CorruptedMoon

Once they left, Kurt once again praised Ethan for a job well done before heading back to his home. The raven haired teen turned to his tired pokemon and smiled softly, "You did a wonderful job, Cynder." He said quietly, holding up the firestarter's monster ball, "Take a good rest." Cynder smiled sleepily at him before he was returned into the sphere. Ethan put it away and stretched, "Now, time to head to the center and get a little rest myself."

After taking out the executive, Proton, Kurt came around checking on the slowpoke and praising Ethan for a job well done. Ethan gave a small smile before they started to head back towards the entrance of the well. Ethan clenched Cynder's pokeball in his hand, the said pokemon walking beside him tiredly. 'Somehow, I have the feeling this isn't the last time I'll be running into the Rockets.'

Although battling was one of the most fun things a trainer and his pokemon could do, Ethan took no pleasure in thrashing the rockets. He only felt grim satisfaction that they were getting what they deserved. Just after the next rocket fell, Cynder began glowing before changing into a Quilava. Ethan smiled brightly, "Awesome Cynder! You evolved!" "Quilava!" The pokemon exclaimed happily. Soon their happiness disappeared and they became determined once more. "Only a few more rockets." The raven haired trainer murmured while Cynder growled lowly, crouching, ready to fight the evil trainers and their pokemon.

After being told what happened by the old man now known as Kurt, Ethan headed deeper into the well, his clenching hands the only sign of anger. Team Rocket was going to pay for what they had been doing.

"Eh...? Wasn't somebody guarding this earlier?" Ethan mused as he looked at the entrance to the Slowpoke Well. "Should we check it out?" he asked Cynder who looked up at him before nodding firmly. "Let's go then." He said quietly before the two disappeared into the well.

Ethan frowned, something wasn't right. The Gym was blocked off by some weird man in black. He had spoken to a man and his apprentice, but they didn't know, neither did the people in the Pokemon Center. When he went to the final house, before he could even get in a word out, and old man ran past him, shouting something about teaching some rockets some manners. He blinked and looked down at Cynder who looked just as confused as he did. "I guess we should check this out." he said slowly before they headed off.

Ethan stretched and yawned softly. It had been a long day and it wasn't over yet. 'I think maybe I'll take on the gym and then stop for awhile. After all, getting all the way to Azalea from New Bark is nothing to sneeze at.'

Ethan made a face as he came up to the mouth of a cave. 'Delightful. I hate caves...' Sighing, he trudged inside, Cynder following him cautiously.

It was a difficult battle, but Ethan and his pokemon managed to pull through, securing the first gym badge. The raven haired teen thanked the leader for the battle before he left, barely containing his excitement. It had been such a thrilling battle and their efforts from training were rewarded by the badge gleaming in the sunlight.

With a little difficulty, Ethan made it passed the gym trainers before he faced the leader. He said nothing as the gym leader went on about bird pokemon before the battle began. Ethan gave a small smile. This should be interesting.

Ethan sighed softly, shaking his head before plastering on a fake smile as he went up to challenge the elder. Once the battle was over, he accepted the TM with a real smile, but his mind refused to stop thinking about the red haired trainer. 'The way he treats his pokemon in battle... It's horrible.' He frowned as he left the tower. 'What could possibly make him do that?' He shook his head, 'I guess, sadly, it doesn't matter at the moment. Who knows when we'll meet again.' He headed to the Pokemon Center. Next stop the Violet City Gym.

"Strength doesn't mean everything." Ethan murmured quietly.

'I know this place is called 'Bellsprout Tower', but this is getting ridiculous.' Ethan deadpanned after he defeated yet another sage. Finally making it to the top, he was unprepared for what would occur.

After managing to capture several wild pokemon and stopping at the Pokemon Center, Ethan made his way into the Sprout Tower, figuring he should train a little more before he took on the Gym.

OFF TOPIC: Haha! If you looked closer, you'd noticed it's really from my story. I just changed bits and pieces. Once Ethan had finished speaking with the professor, he left the lab and headed home to say goodbye to his mother. The woman was tearful, but warm and supporting of his journey. With a slightly bittersweet goodbye, Ethan was on his way once again. Glancing at his pokegear, he mused, "The next city after Cherrygrove is Violet City, home of the Bellsprout Tower and the first Gym of Johto." He looked down at Cynder who stared back up at him. "Should be fun, right?" "Quil quil!" Cynder squeaked in agreement causing the raven haired teen to laugh.

