"Goldenrod City! Finally!" I exclaimed with delight.

Lightning and I had been traveling for half a moon since we left Ilex Forest. Our journey had become a fixed routine: Every morning, we'd wake up with the sun and catch a bit or two to eat. Next, we'd head north towards Goldenrod City, taking a few rest stops to get some water or rest our wings. At sunhigh, we'd catch some more food; then, we'd hit the road again. At sundown, we'd feast on a final meal before going to sleep.

It was a simple, straightforward routine, and we'd gotten used to the lack of excitement. Now, however, the faint skyline of Goldenrod City lay in the distance, while the early morning sun glowed faintly in the cloudless turquoise sky. Our bellies full with our latest meals, we hovered in the air with Goldenrod City in our views.

"Let's go already!" Lightning exclaimed with delight. "I heard that there are a lot of cool sights here."

"Not so fast, Lightning," I cautioned. "From here, Goldenrod City looks much bigger than Violet City. What if we get lost? I think it would be a good idea to ask someone knowledgeable for some help."

Lightning laughed. "How are you supposed to know if someone is knowledgeable?" he asked. As if to answer him, a strong gust of wind buffeted his feathers. "Another reason why we should go directly into the city," he said, shivering. "This wind is really picking up."

I was about to agree when a faint cry of "Help!" floated towards me, carried by the strong wind. Straining to make out the direction of the sound, I faced the wind, my eyes watering as the chilly draft buffeted my face. Then I heard it again: the cry for help was weaker this time, but I could tell that it belonged to a female.

"Did you hear that, Lightning?" I shouted over the roar of the wind. "Someone's calling for help!"

Lightning cocked his head, making a great effort to hover in one place despite the draft. "I didn't hear anything," he said earnestly. "Are you sure the wind isn't playing tricks on you?"

"I'm sure I heard something," I insisted. "I've lived in the wild for a year, so I know the sounds of the forest. I'm sure that a Pokemon just called for help."

"Really?" Lightning asked. "All right, Thunder; let's go check it out. Please don't make this a stupid practical joke."

"It's not," I said with certainty. I darted into the forest, towards the direction of the cry. Lightning followed quickly. These woods were less dense than the Ilex Forest, but the trees still shielded us well from the driving wind. I sighed, relieved that the wind would no longer be a problem.

"Help!" the voice called again, weaker than before. Taking a deep breath, I accelerated, my surroundings whizzing past me in a blur. Lightning kept pace beside me, the extra speed not bothering him at all.

Finally, we came to a small clearing. I gasped when I spotted a metal cage. In it curled a weak-looking Miltank, her body barely small enough to fit inside the cramped cage. Slowing down, I circled the clearing a few times before landing next to the cage.

The cage looked tough and intimidating. Crackling blue electricity flowed between the cage's metal bars. It also danced between the Miltank's pink and black hairs on her fine pelt. Just by seeing that, I knew for sure who had committed this dastardly deed, and I hissed my angriest hiss possible as Lightning landed lightly next to me.

Lightning hopped forward, taking a closer look at the wretched Miltank. "It's Hilda!" he exclaimed with shock. "Hilda, what are you doing out here in this horrible cage?"

Hilda groaned weakly. "Need some Cheri Berries," she moaned. "Can't move."

"Oh!" Lightning exclaimed, embarrassed. "Stay here, Hilda. We'll get some Cheri Berries for you." Puffing up his chest, he launched into the air. I followed him slowly, puzzled.

"What is this all about, Lightning?" I asked. "How do you know this Miltank – er, I mean, Hilda?"

Lightning shook his head. "I'll tell you later," he mumbled. "Let's go find some Cheri Berries." With that, he flew off into the woods.

I flew the other way, scanning every bush carefully in hopes of spotting one with bright red Cheri Berries growing on it. Instead, I spotted one that bore round, blue Oran Berries. This will do, I thought, landing lightly next to the bush and plucking off as many juicy berries as I could hold. After all, Hilda looks pretty exhausted.

I returned to the clearing to see Lightning peering worriedly into the cage, his beak full of Cheri Berries. I landed next to him, dropping my Oran Berries.

"She's fainted," he whispered, gently placing his Cheri Berries next to my Oran Berries. "Hilda must have used the last of her energy to call for help."

"I'll just make some berry juice for her, then," I said, trying to remember my berry lessons. Looking around, I spotted a large leaf and a small, sharp stone on the ground. I hopped over to the leaf and then to the stone, clasping them in my beak. Next, I hopped back to the piles of Cheri and Oran Berries. I grabbed two Cheri Berries and two Oran Berries, placing them gently on the leaf. Then, I grasped the stone in my beak and used it to slice and crush the berries until they disintegrated into a tasty-looking, purple-colored juice.

"All done," I breathed, carefully grabbing the stem of the leaf with my beak. Slowly, I pushed the leaf through the cage's lethal metal bars.

Lightning hopped forward, almost touching the cage. "Hilda," he said softly, "wake up and drink this berry juice. It'll make you feel better."

