Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. I'm so sad.

A/N Uh, hey everybody. Miss me? :D Sorry about the long wait. Stuff's been happening around here, so . . . yeah. Anyway, how's everyone's 2013 going? You having FUN? No? Okay. . . .

This chapter . . . I felt cool writing it, and now I feel lame posting it. But believe me, I tried so hard to make this good! Enjoy?

OoOoOoOoO

Chapter 5: Sages and Secrets

When Gold and Cyndaquil finally made it to the outskirts of Violet City, neither did much more than sigh in relief. They were both too tired to celebrate more enthusiastically.

The initial part of their trek through the woods of Route 30 had started off on a high note. The trail was well-marked and fairly unobstructed, and the weather had been sunny and warm. The route was full of wild pokémon itching for a fight, and Cyndaquil was only too happy to oblige them. The battles would sometimes last as little as twenty seconds before the challenger decided to scurry away, but other times, nearly ten minutes would pass before both sides collapsed in exhaustion. But no matter how long or intense, the battles were fun.

But it didn't take long before complications arose. On the third day of the trip, Gold woke up with a bad headache, sore throat, and stuffy nose. For the next two weeks, he was tired, achy, and ill-tempered. Their pace slowed way down because of that—Gold's constant headache and incessant coughing and sneezing made him want to fall down where he was and go to sleep. He settled, however, with simply walking slowly during the day and setting up camp earlier at night. Cyndaquil didn't fare so well either; she was both impatient with the slow pace, and tired from lack of sleep. (She claimed Gold's sniffling kept her up at night.)

There was also the issue of battles becoming more and more frequent the farther they went. At first it was exciting, and Gold was glad about all the training they were getting in, but it eventually became tiring and repetitive. So when they at last made it Violet City, neither bothered to explore the place or point out anything interesting to each other. They simply went to the pokémon center and got a room for the night.

Okay, Gold began, as they both sat down against the wall of their room, here's the plan for tomorrow. We sleep in.

That's a very good plan.

It is, isn't it? After that, though, we can go train at Sprout Tower—I'll tell you more about that later—then take on the gym leader sometime tomorrow night. Got that?

Mmhm. She hadn't actually been listening all that much.

Care to repeat tomorrow's plan?

We sleep in. And then we go to somewhere that you'll tell me about later, and then there's a gym, and then there's night.

Cyndaquil heard Gold give an amused sort of cough. Close enough. Anyway, I'm gonna get ready for bed. He sighed contently. I'll finally get to take a shower.

Yeah, go have fun getting soaked. I'll be on the bed, doing something constructive.

Sleeping. It wasn't a question.

Yeah!

Gold shrugged. All right then. Do you want me to lift you up, or can you climb?

Well, I can climb. But I'm really tired. . . .

Okay, okay. I can take a hint. Gold picked her up and placed her on the bed. He waited there for a moment, then crossed his arms. Well? What do you say?

This bed is comfy!

Gold raised an eyebrow, but couldn't quite keep the smirk off his face. Very funny. I'm still waiting.

Cyndaquil sighed dramatically before remembering that Gold wouldn't be able to hear it. Thank you.

You're welcome. Don't set anything on fire.

I won't.

Cyndaquil curled up on the foot of the bed as she waited for Gold to take a shower and change his clothes. She wondered about humans sometimes—Gold had actually seemed eager to get himself wet. Outside rain did that well enough, and Gold never seemed to enjoy that. What was so special about inside rain? People—she'd never understand them.

About a quarter of an hour later, she heard the patter of the water abruptly stop. A minute after that, she could hear odd scraping sounds coming from the direction of the—what was it called?—ah yes, the bathroom. (Why did they call it that, anyway? It had lots more than just a bath in it.)

She hopped off the bed and peered through the barely open door. Gold was standing in front of the mirror with some sort white thing wrapped around his waist. (Cyndaquil would later remember that the white thing was called a towel.) He seemed to be holding some sort of stick in his mouth and rubbing it vigorously across his teeth. Cyndaquil would have to ask him about that later. For now, she contented herself with examining the strange appearance of her human. (That sounded weirder than she had intended.)

