Gatekeeper Saga fic 1, By the Grace of the Dragon Masters By the Grace of the Dragon Masters Gwen HexerNKC 1 Nyassakaiba2000@yahoo.com Crossover: Pokemon/Real World Summery: After experiencing a traumatic seperation of her parents, Gwen Tori accidentally opens the gate to the pokemon world. Can Ash help her become a trainer and unlock the secrets of the Gatekeepers? And how does Jessie fit into all of this? Find out! WARNING A SPOILER FOR THE NEXT SEASON INCLUDING ROSTERS AND POSSIBLY TRAINERS AS WELL. IF YOU WANT TO BE SURPRISED DON'T READ!! WARNING LATER IN THE FIC THERE WILL BE YAOI AND YURI, THAT MEANS MEN GETTING IT ON WITH MEN AND WOMEN GETTING IT ON WITH WOMEN!! IF YOU DON'T LIKE THIS THEN FORGET ABOUT READING THIS FIC!! Notes: I do not own "Size Matters" which is used in a pokemon contest sequence. Natasha Beddingfield owns it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Journal Entry 1 My name is Gwen. And I want to get away! I just want to get away! From everything. From my fighting family, from the girls at school who call me stuck up and crazy, yes even from the little brother who puts a dead snake in my bed for a prank. I've had enough and I'm running to the rock, the phoenix rock. It's an old stone ruin in the woods behind my house in the Berkshires. It's dark and mysterious and not even my father dares to go in. Mom says its haunted. I don't care. And that's how my journey began, because when I went into the cave and touched the rock surface blocking the gate it changed into a flowing, shimmering river of energy and I, leaning on the surface, fell through. The last thing I remember was a woman's deep voice laughing at me, loud, long, with real mirth. Then everything went black. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Logfile Ash Ketchem Location Route 101 Outside of Littleroot Town "Alright! We're supposed to meet Misty this afternoon!" Ash grinned as he strode along the path. "We haven't seen her in awhile have we?" "I don't know her very well remember Ash." May replied. She was carrying Skitty, with her Eevee following at her heals. May had hatched Eevee and it adored her. She was planning on using it for another pokemon contest. "And I'll get to get a pokemon!" Max exclaimed with a grin. "Remember! I turn ten today! I can get my trainer's license and my first pokemon!" "Easy Max." Brock warned the soon to be trainer. "Training a pokemon is a lot more serious than you think." Max was about to protest when Eevee darted off into the bushes. Skitty struggled free and followed. Then Pikachu went tearing after the other two with a cry of. "Pika piiiiiii!" "Where ya goin Pikachu?" Ash cried as the whole group trooped after the three pokemon. "Last time Skitty ran off like that it got us into deep trouble." May cried despairingly. The three pokemon had stopped in a clearing. Ash gasped. In the clearing, lay a girl about Ash's age. She wore a sapphire blue turtleneck and blue jeans. Her short hair curled around her ears and ended in a braided rattail down her back. A sword was slung across her back and this had a white dragon and a black phoenix entwined around a deep blue jewel on the end of the sword. A guitar was slung across her back. "Woah, what happened to her?" Ash asked as he came running over. "Dunno, we'd better get her to Birch's laboratory, she'll be safe there." Said Brock as he took her pulse. "Pulse normal." "Maybe she got a sleep attack used on her." Suggested Max. "That might be it." Brock agreed. "I'll have Ludicolo carry her." "Naw, Sceptile can do it." Ash replied. "Sceptile! I got a job for you!" "Sceeeeeeptile." Still chewing on a stick despite having evolved, sceptile inspected the girl carefully. "Sceptile, can you carry her to Professor Birch's office for us?" "Sceeep!" Sceptile replied with a nod and scooped her up, a delighted expression on his face. "Sceptile scep scep-tile!" Sceptile said happily as it started off ahead of the others. "Sceptile seems to really like her." Brock commented. "I wonder why?" "Dunno." "Scep, sceptile!" Sceptile replied happily. It was trying to say something, but Ash couldn't figure out what. "Too bad we don't have a pokemon translator." Ash said with a resigned sigh. "There's the lab!" Max pointed. "Come on!" He started off at a run. Ash