I hope you all like, it's a bit different. I tried to make it feel like Pokemon in the real world. I haven't really got much room for the story yet as I'm still tryign to develop the characters and their Pokemon and the relationships and whatnot, the next chapter will hopefully be a bit more exciting. Please post your comments and advice promptly.

Having said that...

One offensive comment, one piece of criticism I find to be de-constructive, one smart alec post, and I'll be crashing your hard drive beofre yu even have time to laugh at your own stupid joke.

J L Psyches

Jonathon had zoned out completely. His teacher was talking about something completely irrelevant to the real world. Jonathon, the blone haired, green eyed, seventeen year old was certain he would never use pythagorus theorum ever again so long as she shall live. He looked around the room, spying his best friend's fiery red hair across the room. The teacher was forcing him to sit on the other side of the room to her in a vain attempt to force his interest into mathematics. It wasn't working. The bell rang, FINALLY! Jonathon pushed everyhtign off of his desk with his arm and caught it in his shoulder bag. He was standing and walking to the door before the rest of the class had even looked up form their books. He walked out inot the sweltering heat. There weren't many people out in the schoolyard yet, thsi was lucky, because Jonathon wasn't particularly well-liked among the other students. There was just something about Jonathon that made him stand out. In a bad way.

Jonathon was walking home in the afternoon sun. There was a river that ran through the centre of town, and he often cut through it to his house, an hour away from the school he attended. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed. There was another sigh, though it didn't come form him. Jonathon spu quickly, looking all around. Another sigh... He sprinted ahead, hoping to escape whatever was near him and making the noise. As he tried to catch his breath, he heard another being, ctaching their breath also. He knew it was someone from school. They were lookignf ro a fight. jonathon hated fighting. His father was a fighter. His brother was a fighter. Jonathon was dignified. He was refined. He was not a fighter.
"Slow..." The voice panted. Jonathon's hand flew into his shoulder bag, why did it have to happen now, when the weather was at its worst? His hadn gripped the smooth spherical surface of his closest companion. The Slowpoke was creeping toward him through the clump grass. Jonathon hurled his pokeball, shaking his head at the unluck of the battle he was being pushed into.

Squirtle appeared in a flash, a weary look on his face.
"I know it's too hot for you buddy, but I need you to help me out," Jonathon apologized. Squirtle nodded, and turned to face Slowpoke, mustering what energy he had. Squirtle was very small and not very good at battling.
"Tackle it, Squirtle!" Jonathon cried. Squirtle jumped at Slowpoke, but Slowpoke took the attack without so much as a flinch. Slowpoke's eyes turned blue and Squirtle was walking backward and utteirng a low moan. It was a psychic attack. Jonathon couldn't bear it. He held out his pokeball and recalled Squirtle. Slowpoke started walking toward him again with more speed this time. The little pink Pokemon staretd to run, a fierce look in its eyes. Jonathon turned and ran, two Pidgey flying out of the grass and sending him inot the dirt. Slowpoke was galloping up behind him. Jonathon scrambled ot his feet and cursed loudly as he dropped a schoolbook from his shoulderbag. He ran as fast as he coudl, skirting this way and that around the trees and was soon on a bicycle path. his house wasn't far now. He looked back and saw the Slowpoke still chasing him, now as fast as it could travel.
"Why do they call them Slowpoke?" Jonathon asked himself. The Slowpoke roared, somewhat anti-climatically for the actual problem the wild Pokemon presented. Jonathon shook hishead at the irony, still running as fast as he could. A guy form school rode past on his bike. Jonathon kept running, now certain he wudl have to run from two foes. He heard the schoolboy coming back toward him, catching up easily because of his bike.
"Jonathon, you want a hand getting rid of that Slowpoke?" He asked. Jonathon slowed down, now running alongside the boy on his bike.
"Nick isn't it?" Jonathon stuttered. Nick nodded. He pulled his bike up in fornt of Jonathon and forced the boy to stop running. Nick took a Great ball from his belt. Jonathon had never used a Great Ball before. they were expensive. He only had one pokeball, and it held his Squirtle. Nick threw the Great Ball and out came a Totodile. Jonathon looked down at the gorund with a painful expression. He had gotten a Squirtle from his parents while all the other kids at school had been given Totodile or Cyndaquil. Even Samantha, his red headed best friend, had a Chikorita. Jonathon was forced to battle with a Squirtle. He loved Squirtle, loved him like a brother, but he felt so out of place with the other kids. I guess it's what you get for being born to a poor family. Nick's Totodile made short work of the Slowpoke which fled into the river again. Nick was the same age as Jonathon, but was known in the city as a bit of a battle legend. He was competing for the city's gym badge. He had dark hair and dark eyes and was very handsome.
"I didn't know you live near me," Nick said.
"I live across the road from you," Jonathon droned, giving Nick a dark glare.
"Hey sorry, I never knew. I mean, you don't exactly ever say much," Nick explained.
"Sorry, I'm usually too busy running from you and your bully friends to say anything," Jonathon scathed.
"When have I EVER bullied you?" Nick stabbed. Jonathon gave him another glare.
"Ever picked me for your battle team?" Jonathon pointed out. Nick didn't say anythign, and stopped pedalling, leaving Jonathon to walk ahead a few metres. Nick finally snapped out of his trance.
"Well hey, why would I pick you for my team when you hardly ever do anythign in training?" Nick retorted.
"Why woudl I bother training, when the world is run by people like you, whot hink that because YOU don't like me, I'm not worth battling alongside?" Jonathon shouted. He had stopped walking and was staring hard into Nick's deep brown eyes. Nick looked genuinely hurt. The two had neevr spoken outside of schoolbased discussion, and it was always forced school discussion whereas they HAD to talk to eah other because of a class.
"Whatever. I have to go to battle training. I made the semi-finals. I might win the town badge," Nick said, his eyes perking up. He waited for some sort of compliment from Jonathon but when he didn't get one he looked around awkwardly, tryignt o remember where his story was going.
"So... I'll see you tomorrow. We have Battle Class together," Nick finished. He rode away, saying a much more elaborate goodbye than Jonathon would have liked to have heard. Jonathon got home and turned the airconditioner on. He threw his pokeball onto the couch where it exploded. Squirtle put his hands behind his head and laid back, taking in the cool air.
"Sorry I made you battle, Jonathon said. Squirtle opened one lazy eye and smiled. He waved his hand through the air is if to say:
"Don't worry about it,"
"You want some ice cream?" Jonathon asked. Squirtle loved it when Jonathon made him battle. It meant ice cream was on the cards.

The next day at school was even worse than the day before. The sun was too strong for Jonathon to handle. He was a water Pokemon Trainer, even though he only had one Pokemon, he could already foresee his collection being made up mostly of water types. The School week had two days of academic subjects, and then the students did three days of Pokemon electives. Jonathon, rather grudgingly, had agreed to take battle classes because of Samantha. Samantha rished over to him.
"Hey, we're starting double battles today!" She squealed. Jonathon smiled.
"And guess what? There's a new girl from France!" Samantha continued. Jonathon raised his eyebrows lazily.
"She has this awesome Pokemon, wait 'til you see it. And she lives next door to me, she traded with me yesterday!"
This ifnally caught Jonathon's attention.
"You traded yur CHikorita?" Jonathon spluttered.
"For a French Pokemon!" Samantha exclaimed, jumpingup and down. She took her pokeball from her shoulder strap. Samantha's parents had bought her a bag which had clips on the strap for her pokeballs. It was even more expensive than the belt Jonathon longed for.
"I'll show you her," Smanatha decided.
"Samantha, if that pokeball so much as leaves your hand I'll be sending you staright to the principal's office," Professor Goodall snapped. She had arrived at the gym where the students had assembled for battle class.
"Today, we will be starting double battle classes. Last week we talked over the theory of the double battle and the rules of which you are legally bound to apply yourself as a trainer, now we are going to apply those laws in battle. Nick, can you choose a battle partner and join me up the fornt please," She said matter-of-factly. It was common knowledge that Nick was a good battler. He had fought his way through many of the Sandstorm Gym's triners and after the semi-finals he'd finally face off against the gym leader and might win himself a Desert Badge. Jonathon was remindedof his talk with Nick the day before. Suddenly he realized Nick was looking his way.
"Oh god, no, he wouldn't!" Jonathon said, a little too loudly. His heart was racing, his hands were sweaty, his mouth went dry.
"Jonathon," Nick said slowly with a wide, warm smile. Jonathon closed hsi eyes. Samantha's mouth opened.
"John... Doesn't he hate you?" She whispered.
"I thought so. But we got talkign yesterday. Oh my God, I can't believe he's doing this," Jonathonmoaned.
"Jonathon, when you're ready," Professor Goodall chastised. Jonathon walked toward the front of the large gym. It was basically a big hall with a high roof and a concrete floor. Painted on the floor was the battle map. Jonathon stood next to Nick.
"When I said you never pick me for your battle team, I didn't mean i wanted you to pick me for a double battle in front of the entire class when I've never so much as had an official Gym Competition battle," Jonathon glowered quietly.
"Stop stressing, you'll be fine," Nick smiled.
"I hate you so much," Jonathon smiled back.
"Nick and Jonathon are going to battle against me, I'll stop the battle here and there to explain some pointers in double battling, then you'll all partner off and we'll get a round robin tournament happening," Miss Goodall todl the class as they all made toward the stands on one side of the gym. Samantha screamed out a cat cry for Jonathon.
"Are you and her together?"Nick asked in a somewhat oily voice.
"No Nicholas..." Jonathon replied with a smirk as he took Squirtle's pokeball form his shoudlerbag. He threw the pokeball ontot he field.
"I'm gay," Jonathon smiled. Nick's mouth opened, but he said nothing. Nick's Great ball flew toward the battle field and a tiny smile crept over Nick's face.
"Goodall favours normal Pokemon, I'm going to focus on attacks, mainly special attacks, Squirtle's smaller so get him in and up close to use status lowering attacks, maybe a few close range physical attacks, okay?" Nick rattled.
"Got it," Jonathon replied. Goodall's two Pokemon were a Wigglytuff and a Bidoof.
"Squirtle, get in nice and close to Wigglyutff and use your tail whip!" Jonathon cried.
"Totodile, get on the other side of Wigglytuff, use your water gun!" Nick ordered. Nick moved closer to Jonathon.
"My Totodile's a girl," He cooed.
"And you're telling me this because...?" Jonathon queried.
"Well... your Squirtle's a boy... maybe-"
"They're not in the same egg group, Mister Matchmaker," Jonathon cut Nick off.
"Oh..." Nick stuttered.
"Hit Bidoof with your tackle and then double slap Wigglytuff," Jonathon called to Squirtle. Goodall was more interested in explaining things to the class and her Pokemon were feebly trying to battle wihtout her. Nick laughed as Wigglytuff missed Totodile (who was danicng around like a show off) and hit Bidoof. Seconds later, Wigglytuff received a harsh slapping form Squirtle. Wigglytuff collapsed and then used another tail whip on bidoof.
"Way to go Squirtle, now tackle it!" Jonathon cried.
"Finish it off after Squirtle with another water gun," Nick called. Bidoof collapsed a moment later and the rest of the class screamed and clapped. Jonathon threw a berry from his bag toward Squirtle and smiled. He turned to Nick. Maybe Nick wasn't as bad as Jonathon thought he was.
"That was so cool!" Samantha applauded, running towrad the two boys. She threw her arms around Jonathon and hugged him tightly. Lorelle was there in another moment. She was by far the most beautiful girl in school. She had a Piplup, imported from Alaska. None of the other students had ever seen one. She had her eye on Nick, everyone knew that, and she instantly started talkignt o him about breeding his Totodile with her Piplup, a wink in her eye.
"Um... Jonathon," nick stammered. Jonathon turned his head awkwardly to look at him while Samantha jumped up and down holding his arm.
"Are Piplup and Totodile in the same egg group?" Nick asked. Jonathon made a face.
"I think Totodile would sooner eat Piplup then mate with it," Jonathon teased. Lorelle gave Jonathon a dark glare.
"Sorry, but My Totodile isn't into Piplup," Nick said, "I think it really likes Squirtle though,"
Jonathon looked past Samantha as she continued t brag about her enw French Pokemon. Squirtle and Totodile were getting along very well. They were jumping around in a circle. It must have been some bizarre Pokemon ritual. Much like how Samantha had been jumping up and down a moment ago. Except that Samantha was jumping up and down becuase she wasn't remarkably intelligent, not because she was a Pokemon like Squirtle and Totodile.
"Come to my Gym battle," Nick suddenly said, shaking Jonathon form his thoughts of Samantha's IQ.
"What?" Jonathon spluttered. A piece of spit actually flew from his mouth and landed on Nick's cheek. Jonathon's eyes bulged and his jaw dropped.
"Oh my God..." Jonathon gasped. Nick closed his eyes and breathed deeply. His face broke into that smile though, the one that showed off his dimples, and Jonathon couldn't believe that he was laughing silently. Nick wiped the spit from his cheek and opened his mouth to speak.
"i'm so sorry, I'm really, really sorry," Jonathon stammered.
"I want you to come to my Gym battle," Nick said again. Jonathon agreed to go, mostly out of guilt for spitting on the boy's face.

