The cave was dark and rocky. The ceiling dripped and a few golbats, seemingly undisturbed by the human presence in their cave, hung above. A Rocket grunt walked carefully through the boulders, not wanting to disturb the bats in their slumber. There was no true path through the cavern; Team Rocket had secretly dug out a hidden entrance into the collapsed Cerulean Cave to be used as a hideout. No one in Cerulean seemed to have noticed their presence, not even Misty herself. The grunt reached the furthest dugout part of the cave and stopped. It was pitch black, except for a slight glow from an unknown source a few feet in front of him. The man stood at attention, putting a fist to his heart in respect.

"So? Where is the ponyta?" a voice said from the direction of the light.

"We ran into some…trouble." the grunt replied.

"Trouble?"

"Yes. A girl, a trainer, stopped us, only after the ponyta burned the rest of my team in a powerful fire spin attack."

"So, you, a member of the most powerful Team Rocket, were defeated by a mere girl?" The grunt was silent for a second.

"Yes." The answer was hesitant and fearful.

"Well, that is unfortunate." The grunt gasped and cringed, fearing punishment. "Why are you so afraid? I am not Giovanni. I do not punish when a plan is thwarted, I revise it. Where is the pokemon now?"

"We believe the girl captured it and has it with her."

"And, where is she?"

"We are not sure. She came from New Bark Town. Do you believe her to be a threat?"

"I don't know. Possibly. I know from personal experience that you do not underestimate the power of a child. We'll see if she pops up again. If so, we will deal with her then. Now, what of the people we are worried about? Have they been dealt with?"

"Teams are headed to both the Hoenn and Sinnoh right now. They should arrive in a few hours and update us on the situation."

"Good. Let's see just how good Team Rocket is. This is the true test of this team, to see if I chose wisely in seeking your help. Go and get a team to look out near Viridian. If that girl is looking for trouble, and is competent at all, she'll end up there to search for Giovanni."

"Yes, sir!" The grunt put his fist to his chest again and walked back out. The hidden man reached out into the glow of the light and scratched something.

"This seems to be working out better than I could imagine, don't you think my friend?" he said.

"Magmar," another voice said. The light source was emanating from a magmar's tail fire.

"We still have yet to catch that one pokemon most important to our plan. Let's hope these Rockets can accomplish where they have failed many times before, under my direction." The man laughed, the pieces of his plan seeming to fall perfectly into place.

"So, this is Tohjo Falls?" TJ said, looking up at the massive twin waterfalls. The only pokemon she had out was Zuzi, since Sasha and Indigo didn't take too well to water. They had surfed across to Kanto and entered the cave where the falls blocked their way to Viridian. The cave was loud, wet, and slippery. TJ had to carefully watch her step so she wouldn't slip. Consequently, Zuzi bounded ahead happily. The plan was that, once they crossed the falls, they would follow Route 1 to meet Oak in Pallet. As TJ looked at the raging water, Zuzi dived into the water, eager to tackle it.

"Wait a minute, Zuzi!" TJ called. He turned around.

"Marill?" Zuzi said, sounding confused.

"Look at those!" TJ explained. "How are we supposed to get across?"

"Mar-marill!" Zuzi said happily. He swam quickly to the falls, up the water, then right back down. TJ was amazed by this pokemon's power, but still couldn't believe he could do that with her riding along. Zuzi was looking impatient.

"Ok, ok, if you really think this is safe…" TJ told him. She jumped into the water and grabbed on to him. With a burst of speed, Zuzi drove up the waterfall, TJ screaming all the way. They reached the top of the first falls and Zuzi started for the other.

"No, Zuzi, hold on." TJ said. "I need a moment to catch my breath."

"Marill!" Zuzi, giving TJ about two seconds before rushing for the edge.

"Zuzi! Ahhhh!" TJ yelled as they went over the falls. It was more of a freefall than a pokemon power. They two landed at the bottom with a splash.

"Azu, azu!" Zuzi said, surfacing. He had obviously thoroughly enjoyed the ride. TJ resurfaced, looking less than amused.

