"Yeeeeeen." A plaintive growl interrupted the pleasant slumber that Simon was enjoying.

"Mmmwhat is it?" He asked, somewhat coherently. He reached out blindly for his alarm clock, kind of surprised that he hadn't even-

"Yah!" -Simon tumbled onto a cold tile floor. His eyes flew open then immediately shut against the harsh light of industrial strength florescent lightbulbs. The ceiling lights did an execellent job of illuminating a small room with sparse furnishings and a heavy metal door labeled PRIVATE.

"Miy?" Shadow's muzzle dipped down and he nudged Simon's shoulder none-too-gently. Was his trainer playing a game? Or was he just clumsy? Simon gently batted the inquiring nose away as he slowly rose to his feet. Memories of the previous night filtered in while he stretched.

Wanting to get away from the group for a bit Simon had taken his Pokémon and temporary acquisition to the Pokémon center for healing. As always Nurse Joy had been perky, polite, and punctual. The healing had taken only minutes. On the way out of the Center Simon noticed a sign pointed toward his company's office building. So he'd taken a moment to stop by. He decided he could use a little normalcy after the strange events in Mt Moon.

Little did Simon know that the office clerk had quit, the manager's niece was sick, two of the delivery men were out with mono, and the janitor was on strike (no one knew why). A harried assistant had informed Simon of the chaos as soon as the trainer swiped his card key at the door. A stunned Simon had been forcibly dragged into the lobby then recruited to take over some of the jobs that needing doing. It was a temporary thing, the assistant assured Simon with his hands still latched onto Simon's arm, and he'd be paid out of pocket just so 'we can get some order around here'. Though initially he wanted to refuse Simon decided that he could use the money to buy new supplies and food. In addition to the odd-jobs Simon discovered an official job he had to do. A large heavily-taped but light-weight box was to be delivered from Cerulean City to Vermillion City. 'For some big stuffed-shirt who can't be bothered to leave his 'home office' to pick up his package.' was the assistant's grumbled comment. As politely as possible Simon disengaged the assistant's grip and began to freely wander the most-empty building to see what needed doing.

It was 10pm before Simon finally finished everything. And he was sure there were still things left to do. But the week's packages were sorted, the lobby was cleaned, and the boxes littering the hallway had been taken outside. Simon had recruited Shadow (who instead of money was promised a nice juicy steak) to help out with some of the manual labor. The assistant dutifully paid Simon's fee and then returned to his stack of paperwork. Knowing that each office contained a few rooms in case of visitors or bouts of workaholism Simon decided to find one. He needed a break before returning to the Pokémon center.

Apparently he'd fallen asleep.

"Why didn't the night guard notice me?" Simon wondered out loud. Maybe the night guard was on strike too? 'This place is a mess...' the trainer sighed. This place was a far cry from the small but well maintained office Simon was used to working out of. But the efficiency of his home office was largely due to his manager. A large but friendly guy who knew how to work with people but not micromanage them.

Simon missed his home office...he missed his home city...

But on the bright side, he had some spare cash and the potential for more once he finished his delivery. 'Stuffed shirts' usually gave good tips for personal deliveries. 'Hope he's not in some secret forest like that one guy...'

"Come on, bud, let's get out of here." Simon grabbed his pack and exited the room. On his way to the elevator he stopped by the Employee restroom to change clothes and brush his teeth. "I could use some breakfast." Simon informed his reflection.

"Might!" Shadow agreed enthusiastically. The Pokémon beat Simon to the stairs and to the front door. Steak was a powerful motivator.

Rochelle knew she had to get up eventually. She had to get a fair bit done today, including finding the local police station, call her parents, and make sure her Pokémon were okay. The latter was easy enough; she could do that whenever she wanted, though it would be better if it were sooner rather than later.

These thoughts buzzing through her head, Rochelle got up, dragged a fresh set of clothes out of her pack and headed for the showers. After spending a decent amount of time under the hot water, during which time she eliminated almost any trace of having spent time under Mt. Moon, including both the grass stain and blood trail on her face, she returned to her bed to retrieve her gear, hair secured under her regular black bandana.

Before Rochelle checked up on her Pokémon to make sure they hadn't suffered at the hands of Team Rocket, she wanted to get them healed up and get some form of breakfast. Once out in the Pokémon Center's main hall, she handed them all over to Nurse Joy, who accepted them with the smile she had become used to seeing from all Center staff. As usual, the nurse promised to let Rochelle know when her team was ready for pickup. Upon entering the cafeteria, the Trainer found only one other person eating. A cute black, orange and cream-coloured Pokémon was with her. Unsure whether to approach the Trainer and her companion, Rochelle turned her attention to the more pressing matter of breakfast; there were a fair few options, but she took the simple route of cereal.

She sat at a table a few places away from the other Trainer in the room, both to avoid infringing on her personal space and to talk if she felt like it, and began to eat in silence, listening out for the call to collect her Pokémon from the counter.

Rochelle raised her eyebrows at the mention of Aeris's name. Perhaps there had been some meeting and greeting overnight, while she was asleep. When the stranger returned from clearing away her dishes, she spoke up. "You know Aeris? We travel together with a few others, on the Pokémon League challenge. Um... I'm Rochelle Sanders," she introduced herself.

Hopefully the Pokémon - Hughes - wasn't going to jump up and defend his Trainer as a result of Rochelle speaking to her. There was such a thing as being overprotective, after all.

