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*Okay, so this is about a mew (me) getting transported to the normal universe, the one where we live in. This mew was banished by arceus and has all moves stripped off of her. She only has telepathy, her way of communication to humans. She has to adapt to these humans, or she will forever be a victim for these rule 34 explorers. IF I AM DOING SOMETHING WRONG, PM ME. THIS IS MY FIRST TIME STARTING A PUBLIC RP!!! HUMANS ONLY, HORNY HUMANS HIGHLY PREFERRED!!*

So... um, for people who don't know me... Hi and welcome to the world of Pokèmon, my name is Professor O... Wait, that isn't right. Hi! My name here is Maid Lover, since I happen to have a very exploitable weakness when it comes to ladies wearing certain kinds of uniforms, but I happen to have many names, or rather nicknames. A way I've been adressed as ever since I was little is "the Pokèmon pro", something that I have always found a little bit excessive, because I don't really feel like it's deserved, as I haven't been recognized as one of the top player by the community as a whole, I don't own any kind of world record, and I have never won an IRL tournament. However, the ungodly amount of hours I spent playing the games over the past 16 years granted me a well-rounded competence in most of its fields, accompanied by a very solid knowledge, which I try to improve by reading articles and doing reserch by myself. I will say this here and now, Pokèmon is a surprisingly complex game with a tremendously high amount of mechanics to learn, secrets, bugs, glitches, exploits, general tips, strategies and stuff you have to memorize, making it, in my opinion, one of the games with the highest skill caps, since there are at least 4 competitive ways to play it, every single one of them being completely different from the other. I'm talking about: -Competitive battles (pvp) -Speedruns -Nuzlockes - card game (Stop hating it!) As much as I try to continuosly improve, I tend to consider myself a Noob most of the times, because considering the amount of time I spent playing the main series video games and spinoffs, as well as playing PVP on Pokèmon showdown, I should be much better than I am right now. However, even after having spent so much time on it, and even though sometimes the game makes me rage, cry and sometimes scream out of frustration, I keep playing it, unable to abandon it completely. Pokèmon has made my life what it is, for better or for worse, I tried hating it, abandon it forever, but there has never, ever been a year in my life when I didn't play it, I have now acknowledged it as my #1 passion, even if some people see it as a waste of time and give me hate or pity for it, which still Really saddens me to this day, because I am really sensitive about it. One thing that I have to specify right off the bat is that I only play retro pokèmon games, mostly gen 3 and gen 2, perhaps I will get in depth of gen 4 and learn all of its most obscure secrets later on, but I will never play gen 6 onwards. The reason is quite simple: I play on phone or on PC, because I have no console I can play the games on, since my parents yeeted all of my games, except my pokèmon white 2, where I saved all of my important mons, and it miraculously survived the "WW3". Also, I really love the fact that I can bring my Pokèmons everywhere and freely manage my save files on pc, copying them and making backups, since losing them would be a catastrophe, all the while allowing me to trade easily, replay events... Emulators are great! I feel like that's the best way to play the old games, since there was no wireless back then, but everyone seems to want to murder me whenever I say that, so let's ignore my personal opinion. The thing is... I play so much and yet have nobody to show the cool and sometimes crazy things I achieve, which saddens me a little bit, so I decided to create this forum, to share with the world what I do, how I play the game and let's be honest, to brag a little, after all, I do love being praised. I encourage everyone to share their thoughts, ideas and experiences, PLEASE, post here, I don't want to monopolize this discussion completely, and I would love to have a dialogue with every single one of you, as long as you are being respectful, and you aren't saying dumb shit. However, please notice that I would like to keep this as a safe place to post my personal in game things, but comments, replies and discussion are very welcome! (Please notice that I won't be annoyed if you decide to post a picture of your pokémon or your save file, or anything else, as long as it's in the right context or in a discussion between you/us) Also, this is my first time making something like this, so please, let me know whether you find this kind of format appealing or terrible, costructive criticism is always welcome, especially when it come to graphic style! One thing that I would like to point out is that I will NEVER post in game playthroughs, unless very special cases, like very particular challenges or guides. This is mainly for two reasons: It's too much work, but most importantly, @Aura has had this idea a while back, and it would feel so wrong to copypaste him, especially since he has been magnificent in creating his posts, and I truly encourage every single one of you to go read his discussion regarding his pokèmon journey through the various games, you can find it under the name "all the pokemens". This is all for now! Thank you everyone who read this, I would appreciate so much if you could react to it to know that someone is interested in my content! I wish all of you a very nice day and week.

Dear Diary I can see how Morty’s Gym as a whole scares people off, let alone the ghosts used by the trainers there. But I can’t chicken out now; I’ve come this far. Navigating the invisible floor was not a terrible experience, as long as I did so carefully. I had to tiptoe around, making sure not to step too far. By the time I had made it to where Morty stood, I could barely see the light from the Gym entrance when I looked back. It was time to fight; nothing left for it. The team of Julia and Sarah, as I hoped, did wonderfully at dispatching Morty’s ghosts. It wasn’t long at all before we had him backed into a corner. Of course, that’s exactly when a wild animal becomes most dangerous. Out came none other than a vicious Gengar to combat Sarah. On my command, Sarah lunged. But it was hardly effective, and she quickly slumped over. Not dead, but sleeping. I had planned for this beforehand. Soon, a minty scent filled the arena, and Sarah awoke. Morty wasn’t expecting a Mint Berry, and was too stunned to command Gengar to dodge. Sarah’s fangs sunk into Gengar’s ethereal form. A great start, but, without another Mint Berry – I had only 2, and Julia held the other – all I could do was hope Hypnosis, the cause of the aforementioned sudden slumber, didn’t rear its ugly head again. My hopes were soon dashed. Clearly fazed, but far from defeated, Gengar cast Hypnosis again. With no recourse to prevent its effects, Sarah fell asleep. I anticipated Dream Eater would be coming next. Sarah wouldn’t be able to withstand it; I swapped her out, bringing Julia in to finish the job. True, Sarah was out of commission. But I had another idea. The problem is, it would hinge on luck. Indeed, Gengar went for Dream Eater. Julia, being awake, shook it off. Then came the plan. I called for Stun Spore. If it worked, Gengar was as good as finished. Julia took to the skies, scattering golden powder from her wings. The powder glittered slightly, even in the darkness of the Gym. My heart sank as Gengar readied an attack regardless. But, suddenly, it stopped. Stun Spore had taken effect. Sadly, Gengar was still able to cast Hypnosis, sending Julia to the Gym floor. But, with her Mint Berry, she recovered. With Gengar slowed, it was time. I called for Confusion. From Julia’s normally red eyes came a cerulean glow. A glow that lit up the darkened interior of the building, surrounding us all. Gengar, the Stun Spore dampening its reflexes, was too slow to react in time. In seconds, its body gained a shimmering outline. A border that blended in with the light from Julia’s eyes. The focus in those shining eyes, and in my winged companion’s expression as a whole, was intense, as she worked to manipulate her, in comparison, towering opponent. Finally, there was a sort of loud pop, and Gengar was sent flying into a wall. But our foe rose to its feet. Immediately, Gengar attempted Hypnosis once more. The blue glow from Julia’s eyes mingled for a second with the crimson glow of Gengar’s. The expression on Julia’s face once again showed intensity. Even more so as she struggled to stay awake. For a short time, the lights battled it out. An eerie red glow overtook the darkness of the building before it was outshone by blue. Blue then gave way to red, and vice versa, in a dangerous light show. Clearly, both Pokémon were locked in a very real battle of minds. But, finally, Gengar stumbled. The instant its eye contact was broken, Julia went in for the figurative kill. Her shining eyes increased in luminescence to an almost blinding level as rays of energy shot from them. It was a direct hit! Gengar’s eyes widened as the struggle ended with the shadowy monster crumpling and falling with a thud onto the Gym floor. Julia’s eyes returned to their original scarlet as the blue light faded into nothingness. Morty was defeated! Shocked and amazed, Morty relinquished a Fog Badge. With it tucked safely into my badge case, I strode out of the Ecruteak City Gym, smiling in victory, with Julia following closely