They took the bullet train back to Vermillion City and set out for Route 11 towards Route 12 the next morning. It was a warm morning, and a light rain was falling. Still, Ryan and Logan plodded along without a care in the world. Well that's not true at all, but it sounds nice.

Not long into their first journey together, Logan gave Ryan a present: it was a Poké Ball, with, presumably, a sweet 'mon in it. "It's a token of my appreciate for you saving me from that Falco creep!" Logan had said. A quick scan from ol' Dexful had alerted the young trainer that his newest Pokémon was none other than an Eevee. "It's one of the best Pokémon for breeding," Logan explained. "I have a lot of Eevee. I called that one Dexter, but you can rename him anything you want."

Ryan thanked Logan and then pressed the white button on his Pokédex to send Dexter back home. Ryan wondered if his Pokédex would get jealous over that Eevee's name. Well, he won't have time. Not yet. I won't be using that Eevee until after the Indigo League. That was because he had already come up with his most bestest team for the tournament with the help of Alex, the Chinese prodigy who knew how to swing yo-yos on a stage in front of a large audience. He needed to make sure his six Pokémon were going to be as powerful as possible before then. Just need to catch a Haunter, and I'll have everyone I need. Of course, his newest member of his final team - Muk - was not one he had expected to use. But things change, and in the end, everything goes away. So he had to adapt.

By midday, they had reached the outskirts of Vermillion City and were now on the dirt path that was Route 11. For a while they roamed, not seeing another person or Pokémon. The surrounding forest seemed to box them in, and tall grass was all over the place. It was all Ryan could do to stay on the path and never ever venture into the tall grass (he'd once seen a movie that had made him horrified of tall grass). So he didn't. Even so, most of his Pokémon were out and stretching their legs - Aegon, Swirlie Whirlie, Myrrah, and Thurnax. He kept Reek (his Muk) in a Poké Ball since ain't nobody wan' dat stank on 'em.

The two came upon a gate leading them into a deeper forest of Route 11 where the road became little more than an animal trail. As the two boys made their way forward, suddenly from the tall grass came a man - tall and with blond, spiky hair. He wore military pants, boots, a military-style green undershirt, dog tags, and black sunglasses. This was a grizzled veteran if Ryan had ever seen one before: it was, of course, Lt Surge who stood before him. The first Gym Leader I ever faced.

"Hey, kid, long time no see," Surge said warmly. He looked over at Logan and narrowed his eyes. "Oh, we fought too, didn't we?"

"U-uh, yeah! You beat me pretty bad though," Logan said, going red.

"Hey, that's alright. Keep workin' at it, and ya'll do fine. Come back'n challenge me again when yar Pokémon are stronger, eh?"

"Ye-yeah, sure!" said the liar, aka Logan, who had, in the very previous chapter, no less, swore to Ryan that he had quit being a trainer after getting destroyed by Lt. Surge. Of course Ryan wasn't a snitch, so he wasn't about to say anything.

"What are you doing out here?" the teal-haired boy asked instead. "Vermillion City is miles back."

"Oh, nuthin', just been training my Electabuzz."

"You have an Electabuzz? Can I see it?"

"Sure, kid," Surge replied in that gruff voice of his. He unhooked a Poké Ball from his belt and threw it, and out popped a Pokémon that definitely looks like it's a gen 2 Pokémon (at least) if not gen 4.

"Electabuzz, the Electric Pokémon. If a major power outage occurs, it is certain that this Pokémon has eaten electricity at a power plant."

"Wow, cool," Ryan murmured. "I've seen these on tv… but I've never seen one in person."

"Hey, how aboutta battle?" Surge asked. "Come on, one of your Pokémon," he said, gesturing to Ryan's regal entourage, "against mine. If you win, I'll give ya a special prize!"

"You're on," said Ryan, determination thick in his voice.

"Hey whatever happened to that Abra and Kakuna ya used on me last time?" Surge asked. "I don't see them here."

"I don't have them with me," Ryan replied coldly. He doesn't need to know why. Better if he never knows.

"Oh, okay… well, let's go, eh?"

"Yeah."

"Alright! Take him out, Ryan!" Logan shouted with glee. He wants me to get back at the man who humiliated him. Well he's lucky I want the prize… whatever it is. As long as it's not Girl Scout cookies, I'm good.