Hilda moaned, sniffed, and forced her eyes to open. Groaning, she lapped up a few sips of the berry juice. She sighed with relief, her body relaxing and the evil electric currents in her fur disappearing into thin air. Flexing and stretching her four legs, she quickly gulped down the rest of the berry juice.

Within a few seconds, the leaf had nothing but a few droplets of the purple berry juice clinging to it. Hilda blinked her eyes a few times a lifted her head, apparently feeling much better, though the cage was too small for her to sit up in.

Suddenly, Hilda seemed to notice who had rescued her. She gasped with surprise. "Lightning!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing out here? And who is this other Pidgeot? Is she your mate?"

Lightning tensed, and I felt my face turn bright red. "Mate?" I yelled. "I'm not his mate! We may be traveling together, but we are definitely not mates! What makes you think we are? I'm his friend, that's all. By the way, my name is Thunder." I shook my head, changing the subject. "You see, we're on a journey to find my former trainer, Ash Ketchum."

"Hey; I've met Ash before!" Hilda exclaimed, perking up. She smiled smugly. "Of course, his wimpy Pokemon didn't stand a chance against my powerful Rollout attacks. But oh well… at least they weren't flying-types like Lightning. I remember battling him, and his typing made my Rollout hurt even more."

"Whoa, whoa," I interjected, completely confused. "Lightning, who is this Hilda and how do you know her?"

"You see, Hilda is a very famous Pokemon – Gym Leader Whitney's Miltank, in fact," Lightning explained. "Back when Falkner was ten years old, he officially became Gym Leader of Violet City. There was a pretty cool ceremony on the Indigo Plateau – the traditional welcoming-the-new-gym-leader ceremony. All the gym leaders of Johto – except Bugsy, who was still too young to become a gym leader – attended the ceremony along with their star Pokemon. I got to battle against Hilda, but…" He hung his head. "I lost, because Rollout really hurt, considering that it's a Rock-type attack."

"Don't worry, Lightning. You're stronger now," I reassured. I turned to Hilda. "But Hilda, how did you end up in this horrible cage? If you're Whitney's star Pokemon, she'd protect you from harm at all costs."

Hilda sighed. "I was running away," she moaned.

"From what?" Lightning asked.

"Whitney."

"What?" Lightning asked with disbelief. "But you're Whitney's most powerful Pokemon! You're what makes her the toughest gym leader of Johto! Why would you run away from her?"

"I was just tired of the Goldenrod City Gym, in many ways," Hilda said angrily. "Moonshine, Ivy, and the others were so mad at me, I barely had any time to hang out at Milton's farm, I had to participate in every single battle, all the battles were far to easy for me, Whitney kept giving out pity badges, Whitney just –"

"Whoa, Hilda, slow down!" I exclaimed, interrupting her. "Can you please explain everything that happened, slowly and one at a time?"

Hilda sighed. "You see, Whitney makes me participate in every single gym battle," she began. "She trains me so hard that she barely trains my friends: Moonshine, her Clefairy, and Ivy, her Nidorina. Did I mention that I battled Ash before? A little while after Ash left, Moonshine and Ivy totally stopped being my friends. They were like, 'Oh, Hilda! You're too powerful! Whitney only cares about you!'"

"Wait," I interrupted. "What happened that made Moonshine and Ivy not like you? I'm sure that they couldn't have randomly started to dislike you for no reason."

Hilda sighed. "You see, after Ash Ketchum lost against Whitney in the official gym battle, Whitney challenged Ash to a friendly battle at Milton's Miltank Farm, using only me against Ash's Cyndaquil, Totodile, and Pikachu. And in that stupid battle, Ash's Pokemon somehow, someway managed to beat me! After his lame little Cyndaquil and Totodile stopped my Rollout, all it took was one single Thunderbolt from his totally overpowered Pikachu to knock me out for good. It wasn't an official battle, but it was the first time I had been defeated legitimately in any battle for six whole months. Therefore, although she still had two totally healthy Pokemon left, Whitney ended up giving Ash a badge."

"A pity badge!" Lightning hissed. "It wasn't even an official battle? Falkner would never give away a stupid pity badge, no matter what!"

"Whitney's given away a million pity badges since she became a gym leader," Hilda growled. "Whitney was so used to defeating challengers and giving pity badges to them that she was so completely shocked when I lost against Ash. She began giving me almost no free time at all – no more fun in Milton's awesome farm, no more time to hang out with Moonshine and Ivy. She just trained me like crazy and polished my Rollout and my other moves – Attract, Stomp, and Thunder Wave. Whitney, like, completely forgot about Moonshine and Ivy, making them completely pissed off at me.

"Last night, I became completely tired of my annoyed friends, the extra training, and Whitney. So before Whitney could recall me into my Pokeball for the night, I ran away from her. When I got onto the streets, I rolled. Whitney chased after me like crazy, but I rolled as fast as I could until I got into these woods."

"But how did you get into this cage?" I asked.

"What cage?" Hilda asked lamely.

"The cage you're in right now, of course!" I snapped, frustrated at Hilda's stupid joke.