Jonathon woke up late on the weekend. Unless it was a school night, Jonathonlet Squirtle sleep in a small bed he'd made out of old cushions in the ocrner of his room. His parents were at work again, which Jonathon preferred. His parents didn'tget along. His brother was living elsewhere now and his sister was always off doing somethign with her firends. Unliek Jonathon, sahe was very popular. Jonathon slowly dragged himself out of bed and grabbed his mobile phone. He rarely used it as no one called him except Samantha, and Jonathon usually wanted to avoid her. She was still his best friend, he just didn't paticulalry feel proud of that fact. It was complicated. He loved her, she was like a sister. Just, a very simple, unintelligent, child-like sister. He looked at the time. There was somewhere he was supposed ot be...
"Food," Jonathon groaned. Squirtle's eyes opened slowly. Jonathon was already peering intot he fridge as he heard the pittar patter of Squirtle's feet. Squirtle stood between Jonathon's legs, rubbing his eye with his little hand and looking into the vegetable drawer at the bottom of the fridge. Squirtle waddled away, biting inot a carrot, and Jonathon smiled as he saw the singlet Squirtle had somehow climbed his tiny body into last night. It was one of Jonathon's old ones that was now too small. The airconditioner was whirring to life before Jonathon finished selecting an apple from the fridge. Squirtle was still standing on top of the television when Jonathon came into the lounge.
"So that's how you can rahc the airconditioner switch," Jonathon marvelled. Squirtle didn't register the comment, he was still far too sleepy. The two woke up slowly, Jonathon eventually ducking off for a shower as Squirtle took a few ice cubes from the freezer and went outside to clean his shell. Jonathon came outside and watched as Squirtle tucked the last ice cube inside his shell. The Pokemon pulled all its arms and legs inside and the shell shook for awhile. Finally, Squirtle popped its head out and smailed. Its arms and legs came out next. Somehow, Squirtle had cleaned the inside of his shell with the ice cube. Jonathon shook his head, still unsure as to whether Squirtle was extremely intelligent or extremely... well... Maybe he should consider trading him to Samantha... No, Jonathon decided then and there that no matter how bizarre Squirtle acted, he woudl never part with the little terror. Squirtle could be difficult, and he was very small for his level and not very strong in battle, but they were buddies.
"Where were you?!?" Nick screamed, charging around to the backyard of Jonathon's family house.
"Huh?" Jonathon coughed. He was stilla little sleepy, having only awoken an hour ago.
"The GYm battle! You weren't there!" Nick yelled, pushing Jonathon hard in the chest.
"I face the gym leader TONIGHT, be there or you're dead," Nick threatened. He turned and stormed out of the yard.
"What on Earth?' Jonathon asked. Squirtle was standing at Jonathon's knee, rubbing his head. He looked up at Jonathon and shrugged. Squirtle stole another carrot from the fridge and lazed about in the lougne as jonathon went to his room. He'd slept late and it was already the afternoon. HIs mind wandered to what he should wear to Nick's gym battle. He pulled everythign out of his wardrobe, holding everything he owned up against his skinny, seventeen year old body. Fianlly, as the alarm on his phone went off, he selected a white three quarter sleeved shirt with a brown and white vest over the top and very pale light blue flared jeans. Squirtle looked at him lazily, another half-eaten carrot in his hand. After a few moments of loud crunching Squirtle gave Jonathon a very lazy thumbs up and waddled back to the lounge where Jonathon foudn him on the television, turning off the airconditioner. Jonathon's parents were still not home, thank goodness. Jonathon coudln't stand his parents lately. He was sure they felt the same.
"C'mon, pal," Jonathons aid to Squirtle, taking the turtle in his arms and carrying him out of the house. He tapped his pokeball against Squirtle's shell and the pokemon gave him one last smile before disappearing. Why on EARTH Squirtle liked Jonathon was completely beside the young boy. His spiked hair and white themed outfit strutted down the street and into the city. No Slowpoke attacked him that day and he arrived at the large Sandstorm Gym with a broad girn on his face.
"Good, you're right ont ime, let's go," Nick ordered, taking Jonathon's arm at the elbow and leading him past the grandstands where people were already hoarding. Samantha was in the crowd. So was Lorelle. Jonathon's sister pointedly turned away from him with her friends so she could pretend she hadn't seen him.
"You're my second chair," Nick said suddenly. Jonathon was shakenf rom his thoughts and realized that nick had led him to the side of the battlefield where the challengers stood.
"WHAT?" Jonathon screamed. his cry was drowned out by the crowd as Mack, the Gym leader, strolled across the arena.
"Let's do this thing!" He yelled with a very butch accent.
"Nick, please, what are you doing? I can't do this, I'm not a battler!" Jonathon stuttered.
"You're one hell of a good actor then," Nick smiled. He winked and threw Totodile's pokeball out into the field. Mack's Dugtrio was already bobbing up and down. The match would be an easy win for Nick, even Squirtle would have stood a chance.
"C'mon, partner," Nick said pointedly.
"Don't attack it first. Dugtrio can buodl up a rage easily. You'll need to weaken its defense first, then try and take it down with onyl a few well placed attacks, and make sure they're special based, physiacl attacks will send it into a rage quicker," jonathon rattled away. nick smiled.
"See...?" He pointed out.
"Shut up..." Jonathon ordered. Nick called out the orders to Totodile thenturned to face Jonathon.
"Shouldn't you be wtaching the battle?" Jonathon said indignantly. Nick smiled again.
"There are better things to watch," Nick teased.
"God, do you have a smart alec response to EVERYTHING?" Jonathon retorted. Then he stopped.
"Wait... are you... are you FLIRTING with me?" Jonathon stammered.
"Totodile, use your water gun, strike the middle one!" Nick called. Ttodile was off and away.
"Are you flirting with me?" Jonathon repeated, a little more hysterically.
"Now hit it with a slash!" Nick commanded.
"I told you not to use physical attacks!" Jonathon screamed, turning to wtach Totodile.
"Strike back with Water gun as soon as it goes to attack!" Nick countered, hoping to make good of his fumble.
"You're flirting with me!" Jonathon stomped, returning to his original trail of thought.
"Maybe," Nick repleid with another smile.
"Oh my god..." Jonathon sighed, holding his head in his hands, "You've got to be joking,"
"What?" Nick asked, a genuine look of concern on his face.
"Guys like you... and guys like me... I- I have to go," Jonathon siad. He turned.
"Wait," Nick called. He reached out and grabbed Jonathon's hand. The crowd screamed suddenly. They were cheers and claps and the announcers voice boomed. Lights flashed and sirens wailed. Jonathon looked back at Nick.
"C'mon partner, we've got a badge to collect," Nick smiled. Jonathon was growing to hate thats mile. He was always associated it with Nick trying to win him over to do somehting he normally wouldn't EVER do.

Jonathon was back at home with Squirtle walking around eating a carrot and wearing the old singlet again, this time with Jonathon's badge pinned to the front. Nick had pre-registered Jonathon as his battler partner. He'd even somehow forged Jonathon's signature VERY well. It was odd though, as Jonathon had not yet taken the Trainer's test. He wasn't certified to compete for GYm badges. Youhad to be fifteen tot ake the test, so Jonathon was eligible to take it. He just hadn't gotten around to it yet. I mean, he had his whole life to do it. The tets was hardly a pressing matter at the moment. It had nothing to do with his fear of battling. Nothing...
"Come with me," Nick said suddenly. He had let himself into Jonathon's house, luckily Jonathon's parents were out.
"You know, we'ev got to set some boundaries here, you can't just WALK in to my house," Jonathon stabbed.
"Come on, we've got to go," Nick repeated, rolling his eyes.
"Where?" Jonathon said, helping Squirtle down fom the television again.
"Longhand City, weve got another badge to win," Nick said, as though oit was the most obvious thign in the world.
"Squirtle, no more freaking carrots!" Jonathon scolded as Squirtle walked inot the lougne with three carrots in his arms. Squirtle's lip quivered. He waddled away quickly, a whimper escaping his lips.
"Get your stuff, let's go!" nick rushed.
"Squirtle, I'm sorry!" Jonathon hurried, folliwng the tiny pokemon inot the kitchen.
"Jonathon, come on," Nick pleaded.
"NICK!" Jonathon snapped. Nick gave him one last look.
"Please," Nick added, a pleading look adorning his handsome face. Jonathon looked at him for a long time. Then turned back to Squirtle.
"I'm sorry for snapping at you Squirtle. I just... I have a lot of things that are FRUSTRATING me lately," Jonathon explained as he hugged the little Pokemon. He gave Nick a blank look. Nick sighed loudly and left. Jonathon sat holding Squirtle. Squirtle finally stopped quiveirng and pushed Jonathon back, wiping his little eyes. He sniffled and then made a hard face.
"Squirt!!" He cried. Jonathon gave him an odd look.
"What?' Jonathon said. Squirtle ran to the bedroom.
'Oh my god... what's he doing now?' Jonathon thought. Squirtle was packign Jonathon's things in his shoulderbag and then jumped ontot he bed where his pokeball lay. He was lying spread eagled on his stomach and lifted a hand. He tapped the pokeball and was drawn inside.
"No..." Jonathon said simply.
"Hell no..." He added.
"Never."

Nick turned aroudn as Jonathon panted to catched his breath. The road stretched out ahead of them.
"I knew you'd follow," Nick sniped.
"I only came... (pant pant pant)... because god knows what you'd try to breed with that Totodile of yours if I wasn't around," Jonathon teased.
"Alright, partner, let's get moving. I want to make it to the Pokemon Centre at the half way mark before dark," Nick ordered.
"Yeah yeah, whatever," Jonathon sighed. He noticed Nick smiling at him so jonathon delibreately frowned as though he was having second thoughts. Nick looked away. Inside though, Jonathon was leaping for joy. The adventure had begun!

I actually liked it, no offense I'm not in the habit of liking the things I read in the forum. I liked how you made Nick gay as well as, I'm assuming, Jonathon. It was a pleasant twist from the duldrums.

I saw various typos that can easily be cured. If you were to double space between paragraphs it would make reading easier, and triple space for scene changes. I'm assuming on your word file you tab or indent in some fashion.

Don't take this horribly, please for the love of anything holy or sacred. Stop threatening to hack into people's computers, it's not a good way to make friends with anyone. I hate to say this, but there are some people in the world [not necessarily here] whose comments would be swayed to prevent such an action. And as a professional writer, as you say you are, being able to accept different kinds of comments is very important. Arguments are one thing, threatening is another. That is mainly how I feel about the situation, it is not meant to be offensive. You can ask others on the forum and they will agree that I'm not trying to, not that I always succeed. I do happen to love my computer.

Crimson, I actually like you. I think your posts are worth reading and I value your opinion, and it's soemwhat comforting to know that you woudl be the kidn of mature being who would defend someone's work form deconstructive criticism, even if you yourself didn't like it.

Having said that, I'll take what you've said onboard and I won't threaten to crash anymore harddrives.

Part of me starting this fan fiction is to protest the fact that gay is blocked out by the system's obscene-languiage filter.

The other part of ym reaosn to write this is that I want to write a very REAL Pokemon fan fiction and I thought a topic like this could make it a little more intriguing. I mean, converting Pokemon into realism takes a lot of the excitement and action out, hopefully this will give the story more depth to counter that. Anyway, the Pokemon War series is ym first priority at the moment, but as Get Real's chapters will be much longer, I will only have to post this every so often. Next chapter will be a few days from now.

I'm not sure about how maturely [depends on how its defined] I'd go about it but I would definitly defend their work. Regardless, thank you for the support and your cooperation. The forum could definitly use more writers especially some more experienced ones.

It looks like the word gay is not filtered out but the 'politically correct' term is. That's what had been filtered in my post before I changed it.

Actually, until recently I've noticed that the word gay is filtered rather sporadically, though it more often than not gets muted out. Lately though it seems to be visible.

fag (f*a*g) is probably filtered out...

Meh, anyway, next chapter will be up when I decide what nick and Jonathon will do next.

That was a very good story. Well written and had a nice plot, just try to run it through spell check, the mispelled words weren't a major problem until it got to this paragraph:

Otherwise, they were minimal.
Good job.
PS: In another thread I saw that you started, some others were pretty harsh, I don't blame you for getting defensive. .

You know, I had little intention of committing my ful attentiont o this story but since you all like it so much (which is totally unexpected) I'll definitely put another chapter up within the next hour or so.

It's a nice break form the depressing warzone of Pokemon; the New War. To be honest, the Pokemon War series is starting to do thigns to my head... lol

Nick and Jonathon had reached the next city from Isamine City- Longhand City. Nick, now teamed up with Jonathon, was going to try his hand at the Night Gym. The Stars Badge was the next one they needed for their collection. Jonathon kept staring at his Desert Badge from Isamine City in disbelief. Not only did he do little to earn it, but by law, he wasn't allowed to posses one. Jonathon was yet to take his Trainer Exams and so, unlike Nick, wasn't even allowed to battle in the prelimenaries at the Pokemon Gyms. He put the badge back in his pocket and saw Nick putitng his away in a fancy looking carry case. Jonathon then looked at Nick's pokeball belt, his backpack and his visor. The visor was green and black, just like his cool jacket and matching his dirty denim jeans. Jonathon was wearing a long sleeved blue shirt and plain old royal blue jeans. His shoes were wearing out. He knew he should have stayed in Isamine City with his parents and done some chored to earn money for new shoes, maybe he could even buy a belt like NIck's? But no, Nick had to drag poor Jonathon off on this ridiculous adventure. As Jonathon lay down on the bed in the Pokemon Centre's sleepign quarters, Nick gave an elaborate goodbye (AGAIN WITH THE OVER-THE-TOP GOODBYE) and made off for the Pokemon Gym. He'd told Jonathon he was going to register but when he wasn't back in a two hours and the sky was turning pitch black outside, Jonathon began to worry. He scooped up the sleepign Squirtle and drew him back into his pokeball before jogging through the streets of Longhand to the massive Gym. There were no lights on, so Jonathon naturally assumed they were closed and began to worry about Nick's whereabouts. He called out Squirtle, more for company then help.
"I don't know where Nick is," Jonathon told Squirtle. Squirtle looked form side to side VERY slowly. He then looked at Jonathon blankly as if to say
"What the hell do you expect me to do about it?"
"Any ideas?" Jonathon begged. Squirtle sighed loudly and placed his head in his hands. This adventure was going to be a very long one...