"You think you're funny, don't you?" she asked.

"Azumarill!" he replied, smiling. TJ shook her head.

"Elm did give me a pokemon with a big personality, didn't he?" she said. TJ returned Zuzi to his pokeball and walked back outside. The area was covered in rocks of various sizes. A few trees grew here and there, and, as she was still near the sea, there was the shore line a few feet away. She knew there was a shortcut to Viridian without having to go up to the Indigo Plateau, but she would have to scale some of the more rocky areas. They weren't really mountainous, but still difficult to cross unaided. She called out Sasha and Celia to help her. Just as they were about to head on their way, Celia stopped, looking towards the water.

"What is it, Celia?" TJ asked.

"Pidgeo!" she said. TJ walked over to the water's edge, peeking over a large rock. In the shallow water was a chinchou, playing in the waves.

"Oh, a chinchou!" TJ whispered. "I'd need my own water type and she's one of the best! Celia, go hit it with a gust." Celia flew over and flapped her wings fiercely. The chinchou was caught up in a swirl of wind, lifting out of the water and then dropping it back down.

"Chin-chouuuuu…" the pokemon said weakly. Its lamps flickered.

"Ok, time to catch her!" TJ said. She stepped out from behind the rock and threw her pokeball. The chinchou was sucked inside and the ball fell into the water. TJ ran over and picked it up. "Yay! Got it!" She looked at her new pokemon in the ball. It sat quietly, resting from the battle. "I'll get you to a Pokemon Center as soon as we get to Viridian, I promise. Now, you need a name. How about Lumina? I think that's good. Ok, let's go guys! To Viridian!"

TJ made it to Viridian without much incident. She was dirty and a bit scraped up from slipping once or twice, but none of that seemed to faze her. Like a good pokemon trainer, she was more worried about her team. TJ immediately took her pokemon to the center, where they were treated. While in the center, she asked Nurse Joy for directions to Pallet Town. She gave them happily, as well as a description of Oak's lab. With her pokemon healed, TJ went to the edge of town and was about to release Indigo to ride to Pallet when she heard someone call her. She turned to see a young trainer, a couple years her junior. He was a mousy boy, with short brown hair and bright blue eyes. He also had a few pokeballs on his belt, making him a trainer.

"Hey, you're a trainer, right?" he asked.

"Yes I am." TJ replied.

"Well, so am I. I just won a badge from the Viridian Gym and I'm on a bit of a hot streak. How about a battle?" he asked. TJ smiled.

"Of course. No trainer worth anything turns down a good battle." she said. "Rules?"

"Three on three?"

"Perfect. Let's go!" They backed up, putting space to fight between them, and reached for their pokeballs. TJ of course went straight for her best, Sasha. The boy sent out a charmander. TJ was sure she would win this one.

"Char, scratch!" he called. Char ran at Sasha.

"Sasha, rollout!" TJ said. Sasha rolled into a ball and spun quickly towards Char. Char stared to scratch her, but he was immediately deflected and sent flying by Sasha's attack. He landed before his trainer, eyes closed.

"Return!" the boy said. Sasha ran back to TJ, who picked her up happily.

"Way to go girl!" she said. She returned Sasha to her ball and reached for her next pokemon. TJ went for Celia, the boy chose a plusle. TJ was at a type disadvantage, but she didn't let it worry her. "Celia, quick attack!" Celia flew a bit into the air and dived at the plusle.

"Pilu, quick attack as well!" the boy said. Pilu jumped towards Celia. They hit and bounced off each other, both a little off balance. Pilu unfortunately recovered first. "Thunder wave, now!" She did so and a net of electricity hit Celia. The bird was frozen in mid-air, just above the ground. "Ok, finish it with a spark attack!" Pilu charged for a second, then jumped and hit Celia. Celia hit the ground and skidded a few feet. She shuddered a bit.

"Return!" TJ said. She held the ball close. "You did a good job." she whispered. Next was the tie breaking battle. The boy sent out a furret and TJ chose Indigo. The boy gasped when he saw Indigo's color.

