Chapter 18:  The Long Road Ahead (Part B) by Michael Keens/ Exodus  

We spent the afternoon with Ryan and I explained a lot of helpful notes about 
Pokémon Battles, he already had a good relationship with his Pokémon.  
“... Shellders are generally known for their high defense, so you should have 
it withdraw quite often and then strike back with one of its Ice attacks.”  
“Okay, thanks for that.”  
Emily seemed a little quiet.  
“Emily, if something’s bothering you, maybe you should just tell me.”  
“Its nothing.”  
“Okay then so-”  
“Alright alright, Tetsubo, I’m just a little jealous that you pay more 
attention to others than me.”  
“That’s not true.”  
“I know you mean well, but I wouldn’t mind a little more attention...  I just 
don’t want you to lose interest in me and leave me.”  
“Do you think I’d ever to that to my best friend?”  
“Best... friend?”  
“Yes Emily, I can safely say you are my best friend and I’d never just leave 
you like Bianca did.”  
“I don’t deserve you Tetsubo, I’m way selfish...”  
“No Emily, you’re not selfish, but as for not deserving me, you do Emily.  I 
love you very much and, oh, I probably shouldn’t be saying that.”  
“Actually you should, we need to straighten things out between us two...”  
I was partly worried, partly anxious, after the stuff in Cerulean, I had always 
felt strange around her after that kiss, maybe even uncomfortable, not knowing 
if she wanted more from me or just wanted me as her friend.  
That was probably why I had spent less time with her.  
I guess I was about to find out everything now...  
“Excuse me Ryan, could you leave us alone for a sec?” asked Emily.  
“Sure.” said Ryan with a slight grin on his face, I guess he was a little 
immature about relationships and love.  
“Tetsubo, I have to tell you something, I-”  
An explosion occurred and when it cleared, the three familiar people were in 
front of us.  

“We strike during day or night!”  
“We attack, with all our might!”  
“Don’t mess with us, or we shall fight!”  
“We’re pretty good at our rhyme.”  
“The masterminds, of crime.”  
“We always succeed, every time.”  
“Cletus!”  
“Cassie!”  
“Claus!”  
“If y’all got valuables, yuh’d better block it!”  
“We put Pokémon in our pocket!”  
“We’re the best, so don’t knock it!”  
“We are... Elite Rocket!”  

My eyes sunk a little.  
“Was that little act for my benefit or the kid’s?”  
“Both.” said Cassie.  
If looks could kill, the Elites would be arrested for multiple murders, and I 
feared it was all because of me.  
Still, I covered the fear up with my many complaints of their motto.  
“You’ve got to change the whole entrance speech thing, you’ve never won, how 
about changing the line to ‘We always lose, every-”  
“Shut up, Turquoise!” interrupted Claus.  
“You could at least call me by my name, its Tet-”  
“We don’t care! Because of y’all, da Boss has no faith in us lil’ ol’ Elites!” 
ranted Cletus.  
“We owe him a lot of money for those machines you destroyed, the blimp, the 
Dragonite robot...” listed Cassie.  
“And because of all our defeats, we’re likely to be demoted.” finished Claus.  
“And you’re telling me this because...”  
“Because we’re going to put a stop to you permanently and take All your 
Pokémon!” he shouted.  
“Tetsubo, they look really mad, I think they’d go as far as ordering their 
Pokémon... to kill us.” said a concerned Emily.  
“Damn straight!” screamed a deranged Cletus, “Snakebite! Cutter! Lightnin’!”  
“Queendra, Panther, Heatwave...”  
“Chemical.  Liquid.  Knockout.”  
“Get rid of them!” they shouted together.  
“Nine Pokémon... out for blood...” I muttered.  
“We might need all our Pokémon to protect us.” suggested Emily.  
“And I’ll help you out.” added Ryan.  
“Ryan, I don’t want you to get involved.  These people are dangerous!”  
“And that’s why I shouldn’t let you battle them alone.  Besides, it’ll help my 
Pokémon gain experience.  Help us out Clefable, Kangaskhan, Venusaur!”  
Even in this predicament I instinctively activated the Pokédex.  

“Clefable, the Fairy Pokémon.  Clefables are very shy and sensitive, so they do 
not like loud noises or busy places, Clefables won’t appear in areas full of 
people.”  
“Kangaskhan, the Parent Pokémon.  This fierce female Pokémon carries its child 
in its pouch for three years before it is allowed to roam free.”  
“Venusaur, the Seed Pokémon.  The flower on Venusaur’s back catches the sun’s 
rays, the sunlight is absorbed and used for energy.”  

“ATTACK!!! Get past those Pokémon and kill the children!” the Elite’s shouted.  
“Twinkill, Pollen, Needle and Psychot, help us out.” I ordered.  
“Blossom, Miles, Poisoness and Solar, help us!” added Emily.  
“Everyone, I want you to use your initiative, we won’t be able to guide you all 
at once.  Just knock them unconscious and that will be enough.” I briefed the 
Pokémon.  
All the Pokémon cheered out and charged towards the enemy.  
“For a beginner trainer, you sure have some good Pokémon.” I commented to 
Ryan.  
“I’ve known them for a long time, they were passed down by my brother.”  

