was a girl with long light brown hair, wearing a white T-shirt, green skirt which was knee-length, and tan knee-high boots.  "Rex, you're over sleeping again!" Her violet eyes were slightly narrowed in annoyance.

"Huh...Viki?" He replied, still drowsy "It's 5 O'clock in the morning..."

"Yeah, like 5 hours ago!" Viki replied with annoyance, not surprised that her brother overslept again.  It became a bit of a habit for Rex to over-sleep ever since graduating from the Pokemon Academy since, besides training, he didn't had much to do.  "It's 10!  You said that today we were going to start an all new journey!"

"Now now...okay..." Rex went back to sleep on his soft, single-person bed, without any care about what Viki just said to him.

She sighed as a Raichu looked at her, as if it had an idea.  "Go ahead, Jolt.  Use Thundershock."

Jolt released out a spark of electricity onto Rex, which resulted into waking him up fully!

"HEYI'MAWAKEI'M AWAKEI'MAWAAAAAAAAAKE!" He screamed, reacting to the Thundershock accordingly.

Viki smiled at Rex.  She still felt remorseful for what just happened, but believed that it was just for his own good. "Good Moooorning!"

Rex got up from the floor as rubbing his head a bit, still recovering from the thundershock.  "Good morning to you too, Viki." He mumbled.

Jolt let out a cheerful "Rai" as Rex walked out of his bedroom and into the bathroom. "So. what's for breakfast?"

"Well...we did have scrambled eggs, bacon, and French toast, with a glass of orange juice, but you've been asleep for so long..."

Rex sighs, "Let me guess, it's all gone."

"No, but if you like cold food.."

Before Viki could finish, Rex was already on is way to the kitchen to eat whatever food was left.  When it came to breakfast, Rex was always ready for a great meal.  Whether if it was pancakes and sausage, or an ordinary bowl of cereal. Much to his dismay, only a bagel and 1/8 a carton of orange juice was left.  "Just my luck..." He sighed.

"Look at it this way, Rex!" Viki smiled at him.  "At least you'll wake up earlier from now on."

"Right..." He rolled his eyes as he began to eat, using whatever butter was left on the table to put on his bagel.

Outside of Goldenrod city, A shadow of two figures.

"You brought the stones?" The first one, a female asked with a mixture of dominance and elegance in her voice.

"You brought the Pokemon?" The second one, a male asked back in a cold, remorseless voice.

They both began to show what they had.  The female opened a bag filled with dark-colored stones while the male released two pokemon; A Typlosion and a Swampert.

"Now to see if all of our hard work has paid off." He said as he handed one of the stones to the female.  "Which one do ya want?" He asked, pointing to the said Pokemon.

"Hmm...I'll take...the Swampert." She answered as she used the stone on the Swampert.  After contact with the said stone, it began to glow as if it were evolving.  But instead of the usual white glow ,it was a red glow.  After the glow was gone, Swampert's eyes narrowed as it viciously grunted, "Swamp..."

"One down, one to go..." The male smirked as he used the other stone on the Typlosion.  Like the Swampert, Typlosion began to glow red.  Afterward, it gave out a vicious growl as the male smiled at the results. "It appears our experiment has become successful..."

"But we still have a lot more to do before we tell the boss, Kai." She reminded him.  "We need to do some tests on the pokemon's special attacks to see to what extent the Dark stones will have on the pokemon exposed."

"That is true, Bonnie." The man known as Kai nodded.  "But time is very limited.  We must send the next shipment of stones to Kanto and Hoenn by next month."

"We will gather as much of an analysis on the stones non-stop.  We won't stop until we know exactly what these Dark stones can do to a pokemon." Bonnie declared.

"Agreed." Kai nodded as they both vanished out of sight.

After breakfast, or what was left of it, Rex walks outside fully dressed.  He was wearing black and red trainers with black velcro straps in an X pattern on each shoe, black wind pants with 2 red stripes going downward, save for a open short sleeved red shirt over a black tank top, along with a black backpack with a red dragon insignia on the face.  He inhaled deeply, "Ah, smell that fresh air!"

