*Chapter Two: The Pokedexholders*

Two Days Later… July 31

Cerulean City Pokémon Center, Kanto

10:15 a.m.

Odette pulled a drawstring to close her traveling bag and grabbed the handle of her guitar case. She shouldered her bag and checked her belt to make sure that her Pokémon were all present. She took a look at herself in the mirror.

She wore a pink tank top with a looser, bigger one over it and dark blue skinny jeans. On her feet were metallic black flats.

Though she seemed very calm on the outside, Odette was most excited about going to Pallet Town to see Prof. Oak. Deep inside, there was still a shred of sadness. Odette liked her home and did not want to leave Nurse Joy to run the Pokémon Center by herself.

When she told her about Prof. Oak's letter, Nurse Joy had insisted that Odette accept. "Don't worry about me, Odette," the nurse had said. "I've worked this Pokémon Center by myself for ten years before you came along. I'm sure I can hold up. Go travel again. I'm so very proud of you."

Odette noticed that her Pokémon is their pokeballs were getting impatient. She gripped the case that held her precious guitar. Odette never left her instrument behind and even took the thing with her on her Pokémon journey. It was a birthday present from Joy, and the female trainer had taught herself to play.

Taking one last look around her room, Odette slipped into the hallway and closed the door behind her. She took the stairs and arrived at the lobby of the Pokémon Center.

Nurse Joy stood behind the counter as usual with Chansey and had a sunny smile on her face. When she saw Odette, her smile grew bigger. "Good-bye, dear!" she called. "Give my regards to Prof. Oak, will you?"

"Don't worry; I will," Odette told the nurse. "I should be back in a couple of weeks. Buh-bye!"

Odette made sure she had her Pokegear before stepping outside.

It was a hot summer day. There was a small breeze and flocks of Pidgey flew overhead. A few people were in the streets, and the black haired girl saw children playing tag in the fields beside the Pokémon Center.

Odette took out Altaria's pokeball and released the flying-dragon type.

Altaria spread its fluffy, cotton-like wings and gave Odette a bright smile. "Taaaaaaar!"

"Please take me to Pallet Town, Altaria," Odette instructed her flying Pokémon as she climbed onto its back.

Altaria nodded eagerly and grabbed Odette's guitar in its claws before taking off into the clear blue sky.


Pallet Town hadn't changed a bit since Odette had visited it on her journey through Kanto almost five years ago. It was quiet and small. There seemed to be more Wild Pokémon roaming around than actual people. But the main thing that Odette always noticed about the small town was the air. It was so clean and unpolluted and fresh. Pallet Town definitely deserves its name.

It was a three hour flight from Cerulean City to Pallet Town. People would normally get a horrible backache from riding a flying Pokémon that long, but Altaria's cotton-like feathers created a nice cushion for Odette and kept her comfortable during the trip.

They touched down near Oak's lab at around 1:17 p.m. Odette gave Altaria a drink of water from her bottle before thanking the Pokémon and allowing it to return to its pokeball. The duo had landed in the shade of a small tree beside the lab.

Odette took a deep breath and tightened her grip on all of her luggage. She stepped out of the shade and into the blinding sunlight.

The sun beat down mercilessly on the little town. Some patches of grass were turning yellow from the heat, and a few bird-Pokémon nested in coolness of the river route that led to Cinnabar Island.

There was a small breeze but not enough to stop Odette from sweating like an Emboar. The female trainer quickly ran across a field of flowers to reach the front door of the Oak laboratory.

The lab was larger than the other buildings around town. It was simple in design, and a little windmill stuck out from the back. Odette also noticed a ranch behind the lab where a group of Sunflora and Oddish were playing.

Odette set her stuff down and hesitated before ringing the doorbell. Perhaps I shouldn't… she thought. I'm sure I'll only cause trouble for the Professor. Maybe I should just go…

Before Odette could turn around and run, her Espeon's pokeball glowed and the psychic-type popped out. It had an irritated look on its cat-like face. "Esp!" Then, it leapt up and pressed the doorbell with its nose before Odette could stop it.

