Chapter 19

Who's Getting the Bill?

"Bill!" I said as we each gave each other a hug. "Gosh! Its been like, what, a year?"

"Yeah, I know." He said as he slapped me on the shoulder. "I was so surprised when you called me I couldn't even tie my tie!" He laughed. "Who would have thought that I would be able to see you, here, of all places?"

We both laughed as I turned to see Nurse Joy, who was looking at us jaw dropped.

"Hey." I chuckled, looking at her. "What's up? Haven't you met Bill before?""

"N-no-" She stuttered out as she began to laugh. "Probably the two most famous people in Kanto are here in my center at the same time." She shook her head as she looked around the lobby. A broken glass table, shattered TV, and papers littered the floor. The place was a wreck. "Under any Normal circumstance this would be a moment in the history books of Pokecenters. Having the Pokemon Master here as well as Bill, creator of the PC system." She began to laugh loudly as she also began to cry. "My gosh, I hate my luck. Why would this mob have to happen today?"

I looked around the room, seeing all the broken… junk, laying around. Wow, and all this was because of me. I looked down to my feet as I sighed. "Well, maybe I can do something to make your day better, Joy."

Both Bill and Joy looked at me as I walked over to the PC system, which was surprisingly still intact. Being in the far corner of the room probably helped with that. I typed in my information as I retrieved some money out of my account. I then logged out and walked back over to Joy. "I'm sorry about the damages I caused." I said as I laid the ten thousand dollars in her hand. "You were really the one that deserves the prize money. Without you I might lose Arcanine, forever." I gave her a wave as me and Bill turned to walk out. "Do me a favor and tell everyone that I left and kept the prize money! I went to Azalea, if anyone asked!"

"Oh… okay… thanks." Joy said as we walked out of the shattered glass doors and into the street.

***_-Scene Change-_***

"So." Bill said as we walked out into the streets. The place was deserted, unlike only a few minutes ago, when it was crowded with mobs of people. "What kind of a mess did you get into now?"

"This little guy." I said, holding Pichu up in the air. "Turns out this guy has a sweet tooth. He ran off to get some ice cream, scared Arcanine to chase after him, and then they were both lost. I sent out a live TV broadcast saying that I would give out ten thousand dollars in reward money to the person that would bring them back to me."

"I see." Bill said. "And that turned into a mob that wanted nothing but money."

"Exactly." I said, holding Pichu back in my arms.

"So, how did you get them back?" Bill questioned, looking around to make sure no one was on the street we were walking on. "I noticed that you gave that money to Nurse Joy to cover the damage, and you had me tell them you went to Ilex forest, so that means that you didn't give out the prize money, right?"

"Yeah. Turns out they returned on their own." I said as I looked back to Bill. "By the way Bill, why are you here in Goldenrod?"

"Well, unlike you, I enjoy visiting my family." He smiled as he walked in front of me. "Of course I can't blame you for not wanting to go back, but I hear that your mom is worried about you."

"Pfft." I spat. "She doesn't worry about me, she only wants my pokemon for her experiments."

"Pokemon?" Bill turned to look at me. "Is that who you have been transporting your pokemon too?"

"Yeah." I answered, shoving my hand into my pocket." She told me that she wouldn't allow me to go on my journeys unless I let her run some tests on my pokemon at will. Wait..." I looked at Bill. "How did you know I was sending pokemon back and forth?"

"Well, its more forth then back, but hey, come on." Bill said with a smile as he put his hands up defensively. "I'm just looking out for my bud. On top of that I monitor everyone's transitions, I am the keeper of the PC system after all."

"Yeah, I suppose."

I noticed Bill turn and look around uneasy for a little bit before whispering to me in a low voice. "So tell me. Is it true?"

"Is what true?" I asked.

"You know… the…" He stopped walking as he pulled me into an alley. "Is it true about the pokmon specimen Professor Oak has on disk?"

"Oh." My eyes opened wide as I finally realized what he was talking about. "Yeah, its true."

"Can I see it?" Bill asked in a boyish grin, almost like he just got a new chemistry set, or something. "Please, can I?"

"Maybe later." I said, peering around the corner. "But first things first, I need a disguise or something."

"Well come back to my grandparents place." Bill said as he pointed his thumb up the road. "It's not that far away. I'll get Gram to give you a haircut while I get you some clothes." He then looked me over, looking up and down and around my shoulders too. "You look like you could fit in some of my shirts."

"Haircut, huh?" I asked, running my hand through my hair. It was getting pretty long, as well as hot. I had been debating on rather or not to let Kabutops cut it, but had always decided against it, knowing how 'special' he was. "Alright, but lets get going, I don't think those people will stay gone for long."

