I'M FINALLY BACK! *Cheers from all*

		To Be A True Master - The Journey Of A Lifetime


	Part 18 -  	The Pallet Trainer's Steady Obstacle! (Continued)

	An hour later, Jessie had FINALLY caught her sixth pokemon, a rather weak 
Drowzee, which she decided would not see much combat.  James caught a 
Sandshrew, but had it transferred to his private pokemon box.  All trainers, 
or at least the ones who don't know their town's professor personally, have 
their own pokemon boxes.  When they capture more than six pokemon, the new 
pokemon is transferred to that box.  And either through their pokedex (which 
will charge money to their account) or through a videophone (which only 
costs the phone call) they can withdraw and deposit pokemon.
	James traded in his Spearow for the Sandshrew, but also decided not to 
train it very much.  I understood his concept, of training one pokemon to be 
more powerful in a team.  Many trainers did that, and rose to be pokemon 
masters.  I, however decided that evolving makes pokemon stronger, so I 
concentrate on a pokemon, evolve it, then use it only when it is needed.
	That night we spent camped out in a clearing in the grass which Jessie's 
Vileplume cut with its Petal Dance.  The next morning was rather slow, no 
wait a minute, it was fast.  HOLY COW, WE WERE MISSING THE SHIP! Breakfast 
was nonexistent as we tore across the field, James still struggling to pull 
on his Jacket, Jessie trying to put on makeup on the run, and Lark seemingly 
the only one ready.  Arcanine bounded ahead, spraying Spearows, Sandshrews 
and Drowzees out of his path and trampling the long grasses.
	We barely made it on our ship, which set sail at 10 am.  It was called the 
Viridian Voyager, a rather peculiar name I thought.  It was not a pleasure 
cruiser, it was a sturdy ship with moderately sized living quarters and a 
good speed.  It was supposed to arrive at Cinnabar Island in two to three 
days.  Jessie, James, Lark, Meowth, Arcanine and I of course would be 
stopping a mile off-shore of Cinnabar Island, to stay on a small uninhabited 
island for several days.
	That night we spent on deck, and I fought Jessie, James and Lark.  We 
decided to fight each other when we had the time, just to sharpen our 
skills, and level up our pokemon.  Needless to say, I beat them all, though 
Lark was the hardest.  Like I said before, she didn't evolve her pokemon, 
but they all had surprising endurance, and their minimal attacks wore away 
at my pokemon.  She even used her new Growlithe, which Arcanine effortlessly 
defeated, as Lark had not trained the little puppy much.
	That night I borrowed a fishing pole from one of the sailors of the 
Viridian Voyager.  I didn't catch much, only a Magikarp and a Horsea, both 
of which went to Professor Oak.  Early in the morning I was awakened by the 
blowing of the ship's horn.  I had fallen asleep not in my warm comfortable 
cabin, but on a chair on the deck, still holding the fishing pole.  Someone, 
probably Lark, had thoughtfully wrapped me up in a blanket so I wouldn't 
freeze.
	"Aye, Lad, this be where yar supposed to get off!" Yelled the sailor whose 
fishing pole I had borrowed.  I stood up and rubbed my eyes, looking around. 
  A little way from the ship was a small island, which couldn't have been 
much bigger than a mile long by a mile wide.  It was dominated by a small 
mountain, which had a rather thin forest surrounding it.
	Ten minutes later the Viridian Voyager's lifeboat hit the shore of the 
island, unloaded several days worth of food and air tanks for underwater 
diving, an inflatable boat, and left me and my companions there.  Four 
hours.  THAT was how long it took us to set up a campsite by the beach.  Our 
first three sites were overrun with Crabbys and other such annoying pokemon. 
  Yes, I did catch one of them, but I swore I'd never use the annoying 
little thing.  After we'd finally finished setting up camp, we rested.  I 
can't say I blamed myself and my friends for dozing off, it was, after all, 
a beautiful, secluded place.  The sun was bright, the island was somewhat 
quiet, and there were no other people around.
	Later that day, only an hour before sunset, Lark woke us up.  We worked for 
twenty minutes to blow our boat full of air, then finally paddled off into 
the now darkening waters.
	"Eevee!" Eevee squeaked as it sent its yellow indicator beam down into the 
water.
	"Great," I said, throwing my hands up into the air.  "We'll never be able 
to find it! That bem doesn't reach far enough, and we sure can't take him 
down with us!" I said furiously, and of course, the little coward pokemon 
cried and disappeared.
	"Calm down," Lark said, putting a hand on my shoulder.  "We have a general 
idea of where it is, all we have to do is search for it for a while."
