\n I'm back people and I've got a new chapter for you. I don't really have much to say now cuz I expressed myself in my latest journal entry. That was one hell of a week in Ohio. Anyway, just cuz I went on a vacation from home doesn't mean anything's changed. Comments and Votes are still welcome with open arms and are very much appreciated. So, get to reading and I'll be catching up with all the uploads I missed during my week with no internet with some tunes. d(^-^)b *me listening to my tunes*

\n  

\n **********8**********

\n "Well, the day's finally here," Chris said as he adjusted his new backpack with a look of excitement in his eyes. Inside that backpack contained everything he needed to start his journey clothes, personal hygiene things for himself and Tora, a small pot for cooking, along with a few cooking utensils, a water bottle, instant noodles, a tent, three potions, and a first-aid kit. His sleeping bag was strapped securely on top. Everything was given to him by his parents in preparation for the day he starts his journey. It was a miracle everything fit in that bag. Chris was sure he was going to have a hard time carrying all that stuff, but his dad reassured him that he'll eventually get used to it. He was even given new clothes to wear. He has on a pair of dark beige cargo pants with a red shirt, black shoes, and fingerless gloves. He had his brand new trainers' card in his right pocket and a badge case in one of his bigger pockets.

\n  

\n As far as earning money to pay for supplies, he was told that a lot of places hire trainers to do odd-jobs until they left town. The pay isn't the best, but having some money is better than having no money. Along his belt sat two pokéballs; Tora's and Lani's. It was sort of weird for Chris to have Tora's ball on his belt, seeing as he rarely uses it, but it would come in handy if she were to get in some real trouble. Lani decided to stay in her ball for most of the day. Why? It was because she shed her skin earlier that morning and her scales were too sensitive for her to slither around without causing pain to herself. That was no problem for him; he just wishes that she would've told him before his mom found a pile of dead skin under the kitchen table.  Let's just say that neither of them will forget that experience.

\n Next to him was his partner and lifetime friend, Tora, who was equally excited. The pair stood in front of the Viridian Forest, more specifically the path that trainers, or anyone else, usually take if they were going to Pewter City. "I thought this day couldn't get here fast enough," she said looking up at him. "Tell me again why you wanted those gloves."

\n  

\n "I told you. Fingerless gloves are cool and it only makes sense for me to have them cuz I'm awesome!" Tora sighed at his simple logic, but she had to admit that he had a point. Fingerless gloves are cool. "Besides, if I remember correctly, you weren't so ready to leave just yet because you didn't want to leave your new boyfriend," he teased. Tora instantly blushed and looked away from him. True, it had been an enjoyable last week at home with Aaron around. He's stopped by to see her everyday and has taken her someplace special every time. Just the other night, he took her near the top of Mt. Moon for a night all to themselves. It was really romantic with how breathtaking the moon looked from up there and dinner, even though it consisted mainly of berries, was still nice. She offered for him to travel along, but he refused, saying that he didn't want to be a distraction. He did, however, promise to take her out once a week to "keep their romance alive". The idea made her feel embarrassed and excited at the same time.

\n  

\n "Well, I did have a nice week with him. I just feel bad that I'll have to leave him so soon."

\n  

\n "But you'll get to see him every week, which is more than I can say for our parents."

\n  

\n "You could always call," Tora pointed out.

\n  

\n "True, though it's a shame we don't have one of those videophones. Oh well, can't have everything. Let's get going." And with that, the two set off toward Pewter City, where they will earn their first badge.

\n
\n *****8*****

\n
\n After nearly three hours of walking through the forest, the duo was getting tired. For Chris, it was mostly due to the added weight of his backpack. For Tora, it was simply the amount of time they've been walking. It wasn't the most direct route, but it was the fastest way and protected them from most of the harsh rays of the scorching sun. 

\n  

\n "Can we take a break now?" Tora whined, wanting to have stopped fifteen minutes ago.

