During a battle with Team Rocket in Mt. Moon, Blaze evolved into Combusken and defeated their Pokémon with Weldon's Ivysaur's help. Summer and Blaze made it to Cerulean City and stayed at the Pokémon Center. While there, Professor Oak asks her to see if his colleague, Bill, is okay after not hearing from him in a while. After leaving the building, Summer keeps running into more criminals in the city and on Nugget Bridge. Why is so much crime in Kanto?

Chapter 11- The Bike and the Bridge

I woke up in my room at the Cerulean City Pokémon Center around 10am. It was pretty late for me, but I didn't expect the time in Mt. Moon to be so long. After getting ready and having breakfast, Lightning and I watched the Kanto TV news program in the lobby.

A reporter talked about the Team Rocket incident at Mt. Moon and told viewers to be cautious. I then watched a recap of a recent Pokémon Contest, a competition with Pokémon and special Trainers called Coordinators known in Hoenn. They mentioned Coordinators currently participating in the Hoenn Region and their highlights. I really liked a girl named Yuki; her appeals were amazing and I hoped she'll win the Hoenn Grand Festival, the Contest equivalent to the Pokémon League Tournament.

After that, I remembered I had to send Professor Oak the translator data I collected. I went to a videophone booth and called him. His smiling face appeared on the screen.

"Hello, Summer!" he said. "Glad to hear from you! And it looks like you got a Pichu."

I smiled and said, "Yes, I did! Her name's Lightning." After Professor Oak and Lightning waved to each other, I continued, "It's good to hear from you, Professor. How should I send you the translator data?"

"Oh, just insert your Pokédex into the slot under the screen," he said and pointed at the bottom of the screen. I inserted my Pokédex into the slot and a light next to it turned red. After a few minutes, the light turned green. "All right, I received the data. Go ahead and take your Pokédex out of the slot." After I did that, Professor Oak scanned my data.

"Wonderful!" he said. "You've seen a lot of Pokémon, and their accents are quite interesting!"

"Thanks, Professor," I said, happy with the compliment.

"Before you go," Professor Oak said, printing out the data results. "Could you visit a colleague of mine, Bill? He lives in Cerulean Cape, just north of Cerulean City. I haven't heard from him in a couple of days."

"Sure," I said. "Is everything okay?"

"I hope so," the man said while stroking his chin. "Sometimes he's very busy, but he usually responds to me within a day."

"I'll see what's going on," I said. "Bye, Professor." We waved goodbye and hung up.

"What do you think happened, Summer?" Lightning asked.

"I'm not sure, Lightning. But we'll see soon enough." We left the Pokémon Center and saw the blue-roofed houses of Cerulean City. I thought it'll be an easy task, but it turned out it wasn't.

As we left the Pokémon Center, I saw a man dressed in black run by me. An officer yelled the man to stop but he refused. The man then stole a bike from a middle-aged man and headed south. "Hey, stop!" I yelled, running after him. When I caught up to him, I saw him trying get over a small tree blocking an exit bordered by tall white fences.

"Why are these trees so hard to get through?!" he angrily said as he tried to kick down the tree.

Seizing the opportunity, I shouted, "Return that bike!"

The man quickly turned around, confused. He then saw me and said, "No way! Go, Machop and Drowzee!" He sent out a gray Pokémon with muscles and a yellow and brown Pokémon with a snout.

I scanned them with my Pokédex and it said [Machop, the Superpower Pokémon. It continually undertakes strenuous training to master all forms of martial arts. Its strength lets it easily hoist a sumo wrestler onto its shoulders. Drowzee, the Hypnosis Pokémon. If your nose becomes itchy while you are sleeping, it is a sign that a Drowzee is standing on your pillow and trying to eat your dream through its nostrils.] After being initially creeped out by Drowzee's entry, I shouted, "Go, Swirls and Errol!" I threw out their Pokéballs, and Swirls and Errol were ready to battle.

The burglar commanded, "Machop, use Karate Chop on Poliwag, and Drowzee, use Pound on Hoothoot!"

Why does no one call them by their nicknames! They can't be that bad…. "Dodge, then use Tackle and Water Gun!" I commanded. Errol and Swirls easily jumped out of the way. Errol tackled Machop with full power, and Swirls sprayed forcefully at Drowzee, knocking them out instantly. The burglar returned his Pokémon and became afraid of mine. He tried to leap over the fence, but couldn't reach the top of the fence. The officer from earlier appeared from my right, tackled the burglar, and arrested him. The officer thanked me for stopping the burglar, then dragged the handcuffed burglar to the police station.

