Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, Pokémon Adventures, Soul Silver/Heart Gold and their characters and plots. Just using them as a guide for this story, so it won't follow the plots exactly. (I do have a copy of both Soul Silver and Heart Gold, though XD Also Silver, Gold, and Crystal. Ah Silver…my first videogame :3)
Also, sorry it took so long to update. My goal was to finish this chapter over a month ago. In good news, up until Chapter 12 is already planned out (I went crazy playing the game one weekend XD). Now I actually just have to write it all down. Anyways, Merry Christmas. I hope you enjoy the chatper. ^_^
"Okay, okay. Man, you're pushy. I can walk on my own to the gym," Krisa said as Ethan was pushing her towards the gym.
"Excellent!" Ethan replied before letting her go and running. "Hurry!"
Krisa stared at him like he was insane. Her Pidgey had the same sentiments. Ethan seemed to be overly excited for her gym battle and Krisa couldn't figure out why he was so enthusiastic. Well, maybe he wanted to see Feisty in action. He had caught the Rattata for her. Still, she wasn't sure yet if she planned on using Feisty.
They reached the gym and both entered, a strange man in glasses approaching them. "Are you looking for the gym leader?" he asked.
"Yeah," Ethan stated. "My friend, Krisa, is here to challenge the leader to a battle. Is he not here?"
"No, no," the man said waving his hands downward. "Today is actually Falkner's day off from his other job. It's his day for challenges. You two are lucky. He usually only has a day off every four days."
"Wow, perfect timing," Krisa mused. "Where can I find him?"
"In his office in the back of the gym," the messenger told her. "I'll page him so you don't have to wander around."
"Great," Ethan said. "You do that and I'll head to the stadium field with Krisa. Let's go."
Falkner was told by his assistant that he had a challenger and made his way to the field. He had actually been hoping for a break today seeing as his other job was getting taxing. Sometimes being an officer of the law was its own challenge, but he did enjoy helping keep the town safe for the citizens and new trainers. His duty was always to the trainer; today he would prove that. Whoever his challenger was, he would make sure he pushed them to their limits to prepare them for the long journey ahead.
He was surprised to see a young girl in the challenger's block, but smiled at her. She seemed so child-like, but she had made it to the town. There was something about her, though, that seemed familiar, but he couldn't place the face. "Welcome challenger," the navy-haired teen said. "What is your name?"
"Krisa," she answered timidly.
"Where are you from, Krisa?"
"New Bark Town."
Falkner lit up at that. His father had once told him about a friend of his that lived in that town, but he had died tragically in an accident leaving his family behind. He decided to focus on the challenger, Krisa. Any trainer from New Bark Town was rumored to pose a good challenge. "Alright, Krisa," Falkner said with a smile. "Send out your first Pokémon."
Krisa decided to send out Flappy. All she had to do was look to her trusted partner and he knew what to do. Flappy flew out onto the battle field and Falkner felt admiration for the Pidgey. Being the bird master himself, he could tell the difference between healthy bird Pokémon merely by the color of their feathers and the way they held themselves.
"Your Pidgey looks well trained," he told her. "Now let's see how it compares to my own."
Falkner threw out a Pokéball that held his own Pidgey. "Wow, this should be interesting," Ethan said when he looked between the two bird Pokémon. This would be a pretty even matchup.
"Flappy," Krisa called, "use tackle." The battle began, and both Flappy and Falkner's Pidgey were determined to win. Falkner's Pidgey managed to avoid Flappy's tackle and hit him with a tackle of its own. Flappy tried to tackle the Pidgey again and hit it hard, nearly ending it right there as retaliation for getting the first hit. The opposing Pidgey, now weakened, managed to land another tackle, but it barely affected Flappy. Flappy moved swiftly to deal a finishing blow to the Pidgey.
Falkner recalled his Pidgey to its Pokéball and sent out his Pidgeotto. Krisa decided to let Flappy take a break and sent out Flare to battle. The Cyndaquil lit its flame and cried out its battle cry. The gym leader didn't see foresee having any trouble from the fire type considering it was still a fairly new Pokémon.
Flare attempted to use ember, but was tackled first by the Pidgeotto before he could fire the flames. The ember yielded a critical hit, and then Flare used leer to loom over its opponent weakening its defense. Flare was again tackled and weakened by the Pidgeotto's power.
