So this is my 5th update for this story! Yay! This chapter is another filler for the next big chapter full of action!

I still don't have any reviews, which sucks, but thank you to the people who have followed and favorite this story! It's awesome to know someone likes it enough to keep an eye on it!

Disclaimer: gothchic6 does not own Pokémon and does not get any money for writing this. I do, however, own Calypso and my other OCs.

A Trick and a New Team Member:

So I leave Elm's lab to "officially" go on my Pokémon journey. I waltz through Route 29, because I know there really aren't any Pokémon worth catching. So, instead, I try to keep away from as much of the grass as I can. I just want to make it to Cherrygrove City quickly.

Apparently, Silver found his Trainer Card because there isn't any sign of him anywhere. There are just Rattatas. Rattatas everywhere. I sneak around, hoping they don't notice me.

I do finally make it to Cherrygrove City, where I enter the Pokémon Center, only to find a different Nurse Joy working there. Damn. Must be JC's cousin, Jojo.

"Hello, welcome to the Pokémon Center! Would you like me to heal your Pokémon?" I nod at Jojo, and hand her my Pokéballs. She heals them, and hands them back to me. Then, I promptly leave the Pokémon Center.

I start walking up Route 30 with only Dusk out of her Pokéball. Since she's weaker than the other two, she needs more training. Dusk uses her Astonish move to take out the Pokémon who aren't Normal type, and Psywave on the Normal types. Pretty soon, she's up to level 11. Spirit is at level 11 also, and Cyndi is at level 12.

We go to walk past this house, when this random guy comes running out of the house, spits out some nonsense about "Apricorns", and hands me a case. Then, he runs back into the house.

"What. The. Hell?" I look down at the case, and see an etching on it of a nut-like fruit that I've seen on trees around here. I guess it wouldn't hurt to keep those things in here. Maybe they hold some kind of special purpose. I decide to call JC to ask her about it, and just because she wanted me to call her.

The phone rings as I wait for a response. Soon, she picks up.

"Hey, JC, what's up?"

"Nothing. Just on my break. Hey, why were you in such a hurry earlier?"

"Well, Professor Elm's Pokémon was stolen, so I had to rush."

"Really? Did you figure out who stole it?"

"Yeah, I ran into him on the way there, but I couldn't get back the Pokémon back."

"Oh, that sucks."

Not really. If she only knew.

"Yeah. Hey, I got a question. What are Apricorns, and what are their purpose?"

"Apricorns? Oh. A guy named Kurt in Azalea Town makes special Pokéballs out of them."

"Okay. Thanks."

"Hey, Calypso, I gotta go. Baby Pokémon are crying, and I have to calm them down. See ya!"

She hangs up on me. Those baby Pokémon must be very cranky today.

I walk into Route 30, not wanting to spend anymore time in Cherrygrove than I have to. I go a different way through the route than I did last time. Soon, a young kid in shorts, whose name turns out to be Joey, runs up to me, and starts talking.

"See my Rattata? It's in the top percentage of Rattata!"

To convince me, he then sends out his Rattata. A pipsqueak of a Pokémon, in my opinion. Dusk floats over to take on the thing.

Joey looks at Dusk, gets all excited, and starts cooing at her. Dusk looks at me with an annoyed expression, and I give her the nod that says, "Let's get this over with."

"Dusk, use Psywave!" Dusk sends a loud wave of psychic energy at Joey and his Rattata. I can tell it's working because both human and Pokémon are flinching at the loud sound. I would flinch, but I'm already used to Dusk's loud Psywave attack; she uses it frequently. Both Joey and his Rattata look ready to pass out. Joey manages to call out a command.

"Rattata, use Tackle!"

"Dusk, use another Psywave!"

Dusk doesn't even have to move an inch as the Tackle goes straight through her. Joey gasps in horror. She sends out another Psywave, which makes the Rattata collapse.

Joey looks at his Rattata sprawled out on the ground, fainted. Then he glances back at me.

"Oh… I'm out of Pokémon that can fight…"

I look at him weirdly, and reply, "Well, you only had one Rattata."

He suddenly perks up again, which almost kind of freaks me out.

"Hey, can I get your number? I'll ring you up to battle."

"Um… Sorry, kid, I don't just give my number to random people."

"Oh, all right...But I won't lose to you again!" Then he takes off, most likely to find a Pokémon Center.

I keep walking, until I come up to another Youngster and Bug Catcher, and soundly defeat them, as well.

I approach the entrance of a cave at the beginning of Route 31, which I have just crossed into, and I am instantly excited. I love dark caves! I enter the cave, where it is indeed, dark. Almost pitch black. Now, I would normally explore this thing, but it's so dark that I can't see my hand in front of my face, so I leave.