"No! Don't do that!" Odette hissed at her Pokémon, but the Espeon just gave its trainer a smug look.

There was a sound of shuffling behind the door. Odette quickly returned Espeon back into its pokeball, and tried to straighten her clothes and hair in time to meet the famous Professor Oak.

The door opened and it was not Professor Oak. It was simply one of his assistants.

Odette switched to confident mode. She flashed a charming smile at the assistant. "Hi there!" she chirped, holding up her invitation letter. "My name is Odette. I'm here to see Professor Oak. Will you please let him know that I'm here?"

The assistant's eyes shone with recognition. "Oh, yes! The professor has been talking about you, Odette." He was a man who looked like he was in his early forties. He had salt-and-pepper hair and kind gray eyes which were covered by a set of thick glasses. "Please come in." He led the female trainer into the lab.

Odette felt a blast of cool air when she entered the building and was happy to be out of the burning July sun.

The lab was a bizarre place. There were shelves filled with pokeballs and strange, glass, columns that contained some bubbling liquid. It was bright in the lab from the many windows but the air conditioning kept the place nice and cool. It gave off the same aura you feel when you are waiting in a doctor's waiting room but mixed with curiosity and the faint smell of chemicals being combined.

Everyone in the room wore white lab coats and some had gloves and masks.

"Ah, you must be Odette, yes?"

Odette tore her attention away from the lab equipment and focused on the sandy haired man in front of her.

He wore a lab coat like the others and had a square shaped face.

Odette immediately recognized him as Professor Oak. She nodded and said, "Yes, I am. It's an honor to meet you, sir."

Oak smiled, liking the girl's manners. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Odette. I hope you have a most comfortable stay here in Pallet Town."

"Thank you, Prof. Oak," Odette shook the man's hand.

"Now, I would like to introduce you to my Pokedexholders…" Oak led Odette out of the lab. Two cozy houses stood beside the lab, and they each had a tag on their mail box that read Green's House and Red's House.

Oak walked up to Red's house and rang the doorbell. Odette stood behind him patiently, waiting to be introduced to the Dexholders.

Not two seconds later, the door swung open, and Sapphire, Emerald, Blue, and Gold stood in the entryway like they had raced each other to the door.

Odette lifted an eyebrow at them curiously. She looked into the house and saw the others inside, looking like they've been waiting.

Professor Oak cleared his throat at them, gaining their attention. "Everybody listen up. This is our guest, Odette, whom I have invited to Pallet Town." He motioned to the black haired girl. "I expect you all to treat her well during her stay. Now, you will each introduce yourselves and-"

The professor's Pokegear rang at that moment, interrupting the lecture. Oak dug in the pocket of his lab coat and pulled out the communication device. He excused himself and answered the call.

As the person on the other end of the line spoke, Odette could notice the professor's expression turn from shock to anger to worry. What's going on?

The Pokedexholders seemed to notice it too and watched Oak carefully.

The professor hung up after a while. He turned to the teenagers. "I need to take care of something very important right now. Odette, why don't you get to know some of the Dexholders while I'm gone? I'll be back soon."

Before Odette or the Pokedexholders could ask what the 'very important' thing was, Oak had already sent out a Spearow and flew away.

Odette would have wondered how a tiny Pokémon like Spearow could have carried Oak through the air, but her mind was already occupied by the awkwardness that hung in the air between her and the Pokedexholders. With Professor Oak gone, she would have to meet and strike conversation with them herself.

The awkwardness didn't last long, though. Blue almost immediately began talking after sensing the discomfort of the guest. She held out a hand to Odette cheerfully. "Welcome to Pallet Town, Odette. I'm Blue."

Odette smiled at the brunette and shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Blue."

Blue turned to her friends. "Alright, all of you!" she shouted at them with authority. "Let's make Odette feel welcomed. I want all of you to stand up and tell her your name."

"Blue, I'm sure she already knows who we are," Green pointed out.

Gold snorted with amusement. "Who doesn't?"

