Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies. The characters in this work are all loosely based on those created by Pokemon and its companies, and this story will never by no means be used to make monetary profit or gain.

CHAPTER SIX

Melanie Under-The-Bridge:

"Leave him," says the spiky, sandy blonde-haired boy. His voice is calm and authoritative, it is a commanding voice that should by no means belong to the small boy he is.

"Shut up Gary!" one of the other boys says. His face is red with anger, justifiably perhaps, but nevertheless, normally he would have never addressed the golden boy of school in such a rude manner. "He went too far this time!" he says as he kicks the dark-haired boy on the ground, in the middle of a surrounding group of youngsters about the same age.

That one boy may be too emotional to act straight, but the others aren't. They back up a bit in the presence of Gary Oak. Another kid explains, "Umm, he did his magic again Gary. On Ben. We need to teach'em a lesson, Gary, that's fair, isn't it?"

Well, Garret Oak is nothing if not fair. "What did he do?" he asks. Excited now, and seeking approval for the well-deserved punishment, the boys begin telling the story.

The dark-haired boy on the ground only smirks. His thoughts are on how pathetic, how boring people are, how they can only justify their actions if someone in charge allows it, how far away they are from grasping their own lives in their own hands. His thoughts are condescending and narcissistic, his thoughts are those that suit an elderly war veteran more than a ten-year-old boy.

"So, he made Ben's family pet growlithe attack Ben? That's it?" Gary grins. "How do you even know he made it do that?"

"Stripes never did nothing like that before! He never bit me, he likes me!" Ben spits out. "And, and, and you know how he is with mons Gary, he has this mind control thingy on them and, and..." Too angry to continue, he crouches on the dark-haired boy again and pummels him with his fists.

A mistake. Because without Ben's other friends holding him down, the dark-haired boy is far from defenseless. He kicks back, right between Ben's legs. Ben howls and rolls over.

The other kids are ready to jump, but they stop when Gary asks, "Why did you do it?"

Bright blue eyes meet brown. Every other kid thinks Gary is asking why the boy kicked Ben, why he fought back when the odds are so against him. The dark haired, brown eyed boy knows he is asking why he made Ben's growlithe attack its owner.

He shrugs his shoulders, takes a deep breath, and speaks the first time ever to his classmates. "Because I could."

The key turned, and the iron door leading to my cell opened wide.

"Trainer Red, your credentials checked out. You're free to go."

Groaning, I got up from the wooden bench I was sleeping on. Next to me on the ground Pikachu stretched his body and jumped up, taking his regular place on my shoulder.

The toothless old man, whom I had shared this cell with over the last two days, bid me farewell in his own way. "No, no! Where are you going? Didn't you listen to me? This is the only safe place left!"

"Yeah, yeah, can it Rusty!" said the officer whose name tag read Johnson. He slammed the door shut behind me. The last thing I heard from Rusty was that the time of the Bidoof-Apocalypse was nigh.

"Crazy old coot," muttered Officer Johnson.

We climbed the stairs from the holding cells up to the main lobby of Cerulean Police Headquarters. Making way through a number of people, Officer Johnson led Pikachu and me to a desk.

"Trainer Red's possessions."

Eyeing me suspiciously, the female officer by the desk reached under and pulled a transparent plastic bag, my moon stone clearly visible in. My escort gave a small whistle when he saw the size of it. Ignoring him, I took the stone and put it in my pocket.

"Sign here."

After I signed, Officer Johnson turned to me. "All right kid, here's the first thing you gonna do. There's a league office next to the pokecenter on Drowning Street, near the square, can't miss it. Get yourself a new training's license, I don't want you roaming around in my city anymore without any ID. Next, keep that mon of yours under control. It goes around attacking another officer of the law again, I'll put you two in a cell so deep they'll need a dugtrio squad to dig you out." He gave Pikachu a look, which Pikachu returned by turning his backside on him.

I couldn't help slightly smirking as I remembered how we had approached the city gate after our climb down Mt. Moon. Looking probably like a deranged madman - spending Dialga knows how much time underground and being tortured tended to make you look not as your best, wielding no identification - thanks to my stuff being lost under the tunnels, and holding a valuable stone in my hand - which looked like I had stolen, I had scared the city guards a lot. It hadn't helped when Pikachu had shocked a croconaw that had belonged to one of the guards as they were trying to stop me entering the city.

"Do you have a permanent address during your stay in Cerulean?" Officer Johnson returned me to reality. I shook my head. He didn't seem to like my answer. "Well, I don't want you crawling in the streets homeless, looking for a shed to sleep in. Get one."

Rolling my eyes, I patted my pocket, reminding him of my moon stone which would worth more than his monthly salary once I cashed it. With the money I expected to get, it was stupid to assume I couldn't afford a motel room.

He went slightly red but continued. "We keep the streets clean here kid, so stay out of trouble."