and sceptile followed. Then May with Skitty and Eevee and finally Brock. Ash knocked on the door to the lab. "Professor Birch! Professor Birch!" "Right here Ash what..." Professor Birch saw what had happened and gasped. "What happened to her?" He asked. "Come right in." He opened the door. "Brandon! Brandon!" "Dad what... oh dear... Misty! Come help us! Ash brought in an injury!" Misty came bolting down the stairs, a similar sword to the one the girl was wearing behind that. And behind Misty came a yawning, half asleep Sabrina. "A gatekeeper!" Sabrina gasped. Misty helped clear the couch so that sceptile could set the girl down. "So Benten has sent us a new gatekeeper." Sabrina mused. "Um... Sabrina, can I ask? Who's Benten, and what is a gatekeeper?" Ash asked curiously as Sceptile set the girl down on the couch. "Benten, isn't that the Japanese dragon of the arts?" Asked Max curiously. "Or somebody named after her?" "Nope, the same goddess." Replied Sabrina as she drew a small silver key with a dragonite on the handle end out of her pocket. The key was shaped like a glave. Sabrina held the key in both hands and said in a ringing voice. "By the grace of the Lord and Lady, by the grace and power of the dragon masters! Reveal my true nature!" To Ash's total shock the key extended into a full sized glave, with dragon pokemon etched along the staff end. "Woah!" "What is that thing?" Max demanded. May gawked. "How did you do that?" But Sabrina wasn't finished, she swung the glave and cut, what looked like a hole. "That, is a gate. A gatekeeper uses their gatekey, like this, to create one. A glave like mine is only given to the Master Gatekeeper for that world. Benten and Suzaku are the goddess and god in charge of the gatekeepers. Benten is responsible for the girls and Suzaku is responsible for the boys. It's our job to guard the boarder between the worlds. Benten sent me here to Birch's to wait for a new gatekeeper that somebody had to train." "Who's training her?" Asked Brock. "I am." Misty said, speaking up. "Sabrina's here to help smooth things over." "Misty how come you never told us about this?" Ash asked. "I didn't know I was a gatekeeper until after I went back to the Cerulean Gym." Misty replied. "And besides, unless I did a demonstration like Sabrina just did, would you believe me?" She asked, arching an eyebrow. "Wow! Other dimensions?" Max demanded. "That is so cool!" "And I"m supposed to offer her a pokemon." Professor Birch said calmly. "So now that that's explained, all we have to do is wait. Professor Oak is a retired gatekeeper. So if you decide to take her back to Pallet Town he can help with her training." "So she'll be staying for awhile?" Asked May. "She's only a little older than I am." May peered curiously at her. Then the girl began to groan, rolling over on the couch. Skitty, Eevee, and Pikachu climbed up onto the couch. Skitty started sniffing at the girl's face, then licking her cheek. The girl groaned and slowly sat up. She regarded Skitty, Eevee, Pikachu, and Sceptile, and screamed. "MONSTERRRRRRRRSSSS!" She cried, scrabbling back and sending Skitty flying. The kitten pokemon landed on the edge of the couch with Pikachu and Eevee. Sceptile leaned in close to nuzzle the girl gently, but the girl scrabbled back. Sceptile cooed mournfully. "They're not monsters." Ash said, stepping forward. "They're pokemon." "Pokemon? No... fuckin'... way..." The girl said in an innercity Northeastern twang. "That's just a TV show! And a video game!" "A TV show and a video game?" Ash echoed. The others stayed respectfully silent. "I think that establishes where our guest is from." Sabrina said with a sigh as she leaned jauntily on her glave. "The inter, where all the Gatekeeper's magic starts." "Huh?" They all asked. "The inter is a dimension where all the other dimensions are myth of some kind." Explained Misty. "The authors and directors there have the ability to look into other dimensions through their work and see what's going on. The only dimensions that they can't manage are the Faerie, Darkness, and God worlds." Explained Misty. "Nobody but a Master gatekeeper can get in there without express permission from Benten or Suzaku." "Cool." "Er... what are you talking about? There was nothing like that in the