Krisa decided to send Flappy out again before Flare was weakened too much, but Flappy was tackled right away. Still, the Pidgey refused to give up to the opponent. It attempted to tackle the Pidgeotto, but was tackled yet again. Falkner's Pidgeotto had incredible speed, and Krisa knew she needed to find a way to match it.
She recalled Flappy and sent Feisty out instead. Falkner raised an eyebrow at the strange choice. He did not understand the girl's choice at all. "Hey," Ethan called, "it's the Pokémon I caught you. Awesome, I get to see it in action."
When Falkner saw Krisa smile and nod, he decided not to question it. The girl ordered Feisty to use quick attack and Pidgeotto finally was weakened; however, Falkner had a secret weapon.
"Pidgeotto, use roost," he declared. Out of nowhere, Pidgeotto seemed to regain almost all of its health.
"What does roost do?" Krisa asked.
"I'm glad you asked," Falkner said. "It's a move exclusive to bird type Pokémon, and it allows the user to regain a portion of its health. It's very helpful when you don't have access to items or are far away from a Pokémon center."
Krisa didn't know that there were moves like that where Pokémon could heal themselves without help. She would have to keep that in mind on her journey. The battle continued as Pidgeotto used gust and Feisty bit then Pokémon mid-attack. Feisty used quick attack and Pidgeotto again used gust and both Pokémon ended up weakened. Krisa tries to recall Feisty, but the Rattata refused to return to its Pokéball. It uses quick attack again, but it only does a small amount of damage. Pidgeotto dealt a final tackle knocking the Rattata out.
Krisa recalled the unconscious Rattata and sent Flare out once again. With Pidgeotto weakened, she hoped for Flare to land an attack. Falkner's Pidgeotto tackled Flare, but Flare hung on to its last bit of health and used ember before its opponent could attack again. Pidgeotto was overcome by the flames and the bird fell from the air in an unconscious state.
Falkner recalled his Pidgeotto back to its Pokéball looking like a warrior who had lost a battle, but as soon as his sternness came it left and he wore a proud smile. "Congratulations, Krisa," he said. He motioned for her to go over to him. "Step forward."
Krisa was a little confused, but did as she was told. She watched his reach into his cloak for something. Her eyes widened when she saw something in his hand sparkle. He held the sparkling object out for her to see. It was shaped somewhat like a hexagon, but was shaped like wings. "It's the Zephyr Badge," he explained. "It allows traded Pokémon up to level twenty to obey the trainer. It also allows for your Pokémon to use the hidden move, flash, outside of battle."
Krisa remembered the HM flash that she fought hard for at Sprout Tower. She hadn't known that she needed a gym badge to use hidden moves, though she was sure there must have been other ways. It was a good thing she was taking this Pokémon League Challenge now that she thought about it. Not only was it the perfect cover and experience, but now it would help her in furthering her strength and abilities to stop her brother from helping reform Team Rocket.
"Krisa, I don't know what it is," Falkner told her, "but you seem familiar. I want you to have something. You can use it on your Pidgey. It has the strength and determination to become a real winner."
Falkner handed her a box like the one the HM flash came in, though it was a different color. "That is a TM, or technical machine. It's actually TM 51, also known as roost." Krisa nodded thinking of the move his Pidgeotto used to heal. Yes, she would definitely use that on Flappy. "So, now where are you heading?"
"I…I'm not sure," Krisa stated. She hadn't really thought much further than getting to Violet City and finding her brother. I have got to start thinking things through, she scolded herself.
"May I suggest Azalea Town?" Falkner replied. "With your Pidgey and Cyndaquil, that gym should be the perfect training."
"I think I will head there," Krisa said with a smile and nod, thankful for the guidance.
Falkner returned her smile and held his hand out. The two shook hands before Falkner said, "Good luck. Now, go forward in your journey and trust your Pokémon."
"I do," she assured him. "Thanks."
Krisa and Ethan headed out of the gym and Falkner watched them until they were out of sight. He still couldn't place Krisa. Shrugging, he returned to his gym office to do some paperwork. He would need to finish that off and head to the Pokémon Center right after.
"That was amazing!" Ethan exclaimed. "I haven't seen a battle that good for a while. I'm glad I was able to see it."