Jonathon and Squirtle looked all over the city and still coudln't find Nick. It was then, as Jonathon began to think about just leaving, right then and there, and goign back to Isamine, that he heard voices. Three girls came slowly down the road. Nick was with them, laughign away. Jonathon was enraged. All this time he'd been lookign for Nick while he was off playing around with a bunch of pre-pubescant teenage doo-wop girls. He stormed toward Nick, who saw him and broke into a run to meet him ahead of the girls.
"Good enws!" nick exclaimed.
"Where the hell have you been?!" Jonathon demanded. Nick's face went white.
"Waht do you mean?" Nick stammered.
"I've been looking all over for you!" Jonathon screamed. The girls had caught up with them.
"I told you, I was at the Gym," Nick tried to explain.
"I went to the Gym, the lights were off," Jonathon countered. One of the girls giggled.
"The lights are always off... it's a NIGHT Gym," She teased. Jonathon's face went redder, more from outrage than embarassment. How dare that little floozy speak to him.
"What took you so long to register?" Jonathon snapped.
"I did more than register, I beat the prelimenaries, tomorrow we can face the semi-finals!" Nick announced, clearly expecting that this would win over Jonathon's mood. WRONG.
"So just like Isamine you expect me to only have input at the last minute, right?" He yelled. Jonathon knew he was being ridiculous, but he wanted to make Nick pay for worrying him so much.
"Well, no, it sort of just seems to keep happening that way, doesn't it?" Nick laughed.
"It's not a laughing matter," Jonathon scathed.
"Whata re you, his BOYFRIEND," One of the girls said. the three of them burst into hysterical fits of giggles.
"Actually," Nick started.
"Hell n," Jonathon snapped. He turned around and stormed away. His hand jutted out to the side and Squirtle, who was left standing beside NIck, was vaporised into red light as he waved solemnly at Nick. Nick looked form jonathon to the girls. Jonathon... Girls... Jonathon... Girls... Jonathon... Girls... Jonathon...
"Hey, wait up!" He cried, trying to catch his battle partner.
"I'm going home," Jonathon declared.
"No you're not, I need you," Nick protested.
"Ha! You haven't taken any of my advice yet, I've only been with you for ONE battle, you don't need me, I think you've proven that,"
"I DO need you,"
"YOU DON'T NEED ME!"
"THEN I WANT YOU!"

The wind swirled past the boys. Silence engulfed them. Both of them sat still on the empty road with their mouths open. The street light overhead flickered on and off. Lights in a neaby house were turned off. A Murkrow swooped overhead. Nick stepped forward.
"I want you," He repeated, his voice cracking as he spoke. Jonathon moved his mouth around but no words formed. Nick picked up Jonathon's slack hand and held it in his own.
"You have to stay. I don't want to do all this without you," Nick said, his voice a little more firm this time.
"I... I..."
"Don't say anything," Nick commanded, "Let's just go back to the Centre and sleep. Tomorrow we'll face the semifinals and the Gym Leader. Then we're off to Towa Bay for the Sand Badge from the Beach Gym, okay?"
"Towa Bay?" Jonathon stuttered.
"You've never been?" Nick spat. Jonathon slowly shook his head.
"My family go there every year!" Nick exclaimed, "It's the most beautiful beachside city ever, the water is crystal clear and there are little cafe's and restaraunts all along the waterfront, and we stay at this resort every year, we'll stay there too, it's so beautiful," Nick rattled. Jonathon looked at his feet, then back at Nick.
"I.. I can't, Nick. I'm not like you," He stuttered.
"You're gay, believe me," Nick smiled, rolling his eyes.
"Shutup!" Jonathon laughed, "I mean, I've neverbeen to a resort before. I've never even been to Towa Bay,"
"Now you can," Nick smiled, "All the things you missed out on, I'll show them to you,"
"Oh God..." Jonathon moaned, "This is so sentimental, I'm gogint obe sick,"
"Hey, can it smart alec," Nick ordered. Jonathon gave him a mischevious look.
"Boyfriends?" He whispered, suddenly not so calm and collected.
"Boyfriends," Nick decided.

How nice, I'm really liking this story, the chapters are long and thorough, good job!

Oh wow. Things've just gotten a little more serious, I do believe. Lovely-sweet ending, and I loved the sudden change in atmosphere. Towa Bay also sounds like a great place; maybe you should go into some detail on their next gym match, and especially what they do in town! This story is great. You might want to work on spacing and spelling a bit, but keep at it and you'll progressively get better.

I'm sorry to read that others were harsh about your story... I guess that's to be expected, considering there's quite a few immature 13-year-olds (please, take offense to that if you are one) on here and plenty more generally everywhere. I understand your need to be defensive about this now. ^^;

Jonathon woke up early the next day. He looked around his room at the Pokemon centre and then yawned loudly as the sun came flittering through the window suddenly. He stopped and thought for a moment at how bizarre it was that he awoke literally seconds before the sunrise. Then he saw the person standign at his door with a sweet look upon their face.
"Good Morning," Jonathon groaned.
"Morning," Nick replied. Jonathon got out of the bed, his pyjamas creased and ruffled. Nick was still wearing his pyjama pants but had a singlet on. His hear was wet and he'd obviously just had a shower. Jonathon tried to subtly fix his hair which was sticking out at all angles. Nick smiled. He put his arms around Jonathon's waist and turned him to face the window. The sunrise was incredible. A massive flock of bird Pokemon came whizzing toward the centre. There were Sunkern hopping about the grass outside, a Shinx and an Eevee were boudning dwn the street together, tackling each other for fun. A Lunatone went fleeing into the bushes, trying to stay in the shadows. Jonathon smiled as he laid his head back on Nick's shoulder.
"We have a lot of work to do today," Nick whispered.

Jonathon was packing his shoulder bag quickly while Squirtle continued to cram food from the Pokemon Centre's kitchen area into his shell. Jonathon laughed as he saw a carrot sticking out of where Squirtle's arm should have been. Squirtle rectified his mistake with an embarrassed smile. Nick came bursting out of the bathroom.
"Okay, we're ready," He said quickly. His face was flushed and he was talking very fast.
"We just need to make sure we have enough potions and berries and-"
"Nick!" Jonathon interrupted. Nick stopped and looked at him with a surprised expression.
"Calm down, it's only the semifinals," Jonathon soothed. Nick nodded.
"Sorry... I just... I dunno. I'm nervous," Nick apologized. Jonathon smiled to himself, trying not to laugh.
"Couldn't have tell..." He murmured.
"Let's go," Nick rushed, his face turning flustered again. Jonathon just shook his head, following Squirtle out the door.

As they reached the gym which was bustling with trainers and their Pokemon, Squirtle got a fright from a Gastly and leapt inot Jonathon's arms.
"Better get back in your ball," He suggested. Nick suddenly turned to Jonathon with a worried look.
"What if we come up against an electric or a plant type?" He panicked.
"Nick, I-"
"I knew we should've skipped this gym and gone straight to Towa Bay, we coud've caught some new Pokemon on the way,"
"Nick, the-"
"We could make it to Towa Bay by nightfall if we leave now,"
"Nick-"
"Let's go,"
"NICK!" Jonathon yelled, "There are not going to be any electric or plant type Pokemon at this Gym!"
"HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?" Nick screamed back, becoming angry.
"Because while you were having your second shower, the one that took half the morning, I looked up the Night Gym on the InterDex and the only Pokemon you'll battle here are Pokemon that are either NOcturnal or who thrive in night conditions," Jonathon said quickly. Nick looked at him for a long time and then slowly smiled.
"You're so beautiful," He whispered.
"Shutup," jonathon scolded, turning toward the doorway that led to the locker room. The trainers that were in the semifinals were all placed together in the same locker room, but none of them knew exactly who they woudl be battling against, so it was a very tense atmosphere. None of them spoke to any of the others, and Nick was constantly fidgetting. As soon as he and Jonathon were alone Jonathon hugged him itghtly.
"Stop stressing," Jonathon pleaded. Nick looked into jonathon's eyes for a moment.
"I'm okay," He promised. Jonathon smiled.
"Good,"
"You two are..." The backstage assistant stopped mid-sentence. He had seen the two sharing a 'moment.'
"You two are out next," He said in a mch different tone. Nick immediately drew himself up to his full height. Jonathon never realized how threatening Nick could be when he became angry. The man was already gone though and so the pair said nothing and took their Pokeballs out. They walked through a dorway into pitch black.
"THE SEMIFINALIST TRAINERS WILL RELEASE THEIR FIRST POKEMON!!" The announcer boomed suddenly. Nick and Jonathon slowly realized that they could see NOTHING.
"Use Totodile first," Jonathon whispered. Nick nodded, though jonathon coudl not see. There was a flash of light and Totodile glowed in the darkness for a few seconds, then she disappeared into the black. There was another flash and the pair spied a HootHoot for a few moments.
"They can see in the dark," Nick commented.
"Use leer," Jonathon told Nick. Nick gave Totodile her command and she obliged. HootHoot gave a soft purring noise, lowering its defence.
"I don't know where it is..." Nick breathed.
"HOOTHOOT BEGINS THAT ATTACKS WITH A NIGHT SHADE!!"
"Where is it?" Nick panicked, his voice rising with frustration.
"AND WHILE TOTODILE FUMBLES AROUND IN THE DARKNESS HOOTHOOT HITS HOME WITH ANOTHER ATTACK- THIS TIME IT'S CONFUSION!!"
"HootHoot is scoring direct hits, we don't even know where to aim though!" Nick cried.
"Totodile, Smokescreen!" Jonathon suddenly yelled.
"What good is smokescreen, no one cans ee anything?" Nick snapped, turning to where he presumed Jonathon was standing.
"HootHoot can see," Jonathon replied with a tone of mischief.
"Not anymore," Nick caught on, "Now Totodile, use your sing attack!"
"She can sing?" Jonathon exclaimed.
"Not very well..." Nick muttered. As HootHoot floundered around in the darkness, a simple, somewhat toneless melody sounded across the arena. HootHoot, though far from falling asleep, sang along.
"Totodile, follow the sound of its voice and hit it with slash!" Nick ordered. There was a sudden rush of noise and HootHoot was squarking loudly in pain a moment later.
"Before you lose it Totodile, use-"
"Bubble!' Jonathon interrupted.
"Bubble?" Nick cried in disbelief. The bubbles shot out in all directions. HootHoot bu,mped into one of the shiny, clear spheres and it burst, showing HootHoot's face for a few moments. Totodile was leaping toward the bird a second later.
"Bite it!" Nick commanded. Totodile obliged with a loud screech.
"LOOKS LIKE HOOTHOOT'S DUAL TYPE FLYING AND PSYCHIC IS GOING TO PROVE AS A DISADVANTAGE NOW, HOOTHOOT'S KNOCKED OUT FROM ITS WEAKNESS OT DARK TYPE MOVES!!"
"We did it!" Jonathon screamed. Somehow, even in the darkness, the two managed to find each other. They hugged, with Jonathon jumping up and down in Nick's embrace. Nick smiled, but a moment later, it was gone. Jonathon was taking picking up Totodile as the lights grew brighter and Nick was being given more forms to fill out. He looked over at Jonathon who was on bended knee, pulling apart an orange for Totodile. They shared another brief moment as their eyes locked and their smiles shone, but then they were suddenly back at work.
"The Gym Leader Battle will begin in another fifteen minutes," Someone told Nick.
"Okay," He agreed. Jonathon was spraying a potion on Totodile's gleaming blue coat when Nick bent down to talk to him.
"We're against the Gym Leader in fifteen minutes," He said slowly. Jonathon nodded.
"We're allowed two Pokemon in that battle, I think we should start with Squirtle," Jonathon suggested.
"So do I, Totodile will need as long as we can give her to rest, and Squirtle could use a battle," Nick added.

