New Bark Town

… and he refused to interview. Since his victory we don’t know the whereabouts of new champion Caldar. In the meantime Lance continues his duties as champion. Authorities are still investigating as to who trespassed in the hall of fame shortly after challenger Caldar’s win. Anyone with any information regarding the trespasser should contact the authorities immediately.

*sigh*

Coming up next, Disaster at Hoenn: A documentary investigating the Hoenn Incident, the criminal organisations that caused it, and how a pokemon league challenger stopped them.

There’s a knock at the door. Mom switches off the TV and gets up to answer the door.

Oh, hello Lyra!

Hello, is Caldar still in his room?

I’m afraid so, he’s been moping around for over a week up there.

He still blames himself for the deaths of half his team?

I think so, the rest of his team came back from the pokemon center a few days ago and he’s still not continued his journey.

Can I go see him?

Sure, maybe you can convince him to leave his room.

Lyra makes her way upstairs and peeks into my room.

Caldar?

- …

She notices my pokedex on the floor by my desk and picks it up.

Aww the battery died, and look the charger is right here!

Lyra picks up the charger cable to plugs it into the pokedex. The pokedex’s screen flashes back to life.

Aaugh! Oh, thank you! I was so scared! I felt my life slipping away and he wouldn’t do anything!

- You wouldn’t shut up!

Caldar, you’re awake!

- What do you want, Lyra?

You can’t just sit around and do nothing. You’ve been up here for over a week!

- …

I came to give you this, it’s from Professor Elm. It’s an SS Ticket, you can use it to travel to Vermilion City! You still want to find Doc Oak, right? He’s been spotted in Kanto again, maybe he’s gone back to his lab in Pallet Town!

- So?

You were the one who’s convinced he knows what happened to your missing pokemon! Did you even consider going back to his lab? You’ll never find out just by sitting here and feeling sorry for yourself!

- …

Fine, I’ll just leave the ticket here on your desk.

Lyra leaves and heads to Elm’s lab.

Welcome back, is he feeling any better?

Doesn’t look like it, he still seems quite depressed. Oh an onix!

Iwaarrrk…

This is Tremors, one of Caldar’s pokemon. I’ve been looking after them since they came back from the pokemon center. I was just finishing up feeding them.

Tremors looks a little depressed too. I saw the coverage of the battle on TV, he was there when Caldar lost his slowbro, dragonair and bellossom. It must’ve been terrible for him to have been there when it happened.

And I think he misses Caldar too.

Elm pats Tremors on his side and notices a deep groove carved in one of his segments.

I wonder how Tremors got this scar?

- It was from battling a steelix in the Olivine gym.

Caldar!

- Thanks for looking after my friends while I was away. I’m ready to continue my journey.

We’re back, baby!

So you’re heading off to Kanto?

- Yup, but first I’m going to do some training.

Who’re you going to take with you?

- Tremors, Zuul, Nippy II, Jam, Acanthite, and Abby.

Some of those names I don’t know yet…

The onix, gengar, kingler, tentacool, skarmory, and abra!

Oh! Of course! Here you go, and here’s the key to your PC boxes back.

A PC? You keep them in a computer?

Oh no, Lyra. In this case PC stands for Pokemon Containment.

- Thanks for the help, I’ll let you know if I find the Doc!

Victory Road

Let’s bring the new guys up to speed with a training montage!

Oh, Abby’s evolving!

Shadabra!

- Surely it’s “Kadabra” right?

I think she has a speech impediment.

Shadabra?

- Let’s just carry on training.

Jam’s evolving!

Cruuuu!

We’ve still a ways to go.

I think we’re ready to continue our journey.

Tremors ♂ Lv. 46

Zuul ♀ Lv. 48

Nippy II ♀ Lv. 47

Jam ♀ Lv. 40

Abby ♀ Lv. 40

Acanthite ♀ Lv. 40