Another day came upon our three heroes, and they were making their way through a path down the middle of a forest. Lily the Chikorita travelled out of her PokéBall, in Roses arms, and even Dratini had mustered the courage to come out of its PokéBall to slither alongside Poppy. Gage had even decided to let Ivysaur out to enjoy the sun as well.

When they came to a clearing in the forest that revealed a lake, Gage grinned and suggested, "Hey, why don't we stop here for some a swim and some lunch?"

"Yes, please," huffed Rose, who seemed tired. She wasn't used to all the walking yet. "I'm sweating buckets. A swim would be fabulous."

"Yeah," Poppy agreed. Smiling down at Dratini, she asked, "I'm sure you'd love a swim, huh, friend?"

Dratini nodded and squealed happily, as the group came onto the lake. In no time, they'd changed into bathing suits. Rose had removed her floral head band and shimmied into a pink and white flower print two piece. Gage changed into a pair of dark teal swim trunks. Poppy removed the backwards baseball cap she always had on and the rest of her clothes, and slipped into a navy blue one piece with white stripes on the sides.

Suddenly, a red beam shot out of one of the PokéBalls in Poppy's backpack, taking the three humans by surprise. It was Poppy's Chinchou, even happier than its usual self, which Poppy didn't even think it was possible. It smiled and squealed, waggling its fins and antennae, and, after giving Poppy a quick hug, hopped right onto the water and started playing by itself, as happy as it could be.

"Well, Chinchou's back in its natural habitat," Poppy grinned. "And seemes even happier than usual."

"I didn't even know that Chinchou could get any happier," Gage laughed. "Why don't we let the others out for a swim in the lake?"

"Sure thing!" Poppy agreed.

So she released Chikorita and Gage released Raichu and Hitmontop, and the whole group hopped in the lake for a good swim. There were splash fights, games of Marco Polo, and other shenanigans, for quite some time, before deciding to break for a picnic lunch.

Lily and Poppy's Chikorita found a bed of flowers not so far off, which they both seemed to love. Lily pranced and hopped and sniffed all the flowers, as Chikorita only tried to take a nap among all of the flowers. Lily pounced on Chikorita playfully, nudging at it and kicking it to try and wake it up, which didn't make Chikorita too happy. Annoyed, it used Vine Whip to knock Lily away, which only annoyed Lily. They nearly got into a full-out Vine Whip fight, until Ivysaur intervened, picking them both up off of the ground with its own Vine Whip, as it scolded them for fighting.

Chinchou was still swimming in the water. Dratini was curled in the grass right on the edge of the water, dangling its tail over the edge. Chinchou chased Dratini's tail, hopping out of the water to poke it with its little fins, until Dratini moved its tail again. Off on the edge of the forest, Raichu and Hitmontop picked some berries off of a bush, happily chatting away as they did so.

Meanwhile, the human trainers started prepping some sandwiches for lunch. They were still in their bathing suits, but they had dried off. They'd established a sandwich system - Rose put on the jelly, Gage put on the peanut butter, and finally Poppy put the two slices of bread together and onto the plate. Suddenly, the trio heard what sounded like a huge impact, and a Pokémon in pain.

They glanced at each other, concerned, surprised and a little confused.

Poppy was the first to rise to her feet, as she said, "We really should go see what that was. A Pokémon could be in serious trouble."

"You're right," Gage nodded, as he stood up.

"Yeah, let's go," Rose agreed.

The three of them were off, after calling most of their Pokémon back into their PokéBalls, and quickly slipping back into their clothes and gathering their things. They left Dratini, Ivysaur and Lily out, and then sprinted off through the woods in the direction that they'd heard the noise come from. To their surprise, there wasn't an injured Pokémon waiting for help, but instead, two Trainers in the middle of a battle.

The trio and their Pokémon stopped in their tracks, so that they didn't run into the middle of the battle. Seizing the opportunity, Poppy pulled out the PokéDex, though only one Pokémon was unknown to her.

About the Pokémon that Poppy already knew, the PokéDex said: "Cloyster, a Bivalve Pokémon. Its shell is incredibly strong and resistant to a bomb. Its shell only opens when it attacks."

And, about the Pokémon that Poppy had never seen, the PokéDex told them: "Deino, the Irate Pokémon. Because Deino never stops biting anything it can, it is dangerous to approach without taking precautions."

"Woah," Poppy muttered. "I've never seen a Deino before."

"That's because they're native to the Unova region," Gage explained. "Not from around here. Its Trainer must be from up there."

