Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

This is by far the LONGEST DAMN CHAPTER I HAVE EVER WRITTEN!

ARE YOU PROUD OF ME MOM!?

Anyways...

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Enjoy!

Chapter XVI:

It had been about six hours since we had left Cerulean City, and my family behind. Now Nathan, Bryce and I were walking through Kanto, along a large grassy field with Growlithe at my side. We suddenly saw a large sign that directed to a small village with three or four houses.

"Is that... Vermillion City?" I asked in confusion.

Nathan shook his head. "No way. I was only living in Vermillion for about a month, but even I know that it was way bigger than that."

Bryce was fiddling with his Pokegear he had gotten for Christmas, having the small device flipped into map form. "That's Oldenburg town. Let me see how far from Vermillion we are."

I tapped my foot impatiently. "Okay..."

After a moment Bryce looked up from the small device. "Okay, so my Pokegear says that Vermillion City should be just after Oldenburg town, but I think we should stop for a while."

Nathan and I looked at him in impatience. "But Vermillion is where the next Gym is!" I whined.

"My contest too!" Nathan groaned.

Bryce rolled his eyes. "There's more to a journey then just getting straight to the town with the next Gym and Contest you know. We have time. Besides, there's Kanto's famous Day-Care in Oldenburg!"

I perked my brow. "Day-care? You mean like a nursery with baby Pokemon?"

Growlithe cocked his head. "Growl?"

Bryce nodded, seeming excited. "And I hear sometimes the owners will even let trainers play with the baby Pokemon!"

Now that was interesting! "Maybe we should go check it out Nathan." I beamed, nudging the boy purposefully towards the small village.

Nathan rolled his eyes. "I thought you wanted to get to your Gym battle?"

"I do, but we have time. We need to learn and grow as trainers, like Bryce said. Now come on you big baby!" I beamed while grabbing his arm and dragging him towards the village with Growlithe barking in excitement from behind us.

Nathan began to yell in protest as I dragged him towards the small village, whereas Bryce on the other hand just gave us an amused smile and followed after me slowly.

Oldenburg was a tiny town, with only a few houses and the day care was no exception. We slowly walked through the town until we reached a two story home just a little bigger than my own, with a large sign out on the front yard.

Growlithe and I walked forward curiously and I read the sign aloud.

Oldenburg's Famous Pokemon Day-Care

All Visitors Welcome!

"Well that means we should just go on inside right?" Nathan questioned, reaching for the door handle. I rolled my eyes and smacked his hand away.

"What colour was the barn you were raised in Nathan? You knock politely before entering any building." I snapped, and the cocky boy flushed a light pink and Bryce and Growlithe snickered. Smiling softly at the boys discomfort I knocked on the door three times and waited with a small smile on my face.

The door creaked open and I saw an elderly woman with light grey hair and sparkling brown eyes smile at us. "Ah hello there! Come in, come in! Welcome to our day-care! My name is Sandra, and I run the day-care with my husband John."

Sandra nudged us inside, and the three of us didn't hesitate to follow her, smiles on our faces.

"It's nice to meet you." I grinned enthusiastically. "My name is Scarlet, and this is Nathan and Bryce." I pointed to my travelling companions who nodded politely. Growlithe looked a little put off until I smiled and picked up the puppy, hugging him. "Oh, and this is my partner Pokemon Growlithe."

Sandra was looking at me with interest. "Scarlet, Nathan and Bryce? Hmm... seems very familiar... are you by any chance the children of-"

I nodded before she could finish her question. "Yeah, we are." Sandra looked startled that I knew what she was going to say, so I shrugged softly. "We get it all the time."

Nathan nodded. "Don't worry, at this point we're used to it." Bryce just shrugged.

Sandra looked unimpressed with herself. "Oh dear me, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking about your feelings. Here, let me make up for it. My husband is in the back with some new baby Pokemon, and we are trying to get them used to humans. Come play with them!"

