It had been three days since Tanya had left the Ketchum household. She was now in the Cerulean City Pokemon Center, waiting for her Pidgeotto to be healed. The trip there had been tiring, and they needed a break before starting off to Fushia City. You may wonder why Tanya had stopped off at Cerulean City. Well, she wanted a bike. And unlike Misty, she was going to get one without relying on some twerp who’d probably never get her one.
"Your Pidgeotto is healed and ready to go now Tanya." The girl smiled, and picked up the pokeball.
"Thanks."
"That’s okay. We hope to see you again!" Tanya smiled politely and left. It always got on her nerves when they said that. You don’t go into Pokemon Centers if your pokemon are okay, do you? she thought. She shrugged it off, and made her way through the streets.

"Would you like to purchase a bike? Only $300 dollars!" Tanya nodded to the young man at the counter,
"Don’t you have any cheaper ones? I’m not looking for a mountain bike or anything." The man frowned,
"Well we do have a used model in good condition at only $150, but..."
"I’ll take it!" The man sighed and grudgingly showed her to the bike. It was a faded purple, and in its previous new state, it would’ve been the same shade as Tanya’s hair. She looked it over, and nodded.

Two uneventful days later, Tanya pulls up outside the Safari Zone. She got off, and walked inside.
"That’s $100, including 50 Safari Balls, and as many pokemon as you can catch in two hours. Would you like a ticket?"
"Yes please." Tanya didn’t mention she would’ve preferred a $500 dollar one that gave her a week.
"Here you go! We’ll page you when your times up." Tanya thanked the woman, and entered the Safari Zone.
Tanya hopped onto her bike, wanting to get to the water as soon as possible. That however, didn’t work, as she’d barely been on her way, when she was invited for a pokemon battle.

"Hey, miss! You wanna have a battle!" Tanya sighed and got off.
"Two on two?"
"Yep! Winner gets $50 and an item. Prepare to lose. Go Butterfree!"
"Go Vulpix!" Tanya grinned as the other trainer swore.
"Okay Butterfree! Whirlwind attack!"
"Vulpixxxxxxx!" Tanya bit her lip,
"You can do it, Vully! Ember!" Vulpix landed on the ground, and sent her fire attack towards the Butterfree. The pokemon was caught in the flames and landed on the ground, burnt.
"Butterfree! I, I, use Stunspore... no!" Vulpix had alreadu tackled the pokemon of her own incentive. Tanya had trained it that way.
"No!! Butterfree, return!" The trainer glared at Tanya and her Vulpix, silently sending out a new pokemon. A Wartortle.
"Vully!" Tanya screamed out, as her pokemon was drenched. Vulpix fell to the ground, and Tanya ran up to it.
"Vull-lpix. Pixul." Tanya nodded sadly and returned her pokemon.
"Go Pidgeotto! Peck!" A scream was heard as Pidgeotto darted in, pecking at the Wartortle’s unprotected belly. It stood up against the Water Gun, just, and sent a vicious Wing Attack towards the now fainted Wartortle. Tanya frowned. It shouldn’t have been beaten so easily.
"Okay. You win. Here’s your money and an Ultra Ball." Tanya smiled and thanked the trainer. Then she mounted her bike, and went onwards.

"To save the world from its destruction."
"To keep Team Rocket from interuption."
"To steal all pokemon rare and strong."
"To make you surrender, before long."
"Marco!"
"Annabelle!"
"Team Rocket stealing pokemon all the time!"
"To make sure our motto does always rhyme!"
"Weepinbell Bell-ep!" Tanya sighed,
"Hi guys." Annabelle bit her lip,
"Oh. It’s Tanya Purple-head. So do we get your pokemon anyway?"
"What sort of person steals pokemon, even if they are from Team Rocket, from the girl who saved their lives?" The pair looked away, embarressed.
"Even Rockets have some honour, ne? So take Weepinbell, take Seadra, take Kadabra and go rob someone who hasn’t save your life!" Team Rocket very quickly disappeared.

Finally Tanya reached the lake. It was a nice lake, extending for several kilometres in every direction. You could see pokemon swimming round lazily. The only man-made structure to be seen was a short wharf extending into the sparkling blue waters. Tanya dropped her bike to the ground, and walked out onto the wharf. She lowered down her net rod, and waited.
A few minutes later, she drew it up to see an unhappy Horsea. Tanya apologized, and sent it back. Very soon after, Tanya got a Staryu. She sighed, put down the net, and quickly changed into her swimming costume. She dived into the water.

It was like entering a whole new world, and you were wearing blue stained glasses. Tanya twisted and turned amongst the coral and lake life. She rose to take a breath, and dived deeper into the depths. Spotting some caves, she swam into them, and kicked up to the very top, where their was a thin layer of air. She took breath, and dived further into the cave system.

Ten or so caves later, she was becoming fustrated. She’d come for a Dratini, and she’d get one! But the Dratini didn’t seem to be co-operating. At one cave, she rose to find a murky mist, with several feet of air above her. She pushed herself up to sit on a rock, and fell backwards.
Ow! she told herself, as she hit the bottom. But that wasn’t the only pain Tanya felt, confronted by her attackers.
"Oy, Dratini! That hurts!" The pokemon kept it up, and Tanya angrily tossed a rock at it. A large one. It darted back, and foward to meet Tanya’s Ultra Ball. And, surprisingly, it was caught.