"They're nothing like a bright day to start a new journey." Viki smiled as she walked outside, carrying a green backpack similar to Rex's but instead it had a flower printed on the face. To say that she was very excited about this journey would be an understatement.  Ever since Rex first started his journey at the age of 10, Viki wondered what it would've been like.  For the past 8 years Rex would leave home, but would always come back for the holidays to be with the family.  He spent the first 4 years traveling throughout the Johto region and the next 4 years in Kanto.  Had it not been for their over-protective father, fearing that harm would come to 'his little angel,' Viki would've started her journey as well.  Now at the age of 16, Viki was ready to go, as her brother put it, "Check out what she's been missing."  Unlike Rex, her goal wasn't to be the best at pokemon battling, but rather as a Pokemon Coordinator winning contests left and right.

"Let's check if we have everything." She suggested as she opened her backpack.

"Good idea." Rex nodded as he looked inside his backpack as well.  "Potions?"

"Check!" Viki chimed with a smile.

"Antidotes?"

"Check!"

"Money?"

Viki looked up at Rex, confused. "Money?"

"Y'know, to get more supplies."

"Oh right...." Viki let out a slight chuckle.  "Duh, Genius..." She thought to herself.

"Anyway..." Rex decided to continue, "Pokeballs?"

"Check!" Viki smiled as she holds a few to show that she did indeed have them in stock.

"Pokenavs, just incase we get lost?"

"Double Check!"

"Alrighty...Oh, and the most important thing..." Rex grabbed a device from his belt which resembled a Gameboy Advance SP.  "My new and improved Pokedex!  Not only does it give the standard information about pokemon, but this baby can connect to a PC and download upgrades.  Plus it also can read levels of Pokemon.  Perfect if you want to know how close your pokemon are to evolving."

"Interesting..." Viki grinned, intrigued with the idea as she tossed out a pokeball. "Come on out, Josephine!"  The ball opened as a Vulpix the materialized. "Try scanning Josephine!" She suggested.

Rex opened the Pokedex as he read… "It says that the only way a Vulpix can evolve into a Ninetails is if a fire stone is used.  And we're fresh out of those."

"True... Well, what's her level?" Viki wanted to see how this new Pokedex worked.

"28..." Rex placed away his pokedex.  "Now we gotta get to the Magnet Train before it leaves." He looked at Viki.  "You have your pass?"

Viki nodded with a flash of a laminated card, "Never leave home without it."

"Now let's go!" After leaving a note on the door for his other sister, Racquel, Rex walked off to the Magnet Train Station.

"You bet!" Viki recalled Josephine as she then followed her brother.

On the train, Rex and Viki sat across each other. With the Magnet Train directly connected to Saffron City, their destination, it made traveling from Johto to Kanto much easier.

"So Rex, why are we going to Saffron?" Viki asked.  "I thought we were going to travel in the Hoenn region?"

"We are, but I promised J.C. we'll get him if we were to go to the Hoenn Region." Rex explained.

"Your friend?" Viki asked, dumbfounded.

"Yeah, you've met him!  Remember the last time we went to Saffron City?" He reminded her.

"Of course, that's where I caught Josephine! " Viki giggled.  "Well I can't wait to get into Hoenn.  Think of all of the contests I'll enter..." She closed her eyes as she could imagine being in front of a wide crowd cheering for her.

"And we'll be here to support you all the way!" Rex smiled, confident with her sister's abilities.

"We're now arriving in Saffron City!" A voice on the PA spoke.  "Please remain seated until the train has come to a complete stop.  Thank you for riding the Magnet Train."

"While we're here, it would be a nice idea to see if we could catch some more Pokemon." Rex suggested.

"Rex, you only have enough room for one more!" Viki reminded him.

"I can always have one of my pokemon transferred to a box in my computer at home. Raquel'll be there to take care of the pokemon, remember?"

"Don't forget, she also has a flower shop to run."

"Brute, Lash, and Spike can hold the fort down." Rex said about his Machamp, Rhyhorn, and Arcanine.  "They've proven time and time that they can take care of things."

After getting off the Magnet Train, Rex looked on his Pokenav.

"Let's see....the Gym can't be that far..." He pondered

"I wonder if any of J.C.'s Tyrogue evolved." Viki asked.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they all evolved." Rex stated as a large crowd then rushed past them.