"A blue ponyta. Wow, I thought they were just a rumor." he said.

"Nope." TJ said. " Now, let's finish this. Indigo, ember!"

"Chita, defense curl!" the boy said. Chita curled up into a ball as the fire surrounded him. The flames died and the furret uncurled, rather unharmed. "Slam now!"

"Stomp it!" TJ called. Indigo reared up as Chita charged at him. He was a bit faster than Chita and stomped down on the pokemon's tail. Chita cried out and tried to struggle free, but Indigo was not letting go. "One last move will end it! Fire spin!" Indigo's flames flared up and a ring of fire swirled around the pokemon. It was smaller than the first time TJ had seen it, but that was because this was a friendly battle, not a life or death situation. The fire died and Indigo stepped off of Chita. Chita tried to stand, but immediately fell back, clearly unable to carry on.

"Chita, return." the boy said, somewhat disheartened. TJ walked over and pet Indigo in congrats, and then went over to the boy and held out her hand for him to shake.

"Good match." she said. He took her hand and shook it. "You're pretty good. You're gonna be a great trainer some day."

"Oh, thanks." he said, blushing. "But, you are so much better! Do you have any badges?"

"No." TJ replied. "Maybe I'll go after them someday, but right now I have other things to tend to. Speaking of which, I have to be on my way."

"Ok then." the boy said. "Maybe I'll run into again, when I'm stronger. We can battle again."

"It's a deal." she said. They headed their separate ways. TJ mounted Indigo, and then turned towards where the boy was walking. "Hey, what's your name, anyway?" she called. He turned to her.

"Dax!" he called back.

"Well, Dax," she said, smiling. "Mine's TJ and I'll be looking for your name as champion of the Pokemon League." Dax smiled wide and blushed again. TJ kicked Indigo a bit and started off down Route 1. The route was mostly countryside, a lot like the area between New Bark and Cherrygrove. Children were playing outside and some young trainers were trying to catch their first pokemon. She saw a lot of the kids training bulbasaur, squirtle, or charmander. TJ hadn't realized that the different regions handed out different pokemon for them to start with. After a few minutes, she was stopped again. This time, it was by a boy who looked to be her same age. He had messy blonde hair, green eyes, and only one pokeball on his belt. He stood in front of Indigo, blocking the path.

"Sorry, can't battle. I'm already behind schedule." TJ told him.

"Oh, I don't want to battle." he said.

"Then, what do you want?" she asked, sounding impatient. "I'm kinda in a hurry…"

"I just wanted to look at that magnificent pokemon you have." he said. "I watched you battle and followed you here to see it up close. He's beautiful." The boy walked closer to them slowly. He must have known not to startle a ponyta.

"Yes, I know, and I'd be glad to let you look all you like, but I really have to get to Pallet….What are you doing?" She watched as the boy got close and tried to put a hand on Indigo. He was of course burned, pulling his hand away quickly and shaking it off. Indigo neighed proudly. "You shouldn't have done that."

"Don't worry, I'm used to burns." he told her. "You see, I'm a fire pokemon trainer, which is why I wanted to see ponyta so badly. I haven't been able to catch a real on, let alone a special colored one. The name's Aden."

"TJ. But, I really am in a hurry."

"Yes, of course! Sorry, some times I get wrapped up when I see something so beautiful." TJ gave him a look and Aden's eyes went a little wide. "The ponyta I mean, of course! So, you're headed to Pallet?"

"Yes, to see Professor Oak."

"Do you mind if I tag along?" Aden asked. "I've been meaning to go to Oak with my own pokemon, and that'll give me time to admire Indigo."

"I don't know…"

"Please?" Aden looked up at her, practically pouting.

"Ok, fine." she finally said. "But, we have to go quickly, I'm kinda – "

"In a hurry." Aden finished. "You said that already. So, get moving!" The two headed towards Pallet, TJ riding at a cantor and Aden following quickly behind on foot.