A/N: I'm not sure what to put here! On the other site I post this director's cut of NPMA on, I include a cover drawing which I can talk about... don't have that option here.
There was an interesting thing to consider within this chapter, given the Gym rules I had established. Lt. Surge uses only one Pokémon, but it's level 30, so any solo Pokémon I levelled up to fight would end up overpowered for a long time. I come into that problem again with both Koga and Sabrina... the levels in Pokémon Yellow Version are really messed up. Given I have so little to say for the introductory A/N... I guess I'll let you begin reading the sixth chapter; enjoy!
Nanka's Pokémon Miiverse Adventure Act 3 Continued!
"Lass, a quick head's up!" A sailor called out.
Nanka looked to-and-fro, and upon seeing no one else, pointed to herself, "M-me, sir?"
"Yeah!" The sailor said. "Thought I should warn you that some passengers are getting restless. The bored ones might challenge you to a Pokémon battle."
"T-thank you for the warning." Nanka replied, as she begun to wonder how folks could ever become bored aboard such a fabulous vessel.
Witnessing other trainers roaming the ship's corridors with multiple Pokémon out, Nanka decided she'd do the same and let out the rest of her team.
"Now let's make sure we have ourselves a good time." Nanka said to her squad, greeted in turn by cheers and nods.
Nanka soon learned the downside to having multiple Pokémon out, as with her attention turned towards her other Pokémon, her adventurous starter Jolt decided to explore on his own.
An of course, Jolt being left to his own devices led to a Pokémon battle.
"Thank you so much for having this Pokémon battle with Growlie and me." The elderly Gentleman wheezed out with a large, wrinkled smile.
"I-It's my pleasure." Nanka lied.
Having chased Jolt into the Gentleman's room, Nanka found her Pikachu talking with the lonely man and his Growlithe. The man requested a battle, which Nanka tried to protest too, but Jolt seemingly agreed to it on her behalf and the battle proceeded.
After a battle in which her Pikachu Slammed down an elderly man's only friend, which strangely led to Nanka receiving a lecture on how she should be nice to her friends, Nanka was finally allowed to leave the room.
"I'm really sorry about the wait everyone, but now let's…" Nanka had begun saying to her waiting Pokémon, only to notice that only one of them remained there. "Popper! Where is everyone?"
"Diglett!" Popper bellowed, as if replying to an army instructor's command, motioning to the other rooms along the corridor.
Concerned for her Pokémon's safety, Nanka rushed into the first of the many rooms along the hallway, calling out, "Excuse me, have you seen any of my Pokémon!?"
Nanka did not see any of her Pokémon in the room upon entering; all she saw was a stunned gentleman whose look of shock quickly turned to anger.
"You pup! How dare you barge in!" The gentleman snapped, sending out a Nidoran Male with orders to attack.
"O-oh! I-I'm very sorry for-," Nanka started to apologise, only to freeze up as she noticed the Nidoran Male charging at her.
Before she could scream out in either fright or shock, Popper blocked the Nidoran's Tackle with his Scratching claws.
A word of thanks started to tremble out from Nanka's lips, but her saviour of a Pokémon had already begun Digging into the ship's wooden floor boards. Seconds later, Popper popped out from underneath the again Tackling Nidoran Male, knocking out the Poison type with a single Dig.
Upon his horned Pokémon's fainting, the Gentleman wasted no time in sending out his second Nidoran, ordering it with a quick bark, "Tackle!"
"Popper, Dig again!" Nanka yelped out, finally getting words out of her mouth.
Before the Nidoran had even gotten close to Popper, the Diglett had disappeared beneath the floorboards and sped along to his opponent; scoring another one-hit win with his super effective Dig.
"Humph! You rude child!" The gentleman huffed as both his last Nidoran fainted.
"R-rude!" Nanka snapped, her heart still racing from fright. "Y-you sent out a Pokémon to attack me!"
"Awww, aren't you just adorable!" Nanka heard a posh sounding voice squeal as she knocked on the door of the next room along, stepping inside shortly after.
Within said room she saw an elegantly dressed young lady fussing over a Jigglypuff; her Jigglypuff!
