I smiled as I woke up the next morning. I was 11 years old! And so was Lizzie. Lizzie and I had the same b-day.
     I shook her. With a small groan, she opened her eyes and smiled up at me. "Happy birthday," she sad, still half asleep.
     "Happy birthday to you too," I said. I climbed to my feet and got a shirt out of my bag. We had spent the night in the hotel and decided since we started training about 4 months ago, it would be time to get our clothes washed, huh? Ha ha.
     "Hey, happy B-day you, two," Willis said, coming into the hotel room. "I've been thinking about this all week, and I think I've made the right decision."
     She handed each of us small boxes wrapped in green wrapping paper. Mine had a blue bow and Lizzie's had a pink. "Thanks, Willis," Lizzie and I said in unison.
     I started to take the bow off, but I sighed. I noticed Lizzie had also.
     Willis frowned. "What's wrong?" he asked.
     Lizzie moved around with the box in her hands. "It's just that -- well, Woody and I have never really gotten presents for our birthdays before," she said. I nodded. Lizzie continued. "At least, not really from anyone who cared. I can't remember our parents ever giving us presents. And at the orphanage, the keeper would give us a shirt and some jeans, but just hand-me-downs and stuff like that..."
     "Yeah," I agreed. "We really mean it when we say 'thank you.' "
     I opened the paper and found something that looked like a shoebox. I took off the lid and dropped the paper on the ground. I could hear Lizzie opening hers. Willis beamed at us.
     Inside the box was a framed picture. Not just one, but two. I pulled them out. I recognized the first one. It was a picture of me. I was about one year old. I was sitting on a chair and giving a toothy grin to the camera.
     I smiled and put it down. I then looked at the next one. It was a picture of my whole ... real family. My mom and Lizzie's dad looked like they were going on a date. Mom's red dress and hair tied in a bun, lipstick and make-up on. Lizzie's father was wearing a black turtleneck and dress pants.
     They were standing behind a chair, grinning. Sitting down were 2 year old Lizzie and I on a couch and kneeling down was... Julius. He was about 8 years old and he had an angry look on his face. I had almost forgotten how old Julius was when he just didn't do a thing when Mom died. He didn't care. He wanted it here was a picture of her when she was born.
     A tear rolled down Lizzie's cheek. "Thanks Willis," she said. "Where did you get these?"
     Willis shrugged. "I have my sources. You'd miss out on the biggest surprise later today if I told you." With that he walked away.
    
I smiled as I got outside. "A year older and a new badge in the next city," I said. "Two good friends at my side and 7 wonderful Pokemon. Weedle being with Prof. Oak and all, though. The only things I'm missing are a good meal and a Pokemon battle."
     "I can give you one of those things," a voice said. When I looked through the bushes, I saw it was Mauno. The masked man we saw the week before during the balloon race. Mauno still had on that red mask and the messy hair with the torn jeans.
     "Hey, Mauno," Lizzie said. "What are you doing here?"
     I'd never really heard Mauno talk clearly before. "I am also traveling around the world to get badges," he said. "I haven't had a real challenge from a normal trainer for a while. I thought it might be a nice change if I battle."
     "Which one of us?" I asked.
     "I want to battle each of you once," he said. "However, I'd like to start with Woody if it's okay with you two. I've had my eye on him and I'd like to see how he raises his Pokemon."
     "Fine with me," Lizzie and I said in unison.
     Mauno nodded and pulled a Pokeball from his belt. "Poliwhirl, I choose you!" A blue frog Pokemon with white gloves and a swirl in its center came out of a Great Ball that Mauno threw.
     "Scyther, go!" I commanded. I held up my Pokeball and in a white flash, Scyther formed and then stood in front of me. "Should we battle here?" I asked.
     Mauno looked and saw we were right in front of the hotel. "Sure," he said. "Why not?"
     "Scyther, Fury Swipes!" I ordered quickly. Without hesitation, Scyther swiped at Poliwhirl over and over again. However, Poliwhirl was skilled. He grabbed one of Scyther's scythes and Tackled him.
     Scyther fell to the ground with a sickening THUD! "Are you okay, Scyther?" I asked.
     Scyther climbed to his feet. "Poliwhirl, put it all into a Water Gun," Mauno said. Poliwhirl balled his hands into fists and a blast of water shot out of the swirl on its stomach.