Gold, she decided, looked kind of odd, even for human standards. His face looked pretty normal, even with the slightly blue-tinged skin beneath his eyes and the almost-but-not-quite condescending expression that seemed to be with him at all times. His hair also looked typical for his species. The rest of him, however, told a different story.

Now, Cyndaquil knew next to nothing about the human body, but she had a feeling something was off about this example. Down the center of Gold's back and the base of his neck was a row of just-visible lumps, indicating where his spine was. His ribs were visible as well, though she wasn't sure if that was normal or not. His arms were thin for a male human's, and lacked any real muscle definition. She wondered if Gold was the regular size for someone his age—come to think of it, she didn't even know how old Gold was. Her trainer's physique wasn't what intrigued her the most, though. It was the battered state of his skin.

Long, thin horizontal lines were scattered all across his back, mostly on the lower half. It looked as though someone, a long time ago, had taken something sharp and raked it across his back dozens of times. Individually, they were barely visible, but all together, the dull pinkish color stood out clearly from the unmarked skin.

His left arm and side were just plain nasty. They looked kind of . . . chewed up. Generous amounts of scar tissue marred the vast majority of his arm, and covered a bit of his left ribs and hip as well. Cyndaquil wondered if that was what someone would look like if they had gotten cut up by one of those chainsaw thingies people used to cut trees.

Gold?

Her trainer nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise and whirled around to face her. Geez, Cyndaquil, don't sneak up on me like that! You almost gave me a heart attack. Why aren't you asleep?

Cyndaquil ignored the question. Sorry. Where did you get all those scars from?

Gold bent over the sink and rinsed out his mouth before turning back to her with a big smile plastered on his face. I've had an incredibly exciting and dangerous past, my dear trainee. These are my battle-scars, earned through a number of daring adventures and courageous acts of heroism.

Cyndaquil glared at him. Liar.

Gold smirked and rolled his eyes. Okay, fine. A long time ago, I did some really stupid things that didn't end well for me. Happy?

Not really. And you look small for a human, did you know?

Blame my mom's side of the family. They're all tiny.

Well, Cyndaquil said importantly, you should eat more, or you'll stay small forever.

Yes, Mother.

Meanie.

Stalker.

Hmph. I'm going back to bed. Goodnight. Cyndaquil held up her nose and walked out in a dignified manner. She wanted to interrogate him more, but something told her that perhaps she was treading in dangerous waters. She'd let the matter rest for now. Cyndaquil climbed back on the bed and snuggled into the comforter. She couldn't help but wonder; if Gold had gotten into so much trouble before he had even ever gone on a journey, how much would the both of them get into now that they had?

OoOoOoOoO

At precisely ten o' clock the next morning, Gold and Cyndaquil stood looking up at the formidable building that was Sprout Tower.

Sprout Tower was the oldest building in Violet City, and was home to a population of monks (or sages, as they were often called), all dedicated not only to teaching and preaching to people about coexisting peacefully with one another, but also to the care and training of bellsprout, for which the tower was named. The tower was held erect by a giant, swaying beam in it center, which ran all the way up to the roof. It was said that the beam was once a mighty hundred-foot bellsprout, which was actually quite an understandable supposition. The beam's flexibility was incredible; once in a small while, Violet City was ravaged by earthquakes, and while other buildings would crumble and fall, Sprout Tower would sway back and forth with the grace of a skilled dancer—bending, but never breaking. Swaying, but never yielding.

So, are we going in or what? Cyndaquil asked impatiently.

Darn it! You just disrupted my poetical musings! Gold replied, slightly aggravated. But yeah, we're going in. Just let me get out of my deep-thinking funk. After a few more seconds of staring, the duo walked in.

The inside of the tower was much like the outside in some ways. For one, it was made entirely of wood. It also had the same sort of ancient, historical feel to it. But, unlike the exterior, with its imposing yet almost inviting majesty, the inside had a somber and desolate atmosphere. The only lighting came from the filtered sunlight coming through the screened windows. Candles lined the walls, but none of them were lit.

Well, this looks homey, Gold remarked as he looked at his not-so-homey surroundings. His eyes roved around until they stopped several feet in front of him, where two bellsprout statues, both intricately carved out of wood, stood. The statues' heads were bent in identical meditative poses, and they seemed to be gazing solemnly at him. Suddenly, all thought of making any more sarcastic comments left him.