Pop! The Black Apricorn pops as it falls into my hand. I can't wait to get to Azalea Town, and actually put these things to use.

My stomach rumbles, and I realize that I haven't eaten since this morning. Neither have my Pokémon. I survey the rest of the route. There appears to be one more Trainer on this route; a Bug Catcher who I have to battle if I want to get to Violet City. Unless….

I fall on my ass as I attempt to scale the ledges that block the road. Owww! The Bug Catcher notices my attempt, and walks over to me. I inwardly groan.

"Hi, I'm Wade! Why are you trying to climb the ledges? That's kinda dangerous, you know."

I breathe a long, heavy sigh, and glance at Wade.

"I'm really hungry, my Pokémon are really hungry, and I knew that if I passed by you, you would want to battle. So I attempted to jump the ledges. Satisfied?"

Wade shakes his huge hat-covered head, and chuckles. "You must be psychic, or something, lady. I was just revving up for a battle. But since I'm so nice, I'll let you pass without battling me."

I swear, my face must look so hilarious, because I am grinning ear to ear. But then, Wade says something that makes the deal a little bit more beneficial to him.

"Wait, I'll do it under two conditions. One, when you're done eating, you have to come back and battle me. Two, bring me back a sandwich. I'll even give you the money for it. Deal?"

I narrow my eyes at the boy, before grasping his hand. "Deal."

He let's me pass by, and I practically run through the checkpoint, and into Violet City.

If I could use one word to describe Violet City? Rustic. The town looks like an old village that hasn't had any repairs done to it since the 1800s. From a distance, I can see a few houses, the Pokémon Gym, and an old tower at the back of the city. But what I'm really focused on is the Pokémon Center just a few steps away.

I walk into the Pokémon Center, where yet another Nurse Joy greets me. I swear they clone themselves. Except for JC, who I think is kind of a rebel.

"Welcome to the Pokémon Center! Is there anything you need?"

"Yeah, my Pokémon and I are really hungry. Do you have anything to eat?"

Nurse Joy shakes her head at me. "No, at the moment, we don't. There's a food shortage in Violet City at the moment. I'm afraid that you will have to wait until the food truck comes, like every other trainer."

"Then could you at least heal my starving Pokémon?"

The clone gives me an annoyed look, but heals them anyway. I take them back, and walk briskly out of the PokéCenter, and towards Route 31.

I approach Wade, who is leaning against a tree, reading a book about Bug-catching. He hears my noisy footsteps, and looks up.

"Back already, huh? Where's my sandwich?"

I narrow my eyes in annoyance. "Apparently, Violet City is completely out of food, and they are waiting for a food truck to come. They don't know when it will get there, either, so I guess we get to starve."

Wade snickers, and pulls out a pouch. "I already knew that there was no food in Violet City. So, I foraged around for berries. Found some, though I don't know if they are edible for human consumption."

I can feel the rage coursing through my veins at his words. I pluck Wade off of the ground by his collar, and shake him a few times before pulling his face dangerously close to mine.

"What you mean to tell me is that you knew about this all along? And you still sent me on a wild goose chase?! I ought to hang you from this tree from your underwear, and leave you here until you fall!"

My ranting doesn't have the desired effect on Wade, who is laughing hysterically. The same cannot be said for the wild Pokémon around here, who have poked their heads out to see what the commotion is about, but quickly retreat due to my charmingly enraged face.

Wade stops laughing, and shakes the berry pouch at me. "Hey, I didn't say I wouldn't share."

At those words, the anger leaves my body, only to be replaced with annoyance.

"Why didn't you just say that in the first place?"

Wade, our Pokémon, and I enjoy a small lunch of berries before I completely cream him in battle.

"Wow, Lady, you're really strong! Hey, if I could register your number, maybe we could do this again. What do you say?"

"The name's Calypso, and, yeah, as long as you don't piss me off again."

"Sure, Callie."

I send Wade a warning glance. "Don't call me that. Oh, and you're not getting your sandwich money back."

Wade shrugs, not caring, and we exchange PokéGear numbers.

So after we exchange numbers, I go back to Violet City to scope out the area. I go into this one house that has a nerdy kid and an older guy in it. The older guy looks weird, so I talk to the nerdy kid.

"What's up?"

He sniffs deeply, like he's trying to clear his nose. Gross, man.

"Hi. My name's Rudy. Have you caught any Bellsprout, by chance?"

"I haven't caught any, but I've seen plenty of them on Route 31. Why?"

Rudy inhales again, making that disgusting noise. I inwardly wince at the revolting sound.

"Well, I've always wanted a Bellsprout, but the only Pokémon I have now is weak to Grass types. I've asked my dad", he points the weird man, who grunts in response, "but he won't catch me one. If you can catch me a Bellsprout, I'll trade you my Onix. Please, trade with me."

