Snippet #2686757

Alex was whistling a very merry tune as he walked down the old dirt road with his hands stuffed in his pockets. The day was sunny and bordering between mostly comfortable and almost too hot. He was still feeling the lingering effects of the last gym battle he had won against Jasmine in Olivine City. It had been a tough battle but his dedicated pokemon had come through for him in the end, like they always did.

That made 6 gym badges. The thought brought a cheshire grin to his face. He only needed two more before he could challenge the Elite Four and prove that he was the champion--the greatest trainer alive.

It had been Alex's dream since before he could walk to be a trainer. There was never any question. He had to be the best! Of course as a little kid it seemed so easy to be the champion. He had never imagined the sort of obstacles that would get in his way. It had been such a long journey just to get here.

Alex came over the crest of the hill and had to stop. Below him lay Mahogany town. It was home of Pryce, the seventh gym leader.

"I'm coming for you Pryce." Alex mumbled to himself as he began to descent into to the town.

People were busy hustling and bustling about as they went through their routines. Alex's stomach was grumbling but first he had to get to the Pokecenter to make sure that his pokemon were taken care of first. He entered through the sliding doors and caught a whiff of conversation off to the side between two trainers.

"...I swear!" the smaller boy had eyes the size of dinner plates. "The gyrados was red!"

"Oh sure, and the sky is purple." The older boy rolled his eyes at the antics of the younger one.

"No! It really is! I saw it with my two eyes..." he fell quiet. "I thought I was looking at a monster." He whispered.

"You're crazy! There hasn't been a gyrados in that lake for a hundred years, let alone one that's red."

"It's there!" the younger boy was getting frustrated. "I swear! I'll prove it!"

The two boys wandered off and Alex turned to go check in with Nurse Joy.

A red gyrados eh? he thought mildly to himself. If there was a red gyrados it would be an impressive pokemon to have and would surely show case his skill as a trainer. Maybe I'll go check it out later.

"Welcome to Mahogany town!" Nurse Joy gave her prize winning smile and Alex grinned back as he pulled his pokeballs off one by one and handed them over.

"I need a little TLC for my team." He said and watched as each ball was taken carefully.