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Koffing floated down into Kilik's lap when he sat down. It still wore that face of pride. "Now, Kilik..." Giovanni said, leaning foreward and locking his fingers together, "You are a trainer, are you not?"

"Yes, sir. I am. Started a few weeks ago." Kilik nodded as he talked.

"And many trainers want power, right?" The boy nodded in agreement once more. Giovanni smiled, the end of his pipe clenched in his teeth, "You have another Pokemon, don't you?" he asked, pointing at the Koffing before locking his fingers together once more.

"I have a Flareon...he's resting at the Pokemon Center right now," at the end of his sentence, he PokeNav rang, "Just a moment," he opened it, "Hello?"

"Kilik?" said Nurse Joy's voice, "Your Flareon is fine. He's waiting for you." Kilik smiled.

"Thank you, Joy," he hung up and put the device back into his pocket.

"A Flareon?" Giovanni repeated.

"Yes, sir. A Flareon that I care deeply for. It was thanks to him I won this badge," the boy opened his jacket to show off his Rainbow Badge. Giovanni clapped a few times.

"Impressive work. Now," he sneered, "How's about I give you a chance...to become one of the strongest trainers in the three Regions?" Kilik's eyes brightened and a smile creeped across his face.

"Really!?" he was excited, "How do you plan to do that?" he questioned, calming down again. Giovanni pulled something from his pocket and held out his hand. In his palm rested a bright badge. It was the same symbol as the ones the Rockets had on their shirts.

"Take this...and you will be part of Team Rocket. I will ensure that you become a powerful trainer," Giovanni wore a smile on his face once more. Kilik thought about it for a moment, looking down at his Koffing.

"Koffing! Koffing!" it said happily. The boy nodded and carefully took the badge from Giovanni's hand. He placed it on the front of his jacket. Koffing hovered above his owner and spun around in a circle, as it always did when it was happy. Kilik stood up.

"Kilik Ranmo, reporting for duty, Giovanni!" He saluted, the 'R' on his chest shining brightly.

Jaeshan led the way out of the forest, and after several hours of nonstop-travelling, they reached the campsite from the night before. Exhausted, the two trainers sat down, sweating heavily from the heat and their stomachs growling. "I'll make some lunch," Jaeshan said, reaching into his backpack. "Trail rations for everyone!" he laughed, and they dug into the high-energy lunch.

After they ate, Jaeshan looked casually over at Kasiya, who was eyeing the stream. "I think I'm going to go for a dip," she said. "But when I change into my swimsuit, you can't look!" she said sternly, digging through her bag.

Jaeshan's face went scarlet this time, and he hastily turned his back. "O-okay...just t-tell me when you're d-done," he said, wondering if his face could get any redder. He twiddled his thumbs anxiously, until she gave word she was changed. He looked over, and his face flushed again. She's just so...his mind failed him for words to describe her. She stepped into the water after releasing her Pokemon, gigging at its coolness. Ariel jumped right in, splashing her from head to toe.

"Well, I'll change too," he said, but Kasiya didn't notice. He swiftly changed to his swim trunks, and joined her in the cool, refreshing stream.

Jason just left Prof. Oak's office and started walking toward Route 1, in hopes of reaching Pewter City by the end of the day...

Tony was playing with Weed whom he had found out just had a strange leef coloration, the egg on his back was wiggling in its sling. Upon hearing her voice he glanced up and said with a happy smile on his face. "Well its nice to meet you Ryka. My names Tony Dragonbane, it''s a pleasure I am sure.

Tony scooped up Weed who was trying to go over and pester Ryka. "Don''t mind this little dork. I caught the little bugger yesterday."

"Oddish Odd!" Weed cried happily upon hearing his trainer talk about him not quite knowing what was going on.

Tony looked down at the little Oddish and rolled his eyes at the simple enjoyment it got for just being talked about. "Honestly you are a weird little thing." Tony glanced back over at Ryka. "Well what are you going to do while your Eevee is with Nurse Joy?"