So . . . what are we doing here again? Cyndaquil asked.

We're going to the top floor to battle Elder Li. They say that if you win, he'll give away a special prize. Also, he might have some good advice for us. He's a well-respected . . . advice-giver.

If you say so. . . .

They explored around the bottom floor for a few minutes, though there wasn't a whole lot to see. Wooden floors, wooden walls, wooden ceiling, wooden statues. The windows didn't even have glass, and were instead covered in yellowish paper, preventing anyone from seeing either in or out.

The first floor having been covered, they walked over to a tall ladder leading up. Gold reached down to pick up Cyndaquil and place her on his shoulder. Hold on tight.

Cyndaquil didn't complain as they ascended the ladder, though she did keep a very tight hold on Gold's jacket the entire time. If we fall and die, I'm gonna kill you. Just so you know.

Relax. The ladder's really sturdy. It won't break.

It's not the ladder I'm worried about. . . .

The next several floors were all pretty much the same as the first, so they didn't dawdle. They did, however, get to battle some of the sages living there. They all used the same pokémon—bellsprout. Cyndaquil quickly dispatched of the grass-types, and the sages, true to their nature, took their losses calmly and graciously. Never once did then mention Gold's lack of speech, and for that he was grateful.

As they climb the final ladder, Gold spoke to Cyndaquil. Okay, since this is Elder Li we're talking about, I want to be able to understand everything he says. I'm going to have to ask you to translate for me.

Um, but can't you, like, lipread or whatever?

Well, it's not an exact science. I do a lot more guesswork than you think. So yeah. I want to know exactly what he says without worrying about getting something wrong. Okay?

Okay.

When they reached the top floor, Gold immediately saw that something was amiss. There were three sages here, and they were all kneeling soberly next to their defeated bellsprout, slowly spraying them with potions. Gold soon spotted what had to be Elder Li. He was very old, and completely bald, if you didn't count his bushy white mustache and eyebrows. He, like the rest of the sages here, wore long robes, though they were purple and yellow instead of gray.

He was standing at the far end of the room, talking to a hooded figure. Gold couldn't make out what the Elder was saying from here, but his face looked . . . sad? Disappointed? It was hard to tell.

The hooded figure chose that moment to whirl around and stalk out of the building. He quickly brushed past Gold and climbed down the ladder, disappearing from sight. As he passed by, Gold thought he saw a flash of red hair.

Gold turned back around and looked around at the somber gathering. He hesitantly walked towards the Elder, and the sages made no move to approach him. They simply gazed wordlessly at him as he went past them.

It's so . . . silent here. It feels weird.

In that case, I'm glad everything's silent for me. This place feels weird enough as it is.

They reached Elder Li, who bowed slightly in welcome. Gold, feeling awkward, thought that maybe he should bow as well. So he did, and the Elder looked at him in approval.

"So good of you to come here," he said, as Cyndaquil silently translated. "Sprout Tower . . . is a place of training. People and pokémon test their bonds to build a bright future together." He stopped for several seconds as his thoughts appeared to turn inwards. "I am the final test." He paused again, and simply looked at Gold for several moments. Gold felt uncomfortable under the Elder's scrutiny, but kept his face carefully blank. "Allow me to check the ties between you and your pokémon." With that said, Elder Li held up a pokéball and pressed the button in the middle, releasing his first pokémon—a hoothoot, to Gold's surprise. He had assumed that only bellsprout were trained here. Obviously, he was wrong.

Okay Cyndaquil, get ready to quick attack it whenever it comes close. Use ember when it's far away. Gold remembered reading about hoothoot and their ability to hypnotize their opponents. Try to avoid eye-contact.

Cyndaquil fired an ember at Hoothoot, who quickly flew out of the way. Its tiny wings didn't seem to impede its ability to dodge. It flew downwards for a Peck, and Cyndaquil responded with a quick attack, knocking it out of the air. As soon as it landed, Gold ordered another quick attack. Hoothoot tried to fly out of the way, but quick attack was known for being, well, quick. Hoothoot was knocked down again.

I'll let you take it from here.

Cyndaquil looked at him in slight horror, but pulled herself together and aimed an ember at the owl pokémon. Hoothoot flew out of the flames, its tail on fire, but managed to zoom over to Cyndaquil and finally land a peck. Cyndaquil countered with a tackle, knocking the hoothoot down. It didn't get up again.

