chapter 3 now...


Jason Creight awoke in his sleeping bag on cold, damp grass, on the outskirts of Vermilion City.

He remembered the place well. Vermilion City was where he'd had to battle Lt. Surge, the gym leader there, for a Thunder badge. Thankfully, with the ground-type Pokemon he'd collected in the nearby Diglett Cave, he'd been prepared and defeated Surge with minimal fuss on Jason's part.

Jason had to grin when he remembered the look on Surge's face. The battle had been long ago, but Jason vividly remembered the events there. The man had been too overconfident in his abilities; he'd obviously never thought a trainer would be able to retaliate so strongly not only through battle, but by simple type differences.

He rolled over and grabbed his backpack. He fished out a change of clothes, changed, rolled up his waterproof sleeping bag, and strapped on his capture ball belt.

It had been long since he had seen Professor Oak in person. A year, at least; Jason had been carefully saving his money, awaiting the day when he could return and pay the good professor back. His Pokemon had become much stronger, as well, and he'd been capturing a lot of them. He still kept Gyarados with him, though; he knew that he would need it to be the lead Pokemon in his battle against Blaine, the gym leader on the volcanic Cinnabar Island. And he would need it to be strong.

But Gyarados wouldn't be the lead Pokemon where Jason was going.

He was headed for Saffron City.

He'd heard a lot about the leader there, and he'd been doing some studying. Apparently, the gym's main theme was psychic Pokemon, and the gym leader there was the most powerful psychic in Kanto. This amazed Jason, because Sabrina was his age; they both were about thirteen and a half. He'd also read up on the Pokemon she used in battle; she'd been consistent with two Abras, a Jynx, and a Mr. Mime. A Pokemon she had not used in battle until recently was Kadabra, and it was reported to be the most dangerous of the team.

Jason sighed. *Gonna need to find a Pokemon center once I get into town,* he thought. *I'll need Gengar for sure. Slowbro, maybe. Drowzee and Hypno, too. And Porygon.*

He stood up, pulled a Great ball from his belt, enlarged it, and was about to toss it when he saw a girl running up the path. It looked like she was running towards him.

When she finally got to him, she stooped over and panted heavily, trying to catch her breath. She had light skin, long brown hair, and hazel eyes. She was wearing a red T-shirt, blue denim shorts, and a full capture ball belt. She finally looked up at him. "Are you Jason Creight?"

"That depends on who's looking for him," Jason responded. He was still a little touchy about people knowing his identity, even though it had been nearly two years since the incident in the Orange Islands.

The girl grinned. "My name's Kelly. I'm just an ordinary trainer looking for a good-natured battle. I just got my badge from Fuschia Gym, and I heard about how badly a trainer named Jason Creight defeated the gym leader just shortly before I got there."

Instead of taking the default trainer's journey route through Kanto, Jason had decided to go to gyms that were weak against the types of Pokemon he had that were strong. He made sure to train his Pokemon to a reasonable level first, and so his journey was taking longer than usual. He wanted that, anyway; he still owed Professor Oak a substantial amount of money, and he wanted to make sure he was absolutely financially secure.

Not that he was doing badly. Out of battles with trainers and gym leaders, he'd collected nearly seventy-five thousand credits in total. There were no shortage of trainers with money. His training had paid off very well, indeed.

"Well, if your only intention is a battle, then I suppose I am indeed Jason Creight," he finally responded. "And here's my Pokemon license to prove it." He took his license from his vest pocket and flashed it.

She grinned again. "Great. How's a four-on-four battle sound?"

"That's fine. What's the wager?" Jason asked.

"Hmm... Fifteen hundred sound good?"

"Okay by me. You first."

She removed a Poke ball from her belt, enlarged it, and tossed it. "Go, Charmeleon!"

The neon energy bolt solidified into a lizard with reddish scales, razor- sharp claws, and a flaming tail, standing on its hind legs. "Char!"

"Okay," said Jason, returning the Great ball he'd enlarged to his belt. "In that case, I choose Gyarados!" He plucked the one Poke ball he still had from his belt and threw it at the makeshift arena, revealing the blue- scaled leviathan.

"Charmeleon, flamethrower!" Kelly called out.

The blistering heat's effect was almost nil on the water-type Pokemon.

"My turn," said Jason. "Gyarados, hydro pump!"

A great foaming blast of water boiled out of Gyarados' mouth and struck the lizard in the pit of its stomach. As Gyarados was firing, it raised its aim and traced a line of streaming water from Charmeleon's belly to its chin.

When the water flow stopped, Charmeleon hit the dirt and didn't get up.