\n  

\n "Alright, let's break here," Chris said on the verge of collapsing himself. He unceremoniously tossed his bag against a tree and slumped down next to it. He watched as Tora approached him and simply fell on his lap, for it was way better than the ground. He couldn't help but chuckle at her act and rub her head just the way she liked it. She let out a heavy sigh and got a little more comfortable. "I'm not the only one who's thirsty, right?"

\n  

\n "Nope."

\n  

\n "Thought so." Chris grabbed the water bottle and took a couple big gulps. Once he was done, he gave some to his partner. "We need to find a source of water before this thing and the day is up. We're not dying of dehydration today and I wanted to make some soup for dinner tonight." 

\n  

\n "I'm sure there's a river somewhere up ahead. Speaking of food," she said sniffing the air. "You smell that?"

\n  

\n "No, what is it?" he asked.

\n  

\n "Smells like... Oran berries."

\n  

\n "If it's food you smell, let's hurry up and go get it." With only hunger to drive them forward, Chris followed Tora's nose to the source of food. Their destination didn't take vey long to reach and it seems like they've found someone else's campsite.

\n  

\n "Uh, can I help you?" asked the girl who was pouring herself some of whatever was in the pot. She wore blue shorts that came down mid-thigh and a white shirt with a picture of a jigglypuff on it. Her black hair reached the middle of her back and was tied up in a ponytail. She seems to be around Chris' age, since she was his height and her womanly features aren't outrageously noticeable. She eyed the pair suspiciously, seeing that they came out of nowhere. Chris held up his hands defensively.

\n  

\n "Sorry, it's just that Tora smelled food and we came looking for some. We didn't know it was your cooking that she smelled."

\n  

\n "Tora? You mean your raichu?" Chris nodded. "Well, if you guys are hungry, you're welcome to join me. I still have plenty left."

\n  

\n "That's okay. We wouldn't want to put you through any trouble."

\n  

\n "Nonsense, since you came all this way, it would be rude of me to send you away hungry." She walked over to Chris and extended her hand. "The name's Alice. What's your name?"

\n  

\n "I'm Chris," he responded as he shook her hand. "And this is my partner, Tora." Tora extended her paw as well and Alice gladly shook it.

\n  

\n "Now that the introductions are over, grab a bowl and help yourselves." Chris and Tora joined Alice for lunch over a bowl of Oran berry stew. The food was delicious and neither could help wanting seconds. After eating, Chris and Tora sighed in contempt at having full bellies.

\n  

\n "Man that was good. Thanks for having us," Chris said gratefully. Tora said her thanks as well.

\n  

\n "It was my pleasure." Alice replied. "It's nice to have company every now and then. It gets kind of lonely traveling alone."

\n  

\n "I meant to ask you, but where are you going anyway?"

\n  

\n "That's none of your business, but I will tell you... after you have a battle with me!" Alice pulled a pokéball from her belt and held in front of her in a challenging way. Chris and Tora were both surprised at the sudden challenge. "What? You thought you could get a free meal and just walk away? Come on, it's only fair that you battle me after I fed you and your pokémon."

\n  

\n "You feel like battling?" Chris asked Tora

\n  

\n "Sure, I could go for some exercise," the raichu said excitedly as she got on her feet. Chris grinned and stood up as well.

\n  

\n "We accept your challenge." The two trainers distanced themselves and got ready for the battle. Chris thought that it was a good thing that the forest provided them enough room to do this. He then wondered what kind of pokémon they were going to be battling. He noticed that Alice seemed really confident.

\n  

\n "Get ready to lose! Let's go, Fang!" she yelled as she released her pokémon. Once the light faded, they saw a small, purple, bat-like creature sitting on its tail with its tongue hanging out. It had large claws and wings under its arms that attached to its body like a flying squirrel. It also looked like a cross between a scorpion and a bat. "I hope you're ready for a beating because my gligar is tough."

\n  

\n "We're not the ones that's gonna be losing," Chris replied just as confidently. He knew that Tora was at a slight disadvantage with gligar being part ground type, but he was confident in her ability to win this. "Let's start things off with Quick attack." Tora got on all fours and ran as fast as she could to her target.

