I'm so glad to see that people are okay with me cutting out along of the battles. I'm going to be doing much, much more cutting out with them...well I already have since I've been writing so far ahead. Of course the larger battles against Gym leaders and other major characters are left in tact.

Disclaimer: Pokémon, along with any people, places or things from it are not mine, nor do I claim it to be. The only thing I do own is myself and the dream this all started from.

"What?" I exclaimed at the man, who had just asked me if I wanted to join Team Rocket, "Those weak little 'Pokémon gangsters'? Are you kidding?"

"Oh, come on," he said, "Join us!"

"Never," I told him, "I'm not joining an illegal group of weaklings."

"...Okay, you need convincing!" the man said, ripping off his civilian disguise, revealing his Team Rocket uniform.

I laughed, "Okay, try your best."

The battle was easy, just like I had predicted. He only used two Pokémon at level 15, an Ekans and a Zubat. Had he forgotten I had just taken on two level 16s and a level 18 on the bridge? Fearow, with her new, strengthened attack stat took care of his Pokémon very quickly; his Pokémon didn't even put any damage on my wonderful Pokémon.

"With your ability, you'd become a top leader in Team Rocket," the man said returning his two knocked out Pokémon.

"It wouldn't matter," I said, "when the people working for me would be such weaklings there wouldn't be any point. Make a better offer and I could consider it. But you people are more pathetic than one of my friends."

The grunt glared at me then ran off, like all of the other grunts I had battled in Mt. Moon.

It was true; I wouldn't mind being a part of Team Rocket if they were stronger. With me on top, or at least close to the top, Pokémon wouldn't be harmed, but global domination would certainly be a top project.

I shrugged and continued north, picked up an item on the top of an elevated platform, which was the TM for Attract, then continued my journey to Bill's, east.

I took on 8 of the 9 trainers in Route 25. I didn't fight the one trainer, the youngster with the Slowpoke so that I could try to see if the Mew glitch would work in reality. I remembered Arceus telling Mew to go to its post in Cerulean, so I was hopeful.

My first battle was against Hiker Franklin, who had two level 15 Pokémon, a Machop and a Geodude. Using Fearow and Ivysaur respectively I quickly disposed of his Pokémon. This battle caused Ivysaur to level up and to learn Razor Leaf, which I eagerly deleted Vine Whip for. I wanted to keep Tackle in case I went up against a Pokémon resistant to Grass, and I wanted to keep Leech Seed and Poisonpowder so I could use them both to help take out tricky Pokémon.

Youngster Joey was the second trainer to stand in my way. He also had two level 15 Pokémon, a Rattata and a Spearow. They were no match for my Fearow, who took them both out with little effort.

I then went south to battle Hiker Wayne, who was no challenge at all, only using a level 17 Onix. Ivysaur used his new move to quickly take out the rock-snake Pokémon.

I had to use my sneaking skills to get past the youngster I was determined not to battle, but directly after my ninja-ing I ran into Picnicker Kelsey, who decided she wanted to tell me about her boyfriend before the battle. She used two level 15 Nidorans, one male, one female. Of course, the male had to poison Fearow again, so Ivysaur took out the female.

I used an Antidote on Fearow to cure her poison and set off, only to be stopped again by Hiker Nob. He was slightly more of a challenge than some of the other trainers on the route, using four Pokémon, three Geodudes and a Machop. They were all at level 13 though, so it wasn't too tough, it just caused me to exhaust Ivysaur's Razor Leaf a little more, and caused me to need to switch in to Fearow.

Only about two steps away from the hiker I was stopped by Camper Flint, who talked about his girlfriend, which caused me to wonder if the Picnicker was who his girlfriend was. When I asked he didn't tell me. He was easy to beat, using two level 14s, a Rattata, and an Ekans.

The second to last trainer on the route, Youngster Chad, was also no challenge, also using level 14 Pokémon, an Ekans, and a Sandshrew.

Finally I challenged the last trainer on the route, Lass Haley. She battled with weak Pokémon, two level 13 Oddishes, and a level 13 Pidgey. The Pidgey did get a critical hit from a quick attack in, causing Fearow's health to drop into the low yellow zone, but seeing as there were no other trainers on the route I wasn't worried.

At last I reached the famous Poké Maniac, Bill's, house. It really was surreal. I entered the house to find a Clefairy walking around the room, mumbling to itself.

"Er, Bill?" I called out.

"Oh, hello," the Clefairy turned to me, "I'm Bill. I'm not joshing you, lady."

"I know," I said, "Do you need any help?"

"Yeah," he admitted, "I screwed up an experiment and got combined with a Pokémon! So, how about it? Help me out here!"

"Of course," I said, "What do you need me to do?"

"Wait 'till I get inside the teleporter," Bill explained, "When I do, go to my PC and run the Cell Separation System."

Without any conformation from me Bill ran inside one of the two metal tubes sitting at the back of his house.

I walked over to the computer and found the file named "Cell Separation System". I clicked on it, starting the program. I watched as the processes in the chambers started instantly, no wait time needed in the Pokémon world. I watched the tube connecting the two chambers light up as I wished computers back at home ran this fast.

Eventually Bill emerged from the tube sitting on the other side of the room and walked over to the center of the room.

"Yeehah!" he exclaimed, "Thanks, lady! I owe you one! So, did you come to see my Pokémon collection?"

"Yes!" I said, very excited to take a look.

"You didn't? That's a bummer."

I sighed, three deaf people, one in each city so far. I guess it could have been worse.

"I've got to thank you... Oh, here, maybe this'll do," Bill said, handing me a slip of paper, "That cruise ship S.S. Anne is in Vermilion City. I hear there are lots of trainers on board, too. They invited me to their party, but I can't stand fancy dos. Why don't you go instead of me? Go on and have a good time."

"Er, thanks," I said, taking the ticket because I knew it was my only way to get the HM for Cut, otherwise I wouldn't like it, "Any chance I can see your Pokémon collection."

Bill seemed to ignore me after I had taken the ticket from him, which really stunk. I wanted to see what kind of great things Pokémon he had.