behind. Even though Gengar didn’t actually land a damaging attack on her – I went wide-eyed for a second, only just then realising that – the mental struggle of overpowering Gengar’s powerful Hypnosis had left her sluggish and, ironically, tired. I made sure to get her and Sarah healed at a Pokémon Centre while I planned our next move. Olivine’s Gym Leader is still out taking care of a sick Pokémon. And Cianwood City and Mahogany Town are both blocked off by bodies of water. Without Surf, we were going nowhere fast. Checking the HM I was given for our victories over the Kimono Girls, I found that both Brittany and Coraline were capable of using Surf. I sincerely doubted Brittany could’ve carried me across water. But Corsola are sturdy; they say there’s a whole town in Hoenn built atop a colony of them! So Coraline was taught Surf. Of course, that didn’t go far towards alleviating the bigger issue; what to do next. Where to go. Olivine, Mahogany, or Cianwood? Then, as if it was a direct answer to my question, I caught a few words of a nearby conversation. The Pokémon Centre seemed abuzz over a Lapras sighting near Azalea Town, deep inside Union Cave. Lapras are exceedingly rare; surely, there would be a crowd after such a prized catch. What chance would I have? Certainly none, if I didn’t try. The trek back to Union Cave from all the way north in Ecruteak would be a long one. Normally, I wouldn’t risk it. But I wanted to go back to The Ruins Of Alph, anyway. During my last very eventful journey there, I noticed another entrance. And, now that I’ve been to Union Cave, I know that’s where it leads. The best way to get to it is through the cave; climbing is way too dangerous. We took the southern route, through Violet City, to get there; the other route would’ve required that we go through Ilex Forest again, and I was in no mood to do that. Besides, the route through Violet City would result in less encounters with wild Pokémon along the way. A win-win. That it was shorter, however, doesn’t mean it was short. It was a while before the craggy opening of Union Cave stood gaping wide before us. Shockingly, there weren’t any trainers on the way there. Could they have dismissed the Lapras sighting as a hoax, or simple wishful thinking? Whatever the reason, I was excited; this meant there was a chance that we could still encounter the Lapras. If it even existed. That thought suddenly worried me. I hadn’t given much thought to it before, but the possibility that I had fallen for an untrue rumour was very real, now that I let the thought wander in. If it was true, it meant the possibility of adding a formidable member to our team. If it was false, though, we had taken this detour for nothing. With that in mind, I walked in. It took some searching, but I eventually came across something I hadn’t noticed on my first time through here. A narrow cavern, hidden in shadows by a rock formation and a natural pool. I managed to squeeze through, and immediately had to duck as a Golbat flew overhead. Damn things. But I’m lucky it didn’t attack, instead choosing to fly away. After defeating Morty, I could hardly imagine the humiliation of losing one of my precious teammates to a wild Golbat. Clearly, the Pokémon in this part of the cave are stronger than elsewhere; there were no Golbat in the main path. At least, none that I saw. But could Lapras had gone this deep into the cave? Sure, there was water, but I hadn’t seen any rivers or streams leading in; as I continued exploring, I asked myself how a Pokémon the size of a Lapras could’ve gotten here in the first place, let alone in this level of the cave. Unfortunately, there were trainers there I could’ve asked. We weren’t the first ones to have made it down here. My heart sank. Son of a bitch! Even if the Lapras was here at one point, it must’ve been captured already. I was just about to leave empty-handed, when I heard an odd noise. A sort of high trill that echoed against the cave walls. Heads turned towards the source. Or what the trainers thought was the source; nothing out of the ordinary was visible. Then, the noise came again. Curiosity got the betteer of me, and I followed the shrill noise. No Pokémon I knew to live in the area made a sound like that. Maybe it wasn’t a Lapras, but it was definitely something. And that kept me pushing onward, towards a passageway as narrow as the one I maneuvered through to get here. None of the trainers followed. Another sound, completely different from the one made by the creature, caught my attention. A familiar one. The sound of water churning. Then, it happened. The narrow passage gave way to an alcove with a sort of underground pond. And in the pond, swimming leisurely through the murky water, was a Lapras! My jaw dropped; the rumours were true! And, because they were, I had to choose my next move carefully. Lapras would need to be weakened before I could capture it. I decided on using Julia. Even with her flight, though, the battle was not easy. Lapras put up a Hell of a fight. Julia and this Lapras traded blows for some time. Julia threw Lapras around with Confusion, and Lapras countered with blasts of water. This continued for a while, until Lapras had evidently had enough. The beast reared its head and emitted yet another of its cries. An unbroken, warbling tone that I imagine could’ve been heard all through the cave. Julia’s eyes began to flutter as I realised all too late that Lapras was using Sing. Getting an earful of the melodious wail, Julia was soon incapacitated, and drifted down to the cave floor, alighting on a boulder before falling asleep. Lapras, however, was panting, beginning to tire from Julia’s attacks. Angelica could finish this. I sent her out as Julia’s replacement. Immediately, Lapras shot another burst of pressurised water. Though it hit point-blank, Angelica shrugged it off. After another short bit of back-and-forth, I decided it was time to try capturing this rarity of a Pokémon. Hopeful for a quick victory, I flung a Great Ball at my target. Lapras was instantly sucked into the device in a flash of red light. The ball rocked back and forth for some time, but fell still, bobbing on the surface of the water. I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. And I had every right to; I had just caught a Lapras! As the excitement began to fade, I decided to name this Lapras “Marina,” a name which I had originally intended to give to Coraline. I think it suits Lapras better. I looked back to see several jealous trainers. Of course; they had all wanted to capture Lapras, too. I was cautious as I walked out, making sure none of the trainers stole Marina. I wasn’t done with Union Cave, of course. I still wanted to check out that other entrance into The Ruins Of Alph. And so, I set off. Getting back to the main area of the cave wasn’t too difficult, and, soon, I was facing the entrance to another chamber. As I entered, I again heard rushing water. This chamber was full of it! Thankfully, Coraline got me across. I was surprised to find that there were trainers even there! But they seemed more interested in being left alone than they did in battling, so I was mostly unobstructed. There were some boulders blocking the path, but they were no match for the strength of a Sudowoodo like Barbie. Sure enough, the darkness of Union Cave gave way to the outdoors. I was back in the ruins! After defeating a stubborn trainer who had evidently taken the same path as me, I searched the area. I found another bit of Unown writing, but decided not to involve myself with this for the time being. I didn’t leave empty-handed, though, as I was able to catch an elusive Natu! I named her “Leonhart,” after a celebrity and collector who has a great affinity for that species. With 2 new captures under my belt, it’s time to make a decision. I have 4 more badges left to earn, and 3 possible ways of going about earning them. Maybe some training will help me to decide. Honestly, no matter which direction I choose to go next, we’ll have to train, anyway. That decision was made for me. *Author’s Note* It’s finally here! A round of applause to Julia and Sarah, the exorcists! Without them, I wouldn't have beaten Morty. Now that I’m in self-isolation, I have plenty of time to do stuff. Not that I didn’t have time before, but I guess this pandaemic has just given me the proverbial kick in the ass I needed to really get to work. That said, I’m terrible at writing these “diary entries.” They read more like a proper first-person story. But I’ll keep going with this; how else will I learn if I don’t fuck up? Anyway, many thanks for reading this! Oh, and Leonhart is a voice actor, but is mostly known for his YouTube channel, on which he opens Pokémon cards. In the event that he gets a Natu from a pack, he cries out "Natu! How do you do?" He "insists" that his viewers do the same. His collection is immense, especially with his acquisition of a storage unit which belonged to an employee of game company Wizards Of The Coast. *Pokédex* #131: Lapras, the Transport Pokémon Once thought practically extinct due to overhunting, Lapras have recently seen a surge in population, Particularly in the Alola region. However, they’re still quite rare. Their tempers are mild, and they will sometimes appear to struggling swimmers, or to the site of a shipwreck, to provide rescue. #177: Natu, the Tiny Bird Pokémon In ancient times, Natu and its evolution were worshipped for their clairvoyance. Their wings are too small to support flight, so they hop instead. Natu are easily frightened, possibly due to their prophetic abilities, so you should approach them with caution if you intend to capture one.