	"Yeah...." I conceded.  "Okay, let's go.  Lark and Meowth you stay up here 
and keep watch, Jessie, James you're with me, let's go." I took a moment to 
temporarily replace one of my pokemon with Vaporeon, then called out the 
marine type, held onto his shoulders, and dove down deep into the water with 
an hour's worth of air in my tank.
	"You guys gettin' me?" I asked into the radio built into my scuba gear.
	"I'm receiving," James chirped back after a moment.
	"Okay, got your frequency," Jessie's voice said after a minute.
	"Okay, split up guys, comb the floor, and keep an eye out for wild pokemon 
and air supply," I instructed, then patted Vaporeon's back and we took off.  
Nothing.  The three of us searched until sunset, but found only water 
pokemon, none of whom we could battle or capture underwater.  We paddled 
back to the island in almost pitch black dark, as there were no lights 
around.  When we arrived on the beach, the moon was our only source of 
illumination when it finally came out from its cloud cover.
	"Hey!" I shouted, running towards our campsite.  I arrived just in time to 
see a blue shell disappearing into the forest, thwarted from carrying off my 
backpack.
	The next morning dawned rather cool, so Jessie, James, Meowth and me were 
naturally inclined to hanging out near the camp for the day.  Lark would 
have none of it.
	"GET UP YOU LAZY WIMPS, WE'VE GOT WORK TO DO!" She bellowed, in a voice so 
forceful that it sent our entire group to the boat.
	"Meowth, you stay here, Lark, it's your turn to come down with us," I said 
with a scowl in her direction.  She grinned and saluted.  I just curled my 
fist until the knuckles were white.
	"See anything yet guys?" I asked into the scuba-radio.
	"If we did, you'd be the first to know," Jessie said in an annoyed voice.  
Among our entire group, Lark seemed to be the only one really happy about 
being underwater, which was unusual, considering that she trained fire 
pokemon.
	"Hey Jack, I see something...." Lark's voice said into my ear, quiet 
through some kind of interference.  I turned, and saw her some distance 
away, swimming between two huge boulders.
	"Hey, Lark, wait up, you need an escort!" I yelled.  My message didn't get 
through to her, or she chose to ignore me, but whatever the reason, she 
continued on into the murky waters.
	"Dang.  Jessie, James you two keep looking, I'm going after her."
	Everything was alarmingly calm as I moved through the rapidly darkening 
waters, moving deeper, and deeper, down into an underwater canyon.  Fish 
became more and more scarce, and I began to be worried as Lark steadily 
gained distance in front of me.  Without a sound in the all-silent world, I 
released Vaporeon.  I quickly grabbed onto his back, and he took off at a 
fast pace.  Soon, we saw Lark ahead of us.
	My eyes widened as a dark sense of foreboding washed over my senses.  
"LARK!" I howled into my radio.  Just as she turned and waved at me, about a 
hundred feet away.  A boulder on the floor of the canyon stirred, and even 
in the nearly pitch-black water I noticed it.  Big as a Charcloy and 
straight as a spear, the thing sprang from the ocean floor, charging towards 
Lark.
	Lark whipped around towards the thing.  Even though this was a very violent 
and dangerous moment, all was dead silent, as if mocking us.  I thought I 
saw a faint yellow light shine where our attacker had been resting, but I 
disregarded it as Vaporeon shot off to Lark.  It was a race, and our 
opponent was well built for the challenge.  Vaporeon paddled furiously, head 
straight forward, his goal being Lark.  Our enemy opened his mouth as he 
neared Lark.
	Like a missile Vaporeon sped past Lark, and I just had the time to grab her 
wrist, yank her onto Vaporeon's back, then hold her hands down on his scaley 
fin.  I motioned frantically for Vaporeon to go up, and he understood, 
acknowledging the command with a nod and a swift change in direction.  I 
didn't have to look behind me or listen to know that the monster was still 
following us.
	Lark yelped into her radio as she lost her grip on Vaporeon in the waves of 
water.  I instinctively snatched her as she dropped past me.  The force of 
her descent was so great that she nearly pulled me off as well.  I held on 
to Vaporeon's tail with one hand, and Lark's arm with the other.  Her eyes 
looked up at me, half-lidded.  The force of the water hitting her was slowly 
driving her unconscious.  Her grip began to slacken.  I looked past her and 
saw a gaping maw and rows of huge, sharp teeth.  I looked back up, and could 
see the bottom of our boat, Meowth's face poking over it, then disappearing. 
  He was smart, and right before we hit the boat from the bottom, he dove 
out, splashing down beside me.
