Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!
Pokemon Legends: Kanto Saga
Chapter Sixteen
The Revelation
"Don't think you've seen the last of me!" Flare shouted at Ashley and Rina while a police officer dragged her into the back of the station. "No prison can keep a Hunter locked away for long!"
"Ashley...have any of those other Hunters ever escaped?" Rina asked Ashley quietly. Ashley shook her head.
"Nope...we won't be seeing her for a while..." Ashley said to her, smirking lightly. They dragged Flare all the way to the police station and answered a few questions. Since the police were already out to get the Hunters there was little else to be done, so the two girls were free to leave now.
"So that only leaves...eight Hunters?" Rina counted them off on her hand. Twelve known hunters, four behind bars, so eight remained. "Yeah! So a third of the Hunters are in custody now!"
"Yeah, I don't think we're strong enough now that we won't have to worry about them either." Ashley said, nodding in agreement as the two of them left the police station. She waited until she was outside to continue. "Doesn't it seem a bit odd, though? The police, the Elite Four, gym leaders, they haven't been able to take any of the Hunters in before now but we've managed to take down four..."
"I think its because they're not afraid of us." Rina replied with a slight shrug. "If they run into the police or the Elite Four, they disappear. But whenever we run into them, we usually end up battling them..."
"-Well they'll have to start watching their backs, then! Because we're coming for them!-" Pippi, walking alongside Rina, threw a few punches at the air.
"Anyway, where to now?" Rina asked Ashley.
"The pokecenter of course. We didn't go there on the way in because we were turning Flare in." Ashley replied.
The two girls walked from outside the Celadon City police station to the pokecenter. The police station was in the southern end of the city while the pokecenter was in the northern end, just inside the city from the route they had arrived from earlier. The pokecenter was located at the end of a long street through the city, with the police station on the right side of the opposite end.
Rina put Pippi back in her pokeball when they arrived in the pokecenter and kept one pokeball on hand when she handed them over to the nurse. Ashley handed over her own pokemon as well and sat in one of the chairs in the center to watch tv while Rina went over to the computer and played around with it.
On the tv, a female newscaster had just finished an interview with a pokemon professor. The screen was split to show the newscaster, in her studio, alongside an image of the professor in his lab. "Thank you again for your time, Professor Birch." The screen showing the professor was removed and the newscaster's screen expanded to fill the tv.
"In related news, the Elite Four have called off their search for the legendary pokemon Kyogre and Groudon." The scene shifts again, showing a news conference with a man in a white suit and cape addressing a crowd of reporters. The man, Hoenn Elite Four Champion Wallace, was explaining their decision to call off the search. His voice was drowned out by the newscaster's narration.
"This news comes admist rumors that a trainer has actually caught these two pokemon." The woman explained. "However, Wallace has reassured us that the situation is well in hand." The newscaster finishes her narration so Wallace's speech can be heard now.
"To catch legendary pokemon...that'd have to be a really strong trainer." Ashley thought.
"Ashley!" Rina's voice startled Ashley. She didn't notice Rina was standing next to her now. "Can you show me how to use that computer?"
"You don't know how to use the PC?" Ashley asked, blinking in surprise.
Rina shook her head. "No...I'm kinda...computer illiterate I think it is?" She blushed slightly in embarassment as she admitted this.
"Alright, I'll show you then..." Ashley got up from her chair and walked with Rina over to the computer. She wondered how Rina could possibly have been having trouble. The interface for a pokecenter's PC was incredibly easy to use and basic.
"All I was able to get was this blue screen..." Rina pointed to the computer screen. It was all blue except for a cryptic error message.
"You...but how..." Ashley stammered, completely dumbfounded. Pokecenter computers had strict limits on what could even be done on them, and there was nothing Ashley knew of that someone could do to get a blue screen of death. Giving an exasperated sigh, Ashley rebooted the computer. It took about a minute for the computer to restart and get to the login screen.
"Ok, first you need to log in..." Ashley explained to Rina. She stood by and waited for her to do so.
"How do I do that?" Rina asked her. Ashley blinked in disbelief.
"We've gone beyond computer illiterate..." Ashley thought. "Rina...just slide your id into the slot at the side..." Rina took out her trainer card. She looked at her card and the slot on the computer curiously before trying to put it in. She had it upside down at first but got it right on her second try. A welcome screen displayed showing several menus.
