Kurt sort of fell down the well a little too hard. So much for those heroic jumps you always see on TV. Nah, his back is killing him after that, so you have to go it alone and show these Rocket Grunts who's boss. No one messes with Slowpokes on Kurt's watch!

Make your way into the next room and then head forward to fight against the first of the few Rocket Grunts down here. Also, take note of how AMAZING their music is now! Er, ahem, sorry, it's one of my favorites. Always has been.

One of the Slowpokes has mail attached to it. It's probably something pretty horrible to read and horrible to think of the poor Slowpoke down there with it, but oh well. After fighting those three Grunts, you'll need to take on the big one to save these Slowpokes - Rans (Lance).

They really made this fight like a million times cooler than it ever was, revamping the music ever so slightly to make it even more dramatic. He's not overly difficult, but that Koffing of his can be a pain.

After beating him, he'll run off and leave you with the Slowpokes. Kurt then shows up, just a minute too late to actually do something useful for you (other than move that first Grunt out of your way), but at least he takes you out of the well and back to his house afterwards.

Back in Kurt's House, he'll talk about the Rockets and how they were defeated by a Trainer named Red three years ago, but it looks like they're back again. Uh oh! Oh well, you'll have to deal with it later. For now, you've done your part, and for it, he gives you the Fast Ball, which is a Poke Ball not seen since the original Gold and Silver that has a higher catch rate for Pokemon that flee from battles. Cool. He'll also make you custom Poke Balls for your Apricorns you've been picking up, though the kind he makes vary based on the color of Apricorn you give him, and it'll take him a day to make them.

What kind of Poke Balls will Kurt make for you? Here's a list!

• Red Apricorn -> Level Ball (higher catch rate if the active Pokemon is at a higher level than the wild Pokemon)
• Blue Apricorn -> Lure Ball (increased catch rate for Pokemon caught with Fishing Rods)
• Yellow Apricorn -> Moon Ball (increased catch rate if the Pokemon caught evolves by a Moon Stone)
• Green Apricorn -> Friend Ball (same catch rate as a Poke Ball, but Pokemon caught with it have a very high happiness rating by default)
• White Apricorn -> Fast Ball (increased catch rate if the wild Pokemon is capable of fleeing from the fight)
• Black Apricorn -> Heavy Ball (higher catch rate based on the weight of the wild Pokemon)
• Pink Apricorn -> Love Ball (much higher catch rate if the wild Pokemon is of opposite gender as the active Pokemon)

Some of these are kind of useful, like the Friend Ball and the Love Ball. The Level Ball can be nice sometimes, too, particularly if you're using a level 100 Pokemon and trying to catch things at level 25 or less. But it's a lot of hassle to get them, so just do it when you have the time.

He'll offer to make you some custom Poke Balls right on the spot, and he can make a few of them at a time, I think, but just of one kind.

After giving him some Apricorns, his granddaughter or daughter or whoever will give you his phone number for your Pokegear. I'm guessing he'll call you when they're done. Nice.

Now you need to heal up your Pokemon and go get your second Gym Badge! But before you do that, if you head off to the west, Rival will ambush you and challenge you to a battle! Don't go over that way if you don't want to fight him; he's pretty tough and you might want that second Gym Badge before you take him on, but if you're feeling gutsy, go for it! (Otherwise you'll just have to take him on afterwards.)

After beating Rival, he'll whine, call you weak, call himself weak, and call Team Rocket weak. Well I agree with two of those. Actually he's pretty tough; level 18 Pokemon are nothing to sneeze at at this point in the game. You might want to hold off fighting him until after your Gym battle if he's giving you problems.

Alright, NOW go get your second Gym Badge! (Or save Rival for later.)