In fifteen minutes, the crowd were roaring, the boy's hearts were racing, their palms were sweaty, Squirtle's pokeball was shaking, and the arena was pitch black. Again.
"Squirtle!" Jonathon yelled. Squirtle appeared and gave a cry. There was a few moments of anticipation and then a small purple sphere appeared with a gas bubble around it.
"Oh no..." Jonathon mourned. Nick put a hand to his mouth.
"That's the Gastly that scared him earlier," Nick muttered.
"Squirtle, use your bubble!" Jonathon ordered. Squirtle sent out a very feeble stream of bubbles, each one shaking more than the last. Squirtle's frantic breath coudl be heard all around the arena.
"I have to call him back," Jonathon told Nick.
"If you do that you can't send him out later," Nick warned. Jonathon bit his lip. The room was pitch black, with the exception of a few shimmering bubbles. Gastly's face floated past one.
"Squirtle water gun that bubble!" Nick took over. Squirtle scored a direct hit on Gastly.
"Night Shade," A low girl's voice droned.
"What's she bothering for, we're in a permanent Night Shade," Jonathon glared. Nick tried not to laugh.
"Squirtle, close your eyes!" He said. Jonathon looked at Nick with an odd expression. Nick couldn't see Jonathon's face, but he somehow sensed that the other boy was confused.
"I've always thought that Night Shade is less effective if yu can't see it. Like how Uproar or Sonicboom won't hurt a Pokemon with no sense of hearing," Nick explained. Jonathon raised his eyebrows.
"I see..."
"Spray more bubbles," Nick called. Squirtle did so, and the pair both saw the Gastly creeping very close to Squirtle.
"Water gun, Squirtle!" Nick pleaded. Squirtle hit Gastly right in the face and the ghost let out a whimper. There was some new atmosphere all of a sudden.
"Your Pokemon will not best us," The low girl's voice droned again.
"Who is this chick?" Nick wondered. Jonathon shot him a dark look.
"Wouldn't you like to know..." He sniped spitefully.
"What was that supposed to mean?" Nick said indignantly, turning to where he thought Jonathon was standing.
"Why do I keep seeing you with girls or hearing you talk about them?" Jonathon snapped.
"Jonathon, I like YOU, not anyone else!" Nick insisted.
"AND WITH A SHOCK MANEUVRE, GASTLY EVOLVES INTO HAUNTER IN THE MIDST OF BATTLE,"
"WHAT!?!" Jonathon and Nick raged. Haunter seemed to glow with a red light in the darkness, which would normally have been an advantage.
"Call him back!" Jonathon cried, reaching for the pokeball Nick had in his hand.
"Squirtle, hit it with your water gun," Nick ordered instead. Squirtle's water gun hit Haunter in the face, but a moment later the ghost moved its hand to block the jet of water.
"Use your bubble then!" Nick continued. The bubbles were no use against Haunter, the enemy Pokemon slid through the air with ease, dodging each bubble. They collected in a clump behind Haunter. The Haunter moved forward, its eyes growing bigger. It raised its hands and opened its mouth maliciously.
"Call him back!" Jonathon screamed.
"No, he can do this!" Nick yelled.
"NICK! CALL HIM BACK! "
"Let him try!"
"HE'S SCARED!"
"He can fight!"
"I CAN'T FIGHT, I'M NOT STRONG ENOUGH!" Jonathon stopped... "HE can't fight... Squirtle... Can't fight,"
"SQUIRTLE!"

The tiny Pokemon seemed to explode. From the cowering mess on the floor, almost entirely withdrawn into his shell, Squirtle leapt. His head sprang out suddenly, shocking Haunter so it fell backward through the air. Squirtle spun around as he landed and sent a fierce jet of water into Haunter's back. Haunter fell to the ground this time, and struggled to float back into the air. Squirtle leapt at Haunter with his teeth bared.
"SQUIRTLE UNLEASHES A BITE ATTACK AND THINGS START LOOKING A LITTLE SHAKY FOR HAUNTER!"
As Squirtle landed, looking over his shoudler at Haunter, an idea struck him. Haunter was charging a Shadow Ball in its hands. Squirtle held out his hands too and concentrated hard. The bubbles, still clumped otgether behind Haunter, came flying toward Squirtle. Haunter gave Squirtle a questioning look before the huge barrage of bubbles knocked it to the ground. Haunter was recalled to its pokeball.
"Squirtle's strong enough to do anything as long as he has someone who cares about him," Nick said, "And as long as Squirtle starts believing in himself more, I think he'll be very happy."
As the lights came on, the pair were holding each other, Jonathon's head against Nick's shoulder.
"We did it," He whispered into Nick's ear.
THE CHALLENGERS FROM ISAMINE CITY HAVE EARNT THE STARS BADGE FROM LONGHAND GYM!!!" The announcer cheered.
"Two badges down..." Nick sighed.

Jonathon and Nick’s jaws dropped.
“The Gym Leader wants a rematch?” They exclaimed in unison.

The lady at the Pokemon center who had come to see them early the enxt morning smiled, and rolled her eyes.
“It’s pretty much a tradition here. Every time the Gym loses, they demand a rematch. A few kids were disqualified from the Pokemon league because the Stars Badges they had were revoked pending a rematch. I’m sorry guys, but the Gym Leader has… now where did I put that letter… Ah here!” The lady read from a letter she pulled from her pocket “The Gym Leader has recognized an unfair advantage in that the badge holder (or holders) in question entered as a dual team and therefore had two trainers. Whilst this is not against any Pokemon league qualifying rule, the Gym Leader feel this is the unfair advantage that caused their loss, and has therefore requested a rematch in a more fair and just situation,”
“So they want a rematch because there are two of us?”
“Yeah, this time it’ll be a double battle so it’ll be somewhat fairer I guess… I dunno, I just work in admin over there,” She tried to explain. At the words ‘double battle’ though, both teenagers let out loud exclamations.

Jonathon’s exclamation was of fear. He had only competed in a double battle once, and that was at school, which Nick had convinced him to leave. He cast a dark glare to Nick at this thought, and realized that Nick, unlike Jonathon, was rather excited. Nick’s exclamation was of excitement, there was no doubt about that. He had a huge, toothy smile on his face that almost made Jonathon forget about his outrage. Almost. As they were led back into the gym by the admin girl and shown to the stadium once again, Jonathon finally had Nick alone to whisper his fears.
“We can’t do a double battle!” He whispered frantically as the stadium crowd continued to roar their cheers for the Gym Leader. Nick took Totodile’s Pokeball from his belt and held it up in front of Jonathon’s face.
“They can do a double battle, trust your Pokemon,” He pointed out. The lights went off before Jonathon could protest.
“Misdreavus, Murkrow, GO!”
“Totodile, come on out!”
“Squirtle, do your best!”

The battle was on. Murkrow seemed to dissolve into the darkness whereas Misdreavus, luckily, could be seen by its glowing red eyes as it bobbed up and down on the field.
“Totodile, use your leer attack and then go in for a bite while Misdreavus hesitates,” Nick commanded quickly.
“Squirtle, try and find Murkrow with your bubbles!” Jonathon added with a slight tremble. He was still in over his head, it was totally ILLEGAL for him to be competing here, not until he took (and passed) his trainer test. How on Earth could he stand a chance at winning when he didn’t even stand a chance at the test?
“THE GYM LEADER’S MISDREAVUS SUFFERS A BITE ATTACK FROM TOTODILE!” The announcer boomed. The crowd was roaring, though Jonathon could not see them.
“There!” Nick pointed, Murkrow’s reflection floating by on a bubble.
“Squirtle; hit Murkrow with your water gun!” Jonathon yelled. Squirtle soaked Murkrow, who flapped about wildly long enough for Totodile to tackle it.
“Good thinking Totodile, now use water gun!” Nick added.
“Squirtle, use a bubble attack on Misdreavus,” Jonathon decided. Nick cast Jonathon a smile before turning back to the field.
“Watch out for its pursuit!” Nick told Totodile as Murkrow leapt up, chasing the small water Pokemon.
“I told you they could do this,” Nick murmured to Jonathon. Jonathon hardly heard him, he was too busy watching Misdreavus circle around Squirtle too fast for any of the bubble attacks to connect. The bubbles were floating up above Misdreavus when Jonathon had a sudden idea.
“Squirtle… Use your Bubble Barrage Attack,” Jonathon cried. Nick looked over to watch as Squirtle gestured for the bubbles to move. They came crashing down at once on top of Misdreavus.
“Hey, he did that last time,” Nick realized.
“He’s not as thick shelled as he pretends to be,” Jonathon sighed, shaking his head.
“That Squirtle’s a character,” Nick laughed.
“Totodile; turn around and hit it with bite again!” Jonathon shouted. Totodile turned just in time to bite Murkrow, who was coming in for a peck attack.
“How did you see Murkrow?” Nick asked in awe.
“I could hear the wing beats… They change, and their speed depends upon what kind of attack they’re using. I knew Murkrow was coming in low because the wing beats were quick and short,” Jonathon explained. Nick nodded.
‘MISDREAVUS IS STILL STRUGGLING TO BREKA FREE FROM THE MASS OF BUBBLES!”
“Squirtle, Totodile, finish off Murkrow with your water guns!” Nick ordered. Squirtle and Totodile leapt together, their tails intertwining for a moment, and then they sent matching blasts of water into Murkrow. Murkrow was recalled, but Misdreavus leapt up from the bubbles it was trapped under before the teenagers could be distracted.
“Totodile; bite it!”
“Squirtle- skull bash attack!”
“Confusion,”

Squirtle, Totodile, Misdreavus and the entire stadium stood still. A glowing gold light seemed to emanate from the three. Totodile’s eyes were straining, her head moistened with sweat.
“Totodile’s not going to make it,” Nick worried. Squirtle too, was showing signs of defeat. His eyes seemed to be rolling back into his head. Jonathon held up Squirtle’s Pokeball and opened his mouth, unable to watch his Pokemon suffer, but suddenly the light stopped. Squirtle leapt into the air, shocking Misdreavus AND Jonathon. His eyes were glowing with a bright purple light. Spinning lights emerged around Squirtle and as the turtle landed they shot away towards Misdreavus. Misdreavus screeched and fell to the floor with a soft thud. Squirtle blinked painfully, and his eyes were a normal color again. Totodile waddled over to Squirtle. She put her hand on his back as he caught his breath.
“What was that?” Nick and Jonathon asked each other in unison.

“It was a hidden power attack; I think it was probably of the dark type. Each Pokemon has a hidden power; it’s of one other type, kidn of like an emergency contingency plan,” Jonathon summarized from the textbook.
“Hidden power?” Nick queried, “So Totodile has one too,”
“All Pokemon have one,” Jonathon told Nick. The two teenagers were now standing beside the road out the front of the Pokemon center. Squirtle and Totodile were still outside of their Pokeballs and were playing happily around Nick’s feet. Jonathon bent down to Squirtle.
“That was a pretty cool move you pulled out there,” Jonathon complimented, “You saved the battle,”
“Totodile, what’s your hidden power?” Nick pleaded. Totodile looked at him blankly. Jonathon returned to the textbook.
“Some Pokemon may never in their life use their hidden power, but should they do so, it will first be discovered in a time of extreme stress, pain or emotion,” Jonathon recited.
“So I guess we’ll have to wait for when we need it then,” Nick sighed.
“Come on guys, we’ve got a long way to travel,” Jonathon said, holding up Squirtle’s Pokeball. Squirtle gave Totodile a big hug goodbye before he disappeared in her arms. Totodile’s face fell as Squirtle left, and then she too was recalled into her Pokeball.
“On to Towa Bay then,” Nick smiled.

Nick and Jonathon had been walking for most of the afternoon, having finished their gym rematch in the morning and earned themselves their Stars Badges… again.
“So we’ve got Isamine’s Desert Badge and Longhand’s Stars Badge, now we need to go to Towa Bay for… what badge is in Towa Bay again?” Nick asked. Jonathon rolled his eyes at nick’s terrible memory.
“The Sand Badge from the Beach Gym,” Jonathon moaned.
“Ah yes…” Nick replied. They walked in silence for a while longer until Jonathon couldn’t bear it any longer.
“There’s something I have to tell you,” He started, finally deciding to tell Nick he wasn’t qualified to battle the gyms.
“What?” Nick said, stopping his pace and turning to face Jonathon.
“I haven’t taken-” Jonathon was stopped by a strange sound. It was like a rustling sound, only it had tiny little pitter-patter footsteps along with it. Jonathon and Nick both spun around as the tiny little Oddish was standing right behind them.
“Aw, it’s so cute,” Nick cooed, bending down to pet the little leafy Pokemon.
“Nick, I- uh- I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Jonathon suggested.
“Why not, he’s so cute?” Nick smiled, twirling Oddish’s leaves through his fingers. Nick suddenly stood up clutching his hand.
“I CAN’T FEEL MY HAND!” He screamed. Nick stumbled backwards, grabbing at his backpack and rifling through it while still trying to cutch his paralyzed hand. Jonathon sighed for what felt like the millionth time and took Squirtle’s Pokeball out of his shoulder bag.
“Alright Squirtle,” He said with a bored tone. Squirtle appeared on the road, trying to scratch his back with a determined face. Jonathon leant down and scratched the patch on his shell for him.
“I know it’s a plant Pokemon, but I think we can give the little tyke a run for his money, what do you think?” Jonathon whispered. Squirtle eyed up the Oddish and then smiled.
“SQUIRT!” He cheered.
“Use your tackle!” Jonathon ordered. Squirtle jumped at Oddish and tackled it to the ground.
“ODDISH!” The little Pokemon wailed in a high pitched voice. It was higher pitched than any of the male Oddish’s Jonathon had studied in school.
“You must be a GIRL Oddish then…” Jonathon realized. Oddish made a very angry face and sent a stream of purple vapor at Squirtle.
“Squirtle fire a really big bubble,” Jonathon said sternly. Squirtle did so just in time for the poison powder to waft inside the bubble and float around harmlessly.
“Now hit it with a skull bash!” Jonathon cried. Squirtle lowered his head and ran. Oddish ran too, though Squirtle followed her with a loud war cry. Oddish flew into the air and came down with a loud crash. She hopped back up and jumped up and down on the spot. A tussle of razor leaves came out of her leafy head and shot at Squirtle, who promptly ducked into his shell.
“Show her your strength attack, Squirtle,” Jonathon decided, and Squirtle suddenly sprang back out of his shell and jumped forward. His body sped up as it flew through the air, Squirtle ducked back inside and his shell flew faster until, just as it was right in front of Oddish, Squirtle sprang out of the shell and both punched and head butted Oddish fiercely. Oddish rolled backward quite a distance. And then the little plant Pokemon stood back up.
“Geez, what have you been eating, girl?” Jonathon remarked. Nick was now at his side, having wrapped his hand up in far too many bandages for what little damage he had sustained.
“She’s a tough little thing, isn’t she?” He moaned, holding his sore hand.
“Squirtle, knock it for six with a Seismic Toss,” Jonathon ordered. Squirtle rubbed his hands together and started to march toward Oddish. Oddish sent another stream of razor leaves at Squirtle, but Squirtle, though grimacing painfully, walked on through the attack. Squirtle grabbed the tiny Oddish and hurled it into the sky. Oddish came crashing down, this time, the Pokemon stayed on the ground. Jonathon didn’t reach into his bag for a Pokeball.
“Aren’t you gonna catch her?” Nick asked quietly. Jonathon looked at the Oddish with a pained expression.
“I don’t have any Pokeballs,” He told Nick in a barely audible voice. Nick took a Pokeball from his belt and placed it in Jonathon’s hand.
“Catch it,” Nick whispered. Jonathon bit his lip for a moment, looking at the Pokeball Nick had given to him. He had only ever owned one Pokeball for his one Pokemon. Now Nick had just given him a second one. And as Jonathon threw the Pokeball, he caught his second Pokemon. Jonathon picked up the Pokeball and looked at it with a smile. Nick put his arms around him.
“I’ll buy you more in Towa Bay, okay?” He told Jonathon.
“You don’t have to,”
“I WANT to,” Nick finished.

