My Main Pokemon:

Soren – Cyndaquil
Victor – Pidgey
Kadela – Weedle
Joseline – Bellsprout
Rhine – Gastly

...Victor snuggled up to me under the blanket and closed his eyes, promptly falling asleep. I followed him a few minutes later.

I woke up at some point around noon the next day, and I was immediately wide awake. I sat up and the wind whipped at my hair, having picked up considerably since the night before. Victor slid down into my lap, then opened his eyes, looked up at me, and hid his head under one of his wings. I lifted him off me gently and put him on top of my blanket while I cleaned up my things from the night before. By the time I had everything put away Victor was fully awake and was creating his own Gusts to ride before catching the wind higher up. I kept an eye on him as I walked along the bank back towards Violet. The air above the trees was going due east, which gave him incredible ground speed from the tailwind, so he kept having to double back when I called for him to not get too far ahead of me.

It was easier to navigate the shore now since it was light out, so we made good time getting back to Violet. I made my way straight to the shop I had picked out the night before and entered it.

About forty-five minutes and 8000д later I left the shop. I now wore a black tank top and a pair of army green cargo pants which could be turned into shorts by unzipping the zipper that ran around the knees. A decent sized black, green, and orange backpack was slung over one of my shoulders and held the rest of my purchases and other belongings. I still wore the running shoes I had received back in Cherrygrove (had it really only been two days before?), but in my bag I had some covers for them that would keep my feet dry if it was raining (and judging by the clouds such an opportunity may not be far off). In one of the pockets of my cargo pants was a pair of mirror aviators in a durable case just waiting for the sun to come out so I could show them off (it had been hard for me to look away from myself when I had them on back inside the shop).

I had bought a second identical pair of the cargo pants I wore, as well as three other black tank tops, a white one, a dark red one, and a dark brown one. They were made of a nice thin material and rolled up to a volume less than my fist, so I was very satisfied with them (plus they were buy two get one free, so I saved a good chunk of money). I also bought a pair of black shorts, a warm waterproof jacket, and a bathing suit. I had found a durable emergency blanket (reinforced with some material I wasn't familiar with), and had opted for a large tarp instead of a tent. I also bought a good knife and multi-tool in addition to a few other small purchases, including Repels (which I had a feeling would become a good friend of mine), Pokemon medicine, and a wonderful solution for cleaning clothes without a machine.

The clerk had been very helpful, and had even shown me a nice trick where Pokeballs could be used for one-time storage of inanimate items (once they're taken out the Pokeball becomes unusable because the mechanism is damaged when the items are released). There was a Pokeball buried at the bottom of my bag that contained my old clothes, bag, and blanket. They had also warned me that there was an odd tree blocking the way to Ecruteak, so I'd probably have to detour around and go through Azalea and Goldenrod if I was heading in that direction. When I inquired further they said they didn't know much about it, just that no one was able to get past it and that it was bad for business because people couldn't come to Violet to shop and vice-versa.

I used the last of my money to grab some food for myself and my Pokemon before walking towards route 36, hoping that there would be plenty of trainers so that I could rebuild my money stash. I figured that I would just walk around the tree through the forest; what was stopping people from doing that? Above all I was determined to skip Goldenrod, because I knew that was the most dangerous place to be when trying to avoid the police – they were everywhere in that city.

I could see the tree long before I reached it. It was quite short, only about four feet tall. Its bark was smooth and light brown with some yellow thrown in, and the only leaves were strange green round things at the end of its two branches – it had what looked like the beginnings of branches coming out the top.

"Not much of a tree," I said out loud as I looked down on it from a few feet away. Victor chirped then jumped off my shoulder and down onto one of the tree's two branches.

And then he was flung off.

I gasped in surprise, both at the fact that the tree moved and the fact that it had flung Victor. I turned to run a few paces behind me to try and catch Victor, but he had already spread his wings to glide downwards. Before I turned back, however, a rock came out of nowhere and hit Victor, knocking him out of the sky. I gasped again but caught him, one of his claws cutting my arm (luckily I had rolled the sleeves of my jacket up or else he would have torn a hole in it). I hissed at this, but it was clear Victor was in more pain than I was, one of his wings bent out of place.

I turned slightly when I heard a noise from behind me, but then there was a sharp pain in my shoulder, and a rock fell to the ground behind me. I looked around frantically, trying to find the source of the onslaught. I couldn't see anything, and I didn't want to get near the tree after I saw it move so I went towards the forest. I would either find the source of the rocks or be able to take cover – either one sounded like a good option to me.

I had taken one step into the forest when my leg hit something thin, and a shock went through my body, causing me to fall back a step and almost drop Victor. I looked down and saw a very thin wire not far off the ground, and upon closer inspection, I found that there were several others that were in my path (the shadows hid them quite well). There was no way I could fit in between them.

I assessed my situations within moments. A tree that moved, something attacking me with rocks, and electric fences in a really random area.

I was done there.

I knew from the map in the Pokemon Centre that the Ruins of Alph lay to the south, but that would just waste time, so I went back to Violet to get Victor's wing fixed (and to get my arm bandaged up as well) before proceeding south from there.

As I walked south down route 32 I was stopped by a man who gave me what he called a Miracle Seed, which would apparently boost the power of Grass-type moves. I debated between giving it to Joseline or selling it as I continued to walk. The wind was calm along the path, the trees blocking the wind but the treetops swaying.

I faced a kid called Albert who used a Rattata and a Zubat, but insisted he wasn't using the same tough Pokemon as everyone else. I couldn't help but laugh as I walked away after defeating him, not able to count how many trainers I had faced that used Rattata. Zubat were far less common, but hardly tough. Soon after defeating him I found a Repel on the ground, but decided to save it and put it away in my bag with the other Repels (my new bag had so many pockets it was wonderful).