"Ah, waitress, I would like a cherry pie please." The lady asked as a beaming Melody looked on over to Nanka and waved.
"Sorry, I'm not a waitress…" Nanka begun to say as Melody jumped out of the ladies lap and leapt up into Nanka's arms, "…I actually came in here to find my Jigglypuff."
The young lady was rather reluctant to part from Melody, a feeling Nanka could relate to, but eventually Nanka was able to move onto the next room with Melody accompanying her.
Nanka was pleased to find Dusty in the following room, but was surprised to see Dusty chatting away with a large… Jigglypuff?
"I always travel with Wigglytuff." A child in the room stated as she hugged her large and soft Pokémon.
Nanka found this very sweet.
Nanka went over to the next room, ready to knock on its door, only to see that it was already open.
As such, she and Jolt instead poked their heads into the room, with Nanka asking, "Excuse me, I don't suppose you've-"
"I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!" A Lass shouted out enthusiastically.
"Yes! What? Yes?" Nanka unintentionally blurted out in shock, as the ponytailed trainer from around the corner grinned slyly.
"Great, you fell into my trap. Now I get to show off my Pokémon from around the world." The Lass snickered.
After defeating the mischievous Lass who had jump-scared her into a battle, whom Jolt was perfectly happy to take on, Nanka went about the room asking if anyone had seen either a Sandshrew or Bellsprout roaming about.
"I have." A Youngster with an uncanny resemble to the defeated Lass said with a wide smile.
"Really!?" Nanka's face lit up as she inquired. "Could you please tell me where you saw them?"
"Sure… if you have a Pokémon battle with me!" The boy exclaimed, leading Nanka to sigh and Jolt to punch the air with excitement.
After being declared their new friend by the mischievous brother and sister trainers in the previous room, Nanka was informed by their mother that they had seen a Sandshrew wander over into the next room a little while ago.
They were correct, for as soon as Nanka had entered the room she spotted Arid, busy at work playing with paperwork. The occupant of the room was also busy, trying to keep the energetic Sandshrew off his paperwork.
"Arid!" Nanka called out as she ran on over to her Sandshrew, picking him up and away from the documents. "I'm so sorry, sir."
"Please keep a closer eye on your Sandshrew next time." The smartly dressed man said calmly, but notably annoyed. "It's hard to work with a Pokémon running about the room."
Nanka couldn't help but giggle at Arid's antics, before resuming her apology, "Sorry, sir! It won't happen again, sir!"
In the midst of apologising, Nanka had caught a brief glimpse of one of the documents. Curiosity getting the best of her and with the man unaware, Nanka begun to read what she could just about see.
'Team Rocket… Last spotted in Celadon… Recruitment ring, stealing, bribery… Defeated by the… Swimsuit Vigilante!?' Nanka stopped reading upon seeing those words, her thoughts halting as a bright blush blossomed on her face. With steam whistling from her ears, Nanka rushed out of the room.
"Swimsuit Vigilante… Swimsuit Vigilante..." Nanka repeatedly mumbled to herself, her face blushing more and more as she spoke, "…that must be referring to me. Did someone see me take down that Rocket in just my… swimsuit?"
Nanka buried her face into the palms of her hands as she continued to walk alongside Jolt down the hallway and towards the kitchen.
"Pi?" Jolt murmured to his trainer, completely out of the loop as to what his strange trainer was mumbling about.
Nanka was unsurprised to find her gluttonous Bellsprout in the kitchens; which she herself only found thanks to Jolt's guiding nose. What did surprise her was that Devourer wasn't attempting to, well… devour the food.
In fact, the Grass/Poison types gaze was more so fixated on the hands and apparatus of the chefs as they heeded orders from their Kalosian boss. In no rush now that she had found the last of her wandering Pokémon, Nanka sat down next to Devourer; the two of them watching the chefs prepare appetising salads and cooking up barbecued meals.
The luxury liner was abuzz with activity, the scent of delicious food and the sounds of classical music passed through every corridor. Passengers dined and danced away on the first floor, whilst many went to the second floor to chatter and mingle in peace.