"Go Aegon," Ryan commanded.

"Meleon! Meleeeeeeon!" the Charmeleon complained. "Char char, char char!"

"Stop it, Aegon," Ryan sighed. "Don't embarrass me in front of Lt. Surge."

"Char!"

"I said get in there!" Ryan shouted. "Or no candy for a week!"

"Meleon?!" The horror in Aegon's voice was enough to take the breath away.

"I'm not kidding boy. Go fight the Electabuzz!" There was anger in Ryan's voice, raw and unchecked. He still hadn't got over what had happened yesterday, and he didn't mean to take it out on Aegon, but… he should be listening to me anyways. I'm his master, and I have five badges. He's not even a Charizard yet. He has no excuse not being loyal.

The Charmeleon dropped his head and stumbled forward to face the much-taller electric Pokémon. "Heh, alright, let's whoop that Charmeleon. Electabuzz, use Thunder!"

"Buzz…!"

"Aegon, use Slash."

"Char."

Aegon was faster, so he slashed the Electabuzz across the face with his very sharp claws. Electabuzz shrieked in pain and proceeded to miss with his Thunder attack. It was awesome. It was like Lt. Surge was a master of high definition.

"Thunder again!" Surge roared.

"Fire Blast, Aegon."

The Charmeleon leapt forward, flames boiling out from between his teeth. He landed just in front of the Electabuzz.

"Thunder him!" Lt. Surge yelled desperately.

But Charmeleon was too fast. He unleashed his torrent of orange flames on his foe, burning the Electabuzz to a crisp. He looked like a burnt marshmallow.

"Electa… buzz…" the electric Pokémon coughed before falling over.

"Unbelievable!" Lt. Surge said. His eyes went wide and he grasped onto his hair and fell to his knees. "That Charmeleon's pretty powerful… I bet he's going to evolve soon!"

"Yep," replied Ryan apathetically. "Good work, buddy. Come back."

"Wow, that was so cool. You've gotta teach me how to fight like that," Logan said, punching Ryan's arm softly.

"Char, char, char!" The Charmeleon strutted back, posing and flashing his muscles for the trainers and Pokémon. He put on a good show, and I'm sure they were all really proud of him. Now he's bragging; he didn't even want to fight that Electabuzz a couple minutes ago.

"Man, kid. Ya've really grown a lot stronger since the last time we fought," Surge grinned. "I remember when ya barely beat my Electrode with two Pokémon combined. Hah! My Electrode wasn't nearly as powerful as my Electabuzz."

"Thanks." Ryan bowed his head.

"Oh yeah, I almost forget… your prize. Heheh, here, catch, kid."

Surge threw a small metal canister Ryan's way. When the boy caught it, he saw a tiny inscription etched on the front of it that read 'Thunderbolt'. His heart began to race and he looked up at Lt. Surge, his mouth agape. "Th-this… this is a TM, right?!"

"Yep. TM 24."

"Awesome!" Ryan smiled for the first time in a long time. "This is just the move I need for my Gengar!"

"Gengar?" Lt. Surge eyed the Pokémon standing behind Ryan. "I don't see a Gengar, kid."

"Well, I haven't caught him yet, but I will once I get to Lavender Town."

"Heh, well good luck wit' that. It's gettin' late. I better get back to the gym. I bet there's a bunch of kids waitin' to challenge me."

"Alright, see ya," said Logan quickly. He's eager to get out of here; doesn't want to have to spend another moment with the man who humiliated him. I don't blame him. Ryan thought back to yesterday, to how quickly he had left his parent's home after realizing why they had asked him to visit them.

"Yeah, bye," Ryan said, feeling the canister over before placing it in his backpack.

Now I just need to catch my Haunter, and I'm good. He felt alright, but not as good as he had felt the last time he'd beaten someone or found a TM. There was something missing now, a hollow feeling in his chest every time he battled, and he knew so long as things remained the same, that would not go away. He blinked rapidly before motioning to Logan to follow him deeper into Route 11. Lt. Surge walked off in the other direction. Ryan watched him go for a minute, feeling the light midday rain on his cheeks. Ya've really grown a lot stronger since the last time we fought, Surge had told him. I just wish Abra was here to hear that.