"Now, from here, you can choose to check your mail, transfer pokemon, or transfer items." Ashley explained, showing each menu on the screen. "The screen is touch sensitive, so just touch the menu item you want to access..." Rina nodded and touched the 'Transfer Pokemon' tag. The screen now displayed more menus to deposit, retrieve, or release pokemon.
"So now if I wanted to use Flareon...I'd need to deposit a pokemon first, right?" Rina asked.
"Right." Ashley nodded to her. "Place the pokeball containing the pokemon you want to deposit in here..." Ashley gestured to a small metal plate next to the computer with a deep, curved indent to place a pokeball in. "Then just click deposit and it'll send your pokemon off to storage."
"Ok..." Rina placed the only pokeball she had with her on the plate and then pushed the 'deposit pokemon' item on the screen. She looked over at the pokeball expectantly, but nothing was happening. "Huh? Why didn't it go?"
"Rina...you need to press 'Ok'." Rina looked at the screen and saw a prompt saying, 'Are you sure you want to deposit pokemon BUTTERFREE?' Under the prompt was an 'Ok' and 'Cancel' button. Rina pressed ok. The pokeball she placed on the plate glowed white and vanished.
"So...she's gone? Just like that?" Rina asked.
"Yep, she's gone off to storage." Ashley replied with a nod. "Now, you want to withdraw that Flareon, right?" Ashley pushed a button to go back to the main pokemon menu. "So just go to 'retrieve pokemon' menu and withdraw Flareon."
Rina pushed the 'Retrieve Pokemon' menu item, which then gave her a loading screen. A large box then appeared on screen with a small image of Flareon in the upper left corner. It was soon joined by an image of a Butterfree, whom Rina had just deposited. "So...I just press the picture of Flareon then?"
Rina pressed the picture of Flareon and got another prompt to press 'Ok' on. The box then disappeared and only a flashing 'Please wait...' remained on screen. After about a minute of waiting, there was a bright flash and another pokeball appeared on the plate. From there, Rina was able to navigate out of the menu on her own this time.
"Thats actually pretty easy once you get past the login thing!" Rina happily took the pokeball from the plate and went to the front desk to check up on the rest of her pokemon.
"Thats supposed to be easy too...and you forgot to log out..." Ashley sighed and turned to the computer to log Rina out of her account. Their pokemon were healed by then, so both trainers were able to retrieve their pokemon. After Ashley got her pokemon she went back to the PC to switch around a few, then met with Rina outside the pokecenter.
"So are you going to the Kanto Times now?" Rina asked Ashley when she arrived outside.
"Yep! I've got one heck of a picture for them this time!" Ashley grinned widely, retrieving one of her pictures of the legendary pokemon Entei from her pocket. "After that, I want to check out the department store..."
"I want to check up on Flareon..." Rina held the pokeball containing Flareon in her hand. "Oh, and I'd like to go to the game corner too! I hear they have lots of fun games!"
"So why don't we split up and meet back here in...say..." Ashley checked her watch. "Two hours? Then we can go grab a bite to eat, I hear Celadon has some of the best restaurants."
"Alright, sure!" Rina nodded enthusiastically. "Think you could pick up a few pokeballs while you're at the store? I'm all out..."
"Sure. I need to get some as well anyway." Ashley nodded to Rina. "Ok then, I'm off. See you later!" Ashley tapped her watch as a reminder to Rina and then set off towards the Kanto Times office.
"Ok, first I'll let Pippi out..." Rina took Pippi's pokeball from her belt and released her. Pippi materialized at Rina's feet and took a quick look around.
"-Huh? Where is everybody?-" Pippi asked Rina.
"Ashley's going shopping and I'm going to the game corner, so we split up for now." Rina explained to her. "I want to take the chance to check up on that Flareon too..." Pippi tilted her head to the side, watching Rina curiously as she took another pokeball from her belt and released the recently freed Flareon. Flareon blinked slowly and looked around curiously when she appeared, eventually spotting Rina.
"-Ah, we meet again!-" Flareon bowed her head to Rina respectfuly. "-I must thank you for rescuing me from that tyrant. Not once did that witch ever brush my fur!-"
"-She made you do all those horrible things like burning buildings down too...-" Pippi added.
"-Yes...well...that was bad too I suppose...-" Flareon replied offhandedly. "-But that is hardly important! Pokemon grooming was a completely foreign concept to her! This is a crime against my beautiful fur!-"
"I think you're upset for the wrong reasons..." Rina mumbled quietly, blinking in disbelief at Flareon's attitude.