***_-Scene Change-_***

Bill was right; his grandparent's house wasn't very far away, and with a little explaining they were happy to help me. All but one of my grandparents died when I was very young, so I always considered them to be my grandparents. They were always happy to see me, and always treated me as their own. Though I hadn't seen them in years, that is, ever since they moved to Goldenrod about five years ago. But today, it seemed as if they had never left, and it was like we were right back in Cerulean, though I knew we wasn't.

"So what brings you to Goldenrod, sweetie?" Gram asked as she pulled a blanket over my shoulders. I was sitting in a chair as Pa-Paw was washing that fat Pichu in a sink. Gram then brought out some scissors as she started to snip away at my over grown rat-nest of a head.

"Well…" I paused, thinking about the consequences of saying 'Oh yeah, I drive a motorcycle and gang of thugs tried to beat me up and screw up my bike!' Yeah, that wouldn't go over well. "You know, being a trainer takes you many different places. I was actually just passing through."

"So have you already fought the gym here?" Gram asked, snipping and snipping as I watched locks of hair fall to the floor.

"Yeah, I fought her last month, I think last month anyway."

"That poor girl." Gram picked up a comb as she began to run it through my hair, picking up some of it as she snipped more. "It seems like every time she loses she ends up crying her eyes out to her father. They sure don't make gym leaders like they used to."

"Meee-outh." A Meowth purred as it rubbed up on my feet. It was an older looking one with gray hair instead of the brown it once had. It coin was still shiny, and I would recognize this silly cat anywhere. "Wow!" I said, looking at the cat as she jumped up in my lap. "You all still have Smokey?"

"Of course we do." Gram smiled as she ruffled up my hair, shaking all the loose stragglers out and onto the floor. "You don't think we would go anywhere without our cute little Smokey baby, do you?" She then reached her hand down, scratching Smokey under the chin as she purred happily.

"Okay, Gram!" Bill said as he ran down the stairs that was connected to the hallway beside the open room we were in. "I got his clothes ready, are you all done yet?"

"We just finished, dear." Gram said as she took the towel and gave it a good shake, getting all the hairs off.

I stood up, picking Smokey up and putting her back on the ground as Pa-Paw came into the room from the kitchen. "My, my. This little guy was a mess!" He said, handing me the fat Pichu, who was yellow once more. I held him in my arms, almost like a baby that hadn't lost its baby fat yet.

Pichu looked up at me. "Pi!" Pichu called as he struggled to climb up my arm, but slid right back down into the corner of it where I was holding him. "Pii…"

"Oh, here." I said, placing him on my shoulder. "That's what you get for being a little piggy, now you're too big to climb up on my shoulder."

"But he's oh so cute!" Gram said, pinching Pichus fat cheeks. "I'm glad to see that you are fattenin' up your pokemon."

"Ahem." Bill said in a cough as he threw some clothes to me. "Here's some clothes, you can change in my room, and there is also a PC in there so you can put your old clothes up."

"Alright." I smiled as I headed up the stairs. "Thanks you all, for everything."

"Don't thank us yet." Pa-Paw said. "You're not out of town yet."

***_-Scene Change-_***

I went upstairs, locking the door behind me as I sat Pichu and the clothes on Bill's bed. This room reminded me so much of mine. Clutter everywhere. Papers, boxes, pokeballs, item holders, and dirty clothes strung about. It practically looked just like my old room at Mom's. Perhaps that's one of the reasons why we always got along.

I began to slip out of my clothes as I saw Pichu digging through my bag. I watched as he pulled out his little leather jacket and struggled to put it on. He tried his hardest, but only ended up losing his balance and rolling off the bed backwards, hitting his head when he landed. He rolled over looking at his jacket in such a sad way. "Piiiii!" He began to cry.

"Oh, its okay bud." I said, picking him up and placing him on the bed. "You'll lose that weight and be back in that jacket before you know it."

"Pii…" He pouted as I went back to putting on my clothes.

I ran a hand through my hair as I looked at myself in a mirror that Bill had over his nightstand. My hair was short, really short, maybe just an inch long. Wow, old people must really like short hair or something. I have never had my hair this short. I focused my attention back on getting dressed. I held up the shirt, noticing it was a forest green, long sleeve, button up shirt. Along with that was a tie that was a lighter shade of green with some brown patches. The pants that Bill gave me were far too short in the pant legs for me, so I went to my PC and brought out my black denim jeans I had stored away.

I put on the jeans, tucking in my shirt as I put my black army style belt on. I wore my other black belt with my pokeballs on it overtop of my pants, drooping over my hip as the army belt held up my pants. I don't know if wearing two belts like this looked cool, or stupid, but it's what I had to do. I finished buttoning up the shirt, leaving the last two buttons or so undone so it would show off some skin. I must say, I think I look pretty sexy in a button up shirt. I then added the tie, tying it loose so it would droop down a little, making it more comfy.

