The Elite

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part I: Idols and Wanderers

~~~

"Machoke, Seismic Toss!" shouted Tim.

"Nidoqueen, try your Earth Quake!" I commanded.

My Nidoqueen stomped on the ground, and the earth began to shake violently. Machoke, unable to keep his balance, fell to his knees.

"Nidoqueen, finish it off with a tackle attack!" I shouted.

"Oh no! Machoke!" Tim cried.

Nidoqeen rammed into Machoke head on. That was all the Pokèmon could take. I had won.

"Machoke is unable to battle! Leader Blue wins!" shouted the referee.

Tim sighed. "I guess I can never win..." he said sadly, returning his fainted Pokèmon to its Pokéball.

I smiled and walked up to him. "Listen kid," I said reassuringly. "When I was your age, I lost my fair share of time too. Never stop believing in yourself! Maybe someday you can beat me!"

"But I thought that you made it all the way to becoming champion of the Pokèmon league!" exclaimed Tim.

"True," I said. "But I wasn't champion for too long."

"Really? Who beat you?" Tim asked.

"His name was Red."

"The Red? You mean...really?" he asked.

"Yes," I said, nodding. "You see, all of our lives, we were rivals at just about everything. Whenever I beat him, we had a rematch, and he won. And whenever he beat me, we fought again, and I won. However, one day, my Grandpa, that's Professor Oak, in case you didn't know, put us up to a new test- to become Pokèmon trainers!"

"Really? What were your first Pokèmon?" Tim inquired.

"Well, Red chose first, and he got Charmander, the fire Pokèmon. I picked after him, and I got Squirtle, the water Pokèmon. My best friend Green chose Bulbasoar, the grass Pokèmon, and Red's buddy Yellow got Pikachu, the electric Pokèmon. Then, I challenged Red to a battle. I beat him fair and square too- but when we set out, he beat me a couple of times, and I beat him a couple of times, too. He was always behind me, so I beat the Pokèmon Elite four only three days before he got there. I became the champion."

"Wow...so what did you do after he beat you?" Tim asked.

"Well, I guess I surprised even myself when I wasn't angry. As a matter of fact, when I thought about it a little more, I guess I was grateful that he beat me. You see, I got a bit too proud when I became champion. But when he beat me, I guess I realized that I wasn't perfect. I also thought to myself that maybe I wasn't really supposed to be a Pokèmon Master at all. After he beat me, I discovered another goal- I wanted to be a gym leader."

"Oh. Maybe I could be a Gym Leader someday..." Tim said.

"Maybe," I said. "But its tough. For a while, there was no gym leader in this gym. When I told them I wanted to be a leader, they told me I had to do something to prove myself."

"So what did you do?"

"Well, at that point, Red was already exploring the Unknown Dungeon near Cerulean City, so I decided that I should do that later. When I asked my Grandpa for suggestions, he told me that Red had asked him the same thing after he had explored the dungeon. Gramps suggested that we go into a mountain in Johto called Mt. Silver. It was supposed to be the toughest thing that a trainer could ever face. However, he said that we could only go one at a time. I said that Red could go first, so he did. After he left, the Unknown Dungeon collapsed, so I decided to check it out. And there, I made an amazing discovery."

"What?" said Tim curiously.

"I discovered a piece of purple fur. I was curious to what kind of rarePokémon it was to, so I decided to take it to my Grandpa in Pallet. He studied it for a long time, and he discovered that it was actually that fur of some sort of a mutation from the legendary Pokèmon, Mew." I explained.

"Woah! That's so awesome!" exclaimed Tim.

I nodded. "When the people at the Pokèmon League found out about my discovery, they finally let me become a Gym Leader."

"Oh...so that's when Red mysteriously vanished," said Tim.

I sighed. "Yep. And the worst part is that I never got to thank him for what he had shown me. I searched Mt. Silver for years, but we never found him."

"That's sad," said Tim.

"Yes," I agreed. "But that's just another one of the things that makes him a legend."

"Cool! I wanna be a legend to!" exclaimed Tim.

"Really?" I laughed. "Is that so?"

"Yeah!" he said. "I'm gonna go train even harder then before! Thanks a lot, Blue!"

He raced out the front door. The referee approached me.

"You sure do know how to cheer those kids up!" he said.

"Yeah well, six years ago, the leaders were cheering me up when I lost too," I admitted.

"Geez, I just can't believe you're only seventeen! You're one of the best Pokèmon trainers around!"

"Next to Gold and Red, I'd have to say yes!" I replied.

"Yeah, but they both disappeared into Mt. Silver," the ref pointed out.

"Yeah, I know. But I have a feeling that they're somewhere out there..." I said. "Anyway, I'm gonna take the rest of today off. I'll see you around!"