So Eileen had already met a fair few people from the group: Aeris, Mika, Jordan and Tyler. That was good; it was always nice to meet new people... friendly ones, that is. And Eileen might be joining up with their little band, with someone else in tow.

"In answer to how long ago we started... we all left from Pallet Town just under a week ago, after each of us picked up a Pokédex," Rochelle began. "From there, it took us a couple of days to get to Pewter, and I'm pretty sure most of us picked up a couple of Pokémon along the way. We each had one of our own to start with. Spent a couple of days in Pewter City, during which time we all beat Brock in a Gym battle... despite his obvious attempts at flirting," she added, thinking of the rift between Jordan and Fary for a few seconds before she snapped back to the present. She didn't like to dwell on things that had caused her stress in the past, as was the case with most people, hypothetically.

"So yeah, once we beat Brock... we went through Mount Moon to come here. Things went to hell in a handbasket quickly... I'm not sure I wanna talk about that right now, to be honest. Long story short, we're here now. I crashed early, so I haven't seen any of the others this morning," Rochelle finished up quickly, not wanting to talk about her conflict with Team Rocket to someone she had just met that day.

"And, um... I probably won't come with you guys if you're going soon. I have things to take care of. Sorry," she apologised. "On the subject of which... you don't happen to know where I can find a police station, do you? I need to talk to someone from law enforcement." Hopefully the Kanto region's police department was similar to that of Johto, with competent officers stationed in almost every city or town.

Aeris' Pokemon were just playing around while they had waited for Eileen to be done with all she needed. Aeris had, in the meanwhile, sat down on the ground, watching them play. It was nice, watching them not battling to train for once. Very relaxing.

After a while, Eileen came back and she stood up from the ground. "You did? Who did you meet? Well, you can tell me on the go. Come on, guys. And Blaze." She added that last part because Blaze tapped her foot, which made Aeris giggle. All four of her Pokemon followed her as she walked with Eileen towards the bridge.

"Hmmm..." Aeris said, thinking who else Eileen hadn't met. "You've met me, obviously, and Mika, my boyfriend. Then there was Jordan the surfer guy, and Tyler. You just met Rochelle. There's also Fary, Simon and Terinth. That's everyone in the group." She stretched her arms a bit while they walked towards the bridge.

"Well, in that case, you might want to stay a bit behind me. I want to challenge them all for training. Oh, almost forgot." She picked up Xal's Pokeball. "In you go again. Sorry about that." Xal nodded. He understood, especially with all the water nearby. Aeris returned him to his Pokeball with the red laser that came out of it, and put his shrunken Pokeball on her belt.

"I figured there might be water under the bridge, but I also figured that if I was with you, I would be alright." She smiled to Eileen as they got closer to the bridge. She could see five people on the bridge. Maybe they were trainers.

Aeris giggled, remembering her encounter with Oak. "Yeah, the Professor is an interesting one. And, you're from Cinnabar? So am I. Wonder why we didn't meet each other sooner. Or remember it. Well, we can talk about that after I beat these trainers with Tristan and Ekans. I don't mind that you take notes."

She stepped onto the bridge and walked over to one of the trainers. "I would like to challenge you to a battle if that would be alright." The trainer, a teenage male, looked at her Pokemon. "Well, alright. But only because you're cute." Aeris giggled. She didn't care what compliments were thrown her way if they sounded like flirting, she was Mika's. The trainer let out a Caterpie and a Weedle. "Think ya got what it takes to beat us five?" Aeris had to held back a giggle. He thought he could win with a Caterpie and a Weedle? Adorable, she thought. "I'll be using Tristan and Ekans." Tristan hovered above Aeris while Ekans slithered and stopped in front of her.

Ekans made short work of the Caterpie with his combo of Glare and Bite, followed by a Poison Sting. The Caterpie had tried to tackle and use String Shot on him, but missed both times. Meanwhile, Tristan used Sleep Powder on the Weedle, who had managed to use a Poison Sting on him, but it hadn't poisoned him thankfully. With the Weedle asleep, Tristan used Gust on it. Both Pokemon were defeated. "That was a good match." Aeris said to the boy. "I did my best. I have no regrets." said the boy. Aeris walked past him towards the next trainer, a teenage girl.

"Alright, see ya. And thanks," Rochelle answered, waving goodbye to Eileen as she left with her Growlithe before she returned to her food. Once finished, she cleared away her dishes in the same manner that Eileen had done, then wandered back into the main hall to wait for the nurse to finish healing her Pokémon. During the short waiting period she began to plan out what she wanted to say when reporting the Mt. Moon incident to someone at the station.

After a few minutes, the nurse called out her name. "Rochelle Sanders? Your Pokémon are ready for collection." She promptly got up and hurried to the counter to take the offered Poké Balls, though she wanted to know if there was anything wrong that the Center staff hadn't seen before. When she said as much to Nurse Joy, she laughed softly and answered with, "One battle too many, eh? Don't worry, there was nothing uncommon about them. Most of them were alright, but your Mareep was a little more worn out than the others. Maybe go a little easier on the training next time."

Rochelle was deeply relieved to hear that, though she didn't tell the nurse what had actually happened the day before. "Thanks a lot," she said as she attached each of the Poké Balls to her belt in order of acquisition: Kirsten, Phoenix, Natalya, Iskra. With that, she gave the nurse a wave as she left the Pokémon Center. "Now... five or so blocks east, Eileen said, then one south," she mused to herself as she turned from the Pokémon Center and began walking through the city.