"Well played, young trainer. But it is not over just yet." He drew out another pokéball, actually releasing a bellsprout this time.

After practicing with all the other bellsprout on the lower floors, Gold and Cyndaquil both knew about their surprising knack for dodging. The first few times caught them unawares, but they were prepared this time. Ember, wide range!

Cyndaquil released a large spew of flames, not as powerful as a more concentrated stream, but much harder to get away from. Elder Li seemed to realize this. Bellsprout, instead of trying to get away, lashed out hard with a Vine Whip. Cyndaquil recoiled in pain, but her fire-typing prevented her from taking serious damage. Gold ordered a more powerful Ember while they had the chance, and Bellsprout went down.

Elder Li released another bellspout (Gold suddenly wondered how many he had), and the battle continued. This bellsprout was much the same as the other one, but a little stronger and a little harder to hit. But it was still just a bellsprout, and Cyndaquil snagged another victory without a great deal of trouble. The Elder returned what was apparently his final pokémon. Then he smiled.

Cyndaquil was skipping around in delight. I won! Gold, did you see me?

No. I had my back turned the whole time.

You're mean.

I know.

Elder Li approached Gold, looking pleased. "The way you battle is quite elegant." He considered Gold for a moment. "You should be able to stand up to Falkner." He then pulled a disk from a pocket in his robes and handed it to him. "And you should be able to make use of this."

Gold looked at the disk in his hand.

TM 70 Flash, it read.

Elder Li explained the use of the move, and Gold nodded occasionally to show that he understood.

"I have seen the bond you and your partner share, and it is good," Elder Li said, smiling. "Good things will come of it. Perhaps great things." Then he looked somber. "But do not forget about your morals. Even the greatest and most selfless of men can fall, if they allow themselves to. I have seen it happen . . . far too many times." The look in the elder's eyes left Gold no doubt of that.

The old man continued on after a short while. "I see love and compassion in your heart, young man. Please do not allow yourself to lose that. Hatred, greed, scorn, lack of mercy—these will all lead to great sorrow and suffering. Every spiteful or selfish act—whether by your hand or others—will bring just a little more darkness to the world. In the same way, every act of kindness, every helping hand offered, every sorrow borne patiently, every evil repented for and forgiven—these will shed light. Remember that."

OoOoOoOoO

So, I guess this is the place.

Yep.

And we're gonna beat up some birds.

That's the idea.

Gold and Cyndaquil were in much the same position tonight as they were in the morning. Standing still, looking at a big building. Both wanting to go in, but stalling for as long as possible. But they couldn't stand there forever—they had to go in and battle. No battle, no badge.

Gold took a deep breath and walked through the automatic sliding doors. Having never been in a gym before, Gold didn't know what to expect it to look like on the inside. He certainly hadn't expected this.

The gym, much like Sprout Tower, had a lot of wood in it. The walls were covered in smooth, glossy wood, and the ceiling (which was seriously high up) was supported by massive wooden beams. Groups of spearow and pidgey were flying amongst the high rafters, making a huge racket (according to Cyndaquil). Gold didn't see a battlefield on the concrete floor, and there was a large platform built up there, so that must mean . . .

I guess the arena is somewhere near the ceiling, Gold observed, tilting his head thoughtfully.

Cyndaquill looked nervous. So does that mean we have to climb that ladder?

A long rope ladder hung from a large beam, which led to the main platform. The ladder practically screamed; Climb on up! But don't blame me if I snap.

Gold put his hands on his hips and let out a breath through his nose. I guess so. I'll put you back in your pokéball until we're all the way up, though. When I let you out again, try to look cool and confidant, okay?

Sure thing. I'll look them right in the eye and dare them to underestimate my power.

You do that.

OoOoOoOoO

Falkner was bored.

While he wouldn't deny that he got bored easily anyway, the past few weeks had been slow. Scratch that, the past few months. Really slow. With the exception of some emo punk with a Croconaw and a Gastly who had snagged a victory this morning, pretty much every other challenger today (and yesterday, and the day before that, and so on) had gone down easily. It was like they just got their pokémon yesterday, then waltzed in here. Falkner didn't doubt that some of them had.

