The Golden Cyndaquil

THE GOLDEN CYNDAQUIL CREATED BY: Hydros It was a chilly day, about mid-March. Maximilian Trent was sound asleep, dreaming about the Pokemon hed be receiving in the morning. His dreams turned first to the Grass-type Chikorita. Hed heard that Chikoritas tended to be a little speedier then most Grass types. Next, he thought about Totodile, the Water type. Totodile was the physically strongest of the starters, not very proficient at special moves like Water Gun or Surf. Finally, he dreamed of the one he was hoping to get, Cyndaquil. Cyndaquil was a Fire-type, and was the all-around best of the three, excelling at special moves like Flamethrower while still being proficient with physical moves. Suddenly, the alarm went off. Beep! Beep! Max shut the alarm off and hurriedly dressed. Downstairs, his mom was waiting with his PokeGear. "Here you go!" His mom, Molly, said cheerfully. "Thanks, Mom." Max said eagerly, grabbing a Ninetales cookie on his way out. About ten minutes later, Max was at Professor Elms lab. Professor Elm was known as a Pokemon researcher to rival Prof.Oak, the greatest Pokemon Professor of all time. "Elm, Im here!" Max panted, screeching to a halt in front of the Professor. "Well, eager to get your Pokemon, I see." Elm said with a chuckle. "Well, your the first one here, so take your pick!" Max immediately reached for the Poke Ball with a flame symbol on the front. "So. Taking Cyndaquil?" Elm asked, smiling. "Yep. Ive been waiting five years for this moment." Max said, grinning from ear to ear as he received five Poke Balls (empty, of course) and the Ball containing Cyndaquil. "Well, there you go! Youre an official Pokemon trainer!" Elm said. "Umm, what about my Pokedex?" Max said. "Oh, right! Sorry." Elm said, giving him the red device that acted as an encyclopedia for Pokemon. Max immediately registered Cyndaquil as his Pokemon. "Cyndaquil. The Fire Mouse Pokemon. If this Pokemon turns its back on you, be warned that it will attack with the flames that can come from its back. Pokemon species number #155." Max hit another button and the Pokedex began speaking again. "This Pokemons stats are as follows: Attack:12 Defense:9 Sp.Atk: 13 Sp. Dfns:13 Speed: 12 Attacks: Tackle, Leer." "Cool!" Max said, hitting a button on the side of the red and white Ball that contained his Pokemon. The ball enlarged, and with a cry of "Cyndaquil, go!" he threw the ball. It opened, and the red energy formed his Pokemon. "Cyn-da-quil!" It cried, jumping up on Max. "What the...." Max said, stunned. It was golden, from the sparkling head to the 24 karat feet. "Oh, my!" Elm cried, picking the Cyndaquil up eagerly. "Uh-uh. I dont think so, Elm." "Oh, sorry." Elm said, putting the Pokemon back down. "No prob, Elm." Max said with a laugh. "Ill nickname him... Candelabra. Theyre usually gold, and they hold fire. Its perfect! Although I think Ill shorten it to "Candle" for casual use." Max said, totally psyched. About half an hour later, Max left New Bark town, heading out onto route 29. No sooner had he gotten out of town when he heard "Hey!". Oh, great, Max thought, figuring it was a trainer looking to battle. "What?" He said to the boy who had stopped in front of him. "Are you a Pokemon trainer?" the boy asked. "Yeah." Max replied. "Do you know how to catch Pokemon?" "Yeah, why?" "I ask all new trainers that, just in case. You wanna battle?" "Sure!" Max said. "My names Adam, by the way." the boy said, pulling a Poke Ball from his waist. "Go, Oddish!" Adam said, throwing the ball. Out came what looked like a weed with a blue body. "Oddish odd!" the Oddish said. "I choose you, Candle!" Max yelled, hurling his own Poke Ball. "Whoa!! A shiny Cyndaquil!" Adam said, shocked. "Yep. Candle, lets start things off with an Ember!" Max said. Instantly, the flames on Candles back went up. "Cynda cynda quil!!!" It yelled, spewing fire at the Oddish. Oddish fainted immediately. "Return, Oddish!" Adam said, recalling Oddish. "Well, looks like Candle took you down." Max said, fighting down a joke about kicking Oddishs grass. "Yeah, well, you had a type advantage." Adam said, paying Max his prize money. Suddenly, the Pokedex blinked. "Candle has grown to level 6. Atk up by 2. Dfns up by 2. Sp.atk