Deep in the wilderness of Route 11, Ryan and Logan came upon a rickety old bridge. It was not really a bridge over troubled waters, so to speak, but a long planky one extending out over the tall grass and further into the forest. Clever, thought Ryan. This way trainers can travel through the route without having to battle wild Pokémon if they don't want to.

At the front of the bridge stood a girl holding a Nidorina. When she saw Ryan, she got really excited. "I'll trade my Nidorina for your Nidorino!" she called. "What do you say?"

"Are you crazy?" Ryan replied. "This is way too far into the story for me to still be using a Nidorino. I have an Indigo League to win! And if you expect me to win with a Nidorina, well I have a bridge to sell you..." With that, he walked right past the stunned girl with Logan and his Pokémon hot on his heels.

Onto the bridge they went. It was an old bridge, a terrible bridge, a bridge for people who like Flight of the Concords. As the group shuffled on deeper into the forest, a curious thing happened: little egg children ran forward to confront them, blocking their path. They wore costumes of pink and white and looked like ballerinas mixed with eggs. It was the most bizarre sight Ryan had ever seen.

"Stop! You shall not pass!" one voice, a boy's, said.

"Oh look, it's Happinys, wow!" Logan shouted, eagerly pushing his way forward. "There's so many!"

Indeed, there were - perhaps one dozen, a baker's dozen, even three dozen and a quarter little children dressed up as ugly decorated eggs. Ryan didn't get it. "What's a Happiny?" he asked.

"It's the baby form of Chansey," Logan said. "Wow, there's so many! I want to catch one! I've always wanted a Chansey!"

"There is no such thing as Happiny," came the monotone voice of Dex from Ryan's pocket. That prompted the boy to take his red Poké Dex out and point it at the children. "There are no Pokémon here. Happiny is not a real Pokémon. There are only 151 Pokémon. It is known."

"It is known," murmured Ryan.

"Gotta catch 'em all," droned Dex, fervent as a woodchipper.

"Well, you can't argue with that logic," Ryan shrugged.

"No, it's not true. Those are Happinys!" Logan sang. He took a Poké Ball out of his bag and threw it. Out came a Scyther. "Catch me one of those," he ordered his Pokémon.

"Scythe!"

Ryan raised an eyebrow. He has a Scyther. He said he sucked as a trainer, yet he captured one of those Pokémon… The thought made Ryan remember the Scyther he had once befriended near Pallet Town, who had helped him stop an insidious Team Rocket plot. I wanted him to join me. But he just ran off into the forest. That about sums up my Pokémon journey so far.

"Use your Quick Attack, Echo!" Logan ordered.

"Wait, dude, stop!" Ryan yelped. "Those aren't Pokémon. They're little kids dressed up!"

"Mother's gonna punish you!" one child teased.

"Mother doesn't like it when fights break out on her bridge."

Logan was unconvinced. "I know a Happiny when I see one."

"You don't know anything," Ryan replied angrily. "Look, these aren't Happinys! They're talking like normal kids!"

"You have to pay a toll to cross," said one of the Happiny children. "It's 100 Poké Dollars per person."

"Wha… are you kidding me?!" Ryan screamed, his voice cracking. "That's a ripoff!" He turned back to Logan. "Okay, okay, order your Scyther to knock these greedy little brats into the tall grass… I mean, catch yourself a Happiny."

"Chansey!" came a shriek from nearby. Before Ryan could see who had shouted such a foul word, he was hit in the side of the head and fell over. A second later, Echo and Logan fell over too. Ryan's Pokémon behind him were likewise taken out in a flash.

And what had taken them out, you may wonder? Why, it was none other than the fastest Pokémon in the world. Standing before them, fat as a pre 2011 Rahul, stood a pink Pokémon. Ryan recognized it instantly. Chansey. For a moment, doubt crept into his mind. If there really is a Chansey here, maybe those Happinys are real. But no, that couldn't be true. Only Generation 1 exists, as we all know.

The Chansey jiggled her belly and yelled, "Chansey, chansey!"

Ryan pointed his Poké Dex at her. "Chansey, the Egg Pokémon. A gentle and kind-hearted Pokémon that shares its nutritious eggs if it sees an injured Pokémon."

