Chapter 18:A Dairy Happy Ending

The sun began to set as Whitney, Kathy, Nathan and Phillip headed up the dusty path on the outskirts of Goldenrod City. In the distance an older gentlemen could be seen wrangling a herd of Tauros and Miltank into their pens for the night. Whitney ran to help her uncle. In an instant she went from a ditsy city girl to competent farmer. Phillip thought the way she flipped the switch was very impressive, and a bit surprising.

Once all the Miltank and Tauros were in their pens Whitney released her Miltank to join the rest of the herd. Her Miltank was slightly larger than the others. Once the gate was locked for the night the older farmer looked over to see the three travelers. He looked back at Whitney.

"Who are these folks darlin'?"

"Uncle Milton these are my friends. I met them in the city this morning. They helped me get Clefairy back from some thieves. One even beat me for a badge."

Milton looked at them.

"Well, I can't thank y'all enough. We ain't like her movin' to the city at first, but we've grown quite fond of lil' Clefairy. The name's Milton."

He stuck his hand out to them.

Phillip stood up tall and shook his hand.

"Thank you, sir. You've raised quite the trainer here in Whitney. I'm Phillip."

Whitney looked away and began to blush.

"Nice to meet ya Phillip. It was a team effort raisin' this lil' one, we're all quite proud of our little petunia."

Whitney clasped her hands behind her back and began running her right toe through the dirt, embarrassed by him calling her petunia.

"And this is Nathan and Kathy uncle."

Milton shook their hands.

"So what brings y'all out to the countryside at this time o' day?"

Whitney ran over to Phillip and rubbed his arm.

"This one beat me in a battle. I didn't quite act my best. So I offered them a place to stay for the night."

Milton laughed a deep, bellowing laugh.

"Lil' petunia's never been a good loser. We got enough beds, but y'all gonna have to pull your weight tomorrow morning when we get our day started."

Nathan almost started whining when Phillip took a big step towards him and gave him a big shoulder nudge.

"That sounds like a great opportunity to learn about Tauros and Miltank Mr. Milton. It would be an honor."

Kathy was uncharacteristically quiet. She wasn't a fan of how close Whitney and Phillip seemed to be getting. Milton stepped towards her, eyeing the egg.

"And what do we have here? We ain't seen many Pokemon eggs out here in a minute."

"Hello sir. We helped the daycare with a bit of a mess they were dealing with. They were kind enough to let me have a recently born Pokemon egg."

"That was you guys, eh? I heard about that. They're good people over at the daycare. They buy a lot of our milk for the baby Pokemon."

Whitney got excited.

"Uncle Milton here is the best dairy farmer in all of Johto. He's the one that taught me all about raising Pokemon."

Milton stepped towards Whitney and put his hand on her shoulder.

"I can't take all the credit. Whitney put in the work. Anyway, it's about supper time. Let's go inside and clean up a bit."

The five of them worked together to make dinner, set the table and clean up afterwards. Milton had dozens of stories about Tauros and Miltank. He also told the occasional story of young Whitney. Nathan was learning more and more about Miltank just by listening to the stories. He was hoping he could use the information to defeat Whitney in a rematch. Phillip asked if he could be excused.

"I saw a ladder that went over the barn. Would it be okay if I checked out the roof?"

Milton responded half-jokingly.

"Sure thing. Just don't go messin' with my herd!"

Phillip laughed, cleaned up after himself and headed to the barn. Several of the Tauros and Miltank were sleeping, the ones who weren't noticed him as he made his way to the top of the barnhouse. He laid on top of the barn and stared into the night sky. He remembered the meteor looking Pokemon he saw when he was in Violet City. He thought of how the Pokedex didn't know what it was, and what the Pokedex said to him, "there are many Pokemon still not discovered in the world." It got him thinking, he loved bird Pokemon and Dragon Pokemon, Dragonite had always been his favorite, but he wondered if there was another one out there he had never heard of or seen before. He thought out loud to himself.

"What if I were the one to discover every Dragon Pokemon out there?"

He was staring to the northeast when he heard someone coming up the ladder. Kathy emerged from the barn. Phillip looked behind and saw her. He could tell she was afraid.

"Kathy? What are you doing? I thought you were afraid of heights?"

She was stuttering.

"I… I was con… concerned about you."

Kathy was paralyzed by fear. Phillip got up and made his way to her. He giggled.

"It's okay… I got you."

He stuck his hand out. She squeezed his hand hard and almost pulled him down. He helped her get off the ladder and she crawled along the roof to where he was sitting. It took her a minute to calm down. Once she did she took a deep breath.

"What are you doing up here?"

"Just thinking."

"Couldn't you do that in the house? On the ground? Where it's safe?"

Phillip laughed.

"I think better when I can get up high, get a fresh perspective."

"What are you trying to see?"

Phillip paused for a moment.

"The future I guess."

"How do you determine the future?"

Phillip thought for a second.

"By looking at the past."

"And what's over there?"

Phillip laughed a little. He pointed to the northeast.

"Just beyond those woods are the Ruins of Alph. That's probably where those scientists were when you guys helped them. And just beyond that is Mahogany Town. That's where I intend to help Magikarp evolve."

Kathy voice got shaky.

"Oh… we'll have to go through Ecruteak City to get there right?"

"Yeah, I guess we will. Looking forward to seeing the tower there."

Kathy scooted close to Phillip to get warmer.

"You seem to know a lot about that region."