"Hey, I look pretty good." I said as I looked at myself in the mirror. "But, I don't know, I still look like me." Hmm… I thought about this for a moment when I saw something that caught my eye. Laying on the dresser was a pair of sunglasses, not too big, but just big enough to cover over my own glasses. I put them on, looking myself over. "Oh yeah, that's it." I said with a smile. "Not even my own mother would recognize me." I started thinking about that, and then started laughing. "Maybe I should keep dressing like this then!"

I deposited the rest of my stuff in the PC, or in my book bag. I then walked up to Pichu, kneeling down to his level. "I'm sorry, bud, but I'm going to have to ask you to stay in my book bag."

"Pi?" He looked up at me in question.

"You know, just 'til we get out of the city." I smiled. "I don't want anyone to know that I'm still here." Pichu nodded and then slid inside my bag. I'm sure he didn't mind. After all, whenever he gets sleepy he always crawls back there anyway and takes a nap. I smiled as I headed out the door, going downstairs to see Bill, Paw-Paw and Gram all waiting on me. "Well, what do you think?" I asked, striking a cool pose.

"You look like a right, fine, boy!" Gram said with a happy smile.

"You can sure clean up, boy!" Pa-Paw agreed.

"Are those my shades?" Bill asked as he walked up to me, examining them.

"Hey now, don't worry." I said as I raised up my hands in defense. "I'll give them back to you, I swear."

"Okay, but you'd better not get a scratch on those." He smiled as he looked at me. "It was one of the souvenirs I got on my first trip over here five years ago."

"Not a prob." I said, giving him the thumbs up as we both walked out of the door. "Thanks for everything you guys! I owe you one!"

"No problem at all, Kyle." Gram said as she waved. "Come back and visit any time."

We walked out onto the streets, seeing few people, but still it was more than when we entered their house. It was about 8am, or so, which was more then likely the reason why there were more people out roaming around.

"So where too now?" Bill asked as we began to walk down the street, passing people who didn't give us a second look.

That's good, they don't notice its me. "Well, I would like to go to the bike shop here. Is it far away?"

"Its over there by the gym." Bill said as he pointed to the gym at the far side of the city. "But I don't think it opens until 10."

"Hmm. So we have two hours to kill, huh?" I asked, kicking a discarded can as we walked by a recycling bin.

"Seems like it." Bill smiled. "So, got any ideas on what to do for the next two hours? How about you showing me your pokemon? I would love to examine them."

"You mean, you'd like to examine one." I smiled. "Don't worry Bill, I'll let you see her, but not now. Maybe later on tonight, okay?"

"Her?" Bill asked. "I didn't read anything in Professor Oak's log about a gender."

I looked at him oddly. "Well yeah, everything has a gender, otherwise there wouldn't be anything alive."

"Not necessarily." Bill said as he put his finger up. "Though no one has ever captured an Articuno, or any other legendary pokemon for that matter, and had it examined, scientists all over the world have agreed that with the given information that legendary pokemon are asexual."

"asexual? As in they breed with themselves?"

"Yes." Bill said as he nodded. "So there would be no need for genders."

"That's not true." I said as I kept walking. "Legendary pokemon are no different then other pokemon. The only differences is that they are close to extinction because people use to capture them for their power, killing them when they were finished with them." I saw Bill turn to look at me, so I continued. "They can't live in our polluted world so they strive to find places that humans can not, or have not, ever touched."

"Hmm. I see." Bill said, thinking about the information I set forward on him. "So, how do you know all this?"

"Heh." I chuckled. "You're not going to believe this, but Articuno told me."

"What's hard to believe about that?" Bill asked. "Many trainers can communicate with their pokemon. I saw you and Pichu do it the entire time you were together."

"Pi!" Pichu yelled from my book bag.

"Keep it down back there!" I demanded, hoping that no one heard him. "No, what I mean is, she literally told me."

"As in, she has the ability to speak our language?"

"Not verbally, but yes." I paused. "She also told me that speaking through telekinesis was just an ability that most legendary pokemon obtained over time."

"Amazing." Bill pondered. "Would that infer that other pokemon that use telekinesis to speak, such as Lucario and Alikazam, have traces of legendary DNA in their chemical make up?"

I looked at him oddly, not exactly knowing what to say to that. "Well… um… I suppose that all pokemon had to originate from somewhere."

"Yes, but it has been the speculation of many scientists that pokemon of a certain nature might have originated from one specific pokemon, such as Mew." Bill put a finger to his chin as he spoke. "Their idea is that Mew was one of seven original pokemon, and from there they spread, reproduced, and changed into the pokemon we now see today. Ones of psychic and telekinesis abilities are believed to originate from Mew. Pokemon with grass abilities, from Shaymin, bird pokemon come from the legendary Lugia-"

Lugia? Isn't that the pokemon Articuno said was at the Whirl Wind Islands? "Yeah, Bill." I said, cutting him off. "I think that's a load of crap."