"Fine, kid, I'll go out and catch you a Bellsprout."

"My name's Rudy."

I shrug. "Look, kid, I'll be back with the Bellsprout soon. Hold on to your undies until I get back."

As I walk out, I can distinctly hear Rudy say, "See, even a total stranger is nicer than you." His dad just snorts in reply.

I chuckle. I'm not doing this because I'm nice, I'm doing it because I want a giant rock snake Pokémon. I knew those Pokéballs the aide gave me would come in handy.

I've been walking around Route 32 because this guy by the PokéCenter told me that stronger Bellsprouts can be found there. I have Spirit out with me searching for the Bellsprouts, who seem to sense that I am searching for them. They are probably all hiding just to spite me.

I finally spot one trying to hide in a nearby bush. "Spirit, use Faint Attack", I command before the Bellsprout can try to slip into the bush. Spirit disappears, and reappears between the Bellsprout and the bush, where she attacks it. The Bellsprout is on the grass, attempting to get up and fight when I throw a Pokéball at it. It disappears into the Pokéball, which rocks three times before clicking.

"Yes! My first Pokémon catch!"

The Bellsprout is male, so I name it Forest. He's at level 6, which isn't bad, but could definitely be better.

I make my way to the PokéCenter, where I have Nurse Joy heal my Pokémon. Then I head out to Dark Cave to train Forest. What is the point of training a Bellsprout that I'm going to trade another person, you ask? Well, Pharmacy Guy told me about a rule that is usually true for all trades: When you trade a Pokémon, the Pokémon you receive in return will usually be the same level as the one you traded to them. I know for a fact that Onix doesn't learn any Rock type moves until Level 9, so I want to have Forest be at least at Level 9 before I trade him. Training an Onix is harder than training a Bellsprout, anyway.

So we get to Dark Cave, which is extremely dark, by the way. Dark Cave is full of Geodudes, which are as slow as snails covered in molasses, and Forest has no problem taking them out with a few Vine Whips. The only problem about training in Dark Cave is that it's always really cold and wet in here. Oh, and half of the time it's Zubats that come out instead of Geodudes, and we have to run from them. If one thing is certain, it's that a Bellsprout that only knows Vine Whip does not have a good chance at taking out a Zubat.

After around a half hour of beating up Geodudes and running from Zubats, Forest is at Level 10, and ready for me to trade him. So, I return to Rudy's house to trade Forest for an Onix.

As I walk back to Violet City, Forest stares me in the eyes, his black pupils staring into my soul.

"Bell, Bellsprout", he says to me.

I can't understand what he's saying, so I go behind a few trees, and let out Spirit, who I can understand the best of all of them. I have the ability to understand what Pokémon are saying, but only if I have made an emotional bond with them.

"What is he trying to say", I ask Spirit as I gesture to Forest.

Spirit gazes at Forest, who repeats himself to her.

"Murkrow Murk Murkrow Krow, Murkrow Murkrow Krow, Murk Murkrow. (Forest says that he doesn't want to be traded over to the boy Rudy, and that he wants to stay with us.)"

I look at Forest, who is staring into my eyes again pleadingly. I sigh.

"Alright, you can stay. But you better help me figure out a strategy to beat Falkner and his bird Pokémon, whom you are weak against. I'm not going and catching another Bellsprout just for it to get attached to me like you did. An Onix is not worth a Pokémon's heartbreak."

Forest practically jumps me, his vine-like-arms hugging my neck. I hold him in my arms, and then he lets go.

"I think you've had enough training for today, Forest. Good job. Return."

Forest smiles gratefully as I return him back to his Pokéball. Spirit, who has been watching the entire scene, flies over onto my shoulder, a faint smirk on her huge beak.

"What do you think is so funny?"

"Murkrow Murk Krow Murkrow. Murkrow, Krow Murkrow. Murkrow Murk. Murkrow? Krow Murk? (I'm surprised you let him onto the team so easily. Normally, you don't accept things that quickly. You don't show your emotional side often either. What's changed? Is someone going soft?)"

My cheeks burn red at her teasing comment. "I am not getting soft! Just you wait, you and the others are in for the battles of your lifetimes! It's training for you guys really soon! Come on, I heard that if you defeat the monks in the Sprout Tower, you can get a good TM. Let's beat the shit out of them!"

Spirit snickers as we run off towards Sprout Tower, and the battles that await us there.

So, how was this chapter? A filler, I know, it's boring, and you're probably wondering where the romance comes into all this. I know, it's coming soon.

NOTE: Next chapter has both Silver action and Gym Battle with Falkner! Yay!

Please, please review! I beg of you, you wonderful peoples, you!