I saw the bike on the ground and realized the police officer forgot to take it with him. I was about to pick it up when the owner ran towards me. He grabbed my hands and eagerly shook them.

"Thank you so much, young lady!" he said, constantly bowing. "He was about to steal a new prototype bike until you came along! How can I ever repay you?"

"Well first," I said, a little surprised out by his behavior. "You can tell me your name first."

"Oh, silly me!" he said with a wave of his hand. "I'm Rydel, the owner of Rydel's Cycles here in Cerulean."

"Hi, I'm Summer, and this is Lightning," I said. Lightning smiled at the bike shop owner. "That is a very nice bike."

"You like it?" Rydel asked enthusiastically. "In that case, I would like to offer you a bike free of charge! It's the least I can do."

"Sure," I said. You really can't beat free things… I returned Swirls and Errol and followed Rydel to his bike shop.

When I walked inside, Rydel said, "Wait here, Summer. I have the perfect bike for you." I nodded and he went into a backroom. I saw rows of bicycles of different styles and colors lined the white shop walls. After looking around for a few minute, Rydel came out with a new red bicycle and matching helmet. It was a basic bike with a bell, basket, and a button. "I'm sure you'll enjoy this. It's a new bike I'm selling this year. It may look like a regular bicycle, but it has that button which allows it to shrink and expand, making it easy for a Trainer to carry."

"Wow," I said, amazed at the bicycle. "Are you sure I can have this for free?"

"Of course!" Rydel said with a smile. "This bicycle is worth 1,000,000 Pokédollars, but that's nothing compared to the prototype I almost lost."

Wow that's expensive. I should be careful riding it. "Thanks, Rydel." I pressed the button on the bicycle and it immediately shrank to the size of a toy bicycle for an action figure. I put that and the helmet into my backpack. "I hope the new bike sells well."

"Well with your help, I'm sure it will!" Rydel said eagerly. I see, this is just free advertising…. Ignoring my thoughts, Lightning and I waved goodbye and headed outside.

Before we headed north to Cerulean Cape, Lightning tapped on my shoulder.

"What is it, Lightning?"

"How come you didn't use me during that battle? I could've taken them."

I sighed and said, "I don't think you're ready, yet. I want you to watch the others battle."

Lightning became upset and shouted, "I'm tired of watching. Let me battle the next Trainer!"

"Where are we going to find a Trainer?"

She pointed to a flyer on a post. I walked to the post and looked at the flyer. The flyer read, "Beat the 5 Nugget Bridge Trainers and receive a fabulous reward!"

"Want to give it a go?" I asked.

"Yeah!" Lightning said excitedly. "I'll show you guys how strong I am!" I smiled at her enthusiasm, and we headed towards Nugget Bridge.

When we got there, an orangewood bridge and five Trainers along the path greeted us. How odd, is no one else taking the challenge? The five Trainers looked at me at the same time with creepy smiles, scaring me a little. "Lightning, are you sure you want to do this?" I whispered.

"Yeah!" she shouted. "Besides, we need to go in this direction anyway."

I sighed and said, "You're right. Time to battle!" After 15 minutes, all of the Trainers were beaten. Lightning and I were panting as we made it to the other side of the bridge.

Then, a man in a black uniform walked towards us, slowly clapping his hands. I was a little confused why he was there until I saw his green hair and the R on his uniform. "Wait…I know you!" I said after taking a deep breath. "You're that guy in Mt. Moon!"

"And you're that girl with the Combusken," the man said, smirking. "I have to congratulate you for beating this many Trainers in a short amount of time. Those Grunts needed more training anyway. Now…for your prize…a membership with Team Rocket!" He took out a party popper and set it off.

I wasn't amused by this mini-celebration and angrily said, "I'm not going to join Team Rocket! You hurt innocent people!"

The man gave an evil smile and said, "I was hoping it'll come to this. Now I'll get my revenge! Zubat, Ekans! Destroy her!" He sent out the blue bat and a purple snake with a yellow band around his neck. I scanned Ekans, and my Pokédex said [Ekans, the Snake Pokémon. An Ekans curls itself up in a spiral while it rests. This position allows it to quickly respond to an enemy from any direction with a threat from its upraised head.]

Lightning got of my shoulder and growled angrily. I knew she was tired, but she wanted to continue proving herself. "Let's go, Errol!" I shouted, throwing his Pokéball.