~~~

I stepped outside into the warm, mid-afternoon air of Viridian City. Summer was in the air, and there were young new Pokèmon trainers battling in the park across the street. I recognized everyone- they had all been hanging around and asking me questions, so I knew most of them. I decided to enjoy the scenery as I sat down on a park bench. Everything was normal, and average- but there was one thing that caught my eye. It was someone I did not recognize.

He was not too tall, yet not to short, and he dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans. He had spiky, untidy black hair and hazel colored eyes, and he looked to be somewhere near my age. Floating around his head was a Misdrevous, a purple Banshee Pokèmon. I was very curious to find out who this newcomer was.

"Huh, this place sure has changed since the last time I had been here," the boy said to the Misdrevous.

"Dree," she said.

"But there's one thing that hasn't changed-all of the new trainers!"

"Misdre," added the Misdrevous.

"Yeah, but you've never been here before, have you Genesis?" the boy asked.

Genesis, the Misdrevous, shook her head.

"Yeah, you're a Johto Pokèmon, I forgot!" the boy replied.

Genesis nodded.

My curiosity began to increase. Just who was this kid?

"Hey, I wonder who the gym leader is here now," the boy said, looking around.

"Dree?" Genesis shrugged.

"I know! Let's go for a visit and find out!" suggested the boy.

I decided to get back to the gym again. Maybe if I stayed there, there would actually be a chance I would find out who this guy was.

~~~

I sat back in my chair. I thought that this kid was coming, and yet he was taking so long. It had been almost an hour since I had last seen him, so I decided to give up and take a walk outside. I realized that it was awfully childish of me to eavesdrop, so I decided to stop thinking about it. I sat on the bench in front of my gym and flipped through my Sandshrew Land graphic novel.

"Hey, excuse me?" said a familiar voice from behind me. I turned around.

Behind me, was that kid again.

"Heya! Could you tell me where the gym is in this town?" he asked.

"Umm..." I said. I was sitting right in front of it- how could he not have noticed?

"Oh!" he exclaimed, seeing it behind him. "Silly me! I haven't been here in a while, so I didn't know!"

"Yeah...right..." I mumbled, getting back to my graphic novel. This guy was a real moron.

"Hey, do you know who the leader is?" he asked.

"Umm...me." I replied.

"Wow! Really? So you train ground Pokèmon?" he exclaimed.

"Yes, "I replied, really really wanting him to shut up.

"Cool! My name's Ike! What's yours?" the boy obviously Ike, asked.

"My name?" I asked stupidly.

"Hey, do you know where I can find the lab of Professor Oak?" Ike asked, changing the subject.

"Yes," I replied, standing up to go back inside.

"Where is it?" he asked.

"In Pallet Town," I said shortly, annoyed. I began to walk away from Ike.

"Oh yeah..." he said quietly. "Uh... say, could you show me?"

"No," I replied, opening the door to my gym.

"Please?" asked Ike.

"No," I said.

"Please?" he pleaded.

"NO." I said, aggravated.

"But why not?" Ike pouted.

"Because I think you're annoying!" I exclaimed.

"I won't stop annoying you until you show me where it is," he said.

I scowled. "Fine, if it'll shut you up!"

~~~

About two hours later, Ike and I were in the quiet suburban town of Pallet. It was my hometown, and in the southeastern corner of it was my grandfather's laboratory.

We stepped inside to see no one.

"Hey, yo, it's me!" I shouted.

"Where is he?" Ike asked.

"Dree," added Genesis.

"I don't know," I snapped. "And what's with that Misdrevous, anyway? It's starting to get on my nerves!"

"Its one of my favorite Pokèmon! Her name is Genesis!" Ike replied proudly.

"Wow," I said. "Well it's really annoying."

Ike laughed. "Aw, come on!"

"Did I just hear-" a voice said.

It was Professor Oak. He looked at me, and then at Ike, and said. "Oh, never mind. My mistake."

"What did you say that you heard?" I asked.

"Green," he answered quickly. "I thought Green had finally come back with the Pokèmon. The new trainers have been waiting for him for almost an hour, now."

"Oh, you mean the new kids?" I asked.

"Yes. Oh, who's your new friend?"

"We're not friends- he just wanted me to show him where the lab was."