Viki noticed the crowd.  "What's going o-" She walks over to see where they're all going, but gets knocked over by a man twice as big as her.

"Viki!" Rex rushed over to his sister.

The man looked down and saw Viki.  "I'm sorry, young lady." He checked on her to see if she was injured.  "Are you okay?"  From his gruff voice and his scratchy-looking beard, save for his equipment, he appeared to be a hiker.

Viki rubbed her head.  "I'm okay..." She was still a bit weary.

Rex confronted him. "Hey pal, watch where you're going next time!"

"It's okay Rex," Viki assured.  "I'm fine."  She looked toward the man.  "What's all the commotion?"

"A group of Pokemon are causing chaos at a local shop." He explained.

"A group of Pokemon?" Rex responded, a bit intrigued.

"Yes.  I heard it on the radio and decided to see for myself."

Another hiker approached them, "Earl, did you hear. The Charmeleon are-"

The hiker, known as Earl finishes for him. "Causing trouble at the shop?"

"No, what I was going to say that two more Charmeleon are on the top of the building."

"Charmelon?" Viki asked, shocked that there were actually wild Charmeleon, let alone in this part of Kanto.

"Sounds like something for us to investigate." Rex grinned with excitement, "Let's go."

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At a local Pokemart, blockades were placed around the store as the Charmeleon has many of the citizens in fear.

"People stay calm," Officer Jenny said to the crowd nearby, along with a Growlithe ready for action just incase it came down to a battle.  "We have this totally under control."

The Charmeleon gave out an aggressive "Char" as they paced back and forth, marking their territory.

Rex and co made it to the scene, trying to get though the crowd so they could be as close to the action as possible.

"What's going on?" Rex asked.

"What are the Charmelon doing here?" Viki asked as well.

"No one knows for sure, but it's got everyone here in shock and fear." A voice familiar to Rex said off-screen.

Rex looked towards the direction of the voice.  "J.C.!"

A young man who appears to be Rex's age with long black hair tied into a pony tail, dressed only in a tank top, blue gi pants and boots.  "Hey Rex, long time no see.  We can catch up later.  Right now, how are we going to take care of the Charmeleon?"  He then remembered, "Rex, you have a Charmeleon, right?"

"Yes....and no..." Rex explains.  "Since the last time we spoke, Drego evolved into a Charizard.  I would use it, but the risk of burning the building because of the battle would be higher than it already was."

"Good point." J.C. nodded in agreement.  "A water pokemon would be better suited as they have the least chance of causing real damage."

"I got two on me." Rex took out the two pokeballs which contained them.

Earl looked on.  "You're going to challenge them by yourself?  Three on Two aren't exactly the best odds, Kid."

"Don't call me 'Kid'" Rex snapped as he's about to send out his pokemon...

He was stopped by Officer Jenny.  "Hold it!  There will be no pokemon battling.  We don't know what these Charmeleon are capable of."

"But if we just wait, the situation will become worse." Rex stated.

"Sorry. I can allow you to go on! The risk is too high!"

"Please Officer Jenny, think about this situation." Viki pleaded.

"The kid's got a point." Earl stated.

"Don't call me..." Rex then sighed, seeing that it was pointless to complain about being referred to as "kid" anyway. "Never mind..."

Jenny sighed, "Okay, but be careful!"

As Rex jumped over the barricade, Viki and J.C. followed.

"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on them..." Earl assured as he too followed suit.

The Charmeleon noticed Rex and co. approach the building as they gave a sharp glare.

"Hmm..." Rex noticed an orange Charmeleon.  "That must be the leader..." He narrows his eyes.  "If it's a fight you want, then you got it." Rex got a pokeball ready for battle.

"Rex, let me help." Viki insisted.

"Viki stay back, I got this." Rex stuck his arm out in front of her to prevent her from advancing, but stayed focused on the Charmeleon.

"We don't know what they're capable of, and besides, Josephine's Flash Fire prevents damage from all fire attacks." She reminded of her Vulpix's special ability.

Rex sighed, "Okay Viki, get ready."

Viki grab out the pokeball which contained her.  "Ready."