He looked at me oddly. "Why do you say that?"

"Because Articuno said that Lugia left the Whirl Wind Islands about five years ago. If that story you told were true, then Lugia would not be around today. Rather, his kind would be bred out, and gone forever." I then looked back at him. "And if that were the case, how would we even know they existed at all? Its not like we have documentation of any of that. The legendary pokemon are just pokemon. That's it, nothing more. They are only given those stupid legends to go along with them because people know they are covered in mystery. What I think has happened is people began to spread rumors around when all the legendary pokemon started to die out, about them being some sort of God, or something. Overtime people began to manipulate the stories by word of mouth and that's how we get all of those stupid tags that go with the certain pokemon."

"You say that we have no proof to back up what we think," Bill snapped back. "But what about you? Do you have any proof?"

"Of course I do." I said, holding Articuno's pokeball in front of his face. "It's right here, and you can ask her anything you want. I guarantee that I'm right, because she's already told me everything I need to know." I then put the pokeball back on my belt. And after a long pause, I took deep breath and sighed. "I'm sorry Bill, I got a little too into it."

"Hey, no prob, I did as well."

I stopped when we got to the pokecenter. The place was closed, all the lights shut off and a sign on the broken door that said, 'Closed for Repairs – Drop off in the box-' with an arrow pointing to a little pull down door on the wall.

I walked up to the center, stepping into the dark lobby through the broken glass door. A hard grip went on my shoulder as I saw Bill's hand on me. "What are you doing?" He asked. "The place is closed."

"Oh clam down." I said. "My Arcanine is in there and I'm going to go check on him." I smiled as I brushed his hand off. "Heh. Stay out here if you're scared."

"I'm not scared." Bill turned away. "I just prefer to follow directions when they are shown. The place is closed so without proper authorization entering would be considered 'breaking in', and I refuse to take part in anything related to a criminal act."

"There's no place to break in, the place is already broke." I said, pointing around at all the shattered glass. But Bill still didn't move, he just stood there, watching the streets fill back up with people. "Fine, stay here." I said, climbing the rest of the way in. "I'll be back in a few."

"Yeah, yeah."

I headed into the center. It was already pretty hard to see with all the lights out, but with the shades, man, it was close to impossible. I stumbled around, knocking a couple vases off of, something, making them fall to the floor and shatter. When I did I saw a bright light turn on, hitting my face as I put my hands up to block it. It was a flashlight, and it was blinding in the dark room.

"The center is closed!" Joy said sternly. "Please leave immediately."

"It's me!" I said, still shading my eyes from the light with my hands. Hmm, I can't really say 'Its me, Kyle!', that would only stir up the people that were outside. I need to think of something so I wont give myself away. "I'm the guy that left the Arcanine here." Crap, that didn't help. "You know, I had a Pichu." My Gosh, that was even worse! "You last saw me with my friend, Bill?"

The flashlight then turned off as I heard footsteps come closer to me. The Nurse Joy put her face up to mine, looking at me. "Kyle, is that you?" She whispered.

"Yeah, its me." I said, glad she could read between the lines.

"Alright, follow me." She said, grabbing my hand as she lead me back to the ER. When we were inside she turned on the lights and pulled the curtains over the doors, blocking the light from going into the main lobby.

When I looked around the room I saw Arcanine laying on a table, belly side up, with monitors hooked all over him. IV's were running into his legs as a brace was put over his chest. A mask was over his nose and his mouth was being held shut by a strap. Both his foot, front shoulder, and ribs were all wrapped up tight, with splints in the wrapping to make them more stable.

I walked over to his side, stroking his fur, as he lied there unconscious. "He's in pretty bad shape." Joy started as she walked over to me. "As you know half of his ribs are broke, as well as a lot of his muscles are either torn or almost there." She looked over some of the monitors and charts as she continued. "I was able to get his shoulder back in place, as well as splint his paw and ribs. He will need at least three weeks without battle." She then took a deep breath. "He is stable now, but if you let him out of his pokeball you will have to make him sleep on his back. If he puts too much pressure on his ribs they could cave in, and rupture his organs."

I cringed at the thought of it. "I'm so sorry, boy." I said, stroking his fur. "I am so sorry."

"Also, don't let him run, jog, carry anything, and, well I guess it would be eaiser for me to say this. He is only allowed to walk occasionally, eat, and drink."

I sighed, looking to Joy. "Thank you so much, Joy. Without you, I don't know what would have happened to Arcanine."

"I do, and it's not pretty." She placed a hand on the massive dog. "But he's okay now, and you are free to take him." She then handed me an item holder with a pokecenter logo on it. "This is his medicine." She said. "Give it to him two times a day. It will help re-grow his bones faster but will also make him sleepy. They are to be taken with water, lots of water. And don't be surprised if they come into effect quickly."