	BAM! Vaporeon streaked right up into the air, popping from the water like a 
flying fish.  Lark and I both let go, she hitting the water and laying face 
up, me dropping down in momentary shock.  I recovered five seconds later, 
just in time to hear Meowth shriek.  The poor little cat received the full 
brunt of the water-exit of the thing that had chased us.  I watched in 
horror as a huge head appeared, followed by golden spikes.  Then the body 
appeared, red scales zipping out of the water, followed by a ten foot long 
blue tail.  Meowth, unfortunately, was swept up onto Ultrareon's back, where 
he clung to a spike, shivering and wide-eyed.
	"EEEEEEEEAAAAAAAA!" he screamed as he left my view, traveling up into the 
air on Ultrareon's back.
	"I be called Ultrareon, slayer of all in my path!" Ultrareon roared, 
turning in mid-air and hanging there for a moment.  He had obviously been a 
busy boy, as he was now 40 feet tall, taller even than Charcloy's 35
	"Now, Soniq, you are all mine!" He said with a low chuckle.
	"Not a chance!" I yelled, then hurled Charcloy's Ultra Ball into the air.  
"Go, Charcloy!"
	Charcloy flew into the air straight from his pokeball, instantly knowing 
his nemesis was there.  As I had expected, Ultrareon's attitude completely 
changed when he saw Charcloy, who he saw as a personal Pokemon enemy.  With 
a thunderous roar Ultrareon hurtled in at Charcloy recklessly.
	"Charcloy, Tail Smash!" I ordered, then righted the boat.  Charcloy dodged 
out of Ultrareon's way, then his tal came around in a painful whip, sending 
Ultrareon into the sea with a splash.
	"Guys, we need help back at the boat!" I cried into my radio.  I faintly 
heard Jessie and James's voice, but I assumed they were coming and pulled my 
mask off.  "Watch it Cha-"
	A long funnel of water burst from the water, held in place by an egually 
appearing Ultrareon.  Both attack and attacker hit Charcloy at the same 
time, tossing him a hundred feet higher into the air.  Ultrareon stayed 
where he was above me for a moment, and I could faintly see Meowth still 
looking frantically for a means of escape.  Charcloy came in again, and from 
the fire in his eyes, and coming out of his mouth, I could see this was a 
battle I could not control.
	Charcloy slammed into Ultrareon, and both recoiled, dazed.  It was then 
that Jessie and James surface, popping up together several feet from me.  
"Guys, I've got a plan, release your Jolteons onto the boat!" I yelled.  As 
they did that, I swam over to Lark.  "I'm going to need Pikachu for a little 
while," I whispered to her unconscious form.  I took Pikachu's pokeball from 
her belt, then hesitated.  I quickly pulled her mask off and gave her a 
quick kiss on the cheek, then swam over to the boat.
	"Pika!"
	"Eon!"
	"Eon!"
	The three pokemon readied themselves at my command, and made ready for an 
opening in the fierce tackling battle between Ultrareon and Charizard.  
"Okay guys, here's my plan," I said to Jessie and James, who were looking as 
puzzled as their pokemon.  "Ultrareon has an electric weakness in his tail, 
it'll conduct an electric attack, maybe even paralyze him.  It might just 
drive him off with ther pain it'll inflict."
	I looked up, and saw Charcloy move away from Ultrareon a fair distance, 
preparing for his next attack.  "NOW GUYS, GIVE IT YOUR BEST ELECTRIC 
ATTACKS!" I shouted.  The two Jolteons barked and yipped at Ultrareon, then 
released their energy together.
	Pikachu curled up, balling his hands into fists beside his electric sacks.  
"PIIIII......KAAAAAAA.....CHUUUUUUUUU!" He squealed, then a ball of energy 
exploded from all three electric pokemon.  Everything turned into a flash of 
light.  I saw Jessie and James shoved violently away as I saw, the sky lit 
up, and a crack as of thunder echoed through the air.
	When I looked up, I was about thirty feet from the boat, Lark beside me, 
Jessie and James even further away.  I grinned in satisfaction as I saw 
Ultrareon disappearing, trailing steam and screams of revenge behind him.
	"MEEEEEOWWWWWWWTH!" Came a loud cry.  I looked farther up, and saw a tiny 
black dot nearing me.  "Uh oh," I muttered.  Meowth dropped from the sky 
like an asteroid, spiraling and blackened, leaving a funnel of black smoke 
behind him.  His terrified, furry face was the last thing I saw, other than 
stars, then water all around me....
****************************************************************************************

	Part 19.			The Thunderstone, And the King Of Water Pokemon



	"Why do I get knocked cold so many times?" was the first thing I howled 
through the headache that greeted me when I woke up.