pokemon TV show." The girl asked, hesitantly. "You're a gatekeeper." Explained Sabrina patiently. "A human who can cut open a hole between dimensions." She told the girl. "You'll have to pass as a trainer for awhile." "Oh wow! Does that mean I get my own pokemon?" The girl asked hopefully. "I'm Gwen, and I'm more than happy to be a trainer. Especially after the troubles I've had." "Well then. We'll teach you what you can't learn on TV." Ash said cheerfully. "And what I can't teach you Brock can!" "And Misty will teach you how to open the gates." Sabrina said cheerfully. "And explain what you need to know. Now I have three challengers waiting back at the gym. I really need to go." And she teleported away. "Come with me." Professor Birch said calmly as he led the way to the next room over. "We have several pokemon that you can choose from." "Torchic, Mudkip and Treeko right?" Asked the girl as she stood, brightening. "Yup." Professor Birch said cheerfully. "What's your name?" He asked. "Gwen, Gwen Tori." Gwen replied as she looked over the machine that Professor Birch was busying himself with. "Alright, go ahead and choose." Professor Birch said cheerfully. "And then Max, you can choose next, since I know you've been waiting for this day for two years." "You bet I have!" Max exclaimed. "Whatcha gonna choose Gwen?" "Hmm... I think I'll take a leaf out of May's book and choose Torchic." Gwen said cheerfully, picking a pokeball that had a tiny flame on it. "Okay, here's what you do. When the ball opens, you greet the pokemon and announce yourself as its trainer." "Torchic! I choose you!" She said, pressing the button on the ball. Nothing happened. "Like this." Max said calmly. He picked up a pokeball with a water droplet on it. "Mudkip! I choose you!" He pressed the button and tossed it. The ball opened, bounced, and out came a Mudkip. "Errr... okay... Torchic! I choose you!" Gwen called and tossed the ball, open, bounce and out came a Torchic! But Gwen fumbled the pokeball on the return catch. The pokeball dropped to the ground and rolled. Gwen dove after it, stood and said finally. "Heyla Torchic. I'm hoping that you and I will get to be good friends." Gwen said as she reached to pick up the chick pokemon. Torchic flapped its stubby little wings and called out. "Tooooor chic chic chic chic chica chic chic!" Gwen stroked the soft fluff on Torchic's head. Torchic smiled and snuggled against Gwen. "Wow... so cute!" Gwen squealed. "Yes, we'll be good friends." Gwen said firmly. Max meanwhile, turned to Mudkip. "I'm glad to be your trainer Mudkip." Max grinned as he scooped up Mudkip. "Max, why don't you take Gwen out for a little while to battle while Ash and May and I catch up." suggested Misty. "Brock, you stay here too." Misty told him. Max nodded. "Okay, leave it all to me!" He said proudly. "Come on Gwen." "Hang on a second, you can't catch pokemon without pokeballs." Pointed out Professor Birch. "Here, your pokedexes and pokeballs." He handed a pokedex each to Max and Gwen and then a string each of six pokeballs. Gwen took hers and bowed politely. "Thank you." "Come on!" Max said happily. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Logfile: Max Location: Route 101 Max led Gwen and Torchic out the door and up the road. "You'll mostly find Poochyena, Zigzagoon, and Wurmple around here." Max said as Gwen followed him. Gwen sniffed slightly. "Tor?" Torchic asked. "Max how am I going to get home?" She asksed, sniffing back tears. "I don't know Gwen." Max said sympathetically. "I'll bet once you learn how to open a gate you could go home that way." Suggested Max. "I'm sure Misty will teach you how. Meanwhile, if you're going to pass as a trainer, you need more pokemon than just a Torchic." He warned her. Gwen sighed. "I guess you're right." She said as she looked around. "Okay, we step off the path here and go into the woods." Max said as he led the way. "Then pick a pokemon, any pokemon." Gwen stepped a little way off the path and gasped. Pokemon pokemon /everywhere!