up by 3. Sp.dfns up by 2. Speed up by 3. Max hp is now 18." "Awesome!" Max said, recalling Candle. Continuing down Route 29, Max saw a Sentret. "Sweet! Heres my chance to catch my first Pokemon! Go, Candle!" Max said, alerting the Sentret. It turned around to get it in the face with Tackle. Pow! Sentret went flying, but came back and promptly Tackled right back. Candle, however, dodged. "Sen!!" Sentret said, falling in the dirt. "Candle, Leer!" Max said. Candles eyes turned red, and locked with Sentrets eyes, who started staggering. "Now, Tackle!" Max cried. Candle hit Sentret full force, K.O ing it. "Poke Ball, go!" Max said, throwing the Poke Ball at Sentret. The ball wobbled a little, then stopped with a PING! sound. "Yes!!! I, er we did it!! Good job, Candle!!" Max said. Then he recalled his Pokemon. He registered Sentrett and got the following info: "Sentret. The Scout Pokemon. If this Pokemon senses danger, it will warn other wild Pokemon with its unique cry. #161. This Pokemons stats: Lv.3. Atk:8 Dfns:5 Sp.Atk: 4 Sp.Dfns:6 Speed: 4 Max Hp: 12. " "Scout Pokemn, eh? Might be useful." Max said, grinning. Ten minutes later, he was in the Azalea Town Pokemon Center. "Hey, Heather, sup?" Max said as he came up to the counter. On the other side was the local Joy sister, whom hed known his entire life. "Hey, Max, whats going-oh my! You got your license! Congratulations!" Heather Joy said. "Yeah, well, Candle and Sentret need healing," "No problem!" Heather said. Over her shoulder, she called "What kind of Pokemon is Candle?" "A Cyndaquil. You can take a look at them if youd like." Max said, leaning on the counter. "Tell ya what. Ill heal them, then you can show them to me." Heather said, placing the two Poke Balls in Bank 1 and Bank 2 of the healing table. "K" Max said. When they were done healing, Max hit the button on the side of Candles ball. "Go, Candle!" Max said, sending his Cyndaquil out. "Oh my gosh! Its golden!!" Heather said, stunned. "Yeah, I know. Isnt it cool? His full names Candelabra." "Nice nickname." Heather said with a laugh. "Hey, I just had a thought...no, that wouldnt work. Youve got to stay here." "What, you want me as a travel partner?" Heather asked. "Yeah, but you cant leave the Pokemon Center..." Max said. "Thats where youre wrong. I have this other nurse here at the Center that has been bugging me for months to let her take command of this place. Shes an excellent nurse, being my cousin, so it should work!" Heather said. Then she stopped. "One problem. My only Pokemon is a level 8 Chansey. Is that alright?" "Yeah! You can catch more as we go along!" "Ok. By the way, are you gonna take the Gym Leader challenge?" Heather asked as she went to get her cousin. "Yeah, sure am!" Max called after her. When Heather came back, she had a girl that looked exactly like her (although the cousin was a little shorter then Heather). "This is Mary." Heather told Max. "Are you serious, Heather?!" Mary asked, totally psyched. "Yes, entirely serious. Max, give me like an hour or so to pack, ok?" "Ok, Ill go catch another Pokemon while you do that. (Authors note: I wont be typing stats for the Pokemon whenever they raise a level. It takes up more space than its worth) "So, this is Violet City." Max said as he walked under the signboard that said "Welcome to Violet city, home of the bird master Falkner." "Falkners the Gym Leader here. I hear hes not too bad of a trainer." Heather said. "Chansey!" Heathers Chansey cried as it saw the Pokemon center ahead. "Whats with Chansey?" Max asked. "Well, since Ive been a Pokemon Center nurse for so long with this Chansey, it has an affinity for Pokemon Centers. I dont understand it either." Heather said. "Hey, look! Over there!" Max yelled suddenly, taking off. "Wait up, Max! Boys." Heather muttered, recalling her Chansey and running after him. When Max had looked over at the Pokemon Center, he had seen a boy of about 13 being chased by three people dressed in what looked like funeral gear. Max immediately gave chase when he heard the boy cry "Help!". When they turned down an alleyway, Max put his back to the wall and peered around the corner after them in case they were planning an ambush. Then he felt a tap on his shoulder and heard Heather