Krisa smiled slightly and quietly said, "Thank you. It was actually kind of nice to have a friend watching me. I-"
Just then, Krisa's Pokégear went off and Krisa saw that Professor Elm was calling her. "Hello?" she spoke into the gear.
"Krisa, great new!" the professor said excitedly. "We found out something about the egg."
"What?" Krisa asked causing Ethan to attempt to listen into the conversation. She pushed his head away silently chuckling as his dejected expression.
"We think that the egg will only hatch if with other Pokémon and a trainer. We'd like you to carry it around with you to see what will happen. Can you do that for us?"
"Yeah, of course," Krisa responded. A huge wave of relief passed over her. She had to do this for Professor Elm after lying to him. If it would help with his research, she would do it.
"Great! Then my assistant will meet you at the Pokémart in Violet City."
Krisa clicked a button on her Pokégear when the call ended and explained to Ethan what Professor Elm was asking of her. "That's amazing. Eggs are very rare."
"Are they?" Krisa asked. She had known that Mr. Pokémon had said something similar, so she thought Ethan could be right. She then looked at the time and realized that his assistant would be there in a while. She had just enough time to go to the Pokémon Center before meeting him at the Pokémart. "We should go to the Pokémon Center," she suggested. "I want to make sure my Pokémon are recovered."
"Sounds like a plan," Ethan stated. "I'll go with you to the Pokémart later."
Later, Krisa made her way over to the Pokémart. Ethan had stayed behind when he had gotten another phone call from his grandparents regarding travel arrangements, especially after he missed the car service. He felt the need to explain about his journey with his friend Krisa and how that was more appealing to him than being driven around in a car. When Krisa got to the Pokémart, the aide was already there with the egg in hand.
"Krisa!" the man greeted. "It's good to see you. Sorry to interrupt your journey being only a few days in."
Krisa smiled but waved him off. "Don't worry about it," she answered with Flappy flying next to her. "I'm happy I wasn't further so you didn't have to make a long trip."
The man chuckled before he handed Krisa the Pokémon Egg. Krisa felt that the egg was so light. It was amazing that there was actually a Pokémon inside of it. "I heard Professor Elm on the phone," the aide told her. "I don't know who it was, but he was pretty excited to be sending the egg with you. Said there was no one more suited for the task than you. I believe Professor Elm has a lot of faith in you."
Krisa forced herself not to tear up. Her brown eyes glazed over with unshed tears as she thanked the aide for delivering the egg. She told him to say "hello" to her mother and to Professor Elm's family for her and he assured her he would. After he left, Krisa was about ready to go find Ethan.
Before she could take a step, a woman dressed in a kimono walked up to her and looked at the egg. The lady covered her mouth to conceal a quiet laugh when she saw Krisa's confused expression. "Me oh my," she said in a gentle yet chiming voice. "So this is the egg that was handed from Mr. Pokémon to Professor Elm, and then from Professor Elm to you. That egg is truly an important one. Please take care of it for me, understood? I am counting on you."
The woman then danced away after her request. Krisa had no idea what had just happened or why the woman was asking her to take care of the egg. It was as if there was something about the egg that Krisa didn't understand. Before she could linger on the thought, Ethan came up to her.
"Darn, I missed the aide," he muttered. "And I was going to ask him to ask the Professor a question." He shrugged. "Eh, well. Anyways, that egg doesn't look like any egg I've ever seen. What did they tell you about it?"
"Just that it would hatch if it was with a trainer," Krisa replied. "Why?"
"Well, that's partially true," Ethan told her. "Eggs should be with trainers, but they need to be in a safe, cushioned container. I happen to have one." He took out a case that looked almost like glass from his pack and then took the egg from Krisa. He gently placed it in the container, closed it, and handed to his friend. "Just be very careful 'cause eggs are fragile. Anyways, it'll glow when it's ready to hatch and then you can take it out."
Krisa was amazed by her friend's instructions. "How do you know so much about Pokémon eggs?" she asked.
That question caused Ethan to grin. "My grandparents own a Daycare Center near Goldenrod. They're both breeders, so I've seen a lot of Pokémon eggs." He looked up to the sky and saw that the sky was becoming orange. "We should start heading to Azalea now," he told her. "We can set up camp when it gets dark."
Krisa nodded and agreed. After finding Silver and not being able to find Petrel, she figured it would be better to just push forward. Besides, nothing bad had happened in Violet City, so maybe her brother wasn't too involved after all.