Bryce looked excited. "We would love too! I'm studying to be a Pokemon Breeder, so all of this is very educational for my training."

Sandra hummed in the back of her throat. "A Pokemon breeder huh? You just may be the one..."

I raised and eyebrow. "Sorry?"

"It's a long story." Sandra sighed. "John and I discovered a new Pokemon a few weeks ago, but he is still very young and wont listen to anybody! He hates human contact but is such a sweet little Pokemon. We need somebody good with Pokemon to check him out. Bryce, do you mind taking a look at him?"

"I would be happy too!" Bryce grinned. "Little Pokemon are my speciality."

We headed into the back room from the entrance, and on the way passed quite a few incubators with different coloured Pokemon eggs.

"Oh wow!" I gasped. "Look at them all! Do you know what Pokemon are in those eggs?"

Sandra shook her head. "One never really knows until it hatches. We can guess, but sometimes we are completely surprised!"

Growlithe yipped in excitement and sniffed behind the glass of a flame coloured egg. I grinned and picked up my puppy Pokemon and scratched behind his ears. "You think that one's a Growlithe huh buddy?"

Growlithe barked and licked my face and I laughed and gave my puppy a hug. "Whatever you say bud."

While I was preoccupied with Growlithe, Sandra was smiling, and she turned to Nathan with a grin. "Scarlet can certainly work wonders with Pokemon. They just love her!" Nathan nodded wih a slight smirk on his face. "Oh yeah, Scarlet sure is amazing."

Bryce snickered. "Of course you would say that Nathan."

Nathan flushed bright red. "I meant amazing with Pokemon! That is all!"

Sandra and Bryce laughed, and Bryce bumped Nathan with an elbow playfully. "Whatever you say Nathan."

Sandra lead us to another back room where we found ourselves surrounded by all kinds of small Pokemon, from Smoochum, to Magby, to Elekid and even to small Pichu! Nathan laughed as a baby Magby ran into his leg, and a Elekid leaped onto his back. Bryce leaned down to pat a Smoochum on the head, and I was standing there in shock, unsure how to react to all this cuteness.

"Aww! Look at them!" I cried in delight, crouching beside a small Pichu who smiled sweetly at me. "Pi!" I squealed in delight and gave the small Pokemon a hug while Growlithe sniffed the Pokemon softly. "Growl?"

Pichu turned to Growlithe, and upon seeing the larger Pokemon squeaked in terror and crouched behind my legs while Growlithe looked hurt and confused.

"It's okay Pichu!" I smiled at the little Pokemon, picking her up and placing her in front of Growlithe. "This is my partner Growlithe. He won't hurt you, I promise!"

Growlithe smiled toothily at the little Pokemon, and the small electric mouse whimpered, but soon frowned at the large Pokemon before squeaking in glee and jumping on Growlithes back while my puppy Pokemon began to run around in excitement. I laughed at the sight and then helped Pichu off my partner, and placed her onthe ground where she ran off towards her friends.

Sandra was smiling at the sight of us playing with the young Pokemon before gesturing for us to follow her. We walked behind another room, and Bryce frowned when he realized what was going on. There in the back corner, was a small Pokemon I had never seen before, cowering in fear. It was purple Pokemon that was taller than Elekid, and he had small purple spikes on his head.

"What kind of Pokemon is that?" I gasped, and reached for Dex with a frown.

Tyrogue, the Scuffle Pokémon. Tyrogue is the pre-evolved form of Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan. It has a small but very energetic body.

"This Tyrogue hasn't wanted contact of any kind with anyone since it hatched." Sandra frowned. "John and I have tried everything, but it just wont warm up to anybody."

Bryce smiled and crouched in front of the small Pokemon, who shook in terror.

"Hey little guy." Bryce said softly, while reaching out to the Pokemon. "How are you? It's okay, you don't have to be afraid."