hiss "Its me." "We gotta keep after those three!" Max said, taking off down the alleyway. He stopped midway, because they had the boy cornered and outnumbered. "Just hand over the Wartortle, kid." One of them, a girl of about fifteen from the sound of it, said menacingly. "O-okay t-then." "No way!" Max yelled, drawing their attention to him. "Oh, and who are you, the police?" The girl said mockingly. "Im Max Trent. You?" "Well, in this group, Im known as Gothic Angel. We are Team Rocket!" "You guys disbanded, didnt you?" "Maybe, maybe not. Now get out of here, boy!" "I dont think so. Youre trying to steal this kids Pokemon. I wont let that happen! Go, Candleabra!" "What a nickna-." Gothic Angel stopped in mid-sentence to stare at the golden Cyndaquil. "Guys, forget about the other kid. Silver, Chaos, look!" "Whoa. Thats probably pretty rare, Gothic. I say we grab it!" Chaos said, still staring at the Fire-type cash cow. "Oh no you dont! Candle, Ember!" "Go, Charmander! Ember!" Gothic yelled, throwing the ball. "Char!" The orange skinned Lizard Pokemon cried. "Go, Voltorb!" Sliver said, sending out what looked like a Poke Ball. "Go, Abra!" Chaos cried. "Chansey, I choose you!" Heather said, sending the pink pokemon out. "Go, Totodile! Water Gun Charmander! Candle, Ember Abra!" Max commanded. "Toto!" Totodile cried, blasting Charmander with water. "Char...." The doused Fire-type moaned, fainting. "Abra, Mirror Coat! Send Ember right back at Cyndaquil!!" Chaos cried. "Abra ..." Abra said, closing its eyes. Suddnely, a shield came over Abra, sending Ember right back to its owner! "Candle, dodge! Make it hit Voltorb!" Candle ducked, barely avoiding being scalded. "Volt!!" Voltorb rocked back, then began to glow white. "Its evolving!" Max said. "Its exploding!" Heather corrected him, pulling Max out of the blast radius as he recalled his Pokemon. BLAM!!! "Whoa! Is that a legal attack?" Max said, flipping open his Pokedex. "Explosion. Atk power:250. This attack is the most powerful attack, but it maks the user faint. This attack is a favorite of Voltorb (#100), Electrode(#101),Koffing(#109) and Weezing(#110 )." "Cmon, lets get to the Pokemon Center. Our Pokemon need rest." Heather said. At the Pokemon Center, Max flipped open his Pokedex again as he waited for his Pokemon to be healed. "Voltorb, the Ball Pokemon. This Pokemon has zapped many people, who mistake it often for a Poke Ball. Charmander, the Lizard Pokemon. If the tail flame on this or any Pokemon in its evolution family goes out completely, it may never be able to fight again. Abra, the the PSI Pokemon. This Pokemon Sleeps most of the time. It is still able to protect itself by using its psychic powers to sense danger and Teleport to another location." "Any Evolutions for these Pokemon?" Max asked. "Yes. Charmander evolves into Charmeleon at level 16, and evolves again into Charizard at level 36. Voltorb evolves into Electrode at level 30, and Abra evolves into Kadabra at level 16. Kadabra evolves into Alakazam when its traded between two trainers. When you evolve by trading, trade with a friend and trade right back." Ding-dong! "Your Pokemon are all healed. Would you like to stay the night?" Nurse Joy asked, sounding exactly like Heather. "Yeah, we would if you have a spare room please." Max said. "We have several. Come with me." Nurse Joy showed them their room. "Thank you, Nurse Joy." Max said, setting his backback on the floor. "No problem." She replied, closing the door on her way out. "Well, lets get some shuteye, ok Heather?" Max said. Heather replied with something about Charizards and Steelix. "Must already be asleep." Max said. He, too layed down, and within minutes he was asleep. "Ok, Kaiser-phaser, time to put that Abra to good use. Well, bad use." Gothic Angel said evily. "On it." Chaos said, silently releasing his Pokemon. "Abra, Teleport us inside that building, ok?" "Abra!" The PSI Pokemon said, making them all disappear and reappear inside Maxs room. "Grab that Poke Ball and lets go!" Silver said when they got in. "Im getting-" "Stop right their!" It was that kids voice, coming from behind them. "What the-?" Gothic said, whirling around. "Go, Candle, Pasideon, Chewie!" Max said. "Oh great, hes got a Sentret too." Chaos