\n  

\n "Sand attack, Fang!" The gligar quickly hopped off his tail and scooped some sand from the ground with his claws. The Tora came to a halt and rubbed her eyes as they were irritatingly assaulted by the sand. "Now, Fury cutter!" Using his tail like a sort of spring, Fang rushed Tora with glowing claws and speed. He punched the blinded chu in the face and sent her rolling back to where she started.

\n  

\n "You okay?" Chris asked.

\n  

\n "I have dirt in my eyes and got punched by a bat. How do you think I feel?" She grunted as she stood back up, now rubbing her sore cheek. Her eyes watered slightly from the irritation the sand caused.

\n  

\n "Ready to try again?"

\n  

\n "You bet! It'll take a lot more than that to take me out!"

\n  

\n "Use quick attack one more time." Tora rushed her opponent again.

\n  

\n "Take to the skies, Fang!" Alice commanded. Using his tail again, the gligar bounced very high in the air. Once high enough, Fang leveled off and started flying in big circles. "Fury cutter!" Fang circled one more time before diving toward Tora with glowing claws. Chris knew exactly what to do, as did the chu. They've seen how flying types battle. They usually fly, more or less, in a straight line when attacking and it seemed true for this gligar as well. That only makes their next move easier.

\n  

\n "Iron tail!" Tora dashed toward the gligar with her glowing tail. It was at the last moment, when Fang was fifteen feet away, did she leap into the air. She jumped over the purple bat and twisted her body to whip her tail around for maximum damage. Neither the gligar or Alice was expecting this, but it was too late to try and counter her attack. A very loud SMACK sounded as she hit the bat on top of his head. The bat went straight into the ground. Fang struggled to get back up, but was on shaky legs. As soon as he did, Tora followed up with a Quick attack and sent him flying back to his trainer. Chris and Alice knew that hit was especially hard and it was going to be a one-sided battle from here. 

\n  

\n "Okay, you win. I give up," Alice said as she ran over to check on her injured pokémon. Tora went back over to Chris, who knelt down and rubbed her head just how she liked it. Fang was disoriented, but he would recover after a bit of rest. She recalled him into his pokéball. "Wow, I didn't expect your raichu to be so strong, since she didn't use any of her electrical attacks."

\n  

\n "Thanks, your gligar wasn't so bad either. We've been training hard this past month, so it's good to see our efforts pay off." Chris replied. "You were awesome, Tora."

\n  

\n "I'll say. By the way, where are you headed? You can't be all the way out here just for a stroll."

\n  

\n "We're on our way to Pewter City to challenge the gym."

\n  

\n "What a coincidence! I'm going to be passing through there myself. How about we travel together, since we're going to the same place?" The sudden proposal caught him off-guard. The thought of having a traveling companion never crossed his mind... Well, another human companion, and a girl at that. On one hand, he'd have one more person to talk to and help with the cooking. On the other hand, she's one more person to feed with who knows how many pokémon, and he'd have to deal with Tora's jealousy toward other girls his age who get too friendly with him. He still doesn't know why she's gets like that. Then again, he could always calm her down if she gets too hostile, not that it's ever gotten that far before.

\n  

\n "I guess that's okay."

\n  

\n "Great! I'll pack my stuff right away!" she said excitedly as she went to get ready to leave. Even without looking, he could tell that Tora was giving him 'that look'.

\n  

\n "She's just coming along with us."

\n  

\n "Uh huh, sure," Tora said seemingly unconvinced.

\n  

\n "You know we just met, right? You'll always be my number-one girl."

\n  

\n "Always?"

\n  

\n "Of course; my silly chu." He hugged her and kissed her head, to which she giggled and hugged him back. After a few minutes, Alice was all packed and the group headed out to Pewter City.

\n  

\n *****8*****

\n  

\n As they walked, Chris and Alice chatted about things to get a little familiar with each other. It turns out that Alice was going to compete in the pokémon league as well and already has three badges under her belt. Needless to say, Chris was impressed, but what surprised him more was that one of her badges wasn't from any of the major cities in Kanto. She got it from Auburn Town, which was somewhere between Cerulean and Saffron City. The leaders' name is Sora and he uses flying type pokémon. Apparently, there are other gyms besides the main eight that are recognized and funded by the League.