"Oh, I thought you freed me already." Hilda said sheepishly. "I was so busy talking to you that I forgot that I was still captured!"

Lightning groaned. "She's really forgetful," he muttered. "Just like her trainer."

"How did you get into this cage?" I asked again. "Please don't tell me that you forgot how."

"Oh, no," Hilda said quickly. "How I got into this cage was so interesting that even someone like me couldn't forget about it."

"Fill us in," I said quietly, tensing. I needed to confirm my hunch on who had captured Whitney's star Pokemon.

Hilda closed her eyes. "I remember coming to this clearing to rest a little and munch on some grass," she began. "But before I could take a bite, I found that I couldn't move at all. This really scary-looking blue electricity or something surrounded me completely. I was like, 'Huh?' but I couldn't move! Then I saw her: this totally creepy eighteen-year-old girl. She wore a weird glove on her left hand, and the blue electricity was just coming right out of her left hand's second finger!

"And then… well, her right hand reached into her bag and pulled out a Pokedex. She pointed it right at me. 'Course, I was, like, expecting the thing to say, 'Miltank, the Milk Cow Pokemon'. But instead, it played a quick five-note scale. The strange young woman smiled evilly. 'Jolly', she said. 'A perfect nature.'

"And then… the weird electricity around me disappeared! I tried to run, but that shadowy trainer reached into her bag and pulled out this strange metal ball. She threw it at me, and oh my, that trainer has really good aim! It hit me on my back, and before I could even say, 'Ouch', that metal ball sprang open into a cage that was just big enough for me.

"I was panicked! I rammed against the cage, but then a horribly painful electric jolt coursed through me, almost as powerful as the Thunderbolt from Ash's overpowered Pikachu. I screamed, but that trainer just stood there and smiled evilly. I tried everything to get out of this cage – Rollout, Stomp, whatever. But every time I touched the cage's horrible metal bars, another jolt of electricity met me. Finally, I fell to the ground, dazed.

"And then that trainer said, 'You're mine now!' She threw an Ultra Ball at me, but because I belong to Whitney, it just bounced off my head. The trainer caught the Ultra Ball and hissed. Then she noticed the tag I wear all the time on my tail, the one that has Whitney's name and address on it. 'So you're Whitney's famous Miltank!' she exclaimed angrily. She put that Ultra Ball back into her bag and smiled evilly. 'But not for long.' And then she just left me here in this horrible cage. The end."

There was a long moment of silence. Then I spoke. "Hilda," I said softly, "I know who captured you, because I've been through the same thing."

"Really?" asked Hilda. "What is this shadowy trainer's name?"

"K", I said softly. "Nature Hunter K. Lightning and I encountered her in the Ilex Forest… she said that I was 'Adamant', which was apparently a 'good nature'. I guess that 'Jolly' is a good nature too. I almost got caught by her – she also captured me in an electric cage like yours."

"But that's poaching! It's illegal!" Hilda exclaimed angrily. "She isn't even using her own Pokemon to weaken the Pokemon she wants to catch! She's using those horrible cage-balls instead!"

"Which makes her very dangerous," Lightning growled. "Where is K now?"

Hilda gasped. "Oh, no!" she exclaimed. "I forgot! As K left, I heard her say, 'Well, I guess I'll have to talk to Whitney.' Then she started walking in the direction of Goldenrod City!"

"What?" Lightning yelled. "That means K is going to try to convince Whitney to let go of you! How could you forget that this happened?"

"Who cares that I forgot? K could be at Goldenrod City right now!" Hilda exclaimed urgently. "Thunder, Lightning, do you know how I can get out of this cage without electrifying myself?"

"You have to use a move that doesn't make direct contact with the cage but can still damage it," I said quickly. "Hilda, I know that Stomp and Rollout make contact. Lightning, can you do anything?"

Lightning shook his head. "The only attacking moves I know are Quick Attack and Wing Attack," he grumbled.

"I guess it's up to me, then," I said confidently. "Brace yourself, Hilda! This might get a bit rough!" I quickly launched into the air as Lightning flew out of the way and Hilda curled up into a tight ball. Flapping my wings with all my might, I launched a powerful Gust attack. The tall trees bent as the powerful draft forced their leaves to tumble away helplessly in the wind, and Hilda growled as she struggled to defend herself against the gale. Finally, the lethal metal cage gave up its hold of the ground and tumbled away. It landed at the edge of the clearing, where it crashed into a sturdy tree. There was a splendid crackling sound as the cage's metal bars bent and the evil electricity in them disappeared into thin air.

I stopped flapping my wings. "Let's all get to Goldenrod City as quickly as possible!" I shouted. Hilda nodded and quickly started rolling, easily dodging the trees in the forest. Lightning rose into the air, a determined light glowing in his eyes. We rushed back to the road, and soon we were traveling to Goldenrod City at a breakneck pace.

K must be eviler than I thought if she's trying to steal a Pokemon who already belongs to a trainer – a very famous trainer, in fact, I thought bitterly as I flew speedily in the vast blue sky. I must be careful.

To be continued…