said. "What;s wrong with that?" Gothic asked. "Abras defense might as well not be there. Its really low." "Oh." Gothic said. "Ill give you one chance to get outta here unscathed." Max said, crossing his arms. "No way! Go, Charmander!" "Is it just a law that members of Team Rocket enjoy losing battles or something?" Max said, sending Totodile to fight Charmander. "No. We just never give up." Chaos said, sending Abra. "Sentret, Take Down!" "Chansey, Egg Bomb!" Heather said, releasing Chansey and scaring everyone. "I thought you were asleep!" Max said. "As if anyone can sleep through a Pokemon battle." Heather snorted. Boom! Two eggs hit Charmander in the stomach. "Whoa, I didnt know Chansey could do that!" Max said. "Return, Abra! Silver, dont even bother with Voltorb. Were outta here!" Gothic said, rushing downstairs along with Chaos. "Ok." Silver said, running after them. "Stupid thieves." Max muttered, laying back down. Somehow, hed known Team Rocket wouldnt leave him alone. And somehow, he felt like he just made Team Rockets most wanted list. About what seemed to Max three minutes later, Nurse Joy came in with some pancakes. "Good morning!" She said, setting them downon a table nex t to his. Then she brought some more for Heather. "You two look tired. Did you sleep O.K last night?" Joy asked, noticing the bags under their eyes. "Actually, a few members of Team Rocket tried to steal my Cyndaquil last night." Max said. "How terrible! But... how in the world did they get in?" Joy asked. "Through the-" Max stopped mid-sentence. He looked at the windows, which couldnt be broken (Lexan) and could only be opened from the inside. "Well, scratch that idea, Sherlock." Heather said, sighing. "Well, if youre so smart, you tell me how they got in." Max said, indignant. "Check your Pokedex about Abra." Max flipped his Pokedex open. "Abra. The PSI-." "I already know that! What moves does it use?" Max snapped, impatient. "Abras move set: Teleport is the only move this Pokemon has." "Teleport! Thats how they did it!" Max said, remembering the guy they called Chaos and his Abra. "Yeah." Heather said. Meanwhile, in the forest, Team Rocket was 0 for 2 on this Max kid. "He cant be more than a beginner!" Gothic exclaimed, swatting the ground with her fist. "Kaiser-phaser, where did we go wrong, man?" Silver5 asked, flipping some sausages over in a skillet over Charmanders tail flame. "Heck if I know." Chaoskaiser said, shrugging. "Maybe that dang Sentret?" Silver suggested. "Maybe." Gothic said. "Hey, I got a question. Why is it that were working for a team tats disbanded?"Silver asked. "Because Giovanni is gonna be back someday, and we want to be able to pick up where we left off ever since that Ash kid foiled us." Chaos explained patiently. "I dont know, I kinda agree with Silver." Gothic said. "We never win a match against anyone. I say we kick the Team Rocket thing and become legit trainers. Besides, Im tired of eating canned stuff every day." Gothic continued. "Oh, and where are you going to stay? You got a tent that we dont know about or something?" Chaos said, grabbing a sausage. "No, but Ill find something. Im out of here. Im not going to waste my life with Team Rocket anymore." Gothic finished, returning Charmander and grabbing her back pack. "Not if I can help it!" Chaos growled menacingly. He sent out Abra. "Make one more step, and Abrall Psychic you." That day, Max decided to go catch another Pokemon before challenging Falkner. He went into the woods alone, since Heather was off on Route 29 searching for a Pokemon herself. Max flipped his Pokedex open and asked about Flying type Pokemon. "Flying Pokemon tend to be weakened by Rock, Electric and Ice types. hey are completely immune to Ground attacks (except for Sand Attack) and are resistant to Grass, Bug, and Fighting." "Hmmm, maybe I should try to catch a Geodude or a Pikachu." Max said to himself. Thats when he saw the flame pillar in the sky. "Whoa!" Max yelled, running towards the source of the flames. After about three minutes of running, he came into a clearing, where he saw the thieves that tried to steal his Pokemon last night. they seemed to be ganging up on the one that called herself Gothic Angel. She was battling the other two