\n  

\n There were also two new gyms in Saffron City. The fighting dojo there is officially a gym specializing in, what else, fighting types and a gym specializing in dark types opened up not too far from it. Now trainers have the option of choosing one of the three gyms there to get their badge. Hearing this got both Chris and Tora really excited. To them, more gyms meant more opportunities to test their skills. Chris was already giving a pep talk and talking of strategies, while Tora was listening and getting pumped up in their excitement. Alice couldn't help but giggle at the two. "You guys are really close, huh?" she asked.

\n  

\n "Yeah," Chris replied. "I've had her since she was an egg. She's my best friend in the whole world."

\n  

\n "I see. Is that why you don't keep her in a pokéball?"

\n  

\n "She doesn't really like it in there. Besides, I've never kept her in her ball and it wouldn't be the same if she wasn't out here with me. Why don't you have any of your pokémon out?" Alice threw her arms behind her head in thought.

\n  

\n "I don't know. I've never really thought about it before. I mean, I'm not as close to them like you are with yours, but they're like family to me and... Hey look, a cubone!" The trio halted as they came across a lone cubone walking around.

\n  

\n "I didn't know that there were any cubone around here." It was true; cubone aren't usually found in forests. They usually reside in the more rocky regions, like somewhere around Mt. Moon.

\n  

\n "Maybe it's lost?" Alice suggested.

\n  

\n "I don't know. I don't think anyone could actually walk from their home in the mountains and end up completely lost in a forest."

\n  

\n "Stranger things have happened," Tora commented, hinting a bit toward recent events.

\n  

\n "True, but this is sort of strange."

\n  

\n "I... didn't say anything," Alice said a bit confused as to what he was agreeing to.

\n  

\n "I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to Tora."

\n  

\n "Huh?" Chris noticed her confusion and realized that he hadn't told her that he could understand Tora and other pokémon.

\n  

\n "Oh, right. I can understand pokémon," he said nonchalantly.

\n  

\n "You can what?" Chris knew he'd have to do some explaining to her while keeping the fact they know Aaron and the Lake Guardians from her. He couldn't trust her with that information and was pretty sure that he shouldn't go around telling everybody that he personally knows legendary pokémon. So, while he was busy with her, Tora decided to go talk to the cubone. It wasn't like she had anything better to do. She casually walked up to it, but before she even got ten feet from it, it quickly turned to face her and pointed its bone at her.

\n  

\n "Hold it right there!" he shouted. "Who are you?"

\n  

\n "I'm Tora. I'm not gonna hurt you so-"

\n  

\n "You, hurt me? Ha!" he scoffed as he expertly twirled his bone. "There's no way that you can hurt the greatness that is me!"

\n  

\n "Huh?"

\n  

\n "Listen up and listen up good!"  He pointed his bone at her again. "You see, I'm not like all these other pokémon around. I'm better than them. In fact, I'm the greatest. My birth is a gift to this world, for without me; there will be no one to look up to."

\n  

\n "Uh, who are you exactly?" Tora asked, a bit amused and confused by his self-worship.

\n  

\n "I'm surprised you don't know who I am. It must be because the awesomeness of my presence has somehow messed with your memory." At this point, Tora could've fallen over in laughter at how serious this cubone was, but she really wanted to see where this was going. "No matter, I will remind you. I am the greatest warrior who has ever and will ever live. I am the one who will send the so-called legendary pokémon running with their tails between their legs once they see my incredible power. I am the one who will surpass the almighty Arceus. I am Jari, named after my father, the only other warrior who shares the same greatness as I do. He says the best names in the world can be split evenly in two so that they have two meanings."

\n  

\n "Are you serious?"

\n  

\n "Of course I am. My name means Justly Awesome and Really Incredible. That's how great I am. You say your name is Tora? That's a good even numbered name, though not as good as mine. Just from looking at you I can already tell what your name means."