There were a few people walking around, though thankfully everyone was just trying to get from A to B with no inclination to battle her in the middle of the street. Once Rochelle had found the police station, she took a seat outside on a bench. Now seemed like a good time to check up on her team, and she did so, releasing Kirsten from her ball onto the bench beside her. The Horsea blew a happy bubble and bounced into Rochelle's lap, cuddling up to her and wriggling around until Rochelle held her properly.

"Hey there, Kirsten. Glad to see you're okay," she said quietly so as not to attract too much attention. Clearly the Water-type hadn't been subjected to Team Rocket's conversion process before Rochelle had found her and the others. Since they had all been found in the same place, it stood to reason that the others hadn't been turned as well, but Rochelle wanted to check to be on the safe side. Iskra, of course, was exempt from this, as he had defected from Kimmy's command to that of Rochelle within seconds of catching sight of his original Trainer.

Rochelle let Natalya and Phoenix out of their respective Poké Balls as well, letting the two birds perch on her shoulders and poke at her ears and hair. The gluttonous Murkrow seemed to think her ear was some sort of food, and pecked at her earlobe before Rochelle told her off. "Okay, fine. You want something to eat, here you go," she said in a resigned tone of voice, passing around the open pack of Pokémon food. While Kirsten was a slow and methodical eater, taking the snack apart bit by bit, both Phoenix and Natalya scarfed down their pieces and chirped at Rochelle for more.

When all three had been satisfied, and the birds warned that they would get fat and be unable to fly, Rochelle returned Kirsten and Phoenix to their Poké Balls, knowing Natalya didn't like being confined to the small space. The Murkrow on her shoulder, Rochelle got up, pulled her pack back on, and entered the Cerulean police station.

The teenage girl didn't seem impressed with Aeris getting past the first trainer. "Ya think ya can beat me? We'll see about that." She picked up two Pokeballs and let her Pokemon out, a Pidgey and a female Nidoran. Aeris again stiffled a giggle. It was adorable how these trainers thought they could beat her with such Pokemon. She sent out Tristan and Ekans again. Tristan went up against the Pidgey, while Ekans would take care of the Nidoran.

Tristan did well with his Confusion, the Pidgey flying into the water, apparently thinking it was a Farfetch'd. Once the confusion wore off, Tristan tackled the Pidgey, knocking it out. Ekans had a little more difficulty with his opponent. The female Nidoran tried her own Poison Sting, but it wasn't very effective on Ekans, a Poison type. Ekans used Glare and Bite like with the earlier Weedle, but decided against using Poison Sting, instead wrapping himself around the Nidoran, knocking her out.

Aeris thanked for herself, the teenage girl said the same line as the teenage boy before her, and Aeris headed towards the next trainer, another teenage boy. "This time, it's serious!" he said, excitedly. I'm sure it is... Aeris thought, not convinced by his words. The boy let out three Pokemon, a Rattata, an Ekans and a Zubat. Aeris sent all Blaze to help Tristan and Ekans. Ekans took on the Rattata, Tristan took on the Zubat and Blaze took on the Ekans.

Blaze did very well, only needing a couple of Embers to take out the Ekans before it could harm her. Aeris' Ekans did short work of the Rattata by wrapping around it and biting it. Tristan used his Confusion on the Zubat, followed by a Gust. The trainer spat out the same line as the other two. Can't they say anything afterwards other than that they did their best and they have no regrets...? Aeris wondered as she headed for the fourth trainer.

Aeris was feeling confident about herself, not noticing the water around the bridge since she was focused on the battles. The lass she was facing now was another teenage girl. "Getting tired?" the girl said. Yeah, of the same quote you all seem to say after I beat you. Aeris thought as she waited for the girl to send out her Pokemon. They were the same as the other girl's ones, a Pidgey and a female Nidoran. This time, Aeris had Tristan deal with the Nidoran while she had Ekans face off against the Pidgey.

Ekans tried to wrap himself around the Pidgey, but it flew away, then dived for a tackle. It hit Ekans and sent him sliding across the bridge. He wasn't about to give up, though, and went back. He used his Glare, paralyzing the Pidgey, then combo'd it with his Bite. It made the Pidgey flinch, but it wasn't able to move much and was defeated.

Tristan tackled the Nidoran, sending it flying away, and used a Gust on it, flapping his wings to create wind. The Nidoran had an answer for that in the form of Double Kick, charging towards Tristan and kicked him once, then missed the second time. Tristan used Confusion on her, making her headbutt the bridge which knocked her out.

The lass said the same as the other three, then Aeris headed towards the fifth trainer, a teenage boy. "I'll stomp ya!" he said enthusiastically. We'll see about that. Aeris saw that the boy sent out a Mankey. She had not expected that. She wondered if she should let Blaze fight this time, but she figured Ekans might be able to fight against the Mankey. Before starting the fight, though, she picked up a Potion from her backpack and used it on Ekans so he would be in top shape. She put the empty bottle back in her backpack, then sent Ekans out.

The Mankey was quick to use Karate Chop on Ekans, who let out a small cry of pain, but used the opportunity to use Poison Sting on the Mankey. He managed to poison him, and the Mankey felt ill, but still stood, presumably on stubbornness alone. He used a Low Kick on Ekans, but missed when Ekans slithered away and bit him on one arm, then wrapped around him, trying to squeeze him. The Mankey tried to get Ekans off him, but wasn't able to and used all his strength trying to get Ekans off which along with being poisoned made him weaker. Ekans bit him once more and Mankey was defeated. Aeris was proud of Ekans for defeating a stronger opponent and hugged him. Ekans wrapped himself so that he was on Aeris' shoulders, and not so that he would choke her.

