"So you're sure about this?" Elder Lee asked me back.

"Yeah. I know that's kinda… random, but it's what I want to do." I replied. I finally got the nerve on asking.

"Well, it must have reason behind it. What about your brother?"

"…I'm not too sure, but I'll figure something out." Too bad I didn't have the slightest clue. I didn't know any other alternatives for Harry.

"You know, you've done a lot for the last few months. In fact, I've never seen anyone that young be so motivated. Please leave Harry in our care. Don't worry about us here."

Somehow that solved my dilemma. I was scared that this would all be for nothing, if Harry didn't have a place to go.

"Thanks Elder. I appreciate this. Thanks for taking care of us always." And it was the truth. Without the Sages at Sprout Tower, I'm not sure how long we would have lasted out there.

I walked out after excusing myself. I already had my application all set up and ready to go. I just had to tell everyone at the Tower. I hope they would take it alright.

I found Chris and Jumbo first, sweeping the floor of the second floor. These two would always be goofing off while I actually did the cleaning… Oh well. They were the first to hear my news. Jumbo was actually three years older than me, but he was the tiniest guy there. Chris was a year younger, but had been working here since he was round four years old, I think he told me. It was Chris who noticed me first.

"Hey, Arick! Wanna help us doing these chores? Jumbo isn't being much of a help here!" he said, jabbing at the smaller kid. I couldn't believe that Jumbo was three year older than me…

I was going to break the news, but I decided to help out one last time. Who know how much free time I'll have to go see them after I secure the job?

So I helped scrub the whole second floor spotless. I more or less got the other two guys to pick up the pace, not slack off, you know, the usual with them. After we were done (and after we rested), I decided to tell them of my new job.

"What?" Jumbo said sporadically. I couldn't blame him.

"But, you just got here a few months ago! Where's Harry going to stay?" Chris said, worried. I couldn't blame him either.

I told them about the deal I got with the Elder. They seemed upset with the news, but they wished me luck. Jumbo asked how long I was going to be gone for, and I told him I wasn't sure. The both decided to say their good-byes, and told me to hang in there. I was going to miss everyone's support.

And that's how I moved along each floor. Helping out the Sages, and giving my good-byes. A few of the even started to cry. I guess I ended up creating a lot of connections during the months here than I thought. I even said goodbye to some of the Bellsprout in the Tower. On the last floor, I was greeted with Harry. He came up to me as soon as I opened the door.

"Is it true, Arick? I get my own room?" Harry asked, beaming.

That's not it at all. He must have completely heard it wrong from someone.

"Harry… Who told you that? Yeah, you are getting your own room, but…" I dragged off at the end of my sentence. I guess it wasn't so far off. Harry would be getting his own room, after all. I sighed, and then went to pat his head. "Yeah, you are Harry. But it's because I'm going to be leaving the Tower to get another job."

"Victor told me. He said you want to become a Policeman now? That's so cool. Can I visit the station from time to time?" He asked me. He was so energetic. He became a high speed train. And now I had to step on the sudden brakes of the reality. Of course, I hadn't talked to Victor yet, so he'd come after Harry.

"… I'm not going to be stationed in Violet City, Harry. I'm going to Goldenrod. They pay a lot more than here, because there have been some problems there as of late." I told him. I clenched my eyes to hear his reaction.

"Oh. Okay Arick. Do your best!" he said. I opened my eyes to look at him.

"You're not upset about me leaving to go another place by myself?" I asked. I was surprised. I thought he'd be either wanting me to take him with me, or not going altogether.

"I'm not lonely here, you know. Everyone else will keep me company. And I still have the Elder to help run errands. It'll be okay, Arick! I'll be okay. I know how hard you've been working for my sake, so I'm completely behind you on your decision!" he spoke. I think he wanted to say something else, but I got to him before he could let it out.

I hugged him close. He was the best brother. Even if Theo went around and became a totally new, honest, kind person, I'd pick Harry over him every time.

I went to talk to Victor after. He was the only one I hadn't talked to yet. His room was right next to mine and Harry's. I knocked on the door. After I'd talk to him, I'd pack my things to get ready to leave. I sighed thinking how much stuff I should bring. Harry and I shared a lot of things, so I needed to know what would be best to leave with him.

"Yo, Arick. What's up?" I heard Victor's voice ask. I didn't even hear his door open.

"I wanted to talk…" I replied, slowly.

There was silence.

"How long do you think you'll stay there?" He asked. I thought about it for a while before responding.

