The Second Journey, Chapter 23

Following the crazy event at the beach, Mom put me on a sort of house arrest. She had been so scared by the whole incident, not to mention my fit of laughter afterward, I was almost afraid she'd not let me go with Professor Oak to New Bark Town. So, trapped at home, I spent the next couple days watching TV lazily. Few things kept my interest, but all I wanted was a chance to see Deneb on TV. The Pokemon League televised battles from Indigo Plateau, so there was a chance I'd get to see him. My luck wasn't that good, though.

Finally, the day came when I was set to go. It started with the honking of a car horn. I looked outside, seeing an unfamiliar blue car waiting by my house.

"Star! Professor Oak is here for you!" Mom called out to me from downstairs.

"Okay, Mom! Going!"

I ran through my bag again, making sure I had everything I needed for the trip. Johto was a whole new world for me, and I was glad that this time, I'd be leaving home prepared for almost anything. My Pokedex safely packed, Pokeballs around my waist, and the Pokegear safely strapped on my wrist, I was ready to go. Vulpix jumped up into my arms, the lazy fox wanting more and more to be carried.

Downstairs, Mom had a few things for me on the table. Luckily, it wasn't too much, the last thing I'd want is to be weighed down before I even started. Wasn't easy carrying around my bike in my bag, as it was.

"I made you some lunch to take with you, and I got you this," she said, handing me a small, sealed package of chocolate chip cookies. These were my favorite, as you may already know, and they only sold them here in Pallet Town.

"Thanks, Mom. Look Vulpix!" She tried to bite the package right out of my hands, never learning her lesson. The last time she had her fill, she was sick for a whole day.

"And here, some money for your trip. I've been saving it since you left last time." And that was certainly something! There was more money there than I had seen in my entire first trip! I tried to jam it all into my wallet, afraid the entire time it'd come apart at the seams.

"Please eat well out there. You came back thinner than you left, I don't want you living off of chips and soda, okay?"

"Mom, it's been forever since I had chips or soda. There aren't vending machines on the road." Though that would certainly be divine.

"I gave you enough money there to eat healthy every day, so I better not expect to see you snacking on anything when I call you!" Suddenly, that Pokegear felt more of a liability than anything else. I heard another honk outside, which made Mom even more nervous.

"Take care, baby, and listen to what Mr Oak tells you."

"Mom, I'm-"

"Not a baby, I know dear." She gave me a kiss on the forehead, dusted me off like I had been sitting on some shelf, and finally let me be on my way. Outside, I saw Professor Oak sitting in the passenger seat, with some older guy, and that's saying something, driving the car. I gave Mom one last hug, and hopped into the back seat.

"Please be careful out there, Professor." She said to the old man in the passenger seat.

"I will, Mrs Light. Don't you worry, your daughter is in good hands!" I poked the Professor's shoulder, signaling him to stop talking. Mom was still very much capable of yanking me out of the car at the first sign of trouble.

"Are you really? If it's alright with you, I can drive part of the way to Viridian City." She offered.

"Not necessary, Mom! We'll be fine, and we got to go!" Mr Pokemon started pulling out, so I lowered my window and waved at Mom as we drove off.

"I'll miss you! Bye!"

"Goodbye, Star! Take care!"

As Mom shrunk in the distance, I crawled back into my seat and closed the window. That would be the last time I saw Pallet Town for a while.

~o~

The trip with the professor and Mr Pokemon could be seen in one of two ways. Either highly informative, or horribly dull. And being the only kid in the car, I found it to be the latter. They spent the entire four hour trip discussing some kind of egg another professor had discovered, a topic of conversation I had no interest in. So instead, I spent the entire trip staring out the window, watching the Kanto region warp into Johto.

From Route 1, we passed through to Viridian City, and turned onto Route 22. I moved to the other side of the backseat here, so that I could try and pinpoint the spot where I first met Mankey. After a stop at the Pokemon Center to have a bite to eat, we continued south on Route 26, a road I honestly never noticed the first time I was there. Maybe it just magically showed up now that I was on my way to Johto?

The road was pretty bumpy, and I couldn't help but stare outside the window as we passed by dozens of trainers heading towards Victory Road. A few of them were even battling on the side of the road, using a mix of familiar critters and Pokemon I had never even read about in my encyclopedia. After seeing a few of these along the road, I just had to ask the two men for a favor.

"Please stop the car!" Well, not so much a favor as a sudden outburst. Mr Pokemon hit the brake abruptly, sending the car to a screeching halt. A few of the trainers walking past us stopped to look at the car, only to see me come out of it. I ran over to the closest one, a teenage girl.

