Just the sight of the island made me want to burst into tears. I was finally done with the water (for now, anyway), and I could continue on with my journey. But where was I supposed to go on this island? That old man had told me that there was a Gym here for me to challenge, but I didn't see it. In fact, the only thing I saw was a Pokémon Center and a house. What kind of island was this, and why did that old guy lie to me?

But then I saw it.

A sign.

Now, I didn't normally waste my time with signs. They were typically boring, and they never really told me anything I'd like to know. But this sign, well, it was pointing in the very direction of the Cianwood Gym.

I hugged the sign, thanking it with my actions for how useful it had proven itself. The Gym, once I was headed towards it, stood out from all the rest of the buildings. It was quaint and plain like everything else I was now noticing, but it was a much larger place than all the other homes and businesses I had seen in Cianwood.

I wasn't scared to go into this place. I really wasn't. It looked like it was safe, and I liked safe. Safe was definitely good. So I walked in. The lights were dim, but I could clearly see someone laying in the middle of the floor, in a puddle. They didn't move in the five minutes I stood there, watching them, so I assumed one of two things: they were either asleep or dead. I screamed at them. I made loud noises. There still wasn't any movement, so my assumption turned to that they were dead and a sense of panic overtook me.

As I stood there, screaming my head off, I really wondered if they were actually dead and I was going to be framed for their death. How would I break that news to my parents? Would I ever get to become Champion if I was blamed for someone's death? Thankfully, my fears were not necessary, as the person, a young man, stirred.
"Who are you?" he groggily asked me, rubbing at his bright purple eyes. "What are you doing in my Gym?" As I thought of an appropriate response, he took his wet shirt off and threw it aside.

"My name is Shaun, and I'm here to challenge the Leader, who I guess you are," I finally said after his display of shirtlessness. "So, can we fight?"

He shook his head in response to my question. "I'm not in the mood for fighting right now, Shaun. All I really want is a nice long nap. But, I'm not allowed to nap. I must stay awake, so I can sleep tonight. But I never get to sleep at night because there's always someone yelling for me to get them something." He took a deep breath. "So, Shaun, could you do me a big favor?"

"I could do anything for you, sir!"

"Actually, it's two things, but I don't think either will be too hard for you." He was right; nothing was too hard for me! "The first is to go up the stairs back there and hit the red button. That will turn on my waterfall, and I'll just meditate under there for awhile. The second is that I need you to go find someone for me."

Neither of those things sounded like it would be that much of a challenge, which I told him. "That's great! The person you'll be looking for should be up on the north end of the island. She can't be missed. She's very noticeable. If she's not up there, she's in the house. Just trust me on that. Now go turn on the water! Thank you for this, Shaun!"

I gallantly ran up the stairs and pushed that button for him. The crashing of the water didn't scare me at all, and his face looked very peaceful when I left the Gym. It struck me as odd that I didn't get his name, but I didn't mind. I could always get that from him when I returned. For now, though, I had a job: find the lady he was talking about.

She wasn't that hard to locate, thankfully. She was right where he said she would be, at the north end of the island, just sitting there, looking out at the water. The closer I got to her, though, the more I realized what he meant by her being "noticeable." This lady was huge. Like, bigger than Chuck. Bigger than my mental image of Whitney. But she was very pretty too, so I tried to stare at her nicely tanned face instead of marveling at her hugeness.

"Hello there, child," she said when I made my presence known (by tripping over a tiny rock). "Are you looking for someone?"

"Yeah. I'm looking for you."

She smiled and stood up, making me feel like I was tiny just because of how big she was. "Oh, you must be the assistant for the day. It's about time that he follows through with a promise..."

"Excuse me, but who is 'he?' Is that the guy at the Gym?"

"Who else would I be talking about? No one ever comes up to this end of the island if they're not from Cianwood, and I've never seen you before in my life. So, putting those facts together, I assume you're a challenger for the Gym."

I nodded. "That I am, miss. Now, I was just told to find you, nothing else. What did he mean by that? Am I supposed to go back and tell him I found you, or am I supposed to stay here and help you or what?" I tilted my head slightly to the right, waiting for my response.

"Figures that lazy bum wouldn't give you complete directions. Hon, he was supposed to send his next challenger to help me, as he's too busy trying to fight off sleep with that darn waterfall of his. I'm sorry if you thought getting to fight my dearest would be easy, but it isn't." She grabbed my hand and dragged me with her to the little house that was up there with us. The closer we got to the place, I started hearing crying, which just got louder every step. "You probably weren't expecting to have to babysit, but that's my job for you."