The teenage boy gave her victory money, just like the other trainers had done, and Aeris walked to the end of the bridge, where it seemed a sixth trainer waited. "Congratulations! You've beaten the five trainers of Nugget Bridge! As a reward, here is your Nugget." He took out a golden nugget and handed it over to Aeris. "Ooooo, shiny." Aeris said and put it in her backpack. "You know, the way you handled these trainers, you would make an excellent Team Rocket member." Aeris gave him an evil eye. "You think I want to join your low life gang that tortures Pokemon and uses them for your own gain? Not a chance." The Rocket chuckled. "Are you sure? Absolutely?" "Absolutely sure. No way am I going to join you." Aeris folded her arms, still not letting up on her evil eye.

"If that's the case, then I'll just have to make you join!" The Rocket reached for his Pokeballs, sending out an Ekans and a Zubat. This time, Aeris couldn't contain her laughter. "Seriously? You expect me to want to join you when you send that against me? No offense, Ekans." Ekans knew she meant no offense. The Ekans the Rocket was using had been converted and wasn't the same as he was. Aeris sent Ekans and Tristan against the Rocket's Ekans and Zubat. Ekans opted to go for the other Ekans, while Tristan took on the Zubat.

Aeris' Ekans started the battle with Glare, which didn't hit the other Ekans who countered that with Bite. Aeris' Ekans used Bite himself, then wrapped around the other Ekans to try and squeeze him, as awkward as that looked. He looked into the Rocket's Ekans' eyes and tried Glare again, which worked this time, leaving the enemy Ekans paralyzed. Aeris' Ekans used another Bite while squeezing him and soon enough, the Rocket's Ekans was defeated.

Zubat used Supersonic on Tristan, leaving him confused. He tried to fight it off and managed to use a Confusion on Zubat, sending it flying into the water nearby. It came back out of it, both it and Tristan no longer confused. Tristan used Gust on the Zubat and sent it flying away. It hit the side of the bridge and was knocked out.

The Rocket was defeated and wasn't happy about it. "Alright, you won." He handed her a fair amount of money. "I'll leave. But we'll meet again!" He left the scene, leaving Aeris with a big smile on her face. "That's the second time I win against a Rocket. But I wonder if he'll be bitter about it and want to defeat me again later. Well, I have my trusty Pokemon with me, so I don't worry much about it." Ekans had grown stronger from the battles, and so had Tristan, but Ekans more so. He was still timid, though, but was comfortable enough now to be around Eileen and Hughes.

Aeris was about to answer Eileen when Tyler showed up. "Hey, Tyler. Yeah, we encountered them in Mt. Moon. They were easy to beat, plus I got one of them to show me where they had dug up fossils. Got myself one. Just need to get back to Cinnabar Lab to get them to revive it." Aeris took out the fossil she had in her backpack, showing it to Eileen. It had what looked like a dome, which anyone that would know about fossils would know that it was a Kabuto fossil. Aeris didn't know that, otherwise she would have thrown it away.

She put it back in her backpack. Then she patted Ekans on the head. "You did a very good job." She also patted Tristan. "You too. You've certainly grown stronger, that I can tell. Maybe we can find some new Pokemon in the grass around here. Though I don't know if I want to get near it..." Since it was near water with no railing near it, she was unsure. However, she thought she spotted some more grass further up near the mountains.

The Cerulean police station appeared simple enough. Blue and white were the colours of choice, with a few posters up around the place, and a few rows of seats scattered around the entrance hall. A lone officer dressed in a blue uniform sat behind a desk at the far end of the small room, typing at a computer, and Rochelle quickly made her way over.

"Something I can help you with?" the officer asked as she looked up from her keyboard. Rochelle noted a small name-plate on the desk: it read Officer C. Jenny in simple engraved lettering. She took a second to compose herself, taking a breath to calm her slightly jittery nerves, and answered, "I need to report a crime."

"Could you please be a little more specific? Theft, assault, Team Rocket activity..." Rochelle stopped Jenny at the third possibility. "Yes, Team Rocket. At Mount Moon, to be precise. It's, uh... it's a somewhat long story."

"There hasn't been any sign of Team Rocket operating at Mt. Moon in four years. Are you sure it was them?" The officer was skeptical, Rochelle could tell that much. Perhaps she didn't believe that they were as big of a threat as they had been. Perhaps she believed that the Trainer was mistaken due to her relative youth. Either way, all that Rochelle had to say was the truth. Setting her pack down on the floor, she took a seat in front of the desk - Natalya hopping down to her lap and preening for a second before she settled down - and recounted as much of the basics of the Team Rocket incident as she could remember, focusing more on the Rocket activity than her own mishaps and avoiding the use of any of her friends' names. At a couple of points in the recount, she had to pause and take a moment to collect herself. Each time Jenny was sympathetic, passing her a box of tissues the first time.

"This is terrible news. The Rockets are getting bolder than they have been in past years. And you haven't called your parents yet?" Jenny asked Rochelle, to clarify. Rochelle shook her head, saying that she had planned to call them after speaking to law enforcement. "Here, I'll put you through to them," the officer said, picking up her phone and hitting a few keys to contact the operator desk.

"Yes, hello. Sanders residence, Goldenrod City, please," she instructed the operator, giving Rochelle a smile as she waited. When the phone picked up at the other end, she said, "Hi, Sanders residence? My name's Officer Jenny, calling from the Cerulean City police station. I have your daughter Rochelle here with me; she told me that she's been through a traumatic ordeal. Would you like to speak to her?" Moments later Jenny held the phone out to Rochelle. "It's your mother."