Dear Diary Out of all of the challenges I expect us to face in our journey, I always get a lump in my throat when it comes time to face a Gym Leader. Whitney, in particular, is known to be a thorn in the side of many trainers. So, if we can make it past her, we’ll have put a great difficulty behind us. I just hope we can do this. Like I said before, I’d hate for everything to end here. Angelica and Chrissy are trained up for this. But we’ll never know if it was enough until we try. Whitney’s Gym trainers were tough, especially since we don’t have any Fighting types. But we managed, and, soon, I was face-to-face with Whitney herself. Her lead Pokémon was Clefairy, who was quickly dispatched by the Grass type tag team. But that was just the beginning. Her Clefairy isn’t what makes Whitney so formidable. Sure, Clefairy has caught many trainers off guard with Metronome. But her biggest threat, for sure, is what comes after Clefairy gets defeated. From her next Poké Ball came Miltank. Our first line of defence against the bovine beast was Chrissy. I knew before I even entered the Gym that none of us could take on Miltank face-to-face. Our best shot was to give it a face full of Sleep Powder first. And, as much as I appreciate Julia, who also has Sleep Powder, she’s too frail to stay in and risk missing and taking a Rollout attack in retaliation. Enter Chrissy. She’s more capable of taking a Rollout or 2. All that needed to happen was for Sleep Powder to hit its mark. And, as Chrissy sprayed wisps of silver powder at our opponent, we were elated to see Miltank shut its eyes. Her job done spectacularly well, Chrissy was returned to her Poké Ball. Next up was Angelica. She would finally get to leave her mark against a Gym Leader. She set up Reflect, then fired a Razor Leaf against the sleeping Miltank, and it hit hard. Miltank remained asleep. It wasn’t quite the clash that Brittany versus Scyther was; the exchange of quick blows leading to a decisive finish. Another Razor Leaf was used, and, while it also hit, it awoke the sleeping giant. Miltank stared Angelica down and leapt into the air. Shocking, considering its size. And that size came into play when Miltank returned to the ground, a hoof outstretched. Angelica attempted to escape, but was hit regardless, causing her to fall to the ground. But she got back to her paws as quickly as she was downed. Regardless, I sent her back to her Poké Ball. The pattern would have to begin again. Chrissy hit the field again, but took a Rollout in the process. She stood her ground, however, and fought back with another dose of Sleep Powder. Again, it was effective in subduing the bovine menace. Miltank fell asleep once more, and Chrissy was switched out. Angelica was her replacement. She set up Reflect once again. But, this time, Miltank woke up before damage could be dealt with Razor Leaf. Miltank sped towards Angelica like a cannonball, but Angelica dug her heels in and took the hit. Shock was evident in Miltank’s eyes as a Razor Leaf was launched. Undeterred, Miltank tried Rollout again. Angelica smirked. I’ll never forget it. Taking a page from her opponent’s book, she took a flying leap. In the air, she angled herself properly. When she came down, it was leaf first, directly into Miltank’s head. The beast bellowed, then fell, defeated. At her loss, Whitney burst into tears. I wanted a badge, but not like this. I tried to leave, but was stopped by a trainer who informed me that this is a common occurrence. After a short talk, Whitney relented, and handed me the Plain Badge. That makes 3 badges! And a huge roadblock is out of the way; a lot of trainers, as I said before, fail at Whitney. But we weren’t done in Goldenrod City yet. Speaking of roadblocks, I heard that people have reported that a tree has sprouted seemingly out of nowhere to the north, blocking access to Ecruteak City. Maybe the employees at the nearby flower shop would know a way to get past it. The flower shop is a wonderful place, full of sufficient blooms to make a Shaymin blush. And, to my surprise, they had already heard of the sudden tree. Not only that, but it turns out, the owner had already deciphered its identity. It was actually a powerful Pokémon that had stymied all attempts at relocation. Fresh off of a victory in the Goldenrod City Gym, however, I was able to convince the shop owner to let me help. The identity of the obstructive Pokémon is Sudowoodo, and it may move if somebody sprayed water on it. The shop owner gave me a Squirt Bottle with which to do that, feeling that our skills could subdue Sudowoodo if the spray causes it to retaliate. With the Squirt Bottle in hand, we headed North to Route 36. On closer inspection, I dunno how I missed it when I was in this area before, during the Bug Catching Contest. Of course it’s a Sudowoodo; trees don’t magically pop up, unless they’ve been put there by a Pokémon with sufficient power to do that, such as Celebi or Meganium. Speaking of Meganium, or, rather, something that will hopefully soon be one, Angelica is still overjoyed at having helped so immensely with the match against Whitney. I don’t think Brittany, even with her speed and power, could’ve brought Miltank down. She would have to cut deep to get through Miltank’s blubber, and, even then, she’d be leaving herself vulnerable to a devastating Rollout. Anyway, Angelica is right to be ecstatic. I think Chrissy would be right to share her happiness, in fact. They both helped, after all. As we stepped closer, I remember hearing Sudowoodo whimper. It knew I had found out its secret; hiding would do it no good now. After a bit of effort on both sides, I got it into a Poké Ball. Sudowoodo was caught! I named her Barbie. I don’t think I’ll be needing to rely too heavily upon her, but Sudowoodo are rare; Professor Elm will surely be interested. As well, I caught a Spinarak nearby, choosing to dub her “Charlotte.” North from Route 36 is Ecruteak City. Morty is the Gym Leader there, although he seemed to not be at the Gym. Fine by us; that gives us time to train. We’ll check out the Burned Tower first. Some serious irony came when I found Morty in the tower. He was there with a Pokémon trainer in search of one of the Legendaries. One that was said to sleep beneath the tower, ever since it burned down. I’m more than familiar with the legend; it’s one of my favourites, actually. Long ago, during a massive thunderstorm, the tower was hit by lightning and burned to the ground. Lugia, who once lived atop the tower, fled. A trio of nameless Pokémon, caught in the tower when the lightning struck, died in the fire, only to be revived by Ho-Oh and given new lives and identities. Raikou was born as the personification of the lightning that struck the tower. Entei was created as the personification of the terrible fire that consumed the tower. Finally, Suicune was born as the personification of the north wind that brought the rain which eventually quelled the flames. Morty and this trainer were looking for Suicune in particular. And they weren’t the only ones. It didn’t take long before we came across the