"Charmeleon, return!" Kelly called. The Poke ball in her hand fired an energy beam at the downed Pokemon, forcing Charmeleon to transform into its pure energy form. The energy vacuum technology within the ball pulled the beam back, and with it, Charmeleon.

"Your Gyarados is at a higher level than I thought it was," she said. "But it should be no match for my Victreebel!" With that, she hurled an Ultra ball into the arena. A gigantic, bell-shaped plant Pokemon formed before their eyes, and its incoherent screech reminded Jason yet again of why one never takes Victreebels lightly.

"You're probably right," Jason answered, noting the glistening sheen of the Vectreebel's skin and the size of its leaves. This Pokemon had been raised extremely well. "But I wouldn't ask it to. Gyarados, return! Make me proud, Rapidash!"

Energy bolt exchanged places with energy bolt, and a flaming horse was now staring Victreebel down.

Kelly's eyes widened for an instant, but then she quickly covered her surprise with a determined look. "Okay, Victreebel, we'll just have to make the best of it. Poisonpowder!"

"Rapidash, swift attack!"

Even as the hooved Pokemon was knocked over by the combined force of the wind and poison pushing in its direction, spiked energy globes came to its aid and smashed into Victreebel's lower section.

"Victreebel, poison sting attack!"

"Rapidash, ember!"

The glowing, poisoned barbs and the flaming projectiles passed each other in midair and struck their respective targets dead-on. Both were taken down, but only Rapidash rose again.

"Victreebel, return!" Kelly looked annoyed now, but she was really quite impressed. She pulled out another Ultra ball and tossed it into the arena. "Crush 'em, Snorlax!"

The great flabby bulk that was Kelly's Snorlax came into being in front of the injured Rapidash. Jason was hoping it was asleep, but no such luck; it was standing up to its full height, that of a moderately-sized tree.

"Uh-oh," Jason muttered. He'd never encountered a Snorlax before, but he knew that they were incredibly powerful and extremely difficult to defeat. "Rapidash, return!" He considered his next Pokemon; he had to be careful on this one. After a moment or two, he made his decision. "Try this one out, Machoke!"

The musclebound superpower Pokemon formed and stared up into Snorlax's narrow slits for eyes with a look of fierce determination and appreciation for the challenge Jason had just given it.

Kelly chuckled. "I think this one's got you beat this time, Jason. Snorlax, seismic toss!"

"Machoke, earthquake attack!"

It was too late for Machoke to even think about attacking; it was immediately seized by Snorlax, swung around and around, and finally thrown to the ground.

Jason couldn't believe what he had just seen. The force of the seismic toss was such that when Machoke hit the ground, it had penetrated by more than three feet.

Kelly laughed. "I think Snorlax did the earthquake for your Machoke!"

And then Machoke jumped out of the hole. Jason felt a tremendous rush of relief.

Machoke then struck the ground with such force that it was enough to knock Snorlax flat onto its back.

As Snorlax was struggling to get to its feet, Jason called out, "Machoke, return!" Then he tossed a Great ball towards Snorlax. "Go, Clefable!"

A pink, winged Pokemon emerged from the ball and began giggling at Snorlax's predicament.

"Sorry, Clefable, no time for laughs! Sing to Snorlax!" Jason instructed.

The fairy-like Clefable bowed to Snorlax and began to sing its soothing, sleep-inducing lullaby. Jason quickly reached into his vest pocket, pulled out a pair of earplugs, and shoved them into his ears before the song could have an effect on him. Though he could no longer hear, he could see Snorlax continuing to struggle. But its movements were beginning to look sluggish...

And then it stopped moving altogether, save its breathing. Jason felt a slight rumbling under his feet, and he knew that Snorlax was snoring. He saw Clefable bow to Snorlax again, then turn to him, awaiting further instructions.

Jason removed his earplugs. "Now use metronome!"

Glefable wiggled its index digits back and forth until they began to glow a pale blue.

Suddenly, it fired a reddish-orange beam from its mouth at Snorlax's broad body.

"Okay, okay! Snorlax, return!" Kelly yelled. She looked at Jason, and he could tell that she had put her fingers in her ears for lack of better protection against Clefable's song; her left index finger was still in her ear. "I think you've made your point. I admit defeat, but only because I don't want my last Pokemon to faint. I won't be protected."

"In that case, I win the fifteen hundred by default," said Jason.

"That you do. Here," and Kelly tossed a small felt bag to Jason. "Count it, and make sure it's fifteen hundred."

Jason counted the money, and it was indeed fifteen hundred credits. "A pleasure to battle with you," he said, tossing the bag back.

"Where are you headed, Jason?"

"Saffron. I need to get my badge there. It'll be my sixth one."

"I need to get my badge there, too. Mind if I tag along until we get there?"