     The water glided through the air and hit Scyther in the face with a splash. Scyther was dazed for a second from the impact. While it struggled to recover from the blow, Poliwhirl then came at Scyther with a Bubblebeam.
     "Scyther, use Sword Dance!" I commanded. Scyther glowed white and spun around. He outstretched his arms and the bubbles popped as they came near him.
     Frustration built up inside Poliwhirl. He spun around also and used Doubleslap. Scyther saw this out of the corner of his eyes. He floated in the air. Poliwhirl, confused looked into the sky.
     "Diving Quick Attack!" I yelled.
     Scyther glided down at full power to Poliwhirl. Poliwhirl prepared to use Water Gun, but Scyther hit with sudden impact before Poliwhirl could unleash the attack.
     Scyther was also hurt. He rolled across the ground and shook off the pain and dizziness.
     "Scyther, Slash!" I ordered. Scyther ran across the grass to Poliwhirl for a Slash attack, but Poliwhirl turned around in time to see it and dodged out of the way. Scyther's scythe was stuck in the dirt. Scyther pulled it out instantly.
     "Mega Punch," Mauno said. Poliwhirl aimed a punch at Scyther who was distracted. Scyther ducked out of the way and turned back to face Poliwhirl.
     "Double Kick!" I cried out of desperation. Scyther floated into the air and kicked Poliwhirl in the head. Poliwhirl stumbled around, dazed. Scyther kicked him once more in the chest. Poliwhirl fell to the ground again.
     "Come on, you can do it!" Mauno was playing cheerleader for Poliwhirl. "We've come this far! We can't lose."
     "Scyther, Scratch attack," I said. Scyther scratched Poliwhirl hard. I knew it would take more than that to put away Poliwhirl.
     I was right.
     Poliwhirl punched Scyther in the gut. I heard a groan from Scyther. Poliwhirl jumped at Scyther with a Mega Punch. "Scyther, dodge it and use Headbutt!" I yelled.
     Scyther moved out of the way from Poliwhirl's Punch and immediately rammed him in the back, head first.
     "Bubblebeam!" Mauno yelled. I was surprised that Poliwhirl had enough energy to perform anymore attacks. The Bubbles hit their target in Scyther. Scyther held his chest which was now sore from the Bubblebeam. I was getting frustrated. The match wasn't going anywhere.
     "Scyther! Turn up the heat on this match and let's get this going!"
     Scyther didn't hesitate. He jumped into the air and then flew right into the ground! Poliwhirl looked around, stunned for a second. "NOW!" I yelled.
     Scyther came up out of the ground from under Poliwhirl. Poliwhirl flew about 10 feet into the air. "Swift," I commanded. Scyther slashed its blade through the air. Dozens of tiny stars nailed Poliwhirl. The frog fell to the ground and did not get up. Lizzie smiled and ran over to us.
     "Woody's the winner," she said. "Good job Mauno. It's my turn. Let's see how I'll do here."
     Scyther had beads of sweat running down his face. "I didn't know Mantis's could sweat. Are you okay?" I asked bending down next to him.
     "Scytha," he muttered with a nod. I returned him to my pokeball. Pikachu and I watched Lizzie's match.            
     "I choose you, Sudowoodo!" Lizzie cried.
      Sudowoodo came out of the ball and faced Mauno's next Pokemon, Arcanine.
     "Arcanine, Flame Rush!" Mauno commanded to his canine Pokemon. Arcanine opened his mouth and let out a hot rush of fire towards Sudowoodo. Sudowoodo was pretty much cornered. The wave of fire was just too big. I moved out of the way of the flames, but I still felt the heat from the flames, scorch my skin.
     "Sudowoodo, Dig!" Lizzie ordered. Sudowoodo dug into the ground and the fire barely missed his head. Arcanine looked around. Sudowoodo was nowhere to be found.
     "Uh ... where'd it go?" I asked.
     Lizzie gave me a worried look. Mauno was getting impatient. "Arcanine, use a Roar attack and scare Sudowoodo right out of the ground!"
     Arcanine let out a deep cry and it even hurt my ears. I put my hands up to plug my ears. The sound was almost unbearable. Sudowoodo however did come out of the ground. Right under Arcanine! Arcanine went flying through the air and then landed on its side. It then rolled over and its eyes glowed white. It shot a fireball at Sudowoodo.
