A/N: Hey everybody, in case you missed it, I am unable to take ANY more requests. However, if you've sent me a request for the story already, I can put it in the fanfic as long as you're ok with not getting any credit ._. But I could never ask anybody to do that. However, if you don't care, send me a message in my inbox that gives me your permission.

But anyways, I know this is late, but the point of the Rattata story was the fact that Rattata, Sentret, Zigzagoon, and Bidoof are so incredibly pointless to me. They're mainly for an easy addition to your team and to introduce Pokemon catching when you first start the game, but most people I know, just move on and leave them alone. So one day I thought... Hmmm... In a way, they're all rare. Since nobody really has them, or their evolutions, in their uber strong Garchomp/Tyranitar/Salamence party, it's rare to actually find them on somebody's team. Hence the Rattata story was born :P

Anyways, the inspiration from this story actually happened to me in Heartgold, and it reeeaally pissed me off! Hope you enjoy :P

P.S. For this chapter, I'm naming the character after my character in-game and I've decided to make all the characters in my stories named after the Pokemon Adventures characters or my in-game character, because coming up with names is reeeeaally wearing me down. When it comes to names I am not creative at all. When I have a kid, if it's my choice, it might be named Bob.

P.S.S. This was my actual team at that point in the game.

Ch. 8: Metronome, Why Have You Forsaken Me?

Bryce clenched the fist that wasn't holding his egg as the pokeball he just hurled wiggled, once, twice, then finally a third time before it stopped and the button in the middle blinked red and the sphere stood still. The boy tugged his hat down and grinned before thrusting his fist in the air in victory.

"Yes! I finally caught one!"

He leaned over and patted his Flaaffy on the head, getting a small static shock due to her ability. Bryce sucked on his finger as the sheep giggled at his misfortune.

"Oh yeah, that tends to stay in effect shortly after battle..."

He picked up the ball and grinned, despite the throbbing pain in his finger.

"Ah well, at least I've got you. I've been after you for a while."

He held out the ball with his free hand and let out his recently caught Pokemon. The ball's white flash shot out taking the form of a small dog.

"Grooooowl!"

The Growlithe howled, sitting on its haunches before looking between the two of them a bit confused. Bryce leaned over and patted the canine on its head, reveling in its warmth.

"Welcome to the team Growlithe!"

Bryce reached for the only occupied ball on his belt and released his third(technically fourth) Pokemon to meet the new addition.

"Bay!"

The affectionate grass type bounded out and rubbed her head against Growlithe's and the pup happily returned her affections with a lick on the neck. Bryce stood behind the three.

"This is Bayleef and Flaaffy."

The two Pokemon called their names greeting the fire type before Bryce laid his egg down by them.

"And this... Well, I don't know who this is."

Despite this, the Growlithe put a paw on the egg to greet the inaminate object anyway, and to the group's suprise, the egg started to shake. Growlithe jumped back as the egg shook from side to side, pieces from the top of its shell chipping off as the Pokemon inside struggled to greet the outside world. Bryce picked up the egg and looked at it in awe.

"It's hatching," Bryce said as white points poked out from the top of the egg and two white stubs shot out from the sides. Two black eyes blinked rapidly, its stubby arms reached up and rubbed its eyes as if waking from a long sleep. It looked Bryce in the eye and chirped happily.

"It seems we have another new teammate!"

Growlithe crouched down, flexing his haunches as he stared at the Raichu in front of him. He couldn't stand the smug grin on the rodent's face, but in a way, it deserved to gloat. It was really giving the hound a run for his money. Growlithe was panting heavily while the Pokefan's Raichu still stood confidently, towering over him with its paws on its hips as if the battle wasn't much to be reckoned with. Bryce noticed how badly the battle was going as well, frowning at the Raichu's trainer, whose confidence seemed to exude his Pokemon's. Togepi, however, seemed immune to everything that was going on and just chirped happily in his trainer's arms.

Bryce sighed, took a deep breath and pointed towards the electric mouse.

"Growlithe, use Flame Wheel!"

The hound's ears twitched as he heard his trainer's commands. He leaped into action, bounding towards the Raichu with a mouthful of flames. He tumbled forward into a cartwheel, surrounding its body with flames as the Flame Wheel spun towards the smug Raichu.

"Raichu, dodge and use Quick Attack!"