Having enough of his speech, I turned around and made my way to the exit.

"Trainer Red!" He called. I looked at him a final time.

Probably feeling obligated, he gritted through his teeth, "Welcome to Cerulean City."

))(())((

Cerulean, the Lagoon City.

Cerulean was one of the luckier cites in Kanto. The people who first migrated here were greeted with many intersecting rivers, making the land between extremely suitable for farming. The rivers themselves were also bountiful, the people fished goldeen, remoraid, and magikarp. Protection from the wild was easy after walling up the river sides and huddling in, making a natural moat surrounding their homes.

Just as the mountains were to Pewterians, so were the rivers sacred to Ceruleanians. Their greatest way of worship was through their trainers, which almost always exclusively trained water types. Out of all the cities in Indigo, only in historic Cerulean were trainers associated with religious power. These so called "water priests" used to patrol the rivers and the city as if they owned them, which in a sense they did.

After the unification of Kanto, the priests were stripped of any spiritual titles they had and were bound to the league. An extreme fraction of them did not like that and tried flooding parts of the city using their pokemon, in hopes of by showing the wrath of the river gods, they would gain the people's support back. They failed when one of them lost nerve and reported to the newly established league government. Leonal Oak came with his team to battle. After killing all the opposing pokemon, he tied weights to the ringleaders and drowned them in the very rivers they worshiped, supposedly quoting that if they were ready to murder for their gods, it was fitting that their gods murdered them.

I read all this on the information board near the Pokecenter on Drowned Street. Apparently, before it was filled in to make new landscape for the growing population, this was the spot where the first Champion of Kanto performed his execution. Charming name, I couldn't help thinking as I glanced up to the street sign.

Today there existed no followers of the Water Church, but Cerulean trainers still seemed inherently drawn to train water types, as could be seen from their Gym Leaders. Every leader of Cerulean since the unification had been a water trainer, including the current one, Misty. Lucky for us, I thought, feeling Pikachu on my shoulder. This time we'll have the advantage, unlike when we were against Brock.

"Get down." I nudged Pikachu, and he jumped down. "You're too heavy." We went past the Pokecenter and a short walk later found the league bureau.

We entered. There weren't that many people inside, but still the receptionists all had lines in front of them. I seemed to draw all eyes on me as I walked in wearing clothes too large, with scars on my face and a pokemon out of its pokeball. Not minding the stares, I took a place in the line behind receptionist number four.

Two of the receptionists began whispering among each other and gave me small glances, obviously talking about me. I saw one of them calling for someone else from behind the great glass door that separated the offices from the main lobby. A young man in his twenties came out and after a small talk that happened between him and the receptionists, he walked around and made his way towards me.

"Mr. Red?" he asked kindly while smiling. I looked up surprised and nodded. His smile widened. "We were notified earlier that a, eeh, roughed up male trainer with a pikachu might show. Please, would you follow me?"

Half a minute later I was seated across him in a standard office room. His back was turned to me since he was looking for something in a cabinet.

"My name is Alex," he said, his back still turned. "As I said before, we were told you might arrive, and we received a parcel to give you upon arrival. The sender is anonymous, which isn't how we usually do things - you wouldn't have any idea who might send you something so secretively, would you?" he asked, allowing his head to slightly turn to face me.

I shook my head.

"I thought so. Anyway, the higher ups warned us it was a priority that we gave you this package. Ever since, we've been on alert - ah, here it is."

He took out a small brown box and put it on his desk.

"Now as I understand you don't have any ID on you, right? That's okay, we actually printed you a new trainer's card - all your records intact. Still I'm going to need you to sign these..."

After the paperwork was finished, he told me to wait for a minute as he made a call. He apologetically smiled "I'm requesting a quick sweep, we have to be sure that you are you and not actually a ditto or something else. They'll be here any second."

Just as he finished his sentence a woman entered the office and greeted us. She took out a pokeball out her belt and released a spoink. The small funny looking pokemon began jumping up and down on the spring it had as legs.

"Stop clowning," muttered the woman. Hearing its trainers voice, the excited pokemon settled down a bit. "Better. Now," she instructed me. "If you would just stare in the eyes - don't worry, this isn't a mindspection, just to identify you as a human species and..." The small pearl on the spoink's head lit up once, then twice. "He's alright Alex," she said "Human like us."

"Thank you, Dinah." Alex sighed, relieved. Giving me a small wink, Dinah left the room. "Well then Mr. Red, this package is all yours - ah you want to open it here. I guess that's okay?" he said worried.

I had no idea who sent me what, but my adventures in Mt. Moon had made me paranoid. I would much rather open this package in a protected league building than my yet to rent motel room.

My worries were eased however. Inside was a small envelope, and under it was - my heart thumped loudly. My old pokedex, the one I had left with the imprisoned scientist so he could message Professor Oak, was right there in the box. I held it in my hands trembling. I was deeply ashamed that I was forced to leave it behind to save myself, and was worried I would never be able to recover it again.

