I landed in Pastoria City and returned Fearow into his Pokéball. The warmth of the morning sun was soothing and I smiled. This was a memory to remember. I was confused as to where I was supposed to go, however. I remembered Route 222 was closed off and some fat bastard wouldn't let me pass. Route 212 would only lead me back to Hearthome City, which would've led me in a circle and back around to Veilstone City, so where was I supposed to go? I felt stuck. However, I wasn't stuck for long.
I walked north towards the Great Marsh entrance, only to find Wake standing there, muttering something to himself. Suddenly from behind the Croagunk board, Barry jumped out totally catching me by surprise.
"GAH! Oh. Barry…" I groaned, facepalming. Barry got me back.
"Hahaha! Ayyy, I got ya! You're scared, aren't ya!" Barry teased.
"No, I'm not scared, just surprised," I protested.
"Yeah, sure. It's alright to be scared. I mean, I should know…" Barry trailed off because at that moment, Wake spoke up.
"I saw some weird Galactic guy standing around here outside the gate. I got closer to him, but then he ran inside. So now I'm waiting for him to come out…"
BOOOOMM! At that moment, a giant explosion went off in the Great Marsh.
"What was that!" yelled Barry.
"That's what I'd like to know! Wait, you don't think…" Barry and I slowly looked at each other. "It was the Galactic dude, wasn't it?" muttered Barry. "Speak of the devil…" As if on cue, the Galactic Grunt darted out of the gate, his clothes covered in dirt.
"Man, that was rough-" He saw us standing around him.
"YOU! What've you done?!" roared Wake.
"What've I done, you're asking? Well, technically speaking, it wasn't me. There was a package that arrived. Inside the package, there was a bomb called the Galactic Bomb. Me, I was told to push the button on the bomb. So I did. Oh, that's right! Mustn't forget, the test results need reporting!"
"Test results?! WHAT TEST RESULTS?!" I yelled.
"Not telling. Private stuff. Too important for your precious little ears to hear. I must be off! Oh, uh, fat codger, your mask's absurd!" With that, he ran off, laughing his head off. Oh, I was about to snap his neck off. I followed him in pursuit. "GET OVER HERE ASS-HEAD!" I screamed. "Catch me if you can, slow-ass!" taunted the Grunt.
Yes, he was faster than me, but he had a very low stamina. All the way to the Valor Lakefront, he had to stop, take a breath, and keep running, with me on his heels. At the lakefront, though, he readied himself for battle and sent out his Croagunk. It was significantly strong, I will say. I took it down in three hits, instead of one. I guess Team Galactic wasn't so weak after all. But after the battle, I advanced on the Grunt and Steel Punched him in the gut, causing him to spit up blood. He fell to the ground, writhing in pain. I kicked him countless times in his groin and then I planted a foot on his back, stomping on him hard.
"THIS IS FOR THE BOMB YOU SET OFF! THIS IS FOR BEING EVIL! THIS IS FOR ALL THE EVIL ORGANIZATIONS IN THE WORLD! GALACTIC, ROCKET, SOME OTHERS I DON'T REMEMBER… I DON'T CARE! I JUST WANT TO AVENGE MY FATHER'S DEATH!" I kicked him for every last word I spoke, cracking his bones. I then gripped his head and started to twist his head. His head turned almost completely around, ready to snap, when…
"STOP!" And that scream didn't come from the Grunt. I looked up in rage at the person who distracted me.
It was Cynthia.
"Please, stop!"
"Why should I?!"
"Because… because he doesn't deserve to die!"
"…What are you talking about, Cynthia? He's evil! I'm teaching him a lesson that maybe he'll learn in hell!"
"No! Don't… do that…"
"Why?! Why does he 'not deserve to die?'"
"I… I heard you shouting. I couldn't help but think about when a team stole my Pokémon from me. Your father was a Pokémon, correct? Well, he ended up just like my Pokémon. After my Pokémon was taken, I never saw it again. I concluded that it had died, because that's what the team did. They killed Pokémon for fun. I grieved the loss of it, as expected, and I wanted them to die. But then I learned forgiveness and the value of human life. I was mad at first and wanted to go after them, but I learned that it doesn't matter how bad a person is, because at the end of the day, they're still human beings! No one deserves to die, regardless of their title!" Cynthia was tearing up now, with little droplets falling from her eyes. "So please! I beg you, don't kill him! You may not be able forgive a person, but that doesn't mean you have to kill them!"
