~Author's Note~

Wow this chapter was a pain to type. I took a little bit of creative liberty in this chapter. I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter Three

When Arthur reached Oldale Town, Mudkip had leveled up to level 10. Arthur decided to first heal him at the pokecenter.

As he exited the pokecenter, Francis entered town from the north. He caught sight of Arthur. Arthur was approached, and Francis said, "So you finally got here. I'd like to see how strong you are. Probably not very, seeing as how you were coming here at a snail's pace."

"I'll have you know that I had my own reasons for going at my own pace!" Arthur was outraged at Francis's comment. "You will pay for that remark!"

"Shall we battle?"

"Let's." Arthur smirked. "However, I do not intend to lose to the likes of you."

"I will show you what my strength is! I cannot lose!" Francis proclaimed.

"Good. Victory is sweeter when you deflate someone's ego along with winning." Arthur threw his pokeball. "Go! Mudkip!"

Francis threw his as well. "Go! Treecko!"

Both trainers had to ponder which moves would be most effective against the opponent's pokemon. Francis had not put much thought into leveling up treecko, so he was still level 5. He may have had a type advantage, but he had only two moves, pound and leer. Arthur still had a major advantage.

"Mudkip! Use tackle!" Arthur called. The blue pokemon obeyed his trainer and dealt a good deal of damage on the opponent.

"Treecko! Use pound!" The grass type ran up and damaged Mudkip only a small amount.

"Mudkip! Use tackle again!" Mudkip attacked again, giving the final blow, signaling the end of the battle.

Arthur and his pokemon let out a celebratory cheer. Francis was less than enthusiastic. In fact, he was downright bitter.

"This is impossible! I couldn't have lost! You must have cheated!" Francis accused.

"What? How dare you accuse me of cheating, you bloody frog!" How could I possibly have cheated?"

"I don't know! But you must have! There's no other way that I could have lost!"

"Did it ever occur to you that you should have trained your pokemon more before challenging someone, you git?"

"No! I am strong! We will battle again! And I will defeat you!"

"Just keep telling yourself that. Maybe you can someday defeat a wurmple." With that, Arthur turned and headed for Petalburg City. He decided to visit the city's gym. To his surprise, the leader was standing in the first room of the gym.

"Hello. What is your name?" She asked.

"Arthur Kirkland. Pleasure to meet you. What might your name be?"

"My name is Yekaterina Braginskaya. May I ask how many badges have you collected?"

"I don't have any yet. I only just set out on my journey." Arthur told her.

"Oh. In that case, you will need to get stronger before you challenge my gym. Might I recommend challenging the Rustboro Gym first?"

Arthur was about to answer when a young girl entered the room. "Leader Yekaterina! Can I borrow a pokemon? I'm going to live with some family friends in Verdanturf, but I thought I would be lonely by myself, but I've never caught a pokemon before."

"Of course! Your name is Michelle, right? You can borrow this one." She gave her a zigzagoon.

"Wow! A pokemon! Thanks!"

"Arthur, can I ask you to go with Michelle to catch her pokemon before you head to Rustboro?"

"Sure, why not?"

Arthur and Michelle went to a patch of tall grass just outside of Petalburg City. "Arthur, can you watch to make sure I catch a pokemon properly?"

"Alright." Arthur agreed.

At that moment, a pokemon burst out of the grass, startling Michelle. "Whoa!"

She sent out the zigzagoon that was loaned to her. Arthur's pokedex revealed that the wild pokemon was a ralts. Michelle used the zigzagoon to weaken the emotion pokemon a bit. Then she recalled the zigzagoon and threw a pokeball. The pokeball shook a few times, but eventually clicked shut.

"Wow… My own pokemon… Thank you for coming with me, Arthur. I'm going to go return this pokemon now. Bye!"

"Bye." At this time, Arthur began combing the area for a pokemon for him to catch.

After a while, Arthur felt a pair of eyes watching him. He looked around and saw a white, equine-looking pokemon staring at him. It had a yellow, wheel-like part around it's middle.

Arthur prepared to send out Mudkip, in case it was hostile, but his instinct told him that it wasn't.

In his mind, Arthur heard, 'Hello, Trainer. I am Arceus. I have been looking for someone with whom I will travel, as have the others from the Hall of Origin. Will you be my partner?'

"Others? What do you mean, others?" Arthur asked, confused as to why this pokemon could communicate with him.

'Others meaning legendary pokemon, of course. Will you partner with me?' Arceus asked again.

A legendary pokemon! Arthur thought. "Why are you asking me? There are so many other people you could have asked."

'I asked you because you are aiming to grow ever stronger, are you not? I sense great potential in you. I ask again, will you be my partner?'

~Author's Note~

So yeah, Arthur meets Arceus. During the battle with Francis I was listening to It Ends Tonight by the All American Rejects so that's where I got the 'final blow' part from. Review please!