Elm's eyes widened, "What? Professor Oak gave you a pokedex? Ethan, is that true? Th-that's incredible!" He gaped. "He is superb at seeing the potential of people as Trainers." He grinned, "Wow, Ethan. I knew you were a little different. Things are going to be fun!" Ethan let another small grin flicker across his face, nodding in agreement. "Your Pokemon seem to really like you, so why don't you...take the Pokemon Gym Challenge? If you manage to defeat all the Gym Leaders, you'll eventually challenge the Pokemon League Champion!" Elm paused. "Or not! Ha ha ha! Becoming the Champion is not all that easy, but you can certainly challenge Violent City's Gym." Ethan nodded, "I planned on that." "Challenging the Gyms scattered around will be a long journey. Before you leave, make sure you talk to your mother." Elm advised. "Of course." Ethan smiled a little more.

Ethan blinked, startled, 'Erm...I didn't know that. I should be more careful...' Sighing, he turned to the professor who seemed to be still a little nerve-wracked, not that the trainer could blame him. "Ethan this is terrible..." The raven haired teen nodded slightly as Elm collected his thoughts. It was awful that the pokemon had been taken. "Oh, yes, what was Mr. Pokemon's big discovery?" He asked. Ethan silently held out the pokemon egg causing Elm to look startled, grasping the egg, "Huh? This is an...Egg, isn't it? This Egg may be something I've never seen...still it's just an Egg." He shook his head with a wry smile, "Mr. Pokemon is always fascinated by Eggs. Well, since he gave it to us, we might as well find out what secret it holds. I'll keep it for awhile to find out about Egg." "There's more Professor." Ethan said quietly, but now he was smiling eagerly. He held out his pokedex, "Professor Oak gave this to me."

Ethan blinked, looking at her with confusion. "Huh? Why would you think that Lyra?" He asked curiously but mentally he was worried, 'How did she know?'

Ethan tensed up something the policeman noticed right away, "What? You saw a boy like that?" Mutely, the raven-haired nodded slowly. "He must be the one who did it... Did you happen to get his name?" The policeman asked. Ethan averted his eyes and he contemplated telling the truth or not... He decided not to. "Platinum." He mentally cringed at lying to someone of authority, but for some reason, he didn't want to tell on the other trainer. "I see! So Platinum was his name. Thanks for helping my investigation! My next assignment is to search for this red-haired individual." The policeman tipped his hat to the other three and left briskly. Ethan shook his head and sighed.

Ethan finally made it back to New Bark Town and headed to the lab where a policeman was talking to Professor Elm. The policeman looked over at the amber-eyed teen and frowned slightly. "Who are you?" He demanded. Without letting the dark haired teen speak, he continued, "We are investigating the case of the missing Pokemon here..." He puffed his chest proudly, "Rule number one! "Whoever did it will come back to the site."" 'You've gotta be kidding me.' Ethan deadpanned. The the words sunk in, 'Missing pokemon? It might be...' Before he could ask, the policeman stopped short, staring at him, "Oh my...so you must be...the one who did it?" Ethan blanched before glaring, how dare he! He would never steal a pokemon! Beside him, Cynder was also glaring at the policeman.

"Silver..." Ethan murmured, testing the name out. Shaking his head he looked at Cynder, "Think you're well enough to go back to New Bark Town?" "Cynda!" Cynder nodded causing them amber-eyed teen to smile. "Okay then. Let's go." And they headed off.

Ethan blinked, 'What a weird guy...' Shifting his gaze, he noticed what the trainer had dropped and curiosity made him pick it up. 'What's this?'

The raven haired teen breathed a sigh of relief before smiling, "That was great Cynder!" "Cynda!" The fire mouse said happily, scampering over to his trainer.

Ethan cringed at the sound of his pokemon's pain cry. "Hang in there Cynder! Find that pokemon and use tackle!" Cynder dodged another water gun just in time before running in the direction it had come from.

"Get out of the way Cynder!" Ethan exclaimed, sighing softly as the fire mouse dodged. "Good! Now use smokescreen!" Cynder nodded before taking a deep breath and exhaling, a stream of black smoke covering both pokemon so neither could truly see.