It was this second floor that Nanka was walking through, her Pokémon in tow… and in clear sight. She was making sure they wouldn't be running amok like yesterday.
Conversations were popular on the upper floors, even between strangers as Nanka soon found out herself.
"In all my travels, I've never seen any Pokémon sleep like this Snorlax." A stranger said to Nanka as he showed her a photo of a large, familiar Pokémon.
"That looks… that is the Pokémon blocking the way to Route 12!" Nanka gasped as she looked at the photo of the big bellied Pokémon dozing away, it's thick paws resting on it's stomach. "So that's a Snorlax! I'd heard of them, but never really saw one before."
"Are you okay now?" Nanka asked her spaced-out Bellsprout.
They had just been in a battle against a Fisherman, but after Devourer defeated the trainer's Goldeen, he seemed queasy. Nanka withdrew Devourer out of concern, and having finished the Pokémon battle, was just checking up on him.
"B-bell." Devourer replied sickly, as his whole body began to glow, his thin figure spreading out into a chubbier, legless form. "Weep!"
"Devourer! You've evolved!" Nanka cheered merrily, hugging her newly evolved Weepinbell… whose stomach immediately started to rumble with hunger.
Nanka had so far had an enjoyable time aboard the S.S. Anne; conversing with passengers, battling with trainers and witnessing her Bellsprout evolve. Whilst Nanka was overjoyed, Devourer seemed unfazed by his evolution; his rampant hunger certainly remained intact as he hopped along with platters topped with food. The only difference Nanka noted so far was that Devourer had begun to cut his food up first, rather than hoggishly stuffing his face.
"Bonjour! Nanka!" An unexpected voice called out.
Strolling up with his hands in his pockets, his gold music note necklace jingling with each step, was a confidently grinning G-Man.
"Oh, hello G-Man!" Nanka quickly greeted her childhood friend. "Fancy seeing you here."
"That's my line!" G-Man, her self-proclaimed rival, snapped with feigned annoyance. "It's no wonder why I was invited, but were you reeeaaalllly invited?"
Anyone overhearing this would've assumed G-Man was being rude, but familiar with her friend's ill-considered wording and his tone of voice, Nanka giggled happily to the question.
"I visited the Seaside Cottage like you suggested." Nanka explained, showing off her ticket proudly. "He gave me this ticket for helping him out."
"Ahhh." G-Man hummed, accepting the answer as he tucked his hands into his pockets, relaxing around his 'rival'. "How did his experiment go by the way?"
Nanka tilted her head, confused, until G-Man continued on saying, "When I left, he and his Clefairy were about to test some schmancy teleporter of his."
Nanka thought back to her encounter with Bill, finding the inventor as a Clefairy and him remarking about her orange… Nanka frowned with a blush, shaking her head.
"I… I don't think it worked," Nanka mumbled, turning away from G-Man, "but we talked and he gave me a ticket. That's all."
G-Man was confused by Nanka's answer but not nearly as much as Jolt, the poor Pikachu having begun to remember the encounter with Bill and how little he had understood it.
Following on from that the two neighbours from Pallet Town struck up a conversation, about their respective adventures, their Pokémon and just about everything and anything they could think of. Well, almost everything; Nanka did leave out her swimsuit clad encounter with the Rocket thief.
For Nanka, the conversation was a delight. It took her back to younger days, when they were almost inseparable; G-Man often dragging Nanka into little adventures… and inevitably trouble. It was also pleasant to see her friend and not end up battling.
The conversation ended up steering towards the Pokédex, G-Man boasting (and exaggerating) about how many Pokémon he had caught, whilst also offering Nanka tips.
"Wow! You're incredible at catching Pokémon!" Nanka praised, fuelling G-Man's grin. "The Professor must be really proud of you!"
G-Man's grin dropped, his shoulders tensing up, as he suddenly declared. "You know what? Enough of this chit-chat; let's battle!"
"Do we really have to!?" Nanka yelled out as G-Man begun the battle by sending out his Spearow.
"Yes!" G-Man snapped with real annoyance, as his hot-headed Spearow lunged towards Nanka's Butterfree.