Phillip got quiet for a moment. As he spoke, Kathy sensed a twinge of pain in his voice.

"Further east is Blackthorn City. That's where I was born."

"I thought you were born in New Bark Town?"

"No. Nathan was. We moved there when I was five. My dad set out on an adventure to be the greatest Pokemon Master. He rarely came home after that."

"Are you okay?"

Phillip bit his lip.

"I think that's why I come up for perspective."

Kathy leaned in.

"Every night for three years I would climb to the top of our roof and watch the road. Hoping my dad would come home. My mom often had to come up and get me after I fell asleep."

"You did that alone every night?"

"Actually, there was a nearby nest of Pidgey and Rufflet. They would often sit on the roof with me."

"Well, that explains the bird thing."

Phillip laughed.

"Yeah. I guess it does."

Phillip sensed more questions coming that he didn't feel like answering.

"What's Nathan doing?"

"He was sitting with Milton asking him questions about Miltank."

"Where's the egg?"

"I wrapped it up in a blanket and left it near the fireplace."

"You know, you shouldn't stray too far from the egg. They say when a Pokemon is born the first living being it sees imprints on it as it's mother. If you want to be that Pokemon's trainer you should make sure it's you."

"Thanks for the advice."

"You ready to go?"

Kathy nodded. Phillip helped her make it to the ladder. She began to crawl down the ladder very slowly. Before Phillip began climbing down the ladder he looked back to the northeast, and then into the night sky. He sighed and made his way down the ladder.

Once they got back into the house they stayed up for a little while longer talking to Milton and Whitney. Milton announced that it was time for everyone to go to bed. He had a busy morning planned for them.

They woke up the next morning dressed and ready to work. They even had their Pokemon working with them, helping them carry buckets all over the farm. Tyrogue really loved the hard work. He was racing both of Phillip's Dratini, Cyndaquil and Phillip. After a couple of hours of working a sound of thunder shook the ground from the nearby woods. A giant barrel on wheels with arms blasted out of the woods. Brett and Betty popped out of the top of the barrel. They recited their rhyme about reaching to the highest heights. As they were driving through the farm the arms were picking up Tauros and Miltank and putting them into the giant barrel.

Whitney threw Clefairy out. Before Clefairy could hit the ground Zubat and Spinarak began attacking her in unison. Nathan called out to Cyndaquil and Phillip called out to one of his Dratini.

"Flame wheel attack!" the two of them shouted in unison.

Cyndaquil's flame wheel knocked Zubat and Spinarak out.

"Now Dratini! Twister attack!"

Both Dratini fired a Twister attack at the barrel. Together they shattered the barrel setting all the Tauros and Miltank free. Brett and Betty fell on top of Zubat and Spinarak in the middle of the herd of Tauros. Together Milton and Whitney shouted to them.

"Horn attack Tauros!"

All the Tauros charged at Brett and Betty. After a series of attacks Brett and Betty tried to run away.

"Quick Dratini! Another Twister attack!"

Both Dratini launched another Twister attack in unison. Brett, Betty, Zubat and Spinarak flew into the air.

"TEAM ROCKET IS BLASTING OFF AGAIN!"

Milton, Whitney, Kathy, Nathan and Phillip all ran together in the center of the open field of the farm.

"Thank y'all for your help!"

"No problem!" Nathan shouted.

Whitney looked at Milton and the two of them nodded at one another.

"Nathan I would like to offer you another chance to win a Plain badge. If you can beat my Miltank, I will give you a Plain badge."

Nathan looked back at Phillip. Phillip nodded. Phillip looked at Whitney.

"You're on!"

Milton acted as the referee for the match.

"I choose you Cyndaquil!"

"Miltank brace yourself!"

Nathan had learned this technique. Whitney was getting ready to use the Rollout.

"Cyndaquil, do a Quick Attack to the ground!"

Cyndaquil sped across the ground creating a massive hole in the ground that went across the field. Whitney shouted to Miltank.

"Roll into a ball Miltank."

"Do it again Cyndaquil!"

A few feet away from where the first one Cyndaquil created another hole.

"Rollout Attack Miltank!"

Miltank sped at Cyndaquil.

"Run away Cyndaquil!"

Miltank stopped at the edge of the hole and had to change direction towards Cyndaquil.

"Dodge again towards me Cyndaquil!"

Cyndaquil jumped away from Miltank's line on the edge of the second hole.

"Defense curl Cyndaquil!"

Miltank sped towards Cyndaquil. She hit the hole hard. The hole threw Miltank in the air.

"Tackle Attack Cyndaquil!"

While Miltank was in the air Cyndaquil slammed into her.

Miltank bounced into the first hole.

"Ember attack!"

Cyndaquil jumped into the air and fired a powerful Ember attack. Miltank was trapped in the fire pit that Cyndaquil had created.

"Another Ember attack Cyndaquil!"

Miltank dropped to the ground. Whitney recalled her. The dust settled. Cyndaquil was standing tall, but was breathing heavily. Whitney stared at the ground.

"Cyndaquil wins!" Milton called out.

Whitney looked up at Nathan with tears in her eyes.

"That was really smart to use the battlefield like that Nathan. You earned this badge."

They met in the middle as Whitney presented him with the Plain badge. Nathan celebrated.

"Well done Nathan." Milton said. "Why don't y'all stay one more night? We'll send y'all on your way first thing tomorrow mornin'. Thank y'all for your help today."

To be continued…