Rochelle accepted the handset, nervous about speaking to her parents over the phone. "Mum?"

"Rochelle... what's the problem, love? Homesick already? 'Cause you can come home anytime you want." Officer Jenny had chosen her words well: Dayna was unaware that Rochelle had been captured by Team Rocket.

"No, no, I'm okay. I just... you should know," Rochelle began, her nervousness building as she spoke. "On my way to Cerulean with a few others, I was, uh... kidnapped. By Team Rocket."

"You were WHAT?! Oh, God, are you sure you're alright? I should come over there... it's a shame Jon's working right now..." Dayna was starting to become hysterical. Rochelle had to calm her down quickly before she did something a bit too rash. Thankfully she wasn't speaking to her father, who would most likely follow the 'over-protective dad' route and get on the next Magnet Train as soon as humanly possible.

"No, no, Mum, I'm perfectly fine. We're all fine," she quickly explained. "They didn't do anything to me or my Pokémon, just locked me up for a little while until one of my friends broke me out. I'm fine, really. I have friends with me, and it won't happen again - "

"You can't be sure of that! Who knows what they might do, Rochelle?" Dayna interrupted, her hysterics rising. It wasn't working. Mercifully, Officer Jenny had given her some space to take the call, going through some paperwork while she waited.

"Mum, please, just hear me out. I have friends, and we all have Pokémon with us, and we're a team of our own. If I wasn't with them, I wouldn't be here talking to you. Next time I see someone from Team Rocket, I'm gonna run in the opposite direction, I promise you that. And I will come home eventually. I just want to keep going despite this. My journey with Pokémon is only just getting started... you understand, right?"

Dayna didn't answer immediately; she was most likely thinking it over. Then she gave a nostalgic sigh into the phone and said, "Of course. I remember when I was your age... my Clefable and I having such adventures. But you have to be much more careful, Rochelle, you hear me?"

"Always, Mum. I'll call more often as well," Rochelle promised.

"Alright. Until next time, then. Love you."

"Love you too. Bye," Rochelle said, waiting for Dayna to hang up before she did so herself. At the sound of the headset clicking back into place, Officer Jenny returned to the desk with the papers she had been filling out. "She's okay? Nothing to worry about?"

"Everything's fine," Rochelle answered. Jenny gave her another smile and explained the paperwork: a standard incident-report form, which Rochelle agreed to signing. Jenny had already dealt with the description of the incident, persons involved and severity of the problems caused. All it needed was her signature, which she provided after reading through it to make sure it was accurate.

"This will give us some more evidence to help take down any Team Rocket members we find," Jenny added once Rochelle passed the form back. "Since they disbanded we've been picking up pieces of their old operations, getting an insight into what they were up to... but you don't really need to hear that, do you?" Rochelle heartily agreed, having already had a too-close-for-comfort experience with the criminal organisation and no desire to get involved with them any more.

"Then I guess we're done here. Thank you for coming in; enjoy the rest of your day," Jenny said, ending the conversation with a smile.

"And thank you. See you another time, perhaps in better circumstances," Rochelle said, picking up her heavy pack and slinging it about her shoulders, carrying the inattentive Natalya in her arms as she walked out of the station. Reporting Team Rocket's activities hadn't taken very long; there was still plenty of time in the day, though Rochelle was unsure what she should do. She didn't know where anyone else was at the moment, so she began to head back to the Pokémon Center. With any luck one of the group would be there.

"Well, I'm at least going to have Tristan and Ekans take a little rest in the sun before I continue battling, be it wild Pokemon or other Trainers." Aeris lied down on the ground further away from the water and the bridge. She was glad to have gotten a golden nugget from that trouble with the Rocket, though encountering another Rocket so soon after their affairs in Mt. Moon was worrying. But she didn't want to think about it right now.

Blaze lied down with her and Tristan did the same, just on the other side of Aeris so Blaze's tailfire wouldn't catch him on fire. Ekans, however, wanted to take a better look at this new trainer and her Pokemon. "Ekanssssss..." You don't look so bad. A nice person. And great fighting yesterday against that water gym leader. he said first to Eileen, then to Hughes.

It was one of those late rising mornings for Jordan. He woke up slowly looking around the room. Everyone had already gone off, it had seemed. "Shoot, like everyone is just out." He headed out to the reception area, the Joy still standing on duty there. "Hey, um you know those people, I was like here with last night...where did they go?"

"If I recall correctly, they were heading out North to Route 24 for some training," the Joy informed him, the smile not leaving her face.

"All right. Thanks Nurse bro. I'll head out there." Jordan then headed out the door.

It was a bit of a walk, and the sound of trainers bemoaning their defeats as he crossed over a bridge didn't help much. However from the raised vantage point, he could spot Red and the New Girl near some grass on the other side.

"Hey, yo!" he shouted out as he jogged over to the two. "Hey broettes, what's going on out here? Are you, like, doing stuff? Are there more Pokemon around here?"

Ekans liked it when Eileen petted his head. He stuck his tongue out in pleasure when she did that. He crawled back to Aeris when she and Hughes left to chase after an Oddish. Aeris waved after them. "Yeah, meet up later!" she called after her. "Yeah, there are more Pokemon here. I was just chilling out a little before doing some more training with Ekans and Tristan."