Before Poppy could reply, the battle got back underway.

"Okay, Deino, use Dragon Pulse!" commanded its black-haired Trainer.

"Close, Cloyster," countered the Cloyster's blue-haired trainer, whose face was obscured by the shadows. Just from his tone, he seemed arrogant.

The trio watched, slack-jawed, as Deino launched what looked like a powerful attack. It looked powerful, but it was completely deflected by Cloyster's shell. The defensive move clearly shocked Deino and its Trainer, but Cloyster's trainer only chuckled from his place in the shadows, as Cloyster opened its shell to reveal the sly grin on its face.

"Finish it off with Ice Beam, Cloyster," said its Trainer. "We don't have all day to battle losers."

Deino didn't even have a chance. In the blink of an eye, Cloyster launched an Ice Beam, that was a dead-on hit, freezing Deino solid. Immediately, its dark-haired Trainer, clad in cream pants, and a baggy blue top raced for his Pokémon, who was now encased in a block of ice, seeming worried as ever as he kneeled down by his frozen friend.

"Deino, are you okay?" he asked, shouting at it through the ice. "Talk to me, buddy!"

"Deino," the Pokémon muttered weakly in response.

The opposing Trainer stepped forward with an arrogant chuckle, revealing himself. His hair was deep blue and messy, falling into his eyes and pulled into a ponytail. He wore a dark blue t-shirt beneath a red and gray-blue short sleeved jacket, black jeans, and red boots that matched his jacket. There was a silver chain hanging from his neck, and leather studded wrist bands on either arm, along with a cocky expression. As soon as they got a good look at him, Gage winced.

"Good job, Cloyster," the other Trainer said, calling Cloyster back into its PokéBall. The Trainer flipped his hair from his eyes, and chuckled again, as he added, "You might want an ice pick to get your Deino out of there."

Deino's trainer rose to his feet, and extended a hand to shake. Trying to be a good sport he said, "Yeah, that was a really impressive attack. Great battle."

"I know," replied the cockier Trainer. He rejected the handshake, only flipping his hair out of his eyes again. "Anyway, I'm outta here. Better get that Deino out of the ice."

He started walking off from the Trainer he'd beaten, and towards the trio. He glanced up at them, locking eyes with Gage, who looked angry, while the other Trainer smirked and chuckled arrogantly yet again.

"Well, well, well," teased the other Trainer. "If it isn't Gage the Geek."

Now, even more angry and annoyed, Gage spat, "What're you doing here, Felix?"

"I'm here to win the Johto League, why else would I be here?" the Trainer called Felix countered. "Things got boring back home in Kanto after I beat you at the Indigo League. I needed new and better trainers to battle, but I still haven't found anyone able to beat me yet."

"Well, you got beat in the final four of the Indigo League," Gage reminded him.

"True, but I knocked you out of the Top Eight," Felix replied smugly. That shut Gage up, bringing about another arrogant chuckle from Felix. "Anyway, are you going to be rude and not introduce me to your two little girlfriends here?"

"We're not his girlfriends," spat Poppy, who was already disgusted with this Felix guy. "And I can introduce myself. I'm Poppy."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Poppy," Felix told her, as he shook her hand in a deceptively gentlemanly manner. He leaned into her hand as if he was going to kiss it, but then sharply looked up at her and said, "I'm surprised a girl as beautiful as yourself would be travelling with a loser like Gage the Geek over her."

Ripping her hand from his grip, she responded, "I happen to like Gage a lot and I don't think he's a geek at all. You, on the other hand, seem like a total jerk."

"Hmph," muttered Felix, flipping his hair from his eyes again. He moved his attention to Rose, and he asked, "And who're you, little girl? Are you even old enough to have that wimpy Chikorita?"

Now, like her companions, Rose was irritated and angered. She spat, "Of course I am! And I'm no little girl!"

"You look pretty little to me," Felix replied. "Anyways, I've got to go. I'm on my way to get my second Gym Badge."

"What?!" Gage asked, in shock. "You already got a Gym Badge?!"

"Yup," Felix nodded. He pulled a shiny silver wing-shaped badge from his vest, showing it off, as he said, "Just won this at the Violet City Gym. That Gym leader's Flying Pokémon were no match for my Electabuzz."

After putting his badge back in his vest, he concluded, "Well, I've really got to go and get my next Gym Badge. Catch you later, Geek."

With that, he turned on his heels, heading off into the forest, leaving everyone he'd angered behind.

