Chapter 2

"You two did really well in the gym battle, you know," Gold said in a conversational tone, grinning slightly as he watched his pokémon skip around his feet as they walked along Route 32. "But," he said, "it could've gone better." He stopped in his tracks to gauge their reactions.

They had both stopped their skipping to look up at him. Quin's face was almost impossible to read, but he gave a sharp "Quil!" that sounded rather disbelieving. Sen, meanwhile, stared up a Gold, mouth slightly open, looking completely baffled.

Gold rubbed the back of his neck, feeling sheepish all of a sudden. "I mean, we did almost lose—thanks to me. Hard to improvise when you can't talk, ya know?" he said, and gave a weak, mirthless laugh.

Before his Pokémon had time to make a proper response (not that Gold was sure they were going to), he continued. "So I thought it would be better if I trained you two with some more hand signs or other signals when we're battling. Like whistling or snapping my fingers or clapping—wait, no, clapping would look stupid—or... other things I can't think of at the moment. Do you think you guys can try that?"

Quin and Sen simply nodded.

Well, that was easy. "Awesome! Let's practice on some wild pokémon." Gold grinned widely and abruptly ran off into the surrounding woods, his battling partners at his heels.

"Well, Gold's still ahead of us," Crys muttered as she wandered through the same route her friend had passed through just an hour ago. "He didn't even wait for me before facing the gym leader. That would've been interesting to see."

Rita, Crys' chikorita, hit the back of her leg, looking put out. "Chikor!" she said rather crossly.

Crys, still walking, raised an eyebrow at her. "Rita, are you still upset about our gym battle?" The pokémon didn't answer, which Crys took as a yes. "Hey, that battle was tough. Falkner has flying-types; you were at a disadvantage. You fought well." Then, hoping to keep Rita's ego in check, she added, "It's a good thing we had a gastly with us, isn't it? Ivan really pulled through for us."

Rita pouted at that last part, but didn't complain. Crys rolled her eyes, smiling slightly. "Anyway, it's almost nightfall. There should be a pokémon center just before Union Cave." She checked her map. "Yeah, we just have to pass this route. We'll see if we can surprise a certain someone. . . ."

"That's enough for today you two, great job." Gold crouched down as he rummaged through his pack and pulled out two potions. "If the rest of the team in the future can learn as well as you two did today," he said as he sprayed each pokémon in turn, "we'll be unstoppable. Anyway, I'll let you guys relax for a while." He returned them to their pokéballs and stood up. Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

Gold, without thinking, spun around in and shoved the person away. The person stumbled back and fell flat on her back. "What'd you do that for?!" she demanded.

Gold got a good look at the person for the first time, and grinned apologetically. "Oh, sorry Crys. I didn't know it was you." He extended a hand and pulled her to her feet.

Crys looked at him balefully. "I would hope not," she replied. "When did you get so strong, anyway? That hurt." Crys picked up her bag and rubbed her sore back. "You sure know how to treat a lady."

Gold feigned surprise. "Really? There's a lady nearby? Where?" Crys punched him in the shoulder. Gold laughed, then abruptly changed the subject. "How 'bout we go to the pokémon center and rest for the night?" he said, already walking away before it occurred to him that it probably would have been polite to wait for her to reply.

Crys fell in step with him. "Sure. While we're at it, you can work on your humor. 'Really? There's a lady nearby?'" Crys said, lowering her voice in a poor imitation of Gold. "So cliché."

Gold huffed. "You know what? Whatever!" He rolled his eyes, trying and failing to look offended. "And yeah, I know that was a lousy retort," he said.

"I wasn't going to say anything," she replied innocently. "But anyway, let's just—"

"Heyyy, I know what you kids want!" a loud voice exclaimed suddenly. Crys and Gold gave matching gasps as they whirled around to face the owner of the voice.

Standing in front of them (just where he had come from, Gold had no idea), was a tall man with a khaki trench coat and a smile that look way too friendly.

They both backed up a few steps and glanced at each other. Do you think he is drunk? Gold asked. Maybe drugs or something?

Cry shrugged, then looked back at the man, who was pulling something out of one of his coat pockets. "Slowpoke tail," the man said by way of explanation. "They are quite delicious. It's only a million—hey, where're you going?" he yelled as Gold and Crys hightailed it away from that man. They didn't stop running until they reached the pokémon center.

"You were right, Gold," Crys said quietly as they leaned against the building, trying to catch their breath before entering. "No sane, sober man would act like . . . that."

The man stood staring down the path long after the figures disappeared. He sighed in frustration, then pulled out a phone and slowly dialed out a number.

"Yeah, what's up?" the person on the other end of the line asked gruffly.

"Hey, Sophie. Could you please get Proton to station me somewhere else?" he asked, not caring of he sounded whiny. "Nobody around here's buying this stuff!"

Sophie made a sound somewhere between a sigh and a growl. "Oh for Pete's sake, Dan. You've been there for what, an hour? I think you can wait a few more. We kind of need money, in case you didn't notice."

"But it's boring here! And whenever I try to sell something, people look at me like I'm crazy!"

"Then stop looking crazy. Besides, you'll be here tomorrow. That's when all the exciting stuff is gonna happen." When Dan didn't reply, she added in a lower tone, "Team Rocket's not all fun and games, Dan. You signed up for this."

"Yeah, yeah, fine," he said snappishly. "I'm just tired of hiding."

"We all are, Danny. But we won't be hiding for much longer."

Dan smiled slightly. "No. No, I guess we won't."

A/N: I'm sorry for the short chapter! I planned to write more, but ended up staring at it for a month! I will make Chapter 3 a super long chapter, and I will try to write 4 as well. Don't hate me! Oh! Thanks again to the amazing Geekachu for the editing! You are my savior! :D Thanks for reading!

Geekachu's Note: Hey y'all! This is Geek, manga-neko's beta/co-writer/savior, speaking. Just so we're clear, the massive delay in updating is completely my fault. Good ol' Neko here sent me this chapter literally months ago, but I only started editing recently (thanks a lot, university). Sorry, everyone. :( On another note, I extend a warm thank you to the illustrious Farla, who gave this fic a lovely review. :) That's all from me!

Please R&R!