"Joy, I've got a question." I said, digging though my pocket. "I asked the Nurse Joy about this in Olivine, but she never really gave me a straight answer." I pulled out the three rare candies and then continued. "I have these rare candies, I know they are illegal to have, but they are not illegal to use on your pokemon. I also know that they heal basic things in battle instantly. But, do you think that it could heal bones faster?"

"Hmm." She then took the three out of my hand. "That's a good question."

Three? I put my hands back in my pocket, digging around for my fourth one, Hmm, three. I wonder what happened to my fourth one? Eh, oh well, I bet I just lost it somewhere, probably when I was changing clothes over at Gram's.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt to try." Joy said, giving the three back to me. "That is, as long as you don't give them to him all at once. I would suggest waiting at least a week or two, then start giving them to him in smaller pieces. Break one up into four or five little chucks and give him one of the chunks a day. That would help him without expanding his body enough to damage it."

"Thank you, Joy." I said, taking the candies back, placing them in my pocket as I put the item holder on one of the hooks on my pokeball belt. "So, is it safe for me to recall him?" I asked, pointing to Arcanine.

"Yeah." She smiled as she helped me take all the equipment off of him. "Just don't forget to give him that medicine twice a day. I already gave him his daily amount today, so start him on it first thing tomorrow."

"I sure will." I smiled as we removed everything off of him. I held up his pokeball, sucking him back inside as I placed the ball back on my necklace. "Thanks again Joy, for everything."

"It's my job." She smiled. "Hey, and next time you come, give me a heads up so I will know to Kyle-proof everything before hand."

We both laughed as I waved and walked out of the center, once again stumbling over everything on my way through the lobby. Bill was still waiting outside, standing in his normal pose with one foot propped on the wall behind him with both hands behind his head.

"Well, how did everything go?" He asked as kicked off the wall, walking beside me.

"Good, I guess." I said, looking at Arcanine's pokeball. "Arcanine is going to be out for about three weeks or so. But she gave me some meds to help him."

"Man, three weeks?" Bill gasped. "That would be close to a year for a human to heal. What all happened to him?"

"Five broken ribs, broken paw, torn muscles, you name it, he's got it."

"Dang." He said looking back to the path we were walking on. "What kind of a fight was he in? It must have been a monster to cause that much damage. Was it a Kingdra, or Gyarados?"

"No, it was actually a Steelix." I chuckled. "We both thought we had the upper hand, but I guess our over confidence got in the way." I stopped walking, then thought to myself. "Hey, Bill, what time is it?"

"Oh um… hang on, let me check." He dug out his cell phone, putting a finger on the touch screen, making it light up. "It's 8:15. Why, what's up?"

A smile went across my face. "Have you heard about the fossil rehabilitator they have in Cinnabar?"

"Oh yeah." Bill acted like he just retrieved some long lost memories he had stored away in the back of his mind. "Isn't that the thing that your mother designed?"

"Heck, I don't know who designed it. But, have you heard if they have ever had any success with it yet?"

"Well, lets see." Bill put a finger to his chin again as we began to walk once more. "Last I heard of it they said that the only fossils they revived with success were fossils that were, or close to, 100% perfectly preserved. If the fossil was less then 99.5% complete then the reviving was a complete failure and the pokemon came out hideously disfigured, as well as only lived for a short span of 15 minutes or so."

"Do you know how many were successful?" I really hope they made an improvement since the last time.

"So far there have only been three that were successfully revived." Bill continued. "An Aerodactyl, Kabuto, and an Omanyte. Supposedly a fossil that is 100% intact is so rare that they sell for nearly a million dollars, and the only people that buy them are either private collectors or museums."

"Wow!" A million bucks! Dang, and here I was thinking I got the short end of the stick with Kabutops. "So do you happen to know who the three people are that got the pokemon?"

"Not all of them." Bill looked down. "The Aerodactyl was brought in my a female trainer, while the Kabuto was brought in by a male trainer about three months ago. But the last one, however, was recovered only last week by Professor Oak. He cashed in and bought one of the rare fossils, gambled to have the place bring it back to life, and has been running tests on it ever since. He said that after a few months of observations he is going to release his findings to the scientific world." He then looked up to the sky. "Man, it would be great to be able to observe one of those pokemon."

"Well here's a little fact for you." I smiled. "That male trainer that got the Kabuto is standing right here in front of you."

Bill turned to look at me, and then began to laugh. "You're full of crap!" He laughed louder, but then stopped when he saw the look on my face. "Holy snot, you're being serious." He just stared at me as he looked around. "Hey, can you show me?"

"Here?" I asked, seeing the streets filling up with the people coming back for the Ilex forest, who ran off looking for me. "Can we go somewhere else, somewhere not as populated?"

