From: "Rob" <robfrompw@yahoo.com> Subject: [PW!] Fond Farewells For Fine Friends Date: Saturday, January 03, 2004 3:49 AM On the day after the Silver Conference's Closing Ceremonies, the man who won the tournament is ready and eager to leave Silver Town. Robert, the Diversity Gym Leader of Lavender Town, woke up at noon. Shortly after waking up, he electronically transferred both the trophy he won and his prize money into the laptop he carries in his black laptop case. Upon entering the Cafeteria in Silver Town's Pokemon Center, he saw Alexandria Masters, the tall girl who accompanied him on his journey from Violet City to Silver Town, and sat down at a table to eat lunch with her. Now that they've just finished eating, Robert is ready to go. Robert looks down at his Pokegear's clock, then looks up at Alex and says, "Well, it's been fun talking with you, Alex, but it's time for me to hit the road again! I'm heading to Blackthorn City next to try to earn a Badge from the Leader of the Dragon Pokemon Gym there," Robert tells the brown-haired young woman who joined him for lunch, "Last time I battled Clair, she beat three of my Pokemon with just her Dragonair." Alex whistles in awe then comments, "That must be a powerful Dragonair to take down three Pokemon of the Trainer who just won the Silver Conference!" "Yeah, the Dragonair was powerful, but I'm sure I can defeat him now. I had a different team of Pokemon with me back then, and my Swinub hadn't evolved into a Piloswine. This time around, I'm going to send out the team that helped me win the Silver Conference, except replacing Vileplume with Hitmonchan since Grass attacks don't do much damage against Dragon Pokemon and my Hitmonchan has a cool Ice Punch attack!" Alex assures Robert, "I'm sure with all the experience your Pokemon gained recently, you'll be able to earn that last Badge." "I hope so! Where are you going to go next?" Before Alex can answer, Robert adds, "Want to travel to Blackthorn City with me?" "Actually, I'm headed to Azalea Town next, to battle Johto's second Gym Leader. I'm thinking of leaving Clair for last, especially now that you've told me how powerful her Dragonair is." "You're going to battle Bugsy, huh?" Robert's eyes narrow when he thinks of Azalea Town's Gym Leader, "I don't like him very much. He's rude." "I did notice he was a bit rude to you after you won that match against him in Violet City," Alex nods, remembering the match she witnessed, "But I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he was having a bad day. Maybe he'll be nicer to me when I visit his Gym." "I doubt it," Robert shakes his head, recalling how much Bugsy's Ariados scared him when he walked into Bugsy's Gym, "But hey, if he's mean to you, then it'll be all the more satisfying to defeat him and his creepy Bug Pokemon!" Robert shudders, "It's horrible... He has his Bug Pokemon dangle on String Shots from the ceiling of his Gym just to scare people! What a sicko. I think he's training Pokemon without a valid license." Alexandria says, "I'll be sure to look up to not be caught by surprise." "That's a very good idea." Robert stands up from his seat, "Anyway, like I said earlier, it's time for me to go. Good luck in your battle against Bugsy - I hope you humble him and earn a Hive Badge of your own in the process." Robert starts to walk away, but he looks back and says, "Oh, and when you see Surtur and ShadowWarrior, tell them I said good-bye!" "I'll tell them the moment they come back from looking for Cass..." Alex glances out of a nearby window, "I'm worried about her - I haven't seen her since she went to battle that SHAKK-master guy yesterday and I know my sister's temper sometimes gets her into trouble." "I'm sure she's fine," Robert tries to soothe Alex's worries, "I haven't met her, but from what you told me over lunch, she sounds like someone who can take care of herself! Thanks again for joining me on the trip from Violet City to Silver Town - it was great to have company! "No, thank you! I learned a lot from you during our short trip." Robert smiles, saying, "It was my pleasure to share what I've learned on my Johto Journey with you! But now it's time for me to go finally end this journey. Okay, I'm going to go for real this time! Bye, Alex!" "Bye, Robert!" Alex waves to her former traveling companion as he leaves the Cafeteria. The moment Robert enters the Silver Town Pokemon Center's lobby, he sees Ben and the Mawile biting his leg both standing by the front desk. Aeros, Ben's friendly Salamence, is standing at his Trainer's side. The blue Dragon Pokemon is nuzzling his head against Ben's chest since he's so happy to see his Trainer after spending so many days being treated for the gashes Robert's Charizard inflicted upon him three days ago. Aeros has some bandages wrapped around his chest, but he's feeling fine! Seeing Robert approach him, Ben says, "Congratulations, Robert! I was looking for you yesterday after the match but I couldn't find you." "Thanks, Ben! I locked myself up in my room to avoid all the commotion and reporters then spent the night talking with my girlfriend and deciding where to go next. I'm going to start my trip to Blackthorn City in just a moment, but I wanted to see how your Salamence is doing." "Aeros is fine." Ben rubs one of Aeros' forelegs, "Aren't you, Aeros?" The Salamence nods and proudly stretches out his red wings. "That's good to hear!" Robert tells the kind Dragon Pokemon, "Thank you so much for keeping my Charizard from hurting me, Aeros!" Aeros nods once again, happy to have helped out Robert even though he got hurt in the process. Having experienced Charizard's attacks first-hand, he thinks Robert wouldn't have survived some of the Charizard's more powerful Slash attacks had he been hit with them. "And thank you for giving me that Aron, Ben! I haven't seen him yet, but my girlfriend tells me that he's very cute! I'm going back home to Lavender Town after I earn my eighth Johto League Badge, so I'll be able to see my new Aron and play with him then. I'd better get going... Blackthorn City's pretty far from here and I'd like to get there in two days or less. Bye, Ben! Bye, Aeros! Bye, Mawile attached to Ben's leg!" "Bye!" "Mence!" "Maw!" Robert exits the Silver Town Pokemon Center. He starts his journey to Blackthorn City by heading north, but before he leaves the town limits, he sees Andrew O'Reilly loitering around Jay's Super Discount Megamall while Blaze, his Growlithe, and Yuugi, his Ivysaur, kick a small soccer ball around on the now-abandoned streets of Silver Town to amuse themselves while their Trainer figures out what to do next. Robert says, "Hey, Andrew, it's nice to see you again! I'm on my way to Blackthorn City to earn my last Johto League Badge. Where are you headed?" "I'm not sure yet." Andrew shrugs, "All I know is that I'm not going to go near any buildings that look haunted for the rest of my life." Robert asks, "Want to go to Blackthorn City with me?" "Hrrm." Andrew mulls the proposition over for about half a second before saying, "Hey, why not?" "Great!" Robert exclaims, happy that he's not going to have to go all the way to Blackthorn City all by himself, "Right this way!" Robert leads the way to Blackthorn City, followed by Andrew, who is, in turn, followed by Yuugi and Blaze. On their way to Blackthorn City, the two Pokemon start competing to see who can kick the soccer ball furthest, both of them eager to play at least one round of hard-core soccer on the rugged mountain terrain that they're quickly approaching. -Robert