"Well, It's not like I'm leaving you guys forever, you know. I just have something in mind to do. Something that I'll need this job for." I replied. Victor gave me an unconvinced look.

"That's not what I asked. How long do you think you're leaving Harry and us behind for?" he said, coldly. Was he upset that I was going?

"I don't know, Vic. My goal won't come to me on a silver platter, obviously. Goldenrod's got my biggest possibility though. So I have to do this. Harry and everyone else are supporting me." I said. The last part hurt him, I think.

"Well, fine. I mean, if you have to go, then go. But if you end up forgetting about us, I'll personally go over there and shave your head when it grows back. And I'll get rid of Harry's right after." He paused. I cringed. "So don't just forget about us, alright?" He softened up.

I looked at him.

"I won't"

And then I left the next day to the Violet City Police Department, and promptly filled the Transfer form to Goldenrod City. I met and was assigned to Douglass the Growlithe soon therefore after.

Everything was coming together. I just had to keep going towards my goal without forgetting about the guys at Sprout Tower and Harry.

But I wasn't going to lose sight of my goal to arrest Dad, either.

I was woken up by Adonis' Karate Chop again the morning.

"I'm up! I'm up Adonis!" And then woke everyone else up with my yelling. Arick lazily got up too. His Growlithe, Douglass, got up faster. Mars was already awake and got up now, but it looked like Ivan was still blowing bubbles in his sleep.

"What was that…?" Arick asked, still rubbing his eyes. I almost forgot that he was here when I was woken up.

"Adonis likes to wake me up early like that to uh… have some, uh, early morning wrestling!" There we go. Perfect response. Adonis gave me weird look before happily walking to wake up Ivan, who was up right after a light Karate Chop.

"Oh, that's cool. I'll just get my stuff ready while you guys do that." He responded before going to pick up his sleeping bag. I gave the excuse that we were going to wrestle so I didn't look like a lazy training Blackbelt. I didn't know much about martial arts or anything, so this wrestling that we've been doing for almost a month now was a pretty good alternative. I was catching up to Adonis by now, just a smidge short of winning if it wasn't him tripping me with a Low Kick.

We both came back sweaty and out of breath to find Arick already packed and ready to go.

Oh that's right; I forgot to mention that I had a traveling partner. His name was Arick, and he was the Officer that was harassing me for my full stay at Goldenrod. Well, former Officer. In the end he ended up getting me mixed up with some other delinquents in the city and he ended up losing his job when he missed his patrolling.

He used to live in Violet City from what he told me, so we're traveling together there. Walking along Route 36 was a lot easier than traveling though Route 37. There were less trees, and more solid paths.

There was quite the increase in Trainers around though. And what made it worse was the fact that I had to give away half of my money that I earned to Arick! It wasn't fair.

…

Alright, it was, considering that I became the reason I made him lose his job, but whatever.

What did bother me slightly was the fact that officers came to Goldenrod a good week after I left the city. I left because I was motivated to get more League Badges. It was because I wanted to stop being a wimp. But what if I stayed in Goldenrod for another week? Maybe the police would help me with my harassment? If I had done that, would I have never bother to travel and meet Ivan or Adonis?

I rolled my eyes thinking that. Each path I could have taken had value, but each one would lead me to something completely different. I stopped thinking though. I was enjoying traveling as a Trainer. I had a goal too.

"Hey Sebastian, you had something else to do in Violet, right?" I heard him ask while we kept walking. I looked at a sudden noise, but Mars was just pummeling a random group of Ratatta. I saw Douglass, Arick's Growlithe, getting into the fray too. I guessed with the proper support, Douglass wasn't as weak like Arick made him out to be.

"Yeah, sis wants me to help one of her acquaintances get something for her Pokémon." I replied. It was something about Julie's Marill. I didn't get many details, just an address.

"You have two Fighting types… aren't you at a disadvantage against Falkner? I never faced the Gym before, but I know plenty of people who have." He explained.

"I have Ivan to back me up. Though Adonis and Mars could take on Pidgeotto, if they tried hard enough I bet." I replied.

And we kept walking, discussing, getting to know more about each other. I mean, we were traveling companions now, so it would help avoiding those awkward conversations. I found out that Arick's going to Violet City to visit his brother, and some friends.

"Oh, how old is he? Your brother, I mean." I asked him. Well, he knew about Isidora already, but I couldn't say the same for his siblings. He looked out to the distance before responding.