The trio watched him go, burning with anger as they watched him leave, before the Deino's Trainer meekly asked, "Would you guys mind helping me get Deino out of this ice?"

A while later, the trio and Deino's Trainer freed it from the ice. Deino was just fine - a bit chilled, but just fine.

"Thank you guys, so much," Deino's Trainer said geniunely, as he rose to his feet to give his Pokémon a good pat. "I'm Elliot, by the way, and this is my pal, Deino."

While the trio introduced themselves to Elliot and Deino, Team Rocket watched them from a not-so-distant tree.

"That's a Deino," Rattata informed his two partners. "Never seen one of them in person before."

"Maybe that's because you're not a person," muttered Thomas under his breath. When Rattata glared at him in response, he shuddered and added, "And maybe that's because they're also native to the Unova region and not the Johto region!"

"If they're not native around here," Trixie mused. "The boss might really like one."

"Mhm," Rattata agreed. "Imagine how happy the boss would be if we brought him a Deino like that! I hear Deino's are always bitin' and chompin' away at stuff, so maybe the boss could use it as his own personal lawn mower!"

"What a divine idea!" Trixie squealed. "We just have to have that little Deino darling!"

"And maybe we'll finally get that bonus we've been waiting for!" Thomas added hopefully.

Back on the ground, the trio, along with Elliot and Deino were having another picnic lunch. They'd laid out a checkered blanket in the grass, and brought out the PB & J's out. They'd let their Pokémon - Raichu, Hitmontop, Chikorita and Chinchou - out to have lunch with Deino. They were all happy, smiling and laughing and chatting away.

"So, Elliot, where're you from?" Rose asked, munching on a sandwich. "I've never seen a Deino before, so you must not be from around here."

"That's right," Elliot nodded. "I'm from Opelucid City, in Unova. The Gym Leader there specializes in Dragon-types, so I got my Deino so I could learn more about Dragon-types too. I came down here to Johto to become a better Trainer and go to the Johto League."

"Why didn't you start out back home?" Poppy inquired.

"Well, I want to better my battle skills," Elliot explained. "See, I wanna be the best Trainer that I can be before I go back home."

While the humans talked, the Pokémon ate. Elliot's Deino, a kind of Pokémon that never stopped biting and was particularly attracted to moving things, was suddenly distracted when it heard a rustling in the bushes. Snapping its mouth away, it made a beeline for the bush, and before it knew it, it was encased in a net that was being hauled up by a Rattata shaped hot air balloon.

"Deino!" Elliot hollered, jumping to his feet, as his Pokémon went up in the air.

"Not you losers again!" Poppy yelled, fists clenched. "Give back that Deino!"

"Never!" Rattata shouted down."And while we're at it, we'll take your Dratini too!"

A metal hand contraption came down from the balloon basket, straight at Dratini, and Poppy called, "Quick, Dratini, use Dragon tail!"

Dratini squealed as it knocked the contraption away effortlessly.

"Lily, use Razor Leaf to cut Deino free!" Rose added.

"Chiko!" replied the Grass-type, sending out a Razor Leaf.

Immediately, Deino began to fall through the air, racing towards the ground.

"I'll catch you, Deino!" Elliot yelled, as he dove to catch his friend. He didn't quite catch Deino per-say, but instead softened its fall by serving as a human landing pad. After being knocked a bit silly from the impact, Elliot mumbled, "Well, at least you're okay."

"That's not fair!" Trixie screamed out of frustration. "We never get any Pokémon!"

"Now, Raichu, finish them off with a Thunder Bolt!" Gage commanded.

"You shock 'em too, Chinchou!" Poppy added.

The two Electric-types sent out powerful shockwaves that really shook up Team Rocket. They quivered with the electricity for a moment, before their balloon exploded, and they went flying off over the horizon yet again.

"Thanks, you guys," Elliot smiled, hugging Deino as everyone settled down. "Thank you so much. I don't know what I would've done if I lost Deino."

"It's no problem," Poppy assured him. "We're always running into those clowns. They're always trying to steal our Pokémon, but they never can." "

Hey, um, I don't know how to ask this…," Elliot mumbled, about to change the subject. "But can I travel with you guys? I've never been to Johto before, and I keep getting lost."

"Of course!" the trio responded, smiling in unison. "The more the merrier!"

So, another day set on the trio, which had now become a quartet. They'd met Gage's old rival, Felix, and added Elliot and Deino to the gang.