I stood there for a second, thinking about what she said. I looked at my blood-covered hands and then back at Cynthia.
"I feel no remorse for my actions. Pokémon are Pokémon. But when it's your own family, you wouldn't know the pain! You're not me! You don't feel how I feel! Thanks to the evil in this world, I've never known my father. So I've pledged to rid this universe of evil."
"If you must, stop evil, but don't kill! Every life has its meaning!"
I did give it some thought. I didn't decide right away if I would change, but I let the Grunt go. He crawled away to the lake, slowly. I turned to Cynthia.
"Why are you here?"
"I came to investigate the explosion at the Great Marsh. I figured that Team Galactic was behind it."
"Yeah, obviously. Who wouldn't blame them?"
"So, are you still in training?"
"Oh, definitely. I've already gotten my fourth gym badge from Pastoria City."
"Wow. That's pretty good! How long did it take?"
"About a day and a half."
We continued to converse, talking about Pokémon, training, and the like. I mentioned that I was stuck and I didn't know where to go, and Cynthia told me about Psyduck blocking the path on Route 210 to the mountains. She gave me a bag of Secret Potion. She also gave me an Old Charm and told me to give it to her grandmother in Celestic Town, which Route 210 eventually led to, according to my map. After she left, I sent out Fearow to fly to Solaceon Town.
I landed in Solaceon Town, got on my bike, and rode north to Route 210 where, sure enough, I saw the horde of Psyduck standing around like doofuses. I took the bag of Secret Potion and fed it to each Psyduck, which worked like a charm. Immediately, the Psyduck started to snap out of their dazes, one by one and clearing the path so I could continue northward, where I started fighting trainers, some being hidden in the ground as "ninjas".
As I continued even more north, I noticed a thick fog starting to brew. I remembered the HM I had obtained in the Great Marsh and used it on Fearow. He then began to flap his wings fast, and faster, and faster until they looked like Combee wings. I continued on the path now clear as day, battling trainers and training Fearow. Eventually, I made it to Celestic Town.
Celestic Town was undoubtedly the smallest town on the map and the smallest I'd seen so far. There was a big center in the small town with a little shrine right smack in the middle. A few buildings dotted the town, but besides that, there was nothing else.
There was a Grunt blocking the entrance to the cave behind the shrine. I defeated him (I didn't kill him, though.) and he ran off. Soon after, an old woman came up, thanked me and introduced herself as Cynthia's grandmother. I remembered to give her the Old Charm, which she told me about. Then I entered the cave in which I found a drawing of three weird beings hovering around a shining stone. What could this be? I wondered. I didn't have time to think however, because at that moment Team Galactic's boss, Cyrus entered the cave and walked over to me and talked about his stupid plan in "creating a new world". He proceeded to battle me with his Sneasel, Golbat, and Murkrow. I had no trouble defeating them, although they were tough. After Cyrus was defeated, he left quickly. Cynthia's grandmother walked in, thanking me for ridding Celestic Town of Team Galactic. She gave me HM03, Surf in return and told me if I wanted to use it, then I needed the Relic Badge from Hearthome City, which I didn't have, and I told her so. She told me that she heard the gym leader from Hearthome City was back there and that I should head there and then Canalave City. I exited the cave and flew back to Hearthome City.
I landed in Hearthome City and marched directly to the gym. Inside the gym, the elevator was back down, which meant that the gym leader was indeed back. There were different signs on every floor, each with different math problems. I knew the answers to all of them, but out of curiosity on the first one, I went through the wrong door on purpose. I ended up fighting a trainer in that door. I smiled, and went on to fight every trainer in the gym. Eventually, I made it to the gym leader who was definitely strong. Very strong. I defeated her, and she gave me the Hearthome City Relic Badge and TM65, Shadow Claw. I exited the gym and flew to Jubilife City, where I exited to the west.
I noticed there was water on Route 218, but I couldn't swim. If only I hadn't skipped out on swimming lessons as a kid…! I thought. But just as I was about to give up hope, I saw a big Pokémon in the water. A big, long, blue Pokémon. Bravely, I dived into the water using Steel Punch. The Pokémon cried out angrily and blasted me out of the water. I landed on my knee, facing the gargantuan Pokémon. It was a Gyarados. Perfect, I thought to myself as I fought it.
Eventually, I caught Gyarados and taught it Surf and traversed through Route 218, fighting every trainer. After the Route, I exited westward into Canalave City.