"Well, he's eight. He's living with some of my friends right now. But I kinda have to make sure I pay some rent and some more money for him to buy things. I'm sort of that parent that doesn't get to see his child much." He glanced along the route, avoiding contact with some roots that we were walking on. I stumbled a lot, actually. I don't pay much attention to the ground. I came back to ask a follow up.

"Wait, you guys don't have parents? All by yourself?" I couldn't imagine that. It's always been Mom, Dad, and Isidora in our family. Apparently I gave Arick a tough question to answer. His body tensed up.

"My dad and older brother live in Viridian, and… I took Harry, my younger brother, to Violet City to get away… and…" He gave a face saying 'don't pry any deeper', so I stopped asking about his family status. But I did ask myself what about his mom, or why he left his family behind. He just left the sentence hanging, but I wasn't going to try to get him to finish it.

We stayed pretty silent after that.

It was around an hour now to Violet City, but I ended up getting challenged to more battles to lag us down. My first battle out on the road ever was against a kid that thought about heading east from Violet City after beating Falkner. The Trainers in this route I faced were just like that kid. They weren't weak, or they wouldn't have won a badge, but I realized that I had enough power to beat the fourth Gym Leader in the circuit. So honestly, it wasn't tough defeating the newer trainers.

What was tough, however, was having to give Arick half my pay. When he held out his hand to get his share, I wanted to just slap it out of the way. But reluctantly, I handed it over. It was our agreement, after all. I did make sure to make it up by having more battles, though. On the bright side, my guilt went down considerably after each payment.

Soon enough, it would come to a person challenging Arick to a battle. And Arick tried talking the Trainer out of it, using 'I'm not a Trainer', but Trainer wouldn't have any of it. Arick glanced at me for help, but I decided to just casually back away, giving the two-opponents-to-be the proper space.

"Sorry, but I'd like to see it too, Arick. Haven't seen you battle once yet." I snickered. The other Trainer quickly ran to send out their Pokémon; an Ekans. Arick gave me a nasty look before walking, calling Douglass over, and taking the field. The Growlithe ran up to us, and looked at the Trainer and the snake Pokémon. Both Pokémon glared, trying to intimidate the other. I got Mars, Adonis, and Ivan to stop beating on the wild Pokémon to come watch with me. Ivan climbed onto my arms, while Adonis sat down. Eventually, Mars and I took his lead to find ourselves sitting comfortably on the path.

"Ekans, use Wrap!" the other Trainer called. It quickly slithered towards Douglass, and began its coil. Douglass tried to escape, but the Ekans was too fast and flexible to break off. I saw Arick beginning to panic.

"Doug… Douglass! Use Ember!" he commanded. It was a desperate attempt to break free. But it was effective. As the Fire Pokémon shot out small embers at the snake, it suddenly hissed and struggled to untangle itself from Arick's Pokémon. Arick soon began to grin seeing the Ekans slip away.

"Good job, Douglass!" Arick shouted, excitedly. I could tell he didn't get into battles much, but he was obviously enjoying the sensation of getting past an attack. I saw Douglass smiling from the praise and barking happily. Even wagged his tail some.

That changed when he was hit by a Gunk Shot from the Ekans. It was a fatal shot, and Douglass soon went down. Arick's face cracked, while the other Trainer was picking up his Ekans and swinging it out of joy.

What hurt me the most was seeing Arick give half of his cash away. My hard earned money. Arick returned Douglass and looked at me. I was surprised. Gunk Shot, though? It was one of the strongest Poison type attacks. How did an Ekans from around here know something like that? I was curious enough to ask.

"Hey, Sebastian, don't you ever let me battle aga-"

"Hey, kid. How does your Ekans know Gunk Shot?" I pressed on. I cut Arick off, but I wanted to know this. I mean, if there were strong Pokémon like that, I should get one too, right?

"Huh? Oh, I just got him yesterday from a small breeder center. And he didn't even cost as much as the other places I've gone too! It's been selling Pokémon really low prices because their low on money. I think you might still get them on the sale though." He looked at Arick, who was still pouting over his loss. "And it's okay that you're weak. I'm just too good." He beamed.

So I did the only reasonable thing, challenged him to a battle with Mars, and beat the arrogance out of the young Trainer. And I gave Arick exactly the amount that he lost.

"H-Hey, that wasn't fair!" the other Trainer tried rambling. I sort of lost it at this point. This Trainer was just like the rest I fought here. I had to say this at one point. These Trainers chose going west, when they could have gone through the circuit properly.