"I'm Ike!" Ike answered. "And this is Genesis, my Misdrevous!"

"Oh? My Ike, your Misdrevous sure seems to like you! Was it your first Pokèmon?" Oak asked.

"No, she's just a good friend of mine!" Ike replied.

"Hmm... well, I think that it would be great for the kids to meet a couple of advanced trainers like yourselves," Oak said.

"Kay! Smell ya later, gramps," I said, walking to the back of the lab.

"It's not very nice to call a Professor Gramps, you know," Ike said as he followed me.

"So?" I snapped.

In the back there were four children lounging on couches.

"Hiya!" exclaimed a brown haired girl.

"Do you have our Pokèmon?" asked a red headed boy with glasses.

"We've been in here for hours," whined a blonde girl with glasses.

"I just can't wait to start," said a boy with spiky brown hair and a baseball cap.

"No, we don't have your Pokèmon," I said.

"Hi kids!" exclaimed Ike.

"Who's that?" asked the blonde girl.

"I'm Ike!" said Ike energetically.

"Who?" said the red headed boy.

"Ike," I replied.

"Probably some nobody trainer," added the brunette girl.

"Yeah, we've all got idols, and you're not on the list!" exclaimed the boy with the baseball cap.

"Who's your idol, Hillary?" the blonde asked the brown-haired girl.

"I wanna be just like Yellow, the Pokèmon trainer who became a TV star!" said Hillary. "How 'bout you, Rob?"

"I wanna be a Pokèmon researcher just like Green," added Rob, the red-headed boy with glasses. "How about you, Sara?"

The little blonde girl beamed. "I wanna be a super-cool Pokèmon gym leader, just like you, Blue!" she exclaimed.

"Ahaha..." I laughed nervously. "Aw, come on, I'm not all that super cool..."

"Blue? So that's your name?" asked Ike.

"No, It's Melvin," I said sarcastically.

"Really! Well gosh, that's a funny name!"

"It is NOT my name!" I exclaimed.

"Oh...so then...you lied?" Ike said.

"I was being sarcastic!" I exclaimed. "Geez! You're even dumber then-"

"Red," said the boy with the baseball cap in the corner.

"What was that, Keith?" Sara asked.

"That's who I wanna be. I wanna be a great Pokèmon master, just like Red."

"Red?" said Ike.

"Yes. Red. Anyone got a problem with that?" Keith asked.

"Well, duh!" exclaimed Hillary.

"What's so wrong with that?" snapped Keith.

"All of the great Pokèmon trainers have disappeared, anyway," Rob replied.

"Hey!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah! Like Gold, and Red." Sara said, ignoring me.

"Maybe you should just be some nobody trainer, like Ike," suggested Hillary.

"Hey!" Ike exclaimed.

"I like Sara's idea," I said.

"I think Keith's idea is cool!" exclaimed Ike. "Keith, you go for it! It doesn't matter what they all say, you should follow your own dreams!"

"Yeah, but where has that gotten you?" jeered Rob.

"Hu? I don't get it." Ike said.

"I'll bet you don't even have any badges! If you did, then we'd probably heard of you!" Sara replied.

"Well... you can be a great trainer without badges! And anyway, who says I don't have any?"

"Hey, just shut up, all of you! Your whining is giving me a headache," I groaned.

"Hm," said Keith. "It looks like Green is here."

Standing in the doorway was a short teenage kid with auburn hair and green eyes- my friend, Green.

"You guys ready?" he asked.

"Yeah!" they all exclaimed.

"Okay, take your pick!" he said.

"I want Pikachu!" exclaimed Hillary, grabbing the Pokéball with a lightning bolt on it.

"Bulbasoar rocks!" exclaimed Rob, grabbing the Pokéball with the leaf on it.

"This kid's got good taste!" laughed Green.

"Squirtle is the best of them all!" said Sara excitedly, holding up a Pokéball with a droplet of water on it.

"Can't argue with you there," I said. "Blastoise is definitely the way to go!"

"Then I'll take Charmander," Keith said, pulling the last Pokéball out of the box.

"Dree," Genesis added.

"Yeah, I think so too!" laughed Ike.

"You think what?" I asked.

"I thing that Hoppip is defiantly the worst Pokèmon of all!" he said.

