Chapter 34:  Path to Disaster (Part A) by Michael Keens/ Exodus  

It was the next day, and Abby still wasn’t allowed to leave, some tests had  
been done recently to check if there was any damage to her skull, and until 
they came back, Abby was not to leave.  

“... I promise Abby, I’m just going to go out and check the path ahead, maybe 
get some training done, and I’ll be back by tonight, I won’t leave you here, no 
matter what.”  
“You promise?”  
“I promise.”  
“Then go on then.”  
“Get plenty of rest, I’ll be back by tonight.”  

I left the Pokémon Centre and travelled south a little, there was a port at the 
southern coast that would take people to the south east isle, or to the area 
close to Fuchsia City.  
Since it was my home, and there was a Gym there, I figured I’d leave that Gym 
until last.  
“You there!” shouted a man with a gruff voice.  
He wore pale blue robes and had dark turquoise hair that covered the right side 
of his face.  
“You’re a Pokémon Trainer, aren’t you?”  
“Well, the Pokéballs are in plain sight.” I replied.  
“Would you be willing to help me, I can’t pay you or reward you in any way, but 
its important that something gets done about this problem.”  
“I guess so, but I can’t stray too far away, I’ve got be back in Terracotta 
City by the evening.”  
“Its not, something’s happening on the Birdwatcher Path.”  
“Birdwatcher Path?”  
“Its a famous landmark for trainers who want to observe or catch Flying 
Pokémon, except two kids are trying to catch them all selfishly, I saw a lot of 
nasty Pokémon with them so I figured I’d need help, the only Pokémon I have are 
Flying-types.”  
“I think I know who they are.  Let’s roll...”  

On the way, we talked a little.  
“So, a Flying-type Trainer, do you come here often?”  
“Sometimes, but only when I visit my family, my actual home is far west from 
here.”  
“So what’s your name? I’m Tetsubo.”  
“The name’s Falkner, pleased to meet you.”  
We ran on for a bit without talking, but I noticed a troubled look on his 
face.  
“What’s troubling you?”  
“Its just that... I visited my family recently after being away for several 
months, and they’re worried about my sister.”  
“Your... sister?”  
“I wouldn’t think you knew her, unfortunately, she was never a popular kid.”  
“How about you tell me who she is, just in case, it couldn’t hurt.”  
“Fine...  She’d be fifteen now, and she’s got shoulder length blonde hair that 
falls to the sides.  The last time I saw her, she was answering to the name of 
‘Gail’ rather than her given name, but its not definite that she’ll be using it 
now.  She’s a strange child you see, a little odd and different than the other 
kids, but her family loves her and I wish she’d just call them.”  
“Well, a lot of kids are going on Pokémon Journeys, and this year’s Pokémon 
League started a few months ago, maybe she’s thinking of participating?” I 
offered.  
“I don’t see how she could...”  
“I’m just trying to help.  I know what its like, not knowing where your sister 
is...”  
“You have a sister too?”  
“An older one, she selfishly took off without telling the family where she was 
going, she hasn’t called or written, but I know she’s alive, I just feel it.”  
“Me too.” agreed Falkner.  
“I suggest you at least check out the Pokémon League at the Indigo Stadium in a 
few months, if your sister is competing, then I’m sure you can track her down, 
trainers are supposed to register through their Pokédex, and sponsors tend to 
make sure their real name is registered rather than an alias.”  
“... Thank you Tetsubo, I shall have to try that.”  

We soon reached the Birdwatcher Path, full of clear skies, green grass and low 
fences, and in the middle of it all, two troublesome kids.  
A strange contraption comprised of fans and cages was causing the birds to get 
sucked towards it and caged, the Junior Rockets stood proud, though they had 
only caught low level Flying Pokémon at the moment.  
“Whoever thought that this machine would perform so well?” said Lorraine.  
“But we’re the performers, and this machine is our greatest fan!” laughed 
Larry.  
There was a click, and the Juniors turned around shocked, as I and Falkner had 
switched off the device.  
“Oh no! Its you again!” shouted Larry.  
“I told you I knew who they were.” I said, turning back to Falkner.  
“And they seem to know you pretty well.” he added.  
“Get him!” yelled Lorraine, and Larry pushed us back (but not very far) while 
his sister turned the machine to us, we couldn’t help being pushed back every 
so often, the fan was strong and worked both ways.  
“Falkner, use your Pokémon...” I whispered.  
“Go Spearow, Go Doduo!”  
“Speeeearowww!!!”  
“Waaaak!!!”  
The two Pokémon flew high into the air, and around the side so as not to be 
seen by the two, we had to brace the harsh winds and lead the Juniors on a 
little, until the two Pokémon attacked, the Spearow dived down and the Doduo 
jumped in, both using Drill Peck and slamming their beaks into the machine.  
Explosions started to rip through, and the cages all snapped apart, a flock of 
Flying Pokémon made their escape and flew far away, but a cage with a 
Farfetch’d was still sealed, and Lorraine made a grab for it.  
The two Juniors clenched their teeth and looked a little terrified of the 
situation.  
“No, no, no...  the Boss said he’d punish us if we messed up one more time...” 
trembled Lorraine.  
“We can still succeed, by taking this Farfetch’d, and all of their Pokémon!” 
shouted Larry, surprisingly confident and dark.  
“And what are you gonna do? Me and Emily beat you silly the last time we 
battled, what could possibly be different now?” I questioned.  
“A lot!” shouted Lorraine.  
“But not too much...” added Larry.  

