We find our heroes traveling up a steep, winding trail. Jacen had just about had enough of all the walking. Bram was excited to be out in the fresh air and be able to see the sea to their left. Krystal, in her one -track mind (a trait she inherited from her father) was focused on getting to the top and hopefully finding a pokémon center for Baby.

They rounded yet another corner and came face to face with a... cliff.

"Great!" Jacen called out, "Don't you just LOVE nature?"

Krystal, who didn't understand his sarcasm, agreed, "Yes, this will be fun!"

He rolled his eyes, wondering why he liked her so much.

"I don't know, Krystal," Bram analyzed the situation, "I think we should turn back."

"What are you, chicken! BACK-CHAW!!!" she waved her arms around and kept bawking like a chicken.

"Better a live chicken than a fried one." Bram replied.

"But then we'll never get to the top!" she cried.

"Well, we can't scale a full-size cliff!" Bram pointed out with his finger.

Krystal sat down in frustration. She began to think hard. All her energy was pointed towards finding a solution. One thing she learned from her father was to never give up, no matter what! A simple cliff problem can't stop her. Different ideas popped up, but she wrinkled her nose at them. Then, a good one burst through!

"I'VE got IT!" she stood up, "Buddy 'll scale that mean old cliff! Won't you Bud?"

"Bul...ba?"

"Yes, you, silly! Use your vine whips! Come on now! Don't got all day!"

"SAUR!"

"YES!"

"Bul baba saur, saur. Bul-BA-SAUR!"

"Fine, we'll just stay here and rot!" she turned her head up and closed her eyes impatiently, "I'm waiting for you."

"Bulba? Bul... Bul... (sigh) Bul-Ba."

"GREAT! I know you can do it! (No pressure!)" she smiled brightly.

Buddy stepped up towards the cliff and looked up. It was really high up. He was nervous, but knew he needed to. He promised Krystal. Pulling out his vine whips, he reared back and threw them high up. He stretched as far as he could and looked for something to hang onto. His right vine hit something and he clamped onto it with both.

"Bulba!" he called.

"Let's go!" Krystal motioned them over, grabbing onto Buddy.

"Krystal, I hate to break this to you, but I don't think he can pull up all of us." Bram said cautiously.

"Yes, he can! I know you can Buddy! Now everybody grab on to him."

Reluctantly, Bram and Jacen grabbed onto Buddy. Buddy tried to bring his vines back in and pull them up, but they were too heavy.

"I think Bram's right, Krystal," Jacen said softly, "Why don't we turn around and go back--"

"Where?" she cried, "We NEED to get up this cliff. All Buddy needs is an... incentive!" she thought about this, and then reached into her jacket, unhooked something and pulled out... her Earthbadge???

"Go Earthbadge!!" she cried, poking it in Buddy's rump. Buddy's eyes grew wide as cantalopes and he cried out, "BULLLLLLLL!!!! BAAAAA!!!"

He leaped in pain so fast everyone screamed as they whooshed up the cliff. Within a few seconds they passed the top and flew into the air.

"Buddy, don't let go!! Whatever you do!" Krystal cried as Buddy came to the end of his rope! (literally)

"Looks like we're blasting-" Jacen started, "Where did that come from?!"

They began to fall back towards the ground. Buddy pulled in his vine whips and attached them to a tree. They all headed for the tree and hit it square in the middle. Bram was mysteriously able to steady himself mid-air and land feet-first on a thick branch, standing straight and tall. Jacen landed in a unoccupied pidgey nest, blinking in surprise at his luck, then he screamed for no apparent reason. Krystal fell through most of the tree, and would've hit the ground, but her foot was stuck in the fork of another large branch. She bobbed up and down, and was really dizzy. Many pidgeys flew out of the confusion that had entered their nesting site. Buddy had managed to pull off a decent landing on the ground, unlike his human friends.

"Bul-BA!!" he called up into the tree, "BAAA-SAUR!"

