Hello again fellow readers and writers alike of . Ultimatehero here with the next chapter of kicking it in kanto! Previously, we found Maurecia in Cerulean city separated from her friend and traveling partner Jenny due to a teleportation faux pa. While she was there, she thought she'd challenge the local gym with her charmander. A decision laughed at by most who she told. Wanting to prove that she could win regardless, she had went to the gym. However, upon her arrival, she saw that Misty was already preoccupied with another challenger who got there before her. Zekro, a trainer from the Tunod region had arrived to challenge Misty.

Maurecia had watched as Zekro battled and won the cascade badge. After seeing what a gym battle looked like first-hand, she immediately had second thoughts about her challenge. She instead decided to seek out Zekro and challenge him to a battle. In the midst of the battle, her charmander had learned ember. Despite that, she still lost against his turtwig. After the battle, Zekro suggested that Maurecia try the Pokémon gym in Celadon. Maurecia had decided she would do just that. Granted that she wait a day for her friend Jenny to get into town first before leaving. With that, Zekro was off hoping to cross paths with the girl again when she had gotten stronger.

The story now focuses on Todd who has just arrived in Viridian city. Reading the guide, it says that it houses a Pokémon gym. But upon arrival, Todd will find much more than a gym leader. The story continues with….

Chapter 6:Theft in Viridian!

A day passes after Todd's meeting with the two other trainers on route 1. After a morning's worth of walking, he exits the forest path and sees a city in the distance.

"That must be it! Viridian City!" Todd said as he stood in place for a bit to look at the city. It wasn't that big of a city, but it was still some sight. Todd had soon made his way into the city headed for the Pokémon center. He remembered that Professor oak asked him to contact him when he got into town. The center wasn't that difficult to find as it was one of the most notable buildings in the city. A large red roof adorned the top of the building with a large p on the front. As Todd entered the building, he saw that the inside was mainly vanilla colored.

There were other people in the center as well. Some that may have just arrived in viridian just as he did, or some that have challenged the city's gym leader. At the front desk was a young woman who seemed to be at least in her twenties. She had peach skin, blue eyes and pink hair done in curls. She was wearing a pink nurse's outfit with a white apron over it. Next to her was another Pokémon Todd has yet to learn about. The Pokémon was shaped like a large egg and had stubs for arms and legs. It had black eyes and three small protrusions coming out from both sides of its head. If Todd could see behind the desk, he would be able to see the pouch on its stomach. It was also wearing a nurse's cap with a red plus sign on it.

"Hello and welcome to the Viridian Pokémon center. I'm nurse joy. And this is my assistant Chansey." The woman said introducing herself and the Pokémon next to her.

"Chansey." The pink Pokémon said greeting him in its own language.

"A chansey, huh?" Todd asked as he had took out his pokedex.

(Insert pokedex entry later)

"If you had to take out your pokedex on chansey, I'm guessing that this is your first time in a Pokémon center." Said Nurse Joy.

"Yeah, actually. I'm here to register for the Pokémon league." Todd replied.

"Very well. If you would please hand me your pokedex?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Huh? My pokedex?" Todd pondered. Though skeptical, he had handed her his pokedex. She had then inserted it into a small compartment in her computer.

"Your pokedex acts as your ID while you're challenging the Pokémon league." Nurse Joy replied as she had begun punching in a few keys. Soon a headshot of Todd had appeared on screen with specific information including where he came from and the Pokémon he currently has with him right now.

"All right. You're all set. Said Nurse Joy as she gave back Todd's pokedex. She had then opened a small drawer underneath the desk counter and had pulled out one of many rectangular cases with a white poke ball on the front. And here is your official badge case. You can use this to carry the gym badges you obtain.

"Wow, thank you. Todd said as he had taken the case. The inside of the case was lined with soft black leather.

'Would you like to rest your Pokémon while you're here?" She asked.

"Sure. They could use a good rest." Todd replied as he had took the two poke balls from his belt that held squirtle and pidgey.

"It'll only take a short while to heal your Pokémon. Why not take a look around while you wait?" Asked Nurse Joy. Todd had watched as Chansey had took the poke balls into another room.