"-So you can understand me?-" Flareon asked, noticing Rina's reaction. "-In that case, my fur is in dire need of attention. I demand you get a brush and brush it!-" Heat seemed to radiate from Flareon's body as she angrily demanded this.
"But...but I don't have a brush..." Rina replied timidly. She could feel the heat from Flareon's body, even standing a few feet away, and was worried Flareon might overreact. "I wish Ashley were still here...I bet she has a brush..."
"-WHAT?! What kind of girl doesn't carry a brush?!-" Flareon angrily demanded. "-I demand you keep me in that pokeball, then, until you find one! My fur is a mess and I cannot be seen like this!-"
"Umm...have it your way..." Rina sighed and held up Flareon's pokeball. She hurriedly recalled her, fearful of what she might do otherwise.
"-She's odd...and scary...-" Pippi commented, shivering slightly despite the lingering heat in the air.
"You said it!" Rina said with a nod. "I'll leave her in her pokeball until we meet with Ashley later and we can go check out the game corner now. I just hope Ashley won't mind having her brush used on a pokemon..."
"-Ok then! I want to see what this game corner is too...-" Pippi smiled brightly and nodded to Rina. The two of them then set off for the Celadon City Game Corner.
"There's no way they're going to turn me down this time! I finally have undeniable proof that aliens have been visiting Celadon City!" An eccentric older man sitting next to Ashley declared, quickly producing a picture and shoving it in her face. "See!" The picture in question showed three blue lights arranged in a triangle, flying through the night sky.
"Oh yeah, thats undeniable alright!" Ashley replied, quickly agreeing with him. "An undeniable picture of an airplane's landing lights..." She then thought. Ashley was in the Kanto Times waiting room. The man in question would be going in after her, and another person was already in the office with supposed proof of little green men from Mars.
"Why do I seem to run into all the weirdos?" Ashley wondered, shrinking back in her seat. "I can't believe the editor would even see someone like him..." Suddenly, the office door swung open. A middle-aged woman, visibly shaking, walked out. An older man with graying hair held the door open for her. Ashley recognized him as the head editor from when she first arrived.
"Don't you worry, mam. Those aliens will be brought to justice, you just leave everything to us." The man said to her reassuringly.
"Th-thank you..." The woman replied, hobbling towards the exit with shaky steps. With the woman's back to him, the editor sighed and shook his head.
"Next." It was finally Ashley's turn now. She got up from her seat and went into the editor's office. The editor took a seat opposite Ashley with a wooden desk situated between them. There were various pictures and news clippings pinned up around the room.
"Now...you claim to have a picture of a legendary pokemon?" The editor asked Ashley in a tone that suggested he wasn't at all convinced she did.
"Yep! I've got it right here." Ashley took out the picture and handed it to the man. The editor took it in his hand and looked it over carefully. It wasn't a blurred or distant image like he usually got for pictures of legendary pokemon or paranormal creatures. It was a good shot of Entei, in the open, from only a dozen or so meters away.
"This one...'Entei', right?" The editor asked her. Ashley nodded. "I've been hearing a lot about this one lately, had people bring in pictures...but nothing ever this clear. I think this might be the first real proof that a legendary pokemon is running around Kanto. How'd you get this picture?"
"I was out training with a friend of mine, and we both had fire pokemon out at the time. I had a Charizard battling her Flareon." Ashley explained. She decided to leave out the details involving Flare or Charizard actually having been defeated before Entei arrived. "Entei showed up and we tried to catch it, but my Charizard was knocked out by poison inflicted by one of my friend's other pokemon and her Flareon was defeated in one hit. I got the picture before Entei ran off though."
"So it takes an interest in fire pokemon, huh?" The editor mused. "Growlithe and Vulpix are known to gather near here, I wonder if thats why Entei seems to be sticking around here...hmm..." He thought quietly to himself, looking over the picture for a moment before putting it down on his desk and looking across the desk at Ashley.
"With that picture I think we could finally run a story on Entei. You willing to part with it?" The editor asked her.
"Sure!" Ashley replied enthusiastically. She had spares anyway. The man opened a drawer on his desk and pulled out a small white envelope, then handed it to Ashley.
"Company policy." He explained. "Since we're using your picture for a news article, its ten thousand."
"Ten thousand!?" Ashley thought, trying to contain her excitement as she took the envelope from him. "I could buy a couple ultra balls with that kind of money...I wonder if the department store carries any?"
"Well, thank you for your time miss...?"
