Lyra's POV

And there were we, finally coming out of the Ice Path. It was night time and we decided to stay at the Pokecenter. Red and Ethan went upstairs to their rooms. As for me, I went to the nearest gift shop I could find.

I entered a shop, filled with items ranging from kid's toys to antiques. I browsed the shelves for the most suitable gift for my cousin, Red. He was going to turn 11 the very next day.

And the gift had to be a special one, besides, you don't turn 11 every year.

"What are you looking for young lady?" Asked a man in an Australian accent. "I must be able to help you."

The man had a grey face mask on, the one that people may want to wear 6 years from now in a global pandemic. His eyes seemed very familiar to me, I had seen those eyes before, and I knew just the person whose eyes they were. But his hair were white, if only they were black...

"Miss?" He repeated. "How may I help?"

"I'm not sure what I want to buy." I said. "You see it's my brothers birthday tomorrow, he'll be eleven."

The smile smiled, of course I couldn't see his smile but his eyes and facial muscle movement told me so.

He then looked for something in his desk's drawers. The table had a name written on it - Robert Sbaraglia, which I assumed was the man's name.

He pulled out a small box from one of his table's drawers and placed it gently on the table. The wooden box seemed decades old.

The box had RGS written on it. The R was red in color, G was gold and the S was also in gold. The font for GS was different than that of R.

It was curious that the GS almost looked like the mark on the GS Ball and the R was somewhat like Team Rocket's logo. Or I could just be imagining things.

"Sir, what does the RGS mean?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Oh that, it's short for Robert gift shop." He said. "This shop is nearly 15 years old. I started off collecting antique items but then I just turned it into a normal gift shop." He walked to the window and looked outside. "Ah the old days, I remember there used to be a lot of chaos because of those Rockets in Kanto, which made me come here to Johto where it was so peaceful."

He opened the box. "Anyways, here is something you'd like to give your brother. I hope he's a trainer and this is something a trainer would want." He handed me a small stone-like device. "It's an experience share."

"A what?"

"An experience share, if held by a strong Pokemon, it will make other Pokemon in the party level up. It's something my uncle gave me, it can be used to level up the team faster." Said the shop owner.

I thought I would buy it for myself and give Red something else as a gift. But then, it'll be bad, I'm not that kind of a person.

"I was wondering if you had another?"

"I'm sorry." He said. "But it's one of a kind."

"How much for it?" I asked. "It must be expensive."

"Oh no, no." He said. "I won't be charging for this. You see it's something I had to hand someone, obviously. Well, I won't let you go like that would I?"

He walked to the nearest shelf. "Here, is a fishing rod for you. This rod is special, and will catch the Pokemon you're expecting to catch, that means, no irritating Magikarps. Also, take this, a dragon scale. I'll recommend going to the Dragon's Den on the north side of the city."

"Do I have to pay for this?" I asked.

"Yes, a hundred poke dollars." He said. The price wasn't too much, to be honest, but I had no idea what these things did.

It was getting late and I quickly paid him and was off to the Pokecenter.

Red's POV

I was sitting near the Pokemon League, under a tree, in a distance, was my friend - Leaf. This time, I knew what was going to happen, a Mew was about to come and fly over me.

Not paying attention to the Mew, I looked around and realized that it wasn't the Indigo Plateau, instead, I was on an island.

"Red!" Screamed Leaf. "I found it!"

I woke with a start.

"Red!"Said Lyra. "Happy birthday!"

I quickly looked at the date written on the digital watch on the side table. It was August the 8th. It was my birthday. The day marked the start of my journey as a Pokemon trainer, just a year ago, I picked my starter Pokemon. I was shocked that a year had passed, felt like more than that.

Lyra handed me a box, which was supposed to be a gift. I opened the box and saw a small device. Lyra told me it was an Exp Share and the strongest Pokemon in my team had to hold it, which would make my Pokemon level up faster.

I was going to give it to either Charizard or Pikachu, but after a while, when I go downstairs. While keeping the Exp Share back into the box, I heard a cracking sound, like that of a paper being crushed.

I noticed that there was a card serving as the inner bottom of the box, I tilted the box upside down to force the cardboard out, the cardboard fell to the table, along with a piece of old parchment. I opened the parchment, only to know that it was a map.

On the top, it read - Map of the Old Sea. It was unclear to which sea the map belonged, but I was sure the map was ancient. I started looking at the places on the map. The map seemed to be of the Sevii Islands, but I wasn't sure.

There were many places I could see on the map. Sky Pillar, Hidden Cave, Old Ranch, Faraway Island and The Warehouse were some of the places on the old parchment. Lyra did not know about the map, if she knew she would have told me. Given that the map was hidden in the box, it had to be important.

I had a quick bath and was ready for the final Johto gym battle.

Ethan wished me, I had a Pokegear call from Mom and Leaf. Mom asked to call Professor Oak and we had a little chit-chat about dragon types. Everything seemed to be going fine as for my 11th birthday.

Lyra had bought some fishing rod and said she would be going to the Dragon's Den, whatever that thing was. I, on the other hand, went to the gym. Before going inside, I gave Charizard the Exp. Share.

The colors inside the gym ranged from navy blue to cyan.

"Are you sure you're at the right place?" Asked a woman. "I am Clair, Blackthorn gym leader. Also known as the most powerful gym leader of both Kanto and Johto."

Not as powerful as me - I thought.