     "Sudowoodo, use Reflect!" Lizzie commanded.
     Sudowoodo rose a hand into the air and at first I thought it was done for. I didn't see anything happen at first. The fireball was feet from Sudowoodo, but it stopped in midair.
     "What?" I muttered, dumbfounded.
     "Pikachu, Pikachu, Pika," Pikachu explained. (A Reflect attack increases defense. It causes an invisible wall to form.)
     "Cool," I said.
     Sudowoodo then charged at Arcanine and knocked him to the ground again. I watched as he rose his hand above his head and brought it down hard. He was trying to crush Arcanine's head.
     "Smokescreen!" Mauno cried. Arcanine shot smoke from his mouth and Sudowoodo hacked up a wad of spit and coughed. Arcanine had time to recover. He Tackled Sudowoodo. Sudowoodo fell backwards and Arcanine was on top of him, baring his teeth.
     "Arcanine, use your Leer Attack!" Mauno commanded.
     "Sudowoodo, cover your eyes! Don't look at him or you're defense it gonna be lowered," Lizzie said. Sudowoodo turned its head but Arcanine growled. Sudowoodo turned to Arcanine, but quickly covered his eyes. Arcanine got right in Sudowoodo's face, allowing Sudowoodo to smell the hot sour breath of Arcanine. "Sudowoodo, use Low Kick!"
     Sudowoodo brought back its foot and kicked Arcanine right in the stomach. Arcanine rolled right off of Sudowoodo ant turned back to face him. "Flamethrower," ordered Mauno.
     Arcanine used Flamethrowers. Sudowoodo ducked and dodged them all. One scorched the tip of his arm. Sudowoodo flailed his arms and then fell to the ground with a thud!
     "You have him where you want him, Arcanine," said Mauno. "Now, Extremespeed!"
     Arcanine glowed white and sped at Sudowoodo in a flash. Sudowoodo didn't even need to take orders. It didn't have time. With a start it used Rock Throw and Arcanine ran head first into the beam of rocks. He fell to the ground, unconscious.
     "Good job, Sudowoodo!" Lizzie cried excitedly, running over to her Pokemon. Sudowoodo hugged her and Lizzie hugged him back.
     "YOU LOST TO THESE TWO?!"
     I turned around. A woman walked towards us. She looked like a teacher. She was wearing a green skirt and blouse, dress shoes, had glasses and her brown hair tied in a bun. She wasn't carrying a stick or ruler, she was carrying a whip.
     "I'm s-sorry," Mauno stuttered, jumping up from the sight of her. "I-I'm sorry, Alicia! I didn't th-th-think they'd be so t-tough!" He was extremely afraid of this woman, obviously.
     She walked past us, as if we were invisible and leaned close to Mauno, looking him right in the -- mask.
     "You disgust me. You couldn't even beat two eleven year old kids. Another embarrassing lost and you will be FIRED from Team Galaxy!"
     Mauno looked at the ground. "I'm sorry. I should have tried harder..."
     Alicia took the whip and whipped Mauno in the leg. He gasped in pain and fell down to one knee.
     I was in shock of who Mauno had become this bottled up madman into being at the mercy of some tiny woman.
     "Maybe we should leave," Lizzie whispered.
     "Arcanine!" Alicia yelled. She turned to Sudowoodo. "Finish off that Sudowoodo."
     Arcanine hesitated, but when he took a close look at that whip, he glared at Sudowoodo and charged at him -- and nailed him with Extremespeed!
     "Wait, stop!" Lizzie yelled, running to her Sudowoodo. Sudowoodo was groaning in pain on the ground. Arcanine let loose a huge flamethrower which struck Sudowoodo. Sudowoodo practically screamed in agony. Lizzie searched everywhere for the ball so she could return Sudowoodo to happen.
     "Thank you, Willis," I said. I hugged him. I didn't know if I should be sad or excited about the pictures. "Thanks a lot."
     Willis nodded and turned to Lizzie. Lizzie had gotten the same family picture, except instead of a one year old picture of me (Heh heh) t
     "Pikachu, Shock Wave," I said. Pikachu shot a ball of sparks at Arcanine. It made contact and since Arcanine hadn't recovered, he was thrown easily to the ground. Sparks were visible on his fur. He shook in pain.