At one point the path divided into two, and I was going to go along the fishing pier because I could see plenty of trainers, but then I spotted an item in the grass and decided to go through it and then go at the pier from the south. It ended up being a TM for Bullet Seed, and I also found a Great Ball further along down the path.

As we worked our way through the grass Rhine was having a field day with the Mareep because they couldn't hurt her, but they kept paralyzing each other so I used up a fair chunk of the Parlyz Heals I had bought. She could have learned Curse at one point when she levelled up, but I decided against that because it was just asking for trouble. Victor also managed a couple of one-hit KOs with Quick Attack, which was quite impressive. There were a couple of trainers in the grass, one of which was an eight year old with a cellphone which just made me shake my head; at least get a PokeGear if you're going to start that young. A couple of the trainers had Spearows, which I think are just mentally retarded Pidgeys. Also, Woopers are just derpy.

Once I was through the grass I doubled back along the pier to face those trainers. I quickly determined that Magikarp were nothing more than a waste of time and PP. Joseline made quick work of all the water Pokemon, though I did get a scare when a Goldeen used Peck on Joseline's face and she barely managed a Vine Whip to finish it off, but she gained a level's worth of EXP so that was nice. She learnt Wrap, which ended up not being effective in the least, though I did have the idea to have her combine it with Vine Whip for a close-proximity attack; I'd have her try that when we had time to just train. I decided to save the training for later, because the clouds were getting low and dark.

I walked down the rest of the route with a grin on my face, all the trainers having paid me over 100д each. When I rounded a group of trees I found a Pokemon Centre, which was a pleasant surprise because some of my Pokemon's moves were getting low on PP. Right beside the Pokemon Centre was the entrance to Union Cave, which I entered after exiting the Pokemon Centre.

The first thing I noticed when I entered Union Cave was the amount of Rattata scurrying about; I could see at least three at any one time, and they were going in and out of holes in the walls.

Not far in I found an X-Attack on the ground, and when I bent down to pick it up I felt something swoop close over my head. I stood up quickly, scanning the cave. There was a Zubat looking at me from the ceiling, and when our eyes met it hid its head with one of its wings, similar to what Victor had done that morning when he woke up. I shrugged, then motioned for Joseline (who was still out and walking with me after dealing with all the water Pokemon on the pier) to follow after me as I continued through the cave.

I quickly noticed that the Zubat was stalking me – there was no other word for it. It would follow after us, then try to hide whenever I turned my head; and by hiding I mean it hid its face, as if that would make it invisible to me.

A good distance into the cave I decided to just confront the Zubat. I switched Joseline out for Rhine, who used Hypnosis to put the Zubat to sleep. I decided to catch the Zubat since it seemed to like me already, so I ordered Rhine to use Lick on it. The Lick caused the Zubat to wake up immediately, however, and it proceeded to use Supersonic and confuse Rhine (and give me a headache – I should have bought some headache pills for myself back in Violet). She hurt herself when I told her to Lick the Zubat, but snapped out of it before her next attack.

After a short battle the Zubat was caught. Checking my PokeDex, I saw that she was a careful level 7 who was highly persistent – no kidding. I released her from her Pokeball. "Well Helia, let's try you out."

And by try, I mean attempt but not succeed. No matter what I did Helia refused to battle any of the Pokemon we encountered, whether Rattata, Geodude, or fellow Zubat. Is it normal for Zubat to be so stupid as to not follow their trainer's instructions? I thought with another frustrated sigh as I released Victor from his Pokeball to deal with the Rattata that thought it was a good idea to get in my way.

And that is when Helia went from following my every move to following Victor's tail like a hawk – she just didn't leave him alone. I couldn't tell whether he liked the attention or not, but I put them back into their Pokeballs when one of his Gusts accidentally hit Helia as well, causing her to shoot down the path uncontrollably and hit a passing Onix in the eye (Onix are freaking huge Pokemon, by the way). Joseline took care of it with a few Vine Whips and learnt Sleep Powder as a result, but that didn't mean that I wanted it to happen again.

As I continued through the cave I came across more items, including an X-Speed, X-Defend, and a TM for Rock Tomb, along with more trainers. The hikers paid very well at over 300д apiece. There was also a strange wild-eyed man that offered me Slowpoketails, but I brushed past him and ignored him. Victor learnt Whirlwind and forgot Tackle after defeating a Firebreather's Koffing, and I began to ponder how I could use that move in battle. Joseline also learned PoisonPowder and forgot Growth, which she had never used.

During one battle I heard a strange cry echo through the cave, which startled me. The trainer I was facing told me it was the Lapras that lived in the depths of the cave. I had heard of Lapras, but had had no idea about where to find it. After a few more questions I made it my goal to acquire it when I could.

I found several more items before I reached the end of the cave. When I reached the entrance I saw that it was raining outside, so I took off my bag and put the covers on my shoes, put my jacket on, and pulled my umbrella out.

On to Azalea.

Author's Notes – Another chapter, the shortest yet and slightly boring. I rushed it slightly on purpose because nothing interesting really happens and I didn't want you guys to die. Plus now that it's done I can work on the next chapter which is extremely epic (I've started to write it and had to force myself to come back and proofread and post this).

I don't know if there's actually some magical stuff for cleaning clothes quickly and easily without a machine, but I'm taking liberty on this.

The Sudowoodo...I don't even know what to say.

I actually raged so much when I remembered that Lapras was in Union Cave, I always told myself that I would use Repels all through it so that I could legitely catch it later on once I had Surf but I fucked up and forgot and I had already saved and that makes me angry and grr I may make a plot device so that I can get it x.x