The inside of Mr. Pokémon's house was filled with all sorts of old furniture and shelves piled into one large room. A few large server cabinets sat in the back corner, with an amalgam of wires feeding into a single desktop computer. Many different types of feathers, scales, and rocks sat on the shelves. Some were labeled, even enclosed in glass, but most were lumped together in large piles.
An old man with a shock of white hair stood by the computer, chatting with someone over video. A man in a business suit and nice hat sat at a large dining table near the entrance, scratching notes and peering at a large egg with odd spots and markings. This man looked up when the two kids and their Pokémon entered the house.
"Ah! You two must be Gold and Crystal," he stood up, and shook their hands. "Professor Elm said you would visit. Here, this is what I want Professor Elm to look at." He grabbed the egg off of the table and handed it to Gold.
"It's warm," said Gold.
"Strange, isn't it? I friend of mine from Ecruteak gave it to me. I haven't seen any egg like this in Johto. I was hoping that Professor Elm might be able to tell what this is." He gestured over to the old man on the computer. "After all, the famous Professor Oak even said that 'He's the best when it comes to the research of Pokémon evolution.' Isn't that right?"
The man on the computer smiled at them and walked over, "Excuse my manners, I was just talking to my grandson over in Kanto. My name's Professor Oak, I'm a Pokémon researcher!" Professor Oak shook their hands, and then knelt down to shake the hands of TD and Marill. Marill complied happily, bouncing around with Oak's arm. TD was tempted to bite Oak's hand, just for fun, but somehow didn't.
"I'm Crystal," said Crystal, "That's TD, he's the greatest Pokémon in Johto."
"Oh, is that so?" Professor Oak chuckled.
"I'm Gold," said Gold, "And this is Marill."
"Well, it's nice to meet you. That Totodile's quite a rare Pokémon. I see, you must be helping Professor Elm's research." Oak nodded and stood up. "I think I understand why he gave you those Pokémon. It seems you treat them with love and care, they seem to be quite close with you."
Gold nodded, "Yeah, I got Marill a month ago, and Crystal just got TD this morning."
"Really? Well, you seem to be rather dependable! How would you like to help me out?" The professor pulled out a small electronic device from his pocket and opened it up. It had a screen and a few buttons, displaying a young Bulbasaur on the screen.
Crystal's eyes widened, "Is that a Pokédex?"
"Indeed! This is actually the latest version. The older model has a complete list of all Pokémon in the Kanto region, but this one is capable of cataloguing all the Pokémon to be found in Johto, and perhaps a few other regions. I'd like you two to have this."
Crystal grabbed it, "Really?"
"Of course! The old assistant I had filling it up has gone off on some new adventure, it seems. I'm afraid I only have one with me, so you two will have to share. Still! Two heads are certainly better than one."
"There's a lot of cool Pokémon by my grandparents' house," said Gold, "When I go to Goldenrod this summer, you'll have to come and help me, Crystal."
"Right!" Crystal beamed.
"Oh!" said the Professor, "I've stayed too long. I actually have to get to Goldenrod, for my usual radio show. Gold, Crystal: I have a feeling this is not the last time we'll meet. Let's exchange numbers, so I can stay updated on your progress and you can ask if you have any questions."
Silver hesitated. The window was wide open now, and last he checked, the professor's back was turned. All morning, he had been worried about someone spotting him since that scare earlier. Some clueless girl from the town had managed to sneak up on him. Lucky for him, she soon left town, and apparently was too pathetic to even look for an adult to report him.
However, the small town was now quiet, and it looked like both people in the lab were busy at work. The only better time would have been at night, but he knew from last night that the windows were kept closed and locked as soon as it got dark out, and he didn't want to cut something breaking the glass. He wasn't sure if the professor's desk was kept locked at night, either.
No, the best time to steal a Pokémon would be now. Silver hoisted himself up over and through the windowsill, careful to avoid disturbing anything on the table directly below it. He landed on the floor with a barely audible tap, that may as well have been a crash, considering his nerves. But neither of the men in the lab so much as twitched.
Silver walked over to Professor Elm's desk, eyes kept steadily on the professor as the older man concentrated on typing something in at the computer and compact Pokécenter station at the other end of the room. He slid open the desk drawer, and his breath caught. Old wood scraping against old wood was obnoxiously loud in the quiet room.
Although the professor didn't hear him, his assistant did. The assistant glanced over at the sound by the desk, and caught Silver's eyes.
"Hey, who are you?" exclaimed the assistant.
Silver grabbed the first PokéBall he could and ran for the window.
Professor Elm looked over, and realized the situation. "Stop!"
But Silver dove out, scattering potions and books all over the table beneath the window.
Silver kept running, going straight through the winding hills and grasslands along Route 29. He lost his way, and had to backtrack several times. The whole way, he couldn't help but here police sirens in his head. He didn't stop until he hit the entrance to Cherrygrove. Now, he had a chance to breathe and test his Pokémon.
Suddenly, Silver bumped into someone. It was a young girl with a big white hat. It was the same girl from that morning who spooked him.
Crystal and Gold left Mr. Pokémon's house, happy to be headed home so early. It hadn't taken nearly as long as they thought to get to their destination, at least now that they had two Pokémon to help clear their path.