"Ah, I take it all is well?" asked Alex, unaware of my inner turmoil.

I opened the envelope first. A folded note fell out of it.

"I found this unusual device with Dr. Felix Lome," it read. "After hearing a description of his savior and checking in with Samuel Oak, I thought the least I could do was to return this device to its rightful owner. Worry not my friend, your name and involvement in the Mt. Moon affair is only known to me, Samuel, and Felix. You may continue your journey without fear of any retribution from the criminal parties. They will soon be caught and brought to justice."

"You have done me a favor Trainer Red, by putting a stop to such malicious activity so near my city. I have pulled some strings and hastened the process of reacquiring yourself a new trainer card. I also took the liberty of adding my personal number to your dex. I leave it with this note in Cerulean, hoping it is indeed your next destination. Farewell, and thank you. B."

So, Brock felt grateful to me. I involuntarily shrugged, it wasn't as if I had done this for him. I could only assume that this Dr. Felix Lome was the prisoner those miners had. It was nice of them both to keep my name out of this mess, but if I were actually worried about revenge from Jessie and James, I wouldn't have given them my name freely.

My eyes blazed as I remembered those two. I didn't care about their other crimes, they were the reason Poka, my mankey, and the clefable were dead. I waited our next encounter eagerly, although I would prefer it not to be underground, and after I had built myself a full team.

"Every- everything alright Mr. Red?" Alex asked.

I shook my head and took out my pokedex. The familiar cold of the metal casing greeted me. It came to life with a small ping sound as I opened it. A message awaited me.

"No matter the reasons, if you ever lose my technology again, I guarantee illegal operatives will be the least of your worries. S. Oak"

"P.S. The gratitude Dr. Lome feels towards you is immense. He works at Cinnabar Labs, and wanted me to tell you that if your journey should ever land you on Cinnabar Island, you would be always welcome to drop by and visit him. I suggest you take his offer, since the road you are on will require all the support you can get, and in my experience, it never hurts having accomplished scientists in your corner..."

I guessed this was the best response I could hope from the professor, considering I did leave state of art technology lying around. I vowed to myself to treat my dex with more care from now on.

I stood up and motioned Pikachu out with my head. Alex stood up too and offered his hand.

"I hope our service was satisfactory Mr. Red. Is there anything else I could help you with?"

Now that I thought about it, there actually was. I pulled the moon stone out of my pocket and dropped it on the table. It made a heavy thump.

Alex stared at the large, glowing, alien stone for a good two minutes. I broke the silence.

"I need a trade. How much credits can the league offer me?"

Alex slowly raised his eyes. "It- it, depends on how this was obtained."

I allowed a small grin on my face. "Would you believe me if I said I just found it lying out there?"

Alex shook his head. "Still, an investigation will be necessary. You will need to pinpoint where you found it, so we can go and check if there's mining potential. Also, if there's indeed a branch of stones there, you might get finder's share from the eventual profit of the mining business. I'm sorry, my department doesn't handle these things, but I'll pitch you to Percy from Natural Resources, he's a friend, he can-"

"Alex, Alex," I cut him mid-sentence. "All I need is some credits enough to restock my supplies and to pay for two to three weeks of lodging. I don't want to go through all that paperwork for one single stone. Trust me, there's not more at where this one came from."

I bent a bit forward, bringing my face closer to his. "I could have taken this to the streets, you know. Gotten paid in cash, no questions asked. But I did the right thing and brought it here, an official league building. Come on Alex, I don't want to waste neither my, nor the government's time leading them on a chase for a ghost mine."

Alex was still silent. A final push.

I winked. "You already know that I'm... connected. You would be helping me immensely if we did this quiet, Alex. Help which I could repay. I can put in a good word for you with higher ups."

Finally defeated, Alex sighed. He dialed a number on his dex. "Yeah hey, Per. Listen, I need a favor..."

))(())((

"You know what," I said to Pikachu. "I never appreciated the comfort of clothes that actually fit before. From now on it's on my list of things to be grateful for."

Pikachu snorted.

We were in our motel room, and after a long overdue shower, I put on the new clothes I had bought. I checked myself in the mirror, jeans and a black shirt, the classic combo of one who hated dressing. I had also bought a red jacket and cap. The cap had been a last-minute buy, I figured it would be helpful to avoid recognition.

There was a reason I had exchanged my stone at a government office rather than the black market. I thought that any criminal organization capable of putting together an operation like the one in Mt. Moon was probably on the lookout for Pokemon Trainer Red. If I had traded outside league regulations, talk of a lone trainer selling a moon stone would eventually reach the wrong sort of crowd, which was something I did not fear, but still wished to avoid.