"Gentle and kindhearted? Are you kidding me? Dex, you're a filthy liar!" Ryan sat up and massaged the sore point on his head. "Why'd you do that, anyways?" he asked the Chansey angrily. "We were just trying to cross the bridge."

"Chansey, chansey, chanseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey!" came the sweet reply from the tub o' lard.

Well that clears things up. These Pokémon have no idea that no one can understand them. They can understand us; why don't they speak our language?!

"We're sorry!" Logan responded, sitting up and waving his hands about. "W-we didn't know this was your bridge! We'll happily turn around and go back."

"Chansey, chansey."

"Oh look, another enlightening quote from Chansey." Ryan's voice dripped with sarcasm. He began to clap. "Well done. Thanks for all the useful things you've said."

"Chansey!" The Chansey's voice was now getting angry as well, which didn't phase Ryan in the slightest. My Pokémon could take on that fat thing easily. I've about had it with her.

"Look," Ryan began, "just let us through. I don't care what you have going on here with all the kids dressed up like Fakemon. Not my problem. I just want to get to Lavender Town. Is that so hard? Just let us through or I'll have my Pokémon deal with you! This is a free route! Any trainer's allowed to travel through here! I'm not paying one Poké Dollar, either!"

"Chansey, chansey, chanse!"

Ryan stood up and crossed his arms. "Enough of this nonsense! Thurnax, take the loudmouth out."

"No wait," Logan said. "We still don't know what's going on."

"I don't want to know what's going on."

"Let me find out." Logan walked up to the Chansey, who stood quivering, standing in front of the many little children. She was frowning. I've never seen a Chansey frown before. "What's going on here?" he asked her, in a gentle, soothing voice. "Come on girl, you don't have to be scared. Just tell me what's happened. Why are you attacking anyone who comes onto this bridge and making them pay tolls?"

The Chansey began to ramble. It said its name at least fifty times, and Ryan could not understand a word of it. But Logan stood there, his head down, staring at a small notepad in his hands, taking notes, sometimes nodding, sometimes grunting in understanding. Is he pretending? Or does he really understand the Chansey? Ryan was getting flashbacks back to his mother and her Squirtle, and that made him want to throw up.

"I see," Logan said after the Chansey ended her long-winded speech that would have made Arnesen & Arnesen look like Greg Hughes. "So… you were right. These aren't Happinys."

"I knew it. I swear on me mum, I knew it!" Ryan yelled, his eyes bloodshot and his mouth close to foaming. "I told you this Chansey is messed up. Let's get out of here!"

"She said she has no plan," Logan continued, "so she brought them here."

"Brought who?"

"The kids."

"What kids?"

"Well, they aren't Happinys."

"Right you are."

Logan ignored Ryan's shenanigans, as he was wont to do. "They're orphans. Kids with no place to go. Chansey's taken them in, because no one else wanted to, apparently. She's trying to raise them out here. But she says it's hard. She's been squeezing tolls out of travelers to pay for feeding and clothing all the children."

"Great. Let's go to Lavender Town now."

"Ryan, you know this wouldn't be a good episode of a Pokémon story if we didn't solve this problem!"

"I don't care about that."

"Come on."

Ryan shook his head. "What are we supposed to do? Even if you did understand that Chansey, which I don't believe for one second, what are we supposed to do with all these orphans?"

"Take them back home?"

"Oh yeah, and where is that?"

"I don't know. Probably Vermillion City. We should start there. At least, we should tell an Officer Jenny," said Logan.

"Fat chance," Ryan replied. "We have places to be. I have to get to Saffron City."

"Fine, I'll call an Officer Jenny. I'll use a payphone. I'll let her know the kids are out here. The police can decide what to do."

"Great. Let's go."

"Chansey!" Chansey bellowed. She ran and jumped to the other side of the bridge, blocking Logan's path off of the thing.

"Uh oh," Ryan said, "looks like ol' blubberbelly doesn't want you to do that." He laughed cruelly. "You'll have to deal with this one. Show her you're a real Pokémon trainer, Logan."

"Chansey chansey chanse, see!" Logan pleaded. Is he really trying to talk in the Pokémon language Ryan wondered. Why haven't I ditched him yet?