I'm not posting the Towa Bay chapters until I recieve more feedback.

Chapter V
Nick and Jonathon arrived in Towa bay early in the morning. They had made a campsite on the side of the road and woken up relatively early and refreshed, and set off again with a renewed vigor. Towa Bay was gleaming with sunshine. The buildings seemed to be silver rather than grey and the water really was as crystal clear as Nick had described. They waked along the beach toward the resort Nick had spoken about. Jonathon smiled in awe at the beautiful surroundings. There were tiny cafés and shops all along the waterfront with umbrellas over the little circular tables. All the locals were smiling and waved to the newcomers as they walked by. A man pushing an ice cream cart had an Aipom hanging off his shoulder. Aipom gave them a broad smile and waved enthusiastically. Jonathon waved back and Nick threw the little purple Pokemon a berry. Aipom flung itself into the air and caught the berry with his tail, then landed on the ice cream man’s shoulder once more. The ice cream man waved the two over and shook their hands.
“I’m Vance,” He said. Vance was a jolly old man with a giant black moustache. He was rather big but reminded Jonathon more of Santa Clause than anything remotely intimidating.
“I’m Jonathon, this is Nick,” Jonathon smiled.
“Hi, your Aipom is really energetic,” Nick said, reaching out to scratch Aipom’s ear. Aipom smiled and then gulped down the berry.
“Thanks, kids,” Vance replied in his gruff voice, “The secret is my ice cream, I use berries to flavor it,”
“Wow…” Jonathon murmured, looking at the brightly colored ice cream.
“Here,” Vance said, scooping out two ice cream cones for Jonathon and Nick. Nick rifled around in his jacket pocket for his wallet.
“Don’t’ worry about it,” Vance waved.
“Thanks Vance,” Nick beamed.
“Towa Bay is a friendly place, one day I’ll give away free ice cream, the next day someone will give me a free batch of berries,” Vance chuckled.
“I can imagine that,” Jonathon said, looking around at the beautiful beach. In the water a little way out splashed a Starmie. It looked this way and that, and then dived underwater for awhile. The Starmie popped its head out again, this time with two Staryu next to it. The three Pokemon moved closer to the shore and then ducked underwater, this time without resurfacing.
“Do all the Pokemon come that close to the shore here?” Nick asked Vance. Vance frowned.
“Not usually, but Starmie is a strong swimmer, if it got into any trouble it’d be right to get away,” Vance figured. The three nodded and after a little while longer Jonathon and Nick set off again for the resort. They checked in and went up to the huge room. There was a balcony with a large spa overlooking the beach and a huge fridge full of food and drinks.
Squirtle and Totodile went running toward the fridge.
“Totodile go easy on the junk food, okay?” Nick scolded. Totodile was already holding a large bag of potato chips and a block of chocolate. Squirtle took a loud bite of his carrot and gave Totodile a teasing look. Totodile put the chocolate back and took an apple instead and went to sit on the balcony. Squirtle joined her and the two started chatting away in their secret language.
“What about Oddish?” Nick asked, looking up from the paperwork the resort staff had given him as they checked in. Jonathon was already holding Oddish’s Pokeball.
“You should probably talk to her,” Nick added as Jonathon held the Pokeball out. It opened in his hand and Oddish transfigured at Jonathon’s feet. Jonathon bent down as Oddish shook her leaves and blinked her eyes a few times.
“Hey girl,” Jonathon smiled. Oddish looked at him with an unreadable expression.
“You’re a very strong Pokemon,” Jonathon started, “And Squirtle is too, I’d really like it if you let me train you into an even better Pokemon,”
“Odd…” Oddish pointed out. Jonathon wasn’t sure what this meant, but Oddish seemed to be thinking. She looked out at the sea over the balcony and frowned.
“We’re a long way from where I caught you, aren’t we?” Jonathon sighed. Oddish nodded sadly.
“I can take you back if you have a family,” Jonathon agreed. Oddish stopped frowning and looked blankly into Jonathon’s eyes. Then her gaze moved. Oddish’s face lit up, she jumped and squealed and ran to the huge flowerpot by the door. Jonathon watched Oddish wrestle around in the flowers and then had an idea.
“Where’s your laptop?” Jonathon asked Nick.
“On the bed,” Nick replied without looking up from his paperwork. Jonathon took the laptop and booted it up. He logged onto the InterDex and bought up a profile of Bellossum. Oddish leapt into the air and out of the flowerpot. She looked at the picture with awe.
“If we train you up into a Gloom, then I’ll get Nick to go out and buy you a Sun Stone and you’ll evolve into a Bellossum, deal?” Jonathon offered. Oddish jumped for joy.
“I take that as a yes,” Jonathon laughed.
“Go get something to eat and introduce yourself to Squirtle and Totodile,” Jonathon finished, pointing Oddish toward the fridge. Oddish took a few berries from the fridge with her leaves and set them down next to Squirtle and Totodile. The three continued to jabber away while Jonathon logged onto the Beach Gym’s InterDex profile.
“Nick, you need to buy me a Sun Stone,” Jonathon said in a monotone.
“Okay,” Nick replied in a similar monotone. Jonathon looked up and smiled. He had learned that when Nick was reading he was likely to agree to anything.
“Buy me a car,” Jonathon droned.
“Sure,” Nick droned back.
“And a boat,”
“Whatever you want… wait… did you say a boat?” Nick asked, finally looking up from his paperwork.
“Go back to your work,” Jonathon smiled, reading the profile on the Beach Gym in the InterDex. The match was definitely going to be interesting…

A storm seemed to roll in overnight; the massive clashing of thunder caused Jonathon to stand at the large glass doors looking out to the balcony with a fearful expression.
“I’m guessing you don’t like rain,” Nick queried.
“Not when it’s like this,” Jonathon shivered. Nick wrapped his arms around Jonathon and sighed.
“I’ll protect you,” He said a in a sickening voice. Jonathon rolled his eyes.
“From a storm?” He shot. Nick didn’t reply.
“You’re really not the romantic type are you?” Nick asked, walking over to the bed.
“I am… I’m just… Nick… See…” Jonathon tried to find the best way to say it. He figured a straight out approach would be best.
“Nick, I haven’t taken the Trainer Test yet.”

Nick's face became stormier than the black sky outside. He clenched his fists and pursed his lips.
“Do you know what this means?” Nick said through gritted teeth. Jonathon took a few steps backward.
“If they find out, and they eventually will, they’ll disqualify us and take away our badges… and we’ll get fined… and we’ll get a one year ban from competing in any official league qualifying match, we won’t be able to battle the gyms for a whole year!” Nick fumed.
“Well, you sort of rushed this whole thing,”
“THERE WERE PLENTY OF TIMES YOU COULD HAVE SAID SOEMTHING!” Nick screamed.
“Nick, please,” Jonathon tried. Nick grabbed Totodile’s Great Ball off the bed and stormed out of the hotel room.
“Great…” Jonathon sighed.

Nick marched past the hotel lobby and out into the torrential rain. He went to zip up his jacket, but by the time he did, he was already absolutely soaking wet. He ripped the jacket off over his head and threw it behind him as he charged onto the beach. He walked into ankle deep water and looked up at the clouds. Nick screamed into the endless storm, screaming every last ounce of frustration he could. He had given up everything for Jonathon. He’d left school, he’d left his family, he’d left his friends. The only way they could be together was here and now; this was the only way they could be happily together. And all this time Jonathon was sabotaging it. He grabbed a rock out of the water, now up to his knees and threw it into the sea. It landed with a flash of red, though Nick didn’t notice this. He screamed more and more, tears streaming down his face. Did Jonathon even want this? Did Jonathon want this from Nick? Nick was offering him everything he could ever want. Nick had money, he was handsome, he was everything a teenager could want, hew as ready to give everything to Jonathon, and Jonathon acted like he didn’t want any of it. He punched the waist-high water. Nick started walking back toward the beach; it was a fair distance away, though he swore he’d only walked out to his ankles. A wave came crashing over him; Nick was underwater, his salty tears mixing with the icy water. He panted for breath as he came up and continued walking, screaming out his injustices once again to the storm. A crack of thunder screamed back at him. What did Jonathon expect Nick to do? There was nothing that seemed to make him happy; nothing Nick ever did was good enough to make Jonathon happy. Another wave crashed over and this time Nick could not regain his footing. He was in deep water suddenly, the beach slipping away, further and further from sight. A flash of red sparkled in the water, it looked almost like blood. Nick tried to swim, though another streak of red made him feel weaker. More red again, Nick was certain he’d hurt himself, he must have been bleeding the entire time, the water was flashing red all around him. He felt his body lurch, pain struck his legs. He sunk underwater with one last scream, this one not directed at Jonathon.

I know I said I woudn't post the Towa Bay Chapters until I got more feedback, but I'm really enjoying writing the adventure, I need to post it or I feel like it's wasted. Whether the majority like is or not, I'm posting this entire fan fic, at least a chapter every two days.It may be slow now with limited characters, but just hold on until we get to Las Vista, it's got Four Gyms and a Contest Hall.

Chapter VI
“WHERE ARE YOU?” The girl on the phone repeated. Jonathon frantically looked around the hotel room. He didn’t want to tell her. He didn’t want to tell anyone. He shouldn’t have called Sam; she was the last person to call on in a crisis. But Nick had been gone all night. It was nearly lunchtime now and Nick left at about eight the night before. Sam sighed on the other end of the phone.
“If you don’t tell me I’ll call Lorelle and ask if SHE knows,” Sam snapped.
“Why would Lorelle know?” Jonathon asked cautiously.
“She doesn’t know… she’s been asking about Nick for weeks… But you can bet how she’ll respond if I tell her what you’ve just told me,”
“Fine,” Jonathon shot back. Where on EARTH could Nick be?

Nick lay in the ocean. His eyes were closed and his skin was like ice. He didn’t move. He couldn’t move. His whole body ached, but it was floating somehow, being pushed against the current somehow. He could feel the burning sun on his face. It must be daylight. Jonathon would be worried. Or would he? Would he even care? Would he even notice? Somehow he felt he should rest, as though there was someone TELLING him to rest. Nick drifted away again as the sunlight quickly faded into darkness. Nick felt once more, before he fell asleep again, that someone was telling him something. She was sorry. Sorry about… the rain?

It was almost pitch black; the clouds were overhead though the rain hadn’t started yet. Nick was on the beach now. He looked around, tried to stand, and collapsed. He rolled over and fell asleep for what felt like days, when he woke it was still dark, but the roll of thunder that met his ears signaled the opening of the skies as rain started to come down in sheets.
“I’m sorry, I can’t as much as move again without the rain to restore my health,” She told him. Nick looked around, unable to move anything but his neck. He couldn't see the source of the voice. He couldn't even hear where it had come from. It sounded more like it was coming from inside his head. A red light was flashing to his side. It was slowly flashing slower. Nick fell asleep to a soft dinging noise, almost like a bell…

…He woke up and realized the red light had stopped flashing. Nick was being carried on something; he was draped over what felt like a hard chair. He opened his eyes and saw the thing carrying him was purple.
“Do not strain yourself, for if we need to battle, you will need to command me to fight for I am not a strong battler,” She told him telepathically.
“Who are you?” Nick whispered.
“I am Starmie. I saw you on the beach. I found you drowning out at sea,” She rpelied calmly.
“Jonathon,” Nick groaned.
“Your lover is in great stress. I can sense it,” Starmie told Nick with certainty. Nick didn’t say anything. He thought for awhile about the term ‘lover.’ Jonathon and he were boyfriends, but they weren’t exactly lovers yet. Neither had even spoken about the word love, let alone used it. The word made Nick uncomfortable.
“The fact that while I am here with you, and yet am still able to read all of his thoughts and feelings, tells me that there is a specific bond between you. That bond can only be of family or love. You are lovers,” Starmie told Nick sternly. Nick collected his thoughts and opened his mouth to argue, but Starmie’s jewel flashed red and Nick fell asleep.

“You’re very strong with your psychic powers,” Nick grumbled as he woke up. Starmie was now carrying him up the stairs from the beach to the road with all the cafes along it.
“Can you walk yet?” Starmie asked. Nick tried to move but found he still couldn’t.
“I feel paralyzed,” Nick confessed.
“I found you in a school of Tentacool, they were all stinging you. It is remarkable that you awakened at all,” Starmie explained.
“That was what the red lights were…” Nick realized.
“If a trainer orders a Tentacool to attack then their power is much fiercer, and such a sting could paralyze for life, but mere wild stinging will have you back on your feet in a period of days,” Starmie promised.
“Jonathon will look after me,” Nick smiled. He then frowned, remembering their fight.
“Jonathon is not at the hotel. He is on an important journey,” Starmie said, rising into the air. Nick wanted to grip on tighter, but he could not move.
“I will not drop you,” Starmie said sharply. Nick still could not relax. Luckily, more important matters were on his mind than being dropped by Starmie, who was floating higher and higher upward.
“Where is Jonathon?” Nick snapped.
“He is on a great journey. I cannot sense anything further than that,” Starmie finished. She carried Nick over the balcony and through the glass doors, which although closed, served as no barrier to Starmie. She lay him on the bed and then sank to the floor to rest.
“Don’t leave me,” Nick whispered.
“I will do no such thing,” Starmie said. Her voice was monotonous, and there was no emotion in anything she said. But Nick knew she was smiling.