Falkner had been doing some boring paperwork in his office (which, incidentally, was also an attic) for most of the day, emerging every once in a while whenever his beeper went off, signaling that someone had just entered the gym. Every challenger he'd battled (again, excluding Sir Emo) had lost fairly quickly. Falkner idly wondered if it was possible to die of boredom. Stagnate to death. Vegetate until he withered.

His beeper went off again. Falkner hopped out of his chair and went to the door, hoping to find someone who actually had the brains to prepare and train beforehand. He opened up the door (which being in an attic, was on the floor) and climbed down one of the rafters. Falkner bet that he had one of the coolest offices out of all the gym leaders'. If things didn't pick up around here soon, he'd have to see about organizing a Coolest Office Contest. Then again, he'd probably win, so it wouldn't be as interesting.

He waited patiently (sort of) for the challenger to come up. A few minutes later, a young teen scrambled up on the landing, looked around briefly, and made his way across the beam towards him. He studied his soon-to-be opponent with a practiced eye. This could be interesting—maybe.

The kid walked along the wooden beam with surprising nonchalance; he was walking briskly, but not hastily, and he had his hands in his pockets. While the beam was plenty wide—about five feet—Falkner had seen his fair share of kids who quite literally crawled their way to the battlefield (despite the fact that there was a safety net). It was almost sad to see that this kid didn't seem to have any fear of heights. Honestly, the acrophobic ones were just too fun to watch.

. . . That sounded a little mean, even in his head.

He soon arrived at the platform and looked at Falkner expectantly. Falkner cleared his throat, drew himself in a more upright position, and gave the boy his best 'I'm going to beat you in thirty seconds flat because I'm that much cooler than you' smirk. The kid seemed unaffected, and simply smiled and gave a short wave (that looked a bit like a salute) in greeting.

Well, at least he had some manners. Or else he was just mocking him.

"Hello, young trainer. My name is Falkner and I—aw, screw it. You are well aware of my identity. If you weren't, you wouldn't be here, now would you? Or if you didn't know who I was and came here anyway, someone would have kicked you out by now. Sorry," he added, after seeing the kid's slightly confused face, "I'm no good with formalities. Usually, Gym Leaders have some sort of welcoming speech thingy that they say to their new challengers. But, like I said, formalities aren't my thing."

The kid stared at him for a moment, looking a little lost, and then simply pulled out a pokéball, releasing a cyndaquil. The cyndaquil studied its surroundings, then turned and gave Falkner what was honestly a really creepy stare. It then turned back to its trainer and he gave it a half scolding, half amused gaze.

"Heh, I guess you aren't one for idle chit-chat either. That's fine with me. So," he said conversationally, "is that your only pokémon?"

The trainer looked at him for a second, looked at his cyndaquil, looked back at him, and nodded.

"Do you have any gym badges yet?" he asked, and the trainer shook his head. "All right, this'll be a one-on-one battle, then. Are you ready?

The kid, instead of nodding or saying 'yes', held up his hand and made what Falkner recognized as a sign for yes. As in, sign language.

Fantastic.

Falkner had seen his fair share of challengers pull a Red on him.

'Pulling a Red', as he had dubbed it, was when a trainer absolutely refused to talk at all while they were in the Gym. Not to order an attack, not to ask or answer a question, nothing. Now, Falkner had a great deal of respect for what was in all likelihood the most powerful pokémon trainer in the world, but refusing to speak to anyone in a pathetic attempt to be more like Red . . . ugh. All the trainers who did it thought that they were being cool and unique, and was just so terribly annoying. It was really sad that he couldn't kick out anyone who refused to speak in his presence. Honestly, he had yet to meet a challenger who had a valid physical or psychological reason not to talk.

"All right, let's get this over with," Falkner said flatly. He wondered whether to end this quickly or to draw it out so it wouldn't be so boring. He mentally shrugged as he tossed a pokéball high in the air. "Pidgeotto, take to the sky!" (That was his favorite line, by the way.) As soon as Pidgeotto had been released, he let out an ear-piercing screech and did several mid-air loops before landing gracefully on the platform. Falkner called out to one of his Gym trainers. "Abe! I am in need of your assistance."