"Oh don't worry. Your Pokémon will be fine. Chansey is taking them to the healing machine in the other room where your Pokémon will be fixed up in no time."

"All right. Todd as just about to leave until his stomach made an almost loud enough noise to be heard by the other people in the center. Oh by the way, you wouldn't happen to have any food would you?" Todd asked.

"Hmm, I think so. Give me a minute to check." She replied as she had went into the back room. Minutes later, Todd was sitting at a table while there were two bowls in front of pidgey and squirtle. After chansey had came back with their food, they found that their portions were somewhat…small. The food in the Pokémon bowls had barely reached the edges.

And Todd's plate didn't look any better. Todd had only about three sandwiches when he would usually have five or six. His Pokémon were done with their food in a short amount of time. Todd a couple minutes earlier.

"I'm sorry for the shortage of food. We've been having problems with some theives lately." Nurse Joy apologized.

"It's okay. I wasn't all that hungry anyway. But, what's this about theives?" Asked Todd.

"It begun about a week ago. The food from the storage room in the pokemon center has been stolen by a group of mysterious people. And not just here, either. These robberies have been occurring all over town. We tried to apprehend them before, but the Pokémon with them were unusually powerful. We had to rely on the town's gym leader to take them on, and even he had trouble fighting against them." Nurse Joy explained.

"Unusually powerful Pokémon? What do you mean by that?" Asked Todd.

"The Pokémon with them didn't seem to have much experience. Most of them haven't even gone through their first evolution. There was also this weird feel about them. Something off. But I'm afraid I don't know any more than that. I think it goes without saying, but do be careful out there. And be on the lookout for any strange-looking characters out there.'

'I will. And thanks for the heads up. Todd said as he finished the rest of his short meal. Guys, you done with your food? He asked as he glanced down to his pokemon. The two responded in their natural tongue as their bowls were clean with not a crumb left in sight. All right. Now let me just call the professor and we can get going to the gym. Wait...how am I supposed to contact...?" Before Todd finished the question, a chime begun sounding from one of the telephone booths nearby.

"Ring,ring,ring, ring,ring,ring, Phone call! Phone call! Ring,ring,ring, ring,ring,ring, phone call! phone call!" Chimed the phone. Seeing as no one else was answering the phone, Todd decided to answer it himself.

"Hello?" He asked as he had picked up the phone. Seconds after he picked it up, the screen had showed an image of Professor Oak with his laboratory machines in the background.

"Hello? Todd, you there?" Asked Professor Oak.

"I'm here, professor. I was about to contact you...until I remembered that i didn't really know how to contact you." Said Todd.

"Yes, I realized that a bit after you all left, so I started contacting the Pokémon centers you all would arrive at. I've already contacted your friends." Said Oak.

"Really? How are they doing?" Asked Todd.

"Oh, their doing fine. Maurecia is in cerulean waiting for Jenny so that they can go to celadon. Dana and Myron are said to be making their way to vermillion city. And I see you've made it to viridian safely. Did you check out the Pokémon gym there?" Replied Oak.

"Actually, i was going there after I contacted you. By the way professor, have you heard about some thieves stealing food from viridian?" Asked Todd.

'Thieves in viridian?" Asked a slightly surprised Professor.

"Yeah. Nurse Joy told me the Pokémon they have with them are so strong that they even give the gym leader a challenge. Todd replied. Of course, I haven't even seen a gym leader in action yet so i can't be sure how tough either of them are."

"Oh i assure you, my grandson is plenty strong!" Said the professor with a smile.

"Hmm...if you say so...wait WHAT?!' Todd asked doing a comical double take. Did you just say he was your grandson?"

"That's right. The gym leader of viridian city is my grandson, Gary oak. He's a veteran trainer who had competed in the kanto leauge two years ago. He's widely known as the most powerful of the leaders in the kanto region. Most don't try to take him on until they've gotten all the other badges first." Oak explained.

"That strong huh? Well, i might as well check out his gym. I'll talk to you later, professor."

"Good-bye." Professor Oak said as the line was disconnected.