In no time at all, the group of humans and Pokemon combined had started a game of water tag, with Vaporeon almost always winning. It was safe to say they weren't quiet about it, shrieking and laughing and having a grand old time. Poochyena climbed out of the stream, dripping wet and panting heavily. It lied down beside Growly, who had his fill of the water after about thirty seconds and was dozing. A rustling in the brush behind him made the dark puppy look up quickly, looking around intently. Growly lifted his head, and looked after Poochyena, but soon put his head back down. Poochyena, however, convinced it wasn't nothing, jumped to his feet and nose his way over, sniffing intently. No sooner had he reached the edge of the forest when a big, pinkish coloured Pokemon burst from the greenery, hitting Poochyena hard.

Wild Nidorino appears!

Level: 18
Attacks: Leer, Peck, Focus Energy, Double Kick, Poison Sting

"Poochyena!" Jaeshan cried, leaping out of the water. The Nidorino thrashed its head around, showing off its dangerous looking horn. Poochyena scrambled to all fours, and began growling menacingly at the Nidorino. "Fight back! Use Tackle!" he ordered. Poochyena obeyed, ramming with all its might into the Nidorino. It saw the move coming a mile away, and moved to avoid taking the brunt of the blow. It jabbed Poochyena with is horn, the smaller of the two Pokemon yelping in severe pain. Poochyena could feel the poison in his system, sapping his health and weakening him dramatically. He clambered to his feet as the Nidorino turned to face Jaeshan, still lashing with its horn.

"That thing looks mean!" Kasiya cried, stepping out of the water and catching the wild Pokemon's eye. It glared at her, looking as if it could charge any moment.

"Stay there, Kassie," Jaeshan said, moving to stand in front of her. The Nidorino growled, and charged at the trainer fiercly.

Jaeshan closed his eyes, and braced for the impact. When it didn't come, he opened his eyes to see why. Poochyena had jumped up and knocked the Nidorino down with a fierce Tackle just before it had hit him. The Nidorino had an easy foot of height and several pounds on the small Poochyena, and it didn't take too kindly to being thrown out of its attack. It ran at the small puppy, and kicked it with both hind legs - a Double Kick. Poochyena yelped and whined, the super effective moves stung, and the poison didn't help. It got up to be knocked down from a Peck attack, its anger growing in its belly.

"Stop it!" Jaeshan yelled. "Leave him alone!" He grabbed a rock from the ground and hurled it at the Nidorino, hitting it in the side and really making it angry. Once again it turned and charged for Jaeshan, but this time was stopped by a fierce Roar from Poochyena. Everyone turned to see the injured puppy raise its head and Howl again, before its body became consumed by a bright white light.

"Wow!" Kasiya exclaimed. Jaeshan's jaw dropped open as the blinding light peaked, and vanished as quickly as it had come. And there, standing in Poochyena's place and looking very, very ticked of was a Mightyena!

Kilik let the Flareon on the ground so that it could finally stretch its legs a bit more. The boy put his hands in his pockets. "So...where do you think we should go next?" Flareon looked up and sat down.

"Flare?" he tilted his head. The boy snapped his fingers.

"I'll ask Giovanni..." And with that, he pulled out his PokeNav and dialed the number on the card Giovanni gave him.

"This is Giovanni," said the voice on the other side.

"Sir?" the boy said, "Where should I go?" Kilik scratched the back of his head.

"Kilik, I can't be bothered with such petty questions." Giovanni growled on the other line.

"Wait! Sir! I mean...is there anything I can do to help the Team?" he whispered as someone walked by. On the other end, Giovanni's eyes widened.

"I understand now," he said, "Go to Saffron City and go to the Silph. Tower. The President is in the room. Find him and guard him." And with that, the line died.

"Yes, sir!" he turned off his PokeNav and headed off to the East. Already, he could see the Silph Corporation tower. He remembered that Nina had told him about Silph and Devon's collaboration on a few projects. Placing his hands in his pockets, Kilik looked up at the sky, "I wonder what she's doing right now, anyway..." he whispered. Flareon and Koffing followed their trainer, looking at each other from time to time.