"You should probably head towards Azalea or something. It just gets tougher from here." I replied, getting my things ready to leave with Arick, who was waiting. He had Douglass' Pokéball out while he fidgeted around. I guess I would be too if I didn't have any Pokémon ready to battle.

I felt hypocritical when I recollected my thoughts about the whole thing of the "correct" circuit. But I couldn't turn back time now, could I?

"Well, I don't know why you're heading over there. The police are telling newer Trainers to go west instead of south. I'd love to go face Bugsy. And catch an Onix or something. And if it wasn't for the poachers near Union Cave, I would." He explained, shrugging his shoulders.

I looked at Arick, who looked intrigued by the statement. Then we went on our ways to the gates of Violet City.

Poachers, huh? I guess that explained that.

We arrived at Violet City later that day.

Arick showed me the way to the Pokémon Center, and gave me the directions to Sprout Tower where he was staying. And then tossed Douglass' Pokéball at me to give Nurse Joy. I just looked at him, tilting my head sideways.

"Are you really in that much of a hurry?" It seemed he was more in a hurry to get away from the Pokémon Center than go home.

"S-Something like that." He said. He was pretty nervous, but ran off before I could say anything else. I sighed. Then I walked in to be greeted by Nurse Joy.

I sat down to call Isidora and my parents through Pokégear at the Pokémon Center. It'd be best to tell them that we got here safe, right? I stopped to think, though.

I should find Julie first. I had the address and everything. I'd rather call them when I at least reached Julie's house. I wondered what she would be like, or what exactly am I supposed to help her with. Isidora's never had an errand for me to do that so… not specific. Help her. With what, exactly? I sighed, and decided to wait to get the Pokémon healed.

Sitting by the tables at the Pokémon Center, there were some Trainers gossiping. They were relatively newer Trainers, I noticed. Then I mentally slapped myself.

"I only have two Badges. I'm not an experienced veteran, who am I kidding?" I sighed and decided to listen in. Just like in Ecruteak City's Pokémon Center. The group seemed to be fighting among themselves over something. It was four boys and a girl.

"Look, I want to go to Union Cave! I want to catch an Onix or a Geodude for Bugsy and Whitney!" One boy shouted another.

"No, you look. I'm not getting my brother and sister involved here. There's just no way that I'm going to expose them to danger like that." Another boy said, behind him a shorter boy and girl, who I assumed to be his younger siblings.

"You scared of poachers? Really? All of us have a Badge and Pokémon! I bet if we all went together, we could beat them easily." The first boy said.

"In case you haven't heard, they found corpses on Route 32. Wild Pokémon corpses. I don't think we could really go there without being traumatized for life." Another boy said. I heard the younger boy and girl whimper. I looked over and the other boy visually defeated.

And I would too. I mean, I heard about poaching out in the area from Goldenrod. Yeah, that's what the gang there was after; the Pokémon from the Global Terminal. It was to sell them to group of poachers out nearby.

Now, I'm not going to lie. I have seen a dead Pokémon before.

It was a Goldeen.

It was out on Route 35, just on my way to National Park one morning. It was just out on the road. I wasn't traumatized. I actually felt a connection with the dead fish. Yeah, it was a bad time. I was heading back home from a beating at National Park. Mars had already fainted and in his Pokéball, so I was walking alone when I spotted the dead Goldeen. I stared at it for a good half hour before deciding to pick it up and gently placing near a tree.

I dug a grave with a few sticks that were nearby on the ground. And I buried it. I remember I stayed by that grave for a good hour before getting back up to take Mars to the Pokémon Center. It was… me. Or a failed version of me. I could get through the downs of life, while this Goldeen couldn't. So I felt like I had to do the favor and make sure it got a proper burial. Well, as "proper" as a ten year old could.

I snapped back to reality when the Trainers began talking again.

"Look, we could get an experienced Trainer or something…" The boy tried suggesting. The rest of the group sighed.

"We're not going to Union Cave. If you want to go by yourself, then go, but don't get all of us caught in up in it!" the boy with the younger siblings yelled. The other boy swung at him.

And then the two boys began physically fighting in the middle of the Pokémon Center lunge. The two younger kids were crying, while the other boy tried calming the two down. I expected Nurse Joy to come rushing and making the fighting boys leave the Center, but I was wrong.

The front door of the Center opened and in came a blond girl. She was limping. She looked bruised, bloody, and very weak.