The price Alex had offered me was less than what the stone was worth, but it was enough for all my needs, so I had accepted. After exiting his office, I had spent the entire day shopping, and only now had the time to relax and analyze my situation. Childish, perhaps, but I jumped on the motel bed a couple times before lying down still, appreciating the softness and bounciness. Looking as if he felt left out, Pikachu also took his place next to me in the bed. I began scratching between his ears as I opened my dex.

"Let's see what we've missed so far," I said while searching worthwhile stories online. "Hmm, nothing about our little side adventure in the mountains. The league is probably keeping the story quiet. Huh, there is this one article about the Mt. Moon tunnels not being depleted of resources as initially thought. I guess eventually someone is going to start a legal business there."

I sadly thought of the clefairy. Their sanctuary would probably be under threat of discovery again, and if any Plateau approved business settled there, I was sure they wouldn't be able to fight off league issued trainers. The moon stones would be carved out, hindering the fairies' growth and evolution, and their miracle lagoon would be kept closed under research.

I didn't know why this bothered me that much, the progress of men had always been at the expense of the wild, thus was the way. Yet something made my stomach feel all twisted. I guessed I still felt owed to the clefairy.

Sighing, I continued checking my dex. "It says here the Pewter-Cerulean ferry will open in three days. Then we made the right choice travelling under the mountain after all, otherwise we'd still be stuck in Pewter for another three days. Maybe even longer..."

I had the sneaking suspicion that the Mt. Moon organization and this league operation on the river were connected somehow. It was too much of a coincidence that one ended right after the other was busted. Thoughts for another day.

"Look, there's news of us: Rookie Pokemon Trainer Red Breaks League Record! Seventeen-year-old trainer from Pallet Town defeats Pewter Gym Leader Brock a mere 22 days after graduation, a feat unheard of- ugh, I don't like this. Then again, the added public recognition might shield us from the likes of Jessie and James."

My eyes paused on the line "a mere 22 days" I tried calculating how much time had passed since I left Pallet. Twenty-two days, from Pallet, till I defeated Brock. I got attacked by the bats on my eighth day in the tunnels. The date I got arrested tells me my time with the fairies were nine days. Another two days spent in jail. That makes forty-one days. Nearly a month and half.

I looked down to myself. Had it really been that long? But it was true, I could tell from my own body. Ignoring the scars, a month of vigorous exercise on the road had toughened me up, making my muscles more visible. Even Pikachu looked larger than the day he was issued as my starter.

I scrolled down further, trying to find more interesting feeds. "It's surprising there's nothing here about Blue. I mean, knowing him, he should have also won a badge by now, did he not challenge any gyms, or did he somehow keep the press out of it? I doubt it though, he's the kind to announce his victories."

I switched my search from national news to local. "Oh. This is interesting. Cerulean's annual Nugget Tournament is up in two days. Apparently, it's a regional tournament for rookie trainers and the winning prize is a golden nugget worth approximately, wow, five thousand credits. Hmm, it's not like we need the extra cash, but this could increase our battling experience. We might even learn a few tricks before challenging Misty." I looked at Pikachu. "What do you say? Want to zap something other than killer bats and criminals?"

Pikachu slightly, but enthusiastically shocked me.

"Alright then." I stood up. "Let's go register."

))(())((

Cerulean was beautiful. It was night after we registered our names, and we were out discovering the city. We walked along the many canals that split the streets, the water playfully reflecting the stars in the sky. Even though it was a weekday and the hour was late, the city nightlife was still active, laughter and cheering could be heard from almost every corner. The street lights were on, each shone in a different color of blue, making the pavements seem as if we were exploring underwater. Delicious smells of freshwater fish pokemon being prepared rose from numerous restaurants. A group of Hoennese tourists were speaking in their own fast paced language among themselves in front of a bar, probably discussing if they should enter or search for another one. They decided on going in after a rather attractive group of the local women entered.

Both Pikachu's and my spirits were lifted. We needed this, I thought. The long walk to Pewter, the stress of battling Brock, and the near two weeks of depression we spent underground... A city like Cerulean could offer us our much-needed rest. I hadn't given up on my goal of becoming the champion in three years, but I also knew the importance of taking breaks when needed. These two days till the Nugget Tournament started would do. I planned on winning that tournament and challenging Misty after.

"Let's enjoy these two days buddy," I told Pikachu, who instead of travelling on my shoulder was walking next to me on all fours. He growled pleasurably.

Our walk eventually led us to one of the main canals that split the city. Small fires were lit along the water side, and groups of friends gathered around them. I sat on one of the benches and admired the view of flowing water. Pikachu curled between my legs and yawned loudly. I reached down and began scratching between his ears. A minute later I could hear him snoring.

I sat at that spot for a good hour. As time passed, slowly the groups of friends began dissolving, and one by one the people left, leaving only me and the small fires behind. I enjoyed the quiet and the cool night air, but the hour was now quite late, and the walk back to my motel was long. I intended to stand up and leave, but something about this spot was just so... peaceful. Maybe a minute more, I thought to myself.