"You're lame," I replied flatly.

~~~

I stepped back outside into the sunshine, with Ike still following me.

"Quit it," I snapped.

"Quit what?" Ike asked.

"Quit following me!" I exclaimed.

"Dree," scowled Genesis.

"Yeah, tell me about it!" replied Ike.

This Ike fellow was really starting to get on my nerves. "What? How can you two understand each other? Can you talk to Pokèmon, or something?"

"No," he replied.

"Drevu, misedru!" added Genesis.

Ike nodded. "Yeah, what she said."

I scowled, and realized that I could never get anything out of those two.

~~~

A few hours later, Ike had finally given up following me, so I decided to deliver something down to the people at the marine Pokèmon laboratory south of town. Gramps had always been in contact with them, but there was one problem- their phone lines never seemed to work. Usually, it was up to Green to make these deliveries, but after he had handed out the starting Pokèmon, he had made his way over to visit Bill, the Pokèmon researcher, a friend of Gramps'. So, he had asked me -or rather, forced me to deliver a message down to the MPL (marine Pokèmon Laboratory).

I walked southward though the suburban neighborhood. It was mostly quiet, accept for the sound of a car starting up, the splash of a hose watering the flowerbeds on the corner of the street, and the chirping of a couple of Pidgy in a tree overhead. All was silent, until-

"HIYA MELVIN!"

"WAAAAAHGH!" I shouted in alarm, falling over.

Ike was standing in front of me, wearing his usual smug smirk, with Genesis floating at his side.

"Golly Melvin, I didn't know I was all that scary!" he laughed.

I scrambled to my feet. "Who says golly anymore?"

"Me!" he exclaimed energetically.

"Ugh... whatever. Anyway-"

"Am I scary, Melvin?" he asked.

"My name is NOT MELVIN! It's Blue. And anyway, no-"

"Then why did you yell?" he asked.

"Because you surprised me!" I shouted, irritated.

"Midre," said Genesis.

"Yeah! Geez, I hate that!" scowled Ike.

"HATE WHAT?!" I yelled.

"I really don't think Genesis should have to repeat herself just because you weren't paying attention," Ike pointed out.

I stormed off. "Just forget it!"

"Hey!" he called, running after me. "Can we-"

"NO." I said.

"But I never even got to finish my question!" Ike whined.

"You were about to say 'Can I come?' to which I said 'no'".

"Why?" he asked.

"Because you're annoying," I replied flatly.

"Aw, come on!" Ike pleaded. "What's wrong with me?"

"You make me MISERABLE, to be blunt," I added, ignoring his plea.

"But misery LOVES company!" he exclaimed energetically.

"Not this misery," I said dryly.

"Oh well...I'm gonna come anyway!" he laughed, still following me.

"Dreeve!" laughed Genesis.

"Is that so?" asked Ike.

"Midre!" replied Genesis in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Wow! Did you hear that?!" Ike exclaimed excitedly.

"No," I said, agitated.

"Genesis says that she thinks you're ugly!" exclaimed Ike.

"If Genesis wants ugly, then she should look in a mirror," I replied wryly.

"Hu?" I don't get it," Ike said, sighing. "You're weird. HEY!! Melvin-"

"BLUE." I corrected.

"Right. Bluevin, where do you live?"

"In a house," I said, trying to give him the message that I wanted him to shut up.

"Dree?" asked Genesis.

I smacked Genesis in the face- or at least I attempted to. However, since Genesis was a ghost, it went right through her and hit Ike.

"OW!!" he cried. "Why did you hit me?"

"I actually meant to hit Exodus," I said, getting the name wrong on purpose.

"Who's Exodus?" asked Ike.

I scowled.

"Actually, her name's Genesis, but I forgive you!" he laughed.

"Shut up," I replied.

"Where do you live?" asked Ike.

"In a house," I said shortly.

"Is it a pretty house?!" he asked.

"Yes," I said.

"Is it that house?!" he asked stupidly, pointing to a big red house.

"No," I replied. "What made you think it was that house, anyway?"

"Because it's a pretty house!" he exclaimed.

"No, that's Keith's house," I replied matter-of-factly.

"Really? Did he just move in?" Ike asked.

"Yes," I replied a little bit flustered. "How did you know that?"

"Because the others didn't talk to him all that much," he said. "Who used to live there?"

"People," I replied shortly as we passed the house.

"Who?" he asked.

"Human people," I said, knowing that it would only bring about more questions.

"Drevee!" exclaimed Genesis.

"Really?" said Ike.

Genesis nodded.