The Pokemon trembled, and leaned away from Bryce, who frowned and reached for something in his back pocket.

"Are you hungry? This is Pokemon food I made." He smiled at the small purple Pokemon, who shook his head and walked backwards.

Bryce didn't let up however, and turned to Growlithe. "See, Growlithe likes it. Isn't that right little guy!"

Growlithe leaped forward instantly, and licked up the Pokemon food from his hand and crying in delight.

Tyrogue slowly leaned in and took the Pokemon food slowly, sniffing it once before hesitantly taking a bite. "Ty... tyrogue!"

Bryce beamed and gently patted the small Pokemon on the head. "See Tyrogue? Isn't it yummy?"

The purple Pokemon nodded and leaned into Bryce slowly, before smiling and rubbing his head against Bryce's knee.

"My stars! It looks like Tyrogue has managed to warm up a little bit!" Sandra cried in delight. "John come take a look at this!"

An elderly bald man with a white beard came in from he opposite room at the sound of Sandra's call. "Yes dear? Is it that little Tyrouge- oh my! It seems Tyrouge has taken a liking to you young man!"

The three of us smiled up at the elderly man and Nathan grinned. "Hello sir! I'm Nathan, and these are my friends Scarlet and Bryce oh, and that's Scarlet's partner Growlithe!"

We smiled and waved in hello, and John chuckled. "Pleasure to meet you young kids. Now, how about we test our luck and try and get Tyrouge to play with the other Pokemon?"

(Line-break)

"Hey Jackie, take a look at this!" Jace grinned as they watched the baby Pokemon through the window. "There are baby Pokemon in there!"

Jackie scoffed and rolled her eyes. "So? There weak. We can't bring them to the boss!"

"Well what about dem Pokemon eggs?" Zorua asked from in between the two twins. "You never know what's gonna hatch from an egg. It could be anything from a Rattatta to a rare Pokemon!"

That got Jackie's attention. "A rare Pokemon eh? Alright guys, I got a plan on how we're going to snatch those eggs..."

(Line-break)

It turns out, Tyrogue was a pretty fun and jumpy Pokemon. Once he got past being so shy in front of the other baby Pokemon, he was soon running around and playing tag with the others. Growlithe was having fun too, letting baby Pokemon climb all over his back and giving them rides around the day-care.

"Well, what do you know! It seems we were all wrong about Tyrouge. Thank you so much Bryce!" John smiled at the training Breeder. Bryce had been working hard all day to make sure Tyrogue fit right in with the other Pokemon. Although I could tell he was tired, the purple Pokemon had clearly grown on my cousin.

"It's really no problem, Tyrogue is such a good little Pokemon!" Bryce laughed, and the purple Pokemon jumped into Bryce's arms with a happy trill. "Ty!"

Nathan came up behind me and I turned to him with a smile on my face. Soon we were just smiling stupidly at each other, happy that our cousin was having such a good time.

The happy moment was cut off however, when we heard a loud bang, and multiple claws bega to reach into the windows of the incubators and begin to snatch eggs up one by one, and everyone cried out in shock when we heard a loud explosion.

"Everyone hit the deck!" Nathan cried, and I grabbed Growlithe and Pichu who were playing by my feet and tucked them under my arms protectively while smoke began to fill the room.

"What is going on?" John cried in both anger and fear. "The eggs are disappearing!"

"It's not just the eggs that are disappearing old man!" A familiar voice sounded from where the explosion had come from.

I felt anger and irritation wash through me and I leaped to my feet but could see nothing but black smoke, which caused me to cough. "Team Rocket! Ugg I can't see anything!" I hacked furiously, and Growlithe whimpered and stood protectively in front of Pichu and I.

"I got this!" Nathan called from somewhere behind me. "Beautifly! Use Gust to blow away this smoke!"

I couldn't see where Beautifly had appeared, but in seconds, wind erupted from around us and blew away the smoke. I could see everyone and I quickly did a head count. "Thanks Nathan! Is everyone here?"