Cyndaquil trainer. He was also searching for the Legendary Pokémon, and was quite intolerant of anybody impeding his progress. We defeated him in a close match, ironically thanks to Barbie. However, it was a pyrrhic victory. Our battle shook the already weakened structure of the tower. I remember feeling the entire tower shake before everything went black. When I awoke, I could’ve sworn I was dreaming, ironically. Standing before me, staring me down, were none other than Raikou, Entei, and Suicune! They looked angry, and had every right to be. Rather than confront me, however, they sped past me, and out of the tower. I don’t know why they didn’t attack me, but I’m sure glad they didn’t; we certainly can’t match their power. After making sure everybody was alright, I set to work finding a way out. Luckily, exploration teams appear to have made it here already; there was a ladder I was able to use to get out. How nobody else has found the Legendaries is beyond me. Now that we’re safe, it’s time to train. Morty’s signature type is Ghost. Sarah could be very helpful here, once she gains power, and perhaps even evolves. Her Dark type Bite attack will be our main weapon in this fight. As well, the Ghost types native to Johto are mostly dual-typed, having the secondary Poison typing. As such, I plan to use Julia as backup. Her Confusion attack should do significant damage by exploiting the Poison type’s weakness to Psychic type attacks. Our training lasted into the night, which gave me a chance to go after a nocturnal Pokémon. We successfully tracked down and caught a Stantler. Naming her after one of Santa’s magic reindeer, I decided to call her Comet. Like when I caught the Sudowoodo, I’m sure Professor Elm will be happy to know of this. During our training, we had some evolutions. Diane became a Ledian, and, as I had hoped, Sarah became an Arbok! We had some close calls, particularly west of Ecruteak. We very nearly suffered several casualties trying to train there; that was my mistake. Knowing that, It might be prudent to train more before we try taking on Morty. I’ll head to Olivine City to do some training there. Past the renowned Moomoo Farms, Olivine City is a port town for the SS Aqua, which sails from there to Vermilion City in Kanto and back again. Unfortunately, I found the ship to be out of service. I saw the Cyndaquil trainer again, but he wasn’t interested in a fight. He wanted only to badmouth the compassion of the local Gym Leader, who he claims has gone absent from her post in favour of caring for a sick Pokémon atop Glitter Lighthouse. He left after that, and I took the time to scour the city for trainers. While I didn’t find any, what with the Gym Leader gone, I was able to find a kind fisherman who offered me a free Good Rod! I graciously took it. With no training to be done here, I made my way back to Ecruteak. Just south of there, something amazing happened. Determined to defeat Morty, I put my Pokémon through a training regimen south of Ecruteak. Unfortunately, the wild Pokémon there didn’t give much experience, save for the odd Pidgeotto. I knew we would have to either find some trainers, or find a better training spot. Just as we were about to leave, however, I remember feeling an intense, sweltering heat. It came on suddenly, and set me to looking in all directions for the source. What I saw, there was no mistaking. I’m surprised beyond belief that the route wasn’t ablaze at the mere presence of this creature! I had found myself once more face to face with Entei! I threw a Poké Ball at the beast, but it may as well have missed, for all of the good that it did me. Then, just as quickly as it appeared, Entei sped away, leaving embers in its wake. Truly magical. Perhaps, if I had caught Entei by some miracle, I wouldn’t need to train anymore. Surely, Morty couldn’t possibly counter Entei! But, with my attempt having ended in very predictable failure, there was nothing to do but search for a challenge. The Kimono Girls, a group of dancers in the Ecruteak Dance Theatre, were formidable, but fell one by one to our team. A man in the theatre, impressed by our battles, gave me the HM for teaching Surf. Like with the Good Rod, I accepted my prize with gratitude. But it still wasn’t enough training. We even took on the local Gym trainers, and, while it was great training for Julia, we still needed more. Luckily, with a Good Rod, I can fish up decently strong Pokémon to battle. I set off for Route 34, just south of my hometown. Fishing went well, Extraordinarily well, in fact; not only did we get some great training in, but we also added yet another member to our “family.” Soon into fishing, I came across something I wasn’t aware even lives in the area! A Corsola. Using the Lure Ball Kurt gave me some time ago, I captured it. It took a while to come up with a name for her. “Marina” was suggested, as were “Crystal” and “Pinkie.” However, it was eventually decided that I would call her Coraline. With another Pokémon caught, our training could continue. And, as I got to really thinking about it, I decided to utilise Diane in the upcoming Gym match. With her access to Light Screen and Reflect, she can minimise damage throughout the fight. So, she received experience, as well. I had taught her Thunder Punch with a TM, so the Water types we came across simply didn’t stand much of a chance. Before long, several of my Pokémon had gained immense power. I just hope it’s enough. I hoped so all the way back to Ecruteak City. Especially now that we’ve beaten Whitney, losing to Morty would be devastating. *Author’s Note* Another chapter of our adventures, in the books! Next up is Morty. I trained and trained, but will it be enough? Or will Morty hand us a defeat that will haunt us for the rest of our lives? Find out next time! Sorry these take so long. I can say, however, that Left Behind is not dead! *Pokédex* #24: Arbok, the Cobra Pokémon Venomous fangs aren’t the only weapons Arbok wields. They can also spit acidic venom, and their belly patterns give them powers as well. Covering up these patterns will weaken Arbok significantly. It’s rumoured that some Arbok can change these patterns at will. #167: Spinarak, the String Spit Pokémon To keep Spinarak away, which is something many people want, having a Flying type with you works wonders. Even just the presence of one will scare off all but the bravest Spinarak. If this is not possible, mix standard Repel with Berry Juice. It’s a home remedy that really works! #222: Corsola, the Coral Pokémon In the Hoenn region, it’s said that there’s an entire town built atop a colony of Corsola. Their antlers are brittle, but shatter into sharp points, so these Pokémon should be handled carefully, particularly ones with broken antlers. The leftover shards can be fashioned into beautiful art. #234: Stantler, the Big Horn Pokémon In frigid regions, there are legends of Stantler capable of flight. These legends have spread since ancient times, and are the basis of the tales of Santa Claus and his flying Stantler. Every year, children hope to catch a glimpse of them, but to no avail.