The Raichu showed a toothy grin and fell on all fours, hopping just a bit to the left, letting the Flame Wheel pass by, so close that Bryce thought it would hit its tail. As the flaming tire passed by, Raichu leaped quickly towards Growlithe, hitting the Flame Wheel directly in its side knocking the canine out of its own attack. Growlithe fell on his side, the bruise on his stomach revealing where the Quick Attack hit him.

"Growlithe! Can you still battle?"

Growlithe panted heavily, turning over so he was laying on his paws. Then slowly, he started to stand up, staggered for a moment as if he would fall, then nodded towards Bryce.

Bryce winced, this battle was absolutely brutal. In the beginning, Growlithe had managed to land a couple of hits, and it seemed like victory would be theirs, but a well-timed Thunderbolt completely destroyed their momentum, turning the battle in the mouse's favor. The brawl had become so one-sided, Bryce was tempted to return Togepi to its pokeball. A battle like this could traumatize it for life, but to his surprise, it was still chirping happily and waving its hands back and forth, back and forth, back and-

"Hey kid! I hate to tell you this, but maybe your dear Growlithe's had enough. As a Pokefan, I care for every Pokemon's well-being and my precious Raichu is wiping yours into the dirt!"

The cheery carefree way the Pokefan said all of this seemed to rub Bryce the wrong way, he glared at the trainer.

"I'll say when we've had enough!"

Bryce suddenly thrust his hand into his pocket, just remembering an item he got in Azalea Town for helping a couple of people catch their Farfetch'd. The long object started to crumble in his pocket, though he knew its mysterious properties would restore the bits it lost.

"Growlithe, catch!"

Bryce hurled the Charcoal towards the canine who warily looked up and caught the item between its teeth. He blinked and cocked his head at his trainer, a little confused about what he expected him to do.

"Just trust me. Now Growlithe, Flame Wheel, and keep that in your mouth!"

Growlithe nodded, glancing at his trainer a bit doubtfully. Somehow, he managed to find the energy to trot towards the Raichu. Once again, he filled his mouth with flames necessary for the attack and to his, the Pokefan's, and the Raichu's surprise, the flames practically exploded in his mouth once it made contact with the combustible fuel. Once he recovered from the surprise, Growlithe somersaulted towards Raichu, surrounding its body with the flames, creating a Flame Wheel two times the original size. Bryce grinned and looked down at Togepi to see if it was watching their triumphant comeback, but to his surprise, though it was still happily chirping, it was waving its hands back and forth, and back and forth. It was going so fast that the tips of its hands turned blue. Back and forth, and back and forth-

"Try all you li-ike! But my precious Raichu is still faster than your Growlithe! Now, Raichu, dodge that Flame Wheel and finish this with Thunderbolt!" The Pokefan called in his singsong accent.

Raichu crouched on all fours, an intense look in its eyes that obviously meant it intended to end the battle in one fell swoop, but Bryce was barely paying attention. Togepi's little hands were blurs now, just small trails of blue until finally, it pointed at Raichu with both hands and with a flash, the blue light disappeared. Bryce looked up and to his surprise, Raichu was surrounded by the same dim blue light, its body frozen in place. Its face, however, was full of terror, its eyes shifting rapidly back and forth as if trying to command its body to move with no avail. Growlithe's Flame Wheel slammed into Raichu face-first, and with no way to block, dodge, or even brace itself, the electric mouse went flying into the tall grass, still in its dodging pose, before it hit the ground. The dim blue light around its body disappeared, and Raichu's body slumped over, defeated.

Togepi chirped happily, looking up in the sky and skipping about in the flower garden that outlined the National Park, reaching for the Butterfree that fluttered over the flowers with its small stubby arms. Sitting on a bench watching it was Bryce sitting cross-legged with his chin in his hand. On the ground in front of him was Bayleef, Flaaffy, and Growlithe, all staring at Togepi with thoughtful expressions. The four pairs of eyes followed the young Pokemon as it skipped about, following the bugs as the flew from flower to flower. Finally, Bryce cleared his throat and the three older Pokemon looked up at him.

"Now, from what Growlithe and I have seen, it looked like Togepi used Disable."

Bayleef and Flaaffy nodded, but Growlithe let out a small yip and nodded its head towards the tree by the National Park exit. Bryce looked over, saw the charred remains of the tree and frowned. He told Togepi to do what it did during the Raichu/Growlithe battle, and though it waved its arms, a large human-shaped jet of flames emerged from its hands and obliterated the tree. He knew immediately that it was Fire Blast.