Jason took out Rapidash's Great ball. "I was planning to ride Rapidash. Want to ride with me?"

"It's poisoned."

"Not for long. Come back out, Rapidash."

Rapidash's flamed burned less brightly now, and its knees were shaking with the effort of standing up. Jason took out a dropper filled with a poison healing concoction. "Open up, please."

Rapidash opened its mouth and Jason poured the poison heal in. "Down the hatch. You'll be fine in a couple of minutes. Lie down and take a breather."

It nodded and obediently spread itself out on the grass. Jason likewise sat down, and soon, Kelly joined them.

"So," said Kelly, "where do you come from?"

"A long way from here," Jason answered. "The Orange Islands."

"Wow," said Kelly. "I've always wanted to go there. It sounds like such a beautiful place. All those port cities, clear ocean water, Pokemon..."

Jason chuckled. *I guess she never heard about the marina. Either that, or she forgot.* "Well, it's not all fun and games there. There's lots of hard work, too."

"I'd love to go there someday. Hey, maybe when you go back, you could take me with you! I hear they've got a Pokemon league there!"

Jason shook his head. "I don't really think I want to go back there."

"Oh, but why not?"

"It's a long story. I don't like to talk about it."

Kelly snorted. "You mean you wouldn't think about going back to the Orange Islands, one of the greatest tourist attractions of the world, for even a second?"

"Of course I've thought about it, but I don't want to go back. Not now, anyway. When I'm older."

Kelly sighed. "There's no changing your mind once a decision's been made, is there?"

"Not really. And I prefer it that way." He turned to his Pokemon. "Feeling better?"

It whinnied and jumped to its hooves.

Jason grinned. "All right, then. Time for us to head out."

He turned to Kelly. "So, what's it gonna be? You coming with?"

She stood up. "I guess I am."

Jason climbed on, then extended his hand to Kelly. "Well, then, come on up here."

She smiled, grabbed his hand, and jumped on.

"Hold on tight." Jason reached around Rapidash's neck with both hands and linked his wrists. "Take us to Saffron City."

***

Upon their arrival, Jason insisted they go to the Pokemon center first. Both he and Kelly had their Pokemon healed. Afterwards, Jason went to the teleporter center and called Professor Oak.

Oak, as usual, took a while to answer. Jason wasn't surprised when it took eleven rings for Oak to pick up.

The professor, for his part, was pleasantly surprised. "Jason! Haven't seen you for a while."

"I've been out training," Jason responded. "I'm afraid I don't have much time to chat, Sam. I need to do a little trading."

"Okay, then. What are you trading for?"

"My psychic team. Drowzee, Hypno, Slowbro, Gengar, and Porygon."

Oak smiled knowingly. "You're in Saffron City, then."

"I am indeed. Can you get them for me?"

"Just a moment. Go ahead and place the ones you're trading in the teleporter while I go get your psychics."

Jason removed five capture balls from his belt, enlarged them, and put them in the teleporter unit. When Oak came back to the screen, the professor said, "Ready on this end."

"Here, too. Go ahead," said Jason.

Electricity sparked from the unit, and a blinding flash lit it for an instant. Where there had been two Great balls and three Ultra balls, there were now three Great balls, one Ultra ball, and one Poke ball.

"I've got them," said Jason, shrinking them and stowing them in his belt.

"And so do I," Oak replied. "I'd like to study your Clefable for a while. I hope that won't be a problem."

"Not at all. After this, I'll be heading to Viridian, and then down to Cinnabar. I might as well stop by your lab on the way; I still owe you money."

"That you do," said Oak, smiling again. "I'll talk to you soon, then."

"Count on it."

Jason hung up. Then he sighed. "Off to Saffron Gym, then."

Kelly walk out with him. "I'll come along and root for you."

Jason grinned. "It won't hurt, that's for sure."

***

Kadabra hit the floor. It didn't get up.

Jason stared Sabrina squarely in the eyes. He didn't know what he expected to find, but it sure wasn't what he thought he saw. Just for an instant, he thought he saw her eyes glowing red...

Her jaw was locked. She had permanent, perfect stoicism, but the girl on her lap was crying. "You beat me! I don't like you!"

Suddenly, Jason realized that he had absolutely no idea what that girl was doing there. Sabrina was too young for it to be her daughter. Her sister, perhaps? But the books had said she was an only child... Jason could only guess a spectator that was close to Sabrina. He snorted inwardly. *Like anyone could ever pierce that tough exterior.*

"Porygon, return," he said, and his Porygon's Poke ball sucked the cyber- surfing Pokemon into its mirrored recesses. Then he looked at the girl. "No one ever said you had to like me." Then he turned his gaze back to Sabrina. "According to Pokemon league rules, I've now earned my Soul badge and the wager."