Crystal's phone went off. "It's the professor again!" she exclaimed.
She pulled up the phone on her PokéGear.
"H-hello?" stammered Professor Elm in a frenzy, "It's a disaster! This is terrible! Oh, you kids better get back right away!"
"Professor? What's wrong?" asked Crystal. The line went dead.
"What was that about?" asked Gold.
"I'm not sure, he said we needed to get back home right away. Hold on, I'm going to try calling him back." Crystal put the phone on speaker and dialed his number. The professor picked up after the fourth ring, relieving the kids.
"Crystal, I'm very upset. We just had a Pokémon stolen here."
"What? That can't be!"
"Who would do such a thing?" demanded Gold.
"You kids better get back right away," said Professor Elm, "I can explain it all here. But right now, you need to get home. There's no telling how dangerous this person is, and I don't want you running into him!"
"Okay!" said Crystal, suddenly serious. "We'll be back in a flash, professor, just sit tight and don't you worry."
They ran through the tall grass back towards Cherrygrove. Although they were able to evade most of the wild Pokémon, one Weedle managed to sting Marill. Gold sustained Marill's stamina with a potion, but by the time they got back to Cherrygrove, Marill was wobbling and about to fall over.
"It'll only be a minute," said Gold. He rushed his Pokémon through the doors of the PokeCenter. Crystal paced impatiently outside, wandering around towards the mouth of the road that would lead them back to New Bark Town.
TD waddled around, carefree. He started crawling over a fence, and played around in the flowers. When he began pulling at them, Crystal finally spoke up.
"Hey! TD! You shouldn't do that!"
Crystal's Totodile looked up at her with a blank stare, and then continued breaking the garden.
"TD… You're going to get me in trouble," whined Crystal.
Suddenly, Crystal was knocked back as a young kid bumped into him. This kid had long red hair, and was about her age. This was the kid who was hanging around Professor Elm's laboratory earlier!
The two of them shouted in surprise. TD heaved himself over the fence and went over to them to see what was the matter.
"Hey, watch where you're going!" Crystal rubbed her forehead, sniffling a little from the small bump on her head. The kid didn't seem to have noticed any pain when they slammed into each other.
"You got a Pokémon from the lab," The red-headed kid looked at TD, and snorted. "What a waste." The kid had an angry glare plastered on his face.
"Excuse me?" Crystal put her hands on her hips.
"That's a Pokémon that's too good for the likes of you." The kid stared down Crystal.
"TD's the best Pokémon in the world. What's that got to do with me?"
"Don't you get what I'm saying?" the kid scoffed. "Well, I too have a good Pokémon. I'll show you what I mean!"
The kid backed up a few paces. TD scurried over to his trainer's side, ready for battle.
The kid reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a PokéBall. He expanded it, and then tossed it at the ground. A familiar Chikorita emerged.
"It's Chikorita!" shouted Crystal. She pulled out the Pokédex, which scanned the Pokémon.
The device buzzed out, "Chikorita: The Leaf Pokémon. It loves to bask in the sunlight. It uses the leaf on its head to seek out warm places."
"Ah, I already knew all that," whined Crystal.
The kid pursed his lips in annoyance. He glanced behind him, and the back at his Chikorita. He was staring up at the kid curiously.
"Okay, Chikorita- Go ahead and use tackle!"
The Chikorita grinned, and rushed at his old friend. TD staggered back from the impact, surprised. Usually, he had always been trampled over whenever he and his friend played.
"You can take it, TD!" shouted Crystal, "Go ahead and use scratch."
TD scraped at Chikorita, who back-pedaled in shock from the blow.
"TD, keep it going!"
"Chikorita, use growl!"
The Chikorita growled at TD as the Pokémon leapt towards him. TD hesitated slightly, which weakened the blow of his attack.
"Now, Chikorita, use tackle again!"
Chikorita slammed into TD again.
"TD, return his blows! Don't get psyched out, that Chikorita's almost down!" Crystal examined both Pokémon. She could easily tell how much stronger TD had gotten just from this one day of training. However, it looked like this kid hadn't trained Chikorita at all yet.
The kid grunted, "You're doing OK for someone weak. Chikorita, don't let that Totodile hit you!"
But in just a few blows, Chikorita was down for the count. TD was barely winded. He jumped up into Crystal's arms, barking happily.
"Are you happy you won?" sneered the kid. He returned Chikorita to his PokéBall.
"I guess. But who are you?"
"I'm going to be the world's greatest Pokémon Trainer. And that's all you need to know." The kid ran past Crystal, bumping into her again. Crystal fell to the ground this time. She spotted something.
"Hey!"
The kid ran past the PokeCenter as Gold came out. Gold walked over to his friend's side, helping her up, "Who was that?"
"…Silver," Crystal showed Gold a trainer card that the kid, Silver, had dropped just moments before.
"Give it back!" suddenly, Silver was in their face again. His serious glare turned to shock. "Y-you know my name!" He swiped the card off of Crystal, then ran off, muttering in panic.
Gold paused, and looked at Crystal, "So he's not a friend, then?"
Crystal shrugged, grimacing.
Teams and Levels:
Crystal: TD (Totodile) 8
Gold: Marill 9
Silver: Chikorita 5