Nick awoke with a start. It was dark, but he knew something was amiss before he spied the storm outside. He stood up shakily and clutched his side. Nick walked to the balcony to get some fresh air, his legs buckling as he walked. He collapsed to a chair on the balcony and felt Starmie touch his shoulder with her arm-like point.
“You seek Totodile,” She sighed.
“Where is she?” Nick choked, still terribly unwell.
“In grave danger. You must save her,” Starmie admitted.
“Take me to her,” Nick pleaded. Starmie carried him down to the beach. Nick staggered around in the sand as Starmie slowly waded into the water.
“Starmie, wait!’ Nick begged; his voice nothing against the storm’s loud thunder. The rain started slamming against Nick's already battered body. He shivered and stumbled to his knees.
“Starmie! You promised you wouldn’t leave me!”
“I meant that then so I could save you from death, and I mean this now that I will leave you and you may grow into what you must become if you are truly to reach your destiny. Look to yourself if you are to find what you need to fight,”
Nick grabbed at his head, a sudden headache. He turned and ran down the beach, looking for Starmie anywhere on the horizon. She was gone. He grabbed at the sand and threw a rock into the ocean.
“Look to myself,” He repeated suddenly, a strange calmness coming over him. Nick walked into the water.
“Look to myself,” He repeated once more. He sighed and placed his head in his hands, the rain making his teeth chatter. As he took his hands away he spied his reflection in the water. Beyond his reflection, resting in the sand just below the water was a Great Ball. Nick flung himself down onto the Pokeball and threw it above the water. He crashed into a heap, sending water everywhere, and opened his eyes as his vision clouded over. Totodile grabbed his face and lifted it above the water. She screamed and pulled him ashore.
“Sunny Day!” A voice called. Nick was suddenly energized. He leapt up, is eyes still closed from the sting of the seawater. He staggered around, looking blindly for the source of the voice. The rain was slowly stopping, as though the Pokemon using Sunny Day was not very strong.
“It doesn’t matter if you haven’t done the tests,” Nick screamed, “It doesn’t matter if we can’t battle the Gyms… It doesn’t matter if we don’t ever get another Pokemon badge… or another Pokemon… Or anything ever… ever again… I don’t care,” Nick said, still unable to open his eyes. Finally, two arms wrapped around Nick.
“It’s okay, it’s okay if you don’t do the tests, it’s okay,” Nick stumbled, opening his eyes slowly.
“Nick, I passed the tests,” Jonathon smiled. Nick smile dback and then collapsed in Jonathon’s arms.
“Squirtle!” Jonathon called, throwing a Pokeball. Squirtle leapt from the sandy beach and grabbed a hold of Nick as well. Together, and rather awkwardly, the group carried Nick into the Hotel. As Oddish stepped into the lobby, her leaves rustled and the light shining from within the outgrowth on her head faded away. The storm returned to its raging norm. A purple Pokemon out at sea took a long look at the resort before diving underwater again, two Staryu flanking it.
“We will meet again,” Starmie promised, her voice carrying all the way back into Nick's very dreams.

Chapter VI
“WHERE ARE YOU?” The girl on the phone repeated. Jonathon frantically looked around the hotel room. He didn’t want to tell her. He didn’t want to tell anyone. He shouldn’t have called Sam; she was the last person to call on in a crisis. But Nick had been gone all night. It was nearly lunchtime now and Nick left at about eight the night before. Sam sighed on the other end of the phone.
“If you don’t tell me I’ll call Lorelle and ask if SHE knows,” Sam snapped.
“Why would Lorelle know?” Jonathon asked cautiously.
“She doesn’t know… she’s been asking about Nick for weeks… But you can bet how she’ll respond if I tell her what you’ve just told me,”
“Fine,” Jonathon shot back. Where on EARTH could Nick be?

Nick lay in the ocean. His eyes were closed and his skin was like ice. He didn’t move. He couldn’t move. His whole body ached, but it was floating somehow, being pushed against the current somehow. He could feel the burning sun on his face. It must be daylight. Jonathon would be worried. Or would he? Would he even care? Would he even notice? Somehow he felt he should rest, as though there was someone TELLING him to rest. Nick drifted away again as the sunlight quickly faded into darkness. Nick felt once more, before he fell asleep again, that someone was telling him something. She was sorry. Sorry about… the rain?

It was almost pitch black; the clouds were overhead though the rain hadn’t started yet. Nick was on the beach now. He looked around, tried to stand, and collapsed. He rolled over and fell asleep for what felt like days, when he woke it was still dark, but the roll of thunder that met his ears signaled the opening of the skies as rain started to come down in sheets.
“I’m sorry, I can’t as much as move again without the rain to restore my health,” She told him. Nick looked around, unable to move anything but his neck. He couldn't see the source of the voice. He couldn't even hear where it had come from. It sounded more like it was coming from inside his head. A red light was flashing to his side. It was slowly flashing slower. Nick fell asleep to a soft dinging noise, almost like a bell…

…He woke up and realized the red light had stopped flashing. Nick was being carried on something; he was draped over what felt like a hard chair. He opened his eyes and saw the thing carrying him was purple.
“Do not strain yourself, for if we need to battle, you will need to command me to fight for I am not a strong battler,” She told him telepathically.
“Who are you?” Nick whispered.
“I am Starmie. I saw you on the beach. I found you drowning out at sea,” She rpelied calmly.
“Jonathon,” Nick groaned.
“Your lover is in great stress. I can sense it,” Starmie told Nick with certainty. Nick didn’t say anything. He thought for awhile about the term ‘lover.’ Jonathon and he were boyfriends, but they weren’t exactly lovers yet. Neither had even spoken about the word love, let alone used it. The word made Nick uncomfortable.
“The fact that while I am here with you, and yet am still able to read all of his thoughts and feelings, tells me that there is a specific bond between you. That bond can only be of family or love. You are lovers,” Starmie told Nick sternly. Nick collected his thoughts and opened his mouth to argue, but Starmie’s jewel flashed red and Nick fell asleep.

“You’re very strong with your psychic powers,” Nick grumbled as he woke up. Starmie was now carrying him up the stairs from the beach to the road with all the cafes along it.
“Can you walk yet?” Starmie asked. Nick tried to move but found he still couldn’t.
“I feel paralyzed,” Nick confessed.
“I found you in a school of Tentacool, they were all stinging you. It is remarkable that you awakened at all,” Starmie explained.
“That was what the red lights were…” Nick realized.
“If a trainer orders a Tentacool to attack then their power is much fiercer, and such a sting could paralyze for life, but mere wild stinging will have you back on your feet in a period of days,” Starmie promised.
“Jonathon will look after me,” Nick smiled. He then frowned, remembering their fight.
“Jonathon is not at the hotel. He is on an important journey,” Starmie said, rising into the air. Nick wanted to grip on tighter, but he could not move.
“I will not drop you,” Starmie said sharply. Nick still could not relax. Luckily, more important matters were on his mind than being dropped by Starmie, who was floating higher and higher upward.
“Where is Jonathon?” Nick snapped.
“He is on a great journey. I cannot sense anything further than that,” Starmie finished. She carried Nick over the balcony and through the glass doors, which although closed, served as no barrier to Starmie. She lay him on the bed and then sank to the floor to rest.
“Don’t leave me,” Nick whispered.
“I will do no such thing,” Starmie said. Her voice was monotonous, and there was no emotion in anything she said. But Nick knew she was smiling.

Nick awoke with a start. It was dark, but he knew something was amiss before he spied the storm outside. He stood up shakily and clutched his side. Nick walked to the balcony to get some fresh air, his legs buckling as he walked. He collapsed to a chair on the balcony and felt Starmie touch his shoulder with her arm-like point.
“You seek Totodile,” She sighed.
“Where is she?” Nick choked, still terribly unwell.
“In grave danger. You must save her,” Starmie admitted.
“Take me to her,” Nick pleaded. Starmie carried him down to the beach. Nick staggered around in the sand as Starmie slowly waded into the water.
“Starmie, wait!’ Nick begged; his voice nothing against the storm’s loud thunder. The rain started slamming against Nick's already battered body. He shivered and stumbled to his knees.
“Starmie! You promised you wouldn’t leave me!”
“I meant that then so I could save you from death, and I mean this now that I will leave you and you may grow into what you must become if you are truly to reach your destiny. Look to yourself if you are to find what you need to fight,”
Nick grabbed at his head, a sudden headache. He turned and ran down the beach, looking for Starmie anywhere on the horizon. She was gone. He grabbed at the sand and threw a rock into the ocean.
“Look to myself,” He repeated suddenly, a strange calmness coming over him. Nick walked into the water.
“Look to myself,” He repeated once more. He sighed and placed his head in his hands, the rain making his teeth chatter. As he took his hands away he spied his reflection in the water. Beyond his reflection, resting in the sand just below the water was a Great Ball. Nick flung himself down onto the Pokeball and threw it above the water. He crashed into a heap, sending water everywhere, and opened his eyes as his vision clouded over. Totodile grabbed his face and lifted it above the water. She screamed and pulled him ashore.
“Sunny Day!” A voice called. Nick was suddenly energized. He leapt up, is eyes still closed from the sting of the seawater. He staggered around, looking blindly for the source of the voice. The rain was slowly stopping, as though the Pokemon using Sunny Day was not very strong.
“It doesn’t matter if you haven’t done the tests,” Nick screamed, “It doesn’t matter if we can’t battle the Gyms… It doesn’t matter if we don’t ever get another Pokemon badge… or another Pokemon… Or anything ever… ever again… I don’t care,” Nick said, still unable to open his eyes. Finally, two arms wrapped around Nick.
“It’s okay, it’s okay if you don’t do the tests, it’s okay,” Nick stumbled, opening his eyes slowly.
“Nick, I passed the tests,” Jonathon smiled. Nick smile dback and then collapsed in Jonathon’s arms.
“Squirtle!” Jonathon called, throwing a Pokeball. Squirtle leapt from the sandy beach and grabbed a hold of Nick as well. Together, and rather awkwardly, the group carried Nick into the Hotel. As Oddish stepped into the lobby, her leaves rustled and the light shining from within the outgrowth on her head faded away. The storm returned to its raging norm. A purple Pokemon out at sea took a long look at the resort before diving underwater again, two Staryu flanking it.
“We will meet again,” Starmie promised, her voice carrying all the way back into Nick's very dreams.

"Here's the badge from Towa Bay," The Gym Leader said. Jonathon took his and Nick held his own up in the air to get a good look at it.
"So I've been meaning to ask... are you two... like..." The Gym Leader began.
"No," Nick said suddenly. Jonathon shot him a look.
"We're best friends, I left my girlfriend in-"
"NICHOLAS!" Jonathon snapped. That was the final straw.

Jonathon walked off of the train, his backpack bouncing with his heavy gate. His mind wirled. Squirtle's pokeball seemed to shake on his belt. Jonathon ignored it. He marched out of the train station and looked up at the massive skyline. Las Vista was as grand as he'd ever imagined.
"If I'm flying solo, at least I'm flying free," He murmured to himself.

Jonathon had finally had enough of Nick's ongoing ambiguous feelings. From here on it was a solo act. No more teams, just one trainer, a pokemon master-to-be. And Las Vista had four gyms, each one more tricky than the last. From here on Jonathon was on a path straight to the Pokemon League.

"After I beat the four gyms of Las Vista I only need to get one more badge before I qualify for the Pokemon League," He told himself. Squirtle's pokeball shook again.
"Squirtle, just stop," Jonathon sighed. The pokeball remained still.
"We're better off alone,"

we broke up by the way

I like your story it is very original and well thought out. But, I did not like how you skipped from chapter VI to (I guess) VII. I just get the feeling there should have been more in there.

9.5/10
This story is really well written, has a great plot and is just overall amazing.
I really love this plot and storyline, keep going with it. :)

Thanks so much psyches. ;D

Ummmmmmmmmm...

This story has always jumped around heaps. That's part of the style. It's not so much you watching the story unfold, it's more like you're finding out bits and pieces of what's happened. Imagine that the story teller knows no more than you do. You just have to wait until the characters open up and tell you what happened in the bits that are missing.

I shall post more chapter later, for now I must rehearse, I'm already five minutes late which means I will not be able to stop on my way to rehearsals to buy coke and therfore am forced to drink water instead.

I blame psypokes for this.,

curse you...