On the road to Azalea, Ethan told Krisa he wanted to train for a little while, searching for random Pokémon. They agreed to meet up by the Ruins of Alph later and decide where to set up camp. Krisa decided to go right to the welcome center to the ruins and sat down at a table trying to regroup her thoughts. Flappy nudged her, concerned for his trainer. He knew that not finding Petrel was taking its toll on the girl. The Pokémon had been with the girl since she was much, much younger.
An old man walked up to the girl. "Hello there, young lady," he greeted warmly.
Krisa jolted slightly before looking up to him and smiling back. "Hi."
"What are you doing just sitting around here?" he asked. "You do know that the free tour of the ruins starts in a few minutes." Krisa actually hadn't known that. She shook her head and the old man chuckled. "You should check it out. You might learn something about the ruins that you hadn't before."
Looking at her Pokégear, Krisa realized that she still had some time before Ethan would want to meet up. "Let's go on a tour, Flappy," she said to her Pidgey as the bird perched itself on her shoulder.
"And as you can see, in this room there are movable stone panels that many have tried to solve," a woman dressed in a lab coat said. Krisa looked around the small cavern, studying the walls. It was hard to believe anyone was able to build this place by hand. Going on the tour had been a great experience for her, something to stop her from thinking like a child and thinking more like a scientist.
The tour group was small, maybe five or six individuals at most. They were all tourists, just looking for some mild entertainment after a long day of travel. Krisa, however, was more interested in the panels. She broke away from the tour group, staring at the stone panels a little too long. She hadn't even noticed when the group left the cavern.
Flappy looked over his trainer's shoulder, watching as she started to rotate the pieces. Krisa didn't really know what she was doing, but found that when rotated a certain way, the panels fit into stone spaces, and it also looked like a picture was forming as well.
As she continued to rotate and fit the pieces in the picture and eventually it formed the picture of a Kabuto. Now, Krisa had never seen a Kabuto, but she remembered reading books in Professor Elm's lab and seeing pictures or these ancient Pokémon. They were not Pokémon from the Johto area, so why did he ruins depict them?
Before Krisa could voice her inner thought, the etching began to glow and a light consumed the room before walls began to collapse. "Flappy," Krisa called out once the building had caved in. It was dark, and the girl couldn't see even an inch in front of her face. "Flappy, are you okay?"
She heard her Pidgey respond, but couldn't see very well. Flappy nudged her arm to let her know he was there. Thanks to his own ability of keen eye, he could see very well. Krisa decided to call Flare out. The flame on his back would provide light for her to see. They needed to find a way out of the cave.
Once Flare's flame lit the cavern, Krisa noticed that there was another doorway that hadn't been there before the collapse of the cavern. She decided to investigate, seeing as it was the only way out of the room that she could find. Inside the new room the door led to, the glow revealed a message carved onto the floor. "'Our clan engraved words in this place,'" Krisa read out loud. "Weird."
Well, there wasn't any other way out, and that was when Krisa remembered the escape rope she had found at Sprout Tower. She decided to give it a try but, the second she took it out, the floor underneath her collapsed and she and her Pokémon when careening through the floor.
Slightly shaken up, Krisa stands though feels like standing will be a struggle. Flappy helps to keep her standing. When another voice called out to her, she nearly screamed.
"Did you fall through a hole too?"
Krisa turned to face a teenager dressed a tan jacket and khakis wearing a tan helmet that contrasted his lavender-colored hair. "Yes, I did," she answered cautiously. "You too?"
The teen nodded and grinned. "You must have solved one of the puzzles. No tourist has ever done that. You could be an archeologist you know."
Krisa blushed slightly at the praise. That was one word to describe how the teen looked. He must have been an archeologist to make such claims. Out of nowhere, he handed her a device that almost looked like a computer tablet.
"It's an Unown Report," he told her as she studied it. "Try filling it up."
"Filling it up with what?" Krisa questioned. But the scientist merely smiled and waved to her.
"You'll see," was all Krisa heard as the strange scientist ran off into the darkness.
Thankfully, Krisa still had Flare. She and her two Pokémon walked around the stone corridors. All there was in these halls were statues of Pokémon in the center of the halls and strange markings on the walls. These dark halls were starting to give Krisa the creeps as she felt as if a presence was watching her. She knew that couldn't be right, but she couldn't help but worry about why she was feeling this way.