“To protect the world from desperation.”  
“To unite the evil in every nation.”  
“To erase the factors of truth and love.”  
“To extend our reign to the planets above.”  
“Lorraine.”  
“Larry.”  
“Junior Rocket steals at the speed of light.”  
“Surrender now, cos we’ll win the fight.”  

“Tetsubo, their Pokémon are powerful.” commented Falkner.  
“Go! Flounder!” shouted Lorraine.  
“You’ve got to be kidding, all they have are weak Pokémon like that-”  
“Seaking!!!”  
“... Seaking?!” I spluttered, and then looked up at Lorraine and Larry, “Things 
Have changed, but so have I.  Go! Shockwave!”  
“Buzzzz!!!”  
“Um, sis, that looks tough.” shivered Larry.  
“We can take them!” she shouted.  

“Shockwave! Quick Attack!”  
“Agility and Tail Whip!”  
As Shockwave ran forward at an incredible pace, the Seaking leapt at him and 
bounced along extremely quickly, even without water, it was now quite adept at 
leaping.  
“Shockwave, change of plans! Keep your distance!”  
“Sea-King!”  
The large fish came at Shockwave and slapped him with its tail, sending my 
Electabuzz into a fence and crashing through it.  
“Horn Attack!” shouted Lorraine.  
“Sea... King!”  
“Shockwave! Quick Attack!”  
He leapt away as several horns pierced the wooden fences and the grass area he 
was in, he vanished every so often as storms of horns flew at him.  
“Seaking?”  
“Buzz!!!” shouted Shockwave, ramming his weight into the Seaking, and then 
using his Thunderbolt while he had the chance.  
“What?! His Pokémon use their initiative... and perform well...  Flounder! Use 
your initiative too!” ordered Lorraine after some thought.  
“Sea, King!” said Flounder, flying forward and rising into the air through an 
upward cylinder of water that suddenly appeared out of nowhere.  
“Yes!” shouted Lorraine, “Use your Fury Attack!”  
The rushing waters came down on Shockwave, but the Seaking leapt out before it 
and jabbed Shockwave many times, he fell back, and the Waterfall attack was 
still chasing after him, the Seaking back inside it to help it on this 
terrain.  
“Shockwave! I think you know exactly what to do.  Stand your ground.”  
“Buzz.” he nodded.  
“Use your Supersonic!” yelled Lorraine.  
A piercing cry was emitted from within the flying cylinder, Shockwave braced 
himself and removed his hands from his ears and fired.  
The whole cyclone of water turned yellow and became electrified.  
“SEEEAAAKIIIING!!!”  
The Seaking inside the spiralling wave of water was being electrocuted from all 
angles, the Waterfall attack dissipated, and Flounder fell down defeated.  
“My turn, sister.  You’re in for a red hot surprise.” smiled Larry.  
“Maggg!!!”  
“Whoa.” I said simply.  

“Magmar, the Spitfire Pokémon.  This Pokémon is said to have been born in a 
volcano, its body is cloaked in flames so it looks like a big ball of fire.”  