An alarmed Dusty blew back the Spearow with a Confusion, but the persistent Spearow quickly recovered from the blow. With a couple flaps, Spearow launched himself at Dusty, hitting her with a super-effective Peck.
A string of good luck, such as a Confusion gaining a critical hit from striking a weak point and a particularly potent Sleep Powder, had allowed Nanka to defeat G-Man's team with just Dusty and Arid. This was particularly fortunate, as the rest of Nanka's team were tuckered out from previous battles, though a tired Jolt still wanted to join in. Nanka had won, but she didn't feel happy about her success.
G-Man huffed, and then grumbled out, "At least you're raising your Pokémon."
G-Man stood silently, arms crossed, as he watched Nanka kneel down to her Sandshrew.
"You and Dusty did great out there." Nanka addressed Arid quietly, a faint smile on her face.
"I heard there was a Cut master on board." G-Man blurted out abruptly.
Nanka looked up, confused. "Pardon?"
"But he was just a seasick, old man!" G-Man continued to say undeterred.
"Cut can be really handy though." G-Man said as his bitter expression began to soften. "So… you should go see him."
Nanka wasn't sure how to respond, but eventually nodded, "Thank you… G-Man. I'll be sure to do that."
G-Man's whole body began to relax a little as a small smile forced its way onto his face, "Yeah… you do that. Smell ya later, Nanka!"
Nanka watched G-Man walk away, still crouched down and petting Arid as questions bubbled up in her head.
Nanka sat on the deck of the ship, downcast, pondering upon her recent battle with G-Man.
"Did I say something rude or has G-Man become… a bit of a jerk?" Nanka thought aloud, Jolt being the only one close enough to even hear her.
"Chuuuu…" Jolt replied, a concerned tone to his squeak.
"We were getting along so well today, and then…" Nanka sighed, as she continued to think about everything that happened, "…he just snapped and got all over-competitive again."
To take her mind off of the troubles she was having with her childhood friend, Nanka decided to explore the rest of the ship. By this point the party downstairs had come to a close, with many of the crew workers making preparations for the ship's departure the next day.
This meant the passengers were once again restless; eager for battle.
This made Jolt very happy.
Having explored every part of the ship, and with the S.S. Anne departing the next day, Nanka decided to follow up on G-Man's tip to visit the 'Cut Master'. It also just so happened to be the case that the Cut Master was also the Captain of the vessel, leading Nanka to knock on the Captain's chamber doors.
"C-come ooargh…" Was the weak response heard as Nanka entered.
Inside was a sick older man, a.k.a. the Captain.
The Captain wasn't even able to face Nanka to greet her as he continued to lean over a bucket, vomiting.
Nanka was unsure quite what to do at first, but soon walked on over to the Captain and began rubbing his back, hoping it might help. It took a while, but the Captain's shivering body begun to relax, his vomiting slowly easing up and then stopping.
Once settled, the Captain walked off to wash his face, before turning to face the girl who had helped him.
"Whew! Thank you! I feel much better!" The Captain declared with a hearty laugh.
"I'm glad to hear that, sir." Nanka replied with a courtesy. "An, um… I was wondering if I could ask you something, sir."
"You want to see my Cut technique?" The Captain guessed correctly, resulting in both Nanka and Jolt's nodding response. "Well I would show you it, if I wasn't so ill…"
"I understand, sir." Nanka acknowledged; sighing as Jolt stomped the ground in disappointment.
"I know!" The Captain perked up, walking slowly over to his desk and retrieving a box from the drawers. "You can have this!"
As the Captain passed the box over to Nanka, she and Jolt looked at it curiously. It looked to be a TM box at first, but there were small designs differences to it and it was somewhat heavier.
"That's a HM; HM01: Cut to be precise." The Captain explained with a smile. "I can't show you my cutting skills, but teach that to one of your Pokémon and they can demonstrate such skills for you."
The next day, Nanka and Jolt stood together at the dock, shielding their eyes from the bright sun as they watched the S.S. Anne depart.
"We sure had a lot of fun on that ship…" Nanka said as the ship sailed off, steered across the waters by a fully recovered captain, "…except for that time you all ran off."