The leader walked back inside as the other Charmeleon ambushed Rex and Viki.

"Watch out!" J.C. shouted as he threw a Pokeball.  "Go! Tyrogue!"  The pokeball opened as a Tyrogue materialized.  "Tyrogue, use tackle!" He demands.

Tyrogue went for a tackle on one of the Charmeleon and landed a direct hit, but fell right into a flamethrower of another.

"Tyrogue!" J.C. shouted out to his attacked pokemon.

"I'll help!" Viki threw out her Pokeball. "Josephine, Quick Attack!"

"Save some for me!" Rex tossed his pokeball as well. "Edge, Water Gun!"

The two pokeballs then open as Josephine and a Croconaw materialized from their respected pokeballs.

"Vulpix!"

"Croconaw!"

 Josephine went for an attack at high speed on a Charmeleon which knocked it down as Edge shot out a stream of water onto another Charmeleon, knocking it down as well.

The Charmeleon didn't give up, as they shot flamethrowers simultaneously at all 3 three pokemon and their trainers...

"Graveler, Explosion!" Earl shouted as he threw his pokeball towards the direction of the Charmeleon.

The pokeball opens as t a Graveler materialized.  It then began to glow as it then emitted a huge explosion.  After the dust cleared, all of the Charmeleon have fainted...

"Good thing we recalled our pokemon before the Explosion attack." Viki stated as she kissed the pokeball which contained Josephine.

"Now we need to go inside, just incase." Rex then looked at Viki.  "Viki, stay here, just in case more of them arrive."

Viki nodded reluctantly.  She wanted to go with her brother and help out, but also knew that it would've been a good idea to stay there, just incase more Charmeleon came out.  "Be careful..."

Earl stated.  "I'll stay, too.  Two against a group of Charmeleon are better odds than just with one."

"That settles it." Rex looked toward his friend.  "J.C.?"

J.C. nodded in agreement, thinking the exact same thing as Rex as they made their way inside the building.

Inside, two more Charmeleon were pacing back in forth as the Leader watched on.

"The leader's mine..." Rex declared.

"I got your back, Rex." J.C held up the Pokeball.

"Okay!" Rex grabbed out the pokeballs.  "Let's do this."

The Charmeleon leader looked at Rex and J.C. as it then ordered the other two to attack.

"Tyrogue, Go!"

"Go, Edge and Shellshock."

Their pokeballs open as Tyrogue, Edge, and a Wartortle materialized.

"Tyrogue, Tackle!" J.C. ordered.

Tyrogue went for a hard hitting tackle which hit one of the Charmeleon.

"Edge, Shellshock, Water Gun!" Rex ordered, but instead of attacking the Charmeleon, they both attack each other with a burst of water.  "On the Charmeleon, not each other!" He groaned in embarrassment.

Edge and Shellshock starred each other down, both ready to strike the other as they bickered with each other.

"What's up with them?" J.C. asked aside to Rex.

"Long story short: My Wartortle and Croconaw don't get along." Rex explained.

The Charmeleon, annoyed with their opponents fighting each other instead of them, each shot a flamethrower their way, hoping to at least get somewhat of a challenged out of them. 

Edge and Shellshock decided to place aside their differences for time being and shot their waterguns at them in retaliation.

"Finally..." Rex sighed with relief, knowing that his pokemon would work together for at least the time being. 

Edge and Shellshock both had to face the leader Charmeleon as it was so strong that it'd take both of them to beat them.  Tyrogue was left alone the other two Charmeleon to tangle with by itself.

"Should've brought my other pokemon..." J.C. muttered as Tyrogue took another scratch attack.  However, Tyrogue didn't give up, as it kept on fighting. 

"Don't give up, Tyrogue! You can beat them!" J.C. encouraged as Tyrogue took another hit.  Then, as it appeared to be over, Tyrogue began to glow.

"Huh?" JC, Rex and his pokemon watched with surprise.  Even the Charmeleon were interested as it began to change form.  After the glow disappeared, Tyrogue had evolved...

"Hitmontop!" The newly evolved pokemon cried.