The boys stopped when she had collapsed two steps after entering. And like a bullet, Nurse Joy ran to the rescue, getting a Chansey to get her a gurney. I got up, and ran towards the site, along with the rest of the Trainers in the Center. After all, we never normally see a Trainer being this hurt here.

Everyone in the Center formed a circle around Nurse Joy, the girl, and the Chansey that retuned and helped Nurse Joy load the girl to the gurney. She looked around quickly.

"Please forgive us, but your Pokémon might take a little longer to heal!" she shouted, leaving to push the gurney to the back of the Center soon after with her Chansey. I looked at the girl one more time as she was being carried away. She had pretty messed up short, blond hair, though it was much darker than Arick's. Her clothes had some blood on them, with her right arm black and blue. I could see that she was assaulted and beaten. The first thought that came to my head was "poachers". And I wasn't the only one.

I turned to see the two boys that were fighting earlier staring at each other.

"I don't think I'll be heading to Union Cave now."

I found Arick later on by the Sprout Tower ponds a good hour after I left the Center. Nurse Joy finally came out of the room, and ready to finish treating the Pokémon. I wondered what had happened to the girl, but no one was in the place to ask.

Arick was with somebody else, someone who was way shorter than him, but had the same blond hair that he had, just longer. Arick noticed me, and ran up.

"Is it true? A girl at the Pokémon Center was attacked by poachers?" he asked, fretting. The younger kid, stared at me, but didn't say anything.

"I-I don't know. She just walked into the Pokémon Center, and she fell down unconscious a few steps in. Nurse Joy went to treat her. No one knows any more than us who saw her." I said. The episode was spreading around, it seemed. I remembered and took out Douglass' Pokéball from my pocket. I handed it over to Arick, who looked pleased.

"Thanks. I didn't want to go in there, since that Nurse Joy's given us problems before." He said, looking at the younger boy with us. Arick continued, "Oh, right. This is Harry, my little brother. Harry, this is Sebastian, the Trainer I'm traveling with." His eyes widened up.

"Ni-Nice to meet you! I always wanted to meet a Pokémon Trainer!" he said, excitedly.

"Uh, likewise?" I said, awkwardly. Arick coughed, and butted in.

"So, I guess it was just a rumor that she was attacked by poachers. You heard about them, right?" Arick asked me.

"Only about how they've been seen nearby Union Cave. And how people found corpses by Route 32." I responded.

"The police force is also advising Trainers to head west from here rather than to go south."

"Just like that the kid we faced earlier today said." I recalled.

"This is a problem, honestly." Arick said. Harry looked ignored, and faced me.

"How many Badges do you have, Trainer? Have you gotten Falkner's yet? What Pokémon do you have? What moves do they know!" he asked me. He had quite the energy. Unlike Arick.

"Uh, I have two, but I was going to challenge Falkner later. As for my Pokémon…" I took out my two Pokéballs and my Lure Ball, and sent out my squad. Three fully healed Pokémon were sent out, and stared at us. "These are Mars, Adonis, and Ivan." I said, pointing my Hitmonchan, Machop, and Poliwag accordingly.

"He's Training to be a Blackbelt, Harry." Arick informed him.

"That's so cool! Arick, when can I become a Trainer?" Harry asked. Arick looked strained.

"Um, you sure you want to become a Trainer? It's dangerous, you know." He said, looking at me, sweat dropping.

"You can be a Trainer when you have good experience with Pokémon. Have you ever handled any?" I asked. It really wasn't my place to ask.

"I've played around with some Bellsprout at the Tower, but… I've never battled with them." He said, embarrassed. I smiled.

"Well, try borrowing one to battle with. If you like it, then keep trying to train it. If you don't, but you still really like Pokémon, there are other things you can do that involve working together with them." I explained. It was nice. I was giving advice to a younger kid. I would definitely write that in my journal when I got the chance.

"Oh… Okay! I'll do that!" he beamed. Arick cracked a smile. I guess even if he was against it, seeing his brother excited made him happy.

"You run your errand yet, Sebastian?" Arick asked me.

"Oh, I forgot about that." I replied. Honestly, I went to the Tower first to see Arick and tell him about the girl in the Pokémon Center.

"Should we head over there now? Harry wanted to tag along before; he wanted to meet the Trainer I was traveling with." Arick said, Harry nodding. I sighed, smiling. The praise that younger kids gave can change the way you normally answer things.

I took out my Pokégear and found the address Isidora sent me.

The address in mind was a breeding center. It was considerably smaller than a Pokémon Center on the outside, but it was still moderately big. Mars was beside me, demonstrating punches to Harry while Arick walked behind us. I knocked on the door, and we were greeted by a middle aged man.