Three maniacal laughs could be heard from above us, and I looked up in horror to see Team Rocket had blown a hole through the roof and we're carrying a large crate of Pokemon eggs from their balloon, and were hovering above the Pokemon day-care in glee.

"Who are they?" Sandra cried out in horror and fear.

Bryce slapped a hand to his forehead. "Oh god, don't ask them that because-"

Jackie crackled. "Oh she doesn't know who we are? Well we should educate her."

"Be respectful, and take off your hats!"

"We're here to snatch Pokemon, and that will be that!"

"To protect the world from abomination!"

"To unite all peoples with declaration!"

"Hope and Faith to always defy!"

"As fast as a bullet we are sure to fly!"

"Jackie!"

"Jace!"

"Team Rocket is here with unlimited power!"

"Ready for action, standing tall as a tower!"

"Zorua! Now COWER!"

"Seriously! You three are getting really out of hand you know!" I growled, reaching for two Pokeballs on my belt. "It's one thing to stalk us everywhere we go, its another thing to steal unborn Pokemon!" Growlithe stalked forward growling furiously, and Zorua flinched and took a step back.

I never know what Growlithe says to Zorua, but it sounds bad, so I'll take it.

Nathan and Bryce nodded, joining me to stand protectively in front of the baby Pokemon and John and Sandra. "You three are seriously starting to get on my nerves." Nathan glowered, and Bryce nodded in agreement. "Stealing eggs are wrong. You're going to regret doing this."

Jackie snorted, and Jace laughed. "Oh, because we are so scared. Jace let's give them our full power! Houndour, Mawile! Show those three what you're made of!"

Jace nodded. "Poochyena, Spinda! Time for action!"

Four Pokemon appeared, looking tense and angry. A new Pokemon I had never seen before also appeared, a small feminine looking Pokemon with a large jaw on the side of her head.

"What the heck is that?" I whispered, reaching for Dex.

Mawile, the Deceiver Pokémon. Mawile has jaw-like appendages at the ends of its steel horns. It deceives any opponent who lowers its guard with its hypnotic expression, then quickly spins around to bite them.

"Isn't she just the sweetest?" Jackie grinned maliciously. "I caught her while you three took a detour to Cerulean."

I gritted my teeth turned to Bryce and Nathan with a determined look. "I have a plan, but you need to trust me."

Nathan and Bryce exchanged glances, before nodding. "Your plans have never failed before." Nathan shrugged, and I beamed.

"Alright. Bryce, you call out your Pokemon to defend John, Sandra and the baby Pokemon. You stay back a little as well just in case they go for a steal. Nathan, call out your Pokemon and battle Team Rocket. Hmm.. you only have three Pokemon..." I reached into my belt and pulled out Aron's Pokeball and handed it to him with a smile. "Borrow Aron, but don't you dare hurt him!"

Nathan rolled his eyes. "I'll be careful. But what about you?"

I smirked and tossed Buizel's Pokeball into the air, and the weasel appeared with his usual cocky stance, his arms crossed. I nodded once to him and turned to Growlithe who looked excited. "No time to explain, but you two are going to follow me okay?"

The Pokemon nodded and I fake saluted to Nathan and Bryce. "Now get going men!"

Nathan and Bryce chuckled, and went to work, releasing their Pokemon. When Aron was released, he looked confused, but I smiled at him. "Work with Nathan to take out Team Rocket okay? I'll be right back I promise."

The metal Pokemon looked hesitant, but nodded, and I breathed a sigh of relief and motioned for Buizel and Growlithe to follow me.

Nathan and Bryce had Team Rocket distracted, so the three of us ran around the side of the balloon.

I turned to my Pokemon and told them my plan. "We need to get up to the side of the giant box holding the eggs and while Team Rocket lowers the balloon to fight Nathan, we break the strap holding the box in place so the cage doesn't fall from that high of a height. I'll boost you two up, and then I'll climb up next."