Abe, one of the newer trainers here, was quick to comply. He ran past the challenger and approached Falkner. "Yes, Falkner?"

The Gym Leader pointed to his right, towards one side of the battlefield. "Referee."

Abe looked frightened. "I—but Falkner!" he stammered, "I—I don't know how—I've never—"

"Don't worry, it's a simple procedure. Stand over there, announce who will be battling who, keep an eye out for foul play—that's foul, not fowl—and announce who wins. Understood?"

"Uh, okay, sure. Uh, what's his name?"

"I haven't the slightest idea. Ask him."

Abe looked confused, but obeyed Falkner's request. He looked at the challenger. "Uh, so, what's your name?"

The kid pulled out a trainer card—as Falkner knew he would—and held it up.

"Uh, okay." Abe ran over to his assigned spot, while Falkner and the challenger took their places. "So do I start now—yes? Okay." Abe cleared his throat several times before speaking. "Uh, so, this will be a match between Falkner, the Violet City Gym Leader, and Gold Heart of New Bark Town. Uh . . . let the match begin!"

Falkner wasted no time. "Gust!"

Pidgeotto flapped his wings hard, creating a mini tornado. It sped towards Cyndaquil (Falkner was going to assume that was its name), and the fire-type flattened itself on the floor. The attack made it wince a little, but otherwise it remained relatively unharmed.

"Tackle!"

Pidgeotto dived down, but just barely missed when Cyndaquil employed quick attack to get away. Without needing further orders Pidgeotto gave chase, hitting his target easily, but flew away not unscathed. Cyndaquil had managed to ember Pidgeotto right in the face. The flying-type retreated to the air again, flapping around in a rather put-out fashion. Cyndaquil, meanwhile, was crouched on the floor, poised to either fight or flee.

And so the battle continued on, both sides trading blows and dodging about. The Gold kid had obviously planned well ahead, Falkner noted with some approval. Cyndaquil, though by no means a flawless battler, was doing much better on its own than he had expected. None of Falkner's moves as of yet had seemed to take the small pokémon entirely off-guard. It was time to step up the game.

"It's time to give our little friend a flying lesson. Grab it!"

Pidgeotto swooped down, claws extended. The cyndaquil was no easy catch, though. It used quick attack to get away, but it was rapidly tiring. It wasn't long before Cyndaquil slumped to the ground, panting. Gold's expression, initially cool and focused, looked rather worried now. Without further ado, Pidgeotto grabbed the unfortunate cyndaquil in his talons and took to the air, preparing to fling his foe across the battlefield.

Too bad Falkner had forgotten about the whole cyndaquil-is-a-fire-type thing. He was reminded of that little fact when Pidgeotto loosened his grip in surprise after Cyndaquil's back burst into flames. Falkner kicked himself (not literally, though) for making such a rookie mistake. Now his pidgeotto was squawking in anger, feet and underside burned. He tried to land, but the floor hurt his feet, and he was forced to take flight again.

"Gust!"

The flying-type whirled up another tornado and sent it towards Cyndaquil. This time his aim was true, and the opponent was swept off its feet and into the air. It squealed in panic before sending embers every which way, some of which hit Pidgeotto.

"Tackle it!" His partner complied, slamming into his opponent with impressive force. Cyndaquil was sent flying (no pun intended) towards the ground, but was able to soften the impact a little by rolling. And then . . .

Goodness gracious, why? Why did this always happen in his Gym?

The cyndaquil was evolving. It glowed a brilliant white, and its body morphed into a taller, more slender form. The light faded, revealing an elegant quilava.

"Lava!" it cried out boldly, and without hesitation, fired a much more powerful Ember at Pidgeotto. The flying-type promptly fell to the floor, unconscious.

. . . That was anticlimactic.

"Pidgeotto is unable to battle! Gold and Quilava win!"

Falkner sighed as he returned his pokémon and watched Gold and Quilava celebrate. The newly-evolved fire-type was standing on its hind feet and had its front paws on Gold's stomach, looking like an excited puppy. Gold was stroking the top of its head, smiling broadly. Well, at least the two got along nicely, even if the kid was a lame plagiarizer.

Falkner strode over to Gold, who looked up at him expectantly. "Congratulations, challenger. You're the first person who's ever won a badge without directing his pokémon in any way. But that will most likely not get you very far. Only the most skilled trainers can employ a strategy like that and expect to be able to win consistently."