\n  

\n "Oh yeah? What does my name mean?"

\n  

\n "Totally Overweight and Really Average. See? Not as great as mine."

\n  

\n "What?!" she exclaimed. "Did you just call me fat?!"

\n  

\n "Clean your ears. I said you were overweight, not fat."

\n  

\n "It's the same thing!" Of all the things he could've called her, fat, or anything along those lines, shouldn't be one of them. It was obvious that she was sensitive about her weight, since being a raichu makes her look a bit... rounded. All her shouting caught the attention of the two trainers behind her.

\n  

\n "Hey, you okay?" Chris asked.

\n  

\n "This jerk called me fat!"

\n  

\n "Oh boy," he sighed.

\n  

\n "What'd she say?" Alice asked.

\n  

\n "The cubone called her fat." Alice looked at the raichu and studied her for a bit.

\n  

\n "Well, raichu's are kinda-"

\n  

\n "Aaaahhh, don't say that. She's sensitive about her weight." He looked over to the cubone, who seemed unfazed by Tora's anger. "Look buddy, there's no need for name-calling and-"

\n  

\n "Name-calling?" Jari interrupted. "I'm just calling it like I see it. What's your name anyway?"

\n  

\n  "It's Chris."

\n  

\n "That's such a lame name. What a minute. You can hear what I'm saying? I guess that makes up for you having an odd numbered name."

\n  

\n "Say what?"

\n  

\n "This is what I had to deal with," Tora commented.

\n  

\n "Humans don't understand pokémon," Jari continued. "But you do. That means you're special. Hey, you think you're better than me, don't you?!" He twirled his bone and pointed it at Chris. "You're 50 years too early to even share the same spotlight with me!"

\n  

\n "I thought cubone were supposed to be... Antisocial," Chris mumbled.

\n  

\n "I challenge you to a fight to see whose better! Get ready!" 

\n  

\n Before Chris could even think of a response, the cubone made a dash at him with his bone ready to strike. Tora however, was already fired up and used her Iron tail to block the attack. "You want in on this too? Fine, just know you'll be in a world of hurt." Jari jumped back and got into a battle pose. Tora got down on all fours and kept her Iron tail at the ready. Alice, who was the only one left out, was confused as to how things went from an exchange of words to a battle so quickly. "If that's all you got, then this battle is already won!" Jari then threw his bone at her, to which Tora dodged with ease. She ran at the small dinosaur ready to attack her now unarmed opponent.

\n  

\n "Tora, look out!" Chris yelled. Tora looked behind her to see that the bone was coming right at her. Unfortunately, she noticed too late as the bone smacked her across her head and went back to Jari. Stars filled her vision momentarily as she fell to the ground. "Tora, come back! You're at a real disadvantage here and you already battled today." Of course she didn't want to give up and give the cubone something to brag about later, but that last hit really hurt. She slowly got up and went over to Chris.

\n  

\n "Where do you think you're going? Did you decide to give up?"

\n  

\n "Don't think this is over," she growled.

\n  

\n "Alice, get the potion out of my bag and treat her wounds," Chris instructed. Alice nodded and did as she was told. Chris turned back to the cubone, who was twirling his bone again, as he reached for Lani's ball. "Show this guy what you're made of, Lani," he said as he tossed her ball. The dragon materialized and took a look at her surroundings, then at the brown dinosaur.

\n  

\n "I gotta fight this guy?"

\n  

\n "That's right, cutie. You get to fight with awesomeness," Jari said. The dragon looked a bit puzzled at being called "cutie" by a complete stranger, who was obviously either way too confident in his abilities, or really self-absorbed.

\n  

\n "Take him down a couple notches," Chris said. She nodded to him before turning back to her opponent and vanishing from his sight. Jari was momentarily surprised by this and didn't have long to think about it before getting tackled hard on his right. He tumbled a couple feet and looked around for the dragon. He spotted her where he was just standing and got back up.