For the rest of the way, Ike and Genesis conversed, and for the rest of the way, I attempted to lose them- but of course, I always failed.

~~~

"OOH! PRETTY!" yelled Ike when he saw the MPL building.

"Yeah, whatever," I said, walking up to the door. "You can leave now."

"But it's so PRETTY!" screamed Ike.

"SHUT UP!" I exclaimed, wanting to strangle him.

Just then, however, the door swung open, and in the doorway appeared a tall young woman with shoulder length lavender hair in a whit lab coat.

"Who are you?" she asked, annoyed.

"I'm IKE!" exclaimed Ike.

"Yeah, but he's not important," I added hurriedly. "I'm BLUE!"

"Dree," added Genesis, nodding.

"Oh, Blue, come on in! I didn't recognize you! You've grown so big!" she said.

I walked inside, with Ike and Genesis following. We sat down at a table and the woman took a sip of her coffee.

"So... what's your name again?" I asked.

"Donna," she said.

"Oh yeah, now I remember," I lied.

"So, what did your grandfather want?" Donna asked.

"He wanted us to give you this!" said Ike, holding up the package.

I snatched the package from Ike and handed it to Donna who began to search through it. "Hey, how did you get that?"

"I found it," he said.

"WHERE?" I exclaimed.

"You dropped it outside," Ike replied.

"No I didn't!" I retorted.

"Misdree!" Genesis argued.

"Yeah!" added Ike.

"Astounding," Donna said. "So you can talk to Pokèmon, Ike?"

"No," Ike replied.

"Then how do you understand each other?" she asked.

Ike shrugged. "I guess I just can. I can't understand my other Pokèmon, though- not even my older ones."

I stood up to leave. "Well, I've delivered the package, so my job is done."

Ike stood up also. "I'm gonna go too!"

I scowled and walked out the door, praying that Ike would shut up and leave me alone.

~~~~

My prayers were not answered, however- Ike continued to follow me for the rest of the day. I wondered how someone could be so stupid, as to not know when someone wanted them to shut up. He followed me back to the lab, where the trainers had just started out from.

"I remember when I first started out on my journey…" Ike said pensively.

"Yeah, so do I," I added.

"You remember when I started on my journey?" Ike asked.

"No, you idiot!" I exclaimed. "I remember when I started on my journey!"

"Oh," he said.

There was an awkward silence.

"DREE!" exclaimed Genesis.

"I concur," Ike said, nodding.

"Concur with what?" I asked.

"Genesis," Ike said. "What she just said was completely accurate."

"What did she say?" I asked, annoyed.

"She said that it's late afternoon!" Ike exclaimed.

"Are you this dumb for everyone, or am I just special?" I asked, annoyed by his antics.

Ike, however, had no clue what I was talking about. "Hu? What?"

I scowled. "Forget I asked."

"Dree," said Genesis, shrugging.

"Yeah, me too," groaned Ike.

"I'm hungry," I complained.

"Genesis just said that! Weren't you listening?!" Ike exclaimed.

"No," I said, hoping that that answer would satisfy him.

However, noting could satisfy the ever-curious Ike. "Man, you've got problems!" he laughed.

"Look who's talking," I said under my breath.

"Hey! Be nice!" said a voice from behind me.

I turned around. "Oh!Uhh...hey!"

My twin sister May eyed me angrily. "Don't you hey me!" she shouted. "You shouldn't be mean like that!"

"Geez, pushy pushy..." I mumbled.

May scowled. "Anyway, who's your new friend?"

"My names IKE!" exclaimed Ike dynamically.

May giggled. "Really! That sure is a cute Misdrevous you've got there! What's its name?"

"Genesis," Ike answered. "Hey, what's your name?"

"May," she answered.

"Are you Melvin's older sister?" Ike asked.

"Melvin? Oh, you mean Blue! Yeah, I'm his older sister!" she said, tossing her thick blonde hair behind her shoulders.

"Actually, we're twins," I said sharply.

"Well, I'm the older (and the smarter) of the two of us! I'm three minutes and forty-seven seconds older!"

"So... I guess that means you're three minutes and forty-seven seconds smarter, hu?" Ike asked.

May laughed. "You're so funny! And a lot cooler then my dorky little brother! Hey, how old are you?"

"Seventeen," Ike said.

"Oh, so you're Blue's age!"

"Though he doesn't act it," I said to myself.

"What was that?" snapped May sharply.

"I said you'd look a whole lot better in a hat!" I replied quickly, not noticing until about two seconds later how unbelievable it sounded.

"Um...no?" she said.

"Dree," added Genesis.

"So Ike," May said, turning to Ike.