Jonathon and Squirtle were settling in comfortably at the small hostel in the heart of Las Vista that they'd decided to call home. They were training harder than ever, and Jonathon was beginning to find his way around Oddish and Squirtle's abilities rather well. They were training on the rooftop where a small, ramshackled garden had been attempted and overgrown vines and shrubs lay everywhere.
"Oddish, use your petal dance," Jonathon cried. Squirtle withdrew into his shell as Oddish fired off a series of pink petals at the tiny turtle. Oddish stopped after the attack and turned around to look at Jonathon.
"Hit him with a vine whip," Jonathon ordered. Oddish continued to stare at her master.
"Odd?" She asked. Squirtle popped his head out of his shell and waddled up to Oddish. She was staring at Jonathon with a fixated look. Squirtle followed her gaze and he too became suddenly still.
"What?" Jonathon queried. Neither Pokemon moved.
"EEEEEEEEE!"
"ARGH!" Jonathon screamed and jumped to the side as a screeching noise pierced his ear. Looking back he saw the Nincada hanging from a silky string right next to where his head was a moment ago.
"A Nincada? Is that what you two were staring at? You could've told me it was right by my head!' Jonathon snapped to his Pokemon. Squirtle and Oddish were slowly shuffling backward away from the Nincada.
"Squirtle? Oddish?" Jonathon called. The two ignored him, stumbling backward further.
"You're not scared of a little bug Pokemon are you?" He teased. Nincada twirled around on its string and descended to the concrete floor. It scuttled over to Squirtle and Oddish who remained looking at where Nincada had been moments before.
"What's wrong?" Jonathon asked softly, knealing down to Squirtle's level. Squirtle turned to look at Jonathon with an open mouth and wide eyes. He then pointed silently at a huge mass of leaves and refuse that had been piled together. Nincada scuttled toward the mound.
"Wait up, Nincada," Jonathon cooed, following the bug Pokemon. The smell coming from the heap was unbearable. Nincada clambered up to stand on top of the pile of composting matter. Jonathon smiled as Nincada waved his pincers in te air and jumped up and down. Jonathon turned to face Squirtle and Oddish.
"See guys, it's just a mountain. What are you pulling that face for?"
"MUUUUUUUUUUUUK!"

Muk leapt up out of the garbage and flew toward Oddish and Squirtle who clung to each other and dropped to the ground. Jonathon was thrown to the side as Muk let out a bellowing roar of noxious gas. The only one who seemed unaffected was Nincada.
"Squirtle, (cough cough) use your (cough) bubble," Jonathon winced. Squirtle didn't move from inside his shell. Oddish was cowering behind him. Nincada suddenly leapt forward to stand in front of them defensively.
"Nincada- vine whip!" Jonathon coughed. Nincada obeyed instantly and Muk was smacked on either side of its 'head' with vines. It became rather infuriated and coughed up more gas.
"Get him again Nincada!" Jonathon cried.
"MUK!" The beast roared. It had become enraged suddenly. Then Jonathon looked closer to see the odd coloration of the oozing Pokemon.
"You're a girl?" He spluttered. Muk battered her eyes and then roared again, rearing up to her full height.
"Now's our chance Nincada, use your slash!" Jonathon cried. Nincada shot forward and slashed his pincers outward, splaying open Muk. Muk rolled backward and eventually reformed to glare at Nincada from the other side of the rooftop. She didn't advance again.
"Do you want to go back to your compost heap?" Jonathon asked, pointing to the mound Muk had emerged from. Muk nodded slowly. Jonathon recalled Squirtle and Oddish to their Pokeballs with a mumbled insult at their gutlessness and then backed as far away as he could from Muk and the compost so Muk could return to her nest. She eyed him suspiciously as she crossed the rooftop and sank back into the compost slowly, her eyes still poking through the top to watch Jonathon turn to Nincada.
"You're a strong little fella," Jonathon cooed, scratching Nincada on the chin as it hung from overhead once more on a silken string.
"Do you want me to take you down to the park? You won't be bothered by Muk anymore," Jonathon offered. Nincada crawled onto Jonathon's shoulder.
"I take that as a yes," He laughed. Muk glared harder from her compost heap.

Down in the park there were many sights to see. Tailow and Pidgey were flying about everywhere, Caterpie were climbing the trees and Jonathon saw a glimpse of a Treecko leaping through a cluster of bushes. He knelt down on the grass and let Nincada scuttle down his arm.
"Alright Nincada. Thanks for all your help. You stay safe now, okay?" Jonathon smiled. Nincada cooed up at him. Jonathon waved goodbye and Nincada scurried into the trees.
"I think it's time we caught a new Pokemon," Jonathon said to Oddish's Pokeball. He knelt down and tapped it on the concrete pat. The ball sprung open like a broken egg and released Oddish. Jonathon closed the ball in his hand and put it back in his pocket. He and Oddish eyed the park carefully, looking in all directions.
"I wanna find that Treecko," Jonathon whispered to Oddish. They kept looking all around them, Tailow and Pidgey swirling though the skies, Caterpie in the trees... but no Treecko.
"Oddish, try attracting Treecko with your pollen's scent," Jonathon suggested. Oddish nodded and shook her leafy outgrowth. Jonathon closed his eyes and smiled as the sweet scent wafted all around.
"NGGGG," Something moaned. two Caterpie were coming out of the buses.
"Wrong scent Oddish, we want to attract Treecko, not Caterpie," Jonathon pointed out. Oddish shook her leaves more and released another scent, this one a little spicier.
"DWEEEE!"
"Not Weedle, Oddish, Treecko!" Jonathon panicked. Two Caterpie were watching them from just metres away and now a Weedle was inching over. Oddish released another scent and three Ledyba fluttered down from the trees, then with the next scent there came a hissing noise.
"Oddish stop!" Jonathon whimpered. Oddish opened her eyes and looked around. Two Caterpie, a Weedle, three Ledyba and an Ekans were all looking at them with blank faces. Ekans hissed fiercely. Jonathon made to stand up but Ekans flicked its tail as soon as he did.
"Oddish, use your stun spore," Jonathon whispered. Oddish shook her leaves and a fine blue powder sprayed over the Pokemon. Jonathon had to close his eyes tight and hold his breath to stop feeling dizzy. The Caterpie, Weedle and Ledyba all fell over twitching but Ekans continued to flick its tongue and hiss.
"Oddish use your razor leaf attack on three," Jonathon whispered, "One, two-"
"HSSSSSSSSS!"
"ODD!"
"Squirtle, go!"
There was a sound like a whip crack, Jonathon was knocked aside by Ekans's tail, Oddish fell backward as Ekans towered over her, Squirtle's Pokeball flew through the air but was grabbed up by Ekans's tail and held shut. Jonathon rolled to the side and looked up as Ekans bared its long, spindly fangs at Oddish, who was paralyzed with fear. Squirtle's Pokeball was still in Ekans's tail and Jonathon was metres away from the struggle.
"Oddish, use your petal dance!' Jonathon screamed. Oddish trembled beneath the snake Pokemon as it hissed and spat.
"Oddish!" Jonathon pleaded, his voice cracking.
"HSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!"
"NO! ODDISH!"

Jonathon felt something hard on the top of his head. He was thrown into the grass face first. As he fumbled around to get to his feet he heard the hissing and scuffling of the battle between Ekans and Oddish. Just as Jonathon was on his knees and finally caught a glimpse of the battle something hard slammed into his face. He fell backward and hit his head on the ground again. He sat up quickly, stars popping into his vision and saw Oddish knocked out on his stomach. Ekans went flying past Jonathon's side next, scampering into the bushes. Jonathon saw Squirtle's pokeball roll across the grass to rest next to him. As he looked further away he saw Nincada had nudged the pokeball with his nose.
"Nincada?" Jonathon gasped. Nincada smiled at him and crawled over to join Oddish on Jonathon's lap. As the teenage Pokemon trainer scratched his head with confusion he heard the faint stir of the bug Pokemon surrounding the group. Jonathon carefully got to his feet, cradling Oddish in one arm and letting Nincada crawl onto his shoulder. Weedle skulked into the bushes but the Caterpie were stil eyeing Jonathon and his Pokemon friends.
"Nincada, do you think you can help me out again?" He asked. Nincada leapt down and scurried toward the Caterpie.
"Vine whip!" Jonathon ordered. Nincada flogged each of the worm Pokemon with a long vine. The Ledyba fluttered into the sky, having seen what Nincada was capable of and soon the trio were alone. Oddish woke up groggily and Jonathon returned her to her pokeball. He knealt down to Nincada who was smiling cheerily up at him.
"Well thankyou again Nincada... I wish I had a berry or something to give you but I can hardly feed myself these days," He smiled. Nincada crawled onto Jonathon's shoulder.
"Do you want to go for a walk with me? I was going to take Oddish and Squirtle to the Pokemon Center," He asked. Nincada nibbled on Jonathon's neck.
"HEY!" Jonathon laughed. Nincada made a gurgling noise and the two were off down the path.

Jonathon and Nincada reached the Pokemon Center after a long and enjoyable walk through the park. Inside was the staff Jonathon had become accustomed to.
"Morning Jonathon," Danyl, the nurse, said, "Is this a new addition to the team?"
"Nincada? Oh no, we just met. He helped me out in the park... and on the rooftop. He's a helpful little fellow," Jonathon cheered, scratching Nincada's chin again. Danyl reached over and picked Nincada up with two hands. He stroked the bug's back.
"He's got a great shell... I'll get him fixed up for you,"
"Thanks, and here's my two," Jonathon beamed, handing over his pokeballs.
"How are Squirtle and Oddish liking the city?" Danyl asked, placing the Pokemon on a bench behind him and turning back to face Jonathon. He was leaning casually on the front counter with a toothy smile. Jonathon liked talking with Danyl. He was a nice guy with a great smile and he always asked questions. He seemed genuinely interested.
"Your Pokemon are ready," Danyl perked up after a while chatting. He handed the pokeballs to Jonathon and then placed Nincada on the counter. Nincada immediately climbed onto Jonathon's shoulder.
"He really likes you..." Danyl started. His face grew thoughtful, "Do you want to go with Jonathon, Nincada?"
"Oh I-" Jonathon started, but Nincada interrupted with a great joyous squeal.
"Go on, catch him," Danyl smiled. Jonathon felt his heart do a strange flip-flop motion.
"Urm... I don't have any pokeballs," Jonathon confessed.
"Oh, you didn't bring any out with you?" Danyl laughed, "What kind of a trainer are you? I hope you don't forget your Pokemon too, then you'd be a bit lost,"
"Uh, yeah," Jonathon stammered. He actually didn't have any spare pokeballs at all but decided to let Danyl think he'd just left them at home.
"What if you bumped into a rare pokemon and had no pokeballs? You've got to be prepared, Jono," Danyl teased, tossing him a pokeball.
"Are you sure?" Jonathon asked, catching the pokeball in his hand. Danyl waved a hand in front of him.
"It's fine, I've got plenty," He whisked.
"Thanks," Jonathon smiled. Nincada jumped from Jonathon's shoulder into the pokeball and in another moment Jonathon was placing the ball on his belt.
"Listen, I finish in half an hour, what are you doing later?" Danyl asked.
"DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU?" A girl shrieked. Jonathon turned around to see a girl in red hair, slightly taller than he now, wearing huge sunglasses and a very fancy outfit. She stormed up to him.
"Jonathon Psyches, I've been looking all over this massive city for your sorry hide, where the hell have you been? Why did you leave Nick in Towa Bay? WHERE WAS MY PHONE CALL?" Samantha yelled.
"Sam?" Jonathon spluttered. Squirtle exploded from his pokeball.
"SQUIRT!" He cried, hugging Samantha's knee. He barely came up past her knee and looked like a small child tha had missed its mother clinging to her like he was. Jonathon laughed.
"We've got so much to catch up on!" Sam cried.
"I can't believe you're here!!" Jonathon stammered.
"Come on, my apartment is just nearby," She ordered, marching him tot he door. Suddenly Jonathon remembered Danyl. He craned around to see Danyl who looked extremely dejected.
"I'll see you soon," Jonathon promised. Danyl made a feeble attempt at a smile.

It wasn't long before Jonathon had moved in with Sam. She told him how Nick had come back to Isamine City and gone back to school. He denied running off with Jonathon but Sam had ruined his story by getting cosy with a boy called Greg who was Lorelle's lab partner and told Lorelle enough to cause a massive gossip cycle that ended with Nick going to a private boarding school to get away form the heckling. Jonathon didn't particularly care, he'd convinced himself that he hated Nick. The best part about Sam's apartment was it was a penthouse. It had a pokemon restoration device which meant no more trips to the Pokemon Center and no need for potions unless they were heading out to train for a long time. Sam todl her parents she was going to become a Pokemon Trainer and they gladly gave her the apartment to use and all the money she wanted. Sam handed Jonathon a letter from his parents and a package they'd given her to give him if she ever found him. Jonathon put them in his cupboard and didn't touch them. Sam and Jonathon were sitting down after dinner one night with a bottle of wine that Sam had bought from the cellar downstairs. The service attendant thought she was cute and didn't bother to check her Trainer ID for her age. Mind you, Sam had only done up one of the buttons on her blouse so it was to be expected.
"Jonathon," She asked, "I don't want to pry. But I have to know. What happened in Towa Bay?"
Jonathon took a deep breath...