"Hello."

The cheerful voice woke me up, I wasn't even aware I had dozed off. Startled, I saw the owner of the voice, a girl about my age sitting next to me, her face covered in freckles visible even in the dim light the small fires provided against the dark of the night. Her hair was beautifully red, but also long and unkempt, it dangled down from her shoulders. Her clothes looked old, there was a patch sewn on her left knee, and they were a bit too tight on her body, but they kept her modestly covered.

I realized I had been staring a tad too long for what passed as appropriate and fixed my eyes back on the river. I was bothered that she had woken me up, and if I were to be truthful, my past experiences in communicating normally with the fairer sex had been... none. It wasn't that I was shy or didn't feel attraction, it was just that up until now, people had always bored me; aside from a few exceptions, people had always been predictable. It was hard to have any connection with anyone, especially with a girl, when nothing they did was beyond your expectations. When nothing surprised you, nothing also excited you, and so, during school, when my peers were interested in building relationships, I mostly busied myself with training, training, and training, pokemon battling being my only obsession. The only female I had ever started conversing with outside of necessity had been Daisy Oak, who was close to me like family.

"Nice weather tonight, yes?" The girl ignored me not greeting her and kept talking. I briefly considered leaving but didn't want to wake Pikachu up. "My name is Melanie," she continued. "Melanie Under-The-Bridge. But sometimes I'm Melanie Get-Out-Of-Here. Or Poor-Melanie. Or Crazy-Melanie. But always Melanie. Melanie. That's my name. Melanie." She got up and bent over the waist in front of me, her face inches away from mine. "Melanie, this is Red. Red this is Melanie. Nice to meet you!" She began giggling uncontrollably and dropped to the floor on her back, rolling with laughter.

I was nailed still. What the- how does she know my name? I stood up alarmed and gently kicked Pikachu. He woke up quickly and took his place between me and the deranged girl. His fur crackled, and he began growling. I myself was on full alert and cursing my stupidity, here I was, alone in the middle of the night in an unknown city, right after I had helped taken down a criminal operation, which knew my name and face. This girl had to be an agent of some kind, there was no way she was a fan recognizing me from the video of my battle with Brock, not with my face scarred by Venus, and not while I was wearing my cap. I was considering my options, was she truly alone here, was she armed, or-

"Ohhhh, a pikachu, no, wait, I'm sorry, excuse me, sorry, I meant Pikachu," she said between laughs. Like a poochyena pup she rolled over her belly and faced Pikachu. "Hello Pikachu. Melanie, this is Pikachu, Pikachu this is Melanie! Nice to meet you!" She extended her hand to Pikachu, then pulled back. "Sparky, sparky, ouchie, ouchie!"

I stared at her. If she worked for my enemies, well, I simply couldn't see what sort of game she was playing. Forcing myself to act calm, I sat back on the bench. Pikachu stopped flashing his fur, but he was still cautious of the girl and remained crouched. Half a minute's pause passed between us, then I broke the silence.

"Who are you?"

"I told you. I'm Melanie. And these are Mel and Anie. I named them myself. Mel and Anie, meet Red and Pikachu. Pikachu and Red, meet Anie and Mel!" She stood up and politely straightened the front of her clothes. Behind her, two small shapes emerged.

My jaw dropped as the sandshrew and oddish took their places next to Melanie. It wasn't that they were threatening, with the oddish's shriveled up leaves and the sandshrew's pale color, they didn't look strong. What surprised me was the fact that neither Pikachu nor I had sensed them coming, an oddish, being part grass, always carried a particular smell around it that alerted others to its presence, and sandshrew weren't the lightest of pokemon, there was no way we couldn't have heard it coming in this quiet of a night. I gave a sideways glance at Pikachu who returned my look. But Melanie wasn't out of surprises.

"And she is Callidora. But sometimes Alli. I named her myself," Melanie said proudly "You can come out now Alli!" Nothing happened, and I swore I could hear kricketots chirping in the distance. Melanie looked flustered, then smiled. She whispered towards me "She is not like us. She is smart." Her smile dropped, but meanwhile she gave me a playful wink as she stomped her foot. "Alli please come out, Alli, please, please, pretty please, Alli, come on!" she begged. The oddish and sandshrew - Mel and Anie - joined in her cries. They kept begging to no one out there, making me feel... I didn't know what I felt, never was I confronted with such a weird situation.

"Yaay!" yelled Melanie and clapped her hands. I couldn't see anything until Melanie pointed the river. The water near the shore was in ripples, and slowly something began rising out.

The red eyes were the first to greet me, followed by a short, rounded snout with a wide mouth. On her short, stout legs she shook the water off of herself and began marching towards us. Atop the green, patched back was a large, beautifully pink bud, resting on a nest made of leafy fronds.

The seed pokemon...