     Lizzie returned Sudowoodo and we took off running. I heard Alicia yelling after us. I looked over my shoulder. She had been running after us, but it was hard to run in those shoes. She stopped and turned back the other way.

"So, Mauno showed up, he was working for some lady named Alicia, he lost to both of you, she got mad and attacked him, then sicked her Arcanine on you and Sudowoodo..." Willis muttered, taking it all in. "And all this on your birthday."
     I sighed. "We hafta help Mauno. Alicia can't do this to him. She's gonna break him down and you'll never know what will happen."
     "I don't think I'd like to know," Lizzie muttered. "You saw what he was like around her. He was like a scared kitten or something..."
     "We've gotta help him," I said. "Birthday or not, I know we're taking a risk, but didn't Alicia say something about a Team Galaxy?"
     Lizzie thought about it. "Yes, she did. Woody, look on your laptop. Maybe we can find something."
     I typed in "Team Galaxy" on my laptop. It was a website. All it was a blue screen with a big green G in the middle of the page. In bold letters on the page it said "enter password to enter."
     "It's a site only available to Team Galaxy members," I muttered. "We need a password."
     "Just think of something..." Willis said. "Maybe it's something we already know about them. Type in 'Mauno'." I typed in the word.
     Invalid password. Try again.
     "Type in 'Alicia rules'," Lizzie tried. I typed it in.
     Invalid password. Try again.
     I must have typed in about 40 different words before I just gave up. "Oh man," I muttered. "We'll never get in. They have an IMPOSSIBLE password!"
     I just banged my fist on the keyboard. It punched in the letters "now". I knew it was no use. I flicked the enter button and sighed. "Might as well get some lunch guys."
     "Wait!" Willis said. "You -- you typed in the right password!"
     I looked at the laptop screen. Welcome to the Galaxy site. Team Galaxy, running the world. It isn't impossible. Anything is. I scrolled down the page until I found the word "HQ". I clicked on it. It named 8 towns. Recko Town, Matilla City, Verdanturf, Pewter City, Route 168, Route 48, and Lead City.
     "Lead City! That's the one," Lizzie said.         
     We closed the laptop. I gathered all of my pokeballs and shoved them into my pockets. "C'mon, Pikachu," I said. "No one is gonna make me feel bad on my birthday. I'm gonna give Alicia a piece of my mind!"
     "Wait! We need to think of a plan, first," Willis said, jumping from his chair.
     "I have no time to think," I said. "You don't understand. I know Alicia. I've met her before. Lizzie -- remember that mean teacher in the orphanage? Miz Alicia? That's the same one!"
     Lizzie nodded. "I remember. She looked familiar... She's the woman that used to beat us up when she was annoyed by us or something."
     "And this is a lot more than witnessing!" I said. "This is personal. Now, with or without you guys, I am gonna go to their HQ. I pinpointed the exact location."
     Willis nor Lizzie moved. They stayed planted in their seats. I shook my head. "You guys are sure a lot of help."
     Pikachu followed me out the door.

I came to a lake. "Team Galaxy HQ is under the lake," I said. I took out Lapras's pokeball. "Come on out, Lapras!"
     The blue sea creature emerged from the ball and sat in the lake. Pikachu jumped inside my shirt and I got on top of Lapras. "Lapras, Dive," I ordered. Lapras slowly sank down into the water. I took a huge deep breath and squinted. Lapras it underwater and sped up. I pointed to where I wanted her to swim. After about 40 seconds, we came to a huge brick building. It had a door near the bottom. Lapras swam down into the door.
     We swam up and came to a small opening. We were in some sort of hallway. Pikachu jumped out of my shirt. It was soaking wet. I took off my shirt and tied it around Lapras's neck. I then recalled Lapras to my Pokeball and peered through the hallway. I heard someone walking around from a far distance. The hallway had about 3 dim lights lined up through it.
     "Pikachu, Pi?" Pikachu asked. (Are we doing this or not?)
     "Yeah, we're doing it," I said. "But just in case, I want you to be prepared to use Thunder if we are caught."
     Pikachu nodded. I walked, quietly through the dim hallways. It smelled sour. It was very hot inside. Water dripped from me as I walked through the corridor.
     I heard some talking all of a sudden. I listed closely.