“Cool Pokémon, too bad the types are against you, Go! Twinkill!”  
“Star!”  
“Core! Use your Smog attack!”  
“Maggg!!!” shouted the Magmar, spitting out black smoke that filled the battle 
area.  
“Twinkill! Swift attack!”  
“Maggg!!!” moaned the Magmar.  
“Flamethrower!”  
“Uh oh...” I groaned.  
“Star!” screamed Twinkill as it was blasted out of the cloud by a very powerful 
flame.  
“Bubblebeam!”  
Twinkill blasted a flurry of bubbles into the cloud, but a red aura could be 
seen, and the bubbles must have been getting evaporated by the flames.  
“Ice Beam!”  
The Magmar leapt out of the cloud to avoid risking a major freezing.  
“Tackle attack!”  
Twinkill spun around and flew around the cloud and towards the Magmar.  
“Confuse Ray!” shouted Larry, and the Magmar’s eyes began to glow.  
“Star...” said Twinkill, spinning out of control and crashing into the fence, 
it flew back towards the Magmar, but didn’t aim right, the confusion was 
getting to it.  
“Now use Ember, and then Smoke Screen!” yelled Larry.  
Twinkill was blasted, and then lost in another cloud.  
“We’re getting nowhere, we’ve learned a lot since the last time we dealt with 
the Juniors, let’s show them.” I spoke to Twinkill.  
“Star!”  
“Thunderbolt attack!”  
“You what?! But Staryus are Water-types, how could they?!” screamed Larry.  
“MAGGG!!!” screamed the Magmar as it was defeated.  
“I’d tell you why, if you weren’t my enemies.” I said, not quite an explanation 
or a threat.  
“Try my new Pokémon! Go Black Widow!” shouted Lorraine.  
“Jynx!”  
“Just like Delft Town, its a little risky but, Go! Inferno!”  
“ROOOOAAARRR!!!” bellowed the unruly Charizard.  
“Oh no, another weakness.” moaned Lorraine.  
Inferno turned to me, and a grin came across my face.  
“Inferno, she doesn’t know about your new types, that you’re weak against Ice 
attacks now, let’s give her a good surprise and beat up on her Jynx.” I 
whispered.  
Inferno gave off a dark smile, I would usually never encourage a Pokémon to be 
mean, but this was an exception, since the Juniors had two new Pokémon, that 
brought their team up to at least six Pokémon, I needed all of my team to work 
with me if we were to succeed.  
“Lovely Kiss!” shouted Lorraine.  
“Flamethrower...” I said calmly.  
The Jynx was blasted by extremely powerful flames, and fell over.  
“Well, that was easy.” I commented.  
“Body Slam!”  
“ROOOAAARRR!!!” bellowed Inferno as the Jynx slammed into him.  
“Psychic attack!”  
Inferno was blasted back and flew forward in blind rage.  
“Fire Spin!”  
“ROOOAAARRR!!!”  
“Jyyynnnxxx!!!” screamed the Jynx, surrounded by an upward spiral of flames, it 
soon collapsed.  
“Bedtime!” yelled Larry.  
“Go! Needle!” I added.  
“Wigglytuff...”  

“Wigglytuff, the Balloon Pokémon.  Its body is soft and rubbery and it can 
inflate to an enormous size if it feels angry or threatened.”  

“Bedtime! Use your Body Slam!”  
“Wiggly...” growled the Pokémon, leaping up to crush Needle.  
“Use your Double Kick!”  
“Nido-Rino!”  
Needle charged forward, ploughed its front legs into the ground, spun its body 
around, and kicked the Wigglytuff twice with its hind legs.  
Type advantage did the rest, and the Wigglytuff was propelled into the air, and 
landed with a thud.  
“Poison Sting!”  
“Defense Curl!”  
The Wigglytuff turned around, crouched and trembled, but the move worked, and 
the needles fired deflected off her back.  
“While her back’s turned! Horn Drill!” I yelled.  
“Rino, Rino, Rino...” said Needle while charging forward with his spinning 
horn.  
“Pound, no, Double Edge!” panicked Larry.  
Needle slammed forward, but the Wigglytuff jumped to the side and brought her 
fists down on him, he brought his head up, and the Wigglytuff dodged again and 
charged forward, dealing a big hit, but Needle used the moment, and braced the 
force in order to slam his horn into the Wigglytuff, causing her to faint 
immediately.  
“Go Landslide! Scratch attack!” followed up Lorraine quickly.  
“Sandslash!”  
I recalled Needle and brought out my Exeggcute, after securing the safety of my 
Pokémon, it was then that I drew out the Pokédex:  

“Sandslash, the Mouse Pokémon.  When it is in danger, it can roll up into a 
ball and charge at its enemies, using its quills to damage them, its razor 
sharp claws allow it to slash at its opponents.”  