"Hello, are you a Pokemon trainer?" I asked out of the blue.

"Uh, yeah? What do you want?"

"You're headed to Victory Road?"

"Yeah, kid," she said, growing more and more agitated by the second. She finally took notice of Vulpix at my side. "You're saying you want a battle?"

"If you wouldn't mind," I said, picking up Vulpix. "I just want to see what other kinds of Pokemon trainers headed to Victory Road are using."

"If that Vulpix is your Pokemon, kid, you won't make it. But I won't turn down a match."

The trainer took her place on the far side of the road, and I stood behind the car. Professor Oak and Mr Pokemon got out and stood by me, interested in the match. This was actually the first time I was battling in front of spectators, so I was getting a bit nervous. Before the girl trainer released her first Pokemon, I had one more question for her.

"What's your name?" She looked at me like I was crazy for some reason, then sighed.

"Joyce."

"I'm Star!" Joyce didn't seem to care much for my name, and released her Pokemon. It was a large, blue turtle, a Blastoise. Already I was looking at a tough fight.

"You want to quit now, kid? Wouldn't want your little Vulpix to get hurt." I looked down at Vulpix, who was a bit hesitant to go out there. I didn't blame her, as she was at a severe disadvantage. What's worse, I left my belt with the rest of my Pokemon in the car. Not that any of my other critters evened out the field very well, except Primeape.

"I don't have all day kid, either start the fight, or I'm leaving." I glanced around, watching a few of the other trainers snickering at me. All of them were clearly older than me, too, only making it worse. I was just some newbie trainer to them, and I didn't think showing off my trainer card would make much of a difference. As a few of them started to move on, I turned around to see Oak. He looked away, not sure how to respond to this.

"That's it, I'm out of here. Don't bother me again, kid."

"Wait!" I cried out, stopping Joyce from calling back her Blastoise. I told Vulpix to get out there, which she did, albeit slowly.

"Okay, your funeral. Blastoise, Water Gun!"

"Vulpix, Quick Attack!"

Vulpix took a few steps forward, disappearing just as Blastoise's massive cannons started blasting water at her position. Vulpix showed up behind Blastoise, ramming into the large turtle. Her attack hardly made him budge.

"Oh, please. Blastoise, Bubblebeam!"

"Vulpix, Quick Attack!"

Again, before Blastoise could pummel Vulpix with a fatal attack, she disappeared, and reappeared behind the large turtle. And again, her attack didn't even register on Blastoise.

"I don't got time for this. Blastoise, Stomp!"

"Vulpix, Flamethrower!"

The large turtle lifted one of its feet, trying to crush Vulpix under it. She deftly backed off, opening her mouth and releasing a wave of flames at him. Blastoise raised its arms to ward most of the damage. Aside from the fact the attack was ineffective, what little damage it could have done was just blocked.

"Blastoise, Crunch!" Joyce's patience was all but gone.

"Vulpix, Ember!"

The battle was actually going in my favor, just at a snail's pace. No matter what attack Joyce ordered, Blastoise was too slow to keep up with Vulpix, and Vulpix's attacks just weren't doing enough damage. I surely wasn't going to end the fight, and Joyce wouldn't admit defeat just because time marched onward. Finally, it looked like Professor Oak grew tired of watching the battle, and offered some advice.

"Star, perhaps you should consult the Pokedex, and see what other abilities Vulpix has at her disposal. I'd certainly like to make it to New Bark Town before nightfall."

"Blastoise, Water Gun!"

"Vulpix, you know the drill!"

I noticed Vulpix letting out a sigh, only to once again evade Blastoise's attack and try to damage it with her weak Quick Attack. In the meantime, I pulled out my Pokedex, and aimed it at Vulpix. The little red device came to life, and I scrolled down the page to see a list of Vulpix's abilities. There was one in particular I never knew she could use.

"Blastoise, Stomp!" Joyce was getting more and more agitated, and Blastoise more and more tired.

"Vulpix, dodge and use Confuse Ray!"

By this point, Vulpix only needed to walk away from the large turtle. She locked eyes with it, and barked. Suddenly, Blastoise was having trouble keeping its balance, falling back on its shell and just laying there. I took advantage of the opening.

"Vulpix, Quick Attack his belly!"

Vulpix disappeared, and came up on top of the large turtle, crashing down on it hard. This time, he felt the pain, and tried to roll over, but was still too dizzy. Finally, Joyce admitted defeat, and recalled Blastoise. Vulpix let out a victory howl before running back to my side. Joyce walked up to me, separating a few bills to hand me.