	"'Cause you're too reckless, and this time ya took me with you!" Lark 
groaned somewhere nearby.
	I grinned and opened my eyes, turning over to lean on one elbow beside her. 
  "You okay?" I asked, looking down at her.  She opened her eyes, then 
covered them from the setting sun with a hand.  Finally, she looked up at 
me.
	"Yeah, I'm okay, how 'bout you?"
	"Yep, just got hit by Meowth," I said, rubbing my aching ribs.  "Speakin' 
of which, where are the thieves of our group?" I asked, looking around.  We 
were in front of our campsite, layed out on the beach, totally alone, except 
for the huge orange ball of the setting sun.
	"They'll probably be back soon," Lark said after a moment, then put her 
arms behind her head and stared out across the shining sea waters.
	I looked around one more time, then relaxed and shrugged.  I stared at Lark 
for a moment, who lay serenely beside me, eyes half-closed.  With a barely 
audible chuckle, I gripped a handful of sand, then woke her up by dropping 
the ocean residue on her scuba swimsuit.
	"Hey!" she said, sitting bolt upright and brushing herself off.  I just 
laughed at her as she looked so sad over such a trivial thing.  Suddenly, 
she turned on me, fury apparent in her eyes.  I only got out half a 
surprised cry before she tackled me, knocking me to the ground again with 
enough force to renew the headache I had woken up with.  Groaning, I came to 
my senses a minute.  Lark had used that minute, and her own light weight and 
speed to gain a position over me.  Now she was sitting on my stomach, 
holding my wrists over my head with one hand.  She smiled mischievously at 
me.
	"Get offa me," I growled up at her, trying to get my hands free.  But, I 
was alot weaker than I thought, and what turned out to be my great lunge for 
freedom was only a little tug.  I didn't escape (duh).  Then, Lark's face 
softened as she saw my pain-filled expression.  She let my wrists go, but 
remained sitting on me.
	"Getting comfortable?" I asked, rubbing my wrists to restore the 
circulation.
	She shrugged, looking down for a moment, then back up at me.  "Y' know 
what?" she asked in a slightly nervous voice.
	"I know a lot, but I doubt there's much more than a 2 percent chance that I 
know what the answer to this is," I answered.
	Lark leaned in closer to me, then brushed a fallen strand of hair out of 
her eyes, where it fell back into place again.  "You saved my life down 
there," she said.
	I gulped as she came nearer to me.  For the second time since we had met, I 
was mesmerized by her dark green eyes as they neared.
	"You're a hero," she whispered.  "And for that, you deserve a reward." Her 
face came within an inch of mine, her intentions clear.
	"Meeeeowth, what was that thing?"
	Lark's head snapped up and she looked over at the source of the voice with 
an annoyed look.  Jessie and James came out of the forest several dozen feet 
away, behind Meowth, their arms loaded with logs and sticks for a fire.
	"I don't know, but whatever it was, it was intent on giving us a shower!" 
James answered Meowth, then dropped his load of sticks beside our camp.  
Jessie looked over at me and Lark, then she grinned slyly and turned to face 
her partners.  A burst of chuckles and laughs burst out.
	"Umm, about that reward-" I began.  Lark snarled, then without looking, 
pushed my head back down and stood up, stomping over to Jessie, James and 
Meowth.
	"And what is so funny?" She asked, picking up a laughing Meowth and holding 
him out in front of her.  Meowth managed to say something in between laughs 
which Lark must have found highly offensive.
	"I do not!" she shouted, then threw Meowth down to the sandy ground and 
stomped off to her tent.
So shaken up and tired out by the events surrounding the battle with 
Ultrareon were we, that we rested for two days, doing nothing but resting 
our pokemon and ourselves.  It was, actually, a bit of a vacation.  We were 
on a deserted island, we were not working, or battling, and for those two 
days, none of our pokemon stayed in their poke-balls.  Only one pokemon 
remained in its pokeball, the one Lark had promised never to take out.  
Lark's Growlithe and Flareon looked up to Charcloy and Arcanine, and 
followed them around constantly, even slept with them at night.
	Jessie and James's Jolteons were almost like twins in the way they acted, 
and they and Pikachu became fast friends after using a combined Thunder 
attack on Ultrareon.  Our flying types spent the resting period showing off 
their talents to each other.  James's spearow turned out to be not so 
little, when he was spurred on by Jessie's Doduo, and beat up the tough 
little double bird.
	As for Vileplume, Arbok, Lickitung, Oddish, Victreebell and Bulbasaur, our 
grass and poison types, they seemed to be the quietest ones.  They spent 
their time off in a circle, talking about their past experiences.  Bulbasaur 
and Oddish were the runts, as they were unevolved and not trained very well 
yet.  Drowzee and Kadabra were friends from when the latter was an Abra.  
