(A/N: Just a quick note, in case you don't do this already, if there's a button on a Youtube video that says "HQ", please push it. You would be amazed how much better high quality audio sounds. That is all.)

Chapter 5: Eterna City

After finally getting through Eterna Forest, Matt and Kari found themselves in an open field once again. Eterna City only had to be a couple miles from where they were now.

"Finally, the forest was kind of giving me the creeps," Kari said. "Say, it's getting around one, we should probably get some lunch."

"Good idea," Matt said. "I'm sure the others are hungry as well." He then called out his other Pokemon. "Good thing I brought enough Pokemon food," he added. He set down his backpack and opened it, consisting of the things he needed to get through the day. "Here you go," he said, giving food to Empoleon, Lucario, and Raiden. He then looked over to Kari, who had taken out all her Pokemon.

"Now everyone, this is RiRi. She's our newest companion and I want you all to make her feel at home," Kari said. She then looked to RiRi, who was in her arms. "Don't worry, they're all friendly."

Soon, the two sat down and had lunch themselves. They were both silent for a minute, until Kari spoke first. "You know, it's been awhile since I've been away from home," she said. "Spent all these years home researching and studying so that one day I could end up helping Pokemon in need."

"That's why you stopped being a trainer?" Matt said. "You were pretty good back then. In fact, you were probably better than me at one point."

"And you're saying I'm not now?" Kari asked.

"Well, I think I have more of the advantage now," Matt said. He then winced in pain jokingly as Kari punched him in the arm playfully.

"Oh we'll see about that real soon," she said with a smile on her face. Soon, they got their things and started off once again towards Eterna City. "I'm surprised at you Matt," she then said. "I would've thought with the Pokemon in the forest you would've caught at least something."

"It's not that simple," Matt said. "With every Pokemon I have, we share a bond. I felt it with Empoleon when he was a Piplup, Lucario when he was a Riolu, and Raiden when he was a Pikachu." Looking at Raiden, he continued: "Even before capturing a Pokemon, you can either feel the bond between that Pokemon and a trainer, or not. But then again, that's just a philosophy I have. I'm sure, of course, that you and RiRi will get along just fine."

"Never thought of it like that," Kari said. "And you're just waiting till you find one that you can share a bond with?"

"Well, it's not quite like that," Matt said. "It's... well it's kind of hard to explain. I have seen plenty of trainers whose Pokemon tend not to obey them, and it takes a long time for them to finally bond together. I'm pretty much trying to prevent that from happening to me. When I need my Pokemon at a critical time, I want to know that they would do anything for me, and I would do the same."

Kari was rather surprised hearing this. Only eighteen, Matt was already sounding like a veteran trainer. Still, he had been with his Pokemon for a long time, so perhaps that was why he held such a bond with them.

All of a sudden, as they were walking, they heard what sounded like whimpering. "What is that?" Kari asked.

Matt listened closely. "Sounds like a Pokemon that's hurt. And hurt badly." The whimpering was coming from their right, near the tree line. Once looking through the bushes, they had finally found the source, and it wasn't exactly pretty.

There, lying on the ground, beat up and bruised, was a Houndour. Once it saw the two humans, it instantly glared at them and growled softly.

"Matt, we need to get this guy to a Pokemon Center quickly," Kari said.

"Right," Matt said. He then looked at the Houndour. "Hey there buddy, it's alright. No one's here to hurt you." He reached out to pet it, but that proved to be a mistake as the Houndour bit him straight on the hand. Pulling back his hand, which was bleeding slightly, he remarked, "I see you're quite the fighter. Listen, we want to help you."

Raiden then decided to play his part in this. He went up to the canine Pokemon and explained that they were friends, not enemies. Seemingly convinced, the Houndour nodded, and looked back up to Matt, but the glare was no longer in it's eyes.

Matt then picked up the Houndour gently and held it in his arms, petting it gently. "See, that wasn't so bad."

"But something doesn't make sense," Kari said. "Houndour aren't known to be in this region of Sinnoh, so how did it end up here?"

"I think I know," Matt said. "Our friend here was once part of Team Galactic, no doubt."

"But they would never abandon their Pokemon, let alone abuse them," Kari argued.

"I guess this guy just wasn't willing to fight for their evil deeds," Matt said, looking down at the Pokemon in his arms. "Come on, we aren't too far from the city now."

They then quickly made their way towards the city. Once they had finally gotten there, they quickly rushed to the Pokemon Center nearby. Once they got inside, they brought the Pokemon to the front desk, and then the medical staff brought out a stretcher for it. The doctor then told them that they were going to run some tests to check it's condition and that they could wait in the waiting room.

After waiting about ten or fifteen minutes, the doctor had returned. "I have good news," he said. "The Houndour only suffered minor injuries and should recover over a couple of hours."

"That's good to hear," Matt said. "Is it alright that we can him?"

"Of course," the doctor said. He then lead them back to one of the wings and went into one of the first rooms on the left. There, in bed, lay Houndour.

"Well, it looks like you'll be fully recovered in a couple of hours," Matt said to him. All of a sudden, the Houndour leaped out of bed and into his arms, licking him in the face. "Hey, stop that," Matt said, laughing.

"You know, I get the feeling that he likes you," Kari said.

"You think?" Matt replied, looking down at Houndour, who was smiling. He smiled as well. "Say, would you like to join my team? I can assure you we'll treat you a whole lot better than those bastards Team Galactic." Houndour happily nodded. Matt then put the dog Pokemon back into bed. "But first, you need to rest. We'll come back for you in a couple of hours." And with that, they left Houndour alone, left the Pokemon Center, and explored the city.