Gold looked a little troubled by that, but his only response was a shrug. Quilava stood there quietly next to its trainer, having changed from happy-go-lucky to prim and proper in an instant.

"Anyway, here are your winnings." Falkner handed over the badge, prize money, and TM. "Well, have a good night."

Gold returned his pokémon and walked away after shaking the gym leader's hand and waving goodbye.

Falkner called after the trainer. "I'd reassess my battling strategy if I were you!" He was honestly trying to help. Gold seemed to be reasonably talented, and he could prove to be a formidable opponent if he was just willing to call out orders.

Gold didn't seem to hear him though, and climbed down the rope ladder without looking back.

Hm. It might do the kid some good to invest in a pair of hearings aids. . . .

OoOoOoOoO

"Bayleef, what are you doing? Slow down!"

Crystal huffed in frustration as her pokémon completely ignored her. It was nighttime in Violet City, and Crystal had been heading back to the center. She had kept Bayleef out for protection, and now she was beginning to regret that decision. Why hadn't she chosen Butterfree instead?

Well, maybe because a dinosaur was more likely to keep strangers away than a butterfly was. Anyway, it's wasn't like Bayleef had ever suddenly run off before. Maybe it had something to do with the night air, who knew. At least the streets were well-lit, she thought, as she tried to catch up. They rounded a corner and ran in the general direction of the Violet City Gym. Not twenty feet from them, some boy and his pokémon were ambling along, oblivious to the fact that an excited grass-type was barreling straight towards them.

"Watch out!"

Too late. The quilava, as Crystal realized it was, had been a few meters in front of its trainer and safely out of the way. The boy wasn't so lucky. Bayleef took a flying leap at him, and they both went down hard.

The quilava got to them first, and growled viciously at the grass-type, who quickly backed away. Crystal got there right after that, stuttering apologies and offering to help the trainer up. He hastily stumbled to his feet on his own, however, and backed away, looking slightly disorientated.

"Are you okay? I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened, I—"

He didn't seem to be listening, and was instead staring at Bayleef, wide-eyed. Then he grinned and reached out to pet him. Bayleef accepted this happily, while the quilava just looked on grumpily. Bayleef turned back to Crystal.

"Bay!" her grass pokémon said impatiently, looking from the stranger and Crystal and back again. He then walked up to Crystal and nudged her backpack. She was pretty sure what he was trying to tell her.

"Are you Gold?"

The stranger, still looking at Bayleef, didn't answer until his quilava nudged his leg and jerked its head in her direction. Crystal repeated her question when he was looking at her again, and he hesitated before nodding and eyeing her suspiciously.

Crystal held up her hands. "Hey, I'm not a stalker. Long story short, I have your hat." She snatched the cap out of her backpack and handed it to him. Gold reached out a hand and delicately took it from her. He didn't seem to know what to do next, and honestly, neither did she. "Um, so . . ." she began, and realized that he, again, wasn't listening to her. His eyes wandered around from Bayleef, who was talking up a storm, to the quilava, who looked indifferent. Then he locked eyes with her briefly. Then he shoved his hat back on his head, did a little one-shoulder shrug, and awkwardly waved goodbye.

And just like that, he walked away.

If that wasn't the most awkward interaction with a stranger she'd ever had, it was at least in the top ten.

"So, Bayleef," Crystal said, "I guess he's the one you've met before?" He nodded. "The quilava, too?" Bayleef nodded again, and watched sadly as trainer and pokémon walked away. Crystal regarded her pokémon for a moment, then sighed. She didn't know anything about this guy, but if Bayleef trusted him, he probably wasn't too bad.

She wondered if she was going to regret asking this. Probably.

"Do you want to go after him?"

The looked on Bayleef's face was all the answer she needed. "Okay then, but remember that this was your idea!" Bayleef nodded enthusiastically, and together, they ran after the other two.

"Hey Gold! Wait up!"

OoOoOoOoO

A/N This was honestly my best try. I'm just not very good at writing.

My birthday is coming up very soon. A review would be an awesome birthday present. *shameless vie for reviews* :D Accountless people, remember that I accept anonymous reviews!