Before I issued a command, Errol pointed at the Ekans and shouted in a high pitched voice, "Watch out, Ms. Summer! A POI-sonous Ekans!" Zubat, Lightning and I were baffled at what the Hoothoot said. Ekans, on the other hand, smiled at what he thought was a compliment.

"Umm…I know Ekans is a Poison-type. Why did you say that, Errol?" I slowly asked.

Errol looked at me and said, "I was just warning you, Ms. Summer. I recognized this situation from a book I read long ago. It was about a ruler on a quest to "

"Sorry to interrupt," I said quickly. "But we are going to be in a battle, remember?"

"Oh, yes," he said ruffling his feather. "I apologize." He then fiercely looked at the two opponents.

"What's going on?" the man questioned. He seemed interested on the conversation I was having.

"Oh, nothing," I said, changing the subject. "Lightning use Thundershock on Zubat!"

As Lightning charged her attack, the Grunt commanded, "Ekans, use Tackle on Pichu!"

"Not going to happen! Errol, Tackle him right back!" I commanded. Errol and Ekans collided and jumped back, but Ekans looked like he took more damage. As that happened, Zubat took the Electric attack and fell to the ground, unable to move.

The man growled then shouted. "Ekans, Poison Sting!"

"Quick, dodge!" I commanded. Errol quickly moved out of the way, but Lightning was struck by the needles and fainted.

"How dare you strike Lightning!" Errol shouted at the snake. "Now you will feel my wrath!" As he charged at Ekans, his beak started to glow. He then pecked the snake until he fainted. Errol flew back to me. He ruffled his feathers and gave the man an angry look.

The man returned his Pokémon. He looked at us with a dirty look and said, "You're lucky you won. Next time, Team Rocket will defeat you!" He then threw a smoke ball on the ground. Errol and I coughed until the smoke dissipated. I looked around but the man was gone.

"Thanks for your help, Errol. But next time, don't get your anger blind you," I cautioned. I carefully picked up Lightning, who woke up.

"I know, Ms. Summer," Errol said with his head down. "How are you, Ms. Lightning?"

I took an Oran Berry out of my backpack and offered it to her. Lightning started to cry and refused to eat it.

"Is everything okay, Lightning?" I asked, puzzled by her behavior.

Errol scanned her with his Foresight monocle and said, "I do not see any physical injuries."

I heard a Pokémon let itself out. Blaze looked at us and said, "Lightning's upset about the loss, Summer."

"Is that true?"

Pichu slowly stopped crying and whispered, "Yeah…How come I can't beat any Pokémon when it's most important? I'm the weakest one on the team…"

I slowly rubbed her head and felt her sadness. I softly said, "You're not the weakest. You'll become stronger."

"But what about Blaze?!" she shouted. "He's a lot stronger than all of us, and he evolved!"

Blaze knelt down and told her, "I became stronger from battling and training over time. I'm a little scared every time I battle myself, but I feel stronger with Summer battling with me. I know you'll get stronger and evolve too if you keep working with us." Errol nodded in agreement.

Lightning slightly blushed at Blaze's words. She cheered up and asked me, "How do I evolve, Summer? I don't remember how my brother did."

"Hmm…let's see…" I said, looking through my Pokédex. "It says Pichu can evolve into Pikachu through a high level of friendship and then Raichu from a Thunderstone."

Lightning became excited and shouted, "I want to become a Raichu as soon as possible!"

"Wait a minute," I said, a little surprised but happy about her declaration. "Like Blaze said, it'll take time. But let's work together and we'll help you become a Raichu." Lightning cheered and hugged me. I returned Blaze and Errol and continued walked to Cerulean Cape.

"There's something strange about that girl…" the green-haired man said while watching Summer walk away. "And I'm going to find out what that is."

Pokémon: Blaze (Combusken): Brave Nature, moves: Scratch, Double Kick, Flamethrower, Focus Energy

Errol (Hoothoot): Rash Nature, moves: Tackle, Growl, Hypnosis, Peck

Swirls (Poliwag): Relaxed Nature, moves: Bubble, Hypnosis, Water Gun

Lightning (Pichu): Adamant Nature, moves: Thundershock, Charm, Iron Tail

Questions for the Chapter:

When will Lightning evolve?

Who is the green-haired man?

P.S.- If you got the KQ5 reference, I applaud your knowledge of medieval video games :D Don't worry, Errol won't become like him.