"Ashley." Ashley replied, her voice almost rising in her excitement. "Maybe I should have taken a picture of Flare so I could have another picture going into a news article..."
"Well, thanks again Ashley. You'll probably see the article within a day or two, so watch for it." The editor and Ashley shook hands and Ashley left the office after tucking the envelope away. As Ashley was leaving, the editor was calling in the guy with the UFO picture.
"Ten thousand..." Ashley thought again as she left the Kanto Times. "Well, time to go spend it all!" She grinned to herself and took off down the street to the Celadon Department Store.
The department store was a towering building with shops on almost every level. Ashley soon arrived outside and walked into the first level of the building, which was just a reception and security level so she quickly took the stairs to the second level. Upon arriving at the landing for the second floor, Ashley was met with racks and racks of typical pokemon supplies including TM discs, pokeballs, and healing items. Ashley made her way to the pokeball section first.
"Pokeballs sold out? Ultraballs not in stock?!" Ashley cried out in surprise over finding all the racks empty for those two in particular. Fortunately, her voice was drowned out by all the customers gabbing away throughout the store. It was busier than usual due to a three for one sale on pokeballs.
"Well, at least there's still great balls. Those are better than pokeballs at any rate." Ashley reached out to take a great ball from one of the two racks, but then realized she had nothing to carry her stuff in before buying any. Ashley went to the cashier, pushing past a thick lineup to get a plastic basket. She had to push past the lineup again to get back to the aisle where she found the great balls.
"So crowded..." Ashley muttered with a sigh. She took a quick look at her watch to check the time. "Still have an hour and a half. Good, I might end up spending most of that time in a lineup..."
"What? Its closed?!" Rina cried out in dismay. She arrived outside the game corner, only to find a sign saying it was closed for renovations.
"-Rina...what are...re-no-vations?-" Pippi asked, sounding it out as she read the sign.
"It means they're changing it around inside..." Rina replied and gave an exasperated sigh. "I really wanted to play the games too..."
While Rina lamented over the closed game corner, the front door opened. A black haired woman wearing a red and yellow kimono didn't look like it would be out of place on a shrine maiden and a red headband. Noticing Rina standing nearby she smiled and bowed to her.
"Hello there miss." The woman greeted her then stood up straight again. "Is there anything I can help you with?"
"No..." Rina replied with another heavy sigh. She looked up at the woman and blinked when she realized she just came out of the game corner. "Actually...umm...whats going on in there exactly?"
"The game corner recently came under new management." The woman explained. "You see, it was recently discovered that Team Rocket was operating the facility. A young trainer named Red chased them off, and now I am personlly overseeing the game corner's operations."
"Oh...really?" Rina blinked in surprise. She was at a sudden loss for words. "Red was here and he beat Team Rocket? Wow...he really IS a great trainer!" Rina smiled to herself, her head became filled with thoughts of Red singlehandedly defeating an army of Team Rocket grunts.
"Have you heard of him before?" The woman asked, noticing Rina's smile. Rina snapped out of her daze, blushing fiercely when she realized what she was doing.
"I uh...I met him before, yeah..." Rina replied, rubbing the back of her head in embarassment and turning away slightly in an attempt to hide her face.
"-Rina and Red, up in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!-" Pippi giggled as she taunted Rina.
"Where did you learn that?" Rina quietly asked Pippi.
"Oh...you can understand her?" The woman asked her, tilting her head to the side slightly.
"Y-yeah...I can understand all pokemon..." Rina replied, still turned away as the color slowly drained from her face. The woman seemed to think this over for a moment before smiling to herself.
"Well then, would you like for me to show you around?" Rina looked back quickly, her embarassment fading almost instantly.
"You would really do that?" Rina asked her. The woman nodded in response. "I'd like that a lot, thanks!"
"Come with me, then..." The woman motioned for Rina to follow her. She opened the game corner door and lead Rina and Pippi into the building. Inside, to Rina's surprise, there was little work being done. It seemed like the machines were being replaced more than anything.
"So...what are you changing exactly anyway?" Rina asked, noticing that they weren't actually doing much renovating.
"We are changing the games and prizes. And adding a bit more decor..." The woman gestured towards several potted plants off to the side. "We're also looking to close off access to the basement level..."
"The basement?" Rina asked.
"Team Rocket had their hideout down there." The woman lead Rina over to the far end of the room, stopping in front of a poster. She then pulled the poster aside and pushed a button hidden behind it. Off to the side, hidden from the rest of the game corner by a low wall, a trap door opened and revealed a flight of stairs.