"Well, I guess it's not Disable after all..."

The quad went back to watching Togepi play, mulling over their thoughts. After five minutes, Bayleef's head suddenly perked up, she nudged her head against Bryce's leg.

"Bay!"

Bryce pushed Bayleef's head away,

"Not now Bayleef, I don't want to play."

Bayleef frowned and pushed more insistently against Bryce's leg.

"Bay!"

"Bayleef, not now!"

"Bay! Bayleef!"

Bayleef shoved hard against Bryce's leg and finally, a small red rectangular device fell out of his pocket. Bayleef walked over to it and held it up to her trainer with an annoyed look on her face.

"My pokedex!... Ohhh, you meant that you wanted me to-"

Bayleef huffed and turned her back to Bryce who shrugged and scanned Togepi.

"Ok, lets see, Togepi knows Growl, Charm, Extrasensory, and Metronome... Growl and Charm are basic moves, and I've seen a Noctowl use Extrasensory... But what's Metronome?"

Bryce typed the move into his pokedex.

Metronome, an attack that randomly selects a move and fully executes the attack.

Bryce blinked,

"It can reproduce any attack?"

The pokedex blinked, picking up Bryce's voice.

Metronome can not reproduce the following attacks: Assist, Chatter, Copycat, Counter, Covet, Destiny Bond, Detect, Endure, Fei-

Bryce pressed a button on the Pokedex, putting it in sleep mode.

"Yeah, yeah, I don't need to know all that."

Bryce looked over at Togepi who had somehow made its way over to the fountain and was leaning over the stone edge to look at its reflection.

"Hmmm... If Togepi's learned a new attack, maybe it's time to train it."

Bryce pumped his fist happily. By his side was Bayleef, Flaaffy, and Growlithe who all stared at Togepi in awe. Togepi was dancing around, the usual scene, but rather unusually was what was in front of it. A worn-out wild Caterpie who was wet from Hydro Pump, bruised from Focus Punch, and motionless due to the Spikes surrounding it. Ever since Bryce discovered Togepi's new attack, he had been using it like crazy, knocking out Pokemon after Pokemon, and now they were about to finish off a last one before they would leave National Park to Ecruteak.

"Now Togepi, use Metro-"

"Wait!"

Bryce started, turning around to find a girl and her Persian running towards him.

"Your Togepi's incredible! I've been watching you two all day and that move, Metronome, is astounding!"

Bryce grinned, but the girl wasn't finished yet.

"I'd like it to have this!"

The girl reached out and handed Bryce a smooth white claw.

"It's a Quick Claw, it allows the user to move faster than its opponent every now and again."

He nodded and walked over to Togepi, handing it to the the Pokemon.

"Here Togepi," Togepi took it gratefully and Bryce took his original position behind it. "Now use Metronome!"

Togepi gripped the claw tightly in one hand, and started waving both back and forth and back and forth. Bryce started to notice that its arms were moving faster than usual and with a smile, he realized it was because of the Quick Claw. In no time at all, its arms were blue blurs. Bryce nudged the girl next to him.

"Watch this," he said with a wink as Togepi's hands flashed. But to his surprise, it didn't point at Caterpie, and no attack came out. Instead, Togepi leaned, reared back the Quick Claw, and threw it at Caterpie. The bug Pokemon's eyes widened as the item bonked it on the head and flew off somewhere in the grass. Bryce stared wide-eyed, mouth agape. He looked at Togepi, then at Caterpie, then to the girl, while opening and closing his mouth as if trying to form the words to express how he felt.

"How-? Why-? What the-?"

The girl looked just as equally dismayed, bouncing up and down from leg to leg.

"That was Fling! Togepi used my valuable Quick Claw as an attack! We have to get it!"

Caterpie, who seemed to realize just how important the item was, looked at Togepi, then at Bryce. It gave them a "screw this" look and shot a String Shot somewhere into the grass, somehow snagging the Quick Claw, and with the new-found speed boost, avoided the Spikes and dashed off.

"C'mon, we have to get it!" the girl insisted urgently, and immediately, the girl, Bryce, and all of his Pokemon ran off to catch the Caterpie. Well, all of his Pokemon except one.

"Toge?"

AN: Well, I hope you liked this one. Please review and tell me what you think!