Generation Z - Hoenn Alone

Chapter 31: A Shocking Challenge

Author's Note:

Hello all my wonderful Poliwags! We're back with another chapter of Bonnie's adventure, and it's finally time for her battle against Wattson! Let's see how she does!

Chapter 31: A Shocking Challenge

Butch and Smeargle darted quickly behind the corner of the Pokemon Centre as they noticed their targets emerging from it. The brat girl appeared quite excited, leading the way down the street with the boy and the gym leader from Rustboro trailing behind her. They were heading in the same direction they had gone the day before, but Butch was fairly sure it was for a different purpose this time.

"Suppose the girl has one of those gym battles," Smeargle murmured, glancing up at Butch. "Wonder if she'll win. Looked bloody strong yesterday at the Food Court."

Butch shrugged, watching the group continue down the street until they were small specks in the distance. "Doesn't much matter to us, does it? Just supposed to keep an eye on her right now."

"Getting a tad boring, is it not?" Smeargle sighed out, holding his tail and studying the end of it. "With Zinnia off on whatever mission she's doing, it seems we've been left in purgatory."

It was hard for Butch to disagree. Things had been looking up when they were hooked up with Zinnia in Island Cave, but after the mission in Granite Cave, they'd been given very little to do. The attack on Drake's ship had been nothing but embarrassing. No fossil from the boy, and a thorough trouncing by the girl.

"Let's get back to Cassidy," Butch whispered. "The girl will be busy with her gym battle, and maybe we can get an update from Lyanna on where we stand."

"Seems like a plan," Smeargle agreed. "Although does Lyanna want us contacting her again? Most of her messages are coming through from Zinnia's bloody codes these days."

"We're in one of the biggest cities in Hoenn. Maybe she'd like us to do something," Butch said. "At least we can find out if Zinnia is ever going to use us for something again."

With no better plan for what to do, the two of them made their way through the streets of Mauville City, back to the outskirts and into a small grouping of trees where they had made their temporary base. Cassidy was waiting, going through one of Zinnia's coded messages and clearly finding no further meaning to it than what they'd found in it earlier. Raticate's exhausted appearance suggested that Cassidy's mood had not been too good during her studying.

"Anything interesting?" she asked as Butch and Smeargle stopped behind her, the latter peering over her shoulder to see the notes she'd laid across the ground. The tone of her voice suggested she knew there wouldn't be much of interest.

"Just that the girl is heading to her match with the Mauville Gym Leader," Butch said. "No signs of Team Archaic. Didn't even hear any news reports or anything from the Pokemon Centre."

"Laying low right now, I suppose," Cassidy said, turning around to face them. Bitterness filled her voice. "Plotting their next move with no intention of using us. Same with Zinnia."

"Butch thinks we should call Lyanna," Smeargle said, sitting down and fiddling with his tail. "Not that it'll bloody mean much, but I reckon it's worth a try. If Zinnia's truly one of us, I say we deserve to know what she's up to."

Cassidy seemed to think it was a pointless idea, shrugging dismissively, but she nodded to Raticate nonetheless, and the Mouse Pokemon hopped into the hot air balloon carrier and grabbed their transceiver for messaging headquarters. "I guess there's nothing better to do. What's the worst that happens? We get kicked off the mission?"