I'm back my peeps! Sorry for the delay in updating, this little thing called life got in the way. :(

I'm not joking. To summarize, since my last update I have had to deal with the musical, writer's block, a veritable army of illness, and then if that wasn't enough my mom told me I wasn't allowed to write fanfiction until my AP exams were over - something about her worrying that I wouldn't study enough or something like that, and of course the writer's block cleared up the second day of my little moratorium on fanfiction - and then I kid you not, if that wasn't enough, I had to break my pinky.

Now I'm sure you're all wondering, Rebel, what on earth does breaking a tiny little pinky have to do with you not being able to type fanfiction? You hardly even need the finger. Oh, don't get me started. First off, it's a bad break. As in, there were two separate bone halves breaks. And it was crooked - see, I was in gym when I broke it, so I was playing the goalie position for Team Handball (it's like Ultimate Frisbee) and the ball bent my pinky backwards and sideways simultaneously, so it just clean broke. Let the record stand that I did not cry when it happened. I swore, a lot, and apologized for all of them. It hurt, okay, like, really, really, really, almost hysterically laughing because it hurt so much but at the same time it was so revoltingly funny. Like I looked down and half of me was like. Huh, I guess that just happened, and the other half was like Oh bleepity bleepity bleep bleep bleep. I don't normally use language like that, but my mom said that given the extenuating circumstances, it was okay.

Fun fact, that whole thing about not feeling it right away - it's true. It didn't hurt for a whole thirty seconds. But then it hurt so much I got nauseous. That wasn't fun.

But anyway, it's a bad break - the break is on the first section of the pinky, and it goes pretty much diagonally almost completely across it. I ended up having surgery - two screws, I can set off metal detectors now! - and my entire right hand (and dominant hand) was then put in a cast.

So yeah, typing one handed with your nondominant hand is hard. And thus that is the totally epic and absolutely way to long story of where I've been these past few months!

If that was too long for you folks in the back, suffice it to say my dominant hand was in a cast due to a broken finger. Pinky fingers are more trouble then they're worth.

But on to more interesting things.

the hidden bird: Ask and ye shall receive!

Lynxgoddess: Thank you for the condolences; I'm doing a lot better now. I'm glad you liked the chapter, and I hope you like this one as well.

Disclaimer: I own nothing official!


"Man, and I thought that Littleroot Town was tiny." Sapphire muttered to herself as she swung her legs over the side of the boat and onto the tiny wooden dock. Dewford town was downright dinky in comparison. There wasn't a Pokemart in sight, to start off, although there was a Pokemon Center in the middle of town. A huge building that had to be the gym was down closer to the beach and a short walk away from rocky cliffs. There were a few small houses, and a large structure that seemed to be some sort of public hall. As Sapphire didn't want to socialize with people, she chose to ignore them. Instead, she made a beeline for the gym.

To her surprise, an actual gym greeted her when she opened the doors. Various fitness equipment was spread out along the walls, with a huge battlefield in the center. A man with blue hair was lifting weights with a Machop, though he quickly set them aside when he noticed that he had a visitor.

"How's it going?" He asked, walking over to shake Sapphire's hand. "The name's Brawly, the leader of the Dewford Gym."

"I'm known as Alpha." Sapphire replied cooly. "I came to see if I could battle you."

"Alpha, huh?" Brawly looked at her for a moment before a look of understanding dawned on his face. "Oh, I get it. You're that girl Roxanne was telling me about. She said you ripped through her team like it was nothing."

"I wouldn't go that far…" Alpha muttered, mentally panicking. If Roxanne was telling the other gym leaders about her, then there was a very good chance that her father knew what she was doing. Not that she expected him to care, although in all honesty the last thing she wanted was to get a severe lecture from her father.

Actually, if she got caught by her father, getting a lecture would be the least of her worries.

"Well, I suppose we'll just see whether or not you live up to that reputation." Brawly said with a good natured smile. "You ready right now, or do you want to hold off for a bit?"

"Let's go for it." Alpha scowled, hand resting on Wind's Pokeball. The little bird wanted a chance to redeem himself, and Sapphire saw no reason to not give him a chance.

"Sounds good to me. Machop, let's go!" With that, the gym leader's first Pokemon dropped the weights he was holding and ran over to stand on the battlefield. Fortunately Sapphire was familiar with this one - some of the Kanto trainers would bring Machops into the city every once in a great while, and she had been able to watch some battles the species was in before.

"Come on out, Wind." Wind cawed as he was released, flapping his wings and soaring high into the air before suddenly dive bombing his opponent as his trainer called for a Wing Attack. Machop quickly dodged it, proving that it was a rather fast opponent.