"That's ME!" exclaimed Ike energetically.

"How would you like to stay for dinner?" May asked.

"Hmm..." Ike said. "I dunno..."

Please say no, I thought.

"Please? We'd love to have you!" May added.

"What do you mean we?" I blurted.

May gave me a cold stare, and looked back at Ike. "Please?"

"Well... OKAY!" exclaimed Ike.

"Great!" May said happily.

"Not great," I moaned.

She jabbed me hard in the ribs with her elbow. "So I'll see the two of you in about an hour then! Bu-Bye!"

~~~~

I sulkily walked to dinner that night. Now that my sister had a crush on the most annoying person in the world, there would really be no escaping him. Gramps was staying for dinner too, and mom and dad were out on vacation, so there were four of us. I had always liked May's cooking, but I had always hated her boyfriends.

"This is great, May! What did you put in it?" asked Ike when he had tried her chicken.

"My secret!" she said, smiling.

"Huh," I said under my breath. "What a flirt."

"So, Ike, you're a Pokèmon trainer, correct?" Gramps asked.

"Yep! Correct!" Ike replied.

"How long have you been at it?" May inquired.

Ike appeared to be in deep thought. "Lemmie see... I think around six years."

"Really?" Gramps asked. "That long? You must be a good trainer, then. So where did you stat from?"

"My hometown," he answered.

"And where is that?" asked Gramps.

"Err..." said Ike. "I don't like to answer that question..."

"Really?" I asked. "Why is that?"

"Dunno," he said. "I suppose maybe it's because I don't feel like I belong there anymore."

"Why not?" I asked, a little bit curious.

"I guess because when I started my journey, I was gone for quite a while without ever returning, or visiting, or anything."

"Then why not just go back?" May asked.

Ike sighed. "It's tougher then that. You can't just go back and say 'I'm here!' and act like nothing ever happened!"

Gramps nodded. "Okay, you're right there. But what about your family?"

Ike shrugged. "Dunno," he said. "I'm still not quite sure of what I'm gonna do."

"So... you just travel aimlessly?" I asked.

"Sort of," he said. "But not really. That's what most trainers on journeys do, isn't it?"

"I guess," May said. "What do you do about money?"

"Oh, that's simple," Ike said. "Just battle rich kids who bet a lot of money thinking that there's no way that they'll lose. Then you crush them- it's not all that hard."

"Don't you feel guilty challenging them when you know you'll win?" May asked, sounding concerned.

"Not in the least," Ike answered. "They challenge me, betting hundreds of dollars. Sure, I try to get them to lower the stakes a little bit, but they say that there's no way they could lose."

Just then, the phone rang. I stood up to answer it, but Gramps got there first. "I'll get it."

I sat back down as he picked up the phone.

"Hello?" he said. "Oh, hi! Oh, don't you worry, I'm fine! Good, yes, very good. No, of course not. Well, yes but we're almost finished. No, they're not back yet. Yes, they called this morning. Oh, do you want to talk to him? Okay, I'll wirte it down, hold on, let me get a paper..."

Gramps put down the phone and raced over to the cabinet, pulling out a pencil and paper.

"Who is it?" asked May.

However, before he could answer, he was back on the phone.

"Okay, eleven? My, that's late, but sure, if its important...uhu...Silver station? Okay... yep... oh, really? What happened? Oh, come on, I'm- okay, yes, all right. Okay, sure, I'll tell him immediately. Okay, yes, bye."

Gramps hung up the phone.

"Who was it?" I asked, tapping my foot impatiently.

"It was Steven," Gramps said.

"Steven stone?" Ike asked.

Gramps nodded. "Yes. Blue, he needs to see you at Silver Station tonight. He says it's important, and that he wants Yellow and Green, too. I'll call them, to save you the time. Oh! And Steven said that the fastest way to get there is by train. He needs you as soon as possible, so I suggest that you take the seven o' clock train."

"Thanks!" I said, standing up to leave the room. I cleared my plate and ran up stairs to pack.

"Can I come?" asked Ike, following me upstairs.

"No," I said automatically, hastily gathering various items.

"PLEASE?!" he pleaded.

Oh, what harm could he do? I thought.

"Okay, fine," I said, grabbing my bag and running down the stairs. "But you're buying your own train ticket, Bub."

"Yes!" Ike said, grabbing his bag and following me out the door. "Silver Station is really cool! I've been there before! Have you?"

I scowled. I was gonna regret this...

~~~~

...

More to come...eventually...

~Ess-Cookie