"So you're really willing to take him with you?" Kari asked Matt then as they passed by some of the stores.

"Well, I could definitely use a fire-type," Matt said. "But I think he's better off with me then taking the chance of him being hurt again. And... I also felt that bond again."

"He must've felt it as well since he seems to like you so much," Kari said. She then looked at her Poketch. "Hmm, it's going to start getting dark in a couple of hours. We might as well spend the night here."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Matt said.

(A/N: Alright, time for another song. The song here is "Team Galactic Battle." Oh geez, I wonder what they could mean then?)

"Hey, give me back my Pokemon!" The two of them turned to their right and saw two men, both weirdly dressed, confronting a young trainer.

"Sorry buddy, but we made a deal," the first man said. "You couldn't beat us with your Pokemon, so now we take all of them."

"You call that a fair fight?" the trainer said. "Fair fight my ass! Only Team Galactic would be known to use such dirty tactics."

"How dare you!?" the second man said. "Team Galactic is only know for one thing, and that is to change this world, ridding of pathetic trainers like you!"

"Actually, I think that it's you two who are the pathetic ones," Matt said, walking up to them, Kari close behind.

"Stay out of this!" Grunt #1 said. "This doesn't concern you."

"Oh, but it does," Matt said seriously, Raiden glaring at them with electricity coming out of his cheeks. "I suggest you give the trainer back his Pokemon, or I might have to embarrass you in public."

"You would challenge us?" Grunt #2 said.

"Very well," Grunt #1 said. "We accept your challenge then. If you win, we'll give him back his Pokemon. But if we win, we take all your Pokemon, including that Raichu."

Raiden growled at the man, but Matt remained calm. "Deal," he said.

"Hey, don't count me out of this," Kari said, a Pokeball in her hand.

*"I think I'm going to enjoy this," Grunt #1 said. "Alright Golbat, I request your assistance!"

"Yours as well, Stunky!" Grunt #2 said. There were two flashes of light and the grunts' Pokemon appeared.

"This is almost too easy already," Matt said. "Alright Empoleon, time for some practice!" There was a flash of light and the giant penguin Pokemon appeared.

"Alright Noctowl, time for us to get back into battling," Kari said. There was another flash of light and Kari's majestic owl Pokemon appeared.

"Golbat, use Poison Fang on Noctowl!" Grunt #1 said.

"Stunky, use Night Slash on Empoleon!" Grunt #2 said. The two Pokemon then charged towards both Noctowl and Empoleon.

"Oh no you don't!" Kari said. "Noctowl, counter with Aerial Ace!" Noctowl then charged straight at Golbat and hit it directly, knocking it back.

"Empoleon, counter with Metal Claw!" Matt said. While Stunky proved to be quick, Empoleon was obviously quicker. Claws extending from his flippers, Empoleon swung, hitting Stunky directly as well.

"Argh! We won't give up that easily!" Grunt #1 said. "Golbat, use Supersonic!"

"Stunky, use Shadow Ball!" Grunt #2 said.

"Empoleon, Hydro Pump!" Matt said.

"Noctowl, use Hyper Beam!" Kari said.

The four attacks met at once, causing a small explosion. Once the smoke cleared, the two grunts could obviously see both their Pokemon knocked out, meaning that they had lost.

"Now, you were saying about giving back those Pokemon?" Matt said with a smirk.

"Fine, take your stupid Pokemon!" Grunt #1 said, handing back the Pokeballs to the trainer. "Your Pokemon were too weak anyway for our taste."

"Don't think you've seen the last of Team Galactic!" Grunt #2 said as they both walked away.

"Thank you so much," the trainer said. "The name is Jake by the way."

"No need to thank us, Jake," Matt said. "It's never a problem preventing crooks like them to steal innocent Pokemon."

"But wait, why is Team Galactic in the city?" Kari asked.

"Not quite sure," Jake said. "They've been seen in many places. Normally the police would try to arrest them, but they're just so sneaky. Anyway, they're trying to recruit new trainers, and unfortunately they're doing it the hard way. You refuse, they take your Pokemon."

"So they were trying to recruit you?" Matt asked.

"Yeah," Jake said. "Personally, I don't know who would even think of saying yes, but then again, their numbers are quite large. I tried fighting them, but I came up a bit short. He then laughed slightly. "Guess I still have some training to do before I get to your level."

"Hey, as long as you train hard with your Pokemon, of course you're going to get better," Kari said.

"Well, I need to head back home, but thanks again," Jake said before taking off.

"Well, looks like I got some good training in today," Kari said.

"You know, I'm still not buying it," Matt said, smiling. "About you not so focused on being a trainer."

"Oh, is that supposed to be a compliment?" Kari asked. "So, what did you think of it?"

"Well, honestly, you did really well," Matt said, a bit hesitant. "Trainer or not, you're still pretty good, Kari."

Kari then felt herself blushing slightly. "Thanks Matt," she said, mostly to herself.

"Hey, let's go see if we can get rooms for a hotel," Matt said. "And then we can check up on Houndour."

"Works for me," Kari said as they called back their Pokemon and headed towards the nearest hotel.

(A/N: So, the first encounter with Team Galactic. Of course, with playing Platinum I pretty much know all the Pokemon the grunts use, so it's rather easy to pick. Anyway, hope this turned out good and do expect more coming soon.)

FoxMcCloud7921