“That looks dangerous.  Reflect, Scramble!”  
The Sandslash slammed into the shield and fell over.  
“Use your Mega Drain!” I added.  
“Sandslash!!!”  
The Sandslash leaped forward and started to slash away:  Fury Swipes.  
The beams that would hit it were deflected until the Sandslash reached Scramble 
and clawed at the eggs.  
“Stun Spore!”  
The green gas sprayed caused the Sandslash to retreat, but it leapt into the 
air and clashed its claws together.  
“Barrage!” I shouted.  
As Scramble fired a bombardment of eggs upwards, the Sandslash went into a 
Defense Curl and braced the explosions.  
A lot of my Pokémon were still at their early stages while the Juniors had 
evolved all their Pokémon, still, I was using type advantage wherever I could 
to even it out.  
The Sandslash started to spin itself round, and a Swift attack hit Scramble.  
“Solar Beam!”  
“Sand Attack!”  
Scramble was hit by the sand that the Sandslash scrapped up from the ground, 
but continued to charge, and launched the bright beam at the Sandslash.  
When the smoke cleared, the Sandslash had vanished, but left behind a hole in 
the ground.  
“Oh no, it dug a hole, try your Confusion!” I ordered quickly.  
“Egg...” concentrated Scramble, I could see the signs in the ground of the 
Sandslash burrowing, getting close to Scramble, the ground exploded and 
showered Scramble in dirt, but when the dust cleared, the Sandslash was 
floating in the air, Scramble had succeeded in capturing the Sandslash, and 
cancelling out the attack.  
“Finish it off with Leech Seed!”  
The Sandslash was thrown to the floor, but bounced back up, out of control, 
giving Scramble the chance to fire several seeds that stuck to the Sandslash, 
and exploded into a lot of twisting vines that sucked out the strength of the 
Sandslash, and sent it back to Scramble.  
“Its not fair!” moaned Lorraine, “I thought we were getting somewhere when we 
beat the copper-haired twerp in a Pokémon Battle!”  
“For your information, that ‘twerp’ is my brother, and I’m dedicating this 
victory to his good name.” I explained sternly.  
“You’re not victorious, I still have my most powerful Pokémon left!” said 
Larry.  
“That Spearow, but its likely that it’ll have evolved into a-”  
“FEAROW!!!”  

“Fearow, the Beak Pokémon.  With its huge and magnificent wings, this Pokémon 
can stay aloft without ever having to land for rest.”  

“Tetsubo, allow me to take care of this flying fiend.” offered Falkner.  
“No Falkner, I need you to be ready in case they pull any tricks, besides, I 
have an able Flying Pokémon to take that Fearow on.” I said, turning him down 
lightly.  
“Pidgeooootto!!!”  
Falkner gazed at Whirlwind and observed him, almost idolising him, he must 
have been a real Flying Pokémon fan.  
“Use your Growl!”  
“FEEEARRR!!!”  
Whirlwind backed away and looked at me for advice.  
“Use your Gust attack.”  
“Pidgeotto!”  
He flapped his wings and sent wind projectiles at the Fearow, who easily 
deflected them with its wings.  
“Drill Peck!” shouted Larry.  
“FEEEEAAARRROWWW!!!”  
The Fearow charged forward, too fast to be seen, and cut across Whirlwind with 
a deadly swipe.  
He fell, but flapped his wings and slowed his descent, enough for me to be able 
to catch him.  
“Whirlwind...  How much have they trained that thing?!...”  
“Pidgeo... To...” he panted.  
“Get him Hunter!” screamed Larry, intent on winning for once.  
“Whirlwind, don’t give up, we’ll just have to use your powerful attacks.”  
He took off again and initiated a Quick Attack, but the Fearow gave him an evil 
look with glowing eyes, and he lost his concentration and missed.  
“Sky Attack!” I shouted.  
“Pidgeeeooo!!!”  
“Agility.” added Larry.  
The Fearow actually avoided this powerful attack totally by moving away at the 
last moment.  
“Show him how it should be done.  Mirror Move!”  
“What?!” I shouted shocked, as the Fearow glowed with a flaming aura and 
practically shot through Whirlwind, and sent him plummeting at an alarming 
rate.  
“Now let’s get the kid!” said Larry, signalling for his Fearow to land, so that 
he and his sister could climb on with the caged Farfetch’d.  
“Whirlwind!!!” I screamed.  
And then it finally happened, in my time of need, Whirlwind glowed with a 
bright light, and grew much larger, along with his wings, he developed a 
lighter brown coat of feathers, and a yellow strip of beautiful hair from his 
head that went down his back.  
“I don’t believe it...” I said, staring at the beautiful bird as, with one 
swoop of its wings, Whirlwind changed direction and flew forward.  

“Pidgeot, the Bird Pokémon.  Its large wings allow to fly at super-fast speeds, 
and when it couples this with its sharp talons, no prey can escape it.”  