"Oh, you here for the sale? We've still got a few Pokémon left." He told us.

"Um, does… Julie live here?" I asked, awkwardly. The man nodded, called Julie down.

And out came Julie. My sister wants me to help her. Which was very vague.

"Um, hello? You asked for me?" She asked, slightly excited. She nodded to her what I assumed to be dad, and he left without a word.

"You need help with something?"

I slapped myself mentally. That was even vaguer than what my sister asked me to do. Still her eyes widened up.

"You're the one who sent that postcard then! This is great, please come in!" she announced, leading us in. Arick and Harry looked confused as I was. Mars looked up me, and gave a nervous grin, meaning "No, I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing".

Julie showed us to a table. When we all sat down, I looked around.

It was really empty for a breeding center. It was almost disheartening. It was bare and only two tables here. I could some places that looked like they used to have rug and couches but…

Then I looked a Julie, who was getting us drinks. She asked what I wanted, and while Arick and Harry said they were fine with water, I forgot I wasn't at home and asked for lemonade for me and Mars. I saw Arick and Harry sweat drop. Julie left to get the drinks, and Arick kicked me.

"Didn't anyone teach you? You always either ask what they have, or just order water. You don't make your own request at a place you don't even know!" he scolded me quietly. I think I turned red for second.

"S-Sorry. I don't usually visit other people."

"Here you go!" Julie said, coming back with two lemonades, and two waters. She turned around to take a seat next to Harry.

We said our thanks, and that's when I noticed it. She was holding a Marill the entire time, but no one noticed until it laid down on the table. Julie picked it up and set it her lap.

"The letter I got mentioned that someone was going to come to us and help us out. I guess you didn't send the card, since you didn't ask about Mari." She said, looking down at her Marill.

I nodded slowly.

"Well, let me give you the background. Mari's extremities are paralyzed. So is her tail. And we've been trying to cover for her treatments at rehabilitation, but they're really costly. Everyone in the family's been working a good three jobs to make sure we have enough money to eat, and help pay for Mari."

She paused. She looked really sad. She had green eyes, and a peculiar dark hair that looked almost purple in two long ponytails. I heard Harry ask what extremities are, and Arick replying that they were legs and arms. Julie continued.

"Well, apparently, there's an old tomb in the Ruins of Alph that has treasure in it. It's worth a lot, I've heard. So much that it would easily pay for Mari's treatments over the next couple of months." She further explained. I remained quiet.

"I know that you didn't write the letter, but… you're a Trainer right? Please help us. My whole family's desperate! This breeding center was the family business. But… but… we're making money now by selling it and the Pokémon for less." She started. She was getting desperate just talking. I had no idea that this is the help that Isidora wanted me to do.

But I felt compelled to. I stood up.

"Alright, I'll help out. When do we go?" I asked, grinning. And she soared up from her seat, Mari in arms, in disbelief. She had the look of determination take shape in her eyes.

"When you can prove to me that you're an able battle, of course." She said. Arick and Harry's mouths dropped, and Mars looked confused.

"… Huh?"

"Do you have the Zephyr Badge?" she asked me. And honestly, I was scared to say I didn't.

"Um, no, not yet. B-But I have the Plain and Fog Badges!" I said, fidgeting. I mean, since I didn't, would she just call everything off? I tried going to my bag to show her my other Badges, but she responded while I was in the middle. Harry looked at me, wanting to see them anyway, so I handed them to him.

"Perfect, let me go see that battle to make sure that I'm putting my faith in the right person." Julie said, finalizing the deal.

And so the four of us (after returning Mars) walked our way over to the Violet City Gym.

I decided to call Isidora after I won my Badge. More happy news to give the folks, right?

And while we walked, the thought of the girl at the Pokémon Center crept in my mind. I wondered what had happened to her, and whether or not it's stop us from going to Union Cave after I was done helping Julie.

Midterms. Finally done with them. And so this chapter gives some plot advances. As you can tell, things might start taking a turn to the worse later on. Yes, that means the poachers. On the other hand, the girl from the Pokemon Center is definitely staying, and will come up later on. But as we're heading to the Ruins of Alph, we'll be meeting up with a certain someone. Anyway, I took off the [Updates Sunday!] until I can get back to getting the chapters done on time. R/C always does a fine job at motivation, and every email I get concerning Story Alert and Reviews make me really happy. So thanks for sticking it out!