Logan and the Chansey debated back and forth for a good three minutes. It was thrilling stuff, so thrilling that Ryan nearly fell asleep. By the end of it, Logan was pointing at Chansey, his face flushed. He was yelling something, but Ryan wasn't paying attention. And then a green blur blew past the teal-haired boy and that got his attention. Now, Echo the Scyther stood against Chansey. The two were itching for a fight. I knew it would come to this. But Logan had to go and prolong things. He'll need to learn that I won't allow such things to happen in the future.

"I told you this was how it was going to end," Ryan said helpfully. "This is how it always ends."

"She doesn't want to give up her 'children'," Logan replied, not looking at Ryan. "But these are kids… little kids who don't know better. She should know better than to steal them from Vermillion City. She can't raise them out here. Not alone… she may have good intentions, but this isn't going to end well. And I think, deep down, she knows that. Don't you?" he asked the Chansey, but she just frowned back at him.

"Teach her a lesson," Ryan yawned.

"Go Mama!" yelled one kid.

"Chansey, chanse!" shouted another.

"I like turtles," offered a third.

A fourth shouted, "I wanna be president… for life!"

Ryan thought this was a little messed up. "What do you think, Thurnax?" he asked his Dragonite, who was as much as spectator as he.

"Brawaaauauauaaugh!"

"I thought so."

"Echo, use Quick Attack!"

"Scyther!"

"Chansey!"

Ryan opened his Poké Dex and pointed it at the fight between the Chansey and the Scyther in front of him. "How long is this going to take, Dexy-poo?"

"Never call me that again," Dex droned helplessly. "If things continue as they are going, the Scyther will knock out the Chansey in seven more turns, possibly. Additionally, Chansey is using Pound, which is possibly the worst attack ever."

"Seven turns?!" Ryan nearly pulled out all of his beautiful hair (which was, all of it, above the neck). "Are you kidding me?!"

"No am I not kidding with you, master. I would never do so."

"Logan, hurry up!" Ryan shouted over to the other trainer. "Or I'm leaving you here. I've got places to be." He's sure doing a lot of battling for someone who says he's quit being a Pokémon trainer.

Ryan looked over at the children dressed as a fake Pokémon that surely never existed ever. "So what're you doing out here?" he asked the nearest child. She looked at him, sneezed and skipped away. That about summed up Ryan's life. "What about you?" he asked another one. "How'd you end up out here."

"I don't care what the future holds, cuz I'm right here and I'm today," the child said, her monotone almost as impressive as Dex's. This is the cult of Chansey, Ryan realized, and that chilled him to the bone.

"There's no way you're a little kid." For a second, Ryan contemplated throwing a Poké Ball at that one - he may have been a real fake Pokémon. But he convinced himself not to at the last second. I don't want to have to explain anything to Officer Jenny when she gets here.

Ryan looked back over at Logan, who was in all his glory. He had never been a successful trainer, but here he was, protecting the children who were being brainwashed by the Chansey. At least, Ryan thought that what was going on. He wasn't really paying attention. He turned his focus back to the dressed-up children.

"Hey, if I use an old rod here, do you think it would work?" he asked the kids. They gave him blank stares and blank stares alone. "If I had an old rod, I'd throw my line out into the tall grass. I bet that'd catch me a real good Pokémon." No one said anything. "Nothing? Nothing? Okay, okay. That's fine. Go back to what it is you do," he said, waving off the children. But they just stood there, staring at him. One was sipping a capri sun, and that gave Ryan a mighty thirst. "Hey, you got any more of those?" The Happiny shook his head. "Fine, I see how it is."

The sun began to set as the battle between Chansey and Scyther continued. One used Quick Attack, the other used Pound. It was a trading of meager moves that did little damage. But that's what you get when you have two Pokémon who are really low levels. I bet that Chansey isn't above level 20. Logan's Scyther probably isn't much higher.

Finally, Ryan decided he had had enough of this nonsense. He stood up and tried to push his way past the kids to freedom. However, when he tried to make his way through the sea of Happinys, they all grabbed his arms and legs and prevented him from moving. "H-hey… get offa me!" Ryan shouted.