"If you think that using a Pokemon with a type advantage on my team is going to work, then you're not going to get very far in this battle." Brawly said with a somewhat smug tone of voice. "Machop, use Bulk Up followed by Leer."

"Go on the attack, Wind!" Alpha commanded in response. "Use Peck!"

Wind let a smirk cross his beak before diving down towards Machop, who had flexed his muscles a few times before pinning Wind with a ferocious glare. Wind flinched a bit at the intensity of the facial expression, but nonetheless swooped in, preparing to attack. Brawly smirked.

"Catch it and use Seismic Toss!"

Nimbly Machop dodged the blow, revealing an impressive speed that was rather rare in that Pokemon's particular species. Taillow's attack missed, and then Machop laid a hold of the bird, gripping the Flying type in such a way as to ensure that Wind would not be able to land any successful attack or break free. With a powerful jump Machop soared high into the air. The pair spiraled back down towards the battlefield, on a collision course with the hard-packed earth.

At the last possible moment, Machop hurled Wind into the ground. The Taillow hit it hard, while Machop landed safely.

"Just because you have the type advantage doesn't mean anything." Brawly said confidently as Wind got up, shaking dirt of off his feathers. "Not only are my Fighting type Pokemon strong, they're just as fast as any Flying type."

"Yeah? So what?" Alpha wondered, a bit snarkily. "I know abusing type advantages won't enable me to win every match. Just because I'm young doesn't mean that I am dumb."

"I wasn't saying that." Brawly pointed out.

"I know." Alpha grinned. "Just like I know that I'm going to win this match. Wind, hit Machop with a Wing Attack."

"Machop, dodge it!" Unlike the first time that Wind tried to attack, this time the blue bird managed to hit Machop. Despite the Pokemon's increased defenses, Machop still took a sizeable amount of damage. Type matchups may not guarantee a battle's outcome, but they certainly did help make one possible ending more likely than the other.

Machop wisely retreated and began to use Bulk Up again. Alpha didn't like the prospect of Brawly continuing to power up his Pokemon, and asked Wind to keep on attacking. Wind did so, alternating between using Peck and Wing Attack, while Machop dodged them all, throwing in a bit of Leer attacks here and there as well.

Finally, Wind flew too close to Machop, cawing a bit in anger as Machop hit it with a Karate Chop. But it was here that Machop's downfall came about. Since he had elected to let Wind get close enough to attack him, Wind was therefore close enough to attack Machop as well.

"Use Wing Attack again, Wind!" Wind cawed and slammed into Machop with his now glowing wings. Somehow the Pokemon was still standing, but a quick Tackle attack was enough to send him toppling down to the ground.

"Bummer." Brawly said as he ran a hand through his hair, recalling Machop. "Ah well, you did your best, Machop, and that's the most important thing."

Alpha called Wind back to her side as well, holding out her arm for her Pokemon to land on.

"Nice work." She praised him. "How're you doing? Are you up for more, or do you want me to have one of the twins to take over for now?"

Wind gave her a look that seemed to ask if the girl was kidding, before flying back out onto the field. Alpha nodded, before looking back up at Brawly.

"Alright then." She said. "Just don't push yourself too much."

"You may have gotten us once, but you won't get us again." Brawly declared, before tossing another Pokeball into the air. "Makuhita, let's go!"

Makuhita was a tan Fighting type Pokemon, looking a bit like a little sumo wrestler.

"I'm sticking with Wind for now." Alpha informed Brawly when the bluenette asked if she wanted to make a switch. "He wants to battle, and I do not wish to deny him any chances he wishes to have."

"Okay then." Brawly said with a shrug. "I can respect that. But I don't think he's going to last long. Makuhita, use Arm Thrust!"


And so it begins. For those of you who are wondering about when part 2 will arrive, fear not. It's already half typed, and it should be up by Monday. (thank goodness for four-day weekends.)

And now I have a question for you. Since I'm hoping to novelize almost all of the Pokémon games eventually, I'm opening a poll on my profile. Here, you'll be given a choice for which region and/or game series you wish to see novelized next. For example, if you want to see one of the Kanto games novelized, vote for the Kanto region. If you want to see one of the Pokémon Ranger games novelized, vote for Pokémon Ranger. This poll will be open until this story is about halfway done, so somewhere around the fourth or fifth gym. You have two votes, so don't worry about agonizing over having to chose between your two favorite series. Once this poll is closed, a more specific one will be opened asking which game from the winning region/series you want to see novelized, and it will be closed at the conclusion of this fanfic.

So, in other news, please leave any comments, questions, concerns, or constructive criticisms in a review. Brawly's Makuhita will use Sand Attack to put out any flames.