"Come on, guys. Let's go check out the gym." Said Todd as he and his pokemon had left the center.

-At Professor Oak's lab-

I hope you heard that. It seems they've appeared in Viridian. If you hurry, you can make it there before nightfall." Oak said turning to face someone.

"Right. I'm on it. And thanks for the pokedex, professor. Said a young man as he had dashed out of the front door. The last sound that could be heard was the motor of a vehicle.

-Back in viridian-

Todd had found his way to the Viridian gym. The outside of the gym looked fancy as the architecture was carefully designed. Marble columns had stood near the small staircase leading into the gym.

"Cool. So this is the viridian gym. Looks kinda fancy. Said Todd as he observed the outside of the gym. Well, let's take a look inside." He said as he was about to enter the gyn. But suddenly, a large explosion had came from the roof of the gym.

"Ah!What the-?! Stammered Todd. He had then heard the sound of a propellor overhead. Glancing into the sky, he saw a black helicopter hovering over the gym as a few ropes had been tossed down. What's going on? Todd's question was answered as people clad in white and black armored suits had been lifted up by the ropes. Each of them had red scarfs around their necks and had boxes containing months worth of food. Those must be the thieves stealing the city's food!"

After the thieves had piled into the helicopter, it had begun flying away from the gym. As Todd watched as it begun to fly out of sight, he had heard a voice from the gym.

"Hey, kid!" The voice shouted.

"Huh?" Todd had turned to see that the voice was coming from a young man dashing out of the gym. He seemed to be in his late teens. He had white skin, spiky brown hair and was wearing a black jacket over a purple shirt and purple pants with black sneakers. He wore a belt around his waist that had a pack attached to it.

"Hey, did you see a black helicopter fly by?" Asked the teen.

"Uh, yeah. Its headed that way. Todd said as he had pointed to the helicopter that was still visible despite the distance it got. Hey, you wouldn't happen to be the gym leader would you?"

"That's right. And those bozos in white just made off with my gym's food! Replied the gym leader. But they're not gonna get away from me. He said as he had took out a poke ball from his pack. Charizard, I CHOOSE YOU! The teen shouted tossing a poke ball into the air. The Pokémon that appeared from the ball looked very similar to a dragon. It was bright orange while it's belly was a bright yellow. It had two protrusions sticking out of it's head that looked like horns and a long neck with an alligator like snout with fierce blue eyes.

Its wings were blue on the inside while the outside was bright orange with small protrusions at the tips of the outsides. It had three fingers on each hand and each finger had a claw as did its feet. Finally, it had a long tail which had a flame burning on the end of it.

"Woah! That's a big one!" Todd said shocked taking a couple steps back from the large Pokémon.

'Come on, Charizard. Let's get 'em!" The teen said as he had jumped onto the back of the Pokémon and had took flight into the air giving chase to the helicopter.

"What kind of Pokémon was that?" Todd asked as he had once again pulled out his pokedex.

(Insert pokedex entry later.)

The last evolution for charmander? So, does that mean Maurecia is going to have one of those?! Todd questioned. Todd had ran from the gym and attempted to follow the chase. But he quickly realized that they'd already be gone at the speed he was going. He needed a boost. Luckily, there was a bike nearby. It was put in place with a kickstand. Two other kids were net to it. The first was the owner who seemed just about Todd's age. He had white skin and had black hair under his red cap. He wore a black shirt under a green zip up jacket and black cargo pants with red nike sneakers. He seemed to be chatting up a girl a year younger than him. She had short blond hair and wore a white tank top over a black shirt and blue pants with black and white shoes. She had a pink traveling pack with her. While he wasn't looking, Todd had quickly ran by and grabbed the bike causing the teen to fall over and hit the ground.

"Sorry! I promise to bring this back!" Todd apologized as he had sped off with the bike and began pedaling almost immediately.

"Hey! Get back here with my bike!" The angry teen shouted as he gave chase as well with the girl following close behind.

Meanwhile in the skies of Viridian, the thieves had unloaded the haul they got from the gym.

"Hah. I can't believe the gym leader just let us take these. What a mook!" Said the shortest of the strangers in white. This should move the plan along a bit faster."