\n  

\n "A lucky shot. You won't surprise me this time." He skillfully threw his bone at the dragon. Lani easily ducked it and started up her twister. It didn't take long for the small whirlwind to turn into a violent miniature tornado. As expected, Jari's thrown weapon was on its return trip. What was not expected was the bone getting caught in Lani's twister. The weapon was thrown wildly in the vortex before it was launched at an impressive speed toward Jari. The cubone managed to roll out the way of his own weapon before it soared passed him and was embedded in a tree. "That was close," he thought. He was thankful he didn't pat too much attention because he had to jump out the way of a twister-covered dragon. Lani didn't give him time to recover and attacked again. The cubone was kept on his toes as she attacked two more times before stopping her assault. Lani smirked at how easy this fight was.

\n  

\n "I thought I was fighting awesomeness, but all I'm seeing is a chump," she taunted.

\n  

\n "A chump?!" Jari shouted. "You have no idea who you're messing with!" He looked around and found the tree with his weapon in it. He ran over and pulled it out with minimal effort. "I'll be back!" Jari ran off into the bushes.

\n  

\n "Running away?"

\n  

\n "Tactical retreat!" he shouted back. Lani continued to smile proudly as she made her way back to the others.

\n  

\n "Thanks, Lani. You were amazing," Chris said with a smile.

\n  

\n "That guy was no trouble. He was more talk than anything."

\n  

\n "Sorry for sending you out without seeing if your scales were still sensitive."

\n  

\n "It's alright. The ones on my belly and most of my lower half have hardened already."

\n  

\n "That's good. Wanna go back in your ball?"

\n  

\n "Yeah, I need a little more time before I'm ready to travel outside with you and... Who's that?" she asked looking over at the girl next to Tora.

\n  

\n "She's Alice. She wanted to travel with us since we're going to the same place," he replied.

\n  

\n "Oh. Well, let me out when dinner's ready and don't get any naughty ideas about her."

\n  

\n "Trust me, I won't." Chris pulled out her ball and returned her. He then went over to check on Tora. He looked her over and, other than a little bump on her head, she was fine. He was glad that they managed to get out of that weird situation, but was curious as to what that cubone was doing so far from his natural environment.

\n  

\n "You have a shiny dratini?!" Alice exclaimed.

\n  

\n "Huh? Oh, yeah. She's Lani. I got her about a month ago."

\n  

\n "Where did you find her? Just finding normal-colored ones are rare, but a pink one around here?"

\n  

\n "I'll tell you while we're walking," he said putting on his backpack.               

\n  

\n *****8*****
\n  

\n Back at his home, Aaron was humming happily to himself as he watered the plants in his garden. It had been a little while since the last time he watered them and they really needed it. As he hummed, all his thoughts were focused on one thing; Tora. She was on his mind most of the entire day and it made him happy now that they were together. The week he spent with her was great. Taking her all over to different spots everyday seemed to earn him some major points with her, especially that trip to Mt. Moon. He wasn't the most romantic male in the universe, but he thought that night was pretty romantic with just the two of then alone under the moonlight. Thinking of that night reminded him that he needs to think of someplace to take her for their date later on this week, if she hasn't thought of somewhere she'd like to go. It pained him a little that he promised to see her once a week so that he wouldn't be a distraction to her, even though she tried to talk him out of it.

\n  

\n "It hasn't even been a full day and I already miss her," he thought. "I want to be next to her so badly. I want to see her beautiful smile, feel her fur against mine, feel her lips against mine, feel her... From the inside..." He blushed once he realized where his thoughts were going. "No, can't be thinking about doing that with her... Yet. We need to get a little more intimate before that happens." He sighed as he thought about how their relationship would progress come to following weeks, but not for too long. Thinking about the future brought up too many possibilities of what could go right and wrong in both extremes. Finishing up the rest of the watering, he tended to what other little chores he needed to do around his home. By the time he was done, it was close to evening time and he was getting hungry. He didn't feel like having berries tonight. He had more of a taste for fish and knew just where to get some that were more to his liking, but he didn't feel like eating alone. "I don't think she'll mind if I stop by a little early."