And that was when she opened that door, just for three little kids to run out and attach themselves to us. "Hi there big person!" the blond girl who was clinging to my leg said, looking up at me with her bright purple eyes. "I'm Allison."

"Allie, get off of him," the lady said, at which the little girl nuzzled her face into my leg. "Or not. Whatever. Do what you want, I guess. This guy here is going to help Mommy watch you guys for the next few hours while Daddy is a lazy bum and chooses sleep over his family."

The little girl, still nuzzling into my leg, began to cry loudly. This being the first experience I had ever had with a child as young as her, I just started stroking her hair. While it looked like it would have been soft and fine, it really wasn't: I chalked it up to islanders having rough hair and went on with my job. Except, you know, my job was a lot harder than just this one little girl.

Why?

Because there were actually seven of these kids.

Bright and early the next morning, I stormed into the Gym, ran up the stairs to the button, which I hit, turning the water off. Then I ran back down the stairs and attempted to punch the guy in the face. He skilfully blocked my attack, but did not retaliate. "How are you, kid?" he asked me, laughing as I glared at him.

"How am I? How am I? Where were you?"

"I was here, like I am every night. Why? Did something happen?"

I puffed my cheeks out in anger while I came up with the perfect response to that. When the words were all straight in my head, I let loose: "You made me stay with your psychotic woman and seven annoying children." He just looked at me for a second, before my words sunk in. He tried to respond, but I wouldn't hear of it. "Those brats kept pulling on my hair and getting stuff all over my clothes and they even harassed my Pokémon! How dare you make me stay there with them!"

"I-I'm sorry, but what? You actually stayed? But you don't look tired!"

"Tired? Listen, I am beyond tired. Every time I would finally lay down to get sleep, one of those kids would start crying, and then they all would be screaming at me to get them something or this or that or anything! And your wife wouldn't dare help me, oh no," I huffed a little, before continuing with. "What in Ho-Oh's name inspired you two to have that many children?"

Once again, he stared at me for a second before responding. "I don't know. There's not much else to do here, I guess."

"You run a Gym! You could spend all your time training, not making love to your wife!" I really was furious. I felt like I had been used for his personal gain, but then he collapsed right in front of me. I dropped to my knees and shook his limp body for a few minutes, before deciding that he had caused enough trouble in my life and that I was just going to leave. Forget about being Champion. This man had just crushed my dreams.

But by the time I had gotten outside and was walking toward the beach to leave, I realized just how stupid that idea was. So what if he had used me? There was obviously something wrong with him, and he just wanted all the help he could get. I mean, seven kids? That's a lot for someone with a job like his to handle. And what had I done? I had made him lose his calm spot (his waterfall) and now he was dead to the world on the floor of the Gym. Figuring that there was not much else I could do except go back and help him, I did just that.

When I got to his side, though, he was just laying there, with his glassy purple eyes staring out into the room. "I'm so sorry that I made you deal with her," he whispered. "No person, other than me, should have to handle her. She is my responsibility, not yours..."

"But you stay in here all the time! If she's your responsibility, you should just give up your job as Leader and go help her raise all those kids!"

"I would if I could, but there's no one else in Johto who would take my position. Living out here in Cianwood, there really isn't much else to do other than lay around." He sighed. "I don't know how to tell you this, but all of the other Leaders have been taught to hate us. Hate this place. Hate everything that we stand for here."

I stuck my hand out and he grabbed it, pulling himself up. It was at this time that I noticed that his shirtless torso was covered in bruises and scars, from what I wasn't sure. "I don't hate it here, just so you know, mister."

"Yeah, well, try living here for a while."

My eyes widened, but I shook my head furiously. "No, no thanks. I would cry if I ever had to see any of those children again."

"I do cry every time I see them. They're a curse. Everything about them is a 'take that' to me and my wife, who are both native to this island and were raised on the legend that people from Cianwood tend to have no problem creating life. Yet she doesn't seem to mind that our family makes up half the island's population." I raised an eyebrow, but I didn't question him. "So, kid, are you interested in a battle to make up for everything?"

I nodded. "But not until I know what your name is, sir." I had an inkling as to what it was, but I needed to hear him say it.

"My name is Morty, the Cianwood Gym Leader. I challenge you to a battle, if you don't mind."

As I grabbed one of my Pokéballs, I smiled. I didn't mind.

A/N: Three things about this chapter:

1. I really enjoy writing Morty as a straight man.

2. I love the idea that Cianwood people have nothing more to do with their lives than reproduce.

3. I italics-spammed a lot.

What did you think of the chapter? I'm not scared to see your thoughts! :) Also, the "old man" at the beginning will be addressed in the next edition of the Metamorphosis!

I do not own Pokémon.

Signel