"I'm okay Buddy, but I'm a little sick. Now I know how Baby feels...ugh!" Krystal called down to Buddy.

Suddenly, a girl ran onto the scene, "Hey you up in the tree! What's going on out here? Are you TRYING to be a nuisance!"

"Could you help us, miss," Bram asked gracefully leaping to the ground, and flashing his debonair smile, "They're stuck in the tree."

"I'll get a ladder!" she ran and quickly returned. She set it up and climbed up to Krystal. She looked her over, and then yanked on her foot. She pulled it out of the tree fork, but then lost her grip, "Oops!" Krystal flew down and smacked the ground hard. Buddy ran beside her and rubbed his head on hers, "BulBul, BA!"

Slowly, but surely, she sat up and her eyes spun around. She swayed back and forth, unsteadily as the girl made her way up to Jacen, who hadn't stopped screaming.

Kinda drunk-like, Krystal snatched up Buddy into another hug, and muttered something to the effect of: "Oooh! Slephfooooollll! I Luv UUUUUUU!!! Alllll of the thyme!!!! And I know UUUU doooooodddoooo tttoooooo!" and with that out of her system, she toppled over, unconscious.

All of the sudden, another body fell out the sky and landed on top of her. Jacen yelled all the way down, "KRYSTAL!"

Buddy had luckily leaped out of the way.

A voice came from above, "OOPS! I did it again! Darn the luck! Hee-Hee! Guess you can call me Butterfingers!"

"OKAY, BUTTERFINGERS!" everyone yelled. She climbed down and took down the ladder. With a flick of her hand, she threw back a small strip of brown hair that always seemed to swing in front of her face. Her copper brown hair was curly and stopped abruptly at her chin. Her blue eyes, the color of the sky, looked straight at Bram, missing Jacen, Krystal and Buddy completely.

"So, who are you? And what were you doing in my tree?"

"Your tree?" Jacen asked.

"My tree. I own this property. I'm the gym leader and I--"

"Gym? I have to battle you! I'm an experienced pokémon trainer." Krystal interrupted.

The tall girl glanced towards Krystal who was still on the ground with a stunned Jacen, now sitting on top of her. Seeing that he was, he got off and blushing slightly, brushed a few stray twigs out of his semi-long, flame-colored hair.

Krystal now was able to hop up and face the gym leader.

"Who are you little girl?" she asked as she looked oddly at Krystal's messed up clothes that were stained by Baby's puke.

"Little?" she cried, then stood up tall, (only reaching the girl's nose in height) "My name is Krystal Ketchum."

"OH! As in Ash Ketchum?" she said excitedly, bursting with a sudden joyfulness.

"Yes, why?"

"OOOOH! Can I have your autograph?" the girl asked in a squeal, freaking out Krystal.

"Me?"

"Yes, because you're the closest thing I'll ever get to meeting the great Prof. Ketchum!!!"

She hated being overshadowed by her own father. One day she would prove herself to be great, by herself. Then no one would compare her to her father anymore. She answered, "Fine."

The girl brandished a pencil and a small blue book. Krystal took the pencil in her left hand, and the book in her other hand, and proceeded to scribble her John Hancock into the book. She flipped it shut and handed it back to the girl with a sigh.

"So, who are you?" Bram asked suavely.

"I'm Gail; just Gail."

"Like Madonna?" Bram inquired.

"I... don't think... So, your name is..." she said batting her eyelashes.

"Bram," he whispered, kissing her hand.

"Oohh!" she cried, "Such a gentleman! How about I show you around my gym, Bram..."

"But I want a Gym battle!" Krystal pleaded throwing up her hands into the air and waving them around to get Gail's attention.

"Sounds great!" Bram replied, ignoring Krystal's plea completely.

Krystal and Jacen followed Bram and Gail along a tree-lined path leading to a large circular complex about the size of a large high-school.

End of Chapter Two
Back to episode 3