     "You heard what she did to Mauno?"
     "No, what'd Alicia do to him?"
     One of the guys sighed. "She took his mask."
     "Ewww. What does he look like?"
     I heard some movement of clothing. I guessed the other guy shrugged. "I dunno. He ran away, covering his face about an hour ago..."
     "Well, we don't need him. There are still hundreds of us worldwide. Now ... who are those kids that Alicia wanted us to get rid of?"
     I gulped.
     "Said she used to teach them at Bluewook Orphanage. What were their names? Doesn't matter, I've got some pictures of em. They're staying in the Lead Hotel."            
     I turned to Pikachu and nodded. Pikachu jumped out of the hallway. As did I. We stared down the two Team Galaxy members. They were wearing the Team Galaxy shirts and jeans. We both glared at them. I did my best lost child act.
     "Sir, I got lost in Lead Town," I said. "I dropped my watch in the water and when I dived down I saw this building so I decided to ask you guys if you knew where the nearest Pokemon center was... Uh -- because my friends and I agreed to erm,-- wait at the nearest Pokemon center if one of us was ... lost."
     One of the men gave a cheesy smile. "Sure, if you just swim right back up and then keep walking along the dirt path, eventually you'll find a Pokemon Center. It's the closest one and it's right next to a gas station and a hotel. You can't miss it."
     "Thank you," I said. I turned around and winked at Pikachu. We started to walk. We waited until the Team Galaxy members had turned. I mouthed the words "Thunder Wave."
     Pikachu shot out the bolt of electricity. The two guys screamed in pain and feel to the ground, shaking. Pikachu then used Thunder at the ceiling. Chunks of the ceiling fell down until the two Galaxy members were trapped under.
     "C'mon!" I yelled. Pikachu and I ran through the hall. I heard an alarm sound and a whole bunch of running footsteps from the left of me. I charged down the hall, away from the running Team Galaxy members. I knew I was eventually going to be caught. I could make out some shadows of the troops as I ran forward. Pikachu raced about 3 feet in front of me. I thought I would be caught for sure. Out of nowhere, a hand reached out and grabbed Pikachu and pulled him into a closet. Before I could do anything, I was tripped and pulled into the closet. Whoever pulled us in, locked the closet door. About 5 seconds later, I heard Team Galaxy running by.
     I was holding my breath. Letting it out I got to my knees. "Wh-who are you?"
     A pale yellow light flashed on and I was looking in the face of Julius. "Quiet," he said in a low tone.
     I turned around and saw Kio. He was holding Pikachu. When the footsteps passed, he let Pikachu out of his arms and they turned to me. "We are not trying to help you or whatever. It is just that we hate Team Galaxy as much as you do."
     "Where are your friends?" Julius demanded.
     "They bailed on me," I muttered.
     Julius and Kio didn't seem interested in my dilemma. They peeked out the door. "Coast is clear," Kio said. Pikachu jumped onto my head and we walked out the door.
     "Keep that Pikachu ready," Kio said. "Might run back into some grunts."
     He pulled me back against the wall as 3 more members walked ahead of us. He gave me a look that said "don't breathe".
     The grunts were too busy cracking up after a joke one of them had said. They didn't even notice us.
     "If one of us gets caught, all of us might get caught," Julius said. "That's why probably should split up and meet somewhere."
     I looked at Pikachu. Team Rocket turned to me. "The don't trust us," Kio said to Julius.
     Julius shrugged. "That's him, not us. If you wanna take your own plan and get caught easily, then that's up to you. But on the other hand you can use our plan since we are infamous for being sneaky. It's up to you and your Pikachu."            
     I looked at Pikachu.
     "Pika?" Pikachu asked. (Should we trust them?)
     I sighed and turned to Team Rocket. "Okay ... we're only teaming up because we both hate Team Galaxy and we wanna stop them. We should all have a special job to do. Kio, I know you have a cell phone. Call the police under an anonymous name. Julius can take down the grunts and I'll go after Alicia."
     They nodded. Kio took out his cell phone and snuck back into the closet. Julius heard some of the grunts coming. I ran down the main hall.

Willis and Lizzie sat in the hotel room. "Do you think that Woody is way in over his head or what?" Lizzie asked as she folded some clothes and stuffed them into the backpacks. "I mean, one person going against dozens of Team Galaxy members ... it's screwed up. He's outnumbered..."
