Bugsy

My next order of business was to head to Azelea Town to face the next Gym Leader, Bugsy.

Along the way, I came across a research site called The Ruins of Alph.

The Ruins of Alph are one of the mysteries of the World of Pokemon.

The name is one of the biggest mysteries. 

What is Alph?

Is it short for Alpha? Is it the remnants of what they were going to do while the game was still in Alpha?

Maybe it's short for Alphabet, since all the Pokemon there look like letters.

Whatever it is, they have been investigating it for 10 years...

...and they still have no idea what it is.

Do you know how to unlock the secrets of the ruins?

You have to complete this 16 piece puzzle.

You, my friends, are talking to the 11-year-old boy who unlocked the secrets!

Well, I discovered at least one secret, there are ancient Pokemon.

This  means they were not created as a result of recent nuclear war.

So, I then went and saved Bugsy's entire city from the clutches of the evil band of thieves, Team Rocket. That was rather easy.

I then wandered around and fought some wild Pokemon to train for my battle with Bugsy.

After a while of training, I had this sobering, guilty realization:

If I knock a wild Pokemon unconscious,

who takes it to the Pokemon Center?

Does it die?

Anyways, trained up, beat Bugsy.

I may have forgotten I chose Cyndaquil.

The bugs were easy.

Upon leaving the city, I ran into my rival.

Hopefully you people enjoy my Star Trek humor.

I've learned that one of the things I missed out on, and never even thought about in the past was naming. When I played through Pokemon as a child, I named my character after me, my rival Gary, and gave no nicknames to any of my Pokemon. I figured I wouldn't miss out on it this time.

Anyways, every game has a rival who you fight several times throughout the course of the game. He's generally at least one step ahead of you in everything and loves to make you feel like crap. 

In this one, he's a long-red-haired thief who apparently hates all that is weak. Apparently he is also a hater of Team Rocket.

He said that team rocket is strong, but if you take them on one-by-one, they are weak.

Seeing as the desire to fight apparently renders people immobile in this universe, it's actually really easy to take on Team Rocket one-by-one.

So, I defeated my rival, and went on my merry way.