When you were younger; did you collect Pokémon Cards? Chances are if you were born in the late 80s/early 90s you probably did, I know I certainly did and I was pretty efficient at doing so, owning at least 6,000 or 7,000 Pokémon Cards by the time it went out of style, but I handled many, many more despite the fact that I only ever purchased 2 booster packs at the very beginning. I am going to start this topic by sharing some of my memories of Pokémon Cards and I really hope that you also share your memories too; please leave a comment and tell me what your fondest or darkest memories of the whole thing was for you. There’s a lot of stories associated with these little cards in my history, I became quite astute in Pokémon card economics for my area where I’d see a hole in the ‘Market’ as it were and where I’d go out and ‘buy’ those cards cheap by trading outside of my area (Like around Darbyshire, Oxfordshire, Staffordshire, Wiltshire, Devonshire, Denbighshire and so on) depending on my travels; as I travelled a lot with family. I’d also quite often bulk up my deck by picking up Pokémon cards that were discarded by people who had way too many of that card and didn’t want them, it was very common in my primary school for students to dump cards and just toss them to the ground when they didn’t want them, or for students to drop the cards by accident, and for them to get blown around in the wind. I never got a shiny from anything like that, but I did get some neat cards, and I was willing to pick them up. As deck bulkers. Of course I’d bring those acquisitions home and start bidding wars with groups of other people who wanted them to maximise my profits (In cards) which explains pretty much how I got hold of my ‘vast fortune’ of Pokémon cards. I didn’t need to resort to ‘crime’; IE - Stealing Cards, Fraud or anything like that because I was pretty damn successful at it. My favourite trick was to trade one card for multiple cards; and once (my best deal ever!) when I brought back an illusive shiny Charizard (Which I traded a Venusaur and Chansey shinies to someone who had three Charizards), I got it purely to trade with someone in my area who was willing to part with half of their collection (Including several shiny cards - which included a Venusaur and Chansey!) Why? Because both of the people I was dealing with were collectors - respectable collectors that were only ever interested in completing the sets that they had; Base, Jungle, Fossil and Team Rocket's “Dark” cards. I was less interested in ‘buying’ from ordinary people and more interested in selling to them instead, and ‘buying’ from collectors who had no interest in having multiple copies of the same card. By the end of it; I had 4 Charizards. One in great - mint condition; that was for my private collection and was kept safe in a photo frame that I had in my bedroom; it was the pride of my collection and I very rarely took it out (Except for one incident), and I had three that were in decreasing conditions; one of them was barely a card anymore as the previous owner took it to bed with them and cuddled it causing it to be severely damaged and even the front was splitting from the back and there was no amount of repair work that could fix it; and surprise, surprise no one wanted it. Did I ever have a deal that went bad? Well to be honest, some of my deals felt like a drug deal. I’d have protection, the other side would have protection (In numbers of people) and we’d trade by putting one card on one table and the other side putting their cards on another table before crossing over to collect each other’s cards and leaving. I am and always have been a tall bloke; I am currently around six foot six (6’ 6”) and I was quite tall for my age when I was younger; and extremely strong for my age too. I tried to avoid deals that had to go to certain lengths but when you’re trying to run a ‘Pokémon Card Empire’ in your local area, sometimes you needed to make fantastic trades from people with bad reputations, something I thought I could mitigate with ‘Protection’. One time I remember distinctly that I had a knife pulled on me (I was ~12 years old at the time)... Needless to say my reputation for people who fuck me around is as infamous as it is today. I become extremely unpredictable. Very quickly the guy who pulled the knife, lost control over me, I stared at him blankly and told him to put it down before he poked someone's eye out with it, or I’d ramn it up his arse. He laughed thinking that he had the upper hand, but then I just kind of lunged for him, grabbing his wrist with one hand and his throat with my other hand, knocking him onto the floor. I don’t remember too much of what happened during the struggle - this kid was around the same age I was, and he was holding me at knife point (With one of those red covered swiss army knives, with a tiny blade) and there we were fighting each other over fucking cards. I realised this when I had him to the floor, his own knife to his own neck below my hand; telling him to just let it go. He didn’t want to; and I could see it in his eyes. I told him ‘If you don’t drop it, then I’m going to push it in. If you let go; I can’t do that. Please let go.’ He eventually dropped it and I told him “Look at us. We’re going to kill each other over Pokémon cards. For fuck sake man.”... The above story is absolutely true in that it was a dream. It's a particularly nasty dream that I remember to this day because of the effect it had on me. I woke up afterwards and reassessed what my (I guess you could call it) subconscious was telling me. I kind of saw that one of these days these deals with bad people is going to backfire, like it did in my dream, and I kind of stopped trading with bad people. This was brought about by the amount of people who were getting beaten up for the Pokémon cards, it was so bad that I remember it even being on the news at one point too. A young kid at the end of my street was left needing stitches because some other kids beat him up for his cards. I have a story that I will share, that actually happened in that it happened in real life, not in a dream or nightmare, but real. Whether you believe it or not is up to you. I was in a Pokémon card battle with a school bully in Primary School who when he’d win against people he’d take their Pokémon cards, he’d entice them with, “If you win, you can have all my cards. If I win you have to give me all of your cards.” He had advertised it the previous week, that he was doing it on the following Monday, and I knew exactly what was going to happen. (Spoiler alert: It did happen). It was the one time I risked my good Charizard; because I knew I was going to be in a position where I was going to be winning back the cards that everyone lost. He played fair and reasonable in each battle, having done about eight when I decided to stop this and challenge him, after watching his strategy. Needless to say, as soon as I started evolving my Charmeleons on the bench into Charizards, he started sweating. When I won... He didn’t play fair. When he lost he didn’t live up to his end of the deal which I fully expected; I told him to the effect of; “I don’t want your cards; I just want the cards that you’ve taken from people. If you want to walk away from this with your own cards then do I am telling you. If you don’t want to walk away with your cards then carry on doing what you’re doing.” You’d think he’d chose the former option, but no, he chose the latter. After securing my cards which was easy for me because I only brought my fighting deck where as he had all of his cards there. I decked the ten tonnes of shit out of him, and took all the cards including his own; just as I promised, put them in my bag… Although I had to be careful where I was putting them, because my bag had a hole in the bottom of it, so I put them within this kind of stiched on meshed compartment in the bag that would hold them all. Then I got the fuck off School Premises, and took my stash home because I knew he’d go straight to a teacher and blab. I snuck into my home, and put the cards somewhere safe, and then I also made sure to have a new deck of cards, putting my fighting cards away and kept the other cards safe. The new deck of cards I had was full of my lowest quality cards that was mainly energy cards and trainers and I went back with them. When I came back, I hid behind one of the mobile buildings between a hedge and the building and waited for a teacher to find me. Why? Because that was my alibi. I didn’t “Leave the School.” I was