"Does the park sound good?" Bill asked as he pointed just up ahead to the edge of the town. It was an open lot of grass in a flat field with a couple trails and a few trees around. Not many people were in there this early, but a few were playing with their dog pokemon. I watched as a Snubble ran after a Frisbee, catching it and bringing it back to its trainer.

"Yeah, sure." I said as we walked into the park. There were few people around so I guess it was okay.

We walked a little ways away from everyone when I stopped and looked at Bill. "Now, Bill, I want you to know something first, about Kabutops."

"Wow! Your Kabuto already evolved?" He sat down on a bench as he brought out a notepad from his back pocket and a pen from his shirt pocket. He began franticly scribbling down stuff as he motioned for me to continue. "Go on, what else."

"Well, he's um…"

"So it's a male." He scribbled more down.

"Darnit, Bill! Let me speak!" He then stopped and looked at me. "Okay, he's a little … special."

"Special? How so?"

"Well… um…" I paused, thinking of a good way to put this. "He is a little bit… um… happier than most pokemon. And huggy, very, very huggy."

Bill cocked his head at me, giving a strange look of bewilderment. "Maybe if you released him it would give me more of an explanation?"

"Okay, but I just thought I would warn you." I held up his pokeball. "Oh yeah, one more thing. Don't run away from him."

"Huh?"

"Come on out, Kabutops!" I threw out his pokeball as a red light shot out, making the prehistoric pokemon appear a couple yards in front of Bill.

In this daylight made all of Kabutops's features very noticeable. His exoskeleton bone structure was shown as pieces of rocks jetted out of his rock body. Spikes covered over his back and head as his beady red and black eyes opened. His eyes focused on Bill as his razor sharp teeth began to show in a sinister smile. Drool, from his mouth as he grinned, was dripping from his face down to his claws on his feet. His razor sharp, blade like arms began to rise up high in the air as his eyes narrowed. He was looking at Bill, and Bill knew it.

Bill gulped and I saw him began to back up in the bench he was sitting at. Please don't run, Bill. Please don't run.

Kabutops opened his mouth as more drool fell from his sharp teeth. "Kaaaa… Booo…"

Bill began fidgeting in his seat, ready to spring at anytime.

Please don't run, he's not going to hurt you. Please don't run, if you do he's just going to make a scene.

"Booo!" Kabutops yelled as he took in a breath. "Tops-Tops-Tops-Tops!" He smiled happily as he ran at Bill, arms spread wide.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Bill screamed, jumping out of the bench as Kabutops ran after him. "Oh My God! Kyle! It's going to kill me!"

"Tops-Tops-Tops!" Kabutops smiled happily, only trying to hug his new friend.

Bill then ran behind me. "Stop him! Stop him! Stop him!"

Kabutops then turned and ran for me, his arms held out wide, wanting to give me a big hug. "Stop!" I said, holding out my hand in front of me at arms length.

Kabutops skidded to a stop as he looked at me. He then flopped down on the ground, sitting in an indian style of sitting as he tilted his head, looking at me with a goofy smile. "Bu-tops!" Then something caught his eye. He turned away, looking about ten feet away at this Caterpie that was crawling in the grass. Kabutops got on all fours, the best he could anyway, with his swords and knees on the ground, crawling toward the Caterpie. "Bu?" He said, tilting his head at the little worm, as he poked it with his sword.

"Cater!" The Caterpie turned to look at Kabutops with a scary face, but instead crawled away at top speed screaming at the sight of the prehistoric pokemon. "Cater-pi-pi-pi!" It cried out.

"Butops-top-tops!" Kabutops laughed happily as he began to play with the scared to death Caterpie.

Bill looked around my shoulder, seeing the monster of a pokemon on all fours, playing and laughing with an… insect. "So… um…"

"Exactly." I said, looking at Kabutops. "Now do you see, he's "special'".

"Yeah, I think I see what you're getting at." Bill then went back to sit on the bench, as I did as well. Bill then brought out his pen and notepad again. "That is amazing, to see a pokemon that went extinct long ago up and running around." Bill then looked over at me. "What about your other pokemon? I would like to see them too."

"Hmm…" I began to think. "Well, I suppose I can only let two of them out right now."

"Pi?" Pichu asked as he popped his head out of my book bag.

"Eh." I looked around, not seeing anyone in the park anymore. "Okay, you can come out too."

"Pi!" Pichu then jumped out of the bag, almost losing his balance when he landed on the ground. He was so fat that when he ran he almost tripped on his fat rolls. But he did get out there and play with the Caterpie, and before long, they all were playing pretty nice. That is, once Caterpie learned Kabutops wasn't going to kill it.

"But yeah, I wasn't talking about Pichu." I said, holding up a pokeball. "You see, Arcanine can't get out, Gyarados can't come out here because of the lack of water, and, well, you know the other one that can't come out now."