with her Charmander, which explained the flames. "Hey, whats going on here?" Max said, geting ready to battle all three of them alone. "None of your buisness, brat!" Silver snarled, cornering Gothic with his Voltorb. "Go, Candle!" Max cried. "Cynda!" "Cyndaquil, Tackle Voltorb! Knock it away from Gothic!" The instant Max made the command, he realized he was fighting to save one of his enemies. What am I doing? Max wondered. Then he realized his fatal error in his commands: any impact with Voltorb would cause it to blow up. "Uh-oh." Max said. "Run!" Gothic cried, grabbing his arm and pratically dragging him through the woods. BLAM! Gothic and Max both went flying, along with Candle, who had been at Gothics heels. WHUMPF! They landed. "Return, Candle..." Max said faintly. Then he blacked out. A/N: Let me recap the characters so far. Gothic Angel, 15 years old. Her only Pokemon is a level 14 Charmander. Chaoskaiser, otherwise known as Kaiser-phaser, 16 years old. His Pokemon is a level 15 Abra. Silver5, 15 years old. His Pokemon is a Voltorb, level 18. Chaoskaiser and Silver5 are with Team Rocket. Gothic Angel isnt with anyone right now, having recently resigned from Team Rocket. Max Trent, 14 years old. His Pokemon are a level 11 Cyndaquil named Candle, a level 9 Totodile named Pasideon, and a level 7 Sentret named Chewie. His best friend since childhood, Heather Joy, is also 14. Her Pokemon is a level 13 Chansey. Meanwhile, Heather was out on Route 29, trying to find another Pokemon. It was getting dark, so she was hoping to catch a Hoothoot. Suddenly, she spotted one! "Yes! Go, Chansey!" Heather cried with sheer joy (pardon the pun). "Chansy, Egg Bomb!" Heather said. Then she realized the Hoothoot shed spotted was sleeping. "Oh, no." Heather said. BLAM! "Hooooot....!" The Hoothoot cried, flying (and not with its wings) off the tree it had been perched in. Bonk! "Hoot....." Hey, maybe that did it. Poke Ball, go!" Heather cried. Weop. Weop. Clak! with a burst of light, the Hoothoot escaped! "Darn! Heather said, picking the ball back up. "Chansey, try your Sing!" Heather said, glad that Chansey had that move bred onto it. Once Hoothoot was asleep, Heather tried the ball again. Weop. Weop. Weop. Ping! "Yay! I caught Hoothoot!" Heather said, sticking the ball in her trainer belt after shed registered it. Back in the forest, Max awoke to the smell of smoked ham. "Wha....." Max mumbled, still not fully concious. "Finally. I was beginning to think you were dead. Are you hurt?" It was a familiar voice. Gothics voice. With a sudden flash, Max remembered what had happened. "No, Im fine. Better question, no offense, but why do you care? And more importantly ,wheres Candle?" Max said, realizing his starter was missing from his belt. "Hes over there, putting his flames to good use." Gothic said, pointing behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see Candle and Charmander using their flames to cook the ham he was smelling. "And as for your other question, I quit Team Rocket." "Oh. Thats why they were attacking you." Max said, getting up and making sure none of his Poke Balls had gone flying when the Explosion happened. "Yeah." "You alright, Gothic?" Max asked. "Yeah, Im fine. I released all of your Pokemon so they could get warm by the fire." Gothic said. "Oh." After that, there was about five minutes of awkward silence. The only sound was of the fire crackling. Then Max broke the ice. "This sucks." he said, smiling. Gothic laughed and said "Understatement of all time. Whatd you say your name was?" "Trent. Max Trent." Max said, trying to do a James Bond and failing. That cracked Gothic up. "Anyway. Were lost, arent we?" Max asked. "Yuperz. I dont know where we are. We could be in Kanto for all I know." Gothic said, exaggerating. "Great." Max said. About five minutes later, they were chowing on ham, too busy eating to talk. While they ate, their Pokemon snacked on fruit. Now, these are translations of what the Pokemon were saying, so dont blame me if I mistranslated. "So, what moves do you know, Charmander?" Candle asked. "Well, Ive got Ember, Scratch, Growl and Rage. You?" "The same, except for I have Leer where youve got Growl, and Ive got Tackle instead of Scratch. Whats your trainer