\n  

\n Without a second thought, he teleported from his home, made a brief stop to catch some fish, and appeared in the middle of a forest. Aaron found himself just a few trees away from Chris, Lani, and his beloved Tora; plus one more. There was a black-haired girl with them that he didn't recognize. They were standing around discussing who would do what to help with dinner. "Hmm, I might want to rethink this a bit. Wouldn't want to bring too much attention to myself." He changed his appearance into a raichu and eavesdropped on the group.  

\n  

\n "Here's how we're going to do this," Alice said. "Since you two are apparently good at finding food, you have the honors of gathering anything edible. I'll stay here pitching up the tents and getting ready for dinner."

\n  

\n "Sounds like you get the easy job," Chris commented.

\n  

\n "Trust me; getting food is the easiest job there is. You even get to goof off a little while you're out there. Besides, you already have your pokémon out and the three of you can search together." It still sounded as though she just didn't want to go, but Chris just shrugged.

\n  

\n "Alright, you heard her girls. Let's split up to get this done faster. Lani, you come with me since you don't have any arms. Tora, you'll be fine by yourself, right?"

\n  

\n "I'll be fine," she replied. With that said, they set off in different directions. Tora wondered around the forest for what seemed like forever in search of something edible. You'd think in a place full of vegetation there'd be more fruit trees. She sniffed the air and caught whiff of something sweet. Finally having something to go on, she took off in the direction of the sweet smell. It only took her a couple minutes to reach a tree with tons of bright red apples. "I hit the jackpot," she thought. She climbed up the tree and got on a branch that could hold her weight. The chu slowly and carefully made her way toward the end to collect her prize. She picked the ones on the branch she was on with her paws and threw them on the ground. The ones above her that she couldn't reach were cut by the stem with her tail. She was thankful for those training sessions at home because she doesn't think she would've been able to cut them down so accurately without them.

\n  

\n After a good minute of picking and cutting, she figured that she had enough and climbed down to look over her haul. There was way more than she could carry herself. "How am I gonna get all this back?" she asked herself.

\n  

\n "I can help," someone said right behind her. Tora shrieked and whipped around with sparks flying out her cheeks, ready to fend off whoever it was. "Geez, no need to get so worked up. I thought you'd be glad to see me." Tora calmed down and realized it was Aaron in his raichu form... With a few fish behind him.

\n  

\n "Arceus, you scared the crap out of me!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here? I thought you didn't want to see me until the week was up."

\n  

\n "I missed you too much. I've been thinking about you all day," he replied, causing her to blush a little. "I got really lonely without you now that we're totally in love." He grabbed her paws and pulled her into a very close embrace. "Now that I'm here... And we're all alone with plenty to eat... We can do anything we want." Aaron grinned and growled at her with obvious playfulness. Tora giggled a little at him.

\n  

\n "If you just take up my offer to travel with us, you may even get lucky sooner than you think." She looked and sounded surprisingly seductive when she said that, even going so far as to pull them even closer. The act was really convincing, even for her. Aaron blushed and laughed nervously.

\n  

\n "Really now? Then I have no choice but to say yes."

\n  

\n "Seriously though, I really want you to come with us. I mean, you couldn't even go one day without seeing me, not that I didn't miss you too. You could help us."

\n  

\n "By doing what?"

\n  

\n "Well... You could help out with the training to get us stronger for those gym battles."

\n  

\n "Help you with training? But I don't want to hurt you..." he said sadly.

\n  

\n "Think of it this way: instead of waiting around to take me out, we can hang out all the time, you can help with our training, and we can snuggle up in the evenings after a hard days work." Her reasoning was pretty solid and convincing. Aaron thought the deal sounded pretty sweet, but he still doesn't want to hurt her. Tora saw the uncertainty in his face and thought of something that might push him over on her side. "If you do it, then the next time we go out..." she whispered the rest in his ear. Aaron gasped and looked at her crazy.

\n  

\n "For real? We can do that?" Tora nodded. "What are we waiting for then?" He let her go and transformed into an espeon and used his psychic powers to lift all the apples, his catch as well. The two made it to the camp with everyone waiting for Tora to return. When they saw an espeon walking behind her with all the food, they almost flipped; mostly due to the amount of food.