Jolt snickered at his trainer's comment, "Pika, Pika, Pika."
The duo headed away from the now empty dock; many pleasant memories of their first time aboard a luxury cruise ship in their minds and hearts.
Partly out of curiosity, and partly to satisfy Jolt's love of battle, Nanka headed towards the Vermillion Gym. Unfortunately, the duo could not get to said Gym due to obstructing thorns.
"I know! We can cut these thorns down with Cut!" Nanka proclaimed as she took out the HM from her bag. "Now who should I teach it to?"
"Pika, Pikachu!" Jolt yelled out as he threw up his arm eagerly, imagining being able to slice up the thorns with his paws alone.
Nanka agreed with this idea and tried applying the HM to Jolt… only for the machine parts to emit a screeching buzz.
"Pikaaa…" Jolt moaned, punching the ground as the HM rejected him.
"Sorry, Jolt. I don't think you can learn Cut." Nanka explained, patting her Pikachu on the back and looking back to the HM machine. "Let's try it out on Popper next."
With a focused mind, Popper dutifully Cut away the thorns with his newly learned move. Jolt grumbled at Popper's feat.
"This is… different." Nanka murmured to Jolt and Popper as they entered Vermillion Gym, finding it to be filled with bins. "Do you think the Gym Leader forgot to take his rubbish out?"
"Actually…" The Gym's Aide began to say, "…LT. Surge is very cautious. To reach him you'll have to find switches hidden in the bins."
"I… I have to sift through rubbish… to fight the Gym Leader?"
Nanka was hardly keen on going through dustbins to find the necessary switches, but her Pokémon thought differently. Arid the ever energetic Sandshrew found this particularly fun, jumping into the bins and playing hide and seek.
"Arid, please… come on out already!" Nanka called out, frustrated with having to dig through litter to find switches, and now her Sandshrew as well.
It was then she noticed a beam light emitting from one of the bins.
Taking cautious steps towards the bin, Nanka called out, "Arid?"
Nanka looked into the bin, spotting not a brick-pattern bodied Sandshrew but a brown quilled Sandslash waving happily to her.
"Arid! You're a Sandslash now!" Nanka shouted out with a smile, followed by a giggle. "You're also stuck in a bin now, aren't you?"
"Sla!" Sandslash replied cheerily, wiggling his longer claws and seemingly unbothered by being stuck in the bin he had evolved in.
After a bit of a struggle, Nanka, with assistance from Devourer's strong vines, managed to lift Arid out from the bin. Placing the heavy Ground type to the floor quickly, Nanka looked over her dirty Sandslash and nodded.
'Hmmm, I was certainly going to have Jolt and Popper in my team, but...' Nanka thought to herself, kneeling down to Arid to ask. "Hey, Arid, would you like to lead against the Gym Leader?"
"Slaaa? Slash!" Arid cheered, beginning a happy though somewhat sluggish dance of merriment.
Nanka had dug into seemingly endless amounts of rubbish. Her arms were covered in dirt, her hands were sticky, and her patience was running out.
So it was a cry of joy the young girl let out when the second switch was at last found, and the motorized doors finally opened up. Now she could challenge the Gym Leader, and given the dirty state she was in due to his 'cautious code', get some needed playback!
As Nanka and her Pokémon team approached a towering blonde haired man at the back of the leader's room, they could just about overhear the man talking to an orange-mouse larger than Jolt.
"Wash it out… cheap tactic… usin sand… get it out, Raichu." Lt. Surge advised his sandy eyed Raichu, before quickly turning around to face Nanka. "Ten-hut! Welcome to Vermillion Gym!"
Nanka and Popper stood to attention, the former out of fright, and the latter out of habit.
"Will you look at that…" Lt. Surge began with a sneer, "…a pint-sized challenger!"
"I'm not pint-sized!" Nanka snapped back in anger, quickly slapping her hands over her mouth.
"You've got big and brassy nerves to take me on with your puny power!" Lt. Surge proclaimed, as both he and his Raichu roared with laughter. "Tell ya what! I'll make this easy on you, three against one! Three of your Pokémon against my unstoppable Raichu here!"