hiding all along. I sat there and started planning every possible outcome I could think of to try and keep my story credible. The headmaster eventually found me and ordered me to get to his office where I found the fellow classmate I had beaten the shit out of nursing his wounds and forming bruises, and I just smirked at him… Like a fucking nutcase. When the headmaster wanted to get to the bottom of it; I decided because at this point I had nothing to lose to be almost completely honest with him. The only thing I lied about was the going home bit - as that would destroy my insurance. I told him that he was battling people for their Pokémon cards; and when they lost they had to hand over all of their cards or he’d beat them up. The headmaster said “Well then they knew what they were getting themselves into, not that, that’s okay. But that’s their fault. They could have said no to the battle in the first place.” So I said “we had the same deal”, I was the last to do it, and the deal was that if I lost I had to hand over all my cards or else I’d be beaten up. If he lost he’d have to hand over all of his Pokémon cards. He lost and refused to hand over his cards and all the cards that he won off of the fellow students. So I beat him up. The headmaster didn’t like that, and started pinning the whole thing on me; I repeated back to him “Well he knew what he was getting himself into, not that it’s okay, but he could have said no to the battle in the first place.” But of course he tried to twist and turn it, he then asked “What did you do after that?” To which I said “I ran from the playground and hid behind the classroom where you found me.” The headteacher then did exactly what I thought he was going to do. He told me to give him all of the cards I took from the student. (Give to the head teacher that is, not the student) to which I feigned resistance - after all if I make it look like I was all too willing to, I was concerned that it was going to look too easy. After several threats of expulsion I handed over the cards and said “That’s all of them.” Which the student said it wasn’t even a quarter of them. I told him “It’s all of them.” This would be the second lie I told. The head teacher then forced me to empty my bag and pockets, and even sent the receptionist out to go look for the cards around where I was found. Because of course he believed the bully over me. (And people wonder why I was such a little fucking shit back then?) When the receptionist came back and said that she couldn’t find anything the head teacher asked me “Where are the Pokémon cards?” For a moment I thought I was about to be found out, I thought my clever plan was falling apart right from underneath my feet, and I couldn’t understand how or why, because he was questioning everything. I told him and lied again, “That IS all of them. I don’t have anymore!” My fatal flaw in my plan had become obvious when my head teacher asked “So where are the cards that you won the battle with?” Damn it; why does my head teacher had to have children who’s explained how they worked to him! I had to come up with an excuse fast, and the first thing I could think of was “I mixed the cards up, they’re all there… Including mine.” It was the third lie I told, and I only planned to tell one lie… I was already seeing that I was building a wall of lies… I had to stick to it - in hindsight like playing Poker. He then asked “So if he won a battle with eight pupils, and each battle deck has sixty cards including yours and his that’s at least six hundred cards. So where are they? This isn’t six hundred cards.” I fucked up. I fucked up bad. I hadn’t even taken that into consideration and I was kicking myself, that I hadn’t even thought about that, I had the perfect plan but I missed something so fucking obvious. I told him that on the way from the playground to the building I “dropped” the other cards somewhere on the path knowing that it was a high traffic area and that any student could just come along and pick them all up. It wasn’t uncommon to find Pokémon cards lying around when I was at school, either cards that someone chucked away because they were worthless or dropped by accident - as I said in the first paragraph. In fact most of the cards in this deck I gave the headmaster were what I called ‘dropsies’. I said that I couldn’t go back and pick them up because I didn’t want to get found by anyone as I only realised when I was hiding that they fell through the hole in my bag. I acted pissed off about it, to really sell that I was kicking myself for doing it. “You could have put them in the netted compartment in your bag.” My headteacher said to which I replied indignantly “Yeah I could of! Then I’d still have them. That’s all that’s left… I’m annoyed as it is, that I didn’t.” The lies were just compounding and compounding by this point, as I put on a look of annoyance, I was thinking about the lies I was spinning and working out if any of this was worth it or not, and what my narrative had changed from when I originally planned this out to what it was now, and focusing on trying to remember the key fake-facts of my narrative. The head teacher then told us both to show him where it happened and we all went outside to the playground where we showed him where the battle happened, we discussed a few things there, before he then told me to show me the route I took to when I went to go hide, which I did. I showed him my route making sure to tell him “I was running so my bag was bouncing up and down at this point…” And he was looking everywhere for cards, it just so happened that on the path we were walking by there was two Pokémon cards in the bush - a Grass Energy and an Electric Energy, and further down the pavement there was another card a Caterpie, I told him that “The cards must have dropped here and someone came along and picked them up.” But regardless we continued to the building I hid behind and said “I opened my bag and took out the only cards I had left. I swore loudly as I realised that I lost nearly all of them; and I put what I had left into my pocket because I didn’t want to lose anymore.” We then went back to his office where the bastard gave the son of a bitch bully the Pokémon cards he took off of me and said “Let that be a lesson to you to never battle people for their cards again. You got lucky in that you got some of your cards back. But if I hear you’re doing it again, I will suspend you.” I felt relieved because if he was buying into the narrative that they were his cards then my lies worked, or were convincing enough for him to believe it. He then looked at me and told me that I was suspended for two days and my father will be called to pick me up for fighting a student. To me; getting suspended was no big deal - it actually happened often in Primary School (In year 4 especially) and I took it as two days off to play computer games or study on my own terms, and my own things… Or watch Star Trek:TNG and Voyager. xD My father wasn’t happy - of course. And I couldn’t tell him the truth because I knew he’d take my cards from me, and go back to the school with all of my cards just to “teach me a lesson.” I was grounded, and when I went back to school I told the people who lost their cards to come to mine on Saturday when my grounding was let off. I also told them to come to me with a list of Pokémon cards that they knew that they had in their collections, and I’d happily hand them back over to them. My father was going to be out in the back garden mowing the lawn and my mother was going to be at work on that day. There was a couple of them that claimed that they had cards that weren’t in the collection I stashed away, and I told them to be honest with me, otherwise they’re getting absolutely none of their cards back. One of them tried to push their luck but when I told them “That’s it. I’m keeping your cards.” He fessed up and admitted that he lied. I got pretty much all of the cards back to their rightful owners; and was left with the bully’s original collection, and several others… Where I got the Chansey that I’d later use to trade to get a Charizard. And if the bully ever reads this; and knows exactly who I am from it because he’d know the story, then you’ll know exactly what this means; “I’m such a winner that even your mum thinks that you’re a loser.” (It was his favourite phrase). This was one of the factors that eventually lead to Pokémon Cards being banned from the school; what put it in the coffin was when teachers started confiscating cards and people would come back