"So that leaves the one you have in your hand?" Bill asked, pointing at the pokeball.

"Yep." I smiled, throwing it out. "Come on out, Magcargo."

The purple fire snail appeared in front of me and I could swear that I saw Bill almost fall out of his seat. "You have a shiny, too?"

"Yeah." I smiled; watching as he slowly joined the others. "I found him on my way through Azalea town.

"My gosh." Bill said, scribbling down some notes. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity here!" I just laughed as I watched him take notes about my pokemon.

***_-Scene Change-_***

We stayed there, watching my pokemon for about two hours or so before we packed everything up and headed to the bike store. It wasn't that far away from the park, and I was glad for that. I had been walking around all day, and I wasn't used to that, though I knew I needed to get used to it. If I can't get my bike fixed today then my only other means of transportation would be Arcanine, and he's out, so that only leaves my feet. Poor feet.

We walked into the bike shop and was greeted by a man in a navy blue polo with some dirty blue jeans. "Welcome to Billy's Bike's and More." He said, running behind the counter with the cash register. "How may I help you today?"

"Could you take a look at my bike for me?" I asked, laying the capsule on the counter as Bill looked around at all the bicycles and motorcycles that litter the room. "It got a little banged up."

"Oh, um, okay." He picked up the capsule and looked at it intently before speaking again. "So is this a capsule model?"

I looked at him with a 'Mr. Obvious' kind of look. "Yes. It is."

"Oh, okay!" He smiled. "Just making sure! I'll go look at it, take a look around if you want and I'll be right back." After that he ran into the back with the capsule, letting the door to the garage slam shut.

I turned around and walked back over to Bill, who was looking at a blue bicycle on a rack. "You thinking about buying one?" I asked.

"I don't know. I might." He started looking around again. "I mean, I do have a car, but I suppose a bike would be more environmentally friendly." He stopped again, and looked at another blue bicycle. This one was a sportier looking one; with white stripes across the curving handle bars. "So what kind of bike did you get?"

"Heh." I chuckled. "Well, my bike isn't on the market yet. I got a prototype."

"That doesn't matter. Its not like people would ever check to see if a bicycle is registered by the region or not."

"Hey!" The man yelled as he came back in from the back. "Hey, kid, I took a look at your motorcycle."

"Wait, motorcycle?" Bill turned around to me. "You mean you have been driving around in an unregistered motorcycle?"

"Shhh!" I shushed him. "Keep it down." I then walked to the man at the counter. "Yeah, so what do you think?"

"Well." The guy sighed. "The body's a little dinged up."

There was a long pause. "And?" I asked.

"Um… well… lets see. It's got a flat tire."

"Yeah, and?" I asked again, this time getting annoyed.

"Um… It's a little low on oil."

"For God sake! How much will it cost to fix it?" I spoke loudly, probably more loudly then I needed too.

"Oh! You want me to fix it?" They guy then acted like something just clicked with him. "Oh! I get it now!"

"Yes! I want you to fix it! That's why I brought it here, so you can fix it."

"Oh… so um…" The guy then paused again. "So, what do you want me to fix?"

"Fr-gia, so-a, frigin…. AAarrrrrrrrrrr…." I growled. "Ahhhhh…" I put my palm on my face as I kept talking. "How much will it cost for you to repair the body, and replace the tire on my motorcycle?"

"Ohhh!" He then thought. "Well, the body I can fix for about… I don't know, it's pretty banged up… I would say about three thousand would do it."

"Three grand?" I then rolled my eyes. Well, I guess that's a good deal seeing as how its not registered anywhere, or even for sale. "Okay, and how about the tire? Can you get me a new one?"

"Umm… I don't think so. Let me check." He walked over to a computer/video phone that was on the table as he brought up an online catalog with motorcycle parts. "It looks like they don't even make a tire that size for a bike."

"That's great." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Umm… the closest thing I can get for you would be a tractor tire. But if I put that on there you couldn't go any faster than 40 miles per hour or it would blow out." He then looked at me. "Would you like me to put one on for you?"

"No, don't put a stupid tractor tire on it!" I then paused. "Hey, wait. Is that a video phone too?" I asked.

"This?" They guy asked pointing to the computer. "Yeah, it is."

"Do you know the number of the bike shop in Cerulean City?"

"You mean in Kanto?" The guy asked.

"Yes, it is the only city named Cerulean."

"Oh yeah! I know that place."

Once again there was a long pause. "Ahh…" I sighed. "Can you call the bike shop for me?"

"Oh! Yeah, I can do that." He then paused. "Which bike shop?"

I grit my teeth together as I felt steam roll out of my ears. "Can you PLEASE call the number of the bike shop in Cerulean City?" I spoke through my teeth.

"Oh! Yeah! Yeah!" He then dialed a number and waited for it to ring in.