After Nick had been rescued from the water he and Jonathon became incessantly in love again. Everything seemed to return to normal. They were training for their gym battle with renewed vigor and finally the day came that they would be facing the Gym. A huge tent was set up down on the beach for all the competitors. There would be no qualifying rounds or semi finals, they all got to face the gym leader straight away. Or so they were told. It worked out a little differently. Jonathon and Nick stepped out onto the sand beach with the other trainers.
"The trainer who defeats the Gym Leader's Pokemon wins the badge," The lifeguard told the group.
"We all battle at once?" Nick asked. The other trainers were all looking around confused, Jonathon, however, was watching the water. He could see something stirring beneath the surface. Then he saw the sand stir as well. And a great shadow loomed on the water far out to sea.
"Krabby!" Nick screamed, pointing to the sand Jonathon had seen move. There were dozens of Krabby coming out of the sand. They scuttled toward the trainers with their pincers snapping. Jonathon threw Oddish's pokeball and ran along behind her shouting attacks The other trainers were waiting defensively but Jonathon surged ahead.
"Petal dance, Oddish!" He ordered. Oddish obeyed and the Krabby parted to let them run past. A Kingler was waiting at the water's edge. More were buried in the sand but it seemed only one was waiting to fight him.
"Razor leaf, then hit it with spore attack!" Jonathon cried. Oddish sent leaves everywhere and then fired a yellow looking ball at Kingler which exploded into a cloud of dust and spores when it landed. Kingler's eyes went red and it started to twitch.
"Slam attack, Oddish!" Jonathon demanded. Oddish screamed and threw her body against Kingler The Kingler sank bank into the water and Jonathon recalled Oddish.
"For someone that used to hate battling you've become quite the rogue trainer," Nick panted, finally catching up with Jonathon.
"Nick, if one of the other trainers beats us to the Gym Leader and beats him first then they get the badge, it's a race," Jonathon panicked.
"Oh..." Nick realized, "Where is he?"
"Out there," Jonathon pointed. Far out to sea was the gym leader, riding on the back of a Seel.
"Is that a person?" Nick squinted.
"Yes... now get out Totodile we'll need to have Squirtle and Totodile help us swim. Jonathon said, taking Squirtle's pokeball form his pocket. He didn't have his bag with today because they were on the beach. Squirtle and Totodile swam through the water with the two teenagers holding onto their backs. Overhead there came a loud screech.
"WINGULL!" Jonathon screamed. He pulled Squirtle back toward him and pointed up at the birds. There were three of them circling the group. Squirtle fired a jet of water at one and struck it on the wing. Totodile slammed the same one with a fast bubble attack and it flew away crookedly.
"Oddish!" Jonathon called, taking out Oddish, "Sit on my head and use your razor leaf," He ordered. Oddish shot razor leaves into the air from Jonathon's head. She then clung to his back while Squirtle continued to guide Jonathon through the water.
"She's beautiful," Nick gasped.
"WHAT?" Jonathon coughed. He looked up and saw the Gym leader. They were suddenly lifted from the water and shaken to their knees as a mighty Wailord emerged beneath them. The Gym Leader really was beautiful, but Nick was ogling her far too much for Jonathon's liking.
"Welcome to the Beach Gym," She said, "I'm Sandy, if you can defeat my Seel then I'll give you the Sand Badge,"
"I'm Nick, how are you?" Nick blushed.
"Petal dance Oddish!" Jonathon shouted with all his fury. Nick and Sandy jumped as Oddish hurled tiny petals at Seel. Seel was knocked backward.
"Jonathon-" Nick tried, but Jonathon was furious.
"Squirtle, use your skull bash, Oddish charge up for Solarbeam," Jonathon hissed, his face a picture of rage.
"Jonathon, Oddish doesn't know Solarbeam," Nick pleaded.
"Totodile, bite it!" Jonathon snapped. Seel was hurled sideways as Squirtle bashed it with his head, then Totodile bit hard on Seel's head.
"Horn attack!" Sandy spat.
"Water gun, both of you," Jonathon countered. Seel was barraged by two water gun attacks and then, with a great shriek, a Solarbeam slammed into Seel. Sandy recalled Seel with outrage on her face. Oddish was knocked out.
"You're a foolish trainer with no respect for your Pokemon!" She spat, "Your Oddish has never used Solarbeam before, you've never even trained it for Solarbeam, have you?" She fumed.
"What's wrong with you Jonathon, you were way too hard on Sandy's Seel," Nick scolded.
"It's trainers like you who make us all look like foolhardy kids!' Sandy went on,"
"Is your Seel going to be okay?" Nick asked Sandy, putting his hand on her shoulder. They spoke in soft voices, looking into each other's eyes. Nick laughed as Sandy made a joke, Sandy brushed hair out of Nicks' face. Nick stroked Sandy's hair. Sandy handed Nick the badges and Nick tossed one to Jonathon. they were each eyeing off the badges when Sandy ordered Wailord to return them to the beach.
"So I've been meaning to ask... are you two... like..." The Gym Leader began.
"No," Nick said suddenly. Jonathon shot him a look.
"We're best friends, I left my girlfriend in-"
"NICHOLAS!" Jonathon snapped. That was the final straw.

"And I got on a train and left. I've been in Las Vista ever since," Jonathon finished.
"I see," Sam breathed, "And have you got any more Gym Badges yet?"
"Not yet. But I think I'm ready to challenge the Kennel Gym."

"Squirtle- bubble barrage!" Jonathon cried. Squirtle let out a cry and waved his arms through the air. The bubbles floating in the air came crashing down onto the Linoone and exploded with water. He was battling in the qualifying rounds for the Kennel Gym. The match was being held on a dusty and rugged patch of earth to the side of the Gym.
"Alright, now use your Skull Bash," Jonathon reeled next. Squirtle leapt at Linoone and slammed his head into the Pokemon's furry body. Linoone was out for the count. A whistle blew and the match was over.
"Tomorrow you can face off against the Gym Leader," The trainer said.
"Thanks," Jonathon smiled. The trainer pointed beyond Jonathon toward the door.
"Your girlfriend's here," She pointed out.
"What? Oh she's not my girlfriend, she's my best friend," Jonathon laughed.
"Oh..." The trainer trailed away. Jonathon hurried over to Sam and the two left the dirt lot and made their way down the road. Jonathon looked up as they passed the actual Gym. The simplest way to describe it was that it was big. Very big. It was shaped like a huge dog kennel with brown wooden walls and a bright red roof. There was a curved sign over the large double doors that read KENNEL GYM. Jonathon's heart skipped in his chest as he looked at the grand building.
"I don't like dogs," Sam offered. Jonathon was snapped out of his nerves by this sudden remark.
"Why not? I thought you liked dogs," Jonathon asked.
"No since I've become a cat lover!" She cooed, taking a pokeball out of her oversized pink handbag. It matched her pink sunglasses and belt. She was wearing jeans and a white tank top. Jonathon was wearing flared jeans with a black three quarter sleeved shirt on. He had his pokeballs in his pockets, which was uncomfortable as all hell but all he could do until he saved up to buy his new belt. Of course, he couldn't exactly save up for the belt while he had no income. Sam's parents had set up a delivery service for the duo's food so they didn't need to work or shop but they didn't have money for new clothes or anything else so both were considering that they may have to get jobs.
"Wait, you're a cat lover?" Jonathon asked Sam as she held up a pokeball that she'd taken nail polish to. It was now pink. Jonathon had to try hard not to laugh.
" told you back in Isamine City at school, I traded my Chikorita with Elanore, the French exchange student," Sam reminded him. She let the pokeball sit in the palm of her hand and held it out in front of Jonathon.
"One, two, three!" Sam called. The pokeball split open and the pokemon instead stood up on its tail, balancing on Sam's open palm. Skitty was adorable and Jonathon snatched it up straight away, holding it in the air.
"Oh, you are SO cute!" He squealed.
"She's all I have at the moment. I can't believe you have three Pokemon... You know Nick got a Starmie?" Sam rattled on. Jonathon ignored her.
"You should call him and see what he's doing... OH MY GOD LET'S CALL HIM AND ABUSE HIM OVER THE PHONE!" Sam screamed.
"Can you just forget about him?" Jonathon snapped.
"Jonathon!" Someone cried. Jonathon and Sam turned and looked around. There was no one around.
"Idiot," Danyl scoffed. Suddenly, the pair realized they were outside the Pokemon center and Danyl was just a few meters away at the front counter inside the building, looking out the open doors at them.
"Sam, this is Danyl, Danyl, this is Sam," Jonathon introduced as they entered the center.
"Hi," Sam said quietly.
"Listen, I got you something," Danyl smiled.
"Huh?' Jonathon choked. Danyl jumped on the spot and spun around. He rummaged around in his bag for awhile and then returned with the belt.

It wasn't just any belt, it was THE belt. Black with silver fastenings, a digital magnetic system that holds the pokeballs without clips, a homing system so the pokeballs return to the belt instead of the hand, a section that holds potion bottles and it automatically adjusted its size ot fit perfectly.
"Danyl... I... I don't know what to say. Thankyou, how did you know I was saving for one of these?" Jonathon stammered.
"You know the store girl at the Mart who you always talk to about the belts?" Danyl asked. Jonathon nodded solemnly.
"She's my sister," Danyl poked. Jonathon laughed.
"I really can't thank you enough. Do you have any idea how long I've wanted one of these?" Jonathon went on.
"Since you were a little kid?" Danyl suggested.
"Yeh... how did you know?" Jonathon replied.
"Lucky guess... I know you better than you think," Danyl said with a wink, "I finish at five. Meet me at the cafe on the corner,"
"Okay... Thanks again... I'll see you later," Jonathon stuttered. Sam had to drag the boy away as Danyl waved and flashed another of his dazzling smiles.
"Come on fool, you need to start getting dressed," Sam said.

It was a good thing Sam had been so forceful in hurrying Jonathon back to the apartment because it took Jonathon the next three hours to get dressed. Squirtle, Oddish and Nincada were out of their pokeballs. Nincada was perched up on top of the full length mirror while Squirtle sat on the bed looking at Jonathon with a judgmental look on his face. He snickered as Jonathon changed his shirt again.
"Well what would you wear Squirtle?" Jonathon snapped. Squirtle looked on the floor next to the bed and picked up Jonathon's pajama shirt. He threw it at Jonathon with a playful smile.
"You know nothing about fashion!" Jonathon fumed, throwing the shirt back.
"Odd!" Oddish pressed. Jonathon and Squirtle both looked to see Oddish holding up a shirt. Jonathon picked it up and looked at the picture on the front. Oddish smiled, Nincada made a gleeful sound and Squirtle jumped down form the bed and made his way over. Jonathon threw the shirt on and turned to face his three Pokemon buddies. Squirtle remained still and silent for a long time and then, with one swift movement, smiled and held up his thumb.
"Excellent, great work Oddish," Jonathon cheered, bending down and giving Oddish a hug. Oddish, over Jonathon's shoulder, stuck her tongue out at Squirtle. Squirtle replied by shooting a bubble at Oddish, which ended up hitting Jonathon's hair and causing a sticky mess.
"ARGH!" Jonathon yelled, running to the bathroom. Squirtle ran after him, trying to spray water to clear the gooey bubble mess out of Jonathon's hair.
"Squirtle, just stop!" Jonathon pleaded. In another few minutes Jonathon ran from the bathroom and toward the front door. He grabbed his wallet from Nincada and his phone from Oddish then stopped by Squirtle at the front door. He patted Squirtle on the head and Squirtle gave him the thumbs up again. Jonathon recalled Squirtle to his pokeball and ran out the door calling out goodbyes to Sam, Oddish and Nincada as he ran. He skid to a halt outside just in time to see Danyl come around the corner.
"Hi," Danyl smiled. That smile.
"Hi..." Jonathon sighed back, turning to a quivering mess.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Jonathon screamed, running down the street as fast as he could. His shirt buttons were done up wrong and his shoe wasn't on properly. His belt was slung over his shoulder and it was now the morning... Of the next day. He came to a stop around the corner of the Gym and tried to fix himself up a bit. He felt his belt tighten automatically and then realized he only had Squirtle with him. The Gym Leader would probably floor him. But he was already running late, no time to run back and grab Nincada and Oddish. Jonathon stepped inside the Kennel Gym and took a deep, shaky breath.

"You're late!" A girl barked. Jonathon leapt forward and spun, the girl was sanding directly behind him blocking the door now.
"sorry, I-" Jonathon started.
"Houndoom, sic him!" He snarled. Houndoom erupted from its pokeball and growled at Jonathon, advancing on him with drool smacking on the floor.
"Hey, back off," Jonathon cried, stumbling backward. He knocked Squirtle's pokeball off of his belt with a fumbling hand and the little turtle apeared with a yawn. Houndoom barked fiercely.
"Squirtle, water gun!" Jonathon ordered. Squirtle blasted Houndoom in the face with a et of water. Houndoom became infuriated and jumped forward with its teeth gnashing.
"Bite it!" The Gym Leader commanded. Squirtle yelped like a puppy and ducked into his shell.
"Skull Bash!" Jonathon comprimised. Squirtle popped out and whacked Houndoom on the snout. Houndoom became angrier and snapped at Squirtle again.
"Water Gun!" Jonathon added. Houndoom was blasted backward by a surprisingly big blast of water from Squirtle's mouth.
"Hahaha!" The Gym Leader laughed, "So you heard about my Houndoom then and bought a water Pokemon to counter. Too bad you didn't count on THIS Pokemon,"
"Manectric!" The dog barked, jumping down form above. Houndoom returned to its pokeball and Manectric jumped onto Squirtle and exploded with lightning. Squirtle lay on the floor as still as stone.
"Another victory for Jamie," The Gym Leader scoffed, wearing a smug smile.
"Not yet," Someone cried, tossing a pokeball to Jonathon. He looked up to see Sam with her massive sunglasses and oversized bag.
"You're a lifesaver," Jonathon thanked, dropping the pokeball to the floor. It returned to his belt and Nincada formed with a smile.
"Vine whip!" Jonathon yelled. Manectric was slapped around by vines and then Nincada launched a razor leaf.
"Good job," Jonathon yelled, "Now, mud shot!"
"Manectric dodge that attack!" Jamie tried, but Manectric was pounded by a ball of mud that Nincada had conjured from somewhere.
"Vaporeon!" Jamie scorned, throwing another pokeball.
"Oddish!" Jonathon called to Sam. She tossed him Oddish's pokeball and Jonathon threw it toward Vaporeon.
"Oddish, stun spore!" Jonathon yelled, recalling Nincada. Oddish paralyzed Vaporeon quickly and then used her petal dance.
"You'll need better than that to take down my signature Pokemon," Jamie smiled cruelly, taking a pokeball fomr her belt that was covered in spikes.
"Here we go, Crusher!"