"Let me repeat my question." She said. "Are you sure you're at the right place?"

"Yes, I'm here to challenge you to a gym battle."

"Very well, I will be using 3 Pokemon like other gym leaders. You are not allowed to use any special items or switch your Pokemon until they faint."

Well, I usually battle like that only so basically the rules did not apply to me. I detached Ivysaur's pokeball from my belt. Clair sent out a Gyarados.

"Go Ivysaur." I sent out my first Pokemon. "Use Solarbeam."

Ivysaur absorbed the available sunlight. Clair ordered her Gyarados to use Water Pulse. Though water pulse often lead to confusion, Ivysaur wasn't at all affected.

Ivysaur was done collecting the sunlight and was ready to use it's ultimate move, that being the Solarbeam.

Gyarados was critically hit.

"Gyarados, use-" Said Clair. I was expecting a Hyper Beam, that's what people usually use when at a losing stage. But she didn't. "Dragon rage."

Ivysaur was critically hit.

"Ivysaur, use Sleep powder." I said, hoping that I'll be able to use Solarbeam again on Gyarados, granting Ivysaur a couple of levels.

But my fate was unfortunate, Ivysaur's attack missed. Clair asked Gyarados to use Bite. Ivysaur fainted.

"Ivysaur, come back." I said. "Go Pikachu."

"Gyarados, use Hydro Pump."

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt." I said, Pikachu jumped into the air and hit Gyarados with all his power. The bolt of lightning striked Gyarados. Gyarados fainted.

"Go Kingdra." Clair sent out her second Pokemon. Kingdra was a Pokemon I had never seen before, but by looking at it, anyone would be able to tell that it was the evolved form of Seadra.

I pointed the Pokedex towards the Kingdra.

"Kingdra, the Dragon Pokemon. It sleeps deep on the ocean floor to build its energy. It is said to cause tornadoes as it wakes." I read on the Pokedex

"Kingdra, use Twister."

Pikachu was trapped inside the twister.

"Pikachu, thunderbolt." I said, but his attack couldn't hit Kingdra.

"Kindra, use Hyper Beam."

And there we go, the only thing I was afraid of was opposite Pokemon using Hyper Beams. As soon as the beam hit Pikachu, he fainted.

"Pikachu, come back." I said. "Go Espeon."

"Kingdra, use Hydro Pump." Said Clair.

The attack was powerful, Clair had been training her Pokemon for quite a while, without a doubt.

"Espeon, use Confusion."

Espeon's attack was powerful against Kingdra's but I saw a change of thoughts in Clair, she seemed worried.

"Kingdra." She said. "Hyper Beam."

Espeon fainted. My heart sank, I knew exactly what she was doing, she was going to Hyper Beam all of my Pokemon.

Nope, I won't let you.

"Go Ditto." I said, sending out my Ditto. "Transform."

Ditto quickly transformed into Kingdra.

"Dragon pulse!" Said Clair.

"Hyper Beam, Ditto." I said.

Kingdra fainted. Clair called her Pokemon back and clicked off a Pokeball from her belt.

"Defeat em." She said.
"Go Dragonite."

Ditto was a one hit knock out for the Dragonite. I've always hated Dragonites, they always felt too cute to be that powerful.

Sending Wartortle would be really stupid choice as Wartortle won't be able to do anything against Dragonite.

"Go Charizard." I sent out my starter.

"Dragonite, use Aqua Tail."

Charizard, was critically hit. I was anxious, what if I lost? That too on my birthday? Best birthday ever!

"Charizard, use Flamethrower." I said. Dragonite was badly hurt.

It was that moment, I knew, I had messed up.

"Dragonite." Clair shouted, with a mild smile. "Use Hyper beam."

The beam of energy hit Charizard with a blast. Charizard fainted.

Suddenly, a Pokeball fell from my belt. I called Charizard back and looked closely at the Pokeball. The Pokeball opened and Wartortle came out, flashing blue in color and slowly growing in size.

He grew bigger and taller, untill he was as big as Charizard. Wartortle had finally evolved.

Lyra entered the gym at the very moment and pointed her Pokedex at the Blastoise.

"Blastoise, a Shellfish Pokemon. It deliberately makes itself heavy so it can withstand the recoil of the water jets it fires." Said her Pokedex.

"Dragonite, Outrage."

Blastoise was critically hit. I was confident now that he would be able to defeat Dragonite easily.

"BLASTOISE!" I shouted. "HYDRO PUMP!"

The attack took Dragonite along with it. Dragonite hit the wall with a bang and fainted.

Clair walked to me with slight smile, with a badge and a TM in her hand.

"Congratulations." She said. "Not many people can defeat me. And after that battle, I must say, that was a close one."

"Thank you."

"Anyways, here is your Rising Badge, the proof that you defeated me. And TM59 containing Dragon Pulse." She said. "Your turn, young lady."

Looker's POV

My landline rang, again. It was obvious that the Masked Man had called me. I answered the telephone call.

"I have it thought, Han." Said the Masked Man. "What if you had the power to somehow catch Giovanni, and stop what happened in Goldenrod few months ago, how about that?"

"What are you saying?" I asked. "Don't tell me Giovanni is planning to call that other Earth's people back."

"No, no." He said, he changed his tone and spoke with all of the seriousness inside him. "Here's what I can suggest, go to Pallet Town to Samuel Oak. He may be able to help you with the little time jump."

He hung up the call.