like?" Candle asked. "A neat-freak closet fashion nut. Shes pretty good to me. Yours?" Totodile answered. "Hes a spitfire. Any time hes challenged to a match, he jumps on it like it was made of gold. Hes an excellent trainer." Alright, back to the humans. "Well, goodnight Candle. Night Pasideon. Night Chewie. Goodnight Gothic." "Goodnight, Max. Night Charmander. Oh, and by the way," Gothic added, "My name isnt Gothic. Its Rebecca, although you can call me Becky." "Oh. Goodnight, Becky." Max said, scooting down in his sleeping bag. Meanwhile, back at the Violet City Pokemon Center, Heather was worried about Max. "Hoothoot, Ive heard you have certain Psychic abilities. Can you look through some elses eyes? Or at least read their mind?" Heather asked, pacing back and forth. "Hoot..." The Flying-Type said, looking downward. Heather sighed again. "Well, Ive tried everything except search the city for him. Mabe thats what I should do. Besides," She added, letting her Chansey out and pulling on a light jacket, "the fresh airll clear out my head." Once she was outside, she saw the woods and remembered Max saying that he was gonna try to catch a new Pokemon before facing Falkner. "Oh,no. He wouldnt.... yes he would." Heather said, forgetting for a moment how much Max loved Pokemon. "Man!" Heather said. "Well, it looks like were going camping, Chansey." After setting up camp, she searched the surrounding area for Max. She found nothing. When she came back, she found both of her Pokemon gone. "Chansey! Hoothoot! If this is a joke, it isnt funny!" Heather shouted after shed checked the bushes and their Poke Balls. "Oh, no. My Pokemon...." Heather moaned, face in her hands. Max awoke to someone shouting, "Chansey! Hoothoot! If this is a game, it isnt funny!" "Heather?" Max mumbled, sitting up. "Hey Goth- er, Becky. Wake up!" The instant he touched her shoulder, she whirled around best she could in her sleeping bag and grabbed Maxs hand violently. It was only after she had dug her fingernails into his wrist that she recognized him. "Oh, sorry. What is it?" Becky asked, releasing her death grip on his hand. "I heard someone scream. I thought we should check it out. I didnt realize you startled so easily." Max said, rubbing his wrist. "Really? What were they shouting?" Becky asked, pulling a jacket on over her Team Rocket uniform. "Something about a Chansey and a Hoothoot." Max said, running toward where he thought hed heard the scream. He came upon a tent with some used firewood in front. "Either the Pokemon around here are getting s-smarter, or someones camping h-here." Becky said, shivering and chattering her teeth. Max stuck his head inside the tent and saw a girl lying facedown in a sleeping bag. Her hair looked kind of familiar, but Max couldnt quite place it. Nor did he dare turn her over. Max pulled his head out. "I think I know this girl, but Im not quite sure." He said to Becky. "What, you cant tell from her face?" "Shes facedown in the sleeping bag." "Then turn her over! She wont bite more than likely." Becky said sarcastically. Max stuck his head back inside and slowly turned her over. "Heather!" He said, forgetting to keep his voice low. "Wha...?!" Heather immediately began kicking him, thinking he was an intruder. "Its me, for Celebis sake!" He shouted. "Max?! Is that you?!" She yelped, ceasing her beating of Max. then she hugged him. "I was searching all last night for you! And what is SHE doing here?!" She cried, spotting Becky. "She quit Team Rocket, she got caught up in a battle, I saved her, she saved me, and Id like her to become part of our group, if shed like. Was that you that screamed?" "Yeah, my Pokemon are gone!" Heather said after giving Becky a curious look. "Grammatical error: is, not are." Max said. "No, I caught a Hoothoot." Heather said. "Oh. And theyre both gone?" "Yes! I went to go look for you, and when I came back, the Poke Balls were gone!" Heather said. "I think I know who did this." Becky said, whirling around and stalking into the forest. "Wait! Where ya going, Becky?" Max ran after her, Heather at his heels, stopping only long enough to grab her pack. When they caught up to her, she turned to them. "Max, I challenge you to a one-on-one battle!" "What?! Heathers