"Kaaa!" Jolt snapped back, growling at the smug Raichu.
"Well, sir, if you're going to be so generous…" Nanka said, trying to be polite but unable to hide a tone of irritation from her voice, "…then I'll take you up on your offer."
Taking out a Pokéball, Nanka lightly tossed it into the air and sent out Arid. The Sandslash hopped up and down, excited for the battle. Jolt walked over to Nanka, constantly scowling at the Raichu, and hoping he'd have the chance knock down his opposing evolved form.
"%#&*! Not again!" Lt. Surge swore as his Raichu had sand thrown into its face. "The last punk and his Eevee did the same annoying thing!"
Nanka smiled; pretty sure she knew who Surge was referring to, "Good job, Arid!"
"Sandslash!" Arid cheered and threw up his arms in joy, only for his celebration to be cut short by a Mega Kick to the gut.
"Raaaiii!" Surge's Raichu sneered, placing his paws on his hips and puffing out his chest… then he had sand thrown into his face.
Frustrated with being blinded, Raichu unleashed a Thunderbolt throughout the room… only for the electric blast to fizzle out as it hit the resistant Arid.
"Good thing you're a Ground type, Arid." Nanka said merrily. "Now Arid, Dig into the floor!"
"Raichu! Don't let him!" Surge ordered, but his Raichu ran to attack in the wrong direction, and by the time he had cleared the sand out of his eyes, he was struck by Arid's Dig.
"Arid, now follow it with…" Nanka started to say, only to notice the Raichu topple down to the floor, unconscious.
"Oh, um… never mind, Arid!" Nanka mumbled; surprised to see Surge's Raichu knocked out from a single attack.
"Whoa!" Surge exclaimed, equally surprised. "This is the second time a trainer's taken on my Raichu one-on-one."
A sombre expression appeared on the lieutenant's face as he looked down at two Pokéballs on his belt, "Perhaps I've been neglecting to use my other Pokémon for too long."
It was much to Nanka's surprise when the towering and intimidating military man turned towards her… and begun bellowing with laughter, "You're the real deal, kid! Real special!"
"T-thank you." Nanka replied, unsure what to make of the chucking Gym Leader before her.
"Fine then! Take these!" Lt. Surge said with a big grin as he presented Nanka a TM box and a sparkling yellow badge.
Nanka's victory had come swift and sudden, so it was only upon accepting the badge that she realised that she had won, "We won… hey, Arid! We won, Arid! Look at this badge we got!"
After a successful Gym battle, Nanka was looking to relax, as well as treat her hard working Pokémon… even if Arid was the only one who ended up doing any battling. Walking away from the Gym, a colourful sign grasped her attention, so she proceeded to stroll on over to it.
"Pokémon Fan Club. All Pokémon fans welcome." Nanka read aloud from the sign. "What do you guys thinks?"
Nanka had turned to her Pokémon, only to notice they were looking to the centre of the city, staring at some kind of distant commotion.
Jolt and Arid started to waddle towards the commotion, only to halt as Nanka called out to them, "Jolt and Arid; please don't wander off."
"Pika Pi, Kachu!" Jolt turned around and said, motioning towards the Vermillion city centre.
Nanka shook her head, smiling as she motioned towards the Pokémon Fan Club, "C'mon now you two. You've had your fun; now it's my time to relax for a bit."
Jolt and Arid sighed, though didn't argue as they joined the patiently waiting Popper in following their trainer inside the club building.
The quaint building thrived with energy and calmness; many relaxed fans conversing enthusiastically about their Pokémon. Nanka sat around and listened to members' boast of their huggable Seal and their cute Clefairy.
The members soon went on to ask Nanka about her own Pokémon, leading the trainer to recall the many fond memories she had made with each of her beloved travelling companions.
"What wonderful Pokémon you have!" The Fan Club's Chairman exclaimed. "Do you want to hear me brag about my own Pokémon?"
Nanka was unaware of the many members trying to warn her as she replied, "I'd love to!"