"Beginner's luck, kid," she said, handing me the money. I took it from her, but decided it was time to show her just how experienced a trainer I was. I ran back to the car, taking my trainer card out to show her. But by the time I was back, she was already walking off towards the Pokemon Center.

"Well, that was certainly a fun distraction. Professor, if you have no objections?" Mr Pokemon returned to the car.

"Not at all. Come on, Star, we'd best be moving on."

"Okay," I said, a bit sad that my first Victory in Johto wasn't more celebratory. Once I was back in the car, I put away the money I got from Joyce, as well as the trainer card. It was still another couple hours to New Bark Town, and I figured I wouldn't bother to ask for another battle on the way.

I'd later be clarified on one detail about all this by Professor Oak. Technically speaking, Routes 26 through 28 were still Kanto territory, so this battle wasn't my first real Johto match. That alone seemed to lift my spirits.

~o~

I gave Mom a call on my Pokegear when we finally arrived in New Bark Town. It was past four, and the sun was starting to lower from the sky. Like Pallet Town, it was a small little place, maybe even smaller. There were a few houses here and there, and a larger building off to a corner. That was our destination, the home and lab of the resident Pokemon Professor, Elm. Mr Pokemon and the professor let themselves inside, so I quietly followed behind.

Elm's lab looked pretty much like Oak's, right down to the single aide running around doing small jobs for the professor in charge. On the other end of the lab, I saw Professor Elm for the first time, studying a strange white egg with little triangle markings.

"Elm, it's been a long time!" Oak called out to him.

"Ah! Professor Oak! I didn't hear you come in!" Elm dropped his clipboard and walked around the desk to greet Oak personally. I snuck around the older men to inspect the egg myself.

"How goes the research? Is that the egg you told me about?" Oak pointed to the egg, and Elm followed his finger.

"Yes, I've been-who are you!? Thief!" I backed away from the egg, startled by Elm's accusation. Vulpix also got scared, and backed up into a different table nearby, knocking over a bunch of trinkets and scattering a few papers.

"Relax, Professor," said Mr Pokemon, coming to my defense, "That's just a young'un we brought over from Kanto. Star, please come over and introduce yourself."

I walked over to Vulpix first, carrying her with me to meet Elm. I shook his hand, but didn't let go of Vulpix, not wanting her to make anymore of a mess.

"I'm Star, sir. And I'm sorry about Vulpix making that mess on your table," I said.

"Don't worry about it, and I'm sorry about snapping at you like that. Ever since the we've brought this egg in, and the break in, I've been a bit on edge. People just don't have any respect anymore."

"Wait, break in? What are you talking about Elm?" Oak cut in, cutting Elm's train of thought along with it.

"Oh? Oh! You see, a few days ago, when the egg came in, we had some juvenile sneak into the lab at night. By the time I came downstairs, I noticed one of the Pokemon I was researching had been stolen. I reported it to the police, but without a description, I'm afraid there's little they could do."

"Tragedy," chipped in Mr Pokemon as he tilted his hat.

"Tragedy that such a crime be committed right under our noses. You know, back in my day, sirs, and miss," tipping his hat off to me, "Pokemon trainers were an honorable bunch."

"Those days are long gone, Mr Pokemon," said Oak, sighing at the loss of the Pokemon. "Our hope now lies with young hopefuls, like Star here."

"Oh, I'm nothing too special," I said, feeling a blush coming on.

"Don't be so modest, dear! Your battling earlier may have been a bit rough around the edges, but you have a good head on your shoulders. The right combination of tasteful critters, and there's naught a challenge you can't overcome!"

"Really? You really think so, Mr Pokemon?" I said with a glimmer in my eye.

"Aye, lass, I do. Matter of fact, you've proven yourself already in Kanto, why not try to mimic your success here in Johto?"

"You mean, the Pokemon League?" I wasn't looking to go through with the gym challenge again, if that's what Mr Pokemon was talking about.

"Indeed. Pokemon training is all about staying the course! Why, if you make an honest effort to improve your skills, I'm sure you'd make a fine champ one day, much like that Lance fellow."

"You know Lance?"

"Actually, we all do," said Professor Elm, cutting into the conversation. "For a time, he was a student under Professor Oak, much like I was. He didn't finish the course, however, and instead went off to train his Pokemon, and enter the League. In those days, the League was still pretty new, so he managed to work his way to the top pretty quickly, outshining all the veteran trainers that founded it."

"You're going on and on, Elm," Oak said, causing the younger professor to cut himself short.