/ "Oh wow!" She gasped as she looked around. "Oooh, there's an Eevee! And there's a shroomish! And there's a..." "Okay Gwen, I get the point. Wanna try catching something?" Gwen looked around for a moment, then found... "Oh wow! It's a Bagon!" Gwen squealed. "I'm gonna capture it!" "Er... I wouldn't if I were..." "Torchic! Ember!" Gwen shouted, pointing to the bagon. "Baaaaaagooooooooon!" Bagon growled as it launched at Torchic. "Dodge, bounce, and ember!" Gwen called out as the Torchic jumped on Bagon's head, used the dragon type as a springboard, and launched into the air. Torchic alighted on a tree and then aimed an Ember down at Bagon. Bagon calmly looked up and aimed a return ember at Torchic. "Torchic! Jump!" Torchic jumped onto Bagon's back. Unprepared the Bagon cracked its jaw on the ground and got a good knock on the head. "Okee dokee! Pokeball go!" Gwen said happily as she tossed the pokeball at the Bagon. The ball rocked, it bounced, it jumped like a jumping bean! And then... PING! "Alright! I caught Bagon!" Gwen bounced over to the pokeball and scooped it up. She pressed the button on it. Bagon came out of it's ball. "Heyla Bagon, you okay?" She asked worriedly. "Gooooooon." Bagon groaned, rubbing its jaw. "Well, well, well..." Said a voice behind them. Gwen jumped and turned. A boy with green hair, wearing a purple, black and blue outfit and with a Roselia striding along beside him, stood there. "What have we here? Max, where's that sister of yours?" Asked the boy. "She's at Professor Birch's lab Drew. Gwen here and I are training." "Gwen huh?" Drew looked her over. "And you chose Torchic? I know somebody else who's got a Torchic. Too bad, Torchic is weak. That Bagon on the other hand. I could trade you for it." "No way. I love Dragon pokemon!" Gwen protested. "And funny thing about weak pokemon, they tend to grow stronger with time and care." "Your choice." Drew said with a shrug, and didn't give the Bagon second thought. To Gwen's statement about weak or strong pokemon, but warned her. "Just remember, Bagon are rare, so if you go someplace where there are a lot of trainers you're bound to get at least one offer of a trade." "Too bad. I'm going to be a dragon trainer." Gwen replied. "Dragon, dark and fire types are my faves." She stood up, set Bagon down and extended a hand to Drew. "I'm Gwen. I just became a trainer today, so I'm just getting my bearings and catching a few pokemon for a team." "That's cool." Drew commented. "New blood in Hoen is always a good thing. Where are you from?" "Oh, the Berkshires, up in Massachusats. But I wanted to catch some Hoen pokemon, so here I am." Gwen said with a sheepish smile. "The Berkshires huh. That's in America right? Cool, I've never been out of Japan." Drew gave a slow nod of acknowledgement. "Well, I wish you luck. But can I come with you? I'm trying to raise my Vibrava into a Flygon, and I need some help from Ash. He's stronger than May is so I figure he'll give Vibrava a good fight." "Sure, soon as we're done here we'll lead the way." Max agreed. "But it's my turn to catch a pokemon." "Good, let's see how you do Max." Drew said with a sharp nod. Max looked around for a pokemon. "Hmmm... oh look there!" He pointed. "There's a bunch of Swablu and an Altaria! Gwen, Drew, I want to catch one of the Swablu but I need your help to break one away from the flock for me! Please Drew? Then I'll battle you all you want!" Max begged. "I'd help anyway." Drew agreed. "I don't have a Swablu yet, and they evolve into another dragon type." "I'm gonna try and catch one too!" Gwen grinned. "think you're up to it Bagon?" "Gooooon!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Logfile: Misty Location: Professor Birch's Lab "What do you mean she can't go home?" Demanded Ash. "Gatekeeping isn't as easy as all that. In order for a gatekeeper to get back to their home dimension they have to complete their apprenticeship, and that only ends when Benten considers them ready. Then they have to find the dragon gate. And that could be anywhere. Each world has two gates, usually built in ruins. The Phoenix Gate is a a way for new Gatekeepers to get into a dimension to find their Master. But the Dragon Gate is the way for them to get back." "Then Gwen must have accidentally found and activated the phoenix gate." Brock mused. "So what do we do?" "Easy, we find the Dragon Gate and help Gwen through her apprenticeship before we send her back through. Who knows, she might not even want to go back after awhile." Misty said sadly. May sipped the