"Yeah, what is it?" A guy on the phone picked up. "What do you want now Billy?"

"Uhhhh…" Billy said as he stared at the videophone blankly.

"Oh for God's sake." I jumped over the table, pushing Billy away from the video feed. "Hey, remember me?" I asked, taking off my shades.

"No, why?" The guy on the other end asked. "Should I, kid?"

"I suppose you should seeing as how I paid five million dollars for a bike at your shop."

I saw the man's eyes grow wide as he began to laugh. "Well, hey kid!" The man laughed. "I thought I would never see you again. So what's up, did you get into a little trouble or something and need the bike worked on?"

"Yeah, you could say that."

"Well hey, my advice to you…" He leaned in really close to the camera. "Don't let B-I-L-L-Y work on it." He said, spelling it out. "He's not that S-M-A-R-T if you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I've gathered that."

"Well, hey kid, like I told you last year, if that bike ever gets hurt or damaged before it comes out, just send it back to me and I'll cover the damages." The guy then laughed as he pointed to the item deposit unit. "Just place it in there."

"Hey, that's awesome!" I said with a smile as took the capsule out of Billy's hand and placed it in the unit. I hit the send button and the capsule flashed three times before being transported to the other end. "Hey, did you get it?"

"Yep, right here." The man said as he held up the capsule. "Now kid, just give me about a week or so and call me back. I should have it fixed by then. So hey, what's all wrong with it anyway?"

"It needs body work and a new tire." I said.

"Hmm… better give me two weeks." The man then put the capsule some where out of sight of the camera. "But yeah, just give me a call and I'll send it back to you free of charge."

"Thanks so much for that!" I said with a smile.

"Anytime." The man then laughed. "Just don't forget to stop back over here in Cerulean City next time you pass through. I want you to see what all that money you spent went into." After that the call was cut.

".I want you to see what all that money you spent went into"? Well I guess 5 million dollars does go a long way. I turned to look back at Bill who was still looking at bikes. "Welp!" I said, jumping over the counter. "Ready to get out of here?"

"Yeah, sure, I guess." Bill turned to me as we walked out the door.

"Come back… anytime… thank you for you… business." Billy said from behind the counter as the door shut.

"So where now?" Bill asked.

"Lets go for a hike." I smiled.

"What kind of a hike?"

"An icy one." I saw Bill smile as we ran off into the woods.

"Come on follow me!" Bill said. "I know someplace no one ever goes, it would be a great place for her to come out!"

***_-Scene Change-_***

Articuno didn't seem to thrilled about meeting Bill, but after a while they seemed to really hit it off. She informed him about all the information regarding legendaries that he wanted to know, as well as other things about her. He tried to stay off touchy subjects, such as her family or other stuff like that, but he did beat around the bush, and Articuno quickly changed the topic every time.

They stayed there talking for quite a while, that is until me and Bill went to go get lunch. But as soon as we were done eating, we went right back into the woods and they talking started all over again. I must say, it was pretty boring to listen to them talk, but it gave me and Pichu some time to train, trying to work off all that fat he had gained.

We stopped and ate once more before me and Bill went our different ways.

"So where you off to now?" Bill asked.

"Well, I need to complete the Johto league in two months, so my next stop is Mahogany." I smiled, watching as the sun began set.

"Oh, going to fight Pryce, huh?" Bill questioned. "Well, seeing as how you have three fire types, I wouldn't worry that much about it."

"Yeah, well that's what I thought when I fought Jasmine too, but look what she did to Arcanine." I smiled. "I'm not going to take any chances. Types mean nothing in a pokemon battle."

"Well, Kyle." Bill said as he stood up. "I guess I'll see you later. You take care now, you hear?"

"You too Bill." We gave each other a hug as we began to walk our different ways, him to his Gram's house, and me into the woods. "Hey, Bill." I said, stopping. "You forgot these." I took off the sunglasses and handed them to him.

He just smiled and shook his head. "You keep them. They look better on you anyway. Besides, now I can call you six eyes instead of four."

"Hah!" I laughed. "Just because you have contacts now doesn't mean anything." We stayed there smiling at one another. "Well, take it easy Bill."

"You too, bud."

I turned, walking into the woods, where Articuno waited for me only a few hundred feet away.

"Are we ready to leave?" She asked.

"Yeah, lets head on out of here." I said, climbing on her back.

I saw her turn to look at me. "Is everything alright, Kyle?"

"Yeah." I said quietly. "I just wish… oh, never mind." I chuckled. "It was stupid."

Articuno looked back in front of her as she took off into the air, leaving the little frozen patch of forest behind us. "I have a feeling Shonna feels the same way." She spoke. "From the way you speak of her, I don't think she would be any other kind of person." When I didn't say anything, she continued. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't pry into your thoughts."

"No, its okay." I said as I pat her on the back. "I just hope you're right. I really do."