Pokemon are missing! This is no time to duel!" "Youll see why I want to battle in a minute. Go, Charmander!" "Fine. Lets make it short and sweet! Go, Totodile!" "Charmander, Rage!" After about three minutes, Charmander got so enraged that he sent Totodile flying into a tree! "Alright, happy?!" Max said, recalling Totodile. Suddenly, Charmander began glowing! "Whats it doing?" Max asked his Pokedex. "When Charmander reaches level 16, it evolves into Charmeleon. At level 36, Charmeleon will evolve into Fire/Flying Charizard." "Very." Becky responded, turning around and stalking deeper into the woods. "Whatever." Max said, following her. Chaos awoke to the sound of footsteps. "Silver, wake your lazy bum up! I hear someone coming!" "I hear em too, Kaiser-phaser." Silver said, getting up. Suddenly, Gothic, the little whelp that had saved her from them, and his friend burst through the woods into the clearing. "Alright, give back the Pokemon you stole!" Gothic said, holding her Poke Ball menacingly. "Or what? Gonna sic little Charmander on us?" Ckaos sneered, sending his Abra out. "No, I was thinking I could do something diffrent this time." Gothic said. "Give my friends Pokemon back, or youll be sorry!" Max said, sending his Pokemon out. "Go, Charmer!" Gothic said, calling the Fire-type by its nickname. "Char Charmeleon!" he cried, giving Chaos and Silver the evil eye. "Yahh! Thats not Charmer!" "Believe it. Its Charmanders evolved form, Charmeleon." Gothic said, laughing at the looks on her two former teamates faces. "Candle, Ember!" "Charmeleon, Fire Punch!" While the others battled, Heather grabbed her Pokemon and ran back to her camp. Five minutes later, she heard Max and Becky coming back, laughing about the battle. "Shes on fi-re." Max sang, grinning. "No kidding. Charmeleon is the bomb." Becky said. "You ready to head outta here, Heather?" Max asked his friend as she packed up her tent. "Yeah, sure." As they were leaving the woods, Max heard the cry of a Pokemon. "Hey, did you guys hear that?" Max asked. "Nope. What was it?" "Dunno." Max said, shrugging. Then he heard it again. "Alright, there it is again!" Max whipped out his Pokedex. "Cry analyzed. Match found. #69 Bellsprout. The Flytrap Pokemon. This Grass and Poision Pokemon eats small bugs and can walk on its roots." "Cool!" Max said, running toward the source of the noise. "Does he always run off at the sound of a Pokemon?" Becky asked. "Yep. Its gonna get him in trouble one of these days." Heather replied. When Max found the Bellsprout, he sent out Candle. "Candle, Ember!" Max said. "Cynda!" The fire type Mouse cried. "Bell..." "Poke Ball, go!" Max said. Of course, Bellsprout was caught easily. Thats when he heard another cry. "Bulba!" "Even I know that cry. Thats a Bulbasaur!" Max said. Turning around, he saw the Seed creature extending its vines. "Ember again Candle!" Max cried. Again, the Grass-type was easily beaten. "Poke Ball, go!" And again, the creature was captured. "Two in one outting! Alright!" Max said. "Ahem!" "Huh?" Max said. "Those were mine!!" A boy suddenly jumped out of the bushes at Max. "Whadya mean, they were yours?" Max exclaimed, hitting the ground hard from the boys attack. "I weakened those two and chased them here. Then you come along and steal em!" The boy said, now beating Max with his fists. "Candle, go! Ember!" Max was still thinking as if he were dealing with a Pokemon. "Cynda!!" "Yow!!" The boy said, leaping backwards. "Sorry, but I didnt mean to steal them." Max said, getting up.. "Well, since you cant unregister them, Ill trade you for the Bellsprout. Ive got an Onix that just isnt all that great. I collect Grass-types anyway." "Ok! Its a deal!" Max said. Once Max met up with his friends at the Pokemon Center, Max went to the trading room. "Here goes." Max said, placing Bellsprouts Poke Ball into the slot. Kyle, the other boy, placed his Onix in the other slot. Shloop! The Balls were swapped and reregistered. "Your new Pokemon is Onix, lv.5." The computer told Max. "Alright! This should be perfect against Falkner after I do some training with it!" Max said. "Be careful. Traded Pokemon wont listen to unexperienced trainers." Becky said. "Shes right." Heather chimed in. "Good luck!" Kyle said.