Kadabra still respected the more matured, wiser Drowzee, even though he now 
was more powerful and knew more attacks.
	Vaporeon was our only water type, but didn't mind at all. He was a 
mysterious thing, not especially caring about me yet obeying, but at the 
same time not easy to hurt or insult, though our little electric gang tried 
their best.  All in all, with 23 pokemon running around a beach (we didn't 
permit them to go very far from our campsite for safety), with 23 pokemon 
running around it got rather noisey.  But it was the welcome kind.  The 
sound of comradery, of comfort, of a team.
	Charcloy and Pidgeot were the only two remaining original pokemon on my 
starting lineup, and the younger pokemon listened to their stories with 
fascination every night.  Sometimes I listened, and translated what Charcloy 
was saying to Jessie, James and Lark.  Or Meowth would translate for the 
other pokemon.  On the last night, every pokemon told their story, standing 
in front of the campfire and waving with his arms or paws, telling of its 
battles, of its capture, its trainer.
	We found out just how much our Pokemon adored us, especially the unevolved 
ones.  Oddish and Pikachu loved Lark, and slept with her every night.  
Drowzee respected Lark, and Flareon and growlithe were like puppies around 
Lark.
	Jessie's first Pokemon, Arbok was child-like in spirit and loved Jessie 
like a mother.  Lickitung was likewise.  Doduo, Vileplume and Jolteon were 
able to see past Jessie's hard exterior and greatly trusted her.
	James's Pokemon were like his friends, enemies, brothers and neighbors all 
together.  Graveler loved James a bit too much, and ended up nearly crushing 
his master several times while hugging him.  Weezing was rather stupid, (no, 
I never said that out loud!), and just followed James like a faithful pet.  
Dodrio, Jolteon and Victreebell were always talking with James, and he began 
tyo understand them after awhile.  He even payed attanetion to the little 
spearow after he saw it sitting alone, far away from the group one night 
during storytelling.
	My Pokemon.  Arcanine, Pidgeot and Kadabra were noble, classic types as 
well as handsome.  They all greatly admired me for my courage and stamina, 
and for my persistence. They believed that I was a skilled trainer, and they 
trusted their lives with me.  Charcloy was the king of all our Pokemon, who 
all thought of him as the Grandfather, the leader, the oldest pokemon.  
Charcloy had been loyal to me from his Charmander stage, and he swore to 
everyone that that would never change, that he thought of me as a son and 
would be loyal to me forever.  Bulbasaur was a typical pokemon.  I had not 
captured him, I had received him from Erika.  I had not had the time or 
circumstances to train him, so he was not especially fond of me.  It helped 
that Bulbasaurs were just naturally stubborn pokemon.
	The rest did us all good.  The Pokemon all healed up physically and 
mentally after months of hard fighting, cramped pokeballs, and mounting 
casualties.  They related to their fellow pokemon jokingly that they were 
always afraid of being traded in for a newly captured pokemon.  And every 
time they came out of their pokeballs, there was a new pokemon to make 
friends with.  I took this into consideration.  Maybe..... Maybe when I 
captured all the right pokemon I could assemble an unchangeable, unstoppable 
team.  But I kept on finding newer, more powerful types every day.  I had 
two of the three starting pokemon, Charcloy and Bulbasaur.
	On the last morning of our rest I woke up early and thought over the 
perfect team.  Charcloy, Bulbasaur and Squirtle, Pidgeot, Jolteon (or a 
Pikachu, hopefully) and Arcanine.  A more perfect team would be to 
substitute Arcanine for Kadabra, but I doubted I would meet many psychic 
weakness pokemon, while as I couldn't take Charcloy out too often (it just 
wouldn't be fair).  I also just plain liked Arcanine.
	"Yee haaaw!" I screamed, then did a backflip into the water.
	"Jessie, I don't want to gooooo-" James was pushed in.
	"Let's go!" Jessie and Lark dove gracefully in.  A moment later, Vaporeon 
exited his pokeball and I grabbed onto him.  Our group swam down into the 
canyon that Ultrareon had been resting in two days ago.  And there was our 
target.  Glowing and pulsing with its own light, the Thunderstone shone like 
a beacon.
	"I've got it," I chirped into my radio link, then me and Vaporeon dove down 
speedily.  I dropped off of Vaporeon's back and we both walked across the 
ocean floor towards the thunderstone.  Dust and debris poofed up all around 
us.  "That's weird," I said, after I was sure it had happened again.  The 
Thunderstone... winked.  It was bright, then it disappeared, t hen came back 
again.