"Uh, sir? About the gym leader?" Asked the pilot.

"Yeah, what about him?" He replied.

"I don't think he's just going to let us take his food. Take a look." The pilot said as he had pulled up the image of Gary on his charizard on a monitor.

"So, he's trying to catch us is he?" Asked a female stranger in white. Well, let's just see how he handles this! She said as she had taken a poke ball from her belt. The top of the ball was emblazoned with a logo that had a gold c going through a gold p. As the doors of the helicopter opened, she had tossed out the poke ball. Dragonite, keep the gym leader busy! She shouted as the Pokémon was released. The Pokémon released had, as it name suggested, took the appearance of a dragon. Of course this one was a bit chubbier than other dragons.

It had orange scales and a shade of peach on its front that went from it's neck all the way down to the tip of its tail. It had a small horn on its forehead and two antennae extending from it's head. It had two small blue wings on its back that looked like they couldn't support the weight of the actual Pokémon. But surprisingly enough, they did and much more. The Pokémon had a fierce gaze upon it. Which is unusual for Dragonite as they usually have a smile on their faces until the call of battle.

The Pokémon had went after the gym leader the minute it was out.

"Should have figured this wouldn't be easy. Charizard, you ready?" Gary asked his Pokémon. It replied with a roar of agreement.

"All right then. Charizard, use dragon rush!" He commanded. Suddenly, he and his charizard was enveloped in a dark blue aura and had charged at the opposing Pokémon.

"Dragonite, shoot them out of the sky with hyper beam!" Commanded the female through a two-way communication device. It heard the command and fired a dark beam of energy at the two.

"LOOK OUT!" Gary shouted. Charizard had dodged the hyper beam and continued on it's collision course with the dragonite. Having to rest before firing again, it was helpless as a direct hit was made doing major damage. The force of the attack temporarily made it fall from the sky. Gary used this chance to get closer to the helicopter. Unfortunately, the dragonite had recovered before it came close to crashing and gave chase.

"Dragonite, use thunderbolt!" Commanded the feminine member. Electricity had begun coursing through dragonite's antennae before it had fired it as a large bolt at the two. They avoided the first shot, but it had immediately used thunderbolt again and had hit both of them doing moderate damage.

"Geh...charizard...can you still fight?" Gary asked wincing from the shock. Although it was hurt pretty bad, it had gave a reassuring growl.

"Don't stop dragonite! Keep using thunderbolt!" Commanded it's trainer.

"Charizard, counter with flamethrower!" Commanded Gary. The two Pokémon launched their attacks almost simultaneously. As the two collided, it caused a small explosion which rose a puff of black smoke. As the ariel battle over Viridian continued, Todd was doing his best to keep up with the action on the bike he "borrowed" from the kid in town.

"Woah. Two dragon pokemon? Where did they get those anyway?" Todd asked as he continued to pedal. Back in the sky, the dragonite had fired another hyper beam attack. Charizard had quickly evaded the attack. Unfortunately, the attack was still going. And seemed like it was on a collison course with Todd!

"Ub-oh!" Todd exclaimed seeing the oncoming attack. Todd hasn't had much experience riding a bike, so he didn't exactly know how to steer it out of the way. So he had jumped from the bike and rolled along the ground while the bike had took the force of the hyber beam and was consumed in a fiery explosion. Smoking remains of the bike went flying in seperate directions. Great. Well, I guess I can't return the bike now." Todd said looking at the damage. He had looked up to the sky again to see the progress of the battle. By the looks of it, the gym leader was only countering dragonite's thunderbolts with charizard's flamethrowers. This resulted in nothing but creating a large smokescreen.

Gary had commanded charizard to cease as the smokescreen created was finally large enough.

"What's he doing? He's just countering all of dragonite's attacks. Some gym leader." Said a taller male stranger in white.

"No...no it's not just that. Realized dragonite's trainer. Dragonite, he's going to use the smokescreen as a cover. Blow it away with your wings!" She commanded. Dragonite had did as commanded and blew away the smokescreen by rapidly flapping its wings. But it was too late as just as the smoke had almost cleared up, Gary and his charizard emerged in the dark blue aura of its dragon rush attack. It had no time to evade and took direct damage again. After that attack, it had to use most of its remaining strength to keep itself aloft with its wings.