"Good! Then listen up! My favourite Rapidash…" The Chairman began, with Nanka listening with fascination, whilst other members braced themselves for the coming hours.
With each hour, another fan fell asleep, leaving only Nanka and the Chairman chatting away.
Nanka was genuinely interested in the Chairman's tales, but as time passed, even she couldn't help but yawn, "O-oh! I'm so sorry! Please, continue!"
"Don't be! I've kept you too long." The Chairman chuckled, before handing Nanka a voucher. "As thanks for staying awake, I'll let you have this. My treat!"
The next day, aided by the morning sun, Nanka studied her Kanto map.
"The way to Route 12 from Route 11 is still blocked off by a Snorlax..." Nanka thought aloud, "...and so the only way to travel to the rest of Kanto is through Route 9."
"Pika!" Jolt said, as he waved the recently gifted voucher in front of his trainer.
"Of course, Jolt! We also need to stop at Cerulean City along the way."
Nanka stormed the fortress, her heart pounding with determination. She remained undaunted as she faced the grinning dark lord, who boasted of his dominance over the sacred relic.
It was then that Nanka unleashed her secret weapon, a gift from a wise sage, which caused the dark lord to recoil in horror. With the gift, the lord's control over the relic was vanquished, and our Hero claimed the relic.
Nanka adored her new bicycle!
The green framed vehicle had to be adjusted first; the addition of an orange basket at the front for Jolt to sit in, but it was not long after that Nanka was zipping along the grass atop her bicycle.
That was until she crashed into a bunch of blocking bushes. Sending out Popper, her Cut taught Diglett made short work of them, and she resumed riding her bicycle.
As much as Nanka would have liked to just have a peaceful bike ride through Route 9, said route happened to have an abundance of eager trainers.
Said trainers were friendly, if a bit competitive, and were happy to discuss their 100 win streak challenge, or warn her about the dangers of Rock Tunnel. Some even had Pokémon she had not seen before, such as Beedrills, whom Jolt happily fought.
'It's odd…' Nanka thought to herself after her encounter with the trainer's Beedrill, '…I haven't even seen Weedles in a long time, let alone a Beedrill.'
The Hikers around Route 9 had started to nickname Nanka, 'Toughie', but she felt nothing like a 'Toughie' as she and Jolt staggered towards the dual Pokécenter and inn.
The trainers on Route 9 had been skilled and Nanka was low on supplies. Venom and Melody were exhausted, and the rest of her Pokémon didn't have much energy. Even Jolt was looking more forward to napping rather than battling.
The next morning, Nanka reluctantly rose from her bed, still tired from the numerous challengers along Route 9.
Her reluctance to proceed grew greater as she stared into the Rock Tunnel's opening and saw... nothing. The tunnel was far darker than that of Mt. Moon, and Nanka remembered the many warnings of needing a light.
"I don't suppose you can see in there, Jolt?" Nanka asked her Pikachu, who tried peering through the darkness, but soon shook his head. "Where in Kanto are we going to find a light source bright enough to see our way through Rock Tunnel?"
A/N: This was one of those times when the act went on for longer than expected, leading to it being followed up by a shorter next act. I was hoping to obtain Flash within this chapter, but ran of post room on Miiverse. Thus, it ends with Nanka asking about Flash and leads onto the first 3rd part to an Act (it gets really crazy with Act 6).
A really key element comes to light here; the fractured relationship between G-Man and his grandfather. In the director's cut, I have added some earlier hints, but this chapter gave the first hints in the original version. Oh, and a funny bit of trivia, is how I was stunned at how the reader's answers had led me to missing all three of the starters. We went to see Bulbasaur too early in Act 2 and opted to catch a wild Pokémon (Devourer the Bellsprout) over Charmander, whilst in this Act we end up visiting the Pokémon Fan Club instead of checking out the commotion and obtaining Squirtle. Of course, I made sure all these questions were subtle in how they would affect the story, but still I was surprised.
In any case, I hope you will all look forward to the next chapter. It was originally a tad short, so it has received quite a bit of editing and addition to it thanks to this being a director's cut. I hope you'll enjoy what's there; new and original content. Thank you for reading!