"Red found that...there was actually a large underground complex here. Fortunately, Red defeated Team Rocket's leader and then the police were able to clear out the remaining Rockets to secure the area." She then lead Rina down the stairs in question. At the bottom of the flight of stairs was a large corridor with two doors leading into other rooms and a seemingly pointless inlet with several potted trees.
"The decor is nice, but its a rather uncomfortable area..." The woman stated, sighing softly.
"You really seem to like plants..." Rina said, noticing that the woman was referring to the trees.
"Well of course." The woman replied, smiling lightly. "Afterall, I am..." She stopped midsentence as the door on the right side of the corridor suddenly opened up. A blue haired man wearing a white, gold-trimmed suit and a pair of sunglasses came out of the room followed by a woman in a red dress and purple hair tied up in a bun. Both wore a gold GH pin on their right side.
"Seems we have company...maybe we'll get something worthwhile out of this trip afterall." The man grinned and reached into his pocket, taking out a small coin. The coin had a Magikarp on one side and Pikachu on the other. He flipped the coin into the air then caught it on his hand. Removing his hand, he revealed the coin to be Pikachu-side up. "Odds are in our favor..."
"I don't need your coin to tell me that, Dice." The woman said to him quite calmly. "That Pichu would be the one we've been hearing about, the one that knows Volt Tackle..."
"Hunters? Here?!" Rina cried out in surprise. "Well they don't have pokemon with them, so we can take them!"
"On the contrary..." The man, Dice, whistled loudly. An Espeon walked out through the door, followed by a purple Dragonair. Both pokemon were wearing slave collars.
"Those pokemon..." Rina felt her body growing weak and fell to her knees. "They're using...my parents' pokemon..." Tears began to well up in Rina's eyes, the fate of her parents' beloved pokemon now revealed to her. She was too shocked from their appearance to make any move against the Hunters. The woman frowned and stepped forward to confront the two.
"Who are you, and why are you here?" The woman asked them.
"Its hardly any of your business, but we were hired to retrieve a few things Team Rocket had left behind." The woman explained. "I'm sure you can tell who we are. We weren't able to find anything, but we certainly won't leave emptyhanded." Pippi moved forward, ready to fight the two for Rina's sake.
"Well aren't you a feisty one?" Dice grinned at Pippi. The small electric pokemon growled and took aim at Espeon. Electricity charged around Pippi's body as she prepared to use Volt Tackle and then took off running towards Espeon. "Espeon, Quick Attack!" Espeon disappeared moments before Pippi could hit it, moving in a flash to reappear five feet away. Pippi ended up crashing head first into a wall.
"Dragonair, Twister." The female hunter commanded calmly. A whirlwind kicked up around Pippi, picking her up and tossing her off. Pippi cried out as she struck another wall and fell to the ground in pain. "This is almost too easy..."
"-Rina...-" Pippi grunted weakly as she struggled back onto her feet. Watching Pippi's plight, the woman with Rina knelt down next to her and placed her hands on her shoulders, shaking her lightly.
"Your Pichu needs help, she can't fight them on her own!" The woman said to her.
"I can't...I can't do it..." Rina replied quietly, shaking her head. "I can't fight...my parent's pokemon..." Rina looked up and watched as the gem on Espeon's forehead glowed. A blast of psychic energy struck Pippi, flinging her back towards Rina. Pippi hit the floor hard and skidded across it, stopping just in front of Rina. Rina gasped, but was still conflicted on what to do.
"-Rina...-" Pippi squeaked weakly, again slowly getting back on her feet. "-I'll free them...somehow...Rina...-" Pippi looked back at her trainer and smiled weakly. "-I'll do whatever it takes...and I'll free them...-"
"Pippi...please stop...you'll just get hurt..." Rina begged her, but Pippi just shook her head.
"-You can't fight them...so I will!-" Pippi turned back to Espeon and Dragonair and gritted her teeth, electricity flaring around her body as she prepared for another Volt Tackle attack. "-I won't hold back anything! I'll smash those collars to bits!-"
"Certainly a feisty little thing..." The female hunter commented in a bemused tone. Suddenly a white glow surrounded Pippi's body, concealing all but the electricity built up around her. Pippi grew slightly, her ears becoming thinner and longer and her neck becoming practically non-existant. Her body continued to make slight changes until the light faded, revealing an evolved Pikachu still ready for a Volt Tackle.