	When I got to it, I found the rather simple reason.  A shellder was opening 
and closing its shell, in which the Thunderstone sat.  I pulled a spare 
Great Ball from my belt sack, touched the shellder with it, and caught my 
26th pokemon.
	When we paddled back to shore, I just called out Shellder, ordered him to 
give me the Thunderstone, then sent him to Professor Oak.
	"Finally!" I said as I ran my hands over the smooth Thunderstone.  "We only 
have the Fire Stone to go!" I dropped the stone into its special pouch with 
the Water Stone, then we all began to pack up our camp.  After we had 
finished, I made a quick trade, bringing Jolteon back to my team in exchange 
for Vaporeon.
	"Tortle, Wartortle war wartortle!" I turned, to face a rather angry little 
creature.  I held out Pokedex, having a vague idea myself of what this thing 
was.
	"Wartortle, a water pokemon - the evolved form of Squirtle.  This skilled 
swimming pokemon evolves into thewater god Blastoise.  Wartortle's tails are 
supposed to be an ancient symbol of their wisdom."
	"Well this one doesn't seem to wise comin' out here to see me, 'cause I'm 
gonna catch it!" I grinned enthusiastically, then released Jolteon.  The 
Wartortle stood his ground, then smiled.
	"Tortle!" He croaked.  Another wartortle came out from the jungle.
	"Allright, two! Maybe I can give one to professor Oak for a starting 
pokemon!"
	Out came two more.  "Well...."
	The forest was suddenly swaying back and forth, trees cracking and 
crashing.  About thirty wartortles exited the forest, followed by a dozen 
squirtles.  Then, two gigantic Blastoises came out.
	"Blaaaaaaast!" One of them growled.  Both Blastoise's shells opened, and 
out came double water guns.
	"Guys, take out your electric pokemon," I whispered to Jessie, James and 
Lark.  With three zips, the battle arena was set.  Our three Jolteons 
growled and yipped at the enemy water pokemon, baring their teeh, ready for 
battle.  Pikachu clenched his fists and sparks shot from his cheeks.
	The wartortles and Squirtles suddenly ran around, and within ten seconds 
they had formed battle ranks.  Twenty Wartortles made the first line, 
followed by ten Squirtles, and the two Blastoises towered above them all.
	Without warning, the two Blastoises opened fire.  Poor Jessie and James 
screamed as they flew up into the sky on jets of water.  "Looks like we're 
blasting off again!" Their voices faded off.
	"Combination Thunder attack!" I yelled.
	"Jolllll....."
	"Teeeeee"
	"Onnnnn...."
	"PIKAAAAAA!"
	The ball of golden light exploded from the four electric pokemon, striking 
the group of Squirtles and their evolved forms.  The ball of electricity 
focused into an arc of electricity, which began taking out the enemies one 
by one, raking across their lines.  The group scattered, the squirtles, 
Wartortles, and one Blastoise disappearing into the forest.
	"Okay guys, let it down!" I ordered.  The three Jolteons and one Pikachu 
slowly let down their blast.  Seven wartortles and seven Squirtles lay 
unconscious and smoking on the ground.  Then, I saw IT.  The giant shell, 
blackened and steaming.  We had knocked out the Blastoise.
	"Common Lark, we can use these pokemon, start throwin' pokeballs!" I pulled 
out seven Great Balls, then started throwing.  Zips filled the air as the 
fainted squirtles and Wartortles were captured, completely unknowing.  Last, 
I walked up to the unconscious blastoise.
	"Blastoise, you're part of our team now!" I yelled, then hurled the Great 
Ball, striking his shell.  It took almost thirty seconds for the huge shell 
to dematerialize, then get sucked into the Great Ball.  It shook for a 
moment, then shook violently again, bouncing up into the air.
	I dove away as the ball opened, then Blastoise spilled out.  "This can't be 
good!" I yelped as I ran.  "Outta the way, let's amscray!" I continued 
yelling as I ran to the water.  Lark ordered something, and Pikachu siddenly 
went running towards me.  I ducked just as Pikachu jumped.  The little mouse 
rebounded off my back, then hopped up into the air.
	"Piiiiiii....."
	"Blaaaast!" Blastoise shook his head.
	"KAaAaAaAa....."
	"Oise?" Blastoise stared at Pikachu, who was hurtling towards him.
	"CHUUUUUU!" Pikachu lit up, blasting out thousand of volts of electricity.
	"BlastOIIIIIISE!" Blastoise howled as he stood, arms raised, electricity 
frying him to a crisp.  Pikachu hit the ground, electric sacs still firing, 
and squealed.