tea that Professor Birch and Brandon had made for them. "So what do we do?" "We get her to pass as a trainer." Replied Misty. "We'll encourage her, gently, to become either a contest coordinator or a pokemon trainer. And we'll see if anybody we know will claim her as bloodkin. In the meantime Ash, I'm going to have to take her to different dimensions to get her familiar with gate travel. I'd like to join you, if you'll have me back. And I promise not to get angry over the bike. But it would be safest for Gwen if she has us around, both to protect her and teach her what we had to learn the hard way." She said fervently. "One last thing. Team Aqua has a gatekeeper on their side. A /really/ strong ice pokemon trainer named Duel. It may be that Team Magma tries to get Gwen onto their side simply so that she can compete against Duel. Neither Team Rocket, Team Aqua, or Team Magma can know that Gwen's a gatekeeper. Got that?" "Got it." The others all agreed. That was when the door opened and Gwen, Max and Drew came in. "Wow Gwen, I still can't believe how quickly you caught that Altaria." Drew exclaimed. "Drew? What are you doing here?" May demanded. "I have a favor to ask of Ash." "A favor huh? Like what?" Ash asked skeptically. Drew sighed in disgust and tossed out a pokeball. "Vibrava! Come on out!" "Braaaava." "Ash, this is Vibrava. I'm trying to get it to evolve into Flygon, and you're the strongest trainer I know. Do you think we could have a match to try and get Vibrava to evolve?" Drew asked hopefully. "Alright." Ash nodded as he stood from his chair. But first I want to see what Gwen and Max caught." "Feast your eyes Ash." Max said with a grin. "I got... Swablu! Aron! Come on out!" "And I caught... Bagon, Altaria!" Gwen called out, tossing the two pokemon out that she'd caught. "And I caught a Swablu too." Drew continued. "There was a whole flock of them guarded by an Altaria. So Max and I each caught one. Then the Altaria went straight for Gwen and Bagon wanted to battle. And since Dragon types are strong against other dragons Gwen won and caught Altaria." "Wow! It's so fluffy!" Squealed Misty. "It's not a water type though." She pouted. "Taria!" Altaria shook its head and aimed a hyperbeam at her. "Altaria stop it!" Gwen protested when she saw the forming hyperbeam. "Tar!" Altaria stopped the hyperbeam and glared at Gwen before blasting some really strange green fire at her. Gwen ducked. "Taria!" Altaria glared. "Oh dear. Looks like we've got another Charizard on our hands." Misty muttered. "But congrats, normally a trainer wouldn't catch a dragon pokemon on their first try, and you got two! And don't worry about Altaria. As soon as it sees what a good friend you can be it will settle down." "I hope so." She said with a sigh. "I'm hoping to enter a contest with it. I mean, you can challenge gyms /and/ pokemon contests right?" "Of course you can. I'm a coordinator myself." Said Drew cheerfully. "Do you know the rules of a pokemon contest?" "Err... I think so, make up a trick to do for points, then the top four battle until one drops or loses all its points. After five minutes the one with the most points left wins." Gwen recited the rules. "That's right, and legendary pokemon, however rare an occurance they are, aren't allowed. Not many people know that because you hardly ever see a Legendary Pokemon, let alone catch one. But its in the rule book." Drew added. "And that includes Unoun." "Like a totally newbie is going to catch a Legendary pokemon for her first contest." Gwen rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Okay, so you need to come up with a routine for your pokemon." Said May with a grin. "There's a pokemon contest coming to Viridian City in Kanto soon. We were on our way to board the boat to Kanto." She explained. "Cool. Can I join you?" "Sure." Ash said with one of his grins. "I got an idea." Said Drew. "I once battled an Altaria that new Blizzard. May can you have Skitty teach Gwen's Altaria how to use blizzard?" "I can try." "Another thing that has to be done." Ash agreed. "Drew, I'll gladly battle you. Come on outside." He put down his tea and headed for the door. "And we'll go in the opposite direction." May beckoned for Gwen and her pokemon to follow her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Logfile: May Location Prof Birch's Lab "Okay, Altaria watch Skitty carefully and imitate it okay?" "Taria." Altaria nodded, glaring at Gwen. "Okay Skitty! Blizzard!" "Naaaaaaaaaaa!" Skitty cheered as it let loose a barrage of icy power. Altaria took a deep breath and poof! A little bit of ice came out. "Try again Altaria." May told it. "taaaaaarrrrrriiiiiiiiiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" The Altaria opened its mouth and out came a barrage of icy power, much, much stronger than Skitty's. "Wow! Altaria that's wicked cool." Altaria aimed a blizzard at Gwen and she shivered. "Allltaria!" Gwen whined. "The blizzard isn't the only thing that's wicked." Max commented from where he sat back with Mudkip. "Mudkip, care to try that?" He asked hopefully. "Kip!" Mudkip shook its head. "Okay, now Altaria, see that can on the fence? Hit it with a concentrated blizzard attack okay? Let's see how accurate you can be." May pointed to an old soup can set on the fence nearby. "See if you can hit that 'kay?" "Taria! AAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLTAAAAAAARIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Altaria sent another mighty blizzard at the can. The thing went flying into the distance. Gwen gave Altaria a hug. "Wow Altaria! Congrats on learning a new attack!" "Taria." Altaria slipped out of the grip and froze Gwen. Gwen fell over and the ice fell apart. "Ouch... fr...fr...freezing!" Gwen shuddered. "Cool." May grinned. "Altaria looks like a fast learner." Altaria preened at this. "I have a good name for you Altaria. How about Preen?" Altaria shot another blizzard at Gwen, but the rookie dodged that and sighed in disgust. "Let's see what else you can catch." Suggested May. "I don't think you'll be counting on Altaria any time soon." Gwen nodded. "Okay, but I want to see how Ash and Drew are doing." The headed for the front yard. Ash and Drew were in the middle of a heated battle. "Vibrava! Hyper beam!" A tiny hyperbeam lanced at Pikachu. "Pikachu, dodge it and use Thunder!" "CHUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!" Vibrava went flying into a nearby tree. "Whooops, I guess we hit it too hard." Ash said sheepishly. "No, hard is the way I want it!" Drew protested. "Come on, Vibrava! We can beat him!" Suddenly Vibrava began to glow, glow and grow and reform and... "It's evolving!" Brock gasped. "Fllyyyyy gooooon!" The new Flygon cheered. "Gon gon gon!" It swooped over to hug Drew. Drew, ecstatic at his success, hugged back and bounced up and down. Ash grinned. "Congratulations Drew and Flygon." "Thanks!" Drew said happily as Flygon spiraled up to land on the lab's roof. It curled up in the sun. "Yeah, have a good rest Flygon, and enjoy the sunshine." Drew said with the most beautific smile on his face. Gwen grinned and sat down on a rock. Altaria leaned its head on Gwen's lap. "Taria." Altaria said happily. "I don't get it, one moment you're freezing me to death and the next you're leaning on me?" Gwen asked the pokemon. Altaria chuckled and sprayed Gwen's feet with blizzard. "May I'm starting to regret teaching Altaria that!" Gwen protested. May laughed. "Let's go catch some more pokemon then." May suggested as she started off into the woods. "Sure." Gwen followed May into the woods. "Let's see." May consulted her pokedex. "It says here that there are Lotad, Poochyena, Ralts, Seedot, Wurmple, and Zigzagoon on land and Corphish, Golden, Magikarp, Marill and Surskit in the water. Shall we see if we can catch some?" "I'd love to." Said Gwen. "This will be fun!" She said as she followed May deeper into the woods. "Bagon, let's get this party started!" A Beautifly went fluttering across the path. "Oh wow! Bagon! Use Ember!" The Beautifly dodged the attack and sent a Silverwind Gwen's way. Bagon growled and glared up at the Beautifly. It countered the silverwind with an Ember attack and slowly, carefully, the ember began to beat back the silver wind. The Ember exploded in Beautifly's face and the pokemon flew off May watched as three zigzagoon went trotting across the path. "YOu going to catch them?" She asked. "Nope. Except for Skitty, Tauros and Ursaring I'm not much of a fan of normal pokemon." Gwen replied. "Then I think those will be your next target." May