to the classroom when it was empty and steal them. I know this because I proved it could be done, when I stole some from the teachers drawer that she had confiscated from my friend, just so I could promptly return them to my friend, after school because the Teacher was going to confiscate them for “a month” - something I felt she wasn’t allowed to do. -- Again I don’t view that as stealing, I view that as taking back my friend’s property to give it back to my friend. I didn’t request or take payment. I did feel dirty about lying, but I didn’t want him to win, and because I stuck with it, I won. Was it stealing? No. I gave him every chance and opportunity to play fair. But he didn’t. I had to lie… I don’t feel right about it, but at the time I saw it as the ends justifies the means… At the end of the day I was doing a net good. But it was still lying… But then again, the headmaster DID give the cards back to the bully… So… What do you think? Was 10 year old me, in the right or the wrong? If you have an opinion on it let me know. I think ultimately I was in the wrong, but it’s a complicated a case; I think I used morally ambiguous means to do something good. To give the cards back to the people who lost them. I of course had legitimate and fun battles with people I won’t say exactly how far I got with that because it probably can be used to personally identify me. But my tactic was sound; have a deck that had two types of cards (Like if I picked Fire, I’d pick something that if the player used something strong against Fire, I’d pick something weak against them. I never battled with Psychic cards), I may have thrown a couple of Normal cards in there; that way I could keep my energy cards to a reasonable level and have room to put in some decent trainers. It was a strategy that really worked for me, and made deck building - something I spent HOURS, on my weekends doing. By the beginning of 2004, my collection was stored in my cupboard when we moved house, and that’s where it remained for years… Now as I’ve said openly a number of times; I was quite a little shit to my parents… Well, to everyone really. In 2006 I moved out of my parents when I was 16 and moved into a friends place until they made up some bullshit and threw me out. In 2007, 6 months after I came back home I moved out again this time permanently, except during this time one of my sisters (from what I have been told by third parties) stole all of my Pokémon cards and either sold them for weed or kept them to herself. They disappeared from the face of the planet, and I’ve never seen hide nor hair of them ever since. Which brings me to Shit I’ve bought from eBay. I was talking to @Neptune and @SMFoxy about the days where I had Pokémon cards, and obviously they were talking about the days when they had Pokémon Cards, back in September. The only one of us that was able to keep a hold of their Pokémon cards was @SMFoxy, which he mentioned here in his status later in October. Both Neptune and I however; had zero to our names; except for two or three that were given by Neptune’s sister (My sister in law) from promotional packs that contained two or three cards. We were in town doing some shopping one day and we just happened to stop by Game in the high street, where Neptune saw the Pokémon cards and sighed in lemeant as she wanted them, I asked her what was up, and she pointed them out and said that she remembered the days when you could walk into some cramped and shady looking comic book store and buy Booster Packs for a quid, or get it from a book shop but didn’t want to ask for it, or to buy something for herself to which I told her that’s fucking nonsense and then I asked her which one did she want. She picked it up and I took it from her and waltz right up to the counter and said “One of these please!” Whilst she stood there dumbfounded. The guy seemed to be hell bent in getting us a membership card, and offering pre-orders and god only knows what, to which I refused; I don’t shop at Game enough to warrant a card, and I don’t pre-order (Not since the X:Rebirth incident. No way. Never.) He then had no choice but to check it out, we paid £20 for it and told him to keep the change and GTFO’ed so fast it was unbelievable. Of course one of the booster packs in the tin contained a Mega Rayquaza EX, which she was very lucky to get and keeps it in a soft plastic sheet within a hard plastic wrapper because she considers it a high value card. Items: 1x Pokemon TCG: Evolution Celebration Tin - Leafeon GX (Neppy) 1x Pokemon TCG: Battle Heart Fall 2016 Tin - Pikachu EX (Me) 3x 100 Pokemon Cards Bundle RANDOM HOLO GUARANTEED -Mixed Lot Mint (Neppy gets 150, I got 150) 1x Pokemon Promo Dragonite Card Nr Mint (Me) 1x Pokemon: Arcanine - 18/108 - Rare - XY Evolutions (Neppy) 1x Joblot Bundle Of 825+ Official Pokemon Trading Cards (No Energy Cards) (Split 50/50) 1x Dragonair rare non holo pokemon card. Base Set 18/102. Wizards of the coast. (Me) 1x Ninetales 12/102 Holo/Shiny Pokemon Card, Base Set, Rare (Neppy) 2x 90 Pokemon Energy Cards Lot - 10 of Each Type Bundle Deal (Split 50/50) 3x 100 Pokemon Cards Bundle RANDOM HOLO GUARANTEED -Mixed Lot Mint (Neppy gets 150, I got 150) Price I paid: £19.99 (Game - Not eBay) £20.95 (Amazon - Not eBay) £27.97 - £5.01 (Buy 2 Get 1 Free) £3.49 £0.99 £37.49 £0.99 £3.24 £10.00 £27.97 - £5.01 (Buy 2 Get 1 Free) Shipping: £0.00 (Bought from Retail Shop) £0.00 (Free Shipping) £0.00 (Free Shipping) £0.00 (Free Shipping) £0.00 (Free Shipping) £0.00 (Free Shipping) £2.00 (Royal Mail 2nd Class Signed For) £2.00 (Royal Mail 2nd Class Signed For) £0.00 (Free Shipping) £0.00 (Free Shipping) Total Cost: £157.08 To see the full list of both of our collections you absolutely can; right here. It’s been alphabeticalised and sorted. In the Mixed Lots (Where we would get three packs of 100 cards) we often got a little more like 103 - 105 cards. So I’d say that particular person on eBay is pretty good; and all the cards that come from them appear to be 100% genuine. If you’re in the UK and you’re interested, in knowing who the seller is on eBay, send me an EcchiText and I’ll send you the seller’s name/listings. He usually sells them in 5’s, 10’s, 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 100’s. 200’s, 300’s, 400’s, 500’s and 1000’s, and at the time of writing has a buy 2 get 1 free deal (You might indeed be able to find him with that information on its own.) I can at least say that the things we’ve purchased from him were legit, and pristine. Very professional. If you play TCG Online; I think he also sells codes. The 850 random card lot we got which was mainly commons and uncommons, there were hardly any rares in there, and if I recall - no holos. It was a bit of a bullshit buy to be honest, but the purposes of getting it was to pretty much bulk out the collection. Also I’m not going to complain 850 cards for under £40 is not bad at all, in fact I actually still left positive feedback, because there was nothing in there that wasn’t advertised, and there was nothing that was advertised but not in there. It seemed to be a one off sale, so this seller doesn’t regularly sell them. With that aside; I will show you some pictures and show you some statistics of the cards we have. Here are some pictures of my cards, with a sneak peek of what’s to come in the next part of Shit I’ve Bought from eBay… And here are Neptune’s Cards Graphs The following graphs cover the following data: Amount of Cards in Each Set Rarity of Cards Date Obtained Card Types Pokémon Types Holographic Count There are somethings that I feel I should point out before I start this; I am well aware that we have labeled a few things that are not canon in the Trading Card Games; for example what we call ‘Normal’ is what most would call ‘Colourless’, what we call ‘Steel’ is what most would call ‘Metal’, ‘Electric’ - ‘Lightning’ and so on. I know some of you will be itching to mention it in the comments below so I thought I’d get that out of the way. I did at least try to stick to the HTML colour pallet of the card types in “Pokémon Types”. We also only started recording date obtained after October 6th. Amount of Cards in Each Set: Temaelrin Neptune Rarity of Cards Temaelrin Neptune Date Obtained Temaelrin Neptune Card Types Temaelrin Neptune Pokémon Types Temaelrin Neptune Holographic Count Temaelrin Neptune Next on: "Shit I've bought from eBay" - HP ProLiant DL380 G5 Rack Mount Server Do you still have your Pokémon Cards? Did you used to collect them? Please leave a comment below and share your experiences!