"Gold!" Crystal smacked him in the back of the head. "That attitude of yours makes me sick! One of these days, your big mouth will get you in a lot of trouble."

Gold rubbed the spot where Crystal hit him. "Why are you so violent, Super Serious Gal? You're going to scare the new chick with that anger issue of yours, ya know?"

Crystal fumed and Emerald and Green had to hold her back from attacking Gold.

Odette smiled a little. "Are they always like this?" she asked Blue.

"Yep, just about," Blue replied. "Don't judge Crystal though. She's really a good and calm person underneath all of that rage." She led Odette to the other Dexholders. "Don't worry. I'll make you feel right at home!"

Yellow, Red, Ruby, Sapphire, and Crystal were more than happy to meet Odette. Emerald kind of scared the pale girl with all of his artificial arms and legs. Gold had attempted to flirt with the female trainer until Crystal showed up and dragged him away by the ear. Silver and Green looked like they didn't care and the Sinnoh Dexholders insisted on calling Odette "Senior" even though she's not even the owner of a Pokedex.

When Odette met Red again, she felt a great deal of respect for him. She remembered when he beat her years ago and the pain she felt when her last Pokémon fell. Back then, she had been mad, mad at Red for hurting her Pokémon and making a fool out of her. But after traveling more, she lost that feeling and replaced it with respect.

Red wasn't cocky or proud when Odette mentioned the topic. He just scratched the back of his neck and laughed nervously. "I'm sorry… about that…" he said. "You're not mad? I remember that you tried to tackle me to the ground when you lost. Ahahahaha…"

Odette blushed when she remembered how immature she was about her defeat. It was just downright embarrassing.

Once Odette knew all of her new friends, Blue let her go and mingle with the others.

Odette noticed Green being his quiet self, reading a book on the couch. Odette knew that he was the Viridian Gym Leader and the holder of the Earth Badge.

When Odette started her journey and arrived at Viridian City, Giovanni had just been defeated, and the gym had no gym leader. She was never able to get the Earth Badge, and the Pokémon League had let her challenge the Elite Four with only seven badges because there was no eighth gym leader.

To this day, the Earth Badge is the only badge that Odette has not obtained during her travels through all five regions. Now there was the gym leader sitting right in front of her…

Odette knew she could not let this opportunity slip past her. She approached the young Viridian Gym Leader with caution and sat down beside him.

Green looked up from his book and his gaze locked on the female trainer.

"You are the Gym Leader of Viridian City, right?" Odette asked the green eyed teen.

"That's correct," replied the gym leader.

"Will you care to battle me?" Odette said hopefully. "Your badge is the only one I do not have. Viridian gym is the only gym I have not challenged. Please?"

Green stared at Odette, deciding whether she would be worth battling or not. "Tell me, how many badges do you have in all?"

Odette did some math in her head and answered, "Forty-one. Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh each had eight. I only got seven from Kanto, and Unova has ten gyms."

The gym leader blinked, unimpressed. "Have you ever defeated a Champion?"

Odette felt her throat close up. "No," she answered honestly.

Green sighed in defeat. "I don't usually battle anyone except Red, but he has told me about you. It takes a lot to impress him, you know."

Odette waited for her answer and was growing a bit impatient.

"I'll tell you what," Green started. "You know who Platinum is, don't you?" They glanced at the Sinnoh Dexholder. "If you can beat her, I'll battle you."

It wasn't exactly the response that Odette was expecting but it was close enough. She nodded. "Okay, I'll battle Platinum. But why her?"

Green actually smiled a little. "She's been begging me to train her, but I don't know if she'll be worth teaching. I need someone whom she hardly knows and has a chance of defeating to battle her. Then I can decide if I should help her."

"Oh, okay," Odette said and got up. "Thank you, Green, for giving me a chance. I won't disappoint you."

"We'll see," the gym leader called to her as Odette rushed off to find Blue.


A/N: And cut! Done with this chapter! Yay! I hope this wasn't a pain to read! Buh-bye until next time! A review would be nice too ^_^