I appreciate all the support and submitted OC's! OC's are still wanted, feel free to submit!

Also, I really love and appreciate reviews, they help to give me motivation to write more!

The next morning, the trio woke up in the Pokémon Center, where they had spent the night yet again. Poppy left the Pokémon she had used in the battle in the care of Nurse Joy so they could recover, and had just picked them up in the lobby after the quartet had breakfast. Now, she was calling Mitchell again so she could send Hannah back.

"Good morning, sis," Mitchell greeted from his laboratory. "How'd the Gym Battle go?"

"How do you think it went?" she asked playfully, sticking out her new badge so that he could see it.

"Great!" Mitchell praised.

"Thanks," she grinned, flashing a peace sign. "Anyway, I'm gonna send Hannah back. I'm sure she's missing all her other Mareep friends."

"Alright," Mitchell nodded. Poppy placed the PokéBall into the Transporter, and when Mitchell received it, he flashed it for her to see, saying, "Got her!"

"Oh, by the way, my Chikorita evolved into a Bayleef yesterday!" she told him.

"That's great!" he smiled. The two were suddenly distracted when one of the lab Pokémon, a Wobbuffet, starting knocking a lot of the lab equipment over. Mitchell sighed, "Well, I've got to go back to the lab."

"Okay, see you!"

With that, the two siblings both hung up on their ends of the video phone. Mitchell returned to chasing his Wobbuffet through the lab, and Poppy returned to her group of friends, who were ready to head out of the Pokémon Center.

Flipping through a guidebook, Gage suggested, "Hey, do you guys wanna go check out the Sprout Tower today? It's a pretty famous landmark here in Johto."

"Sure, sounds great!" Rose agreed. "As long as we can find a restaurant along the way!"

Elliot, Gage and Poppy grumbled. All Rose cared about was eating.

"Don't worry Rose, we're not gonna let you starve," Elliot joked, putting a playful arm around her shoulders. "So let's get a move on. I wanna see this tower."

"Great!" Gage grinned.

And, our four heroes left the Pokémon Center, after thanking Nurse Joy. As usual, Lily was travelling in Rose's arms. Deino walked by Elliot's side, and Elliot had to get him back on track, since he'd go off chomping at something every so often. Gage's Pokémon were all resting in their PokéBalls. And, though Poppy didn't notice, Clefairy had let itself out of its PokéBall and had its ears and eyes poking out of her backpack, watching the passing scenery.

After walking for about an hour or so, the quartet arrived at the Sprout Tower. They were all in awe of the beautiful old building before them, and couldn't wait to go inside. They all nearly sprinted up the stairs that led inside, and as they made it through the door, Rose ran head on into another girl.

The girl looked about Rose's age. Her blue hair was cut short and worn beneath a ball cap. Her t-shirt was black and had a Pikachu printed on it, in contrast to her white jeans, which were held up by a belt full of PokéBalls. A purple bag was slung hastily over one of her shoulders, and a Pokémon stood faithfully by her side.

"Thanks," Rose muttered, as the other girl helped her up. "Sorry about that."

"Yeah, I'm sorry too," the other girl shrugged with a slightly embarrassed smile. "Should've watched where I was going. Anyway, I'm Amy. Amy Kane."

"I'm Rose Wood," Rose replied, as they shook hands. "And these are my friends, Poppy, Gage and Elliot."

"Nice to meet you!" chimed in the rest of the group, flashing smiles and peace signs.

Then, Rose turned her attention to the Pokémon standing by Amy's side, her eyes going starry, along with her lunatic face that overcame her around Grass-type Pokémon, as she asked, "What kind of Pokémon is that?"

"This is Gallade," Amy introduced. "He's one of my best pals. We've been together since I was seven."

"Oh wow," Rose mused, clutching her hands together as she stared dreamily at the Pokémon. "He's wonderful. Grass-types are just the best!"

"Oh," Amy chuckled, scratching at the back of her head. "Gallade isn't a Grass-type."

"What?!" Rose inquired, as if her whole world just shattered.

"Hm," Elliot wondered.

He pulled out his PokéDex for more information, and it said: "Gallade, the Blade Pokémon, and the evolved form of Kirlia. Gallade extends its elbows as if they were swords, and when protecting someone, it fights fiercely."