"Alright!" J.C. grinned.  "Looks like all that training have finally paid off." He looked at his newly evolved Hitmontop!  "Okay Hitmontop, Use Triple Kick!"

"Hitmontop!" Hitmontop flipped onto its head as it spun toward the direction of the Charmeleon, knocking them down from the high speed kicks from its legs and tail.

"Alright, now finish it off with another Triple Kick!"

"Hitmontop! (You got it!)" Hitmontop went for another Triple Kick on the Charmeleon, this time with a direct hit

"Nice job Hitmontop!  You deserve a good rest." J.C. recalled Hitmontop as he looked to see how Rex is doing.

Shellshock and Edge went for a double Water Gun but the Charmeleon dodged, which caused the attacks to hit each other instead.  After the recovery they began to bicker at each other, each claiming that the other did that on purpose.

"They're fighting...again..." J.C. commented as Rex was nearly having a migraine.

Charmeleon was now laughing at the two water pokemon fighting each other, especially since it believed that Rex didn't have any pokemon that could give him a suitable challenge.

"This isn't working at all..." Rex held out the two pokeballs, "Shellshock and Edge, Return!" He said as the Pokemon returned to their pokeballs.  He grabbed out another Pokeball. 

"Please don't miss..." Rex tossed out another Pokeball. "Crush, use Horn Drill on the Charmeleon!" Out popped out a Blue Nidoking along with a bit of sparkles from the pokeball as it attempt a horndrill on Charmeleon, but it missed and went into a wall…

Charmeleon watched in disgust, as it then narrowed its eyes at Rex as to say "Are you done?"

Rex sweatdropped, "Terrific..."  He closed his eyes with a smile, "Return..." Crush returned to its Pokeball as he then grabbed out another one.  "Go Jolt!" Jolt was released from its Pokeball. "Okay Jolt, Thunderbolt!"

Jolt charged up, and then released a powerful Thunder Bolt on Charmeleon.  Since it's been worn out a bit from its earlier battle with Shellshock and Edge, it was a direct hit.

"Way to go, Rex!" J.C. congratulated.  He was just about to call Hitmontop back out to help Rex.

"Not yet." He grabbed out a great bal as he looked at the fallen Charmeleon.  "This opportunity is too rich to pass up!"

"You mean you're..."

"That's right!  Great ball, go!" Rex threw the great ball as it captured the rare Charmeleon.  After rocking side-to-side for a few seconds, Charmeleon was caught!"

Rex picked up the Pokeball in triumph. "Yeah!  I got myself a rare Charmeleon!" He performed a victory pose while showing the pokeball that contained the pokemon.  "Now all there's left to do is to name it..."

"Name it?" J.C. asked, confused at why he would give a pokemon a nickname.

"Yeah.  I always give my pokemon a nickname, just to avoid any potential mix-up..."  Rex pondered for a name.  It seemed he already sort of had one in mind... "Hmm...Char...Char..."

"Rex!" Viki shouted as she enters the building.  She wondered what was going on since it was over an hour since they went in.

"Char...Rex?" Rex pondered on the name.  "Yes, Charex is perfect!"

"What's going on?" Viki asked.

"Your brother just caught a pokemon." J.C. explained to her.  "Now he's thinking up a nickname."

"You just had to catch a pokemon, didn't you?" Viki smirked at him, knowing that he couldn't resist catching one.

"And he's not the only one to get something from this battle." J.C. released Hitmontop from its pokeball.

"Wow! So I guess Tyrogue evolved!"

"Yep, and now I have all three evolutions of Tyrogue!" J.C. smile in triumph. It may have taken years of training, but he had finally got it done.

"Wait a minute, if you had more pokemon than that Tyrogue, why didn't you use them at the start?" Rex asked as he placed the now-occupied pokeball back onto his belt.

"Tyrogue's evolution varies depending on how it's raised.  It was easier to get my other two Tyrogue to evolve into Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee, so I had to be very careful with this one.  Speaking on which, you have a few issues to work out with your pokemon..."

"Edge and Shellshock went at it again?" Viki assumed, not surprised.

"I don't know what to do with them.  If I choose one of them, the other gets upset." Rex sighed.  In this situation he knew that this was one battle he couldn't win.  "It's a lose-lose situation..."