She let Xal out, who immediately avoided the water like hot lava. He headbutted straight into a tree, which caused an Exeggcute to fall out of it. "Awww, that's an adorable Pokemon." Aeris took out her Pokedex and got data on him. "Ekans, show those eggs what you're made out of!" Ekans crawled over to the six eggs and beat them in a few moves. "Xal, see if there's something else in that tree." Xal was, oddly enough, enthusiastic over hitting the tree again and headbutted it. A giant pine-cone dropped out of it. Again Aeris aimed at it with her Pokedex and got data on Pineco. "Tristan, it's your turn." Tristan used Sleep Powder on the Pineco, making it fall asleep, then tackled it and used Confusion. It was beaten as well.

"Good job, guys." Something caught Aeris' eye. A Venonat. "Oooo, that'd be nice to have. Blaze, I choose you!" Blaze stood up and chased after the Venonat, using Ember on it and her new attack, Dragon Rage, which looked like many small fires chasing after, surrounding and hitting their target. The Venonat was at the mercy of Blaze when she had used enough Embers on it. Aeris picked up an empty Pokeball and threw it at the Venonat. It was absorbed into the Pokeball and began shaking a little. After a few moments, a click was heard, signaling the capture of a new Pokemon. Aeris picked up the Pokeball and let her new Venonat out.

"Welcome to the team, Venonat. Or how about I call you...just a moment." She picked up her Pokedex and aimed it at her Venonat.

Venonat
Insect Pokemon
Types: Bug / Poison
Height: 1.0 m / 3'03"
Weight: 30.0 kg / 66.1 lbs
Its eyes also function as radar units. It catches and eats small bugs that hide in darkness.
Moves: Tackle. Supersonic. Confusion. PoisonPowder.

Additional info gave away that this particular Venonat was female. "Oooo, another female in the team aside from Blaze. Not bad, not bad. I think I'll call you...Sonya." Venonat seemed to like that name. "Sonya it is then." Xal had followed after Aeris and Blaze, and Tristan and Ekans came with him. Now Aeris had five Pokemon. She was rather impressed with herself now.

After breakfast, which included an omelet for Simon and medium-rare steak for Shadow, the two began to wander around Cerulean City. Simon took his time since he'd never been to Cerulean City before. At least, not the daytime. Now that buildings were properly lit he could identify the shops and restaurants. And office buildings. One building in particular made him stop to consider going in. But he wasn't quite sure that he wanted to...

To give himself time to decide Simon stopped by the Pokémart and bought a few Pokéballs and replacement Potions. He also used the opportunity to trash the broken bottle remnants from the awakening he'd thrown at Shadow in the cave. They wandered for a bit longer. Until Simon couldn't avoid the building he was circling anymore.

"Hey, Shadow." Simon called to get his Pokemon's attention.

"Migh?" Shadow answered. He left the patch of dirt he'd been digging into and padded over to his trainer. "Yen?"

"I think I need to go in here." Simon said reluctantly.

Painted in bold shades of blue and grey the Police Station wasn't very big but it was still intimidating. Thick, heavy glass doors lead to a cold tile floor lobby. And lots of metal chairs. That didn't look in any way comfortable.

"Wait here." Simon instructed quietly. He dropped his pack onto one of the chairs and pointed.

"Mighhhh" Shadow ducked under the indicated chair. He stretched out to his full length on the floor, easily spanning four of the chairs.

Simon grinned despite his unease. He turned to look for someone to talk to. There were a lot of desks piled with paperwork. But very few people available. Simon approached the closest desk that was occupied. A petite blonde woman looked up as Simon approached.

"Hello." The nameplate on the woman's desk read Det. Rebecca. The last name was partially hidden by an overflowing paperclip holder.

"Hello ma'am. I have-" Simon paused. He wasn't really reporting a crime. He wanted to get rid of the weapon he was toting around in the bottom of his pack. What could he call it, though?

"I have a piece of evidence used in a crime, I'd like to turn it in." he settled on. Then he frowned at the awkward wording. He wasn't *admitting* to a crime either.

"Okay. So you're reporting a crime." The young detective began to pull out a series of forms while Simon was still forming his clarification. "What is the nature of this crime you're reporting?" A sharp click sounded as the woman twisted her pen and began to fill in the first few lines of info.

"I have a-." Simon paused again. 'How should I put it?'. He waited long enough that the detective looked up from her writing. She seemed slightly annoyed that Simon hadn't just answered. So he went with the shortest version of the truth he could think of. "I fought a member of Team Rocket in Mt. Moon and took his weapon after defeating him."

"Team Rocket!" The woman's voice rose sharply and the pen dropped from her hand. Unchecked and with considerable momentum the pen rolled across the desk and dropped to the floor. The deceptive stared at Simon with an unreadable expression. Simon took a step away from the desk at the abrupt change in demeanor. Had he said something wrong?

"Another incident?" A woman Simon didn't recognize suddenly appeared next the desk. Simon took another step back. Unlike the young woman he'd been talking to, this officer was visibly older with blue hair showing from beneath the hat that sat securely on her head.

"Officer Jenny!" The young detective now looked flustered. "This boy here..." she gestured to Simon and the trainer took it upon himself to finish the sentence. He pretended that he was reporting to his boss. It made things easier. As he began to speak the detective ducked down to retrieve her pen.

"My traveling companions and I were attacked by Team Rocket in Mt. Moon." Simon explained. "I fought one member and relieved him of his weapon. I brought it here to turn it in. Ma'am." Simon stood up straight and gestured to his pack that was next to Shadow. He made no move to leave the desk. The deceptive straightened her chair but seemed empty-handed.