Both Pokemon nodded, thinking this was a smart plan, and I held out my arms for both Pokemon to climb up along the side of the cage. Buizel went first, then Growlithe managed to get up just as the both levitated out of reach. Frowning, I jumped at just the right moment, grabbing onto the side of the box and pulling myself up with difficulty while Growlithe and Buizel watched nervously.

I held onto the side of the box and began to climb that as well, while Buizel and Growlithe jumped from side to side and making it to the top with little difficulty. Once I rested on the top of the box, I caught my breath and signalled to Growlithe and Buizel to stand by while I checked the rope holding the egg box in place.

There was a pulley holding the rope and five buttons each a different colour. I pressed one of them, a blue one, cautiously, and the pulley slowly rolled up. Pressing the yellow one made the pulley go down.

"Thanks Team Rocket." I grinned wickedly. "Making this easy for me."

Holding down the yellow button, the egg box soon hovered just over the ground. I nodded, realizing now would be a good time to release it.

"Alright Buizel, water gun, directly onto the control panel." I whispered, careful not to be overheard by Team Rocket, whose basket under their balloon was right above us.

Buizel shot a small jet of water directly into the control panel, and it began to short fuse. I smiled to Buizel and patted his head. "Good job, now to help out Nathan." Turning towards the battle, I could tell the cocky boy was getting overwhelmed.

Buizel nodded and jumped off the egg box, and running up to deliver a strong Aqua Jet directly into Poochyena's back.

Growlithe bristled in anxiety from beside me, and I turned to my partner. "Alright buddy, now I need you to use Flame Burst, directly onto the control panel."

Growlithe hesitated, and I began to feel his anxiety. "I know it still needs work, but you have to do it buddy! It's now or never!"

Growling softly, my puppy Pokemon released a powerful flame that shot directly into the control panel, and I cheered, forgetting about Team Rocket for the moment.

"Good job Growlithe! You did it!" I cheered, hugging my puppy Pokemon.

The cheerful moment was short lived, because in the next moment the rope snapped and I jumped back in horror. "Run Growlithe!"

Growlithe whimpered once at me but I just nudged him. "Come on Growlithe go! I'll be fine!"

Giving me one last whimper, the Pokemon jumped down after Buizel.

"Alright... I have to unhook the rope." I mumbled to myself, and quickly pulled the rope on the egg box free. The box gave way from underneath me, and I cried out in shock and managed to grab the rope with one hand while I dangled from the bottom of the balloon basket.

"Oh boy." I cried, and I struggled to pull myself up.

Growlithe was whimpering from about 25 feet below me, and Nathan was looking at me worriedly as well. This was getting oddly familiar...

"Jace! Zorua! Look what you've done! Somehow you two have managed to drop all the eggs! Idiots!" Jackie roared punching both of them as furiously as she could.

"Oww!" Jace wailed. "Jackie that hurts!"

"Yeowch!" Zorua growled. "Watch the tail!"

I snickered from underneath the basket at how stupid these three were. How did they not know I was here?

"Jackie be careful! I still have this egg!" Jace cried, and I stiffened and listened carefully to their conversation.

"It sure is pretty." I heard Jackie admit. "I wonder what kind of Pokemon it could be?"

Zorua snickered. "We'll just have to take it to the boss and find out. Come on! Get the Pokemon and let's go!"

"Houndour! Mawile! Return!" Jackie called.

"Poochyena! Spinda! Let's book it!" Jace cried.

This was my chance. Looking at Nathan one more time with a smirk, he realized what I was about to do and his eyes widened. Before I heard him call in protest, I began to swing back and forth until I flipped onto the Rocket basket, causing Jace to shriek and jump back. "Ah! Punkette!"

I grinned and grabbed the egg out of Jace's hands and jumped onto the balloons basket railing.