"Not until you pay your toll," one girl said. "Mama always makes trainers pay a toll."

Ryan was forced to return to his Pokémon. If he had been a baaaaad man, he could've just blasted his way through the children with his Pokémon. But that didn't feel right, and he had not the heart to set their little egg suits aflame with Aegon's Fire Blast, even though it would probably look lit as heck. So he sat back down, his feet dangling over the edge of the bridge and into the tall grass, and laid back, staring at the darkening sky. Rahul will beat Koga pretty soon, and then he'll be on his way to Celadon. He may be already there. I have to go faster. I can't just spend days and days out here in the wild doing inane hero quests with Logan. He looked over at the Chansey and Scyther and noticed that neither one had won yet.

A girl sat down next to Ryan and giggled as she watched Aegon and Myrrah playing 'I Spy'. "Cool Pokémon," she said.

"Thanks."

"Are they really strong?"

"Strong enough to beat that Chansey."

"Hey, don't talk about Mama like that," the girl shot back. "She's great."

"Oh yeah, what's so great about her?"

"She promised she would take care of us when no one else would! Mama's gonna keep us right here under her wing, she promised. She won't let us fly but she might let us sing."

"That's nice. But you know, you're a human, and she's a Pokémon, right? It's not like she could be your real mother."

"She is too! She buys food for us and plays games with us and never lets anything hurt us!"

Maybe she's right. Maybe we should just leave the kids here. Chansey seems like a fine enough mother. Ryan glanced over at Logan, who was dripping with sweat. His Scyther was all beat up, but so was Chansey. And when he heard Logan cry, 'Quick Attack, one last time!', Ryan saw Echo shoot forward in a blur, slam his claws into Chansey, and the pink Pokémon with the egg in her pouch fell over, off the bridge, and into the tall grass. Or not.

"No!"

"Mommy!"

"You big meanie! You hurt our Mama!"

The children began to scream and cry in cacophony. Ryan covered his poor sensitive ears. Logan, however, did not relish in his victory. He ran down the bridge, to where it met the ground and then disappeared into the forest to find a payphone. Since this is the Pokémon world, where nothing ever makes sense, Ryan knew that there would have to be a payphone out there somewhere, just like the tollbooth that existed on the beach on the Island of the Giant Pokémon. He would bet all of his Poké Dollars on it.

"What did he do to Mummy?! What did he do to Mummy?!" a little British girl was squealing.

"Calm down, he just knocked her out," Ryan replied casually. But that made all of the children fall silent, with a few of them letting out gasps of shock.

A long while passed before Logan returned. In that time, Ryan had to entertain the children, lest they decide to turn on him too. And he was not desirous of being flung into the tall grass, where who knows what kind of Pokémon lurked. He had Swirlie Whirlie perform aerial maneuvers and had Aegon and Myrrah shoot their ice and fire attacks to see whose could go the farthest. That kept the children decently entertained, but there was still sadness on all of their faces.

When Logan returned, he ran right up to Ryan, poked him, and whispered, "Officer Jenny and the Sunshine Girls are going to get here soon."

"Oh good. I'm glad this all hasn't taken very much time."

"He's the one who hurt Mommy!" a girl shouted, noticing Logan. "Get him!"

The children lurched forward collectively and began to run at Ryan, Logan, and their Pokémon.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, stop it! Violence is not the answer! Make love not war!" Ryan pleaded, but the children ignored him and stampeded over him like a wild pack of hungry Tauros.

When they got to Logan, they pushed him and his tired Scyther all the way back to the edge of the bridge, where he was dangerously close to falling into the tall grass. Just before the children could do the deed, however, a voice rang out:

"Chansey! Chansey! Chansey, chansey, chansey!"

The children stopped and looked and saw. There was their mother, the beaten-up Chansey, standing at the foot of the bridge. She looked terrible, absolutely dreadful, but she was smiling nonetheless.

Logan said, "Chansey, please… we're just trying to help the kids. They need real homes, real moms and dads to raise them! They can't live out here in the forest with you forever! It's not right, and you know it!"

Chansey nodded. She walked forward and took a white egg out of her pouch. Then she handed it to Echo, who took it between his claws and began to nibble on it. "Chansey, chansey. See, chanse, see see!" she said to her children. "Chansey, chansey. Chansey, chansey."