"I see. Wait here please." Officer Jenny retrieved Simon's pack herself, setting it down on the desk when she returned. Officer and detective looked at the dirt covered and battered pack. The detective looked somewhat displeased. Shadow's ears flickered as he watched the scene from his spot but the Pokémon remained on the floor. He wasn't happy with people messing with his trainer's stuff.

"What's your name?" Officer Jenny asked while she carefully prodded the bag with a pencil.

"Simon. Simon Braddock." The trainer replied immediately.

"Simon, do I have your consent to go through your belongings?"

Simon blinked in surprise. For a fleeting moment he thought of the clothes he hadn't washed yet and the food that was probably stale by now. 'She's probably seen worse?' He hoped so.

"Go ahead." he replied. His brief displeased expression matched the detective's.

Officer Jenny nodded briskly and disappeared into a side office Simon hadn't noticed with his pack in hand.

Which left Simon and the young detective in silence. A minute passed. And then another. Det. Rebecca clicked a new pen on and continued filling out her forms. Simon caught bits and pieces of her quiet muttering though. Something about 'unfair promotions' and 'jurisdictions'.

"Ma'am, is it okay if I go sit down?" Simon pointed to where Shadow was still waiting. He got a quick nod in response.

Simon took a slow breath in as he walked toward the uncomfortable looking chairs. Shadow stood up, immediately happy, when he saw his trainer approach. "Rrrf" The Mightyena shook himself quickly. He was ready to go back outside.

"Simon?" Just as he was about to sit down Simon heard his name being called. He turned around and saw Officer Jenny was once again at the desk and had a manilla folder in one hand. Simon's pack was on the floor next to the Officer. And it looked like someone had brushed most of the dirt off of the outside.

'They cleaned my pack?' Simon frowned as he returned to the desk. 'That's kind of odd.'

"We identified the gun thanks to the serial number still being intact and it's been tagged for evidence. A Rochelle Sanders reported an incident similar to the yours just a short while ago. Was she in your group?" Officer Jenny asked. She had her own pen in hand and was poised to write something down.

"Yes. Yes she was. Is." Simon answered. He hadn't seen the others in a while but he assumed they were still together.

"Alright. We'll put your report with the one she's already filed." From a folder Officer Jenny pulled out a triplicate form. "We just need you to fill out the following sections and sign here and here...."

....

Once he was through signing the many-colored forms and putting his signature on every -other- page Simon was asked to verbally list what he remembered about the Team Rocket members. Unfortunately he could only clearly recall the one that he battled. Simon described 'Grunt' with as much detail as possible, complete with his abusive outlook on Pokémon training. The other Team Rocket members he gave the few details he remembered. Part of the way through his story Simon realized nothing had been said about the Pokémon he'd acquired as a result of the fight. He'd listed it among the events but neither officer nor detective had commented on it.

'What does that mean?' Simon wondered. He still didn't know what to do with the Drowzee. He assumed he would need to give it up or...he would be asked to drop it off somewhere...once he told the 'officials' about the whole ordeal.

"Thank you for your cooperation." Simon looked up quickly. He was being dismissed. The detective was stapling his forms and Officer Jenny was holding out her hand.

"You're welcome." The reply was automatic as was the handshake.

Shadow met Simon halfway to the door. Together the two left the station. With no particular destination in mind, and still slightly preoccupied, Simon picked a path and began to walk. A sign he passed but didn't notice read <---- Pokémon Center.

Rochelle was taking her time walking through the city, unsure of what she should be doing or where anyone else was. Maybe they were already challenging the Gym in Cerulean, or out training somewhere... they could be all over the place for all she knew. She would have to call someone to find out.

After coaxing Natalya off of her arm and up onto her shoulder, Rochelle raised her left arm and flipped open the top of her Pokégear, selecting the small cellphone icon. The list of numbers she had stored blinked into life: aside from those belonging to her home phone and parents' cellphones, she had phone numbers belonging to... Jordan. His was the only one. No-one else had written their number down in the café in Pewter, when she had suggested it. Slightly bugged by this lack of co-ordination among the group, Rochelle closed the Pokégear and resumed her wandering route back to the Pokémon Center. She resolved to pester almost everyone else for theirs; that way situations like this wouldn't happen in the future.

As Rochelle walked along, coming to an intersection, Natalya was looking around all over the place. Spotting something, she chirped once in her Trainer's ear and jumped off of her shoulder. The little bird flew around Rochelle's head once before coming to a stop in midair, pointing with her beak back down the path they had taken. "Krow, Murrrkrow," she chirruped, seeming insistent about something.

"What? What is it?" Rochelle asked, confused. She turned to look behind her, and saw nothing out of the ordinary at first, just people going about their daily lives... and then she saw the black and grey Pokémon walking alongside a familiar figure. The Pokémon was about three feet tall... Rochelle wondered what it was, and where Simon had found it. She waved to the other Trainer as Natalya shot off in flight to get a closer look. Not that she needed it; as a bird Pokémon, she probably had better eyesight than Rochelle.

The Trainer followed in her Murkrow's wake, heading back down the road to meet up with Simon. Natalya circled back and landed on her shoulder as she got closer, ready to intervene if necessary. She wanted no harm to come to Rochelle.