Dear Diary, I can scarcely express how happy I am that we won the Zephyr Badge. Of course, I don't expect the other badges to be nearly as easy to earn. But, like I said before, Professor Elm believes in us. In fact, I believe in us. We can do this. Obviously, this journey is being done with the intention of exploring Johto. If we just so happen to win some badges along the way, that's just an added treat. Speaking of Professor Elm, he called soon after we beat Falkner. The egg I fetched for him some time ago turned out to be a Togepi egg. Mr. Pokémon said he got the egg from a couple on the outskirts of Goldenrod City. I'll look into the area when this adventure takes me there. For now, though, it's important that we get going. I'd like to explore the Ruins Of Alph, but I wanted to check out Route 32 first. The prospect of new teammates was something I couldn't pass up. A few battles deep into Route 32, we decided to rest by the water. A well-earned rest, for sure. It was there that I found our newest team member, a Hoppip. After catching her, I named her Pompom, after the cottony appendages she'll have as a Jumpluff. During our rest, I thought about where to go next. Eventually, I decided on the Ruins Of Alph. It's open to trainers, but much of it can only be accessed through an alternate entrance. So our visit will be quick. At least until we can explore it further. I made an amazing discovery in the ruins. This is something I'll have to tell Professor Elm about. There were heiroglyphs on the walls inside one of the chambers. Living in Johto, I'm familiar with many legends. And the Unown are included in that. They say Unown helped us create the many languages spoken around the world. Alone, they were said to hold little power. But, as a team, they possess phenomenal might. In Greenfield several years ago, many Unown got together, and played havoc with the mansion of Professor Spencer Hale. For miles around, everything was covered with crystal! To find evidence of these creatures living here is astounding! I poked around some more, careful not to break anything. Eventually, I came across something I could actually decipher. "Escape." I put an ear to the wall, and jumped. "Escape! Escape!" Were those the Unown, talking to me? I didn't know then, and I don't now. But they held some sort of magic; I was sure a handle wasn't affixed to the wall before. I tried to pull, but it wouldn't budge. Then, I remembered that I had an Escape Rope in my bag. I tied one end to the handle for added leverage, and tugged hard on the other. Sure enough, the wall gave way, with the creak of an old door. I had opened a passageway! Carefully, and with a Poké Ball in hand, I entered. This chamber, a mere tourist attraction nowadays, seems to have been used for medical purposes in the past. Maybe an ancient Pokémon Centre? There was medicine strewn about, along with berries that somehow looked deceptively fresh. I took some pictures as proof, and kept going. But I immediately regretted that decision. I stepped on a weak bit of the floor and fell. I wish I could tell you where I ended up. But I've got no idea. All I remember of that place was the same voices talking to me. The same ones that chanted "escape." This time, though, their message was much more cryptic. "Our words shall remain here for the ages." Did they think I wanted to destroy the ruins? No; they'd have done worse than making me fall over. But they weren't after my life, considering I'm still alive. With that thankfully behind us, our next stop is Azalea Town. In between Azalea Town and Route 32, there's the Union Cave. It wasn't a long trek, nor was it a difficult one. We faced a few trainers, but nothing we couldn't handle. Soon, Azalea Town was in sight. I originally wanted to challenge the Gym, but some thugs were blocking the way. It turns out, Team Rocket has made a business for themselves of chopping off Slowpoke tails and selling them! I haven't had Slowpoke tail myself, but I hear it's delicious. And the tails grow back, so it's a sustainable food source. But, if Team Rocket is involved, it can't be good. I decided to see what I could do. It stood to reason that I'd find Team Rocket hiding out in the Slowpoke Well. I dunno; maybe I'm being reckless. But the ease with which we defeated the grunts down there makes me think a few things. First, that Team Rocket needs better trainers as grunts. Secondly, that Brittany would probably be my best Pokémon for a while, followed by Julia. I had hoped Angelica would be my ace. But she hasn't had much training time. I'll have to change that. And thirdly, that sending these peons packing would likely anger the higher ups. Now that the Team Rocket grunts have turned tail and fled, we can challenge Azalea's Pokémon Gym. But that would be tantamount to a suicide attempt at our current levels. Union Cave seems like the best place for some training. I could swear I saw an Onix in there; felling one of those would surely make for great experience gain. Angelica could definitely gain some levels, and perhaps evolve, but she won't be much help here; Azalea's Gym specialises in Bug types. So we should focus on getting Brittany to evolve, instead. There are Onix in Union Cave, but they're few and far between. That's fine; it's still great training. And we can pick off the weaker trainers in the Gym, too. Brittany did indeed evolve, her body stretching out into the almost snakelike form of a Furret. That happened in the Gym, as we defeated several Bug types. But Angelica refused to be outdone. When Brittany shied away from a high-levelled Onix, Angelica leapt into the fray and bravely brought it down. As the dust settled, I saw that she was no longer a Chikorita. She had evolved! She stood tall, especially with her long neck, around which she boasted a collar of seed pods. Whereas a sweet smell came from her leaf as a Chikorita, now her scent was nearly an assault on the nose. And I got a nose full of it when, in joy, she sprinted at me and nearly knocked me over! Angelica is now officially a Bayleef! With 3 Pokémon evolved, I decided it'd be best to challenge the Gym Leader, an androgynous boy named Bugsy. Of course, with a name like that, it's no surprise that his specialty is Bug types. I still pitied Angelica, knowing she couldn't help, especially considering she sat out the battle with Falkner, as well. But I don't wanna lose her. Obviously, I'd much rather not lose any of my teammates, if it can be helped. I just had to hope that Bugsy wouldn't cause our first casualty. Brittany was first up, but I had to do a double take at Bugsy's first choice. A Metapod! He is a Gym Leader, though, so I knew I shouldn't let my guard down. Metapod's defense might be daunting, but a few Fury Swipes downed it. Next was Kakuna. Metapod 2.0, basically. It went down to Fury Swipes just the same. Then came the problem. Scyther. Even Brittany, who stood tall against Pidgeotto, recoiled slightly at the sight of Scyther. When I called for Fury Swipes again, she hesitated for a split second before striking. That hesitation gave Scyther the opportunity to prepare. Claws met scythes, as both lashed out, supposedly evenly matched. Scyther's strength was a counter to Brittany's speed. Fury Swipes against Fury Cutter seems a better way to explain this matchup than Furret versus Scyther. Those were the attacks that were traded, as Brittany and Scyther leapt in and out of the fray. A frightening and exciting match of blades and claws. Brittany's moment of fear, giving Scyther time to stymie her speed, turned this into a true nail-biter. But, then, a miracle happened. Even with Brittany's agility, Scyther was beginning to wear her down. Her reactions were slower, and she stepped more clumsily. She was still landing blows, and Scyther certainly looked worse for wear. But I was ready to send her back to her Pokéball. I readied it as Scyther brought a blade down... and missed. Furret was on Scyther quicker than I could have commanded her. She dug into the manacing beast's exoskeleton with Fury Swipes once more, and the winged monster fell. Brittany had amazed me again with her battle prowess. Bugsy was as shocked as I was as he handed over the Hive Badge. Victorious, we rested at the Pokémon Centre before heading out to the Ilex Forest. At least, that was the plan. We were stopped by a familiar face. Not to mention an angry one. *PokéDex* #187: Hoppip, the Cottonweed Pokémon It was once thought that Hoppip could fly freely. In actuality, these Pokémon are mostly at the mercy of the wind. These Pokémon's evolutionary line are the number one spreaders of allergens in Johto, thanks to the cottony spores they scatter as they float. #162: Furret, the Long Body Pokémon Furret are among the most caring Pokémon mothers. They wrap themselves around their offspring as a show of affection, as well as to keep them warm. This is why Sentret are plentiful in Johto. Take care if you travel through a Furret's habitat; they will not show mercy if you disturb their burrows. #153: Bayleef, the Leaf Pokémon These Pokémon are affectionate to a fault with their trainers. But their size and smell keep them from being popular pets. Its seed pods can be picked and eaten. They regrow in a few days, and will impart an unmistakable taste to dishes. Besides trainers, chefs also keep these Pokémon around. *Author's Note* Chapter 3 is upon us at last! Now that I have my laptop, this marks one of the last posts from my tablet. In fact, I tried transferring this chapter to my laptop, but it ended up as a jumbled mess! No idea why. Anyway, we learn that Brittany is still not to be fucked with, and we get our second badge! Not to mention, the team gains a member and we get a peek into the Ruins Of Alph. Stay tuned for more, as I hopefully keep up my string of good luck!~

For any Pokemon fans on here: If you were a Gym Leader, what type would you specialize in? Who would your team be? And what would your badge be? I would most likely specialize in Dark types. My team would consist of an Absol, Zoroark, and Umbreon Upon my defeat, I would confer to the victor the Eclipse Badge Rematch team: Absol Zoroark Umbreon Houndoom Weavile Honchkrow