     "He's got Scyther, Noctowl, Quilava, Lapras, Cubone and Pikachu with him," Willis said. "He should be fine. But -- shouldn't we be helping him? Really, he's only 11 years old, and it would suck for him to get hurt on his birthday."
     Lizzie looked astonished. "Don't tell me you're giving into this craziness, Willis!"
     Willis shrugged. "What's so crazy about it? He's our friend and he needs our help right now. This Alicia woman obviously did something bad to him and he wants to get back at her. I know what it's like to be disrespeckkid."
     "'Disrespeckkid'?" Lizzie asked. "Don't you mean 'disrespected'?"
     "I said what I said," Willis said. "Now come on. We're going to help Woody. At least I'm going to, with or without you."
     "No... I'll come," Lizzie said.

I rushed up a long spiral staircase. I eventually came to a door. It had a gold nameplate on it which said in bold letters ALICIA D.
     I took a deep breath and rammed through the door. When I knocked the door open, I noticed that no lights were on. A shrill scream escaped someone's mouth and I heard something or someone fall to the ground in a heap.
     Pikachu came into the door after me. It used Flash and I saw the person who fell to the ground looked a lot like... Mauno. I gasped when I saw his face. Flesh was hanging from his skin, he was burned, scarred and bruised. I randomly felt around for his mask. I then put it on his face.
     But that wasn't who screamed. A knife was stabbed through his chest. I saw Alicia was lying on the floor, with a stain of blood on her face.
     I realized what had happened. Mauno had a knife in front of him, in his hand. When the door opened, I hit his hand and the knife went into his chest. He fell on top of Alicia and they both were now unconscious on the floor. I turned on the light switch. "Oh man..." I muttered. Mauno was coughing up blood. Alicia was still knocked out. I kneeled down.
     "Pikachu, we hafta save Mauno," I said. "Oh man, I hope Kio got in touch with the police."
     Pikachu nodded. I gasped again ... this time for a true reason to be concerned. I heard many footsteps marching up the steps. Closer, closer, closer.
     I looked around. There was nothing in the room except for a bookshelf and 3 chairs. I backed away from the door as the footsteps got closer. I backed into the bookshelf and turned to it. I tripped on something and started to fell. I grabbed onto a book, desperately. Not because I didn't wanna fall, but because I didn't want to draw attention to myself. But the book didn't fall from the shelf. Instead, the bookshelf whipped around. Pikachu and I went flying. I landed on a hard floor.
     We were in another room. "Pikachu, I don't know how we're going to stop them but -- we can't hide in here like cowards. We're going back out there. And we're not staying in here like cowards. We're calling out the reinforcements."
     "Pi?" Pikachu asked. (Who?)
    
We pulled another book which was sticking out on the bookshelf. Pikachu, Cubone, Scyther and I faced the 10 Galaxy members wearing sunglasses.
     "Yo," I said.
     They charged at me. Cubone used a Bone Club, knocking one to the floor. Pikachu used Thunderbolt. The room was filled with lightning. I held my ears. Scyther slashed at anyone who moved. Cubone was smacking Alicia in the head with the bone, making sure she didn't wake up. The noise was unbearable. The grunts were starting to spark and smoke came from their suits. Eventually the door flew off of its hinges from the power in the room.
     They ran for the hills. But they didn't get far. Kio's Tauros and Julius's Sneasel both charged at them. The Galaxy members were caught "between a rock and a hard place."
     They were all laid out on the ground. The carnage was almost scary. 20 people were knocked out on the ground. I heard more footsteps. "POLICE! WE ARE THE POLICE!" 
     I turned back around and saw Julius, Kio, Sneasel and Tauros had left. We didn't even get to thank each other. 8 men in blue suits looked at the people on the floor. "Arrest them," I said.

I watched as the Galaxy members and Alicia were carried away. Alicia and Mauno were put onto stretchers along with 2 other galaxy members. The rest were carried away in police cars.
     Willis and Lizzie came into the building with bags full of rocks and sticks in their hands as weapons. "Where are they? Bring em on!" Willis yelled.
     "You're a tad bit late," I said.
     Willis smiled. "Surprise...?"


                                TO BE CONTINUED...