pointed upwards to where several Seedot were hanging from a nearby tree. "Oh wow! I didn't even notice them!" Gwen exclaimed. May giggled. "Well that's pokemon for you. When looking they say you should look everywhere, and I /mean/ everywhere." "Okay, don't you want one?" "I don't want very many pokemon." May explained. "I'm picky about them as a coordinator. Pokemon coordinators don't normally have more than three or four pokemon." "Oh." Gwen continued to look up at the Seedot. "I'm gonna try then. Return Bagon! Go Torchic! Knock one down with Ember attack!" "Toooooooorrrr!" Torchic called out, and sprayed Ember everywhere. But that only knocked down several seedot and made them angry. They started chasing Gwen and May. "nooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!" Gwen and May's retreat was hastened by six bullet seed attacks. The Seedot stopped once they reached the path and they came to a lake. A trio of pokemon stood by the lake, looking worriedly down at something that was beached up on the lake shore. "What is it you three?" May asked the Marill, Azurill and Azumarill. The three of them pointed to the beached Milotic they had been watching over. "Marill! Rill Marill!" The Milotic was in very bad shape. May gulped. "It needs a revive. I'm lucky, Dad gave me one on the way over here." May commented as she knelt by the creature. "Gwen, you don't mind if I try to capture it?" "Aaawww, I wanted it." "I know, but your hands would be full with Altaria." Explained May. "Trust me... you know... I'll tell you what. I'll hang onto it and then when Altaria obeys you fully I'll give it to you okay?" May asked as she opened the water pokemon's mouth and put a small yellow pill into it. Then she blew on Milotic's nose. The water pokemon swallowed the pill. Then May took out a great ball. "Dad also gave me this so that I could catch a stronger pokemon. Here Milotic. Get inside and I'll take you to safety." Milotic let out a soft cry and poked the ball with its nose. With a ping the ball disappeared to Proffessor Birch's lab. "Now its your turn Marill!" Gwen let out her Bagon. "Bagon, use Headbutt!" "Rill!" The headbutt bounced right off of Marill's stomach. "Power up with Focus Energy!" Gwen shouted. "Rill!" Marill aimed a bubble beam. Gwen laughed. "Hahahahahahahahaaaa. Bagon is a dragon type, only Ice and other Dragon moves beat them! Bagon, use dragonbreath!" "Gon!" A spray of green fire hit Marill and sent it rolling. Marill began to roll, and then it charged Bagon! "That was Rollout!" May cried as she ducked out of the way. "Marill, use Bite to stop it in its tracks!" Bagon bit, managing to snag Marill's tail. "Great, now swing it!" Gwen cheered. Bagon sent Marill flying over the horizon. "Whoops, looks like that one got away too." May said with a chuckle as Gwen overdid it. "Uh-oh. Maybe there is something to this three pokemon at a time thing." Gwen said sheepishly. "Don't give up. I'm sure there's some way that you can catch more pokemon." May suggested. "But I think we've overstayed our welcome." She nodded to the Azumarill and Azurill that were glaring at them. "Yeah... he he he... let's go." Gwen led the way back into the woods. "It's almost dark anyway. That's when the ghost pokemon come out." May shuddered. "I hate ghost pokemon." "Yeah, lets head back for now. Unless we spy a Poochyena or a Ralts or something else that I want that's rare." Gwen said as she followed May back into the woods. "Chika!" Neither noticed the Chikorita following them. "Chika chika chicka!" Hearts formed in the Chikorita's eyes as it regarded the two girls. Next thing Gwen knew the Chikorita had tackled her and started snuggling her back. "Chi-ka, chi-ka, chi-ka!" Chikorita chanted. "Chika chika chika!" Gwen sweatdropped. "What the heck?" She demanded, turning to find a little green ball curled up on her shoulders. "Chika chika!" Chikorita said happily as it clung to Gwen's shoulders. "Looks like you've got a new pokemon Gwen." May said happily. "One that's got a crush on you." "Chikaaaaaaaaaaa!" Chikorita agreed. "Okay okay, I'll take you with me." Gwen cried in protest as she pried the little grass type away from her. "This is going to be a loooooong journey to Pallet Town." May sighed as they turned to head back to the lab.