"We can worry about that later..." J.C. grinned as he then changed the subject, "So, when do we head off to Hoenn?"

"Ready to go that soon?"

"I heard there's some pokemon only found there.  I even heard rumors around the gym of a fighting type pokemon which also a Psychic type!"

"A Medicham Right?" Viki figured.  She had done some research about the pokemon that could only be found in the Hoenn region. "Rex, check your Pokedex."

"Okay." He took out his Pokedex as he then looked up the info.  "It says that its location is on  Mt. Pyre."

"Awesome!" J.C. exclaimed.  "We should go to Mt. Pyre, ASAP!" He ordered.

"That's nice, but first we need to check with Officer Jenny.  To let everyone the situation's been taking care off.  Plus we need to get the Charmeleon to a Pokemon center. Viki reminded as  Rex and J.C. nodded in agreement.

"Is everyone okay?" Earl asked as he entered the building.

"Everything good over here."  Rex nodded in approval.

"Splendid! I'll tell Officer Jenny." Earl said as he began to leave.

"Wait for, us!  We'll go with you." Viki said behind him as she, Rex, and J.C. followed.

With peace and order restored to the area, the crowds have died down. Rex and co. were in a middle of a nice chat with Earl.

"So, you're heading for the Hoenn region." Earl responded to the answer of his question.  "That's quite a journey!"

"Yep!" Rex nodded.  "Vik and I went to the Hoenn region when we were younger, but now we want to do some exploring! I'm set out to continue my quest to become the number one pokemon trainer!"

"And I'm going to participate in contests." Viki smiled with a giggle.  "It's my goal to become the number one Pokemon Coordinator in the world."

"And me, I'm going to catch a fighting Pokemon Sabrina and her Psychic Pokemon can't defeat." JC declared, determined to restore the Fighting Pokemon Gym its former glory.

"You all have some interesting goals." Earl commented.  "I wish all of you the best of luck.  Now I gotta go home to see my family.  So long!" He walked away as he waves.

"Later!" They all say at the same time as they wave back at Earl, who walks away.  After a few minutes, they can no longer see him.

Behind the Fighting Pokemon Gym, Rex stood with Edge and Shellshock, who were busy glaring at each other. They looked ready to strike each other down, despite Rex's attempt to get them to get along.

"Okay guys, I know that you guys don't think of each other as a best friend." Rex stated, "But when you're in a 2-on-2 pokemon battle, you're gonna have to learn how to work together and put aside your differences." The pokemon still seemed to be focused on each other, rather than what Rex had to say.  "I don't know what kind of anger you have for each other, but whatever it is, you need to work it out!  Your fighting is costing us battles, let alone those which should be cakewalk!"

"What caused them to hate each other..." J.C. asked as he watched them bicker.

"Edge and Shellshock always were jealous of each other, even when they were a Totodile and a Squirtle.  It's like they're having a personal battle even we can't see.  Every battle, it's all about one trying to out-do the other." Viki explained. When Rex first caught Edge, that's where all the trouble started.  Shellshock used to be Rex's top water gun and felt that Edge was replacing him.

"I see...perhaps they need a Pokemon Therapist." J.C. mused.

Rex sighed, seeing that trying to get them to get along is a waste of time right now as he held up the two pokeballs.  "Return..." Edge and Shellshock were both recalled back into the pokeballs. Rex looked towards J.C. and Viki.  "You guys ready?"

J.C. grinned, "I got my ticket, and my supplies needed for this journey."

"I'm all set, Bro." Viki nodded in agreement.

"Alright, let's go!" Rex grinned as he extended his arm to make a pact.

"Hoenn here we come!" Viki joined in as she placed her hand on top of her brother's.

"It's Hoenn or bust!" J.C. placed his hand in as well. It was official.  The three of them were ready to start their new journey together to Hoenn, each having different reasons. One to find new challenges, another to follow a dream, and the third on a mission to find something which would be the first step into reclaiming one's former glory.  Will they be successful, or would their attempts be in vain?

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Okay, that's it for the first chapter.  Do you like it? Do you hate it?  Please leave your reviews, and if you have any suggestions, feel free to leave them.