The ivysaur walked near us and proudly stood near her owner. She looked up at me once with defiant, intelligent eyes, and then lowered her gaze towards her comrades. As if practiced before, Anie the sandshrew rolled on her back, her feet dwindling up in the air. Next, Callidora did something very strange. She began nibbling on the sandshrew's feet. I squinted my eyes in an effort to inspect more carefully - there, stuck on the bottoms of the sandshrew's feet, were small, mushy seeds, which were the reason the sandshrew could walk so silently. Those seeds, which no doubt Callidora had planted on Anie beforehand, had muffled the sandshrew's steps enough that not even Pikachu could have heard her. Now that they were unnecessary, the ivysaur was taking them back, by feasting on them.

I then noticed that I could smell both the oddish and the ivysaur now. I looked at Callidora with new found interest, all this time, had this pokemon been masking their scents with various counter odors? An ivysaur could produce various smells depending on its diet, had Callidora somehow found out and ingested the right enough ingredients to cloak her scent, the one give away of grass and poison types? Impressed as I was, I was curious to why she had taken these counter measures against detection.

"Callidora, meet Red and Pikachu. Pikachu and Red, meet Callidora!" chirped Melanie. "Now, let's go, let's go, before the solgaleo rises, hurry!" She began darting along the river road, her merry company of three pokemon following her.

Before the what rises? I barely thought as Melanie turned back and yelled, "Hurry!" I looked down at Pikachu, who looked back up. I shrugged.

It's not like we have anything better to do.

We followed Melanie.

))(())((

"I see... Melanie Under-The-Bridge, was it?" I asked.

We were, quite literally, under one of the bridges which crossed over one of the narrow rivers flowing through the city. Melanie had built herself a makeshift home here and was currently trying to light a small gas lamp. The small flame flickered once, twice, then caught fire and lit. Satisfied, she placed it between us and looked up, smiling.

Involuntarily, I gasped - I couldn't help myself. This was the first time I saw Melanie under clear light and, well, I noticed how wrong I had been by suspecting her an enemy.

Melanie was sick. The freckles on her face, they weren't freckles. They were huge, reddish spots, looking as if something she was allergic to had been rubbed all over her. But, given what she talked about earlier, and how she talked, I guessed the reason for those spots weren't allergies. They were a mutagenic reaction to her condition, a condition that was not contagious, but had still forced her to live away from society, homeless and alone.

Melanie was psychic, explaining her knowledge of my name. In this world of pokemon, where men and elemental beasts lived side to side for centuries, there were bound to be some crossovers to happen. Just as there were an extremely small number of beasts that had inherited certain human characteristics, such as language, there were also a small number of humans that had gained certain powers, for the lack of a better descriptive. The league always kept these mutates of both sides under strict control; pokemon with human characteristics were eliminated on sight, and humans were kept imprisoned if deemed dangerous, and released only when certain they could be an asset to the government, instead a problem. For example, Sabrina of Saffron City was the most famous and only mutant I knew of who lived her life freely.

I checked Melanie again, though she seemed not dangerous, she was definitely unstable, someone the league would lock up without a second thought. Suddenly, the secretive attitude of Callidora made sense. I felt respect towards the ivysaur, without a doubt she was the reason that Melanie had been able to live so long without being detected. The street-smart ivysaur had been taking care of her owner and companions for Arceus knows how long. I was sure it was her who had found this hiding place, and it was her who had been stealing enough resources for them to live their lives.

"I told you, Callidora is really, reaally smart," Melanie said. "She'll help you a lot later."

She'll help me - what? This conversation was happening on a different dimension, one I couldn't follow. Plus, I wasn't still done feeling pity for Melanie, aside from being forced to live isolated from society, her body was also clearly failing her, not holding up to her mutagenic condition. I wondered how long it would take for that rash to cover her entire body, and worried if it was harmful in any other way, if it would for example maim, or, even worse, kil-

"That doesn't happen. Not yet. There is yet time for yveltal to come," Melanie answered my unspoken thoughts. She smiled sympathetically as if she were consoling me, and I couldn't help it, I smiled back. She giggled.

"Now Red, enough about me, let's talk about you, Mr. Lunala-kicker," she said.

I- who?

"Mr. Lunala-kicker. That's my name for you. I named you. Because, you know, you kicked the lunala out of the rockets' hands," she explained, obviously frustrated I couldn't get the meaning behind her reasoning.

My mouth popped open "Huh?"

She rolled her eyes and began again "The rockets. They need the lunala. For ex." She looked at me in the eyes "Ex. Ex. Ex ex ex ex. That's why they need the lunala."

"I don't understand," I said, honestly. But she had already lost interest. Excited, and clapping, she began pointing the canal.

"Look, look, the solgaleo rises!" She laughed.