Jackie glowered in fury and reached for a Pokeball. "I'll send you blasting off if you don't hand me that egg right now punk!"

I reached for Aron's Pokeball, then remembered I had left him with Nathan. "Oh great." I groaned.

Suddenly the balloon jerked to the left, and I screamed in terror as I fell off the balloon banister and began to free fall clutching the egg tightly while screwing my eyes shut.

From the ground, Nathan gasped and began to run as hard as he could, seeing my falling form. He jumped just as I was about to hit the ground, and tucked me into his chest while the momentum of the mad dash caused us to go rolling, until we landed in a bush under a tree.

Groaning, I pulled myself to my feet and blushed heavily when I saw it was Nathan who had caught me. When he looked up and our eyes met, we both turned a bright red, and we flew apart from each other as quickly as possible.

I was so caught up in Nathan saving me, I missed Growlithe blasting off Team Rocket in his anger.

"Are you guys okay?" I heard from behind me as Bryce, Sandra, John and all the Pokemon rushed forward to check up on us. I sighed and stood up, the egg still safely tucked under my arm.

"I'm fine, thanks to Nathan." I beamed, and moved one hand away from the egg as I extended it to him to help him up. The boy gladly took it, and we caught out breath for a moment.

Growlithe, Buizel and Aron rushed forward and tackled my legs in hugs, and I saw Nathan's Pokemon doing the same. Laughing, I returned Buizel and Aron, and hugged Growlithe with one hand on the egg.

I stood up and reached out to hand the egg to Sandra. "Here you go Sandra! I grabbed the egg before Team Rocket managed to steal it."

Sandra and John shared looks, before shaking their heads. "No Scarlet, take it with you. We don't know what Pokemon will hatch from that, but we know you will be a great trainer. We trust you with it."

I recoiled in surprise. "R-really?" I gasped. "But what about Bryce? He did so well with Tyrogue, he should take the egg.

Bryce laughed and nudged me softly before showing me a Pokeball. "I already got a Pokemon from the day-care. Sandra and John told me I could train Tyrogue."

My eyes widened, but I didn't say anything. Instead, I took a closer look at the egg. It was a white egg with yellow stripes and black spots. I couldn't tell what kind of Pokemon it was though. It could literally be anything. I would have to raise it to find out what Pokemon it was.

"I'll take good care of it." I promised with a smile. "I won't let you down."

Sandra nodded. "We trust you won't. Now you three better head on your way! Don't want to be late for your contest Nathan!"

Nathan nodded. "Thank you for everything Sandra, John. We won't forget about you!"

Bryce looked a little uncomfortable. "Umm, do you mind if I use your bathroom? I'll be quick I promise."

John and Sandra laughed and gestured for the boy to go inside. "Of course. We'll show you the way."

When the three left to go inside, I turned hesitantly to Nathan.

"Thank you Nathan." I mumbled softly.

The boy returned his cocky look, and crossed his arms with a smug smile. "I only did it to save that egg you know. Plus, you saved my life once in Viridian Forest remember?"

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Thank you anyway. You saved my life."

Nathan's expression softened, and he reached from behind his back to pull out a small red rose and handed it to me.

I smiled and laughed. "What's this for?"

Nathan smirked and crossed his arms tightly. "That was some fancy flip you did to grab that egg. I admire that. Besides, Growlithe managed to master flame burst."

I snorted, but began to slowly pet the roses soft petals. "So it's for Growlithe then?"

Nathan just winked, and headed inside after Growlithe.

AWWWWW!

Nathan just returned the favor when Scarlet saved his life. 3

Next Chapter:

The folks arrive in Vermillion City! Scarlet has a Gym Battle, Nathan a contest, and don't forget that May and Drew live in Vermillion!

Oh and what Pokemon do you think is going to be inside Scarlet's egg? Only time will tell!

Love y'all!

Shelbs