Cletus’s Jolteon was the quickest to act, charging forward, but was deflected 
by the huge Venusaur who then body slammed the Jolteon, apparently not feeling 
anything from the spines because of its tough skin.  
The Nidorans attacked the Scyther, apparently knowing they had the advantage if 
they could poison the mantis.  
Kangaskhan saw a challenge in the Arbok and rammed it with all its might.  
Queendra rolled herself up and spun forward, her quills turning her into a 
giant saw blade, the Clefable moved to the side and hopped around, waving its 
arms from side to side, and then the earth under the Seadra exploded.  
The Persian screamed, annoyed at the two little plants running circles around 
it.  
Twinkill didn’t give Heatwave any chance to burn it and went all out on a Water 
attack, drenching it and extinguishing any flames.  
Chemical, the disgusting Muk belonging to Claus, leaped at Psychot to crush him 
in poison but he simply teleported aside, the Muk turned and tried again, but 
Psychot warped behind and unleashed a Confusion attack.  
Solar leaped back as a venomous Vaporeon wearing the Acid Armour leaped at him, 
thinking tactically, he unleashed Razor Leaves so that the poison wouldn’t come 
back to him, they tore up the shield and slashed against Liquid’s skin.  
Finally little Miles was practising its miming.  
“Monchan!” shouted Knockout ordering him to battle, a streak of anger brushed 
through Miles and he slapped Knockout rather hard, he tried to counter-attack 
but hit a glass screen instead.  
Miles activated his Confusion attack and the Hitmonchan was down.  
Most of the larger Pokémon were doing well, but the younger, smaller ones were 
having difficulty.  
“Ran! Ran!”  
“Ni! Ni!”  
The Nidorans conferred to each other before leaping forward, Cutter brought his 
scythes down and they leaped onto the green blunt parts of the Scyther’s 
equivalent of a pair of hands and jammed their horns into Cutter, infecting him 
with poison right away.  
The only ones unaccounted for was the pair of Oddish.  
“Reeeeooowwwlll!!!” screamed Panther as he slashed the plants.  
“Pollen!”  
“Blossom!”  
The other Pokémon were too busy in their own battles to help out.  
I reached for another Pokéball and something exploded inches away from my feet, 
Cletus was holding a gun, smiling fiendishly, “Let’s jus’ see how this plays 
out, okay? No udder Pokémon!”  
Fear was a big factor now, what if he used that gun on my Pokémon, or me?  
“Odddd!!!”  
“Dddiiissshh!!!”  
“They’re too small, they can’t take any more!” screamed Emily with concern for 
her very first Pokémon.  
“Come back Pollen!”  
“Retreating from a battle, how noble of you, but the only way out is death! Get 
rid of the plants, Cletus!” ordered Claus.  
“Yes Sir!”  
“Look out!” Emily and I shouted out.  
Turning their sights behind them, they saw the bullet coming and leaped over 
it, both firing Acid to hit the gun and melt it away.  
“Yeeeooowww!!! No fair!” screamed Cletus shaking his hand.  
“You can talk!” I shouted back before turning to the pair of Oddish, they were 
evolving together.  
“Gloom!”  
“Gloom Gloom!”  
“They evolved...” said Emily happily.  
“Now they can win against that Persian!” I said confidently.  
“Reeeowwwll!” said the unpleasant Persian leaping forward.  
“Pollen!”  
“Blossom!”  
“Solar Beam attack!” we finished together.  
Sparkles of light were drawn into their blooming flower attachments.  
Bending over to aim at the fierce cat, they fired, the first hit made it fly 
into its owner, the other Pokémon were done fighting, if the majority hadn’t 
chosen an opponent with the type difference, some of the Pokémon and maybe we 
could have got really hurt.  
Each opponent flew into a pile next to the Elites.  
“Do it again, Pollen.”  
“And Blossom!”  
They unleashed the last of the stored Solar Beam and lifted everyone into the 
air sending them flying.  

“Ah can’t believe we didn’t win wit’ all dem Pokémon.”  
“We lost the battle...” said Cassie sadly.  
“But we shall win the war! Someday...” finished Claus.  
And the group faded from our sight.  

“That was too close.” I said, “Thanks Ryan, we might not have done it without 
you.  I can see big things for you and your Pokémon.”  
“Thanks Tetsubo, if I hurry and collect some badges, then maybe we’ll see each 
other in the Pokémon League.”  
“I’d like that.”  
We shook hands, recalled our Pokémon and finished our trip upon arriving at the 
Pokémon Centre.  

“I promise to become a better trainer, Tetsubo.”  
“You already are, keep at it.” I said as he ran off to join some others.  

We decided to rest at the Pokémon Centre for the night and continue along in 
the morning, the Pokémon really deserved a rest, and we were happy that our 
Oddish had evolved.  
“Now that that’s all taken care of, you were about to tell me something 
important, Em’?”  
“Oh yes, about that, Tetsubo...  I... really don’t want to lose you as a 
friend...  I... understand that our feelings may be a little loopy but I’ve 
decided, that we shouldn’t risk our friendship until a time we feel its right.  
We should probably stay away from the subjects of relationships altogether.”  
“Oh...”  
“You... wanted more...  Didn’t you?”  
“No, no, I’m okay with it, but tell me, why did you kiss me in Cerulean?”  
“Oh...  That...  I really had to give it a try, just to know for sure in my 
head what I really wanted, I wanted to make it out to be as if I was doing it 
as part of the play but I guess you saw right through it.  But over the next 
few days after that, with all our adventures and talking and working together, 
I... like just being friends and travelling with you.”  
“Well, I guess I’m okay with that.”  
“Tetsubo...  I do love you, but just not in that way right now, but I 
promise... if my feelings ever change...” she said while walking to her 
room, “... I’ll let you know!”  
Turning my head suddenly, she was already gone, I guess it was for the best, 
and there was still that little possibility of something between us in the far 
future, besides, it would only have distracted me from my training, and I had 
so many people cheering me on to win, including Emily herself.  
With my feelings a little better worked out, I departed to my room, my personal 
dilemmas, put to rest.  

End of Chapter 18B  

Chapter 18A
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