Chapter 2

Time had passed and the news had quieted down about the pokemon, then again people seemed to find these creatures more and more common. Now some people had even set up gyms in order to give trainers little tests and such. The school year was almost over for Jose. Soon it would be summer. He was so excited because now he could focus completely on raising his friends. As a summer trip Jose's family was going to go Miami, Florida to see his grandparents and the rest of the gang. They were going by car so Jose thought it would be a great time to spend training since he didn't get to journey around the world. By now he had plenty of pokemon which he kept in their pokeballs at home.

With the help of Wartortle and Raticate they loaded up the car in no time and set out on a foggy morning. The leaves still had dew on them. Here and there Jose could see flocks of Taillows and Pidgeys that people had caught and released. As he looked at the pokemon he lowered the window. He felt the fresh air hit his face just like a Gust attack. He hadn't been able to take out his pokemon because the backseat was so crowded that he barely fit in himself. He took out three pokeballs and let out Pidgeotto, Taillow and Spearow, his three flying pokemon and gazed at them as they sped up and away, happy to feel the rushing air, to be free of their pokeballs. As the car kept going the pokemon came back and flew right alongside it, Jose's mother was still a little scared of them and jumped a little every time they flew too close to her.

With the car low on fuel the travelers decided to stop for a stretch and to fill the tank up. Jose let out everyone as well, his Wartortle, Raticate, and Butterfree. He went for a little walk around the gas station with his team to see what the countryside was like. They were now in the state of Alabama and they could see some cows in the distance. With the cows were some Miltanks and a Tauros. "See, I guess everyone has found a use for pokemon." Said Jose and this was true since pokemon were now used in more occupations than animals. He walked around a little more, lost in thought, looking at his Wartortle run after taillow for having pecked him while the others laughed. "Alright, guys stop that, Marahute I told you that if you don't want to get blasted away you shouldn't peck people. Come on, let's go to the car. Mom and dad are waiting for us." "Jose common, hurry up." said his father. "If we loose time now we will have to drive at night." "You'll have to drive, I'll just sleep" said Jose smiling but hurrying even more towards the back seat of the car. "Everybody return."

They drove for what seemed endless hours, all the way into dusk. An Ember orange could be seen followed by a Flamethrower red and a purplish Confusion. Clouds lazily wandered across the plains in the sky like giant Wailords. The setting was beautiful and peaceful, so much that Jose dozed off and even drooled a little.

"How much did I sleep?" asked Jose as he woke up, looking at the now dark sky. "A couple of hours. We're already in Florida." answered his mother. "Are we going to stop somewhere to sleep?" asked Jose. "No, we have to keep going. Besides, I feel great." answered his father. "Why the rush anyways?" "Oh it's nothing, it's just you know, so we won't be late." said his father a little nervous. "Your father made a bet with your grandpa because he says it only takes two days to travel from Conway to Miami." said mom "One if they let me go seventy all the time." said dad grinning. "We'll stop later at a rest area." Jose didn't like this because it usually meant stopping at three in the morning and nobody to talk to. Effectively, as soon as they stopped, his parents fell sound sleep. "I'll just go take a walk ok." "Zzzzzz"

He got out of the car and walked a little, looking at the rest area and the pine forest that was near it. Walking along the trees he saw a trail and started walking through it. He had walked for some time now and the trees now covered what little light came from the rest area. He heard an owl hoot and looked up. On a branch there was a little owl hooting. Jose liked flying pokemon a lot, so he took out his pokedex and turned it on. "Hoot-hoot, the owl pokemon." Said the voice and the owl transformed into a wide-eyed pokemon. When it had changed and it saw Jose it went towards him using Foresight along the way. Jose saw his chance so he called out Raticate, however hoot-hoot had his target locked and it was the trainer, Jose ran around flailing his arms and screaming "Splinter do something." The hoot-hoot kept pecking Jose who was running around in circles screaming commands. "Splinter Hyper Fang, Quick Attack, Tackle, please anything!"

Raticate looked at the hoot now and focused its energy; it recoiled its legs and got ready to spring. Right as Jose passed in front of him Raticate let loose its energy as a Tackle. Jose ducked and the hoot went after him. It turned to look at the new attacker but it was too late. Raticate hit it and the hoot fell. It opened its short wings and stared at the Raticate with its huge eyes. Raticate was caught in its sight and was curious and suddenly tired. "Raticate don't look!" screamed Jose while he ran to shield his pokemon from the hypnotic stare. The hoot now with a grin on his face went in with a tackle. Raticate was sound sleep now. Jose slapped it trying to wake it up but it was no use. He picked up a branch and started whacking the hoot. "Stay back you little…" hoot-hoot tried to peck Jose but it couldn't get past the stick. Jose knew what he had to do but he didn't want to because Raticate would get really mad.

The hoot flew away as it got ready for another attack. Jose used this chance to go over to Splinter. He got behind him very carefully and grabbed one of its whiskers. He waited for the right time; right when hoot-hoot was in front of Raticate. He pulled the whisker out and Raticate woke up with a yell. It looked at the hoot and used Hyper Fang. The hoot-hoot tried furiously to get away but its momentum made him fall right in Splinter's mouth. "Splinter don't eat him." said Jose a little scared. The Raticate turned around and looked at him with the hoot-hoot still in its mouth. He looked at its trainer's hand and saw the whisker. Jose laughed nervously. "Hey look, I only wanted to wake you up you know." he said as he backed up slowly. The Raticate dropped the hoot which had fainted and got ready for an attack. "Oh boy!" said Jose as he turned around and started to run. Raticate didn't move, it waited, and waited, and then leaped so high that Jose looked up to see it coming down right on top of him. When it hit him he thought it would be mad but the Raticate smiled and licked his face. "Oh Splinter I'm sorry here let me see." there was a red patch on the Raticate's cheek. "Don't worry, when we get to the car I'll take care of it. Come on; let's get that hoot-hoot."

Jose caught the fainted hoot-hoot in a pokeball. It got sent to Jose's computer in his house. He had downloaded a system from the internet to keep Pokemon in a virtual park. He walked back to the car with Splinter at his side. The Raticate felt that it was only fair to let him walk a little after what had happened. When they got back Jose looked at his parents. Their eyes were red and puffy. His dad said "I couldn't sleep a wink." "Why is that?" asked Jose. "We heard a scream and we didn't know what happened." Said his mom with the same zombie-like stare that his dad had. "Uh, maybe I should drive dad." said Jose concerned for his parents. "You don't even have a full license yet." said his mom. "Why don't you try to sleep a little more then?" He didn't have to say that his parents were already sleeping.

While his parents slept the day off Jose took care of Raticate's wound. Then he let out all his pokemon again and played with them since he wasn't tired. They raced, and battled, and even played hide and seek. After his parents woke up he put his pokemon away and got in the car. After that they left the rest area at ninety miles per hour and made it to Miami. Here Jose was sure to find many more pokemon and have many more adventures.