Ryan looked at the children, who were mesmerized by their cult leader. They'd drink any kind of kool-aid for her. A few began to cry, as if they understood her soft, sweet, sad voice, and others ran up to her to hug her. She let them.

Soon after, Officer Jenny and other policemen arrived. They gathered up the children and took a head count before loading them on a police bus. After it was done, the Vermillion City Officer Jenny walked up to the beaten-down Chansey and spoke:

"You don't have to worry about a thing! I'll make sure all of these kids find good homes. You can count on me."

"Chansey."

"You did a really good job of watching over these kids," Officer Jenny continues. "And for that, we're giving you the Papa John's Badge of Honor!" She nodded, and another officer stepped forward and handed Officer Jenny a red ribbon. In the distance, Papa John squatted by some bushes and fist-pumped the air as if he had just won the Super Bowl. Officer Jenny placed the ribbon on Chansey's head and stepped back. "Thanks for taking care of the kids. But it's time for them to return back into society. I hope you understand."

"Chansey, chanse."

"Great! If you ever want a job in the city, I know a Nurse Joy who is in need of a new Chansey assistant."

"Chansey."

"Great, well, if you need anything else, don't hesitate to give me a call!" Officer Jenny smiled, gave a peace sign, and then bolted off to the bus with her policemen.

A second later, the bus started up and drove off back towards the city. Chansey stood there watching her children go. Ryan could see many of them gathered around the windows, looking back at Chansey, some calling after her, telling her how much they were going to miss her or how they would never forget her or how they loved her so. And then they were gone, off into the night.

Silence fell across the forest. Ryan saw tears in the Chansey's eyes. "Come on, we should get going," he said to Logan.

"Ye-yeah, I guess so." Logan walked over to Chansey and patted her on the shoulder. "Sorry it had to end like this, but it really was in the best interest of everyone. I hope you understand."

"Ch-chanse…"

Ryan and Logan once again climbed onto the bridge, with Aegon leading the way with his fiery tail. As they went on, Ryan looked back and saw the Chansey still standing there in the middle of the road, as if she was waiting for the bus to return for her. She really loved them. She wanted a family just as much as they did, he realized. He stopped and grabbed Logan's shoulder.

"Hold up, Logan. Look," he said, pointing to the Chansey.

"She's pretty sad," Logan admitted.

"All she wanted was a family," Ryan said. He hadn't liked the Chansey or the children or really how any of the day had gone, but now that it was all over, he couldn't help but feel sorry for her. "Why don't you go see if she wants some company."

Logan gave Ryan a curious look but then walked back over to the Chansey. Ryan stood back, just out of earshot. He still didn't know if Logan knew how to speak Chansey, or if his communications were all a clever ruse. It didn't matter. Things went exactly how Ryan had expected them. Within a few minutes, Chansey and Logan were hugging, and before Ryan knew it, the Chansey had jumped into a fresh Poké Ball. Logan got the Pokémon he always wanted, and Chansey's got a few family.

"Char char," Charmeleon observed.

"Yep, buddy. There's a new Pokémon in our group," Ryan said, scratching Aegon's ears. "I'm a matchmaker, aren't I?" He shook his head in disbelief. "Of all the things I ever wanted to be, that would've been the last one on the list." But in the end, I made two people happy. And the kids are all going to be able to grow up in normal society now.

"Thanks," Logan said when he returned.

Ryan patted him on the back. "You did good, dude."

"How did you know Chansey wanted to join us?"

"I knew a few Pokémon like her," Ryan said. "Now let's get going. We're way behind schedule. No more of these filler episodes, okay? We have to get to Lavender Town, and then to Saffron City."

"But that wasn't filler! I got a new Pokémon! And you got some nice character development," Logan pointed out.

"Yeah, well I just wish Alex was here to appreciate that. He loves character development."

"Who's Alex?" Logan asked.

"You'll meet him soon enough."

And with that, Ryan began walking across the bridge. Logan followed him. Most of their Pokémon marched along with them. And above, the stars were out, shining bright. In the distance, perhaps, a keen-eyed wanderer may have spotted a little pink dot, just as big as a far-distant star, flicker and bob before burning out.