She stopped at one of the walls where it seemed the strange feeling she had was beginning to increase. "Flare," she called out softly, "come over here."
Flare listened and moved next to the girl, the stone walls illuminated in the light of its flame. It revealed to Krisa and her Pokémon a painting with many letters like the ones they had seen in the other room. Krisa started to walk away from the strange lettering not noticing the letters popping off of the wall where she had been standing. Krisa didn't notice the letters following her; however, Flappy, who could see very well in the dimly lit room, could see them and called out in alarm to his trainer.
"Huh?" Krisa breathed out before something crashed into her. Thinking it was another Pokémon trapped along with them, Krisa moved to help it but was shocked when she saw what had bumped into her. It was a Pokémon, but it looked like the lettering from the walls. It was shaped like an H.
Quickly, Krisa scooped up Flare into her arms and ran with Flappy flying next to her. The H started following them, but they were managing to outrun the letter. That is, until more letters appeared and crashed into the young girl. They surrounded the three of them, looking quite agitated. Krisa wondered why these letters, evidently Pokémon, were bothered by her presence. Then she realized they must have seen her arrival as some sort of intrusion. When lights started flashing around them, she assumed they were ready to attack her and her Pokémon.
She got over the initial shock of the etchings coming to life and attacking her sending both Flappy and Flare out to attack them before the letters unleashed their unknown powers. Maybe this had been what the archeologist had been talking about when he had given her the Unown Report. Did it have something to do with these strange letters?
Despite the combined efforts of Flappy and Flare, the two Pokémon were being bogged down by the hidden power these letters possessed. Krisa thought it would be best to send out more Pokémon in order to give her partners a fighting edge. She sent Frighty and Flit out to defend Flappy and Flare. The lick and confusion attacks of her Gastly and Butterfree could give her team the opening they needed.
One of the Unown that looked like an F went after her. Flare defended her only to be hit with the hidden power. To both Krisa's and Flare's shock, the attack barely did anything to him. Flare used that to his advantage and used ember against the Unown F. The Pokémon was weakened, so Krisa attempted to catch it. Three Pokéballs were wasted as the Unown F dodged each one. Finally, as the Pokémon was distracted by the other letters being knocked out by Krisa's team, the fourth Pokéball did the trick and captured the Unown F.
Not wanting to have a repeat of the battle, Krisa recalled Flit and Frighty, and then she and Flappy, led by Flare's light rushed out of the ruins. Somehow, getting to the exit seemed a whole lot easier now. The light of day was a welcomed sight despite the setting sun. Krisa looked up to the orange and pink sky in relief before deciding to check her Pokédex and the Unown Report.
She had been expecting to see a picture of the Unown F in her Pokédex, but saw that it was a picture of the first Unown she saw, the H. However, on her Unown Report, she only had data for Unown F. Under its ability, it displayed the word "FIND." Krisa looked over to her confused Pokémon, and they all shared shrugs. Obviously, they weren't going to get any answers now. Krisa reasoned that once she had more answers, she'd return, but for now she needed to meet up with Ethan.
"Let's go meet up with Ethan, guys," she said to her Pokémon. The three of them started to walk off, but Krisa froze as she thought she heard someone calling out to her. She shrugged it off, marking it as exhaustion from the day she and her partners had.
Falkner was doing some paperwork regarding permits for the gym and renewing his contract as gym leader. While he was focused on the logistics of his job, his work Pokégear went off. The leader sighed and answered the call.
"You realize it's my day off, right?" he asked the officer on the other end. As the man began to tell him the problem, Officer Falkner's face became serious. "What?"
The other officer was calling to inform him of a crime that took place, but even stranger than the crime was that the perpetrators were already captured. A call had been received at the precinct that four young men dressed as Team Rocket operatives had been captured. It was reported that they had been tied up with an escape rope and left behind the Trainer School. Whoever had caught them was nowhere to be found.
Officer Falkner knew what he needed to do, day off or no day off. "I'll be right there," he told his colleague. "Don't alert the other cities yet. We can't be sure if this is a prank or if Team Rocket is really back." He hung up the Pokégear and thought for a moment. If these men were really Team Rocket grunts, and Team Rocket was already back in power, thinks in the Johto region were going to get complicated.