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Shiver, who had just received a hug from Mike, hopped over to the ocean by the Pokemon Center and jumped in, he needed a nice swim after such a long time on land. The oversized shellfish swam around in the deeper end of the water as Titanium watched, not too keen on swimming.

"Cloyster!" Shiver had an expression of surprise one his face as he found something lodged in his throat. A few moments later, he spit out a small shimmering sphere out of his mouth. It landed at the Steelix's "feet" with a small tink. As confused as the Cloyster was, Titanium gently grapsed it in his maw and slithered over to Mike, dropping the object in his hands.

"Wow! A Pearl! Where did you find this Titanium?!" Mike stared at the beautiful pearl in awe, they were very rare, and very expensive.

"Cloy!" Spoke up Shiver, mimicing thr gagging motion and pointing a spike to the pearl.

"So you made this? Wow, I never knew that Cloysters could do that! I can't wait to tell Mitsu!"

Mike pocketed the pearl, a smile on his face. "I catch a Pokemon and I get a super rare item, what a great past few days it's been!"

Feeling his trainer's happy emotion, Titanium playfully nudged his trainer. Mike whipped around and hugged the Steelix's face, which was basically his jaw, since that was all Mike could put his arms around.

"Groooaa!" Happily cried Titanium, slithering off to the coastline to keep Shiver company.

Mike walked over to a rather large rock and sat down, watching his Pokemon with joy. He never knew that Pokemon Training was so rewarding, for he has made so many happy memories in the past few weeks. "I can't beleive how great this is..." He said, noticing Nito and Portabello, who were once bitter rivals, sleeping happily together.

"Maybe I am a good trainer..." Mike said hesitantly.

((I'm off ta bed y'all, g'night! *Can't wait untill Portabello evolves* whee ))

Kilik woke up late in the morning. He rubbed his eyes tiredly. For once, he had a comfortable spot to sleep: the couch of the Pokemon Center. His Koffing had slept on the floor, breathing very slowly. "Koff...ing...Koff...ing...Koffing!" it snorted in its sleep. Kilik laughed as he sat up and looked around. Nurse Joy was at the counter, typing something on her computer.

"Nurse Joy?" he pondered, getting up and approaching her.

"Yes?" she said warily.

"Is Flareon okay?" the trainer wondered, tilting his head to the side. Nurse Joy closed her eyes.

"It's going to take a bit longer than I expected, Kilik," The boy took a step back and hung his head.

"I see..." he kicked an imaginary rock.

"Don't worry, he'll be out soon." She nodded her head and went into the back. Kiilk walked back to the couch and jumped down onto it. Koffing awoke with a start when he heard the landing sound.

"Koffing!" It cheered, floating over to its owner and spinning around.

"Not now, Koffing..." the boy said, pushing Koffing to the side lightly. It just floated back before landing with a plop onto the cushion next to him.

"Koff Koff Ing Koff..." it groaned. Kilik laughed, placing his hand on top of the Pokemon.

"You're worried about Flareon too?" he asked.

"Koff..." it's gaze went to the floor. That was a yes.

Kilik rested his chin on his palm and his elbow on his knee. He sighed heavily. "It's lonely, Koffing..." he said, looking over to him. The poison ball nodded as easily as a Koffing could nod. Kilik laughed and stood up.

"Koff?" it questioned, looking up at him.

"Want to go and explore the town?" he asked his Koffing. Not as if the Pokemon had a choice, because the trainer grabbed his Pokemon and held it under his arm. "Nurse Joy! I'm going out to the town for a while! My backpack is in here!" he called.

"All right!" she yelled, but it was still a little bit hard to hear. Kilik nodded and left the Pokemon center, looking up at the sky. Koffing wriggled out of the trainer's grip and flew ahead.

"Koff!!" it's eyes brightened when it saw all the tall buildings. Kilik ran up to his Pokemon.

"Where do you think you're going?" he laughed, looking around. There seemed like there was so much to do in this city. He pointed to the Game Corner, "Let's check that out, Koffing," he ran down the path to the Game Corner.

Nina's trip was more than halfway over, and she still couldn't decide on a name for Togepi. "Why is this so hard?" she asked. Togepi trilled a little. "Maybe I could name you after a place or something?" She shrugged, and was really thinking hard.

After what felt like hours, Nina suggested quite a few names to Togepi, who didn't really like any of them. Finally she said, "What about the name Mihoshi?" Togepi's eyes got big and it trilled happily. Nina laughed. "Alright, alright! That can be your new name!" Nina scooped up Mihoshi in her arms and hugged her.

"Hello Mihoshi, my name is Nina." They smiled, and the train lurched forward as it reached its destination, which woke up Anna and Cupcake. Nina and her crew exited from the train, which departed a moment later. Nina spotted a nearby sign, which read:

Welcome to Littleroot Town.

Kasiya looked around nervously. She could easily see Mount Moon in front of her, only about half a mile ahead. After a few unbearable minutes, she heard Jaeshan's voice calling up to her. "It's alright," he said brightly. "Come on down now!"