"Regardless, what say you, Star? We can have our chatty professor here sign you up for the Johto League." Mr Pokemon gave me a pat on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry, but I don't want to," I said, much to the shock of everyone there. Made me giggle a bit how even the nameless aide in the other room poked his head through the door to gasp as well. It didn't help my case.

"Star, you have the entire Kanto region's badge set. You're more than capable of holding up in the Johto League!" Oak protested.

"I'm sorry, Professor Oak, but I decided not to go to Victory Road after all. There's really no point in me going through with the gyms if I don't want to enter Indigo Plateau."

"Lass, you're missing the point here," said Mr Pokemon, putting his hand on my shoulder. "The gym challenges aren't about getting into the tournament, it's about studying. You can't know about Pokemon by just sitting in a lab all day, or just wandering the world. Conflict is essential to growth."

"I don't quite agree with Mr Pokemon's reasons," said Professor Elm, "But I do agree you should take the challenge. You'll have to register with the League anyway if you're going to be traveling in the Johto region, and with every trainer card comes the privilege of facing gym leaders. At the very least, it'll provide a roadmap of destinations for you to visit along the way."

A roadmap, I thought. That's what I originally considered the gym challenges of Kanto, aside from the fact they were an absolute necessity at the time. But Elm did have a point: they do make choosing my next location quite easy. Plus, I really did love the badges themselves, and there was certainly nothing wrong with collecting them. I took a step back from the three men, and nodded.

"Alright, I'll do it!"

"Well, that was certainly easy," said Mr Pokemon, giving me a pat on the back.

"Are you sure, Star? You said before you weren't interested in going to Indigo Plateau." Oak's skepticism was warranted, given my sudden change of mind.

"I know, Professor. But I am going into Johto anyway, so why not try to collect the badges? They'll make nice souvenirs to bring back home." My smile seemed to convince him, so Oak dropped the subject.

"Well, then I'll get started on the paperwork! If you still have your Kanto card, it'll make the process much easier."

I handed my card to Professor Elm, and he took a seat at his computer to start signing me up. On some level, I knew I was just getting myself into a whole new world of hardship by taking this challenge, but the better part of me told me to relax. Some of the fights back in Kanto had been tough, some had been downright horrifying, but I always seemed to emerge with my badge. It'd also make for some great stories to share with Deneb.

After a few minutes, Elm came back with a whole new trainer card. Fortunately, my picture was still the same, Vulpix covering a good deal of it. I flipped it around, seeing eight brand new squares, each of them asking for a new badge to take its place. I put them both away, and then spent the rest of the afternoon there with the professors, listening in on their conversations involving Pokemon evolution.

~o~

"Well, I'm afraid the hour is late, and I should be heading back home." Mr Pokemon rose from the table, tipping his hat to everyone else. I had been dozing off bit by bit for a while by then. The sun had gone down a while back, and I was usually in bed at the first sign of night, if I wasn't out and about sneaking into places, that is.

"Are you sure you want to go driving all the way back to Route 30 at this hour?" Elm asked the older gentleman.

"Don't you worry about me, Elm. Offer that spare bed to the young lass; she'll be needing her rest far more than I. Oak, I hope you have a safe journey back home, yourself."

"I'm sure I will, Mr Pokemon. Take care on the road!"

The old gentleman left the lab, leaving only us inside. I was fighting my hardest to stay awake, while Vulpix slept soundly on the table. Elm was the next person to rise.

"Your usual lodging here is still available, Professor. Star, if you'd come with me, my wife and I have a spare bedroom we can offer you tonight."

"Are you sure?" I asked, more out of politeness than anything. I was about ready to kill for a comfortable bed to sleep in.

"Of course he's sure, Star. Go on with Elm. I'll see you tomorrow morning, before you start off."

I said good night to Professor Oak, and followed Elm upstairs to his actual house. After a short meeting with his wife, they showed me right to the room I was borrowing. It instantly showed why Mr Pokemon would rather drive all the way to his own home rather than stay in the company of Elm.

"That's a tiny bed," I said, staring at the kid's size object at the other end of the room.

"It's a little small, I admit," said Elm, walking over to the bed. "It's Joey's, my son's. He'll be staying in our room tonight."

"Sorry I was so rude," I said, feeling quite ungrateful. Elm shook his hand, letting me know it was okay, and finally letting me slip in. I carried Vulpix onto the bed with me, snuggling under the blankets. I made sure to cover Vulpix enough so she wouldn't get cold at night.

"Good night, Star, I'll see you tomorrow morning!"

Elm turned off the lights and closed the door behind him. Despite what I had seen earlier, it really wasn't that bad of a bed to sleep in. Better than the couches at the Pokemon Center.