I looked and saw the canal beginning to reflect the day's first sunlight. "Oh, you mean the sun rises," I said, relieved that she made somewhat sense. I guessed she had learnt some words wrong, and she was replacing them with those she made up. Which meant her other words probably had some meaning too, only I was lacking the necessary key to decipher them. Which means if I study her methodically, I might learn what the hell she's talking about, I thought excited. I was leaning in to question her in hopes of learning more of her odd language, when Pikachu's growl startled me.

I looked at him shocked. I had never heard him growl like that, not when I had threatened him with his ball, not when we were in Mt. Moon, never. And he was growling at Callidora.

Callidora in return seemed to ignore Pikachu. She had extended two vines from her back and was tugging on something on the "ceiling", something on the bottom of the bridge. She pulled one last time, and long drapes dropped down, effectively cutting us from view. The drapes were thick enough to block sunlight, and the dim gaslight became our only source of light.

How does this work? I thought, glancing up. I saw that the upper edge of the curtains was squeezed in through the cracks above us and under the bridge, effectively holding the heavy cloth in place. Before I could even wonder how Melanie and her band of pokemon had managed that, I realized Callidora was walking outside of our curtain tent. Curious, I followed her out and watched as she bent over and aimed her bud at the curtains. Her body convulsed, and I involuntarily shivered as I remembered how similar James' Venus had acted before spraying acid over me, but luckily Callidora's intentions were far more benign. The top of the bud slightly opened, and with three quiet pops, leech seeds were flung over towards the drapes. The small seeds hung on to the cloth and quickly began growing. A short moment later, just like how ivy would have grown on an entire wall given enough time, the light branches emerging from the seeds covered the entire drapes.

My jaw dropped in amazement. Using just a few simple tricks, Callidora had camouflaged Melanie's hideout from sight, like a magician, she had hidden Melanie's home behind a curtain that looked like a vine covered, over extended portion of the small bridge's leg. It wasn't perfect, when the wind blew hard the drapes would move, but given the materials, and keeping in mind the fact that no one would really inspect the underside of a small bridge in a whole city of canals, it was more than enough. My eyes teared as I realized this was how Melanie had spared her entire life; strolling outside only during nights and huddling in during the days to avoid detection.

Callidora gave me a gentle nudge with her head, and I walked back in through the curtains. The sandshrew and the oddish darted outside during the opening, and for the second time I met Melanie, my mouth popped open.

I might also add that my face reddened.

Pikachu was still growling.

I realized now that the red rash on Melanie's face had indeed covered parts of her entire body. I realized that because, well, Melanie was lying sideways, smiling towards me, entirely naked.

In a way, Pikachu's growls made sense now.

She's homeless, sick, and, well, crazy. Not to mention it's daytime out. There's no way this is going to happen.

Melanie began singing. "Melanie aand Red, sitting down a bridge, k-i-s-s-i-"

This is totally going to happen.

I kicked Pikachu out.

))(())((

The rules of the Nugget Tournament were simple: No above beta level threat Pokemon were allowed. The matches were 1vs1 single battles. Killing was not allowed. The first five matches were single-elimination rounds with opponents determined randomly. Afterwards the winners would all enter a second, double-elimination tournament. The final winner was awarded a golden nugget.

All in all, the Nugget Tournament was more like a city festival than an official tournament. On our first match, Pikachu and I made quick work of a young boy and his ekans. We won against a young girl and her nidoran next. Our third match was quite funny, we were up against another girl whose slowbro repeatedly refused to listen to her commands. But I had to admit, both me and the girl were surprised when her sluggish slowbro managed to move out of the way of one of Pikachu's thunderbolts. Missing against a slowbro of all pokemon made Pikachu a lot angry, but before he could charge up and this time seriously take aim, our opponent recalled her slowbro and gave up the match. "Useless," the girl later confessed to me. "I want to trade him and hoped to show him off during the tournament, but like I said, useless." I had a few suspicions about the slowbro's actual capabilities but kept them to myself.

Our fourth match was against a boy about my age. He was wearing a cut out, paper gyarados mask and a t-shirt which read "I Cerulean" and had a heart between the "I" and "Cerulean". He threw a jolteon out, which immediately excited me. This would mark the first time Pikachu going against a fellow electric type, and I wondered how he would do.

Pikachu and the jolteon stood against each other for one still moment, then Pikachu sent the first lightning bolt. The jolteon jumped out of the way with ease. Fast, I thought, as Pikachu sent another bolt and the jolteon dodged it too. Definitely faster than Pikachu, I admitted to myself.

The jolteon sent its first bolt, and it missed Pikachu by inches. I glanced at the trainer opposing me, despite his comical appearance, it was obvious he was capable and had trained his jolteon well. I felt my pulse rising, this was the first time in this tournament I was up against someone who knew what he was doing.

I tapped my microphone a few times and gave Pikachu a silent command. Try tiring it out. Pikachu increased the number of bolts he was sending, but at the same time my opponent gave a sharp whistle. The jolteon began moving even faster, it was literally dancing around the edges of Pikachu's attacks.