“Pidgeot?!” screamed Lorraine, “Forget his Pokémon, let’s escape with this 
one!”  
Whirlwind stopped itself totally as it reached me, and tilted his head back.  
“I understand, Whirlwind.  Let’s Fly!”  
I clambered on and held on tight, before tilting my head to signal for Falkner 
to get on, but he shook his head in reply.  
Whirlwind took off and quickly caught up to the Fearow.  
“What the?!” screamed Larry, “How did he catch up?!”  
“Attack!” screamed Lorraine.  
“Fury Attack!”  
“Gust attack!”  
The Fearow didn’t get past the projectiles this time, and was stunned by each 
wind blast.  
“Drill Peck!”  
“Quick Attack!”  
Whirlwind flew to the side as the Fearow jabbed forward.  
“Now use your Mirror Move.” I smiled.  
A golden imagery extension appeared on Whirlwind’s beak, and he imitated the 
attack, Whirlwind dived down and slammed the golden beak into the Fearow.  
“Fear... Row!!!” wailed the Fearow.  
The Farfetch’d cage was dropped in the struggle, and plummeted out of our 
reach.  
“No!” I shouted.  
But then something swooped by and caught the cage:  Falkner, riding on a 
Pidgeot of his very own.  
I smiled, and gave a thumbs up, the gesture was returned, but I quickly turned 
to the Juniors, whose Fearow had fainted, and began to plummet.  
“... We’ve got to save those kids.” I said, though a little angrily.  
The Pidgeot swooped by again, and Lorraine disappeared, obviously saved, and I 
and Whirlwind dived down for Larry.  
“Come on kid, grab my hand!” I shouted, outstretching my arm as much as 
possible.  
“Why are you helping me? We’re enemies!” he yelled.  
“We don’t have to be, you’re young, you shouldn’t be wasting your childhood 
taking orders and doing wrong, you should be doing what you love, like Pokémon 
Training.” I explained.  
“If I don’t agree, will you let me drop?” questioned the boy.  
“... Of course not.”  
Larry recalled the plummeting Fearow, and reached out for me to retrieve 
him...  

Not too long later, we were all back on the ground, and the Farfetch’d had been 
set free.  
The Juniors were rather quiet, not sure what to do.  
“I suppose you’ll call Officer Jenny...” said Larry sadly.  
“If you go back to the Rockets, do you really think your leader will be 
forgiving?” I questioned.  
“I think we would have been better off dying from the fall.” said Lorraine 
quietly.  
“I meant what I said Larry, kids shouldn’t be wasting their childhood by being 
Rockets.  The place is evil and I’m sure your co-workers don’t care about your 
feelings, wishes or desires at all.  Ask yourself, is this really what you want 
to do for the rest of your lives?”  
“Actually...  All we ever wanted to do was train Pokémon, but we were never 
chosen by a sponsor because we made so many mistakes...” explained Larry 
sadly.  
“And you thought that doing wrong was the only way you’d train Pokémon? Look at 
yourselves, you’ve grown so much as trainers, but have you grown as people?” I 
questioned.  
“He has a point, sis, maybe we should take our chances and leave the Rockets.” 
muttered Larry.  
“... I never really liked being a Rocket anyway.  But what if they come after 
us?” asked Lorraine.  
“Between you two, I’m sure you can fend them off, I beat you because I’m an 
experienced Pokémon Trainer, and you can be too, just try doing good for a 
while, and make your own choice for the life you want to live...” I explained, 
with a light smile on my face.  
“We’ll try, but I can’t promise anything.” said Larry.  
“Then I’ll just have to kick your butts again.  But please, remember what I 
said...”  
The two kids turned and walked away slowly.  
“Do you think they’ll be good?...” asked Falkner.  
“I know they will, I’ve always seen a spark in them that’s similar to my little 
brother, that’s probably why I’ve done all I can to help them, and why I have 
faith that they’ll make the right choice...”  

Falkner and I left the Birdwatcher Path, and were ready to part ways.  
“It was nice working with you Tetsubo, you have truly trained Whirlwind well, I 
hope someday we can meet again.”  
“Me too, good luck finding your sister...”  
Falkner turned away and released his Pidgeot, which quickly took off and 
disappeared into the skies.  

I returned to Terracotta City, and to Abby’s side, me and the Pokémon had 
definitely earned ourselves a good rest, I thought about Lorraine and Larry, 
and hoped that they would honour their dreams, and do what they truly wanted to 
do...  

End of Chapter 34A  

Back to Chapter 33B
Chapter 34B
Back to Story List #21 - #40
Back to the Pokézone