"Pilot, take us back around. Time to put this kid in his place." Said dragonite's trainer.

"Alright charizard, time to finish this! Dragon rush one more time!" Gary commanded. The two were once again enveloped in a dark blue aura and had charged for the weakened dragonite looking to finish the battle and catch the helicopter.

"Dragonite...its trainer paused before giving her next command. ...use shadow rush!" Upon hearing those words, dragonite's eyes had turned red. Suddenly, it was enveloped in a visible dark aura that took the form of a dragon rush attack.

"What the?! What kind of attack is that?" Gary asked unfamiliar with that kind of attack. The two were on a collision course with each other once again. However, Gary did not yet know how powerful a 'shadow' attack could be. And thus, dragonite had overpowered charizard in the collison and sent them hurtling towards the ground. Todd could only watch as the two quickly approach the unforgiving earth below them.

"Charizard, return! Said Gary returning his fire type to its poke ball. He had then reached for another from his pack. Venusaur, help me out with vine whip! Gary shouted as he had tossed a poke ball towards the ground below. The pokemon released from the ball looked like a variation of dinosaur. Its skin was light blue and had pointed ears like a cat. It was a rather large pokemon with four short legs and red eyes with white irises. It had four large leaves on its back with what seemed to be a large tree like plant growing out of it. The body was brown like tree bark with an opening at the top which was surrounded by red flower petals with white spots on the petals. The pokemon had extended two green vines from its back and formed them into a cushion to catch its trainer breaking his fall.

Whew, thanks venusaur!" Gary said as he jumped onto the ground.

"Venus!" Replied venusaur happily.

"Sorry you weren't able to catch them." Said Todd.

"Feh, I'm not worried about it. I can always restock the gym's food supply. Gary scoffed. Though i would've had those losers if they hadn't suprised me with that new attack. I don't think I've ever seen a dragonite use that attack before. You're that kid i met outside my gym, right? You come for a challenge?"

"Yeah. I came to check out the gym after getting word from your grandfather. You're Gary oak right?" Asked Todd.

"That's me. And sorry to say, but I'm afraid I'm not taking challenges right now. Kinda busy dealing with the crooks lifting the city's food. Besides, you've got this air about you that tells me your still a beginner." Gary replied.

"I don't know how you knew, but...you got me. I just started my journey a while ago." Said Todd.

"Sorry kid, but I only accept challenges from trainers with tons of experience. Maybe if you were to gather the other seven badges of kanto first, then we would talk about a gym battle." Saod Gary.

"THERE YOU ARE! Shouted someone closing in. The two turn to see the teen from town who was the owner of the bike that Todd 'borrowed'. You've got some nerve just taking my bike for a joyride! Where did you hide it?! Asked the teen.

"Um...about that..." Said Todd nervously. He tried to find the best way to explain the situation to him. However, it didn't seem like he'd have to as he had noticed the faint gleam of one of his bike's parts had caught his attention. He had a horrified expression on his face as he had picked up the piece of bike. It was mostly covered in ash save for the part that still managed to gleam.

"No...no...The teen shuddered as he clutched the piece of metal. What...did..you..DO?!" He asked as he hoisted up Todd by the collar of his jacket.

"I;m sorry! I didn't mean for it to happen! But that pokemon's attack was headed straight for me! What else was I supposed to do?! Todd asked.

"I DON'T KNOW! Anything that involves saving the bike! I hope you're ready to pay. Because that bike was not cheap!" The teen continued as he was almost seeing red.

"Hey kid, calm down. It was just a bike, right?" Asked Gary.

"Hell no! That was more than just a bike! And this kid's gonna pay for the repairs out of his own pocket!" Said the angry teen.

"But I don't have that kind of money!" Todd argued. Before the red capped teen could say anything, a voice had stopped him.

"Kevin! What are you doing?" A feminine voice shouted. They turn to see the girl he was talking to in the city.