	"Jack, throw the pokeball now!" Lark said behind me.
	"Right!" I said confidently, whirling and flipping a great ball up into my 
hand from my sleeve.  "Yeee haaaa! Blastoise, yer mahn!" I imitated an 
american-southern accent as I sent the capturing device on its flight.  
Blastoise was still in the grip of Pikachu's thundershock when he was hit by 
the great ball and trapped.
	"Ding!" The Great Ball had no trouble holding Blastoise, who I assumed had 
fainted just as he was caught.
	I grinned and twirled the newly occupied Great Ball around on my finger 
proudly in front of Lark and Pikachu.  "Here's my new water pokemon!" I said 
(Insert Pokedex sending the pokeball to Professor Oak here.) "...Thanks 
guys, especially you, Pikachu."
	"Pikaaa," Pikachu said, pumping his little arms like a weightlifter.  Lark 
and I both laughed.
****************************************************************************************

	Part 20.		 	 An Unexpected Tragedy


	"Why do we always get blasted off somewhere, always painfully and far 
away?" Complained James.  Jessie just growled something that no one caught.
	"We just have bad luck," Meowth said.  "And here comes more!"
	The new bad luck he was referring too was our departure from the island.  
On Charcloy.  Naturally, the trio complained about leaving, and especially 
by flight.  Lark and I glared down at the cowards, and I whispered in 
Charcloy's ear.  He grunted, then scooped up Jessie, James and Meowth, 
dumping them on his back withuot warning, then leaping into the sky.
	Lark immediately scooted nearer to me and hung on to me.  Jessie and James 
screamed, Meowth screeched, my Pokedex beeped, and thunder boomed through 
the sky as we gained altitude, flying right below some dark clouds.
	With a quick look around at the clouds, I unclipped Pokedex from my belt 
and flipped it open.  A small image of Professor Oak materialized on the 
screen.
	"Hey Professor, ya see my new haul?" I asked cheerfully.
	"I certainly did Jack, and I am very impressed.  "Seven Squirtles and 
Wartortles, and a Blastoise?" You're surpassing even my grandson and his 
rival Ash," Oak replied with a laugh.
	"Hey professor, I need Blastoise, I'm trading in Kadabra for him, here he 
comes." I placed Kadabra's minimized pokeball on the transferral plate, and 
he disappeared.  Professor Oak began sorting through a rack of pokeballs 
beside him.
	"Hey, Professor, I had a reason for catching all those Squirtles and 
Wartortles, and I was wondering if you could help me out," I asked as 
Blastoises Great Ball appeared.  I clipped the new ball onto my belt and 
looked back to a waiting Professor Oak.
	"Y' see, I was thinking that Squirtle is the best water pokemon, and one of 
the best starter pokemon.  He's in great demand, so I was hoping that if 
anyone wanted it or wartortle, maybe you could trade one for a pokemon I 
need."
	Oak thought for a moment, then shrugged.  "I.... .Suppose it's a good idea. 
  Which reminds me, there are two trainers here that want to trade their Mr 
Mime and Koffing for your Arbok and Bellsprout, should I trade them? I'll 
remind you that it would count as getting two more species, not losing two."
	"Sure, Professor! I'm not going to really use them I guess, but I'm still 
trying to get the most species!"
	"Excellent! Ooh, another trainer's here who wants to trade his Pikachu for 
one of your Squirtles!" Oak said, looking off to the side.
	"Yes sir!" I said, excitement shooting through me.  "Here, I'll trade in my 
Jolteon for that Pikachu now," I said after Oak reappeared a moment later, 
holding a red pokeball in his hand.
	Just as my new Pikachu arrived, a large drop of rain pelted down onto the 
Pokedex screen, then rolled down.
	I looked up.  I heard Professor Oak saying something, but suddenly static 
filled the connection.
	"Professor? I think the clouds are blocking our transmission! I have to go 
now, thanks for everything, bye!" I yelled over the sudden pouring of rain.
	The sky lit up again as a bolt of thunder burst though the clouds several 
hundred feet behind us.  Charcloy snarled and weaved back and forth.  The 
rain doubled, then doubled again.  The clouds darkened and explosions filled 
the air as dozens of lightning bolts stabbed down, filling the sky.
	"This isn't normal!" James howled over the screaming of air and wind.  
Charcloy roared, and I turned to listen to him.
	The air lit up again, this time blinding me.  When it faded, horror turned 
my blood cold.  We were in the clouds, then diving down out of them.  That 
wasn't the worst thing though.  IT was there.  'It's HIM!' My mind screamed 
at me as I saw it.
