The Gold and Silver Islands
by Frosterfree
    Ri’s Nidoran licked her in the face.  “Are you sure you have to go now?”
    “Yes dear.  But we will make sure we call you as much as possible.”
    “O ok…”  She gave her dad a big hug and then her mom.  She held back her tears.  Inside, she wanted the just be with them, but she knew that her path was not in that direction.  “Goodbye,” she said as they left.
    Billy’s parents were saying their goodbyes too.  “Son, I’d just like to tell you that, I’m, I’m proud of you.  You are happy doing this and that’s what you should be doing.  I’m sure you’ll be a fine trainer.  Good luck son.  Send us letters and pictures of your battles.”
    “You aren’t staying?”
    “No, we can’t.  Your mother and I must work so we can make money.  You do want to have a house to come home to right?  But don’t worry, we will keep in touch all the time.”
    “Thank you.”  Billy gave his parents a hug and they joined Ri’s as they left.  Billy’s Pichu cooed and leapt into his arms.  “Pi!”
    “Hahaha, awww, you are such a cute pokémon.”
    Ri was looking at the necklace charm she got.  She stared at it very close and she could have sworn she could see different water pokémon appear in it.  “Oh, that’s neat.”  Her two pokémon sat beside her.  “Billy, what are you going to do with those new pokégear things you got?”
    “I guess I should raise my pokémon so they can beat Brock.”
    “Hmm, guess so.”
    “Attention!  Attention!!  Step right up people and win a fabulous vacation to the Tropical Golden Islands!”
    “No no, don’t listen to that guy, his contest is rigged.  Besides, wouldn’t you two rather go to the Romantic Silver Shores?”
    “Huh?!?”  Both Ri and Billy were confused.
    “Hey, they want to go to the Golden Islands.”
    “No, silver.”
    “Gold.”
    “Silver.”
    “GOLD!”
    “SILVER!”
    “Bronze!”
    “Bronze???”
    “Oh, I thought we were shouting out metals.  You know…”  Billy turned red with embarrassment.
    “Hahaha, that’s a funny one kid.”
    “Hey, you both look like you could use a nice vacation.  It’s not gonna be great weather here, lots of blizzards on the way.  I’d like to let you go to the Golden Islands for free.”
    “Hey, and while you’re at it, you can visit the Silver Shores.  They are right next to the Golden Islands.”
    “Cool, thanks!”
    “Just head right out this way.”  A charter bus was waiting outside.  Some people were already on it.  “Oh, I forgot to mention, on the Golden Islands, they are having their annual breeders contest soon.  My wife really enjoys it and says you can really learn a lot about pokémon by going to them.  Well, you both have fun now.”
    “Did you hear that?  A breeder contest.”  Ri’s eyes lit up as if they were diamonds being touched by the sun.
    “Cool, are you going to enter it?”
    “I don’t know.  I’m not really that good…”
    “Sure you are Ri.  Hey, you’re the best pokémon breeder I know.”
    “But I’m the only pokémon breeder you know…”
    “Well, no, not true, I know Brock.  He’s a breeder right?”
    “But he’s way better than me…”
    “Aww, cheer up.  I think you should do it.  I bet you would do just as good as the others.”
    Ri nodded.  They got on the bus and it departed for Flowdove City, which is just east of Pewter on the ocean.  When the bus came to a stop at the pokémon center, everyone got off.
    “All passengers headed for the Gold and Silver Islands should first check in at the pokémon center.  The cruise ship will be boarding shortly.”
    “Oh wow!  We get to ride on a cruise ship!  This is so awesome Ri!”
    “Yeah!  C’mon, let’s get checked in!”
    “Here are your boarding tickets.  The ship will be leaving in 10 minutes so please head over there right away.”  Ri and Billy took their tickets and headed towards the beautiful cruise ship.
    “Wow, I’ve never seen such a nice ship before.”
    “Me neither.”
    “Let’s get on.”  Billy held Nidoran in his arms while Pichu stood on his shoulder.  Ri’s pokémon, Aqua and Julie were cuddled together in her arms.  They boarded the ship.
    “Welcome aboard the S.S. Dove, the finest ship to sail the seas.  Right this way, the attendant will show you to your quarters.  You are very lucky to have won that contest.  You both have one of the finest rooms on the ship.”
    “Cool,” Ri said.
    “Did we actually win that contest or did those two guys just give us those tickets,” Billy whispered to Ri.
    “What was that,” the ticket collector asked.
    “Huh, nothing, private conversation,” Billy said tugging Ri away.
    “Oh, my mistake.  Enjoy your voyage.”
    “Uh huh uh huh, bye!”  They followed the attendant to their suite in first class.
    “Here we are.”  Ri and Billy were speechless.  Their room was so elegant.  The walls looked as if they were lined with gold and the furniture looked as if it had never even been touched.
    “Are you sure this is our room?”
    “Yep.  Heh, you kids are really lucky, I wish I got to stay in here one time.  Well, I’ll leave you two to unpack and get comfortable.  Please be sure to attend the dinner tonight in the main hall.  There are many other pokémon trainers onboard so I’m sure you’ll fit in nicely.  Good day.”  He tipped his cap and went back to the front to greet more passengers.
    “Ri, this is too awesome!  First, we get to go to the tropical islands.  And even before that, we get to go there on a cool ship filled with pokémon trainers.”
    “Yeah.  Boy, I bet our parents wish they stayed now.”  Ri laughed for a sec.
    “Yep.  They don’t know what they’re missing out on.  But having parents around all the time isn’t fun.  They’d get in the way of our having fun.”
    “Yeah, you’re right.”  Their pokémon made themselves comfortable on the little pokébeds that were placed on the floor already.  “Aww, that’s so cute.”  The two Nidorans were sleeping next to each other while Pichu and Aqua slept together.  “I guess we should let them rest.  It’s been a long day and they are probably worn out from the excitement.  But I’m not!”
    “That’s good.  Where should we go first?”
    “Didn’t the attendant say this boat was filled with pokémon trainers?  I bet since on the Gold Islands they are having that breeders contest, there must be some pokémon breeders onboard too.”
    “Yeah, maybe you can exchange breeding tips.  Let’s go to the main room.  That’s where the action is according to this.”
    “What is that?”
    “It’s a list of events.  Tonight, they are having a pokémon show with all different types of pokémon on display.”
    “That sounds interesting.  When does it start?”
    “After dinner.  I bet people are down there now though.”
    “Well, what are we waiting for, let’s go.”

    As our two young friends head down to the main deck, we anxiously await seeing what adventures they will have, before they reach the Golden Islands.  Find out next time!
The Adventure Continues…