"Stay out of this, Nazz. This kid owes me a new bike!" The teen now known as Kevin said.

"Well you can't shake him down for it! At least give him a chance to explain what happened first!" Said the girl. Kevin had groaned before letting go of Todd's collar and resisting the urge to strangle him after what happened to his bike.

"Thanks. My name's Todd. And I'm really sorry about your bike. If i knew that the attacks would be flying everywhere else but the battle, I wouldn't have used your bike to watch the fight.

"My name's Nazz. And this grump here is Kevin. Said the girl introducing herself and the boy. I'm sure you didn't mean to destroy his bike, but I'm afraid that meant a lot to him. I don't see how we can resolve this without some sort of compensation."

"Well, how about a battle? Todd suggested. If Kevin wins, then I'll give up all the money on me so he can repair his bike. But if I win, we'll have to find another way to pay for his bike repairs. "

"Hmph. Sounds good to me." Said Kevin still staring daggers at Todd.

"Hey, if you two are gonna battle, then whaddaya say we take this to the gym? I can't accept challenges right now, but at least we can use the field to settle this little dispute." Suggested Gary. The two agreed to the conditions and had waited until they got back to the Viridian gym. The interior of the gym seemed to be that of a castle. Marble columns had supported the stands above the battlefield below. It was a large chalk drawn rectangle with two smaller rectangles at the top and bottom of the big one where the trainers would stand. The field was divided by a large poke ball in the center of the field that had the dividing line of the field going through it.

"This battle will be between trainers Todd and Kevin. Each will use only one Pokémon. The last one standing is the winner. Gary announced. Ready? Begin!

"Houndour, sic 'em!" Said Kevin as he had tossed out his Pokémon. The Pokémon released resembled that of a dog getting ready to leave it's puppy years. Its fur was black and had a metal plate on its forehead and three metal lines on its back and metal braces around its ankles. It had a dark orange snout with a coal black nose.

"I'm seeing all kinds of new Pokémon today. Todd said as he had pulled out his pokedex and scanned houndour.

(Insert pokedex entry later)

"Alright...this one's a fire type. I could easily take it on with my squirtle. But that would be too easy. Besides, I haven't really used pidgey ever since I caught him, so...

Pidgey, I choose you!" Todd shouted as he had called out the pidgey he caught on route 1.

"Ha! Seriously? You're going to take on my houndour with a pidgey? Kevin laughed. You may as well pay up now."

"Sure, get confident after seeing a weakling. That always works!" Mumbled Gary under his breath.

"Houndour, burn it with ember!" Commanded Kevin. The dog pokemon had fired small bits of fire at pidgey.

"Pidgey, dodge use gust!" Commanded Todd. Pidget had avoided the ember and begun flapping its wings creating a strong gust of wind. Houndour could barely move as the force of the wind was pushing it back.

"Houndour, stop it with growl! Commanded Kevin. Houndour had let out a loud growl which had intimidated pidgey not only ceasing the gust, but lowered its attack as well. Now! Hit it with ember!" Still distracted from the growl, pidgey could not avoid the next attack and got hit.

"Pidgey! Hang in there. Said Todd. Use tackle attack!" Pidgey had ascended into the air before it descended making a dive bomb attack for houndour.

"Wait for my signal, houndour! Said Kevin as he waited for Pidgey to get close enough. He had waited nearly seconds before pidgey's attack made contact. Now dodge and use bite! Houndour had dodge pidgey's attack and had sunk its fangs into its left wing causing it to cry out in pain.

"No! Pidgey!" Shouted Todd.

"Got ya! Smirked Kevin. Now toss it and follow it up with ember!" He shouted. On his command, houndour had tossed pidgey clear across the field before hitting it with another ember attack. Pidgey had landed near Todd's feet looking heavily damaged.

"One more strike like that and it's over!" Said Todd observing the damage.

"And here comes the final hit. Houndour, finish that bird with bite attack!" Kevin commanded. Houndour had rushed at the weakened bird Pokémon with intent on ending the battle. But as soon as it had got close enough, Todd had smirked.