"That's right," Amy nodded, approving of the PokéDex's information. "He's a Psychic-type and Fighting-type. But that's okay, Rose, I can see how you'd think he was a Grass-type."

Gage piped up, saying, "Well, our Rose here is out to be the world's greatest Grass-type Pokémon Trainer. She's crazy about all those Grass Pokémon."

"Wow, that's really cool, Rose!" Amy grinned. Changing the subject, she asked, "So, have you guys ever been to the Sprout Tower before?"

"Nope," Poppy replied. "This is our first time."

"Well," Amy started, leading the group towards the wobbly pole in the middle. "It's called the Sprout Tower because the wiggly beam here reminds people of a Bellsprout - it wiggles and wobbles, but it doesn't fall, and it's strong, supporting the whole tower, y'know?"

"Wow," Poppy mused, looking at the beam central to the tower. "That's pretty amazing."

"Yeah," Elliot agreed.

"And it's like a Bellsprout!" Rose squealed, her manic demeanor returning. "This is all a big, beautiful metaphor for an adorable little Grass-type!"

Suddenly, a familiar voice boomed, "And soon enough, it'll be our big, beautiful metaphor!"

Looking up, the quartet groaned as they saw it was Rattata of Team Rocket who'd spoken. He and his other idiotic cohorts were on the top of the beam, laughing maniacally as Venomoth and Poliwrath were attempting to saw the Sprout Beam off.

"Hey, you can't do that!" Amy hollered, clearly angry. "That's not yours to take!"

"Clearly it is, little girl!" Trixie hollered in response. "We're Team Rocket, anything we can get our hands on is ours for the taking, including that tough-looking Pokémon by your side!"

Thomas proceeded to fire a net gun at Gallade, which had it effectively trapped.

"Gallade!" Amy shrieked, turning her attention to try and free Gallade from the net.

"No use, brat!" Rattata yelled. "Ain't nothin' that can break through that net!"

"Please," grumbled Poppy, as she pulled out a PokéBall, and called, "Go, Bayleef!"

"Bayleef?!" Team Rocket inquired all at once.

"Hmph," Thomas mused. "I guess the brat's annoying little Chikorita must've evolved."

"Bayleef, use Razor Leaf to get Gallade out of that net!" Poppy called.

"Bay!" agreed the Pokémon. In one swift attack, Bayleef had freed Gallade from the net.

"I thought you said that net was indestructible?!" screeched Trixie, clearly angry.

"I thought it was!" Thomas whimpered, cowering from his steaming partner. "I paid top dollar for it!"
"You mean you wasted more of our money on this junk?!" Rattata hollered. "You're the reason why we're goin' broke, Thomas!"

"I'm sorry!" he cried.

"Hmph, time to finish these losers off," Elliot concluded. "Deino, use Dragon Pulse on those Team Rocket runts!"

Deino wailed and did as told, causing Team Rocket to go flying out of the roof yet again.

"We're flying off again!" they screeched, as they soared off over the horizon with Venomoth and Poliwrath.

"Thank you guys, so much," Amy said sincerely, as she helped Gallade to his feet.

"Not a problem," Poppy assured her, calling Bayleef back into its PokéBall. "Those losers are always after us, trying to steal our Pokémon."

"Well, where are you headed next?" Amy inquired after a few minutes had passed.

"We're going to Azalea Town, for our next Gym Battles," Gage told her. "And for Rose's next Contest...except, our guidebook doesn't really tell us how to get there in clear terms…"

"Oh, Gallade and I can help you out there!" Amy piped up. "We're on our way to Azalea Town for our Gym Battle, too. And I know the easiest way to get there, through the mountains. I can show you guys, if you want."

"That'd be great!" the quartet grinned.

And so, another day passed. Amy and Gallade were joining the quartet, to guide them to Azalea Town, and they'd defeated Team Rocket yet again, and, in the process, helped protect and preserve the famous Sprout Tower.

POPPY's current team:

Dratini, Bayleef, Chinchou, Clefairy

GAGE's current team:

Ivysaur, Raichu, Hitmontop, Snorlax

ROSE's current team:

Lily (Chikorita), Flora (Sunflora), Buttercup (Bulbasaur)

ELLIOT's current team:

Deino, Oshawott, Ferroseed, Litwick & Gligar