"Okay," Kasiya called back, and slowly began her descent. The rungs on the rocky ladder were smooth and looked quite old. She wondered how long this had been hidden here, its close proximity to the mountain. Her mind racing, she continued to climb down.

"It's a bit of a drop off at the end," Jaeshan said from below. "Just be careful where you place your feet."

Kasiya took a calming breath, and did as she was told. Her foot found the last rung, and she stopped. "Now what?"

"I'll help." She felt Jaeshan reach up and put his hands on her hips. She let him take most of her weight, her hands still gripping the rocky ladder, and he lowered her to the floor safely. "There we go," he said, letting go.

Kasiya was thankful it was so dark down here so he couldn't see how red her face was. His hands felt so...strong. "But its so dark," she said, looking around. "What will be do now?"

"To tell you the truth, I hadn't thought that far," he admitted. "I usually have a flashlight with me, but the batteries died the other day and I have no spares. Unless you-"

"Nope," Kasiya said, scratching her head.

"Hmmm..." Jaeshan removed his pack and began to dig through it. "Hey, you've beaten Brock, right?" he asked, looking up at her in the dim light.

"Yes," she answered, but before she could ask why, he held up a shining disc, and Kasiya knew why.

"You've got an HM 05?" she asked. "Sweet."

"Caterpie can't learn it until she becomes a Butterfree, and Poochyena can't learn it at all. Looks like Shocker's our Pokemon for this job."

"Okay," Kasiya reached onto her belt, and felt around. "Bitey...Growly...there you are," she said, and clicked open Shocker's Pokeball. The small Electric mouse appeared by their feet.

"Pikachu," Shocker said happily, looking around in the darkness.

"We're going to teach you Flash, Shocker, is that all right?" Kasiya asked, lifting Shocker up.

"Pika pi!" Shocker said, her cheeks sparking with excitement.

"She's up for it," Kasiya laughed, and held her out to Jaeshan, who put the disc in place. A few seconds later, Shocker had learned Flash. Jaeshan put the reusable HM away.

"Okay Shocker," Kasiya said happily, "use Flash!"

"Chu!" Shocker did as she was told, and a blindling light filled the small room they were inside. It was about ten feet by ten feet, the walls roughly carved and oddly angled. An opening stood opposite the ladder, heading in the direction of Mount Moon.

"Let's be off," Jaeshan said, releasing Poochyena again and taking the lead. Shocker scrambled up onto Kasiya's head, very pleased with herself that she had been able to help.

Kilik sighed and sat on one of the seats, resting his chin in both of his hands. "Nothing..." he groaned. Koffing was staring at the wall.

"Koff...ing..." it whispered. Kilik looked over and approached the Poison ball.

"What are you looking at?" he asked, turning his head to stare at the wall as well. There it was. A poster. "I get it," he slammed his fist into his palm and smiled brightly, "The 'PosTer' isn't a person! It's a thing!" he walked up and felt his hands along the sides of the poster. "Now, why would someone mention...a poster?" he looked confused when he felt a hole in the wall.

"Koff!!" Kilik looked around, to see a tall man wearing a black outfit. As dark as it was in the building, the boy could still make out the bright red 'R' on his chest.

"Well, now...it seems we have a little rat in our midsts..." he laughed, popping his knuckles.

"Koffing!" it barked, tackling the man and knocking him to the ground. Kilik punched the poster and moved his hand along the inside of the wall. There was a switch. He pulled it and to their right, the floor slid open, revealing a staircase.

"Koffing, come on!" The boy ordered, running down the stairs, "Use Smog while you're at it!" And before the Pokemon followed his trainer, he blinded the man with a smoke barrier. The two disappeared into the staircase.

"This is Wily..." he groaned and coughed, "We have a rat running down to you."

"We've found him, Wily," Kilik heard a voice say. He stopped dead in his tracks. He looked up to his Koffing.

"We have to get out of here..." he groaned. Koffing belched out another Smog, giving the two a chance to escape. Kilik's footsteps echoed loudly each time they hit the floor. As the boy ran and Koffing hovered, Kilik looked up at the Pokemon, "Are you strong enough to carry me?" the Pokemon looked at him oddly.

"Koff?!" it squeaked.

"We'll find out!" he laughed, jumping up and grabbing Koffing around the middle. The Pokemon braced itself and hovered a bit lower. However, Kilik didn't make any noise from his footsteps, seeing how he wasn't stepping anymore. After about five minutes, though, the Koffing slowed to a stop. It was huffing and puffing.

"Koff...ing...Koff..."

"So, I'll wait until you evolve before I do that again," Kilik laughed. He heard more footsteps. He pointed to a staircase that headed down. "That way!" he ran down the stairs and approached a locked door, guarded by two men that were wearing the same outfit as that Wily person. He hid on the stairs and watched their movements.

"We lost him..." said Wily's voice over the walkie-talkie. The guard punched the wall.

"Check every single corridor! We can't let him know our plans!" he growled.

"Yes, sir."