"Yes, according to league rules, you have," said Sabrina, her monotone voice echoing throughout the gym. She paused. "I am impressed, trainer. You have no psychic abilities that I can discern, yet you have managed to defeat me with relative ease."

"I have strong Pokemon and a strong constitution," Jason responded.

"Yes. But does your constitution justify your actions in the Orange Islands?"

Jason glared at her. "My past is none of your business."

"Yet my past is your business? I know that you've studied about me extensively. A human's past experiences and actions," said Sabrina, "define what they are. You took an interest in my humanity for the purpose of this... game. And when I take an interest in your humanity, you find this offensive? Have you something to hide, Jason Creight?"

"I came here to earn the Soul badge. If you won't give it to me even after I've defeated you in fair combat, then we have nothing more to discuss." Jason turned to leave.

"Have you any idea," Sabrina called out, "the suffering you caused because of your so-called constitution?"

"Jason," Kelly said, "what's she talking about?"

Jason ignored Kelly's question and turned to face Sabrina. "I did what I had to do."

"People are wandering the Orange Islands without homes and without lives because of you."

"No, they're wandering the Orange Islands without homes and without lives because of my family. They wouldn't take proper steps to ensure the safety of the Pokemon, and some of them nearly died because of it. For all I know, some of them did die because of it. All of those Pokemon deserved better than that. So I made it happen."

"And your actions caused the destruction of valuable property."

"Property can be rebuilt. I don't have to explain myself or justify myself to you."

Sabrina's eyes flared, but it was the girl in her lap who spoke. "You don't like to play, do you?"

Jason was silent. For one tense moment, they all were.

Finally, he responded. "I stopped playing the day I opened my eyes, to see the ball hit me between them."

Though the words were softly spoken, they resounded throughout the arena. Silence reigned for what seemed an eternity.

"Congratulations," said Sabrina. "You have earned the Soul badge, and the wager."

A flash of light caused Jason and Kelly to be momentarily blinded. When they regained their sight, Sabrina and the girl were gone.

Floating five inches away from Jason's face was a golden Soul badge.

It hit the ground.

Jason crouched down and picked the badge up. He inspected it for a moment, to see if it was real. When he was convinced, he pinned it on the inside of his vest and stood up.

Kelly walked up to Jason. "Jason, what was Sabrina talking about?"

Jason looked into Kelly's eyes and saw that she genuinely had no idea what the entire exchange was about.

"No doubt, you've heard the term 'Ignorance is bliss.' If you don't know," he said, "then you'd best not find out."

Jason walked out of the gym.

A confused Kelly followed.

***

"I'm going with you," Kelly said, as they headed to the Pokemon center.

Jason snorted. "To where? Dudsville?"

"On your journey."

Jason turned to her and stopped walking. "I don't do well with company."

"How would you know? You haven't had any this entire time."

"What about all those other trainers? I'm sure they're looking for someone to travel with. What makes me so special?"

"You're from the Orange Islands, and you've got a mysterious past that only Sabrina has the key to."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought it was etiquette not to talk about your past when not asked to."

"I asked, and you said you didn't want to talk about it. Is that etiquette?"

"So by that argument, I could ask you what your first kiss was like, and you would have to answer for the sake of being proper."

Kelly's face reddened. "That's not the same thing."

"Maybe the circumstances aren't, but the overall situation is. There are some aspects of my past I don't want other people to know, just like you have some things I'm sure you'd rather hide." Jason sighed. "As long as you don't nag me about it, I'll tolerate your company."

Kelly frowned. "But you won't enjoy it."

"I'll figure that out as soon as you stop bothering me about the entire business."

"Okay, fine! I won't!"

"Fine."

They stormed off to the Pokemon center.

***

That evening, after Jason had traded in his Drowzee for his Fearow, he and Kelly were riding on Fearow's back to Viridian City. The sun had gone down, and the moon was full. The sky was clear, and the view was beautiful.

Kelly had fallen asleep on Jason's shoulder. Jason didn't dare sleep; even though Fearow was able to give them the smoothest ride of their lives, he still didn't trust it enough to sleep on while in flight. He stroked Fearow's hairy back. "Sorry for the extra load, buddy, but she insisted."

It cawed in response. Its broad back was large enough to comfortably seat three, but Jason wasn't interested in taxing its abilities further.

Jason looked out to the starry horizon. *I'm this far along the road. I can't stop now; I have to see this thing through to the end.*

He glanced down at Kelly, and wondered if bringing her along would prove to be a wise move or a mistake.

*Hey, an outcast like me can use all the friends he can get.*

His gaze returned to the full moon and the starry night sky.

Jason Creight flew on.

To Be Continued