"Whaddya know...I think its value just went up slightly." Dice commented with a grin. Pippi took off barreling towards Espeon and slammed headlong into it, but missed Espeon's collar completely. Espeon was sent rolling back and Pippi herself was knocked to the ground, showing little sign of getting back up.
"This is over..." Dice reached into his pocket, pulling out a metal collar. Before he could use it, though, a cloud of spores fell around the two Hunters and their pokemon. The two hunters cried out in shock as they collapsed to the floor in a heap. "What the hell?!" Dice growled. Looking across the room he spotted the source of the attack, a yellow bell-shaped grass pokemon.
"That is enough from you two!" The woman commanded sharply. "As the gym leader of Celadon City, I will not tolerate this!"
"You don't have a choice..." The female hunter growled. "Dragonair, smash one of the smoke balls!" The enslaved Dragonair, freed from paralysis by its Shed Skin ability, smashed the smoke ball tied to Dice's belt. Smoke quickly shrouded the two momentarily, and they were gone when the smoke dissipated.
"Pippi!" With the hunters finally gone, Rina quickly got up and ran to her pokemon's side. Pippi rolled over and smiled weakly at her trainer. "Pippi...I'm so sorry...you tried your best and even evolved while I just sat and watched helplessly..."
"-Rina...I...I'll get them next time...for sure...-" Pippi assured her, nodding weakly. "-Its my fault...for letting them escape...-"
"No...no its not! Don't you dare say that!" Pippi suddenly fainted in Rina's arms, having exerted too much energy speaking in her exhausted state. Rina held Pippi tightly against her and began sobbing quietly.
"That poor girl..." The gym leader thought, sighing to herself. "I don't believe she's as ready for this as he thinks she is..."
When Rina had finally recovered, she went back to the pokecenter with the gym leader to have Pippi restored. There, she waited outside for Ashley, who also returned a bit early from her shopping trip. She immediately noticed the sullen mood Rina and Pippi seemed to be in, as well as Pippi's evolved form.
"Ok...what happened with you two?" Ashley asked them, setting down the bags she was carrying.
"I found my parent's pokemon..." Rina explained quietly, not even looking up at her. "They were being used by two hunters...Pippi tried to save them...but I couldn't bring myself to do anything..."
"Then you'll just have to free them next time, right?" Ashley suggested. "At least now you know where to find them, so its just a matter of time." Ashley looked down at Pippi and smiled at the electirc pokemon. "Plus, you have Pippi with you! I bet she's a lot stronger now, right Pippi?"
"-Right!-" Pippi nodded enthusiastically in agreement. "-But Rina's taking this really hard...-"
"You're right I guess..." Rina replied with a sigh. The suggestion didn't seem to lift her spirit any.
"She needs some time to think about it on her own I believe." The gym leader said to Ashley.
"Huh?" Ashley blinked, looking up at the older woman for the first time. "Who are you?"
"Oh, forgive me, I haven't properly introduced myself have I?" The woman smiled and bowed to Ashley. "I am Erika, gym leader of Celadon City. Pleased to meet you."
"You're the gym leader?" Ashley blinked again. She looked between Rina and Erika for a moment, debating with herself whether she should try further to cheer Rina up or make her challenge. She eventually decided that a battle couldn't hurt, and might even take Rina's mind off the hunters and her parent's pokemon.
"Ok then, in that case I challenge you to a battle!" Ashley declared.
"Very well." Erika smiled lightly. "As the gym leader of Celadon City, I accept your challenge."
Author's Notes: I've probably said this before, but I'm trying to give gym leaders a few more appearances. Erika went unnamed most of the chapter, but I wonder how many might have realized it was her even before she said she was Celadon's gym leader?
Anyway, bit of angst on Rina's part. I find too much angst a bit hard to watch, personally, so I'll probably resolve it reasonably quickly. Also, wasn't really sure when I wanted Pippi to evolve, but it was a bit overdue as is. Originally was going to evolve after a small one chapter side story for Rina, but thats not going to be until much later in the story now.
One final note, I've been wanting to do that tv thing in the pokecenter for a while now. Mostly, its to set up the timeline. Since I don't have any major timeskips planned (I think there's a week skipped towards the end), and a month or so gets skipped in Legends in Hoenn, this would pretty much take place during that time leading up to the Grand Prix. I already have appearances planned out for May and Melany, but thats quite a bit away right now. It should prove interesting when it happens though...