Jordan watched the two girls battling the local flora and fauna and a thought crossed his mind, as it occasionally does. I should probably let the bros out, let them do some stuff. He reached into his pockets and pulled out his Pokeballs, released the three current members of his team into the open. Vince came out first, triumphantly raising his scythes. Then Spike, manically moving around as usual. Finally, darkness. It took a second to register, but it seemed that Vicky had latched herself onto the brim of Jordan's hat, in an effort to stay out of the sunlight.

"Ah, OK bros, start fighting some of the stuff around here. Train and stuff."

Vince and Spike nodded, not that Jordan could see, and headed off to find some combatants. Vicky remained rooted firmly on her new perch.

"Vicky bro, come on, you can't be hanging on my hat there like that."

"Bitbit! Zubitbit! Zubitbitbit!" No. I said sunlight sucks! I'm not going out there! You can't make me!

"Come on, you like, gotta be able to go out there. You gotta get like, strong and stuff. You can't be doing that on my hat."

"Zubitbitbitbitzubit!" But I don't want to, cause it's all bright!

"Vicky, come on little broette. You'll be fine. Nothing's going to hurt you...I don't think."

"Bitbitbit!" Ooh, confident!

"Come on, trust me. You'll be fine."

Vicky hung there for a moment before answering, not that Jordan could understand. "Bitbitzubitbitbitbitzubit!" Fine, but if I get hurt, I'm going to be so angry! After that, Vicky flew out from under Jordan's brim and joined Vince and Spike in battling the other Pokemon of the area.

Jordan breathed a sigh of relief. "Least Vicky didn't like bite me or something..." It was getting handy to noon, and Jordan hadn't seen anyone else from the group today, so he decided to text the two numbers that he had. To Fary and Rochelle he sent out a quick text. Hey. Where u guys @? Im up by a bridg. U neer?

"I think I should get you healed at the Poke Center, so for now it'd be best if you return to your ball." Aeris aimed Sonya's Pokeball at her and she returned in it in a red light. Ekans, Tristan and Xal were busy fighting other Pokemon, with Xal headbutting trees for Pokemon there.

Blaze in the meanwhile stayed with Aeris while they walked after the other three. After fighting for a while, the three male Pokemon returned back to Aeris to relax a bit. They all lied down on the grass, and Aeris let out Sonya who lied down with them. All six of them had a very nice lie down. That was, until another trainer apparently challenged them to a battle. "You don't have time to relax, chick. Show me what your Pokemon can do." It seemed to be some rather muscular guy who sent out a Machop and a Geodude. "Alright, if you want to." Aeris stood up and returned Xal and Sonya to their respective Pokeballs, then put them on her belt. She sent Tristan and Ekans to deal with the opponents.

Tristan took on the Geodude, while Ekans took on the Machop. Tristan started the battle with Confusion, sending the Geodude spinning into a nearby tree. Then he tackled it, or tried to as much as one can tackle an opponent made out of rock. He decided to stick with Confusion and used a Sleep Powder on it to make it fall asleep. It worked, and the Geodude hadn't managed to do much to Tristan aside from when he tackled it. The Geodude was out.

Ekans had some difficulty with Machop. His Glare didn't affect him at first, but then he used a Poison Sting which managed to poison it. Though poisoned, the Machop still fought on, using Karate Chop on Ekans. Ekans hissed in pain and bit Machop for that. The Machop used its Low Sweep attack, sending Ekans sliding across the ground for a bit before coming to a stop near a tree. Aeris was ready to take him back to his ball, but Ekans slithered back to the Machop with speed, wrapping around it, squeezing it. The Machop fought against Ekans, but the poison drained his strength until it fainted. Aeris was the victor and the trainer handed her some money. "You're a good trainer. Maybe I'll see you again. Name's Manny." He headed towards Cerulean City to heal his Pokemon.

Aeris thought it was weird that he introduced himself after the fight, but thought little of it. With two Pokemon, possibly three with Tristan, she decided it would be best to head back to Cerulean City like Manny had done. Walking back, she met up with Jordan near Nugget Bridge. "Hey there. Have you seen Eileen? We seem to have gotten separated after we ran off to train our Pokemon."

'I could keep him but he may not want to stay. I could release him, but what if Team Rocket finds him again. It would be just like before. I'm not sure I want to risk that. I could ask him myself but then I'd need some sort of Pokémon translator. Maybe the professor has one.' Simon sighed quietly. Rescuing the Drowzee had been an instinctive move. One that he didn't regret. But now things were a bit complicated. He felt a little uncomfortable not having captured the Pokémon the traditional way. He didn't know how Team Rocket acquired their Pokémon. He didn't imagine that they were fair in any of their fights.

Beside of Simon Shadow was walking at, what was for him, a slow pace. He really wanted to run. But there too many people on the path. The Pokémon occasionally stopped to sniff at the landscaping in front of the shops and the people walking by. The landscaping remained undisturbed but the occasional frown was turned Shadow's way. Distracted by his debate, Simon didn't notice.

"Arrroo?" Tilting his head Shadow gave a quiet whine. He stuck his nose close to the dirt and inhaled. There was something familiar about the scent he'd just caught.

"Huh, what is it?" Simon asked. No longer focused on his thoughts he let the sounds of his surroundings filter in.

Shadow yipped and began to move faster down the path toward something. The Pokémon's slim body weaved through the small crowd with ease. Simon followed, moving slower due to the necessary 'excuse me's he had to keep telling people.

"Shadow?" Simon questioned.

When the trainer reached a completely clear space he saw what Shadow had already sensed. A familiar figure waved to both Pokémon and trainer. Simon answered Rochelle's wave with one of his own. Shadow yipped and turned in a circle before moving forward eagerly.