"Pidgey, use sand-attack!" Todd shouted at the last second. Pidgey had kicked up sand from the field with its wing blinding houndour and causing it to crash. Pidgey had quickly took to the air once more the minute houndour was distracted.

You're not the only one who likes to pull fake outs!" Said Todd with a smirk. Now, use gust before it gets its sight back!" Pidgey had flapped its wings as much as it could despite the pain in its wing leftover from the bite. The strong force of the wind had sent houndour flying for a short period of time.

"NO! Houndour, get a grip!" Shouted Kevin. But just as it had landed on the ground, it was too late.

"Pidgey, finish it with tackle attack!" Todd commanded. Pidgey had stopped flapping and had once again dove down on the fire type. Kevin was about to call for another ember attack, but pidgey was too fast and had hit houndour with full force. It had landed on the ground with black spirals in its eyes.

"Houndour is unable to battle! The winner of the battle is Todd!" Announced Gary extending his left arm to Todd's side of the field.

"All right! Way to go pidgey! You won your first battle!" Todd cheered. Pidgey would have joined in the celebration, but it had instantly dropped to the ground as it was completely exhausted from the battle. Oh right, guess you're pretty banged up. You take a good rest." Todd said as he had returned pidgey to its poke ball. It was then he noticed that Kevin had a look of extreme disappointment on his face as he returned houndour.

"Sorry Kevin, but it looks like I'm keeping all my money." Said Todd.

"Man, this bites! Kevin complained. My bike's busted and I lost a battle to another newbie with a pidgey! And we were gonna cruise around the kanto region without breaking a sweat."

"Wait a minute, what do you mean by "another newbie"? Did you lose to someone before me?" Asked Todd.

"None of your business! Kevin snapped. Now what am I gonna do?"

"I'm afraid there aren't any repair shops here, but there's a bike shop in cerulean city. You could probably get your bike fixed there." Said Gary.

"Seriously?! Why didn't you say anything before?!"Kevin asked.

"Because I wanted to see how you two would resolve it on your own. Didn't expect the pidgey to win though." Gary replied with a smirk.

"Tch, whatever. How far is this city?" Asked Kevin.

"I'm afraid it's a long way from here. Gary replied giving the bad news. It's located on the other side of mount. Moon. And to get there, you first have to go through Pewter city."

"And how do we get to Pewter city?" Asked Nazz. You can get there easy by going through Viridian forest. But be careful. There are some nasty bug Pokémon there that you'd want to avoid. Especially the beedrill. Those guys are mean."

'Alright. Come on you two, we're headed for Viridian forest!" Kevin commanded as he begun making his way out of the gym.

'Hey wait, who said I was leaving?" Asked Todd.

"I did! You still owe me for getting my bike thrashed! Kevin snapped. So here's what I think. You come along with me and Nazz until we reach Cerulean. Until we get there, all the money you earn from battling other trainers goes to me. Just in case there's an extra fee for repairs."

'Kevin, you can't ask him to-." Nazz begun.

"No, those sound like fair terms." Said Todd.

"Dude, seriously?" Asked Nazz unsure if his choice was certain.

"I owe him that much. I don't mind donating for a bit." Said Todd. But, can we rest at the Pokémon center first? I'm pretty sure that bite attack did a serious number on pidgey's wing."

"I guess." Kevin said folding his arms.

"Before you go, I think you'll be happy to know that there are gyms in both Pewter and Cerulean. If you want to get a good start on getting gym badges, then those are the best places to start." Said Gary.

"Thanks Gary. We'll be back once we've gotten enough experience under our belts." Todd replied.

"And I'll be looking forward to that day. Smell ya guys later!" Gary chuckled as he waved good-bye to the three rookies as they left the gym.

…Meanwhile in an underground base…

It seemed droves of white armored people same as the thieves from Viridian were stationed in this base. Most of them training Pokémon with the same type of attack that the dragonite from earlier had. In another room, several poke balls were being put through strange machines and were being pumped with a strange dark energy. The scientists were in white lab coats and goggles observing the statistics of these same Pokémon. These people were all part of the organization of cipher. An organization that specialized in closing the door to the hearts of Pokémon and transforming them into powerful fighting machines known as "Shadow Pokémon". A few years ago, they tried to take over the region of Orre twice. But twice they were defeated. The deed was done by two trainers who both wore a snag machine.