I bit my lips. Too fast. Have to conserve Pikachu's juice and try something else out. I tapped my mic again, and Pikachu stopped his assault. At the same time the boy gave two rapid whistles in succession, and this time the jolteon began sending bolts. I tapped twice. Dodge. Pikachu began running around, making it harder for the jolteon to aim. Still, it was the jolteon's bolt that made first contact, hitting Pikachu on his right side. Pikachu shuddered a second, but kept running, even sending a small surprise counter bolt back. The attack was clearly unexpected and hit the jolteon mid face. The attack didn't seem to effect the jolteon the slightest as it kept on sending lightning towards Pikachu.

How? There was no way that hit could have been that ineffective. Same type attacks never hurt the pokemon that much, but Pikachu's attack was dead on, right on the face, one we in the sports would comment as a critical hit. I tapped my microphone rapidly. Stall while I think. Pikachu lowered his speed, and took time to go on the offensive, but never full out, he kept a delicate balance between keeping distance, dodging, and attacking the same time. The jolteon had to move now too, and these two quick electric types began circling each other while sending thunder each other's way.

Our battle attracted a crowd, and soon people began cheering for both of us, this had so far been the most entertaining match the people had seen, two almost equal pokemon making flashy light shows. Meanwhile, I was thinking. Pikachu's bolt hit - there's no mistaking that. So either that jolteon is incredibly good at hiding its pain or... Hmm, I see. I tapped twice again, and Pikachu stopped attacking and only focused on dodging. If I'm right, attacking it with electric harms us more than it. I eyed the jolteon closely as I could, it was faster than Pikachu, but it didn't hit as hard, its bolt that had hit Pikachu hadn't injured him seriously. Meaning this jolteon is a new jolteon, just evolved from an eevee, two or three weeks at best. Hasn't been an electric type for long, doesn't have enough juice compared to Pikachu who has always been an electric type. And if it just evolved, maybe it still hasn't gotten over the eevee frailty?

Making my mind, I tapped once, short but loud. I could feel Pikachu about to grin if he had the necessary face muscles, this was a signal for his favorite attack. Take the hits, power through, and make a contact attack. Pikachu turned sharply, dug his feet into the soft ground, and lunged. As I suspected, the jolteon panicked for a moment and stood still, tried to shock Pikachu with all its juice left, but like the good soldier he was, Pikachu endured the thunder and jumped in the air high, jaw snapping. He landed on top of the jolteon, which gave a cry, but before Pikachu could get a bite in, my opponent recalled his pokemon.

The crowd cheered, and I gave the breath I was holding. I had suspected the jolteon to be a volt absorbing pokemon, that was why I had ordered Pikachu to stop attacking electrically, but instead directly. The fact that my battle-hardened Pikachu was physically superior had encouraged my plan, Pikachu, despite being slower, had more muscle and weight compared to the newly evolved jolteon.

Grinning, I picked Pikachu from the ground and put him on my shoulder. He licked my ear once. I checked him for injuries, he was hurt, especially because of the last round of lightning he had taken, but there was nothing that would leave permanent damage. "Good job," I muttered.

"Damn," an all too familiar voice said. "Took you long enough to win."

Having pulled his stupid mask aside, in front of me stood my childhood rival, and perhaps only friend, Blue. He grinned "What say you and I grab a drink after your last match?"

I could only nod.

))(())((

Author's Note:

First off, I'm incredibly sorry for the three-day delay from the promised date. I take holding on to my word seriously, and I apologize for straying from it.

Thing is, life sometimes doesn't work out as expected. Like when you normally plan on publishing a new chapter on the 25th, you might end up getting infected with something nasty and having to spend Christmas and the following days in a hospital room away from your laptop. Sigh. Oh, merry past Christmas by the way.

About this chapter: If you don't know who Rusty is, you haven't watched enough youtube. Dr. Felix Lome, get it, F(H)elix L(D)ome? (I suck at making up random names). Melanie is in the Pokemon Yellow games, and like here she has an oddish, a sandshrew, and a bulbasaur, which I took as an ivysaur to save some time. There's a small reference to the funny girl in the games who orders her slowbro to use headbutt and it ends up using something else, heh, she always cracks me up. The nugget bridge challenge in the games has five challengers, hence the five round single elimination rule. I tried explaining the critical hits in the game realistically, more on that later. Also, Cerulean is where the first mandatory rival fight happens since Pallet, so heeeeere's Blue! Jolteon is one of the three options Blue uses in Pokemon Yellow, so congrats to anyone (everyone) who guessed what Hope evolved into right!

Next Chapter: Week of January 8th. (I know I normally update weekly, but come on, you don't expect me to update on January 1st, do you? It's the holidays for gosh sake, and I have plans. So see you guys in two weeks and I wish you all a happy new year!)