	Golden wings.  Sharp, spearlike head.  Zapdos, the Legendary Bird.  He spun 
gloriously in the air, and produced another monstrous lightning bolt, 
directing it down to earth.
	A shrieking filled my ears, then everything froze for a moment as Zapdos 
turned and saw us.  Behind him, something flashed red, and a bird composed 
of fire appeared, flapping up behind Zapdos.  With a final howl, a white, 
elegant bird came up behind both of them, then they all stared at me.  
Charcloy stared as well, and we all faced each other down.  Charcloy with 
its load of four pokemon trainers and a Meowth cat met Legendary Birds 
Zapdos, Moltres, and Articuno.
	"Down! Down! Down, let's go!" I hollered at the top of my lungs.  Though he 
was at least 30 feet bigger than the three birds, Charcloy had heard the 
pokemon rumors of these three wonders, and obeyed my order.  He took a steep 
dive, and we all held on, while still staring behind us.  The three birds 
had been disturbed, and now the storm wasn't our foe, the three enraged 
pokemon were.
	It didn't help that I suddenly remembered my camera from Eevee City and 
pulled it out.  Obviously they knew it was a new enemy, and sped up to chase 
us as I frantically snapped pictures.  Moltres was captured forever on film 
as he pursued us.  Zapdos was no more a myth as I got him too.  Articuno 
lost his mysterious aura when I pulled the camrea trigger.
	That sent on the major wanring lights.  Blasts of fire, Ice and Electricity 
filled the air all at once, threatening to knock us all from the sky.  'The 
farther down we can get, the better chance we'll have of living if we get 
hit,' I kept thinking.
	Cinnabar Island came into view, a welcome sight, where I knew people waited 
to help us, maybe even staring up at us now as fire, ice and lightning 
filled the sky.
	A fireball exploded past us, then faded away.  Then came the first of three 
devastating hits.  A long stream of fire hit Charcloy's wing, burning him 
for a full second before disappearing.
	Charcloy barked in pain, and for a moment, his flight faltered.  That was 
just enough time for the next bird to get in a hit.  CRACK! A lightning bolt 
struck Charcloy's armored head, snapping it down as he howled in pain.
	"Jessie, James, abandon!" I yelled as fear raced through my system.
	The two trainers took a last sorrowful look at me, then jumped off.  I 
watched, and saw two parachutes with red 'R's on them pop open.
	"Lark!" I said, turning to her.
	"Not going to happen!" she said back.  "Jack, I want to tell you that I-"
	Articuno suddenly swooped in low, and through all the danger, I smelled the 
air.  Like a fresh ocean breeze, like a country wind, like a piece of pure 
serenity..... I idly wondered how something so nice could be so vicious.  
Then his ice beam slammed into Charcloy's back, and my friend screamed in 
agony, a long, mournful wail that broke my heart.  The sound of a dying 
animal.
	Charcloy's scaled hide suddenly turned to ice, and Lark screamed as she 
slipped off.
	I saw past the diving Legendary Birds, my wounded flying Charcloy, and took 
a moment to numbly hurl Pidgeot's pokeball at Lark.
	"JAAAAAACK!" She cried as, a second later, Pidgeot grabbed her and carried 
her away from me.  She was silent for a moment, and our eyes locked as we 
stared at each other.  A tear escaped my eye as I realized that I was never 
to see Lark again.  Or Jessie and James, Charcloy and Meowth, Arcanine or 
anyone else I knew.
	I sniffed and looked away.  Fury filled my heart as I thought of the 
arrogant pokemon who were murdering me and Charcloy just to keep their 
privacy.  My head jerked up and I stared ice at my three attackers, who were 
flapping just below the clouds, watching me curiously.
	"I'll return!" I shouted angrily.  "I'll defeat and catch you all! Do you 
hear me? I am Jack Soniq from the town of Pallet! I WILL CAPTURE ALL OF 
YOU!"
	Then I turned away from the three screeching birds, back to Charcloy, who 
began a steep, uncontrollable dive at that moment.
	"It'll be okay boy," I said, leaning down to Charcloy's ear as we fell.
	Charcloy's eyes closed, and he slipped into unconscious.  The two of us 
plunged down to Cinnabar, trainer and Pokemon, facing death together.
	I layed down on Charcloy's back and let everything go.  Pressing my face to 
Charcloy's hide, I sniffed back tears.  Cinnabar grew closer, and I let out 
a peaceful sigh in my last few seconds.
	"Goodbye Charcloy.  I'm sorry I let this happen," I whispered, then 
embraced Oblivion.
	The next few seconds I didn't know what happened.  Trees.  People.  
Screams.  Ground.  Nothingness....


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