A machine originally designed to capture Pokémon from other trainers used for snagging the shadow Pokémon and then opening the doors to their hearts. A single female member had walked down the hallways of the base. She had three poke balls to her side and had black hair under her helmet. She had normal white skin and coal black eyes under her visor. She was not the friendly type as she was cold to her fellow members and almost as cold to the Pokémon she commanded. She was the very trainer that controlled the dragonite that took down Gary. She had continued to walk down the hallway until she came up to a couple of double doors that had the ne cipher symbol on both of them. She had taken out a card and slid it in a slot allowing her access into the room. It seemed to be a control room of sorts as there were multiple consoles in the room manned by dozens of cipher scientists. There was a large screen in the middle of the room which was currently blank.

"Standing in front of the screen was a man in his thirties. He had blue rectangular glasses to cover his sharp, calculating blue eyes and had blue short blue hair save for the huge strand of it extending from his head in the form of a thunderbolt. He wore a lab coat with several edges on his long collar and on his long coat tail lined with blue trimmings as well as long purple pants and black dress shoes.

"Ah, peon heather. The scientist greeted. Nice work today. You seemed to handle that shadow dragonite very well."

"Heh, thanks. Guess I just have that air of authority." She scoffed.

"However, It could have gone better. He continued wiping the smile off her face. You could have easily had it used shadow rush and knock him out of the sky without much effort. You risked us being found out by drawing out that little duel you had." He said bluntly.

"I was just having a little fun. I knew that there was no way he could beat shadow dragonite's true power. So I let him think he had a chance by playing fair for a bit." Heather replied.

"I do not care for your games. We do not wish to be exposed. Not yet. I ask that you refrain from such actions in the future." He finished as he held his arms behind his back.

"Fine." Groaned Heather. While one of the scientists were observing the monitors, he had saw something unusual moving on camera three.

"Hmm?" He pondered as he looked closer. There was definitely someone there. But the lighting was two dim to get a clear description. All they could see was a Pokémon being released. Apparently, they were able to see the Pokémon clearly. The Pokémon was big and blocky. It had a long nose and one eye on both sides of its face. It had a fish eye sort of look as the eyes showed very little expression. Most of it was bright pink while its nose was blue as well as its diamond shaped tail and trapezoid like legs.

"Is….is that a porygon?!" Asked the scientist with a worried look on his face.

"Hmm? What's this about a porygon?" Another scientist asked. Suddenly, the screens had started to go fuzzy.

"What the? What's going on?" Asked the blue haired man.

"Chief Ein, it's a porygon! Someone's gotten into the base and sent it into the systems!" Exclaimed the scientist.

"Well, get it out! If that thing reaches the shadow Pokémon manufacturing area…" Said Ein.

"Chief, we've got a visual on the intruder! Said another scientist. Oh….oh no…" He said as he grew a terrified look under his goggles.

"What?! Who is it?!" Asked Ein. None of the scientists were able to answer as the person who appeared on the screen had caused all of them to go silent. But he would have his answer immediately as a flamethrower had torn a hole through the metal doors and had caused them to collapse onto the ground. Out of the smoke stepped a black shoe.

"So, you guys are up to your old tricks again after all, huh? And in Kanto no less. Spoke a young voice. A lot more Pokémon to work with here.

"Identify yourself! Demanded Ein. Just who are you?! The individual had walked into the light revealing it to be Michael.

"The name is Michael. Pleased to meet you." Said Michael with a snirk.

Well, that's the end of chapter 6. While Todd unexpectedly gained two traveling companions, cipher has plans for using shadow Pokémon in Kanto. But exactly who could be cipher's ringleader this time? And how is Michael involved with them?

Next time,On their way to Celadon, Maurecia and Jenny have an unpleasant run in with a group of mankeys who make off with an important belonging of Maurecia's.

"Next time, Chapter 7:Mankey see, Mankey do!