Hello people who may or may not actually be reading this fic, new chapter! yay

Also I'm writing this with dilated eyeballs so It's kind of hard to see what I'm typing but I'm in the writing mood not a planning mood so nothing can be done about that I suppose.

Also I'm accepting OC's for both rivals for Sam and also just simple battles along the way. If you want a character to appear in the story, then post the following filled out:

NAME:

AGE:

GENDER:

APPEARANCE:

PERSONALITY:

POKEMON TEAM (with short (or longer if you want to try being a rival) descriptions including nicknames, personality and attacks or special stats)

GOAL (optional):

QUIRKS (optional)

SOMETHING YOU WANT S/HE TO SAY/CATCHPHRASE (optional):

PREFERRED TOWN TO MEET IN (optional):

OTHER (optional):

This is the beginning of the fourth arc: Golden Age!

PART IV

It had been two days since Sam, Kurt, Rae and their respective Pokémon had left Mount Moon and the Clefairy. Once outside, they had had a relatively easy time acting confused and pretended to have amnesia. The scientists, upset but not shocked, had let them so on their way with a 'you tried' and a pat on their back. The whole team as in noticeably good mood. None more so than Nova, who would trot over to Sam and then double back around to their newest teammate, Poison the Nidoran.

She reflected during the two days of travel, she messed with Gold, who was getting steadily grumpier, she got to know Poison(who she thought was hilarious; they'd laugh along each other for hours), she attempted to coax Missile into a conversation, purposefully tripped Abra (to the slight glee of Gold) and rode on Sam's shoulder.

But mostly she reflected. She was having the time of her life. She was absolutely content. Nova had been traveling side by side with her trainer, Sam for the last 23 days, but her old life seemed nothing but a dull gray nightmare far behind her now.

Because she was stronger. And they were going to prove it. Sam had told her that they were approaching the next town. And it had a Pokemon Gym.

It was growing dark that night and the stars were glowing strongly above the the large blazing campfire, expertly fashioned by the three trainers (and a certain eevee who tried to help but nearly ended up being the fire). Sam and Kurt sat next to each other on a log near the fire while Nova lay at Sam's feet, admiring the cinders.

"...And that's not all! You could just have Poison put a little bit of his poison in those Grunt's leader's food and he's out! Or you could teach Poison to take an impotent chemical I heard some poison types can make and you could rake in some cash..." Kurt explained to Sam wide-eyed in excitement.

Poison, who was sprawled out near the two boys had a large grin across his face, obviously enjoying the attention.

For a guy who was such a loner he really likes the attention. Nova twitched her ears in amusement because of Poison's reaction. He's gonna fit right in here.

Around her, everyone was immersed in their own activities. Gold was very occupied sulking out of the firelight, Missile was using wax he produced to wax his wings. When Nova had asked him a few minutes before he had told her it made them stronger and more wind-resistant. Abra was busy scurrying from the fire to any place around them touched by the dancing firelight, throwing small twigs in the fire only to have them be almost immediately incinerated and driving him off to find more.

Rae and who Nova now nicknamed the P3s (for Pokemon Police Patrol/Posse (they had started grappling with their official name)) were trying to write a letter explaining everything to Rae's mother about how she couldn't make the train and was now traveling with two boys. To which Nova had tried communicating was a bad move, given the connotations that might come from that, but in the end, Rae didn't understand and Nova gave up.

Eventually, the Pokemon belonging to Sam naturally congregated.

"So, Poison, what kind of moves do you know?" Nova inquired, hoping that bringing up a light topic that would interest the on-edge sandshrew of the group whould help the two new teammates bond.

"Huh...although I've never really battled...I know I have Peck, Poison Sting, of course," Poison started listing off, "and Double Kick."

Gold sneered, crossing his short arms. "Double Kick's a fighting-type move. There's no point, they've already got a fighting-type on the team. Gold told him snidely, motioning to himself.

The Nidoran lost the insult altogether in his confusion. "Aren't sandshrew ground-type? Why do you keep saying you're a fighting type?"

Oh no. Though she had no idea how Gold would react to this seemingly innocent question, Nova still had a very bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Gold's smallish fists clenched tightly and his claws grappled to hold them there. He sprang up and stood in the front of the poison-type as taught as a tension cord. A large embarrassed blush had spread across his cheeks and his eyes glowed like hot coals. "You," he enunciated slowly, "don't know anythin'. So just shut yer mouth and don't ya dare open it again. Y'hear me?" As Gold stormed off they heard, "Go back from where ya came from ya dumb rat."

Wh-what? He didn't act like this when I asked him when we first met, what's bothering him so much?

Determined to fix it, Nova jumped over the log maneuvered across a couple fallen branches and moved to stand in front the retreating sandshrew.

"H-hey Gold, wait. Let's go back, we can figure everything out back with everyone else. We don't think it's weird you can't dig, in fact, I can't even imagine you being an actual ground-type!" Nova said, trying to lighten his mood.

...

Time seemed to slow down for both Pokemon as they both processed the words just said. Nova flinched back, biting her tongue. Her words had come out entirely wrong. Gold, who had stopped when she had followed him, turned away slightly, eyes filled with a mixture of betrayal and anger. Clearly not able to find the appropriate way to react, he continued off into the darkness.

This time, Nova didn't follow him but stayed rooted to the ground, trying to process what she'd just done to one of her best friends. As realization struck, tears pricked her eyes

...-can't even imagine you being an actual ground-type...

...can't even imagine...

Everything, those times he actually showed he didn't mind being on a team with me, its ruined. He's never going to forget this. I broke something inside of him just now...now I don't know if it's…irreparable...

Yep, that's the chapter. unusually short? Yes. But necessary for drama. I tried putting more into this one but it made it sound awkward.