\n  

\n "No freaking way!" Alice shouted. "That's more than enough food for dinner. Nice job you two!" Surprisingly, she was more concerned with food at the moment than an espeon that appeared out of nowhere. Chris and Lani were more preoccupied with the new espeon. Aaron saw them looking at him and re-introduced himself. 

\n  

\n After that was done, Alice and Chris started preparing dinner. Since there was so much food now, Alice decided to let her pokémon out too. Both teams chatted with each other while they waited on dinner. Fang was out and feeling better from the battle earlier. There were no hard feelings for losing. In fact, he wanted to battle again. Aaron of course didn't like the idea that someone wanted to beat up his girl for fun, but he restrained himself from making an outburst. Fang was the newest member in Alice's group. He likes to joke around and talk a lot. Next was a wartortle named Kishan. He was a confident, outgoing, and somewhat mischievous turtle. He was Alice's first pokémon and has been with her for a little over a year. Last, but not least, is a flaffy named April. She's a really timid and quiet sheep. She doesn't really stand out much if you were to put her in a crowd. She's best friends with Kishan, surprisingly. April usually stays close to the turtle when she can and listens to what he says.    

\n  

\n "So, Lani, what's with the pink?" Fang asked. "I thought you guys were blue. Wanted to wear the national color for girls?"

\n  

\n "Stop being rude, Fang!" Kishan scolded. "You should've stopped at 'what's with the pink'."

\n  

\n "Um... K-Kishan... That's not really..." April began.

\n  

\n "That didn't really make what he said any better," Lani said, cutting the sheep off. "I didn't do anything to change the color of my scales. I was born this way."

\n  

\n "Really? That's pretty cool," Kishan commented. "Don't you think so too, April?"

\n  

\n "I... Guess so..." she said quietly.

\n  

\n "C'mon, you gotta speak up if you want others to notice you."

\n  

\n "... Ok..." Kishan sighed out loud, since it was obviously going to be hard to bring her out of her shell.

\n  

\n "Speaking of not getting noticed, you haven't said a thing," Fang said looking over at Aaron, who seemed to be staring off into space. The psychic glanced at the purple bat and spoke for the first time.

\n  

\n "Sorry, I think there's-" 

\n  

\n "Sneak attack!" someone shouted. Everyone turned to the voice just in time to see a cubone jump from behind a tree with his club raised and jumped out the way of his attack. Chris and Alice saw the pokémon scatter and were shock to see who caused it.

\n  

\n "Is that the same cubone from earlier?" Alice asked.

\n  

\n "Yeah, I think so," Chris sighed. "This could be trouble." They, with the exception of Chris, Alice, Lani, and Tora, stared at the dinosaur like he was out of his mind.

\n  

\n "Darn it, I missed," Jari said disappointedly.

\n  

\n "Of course you did!" Kishan shouted. "Who the hell yells 'sneak attack' before an actual sneak attack?!" The cubone glanced at all the pokémon until he found Lani.

\n  

\n "The rest of you don't deserve my attention. I'm here for the dragon, for we have a fight to finish," he announced as he got ready to fight. Using Focus Energy, he gathered up all his inner strength and powered up. Lani grinned and began summoning her twister.

\n  

\n "I thought you learned your lesson the first time," she replied. "But I guess I'll just have to give you another crash course in pain."

\n  

\n "Are you sure about letting them fight like this? Aren't you going to get involved?" Alice asked.

\n  

\n "Don't worry," Chris replied. "She can handle herself on her own. If that cubone doesn't bring his A-game this time, he's gonna be in for another rough fight."

\n  

\n "Do you plan on catching him?"

\n  

\n "I don't know. I didn't even think of putting him on the team because I think Tora would be pissed if I did."

\n  

\n "Well, if you're not gonna catch him, I will."

\n  

\n "We'll see about that." Chris checked over the food he was cooking one last time and was sure his share was ready. "In the meantime, why don't we see how this turns out." 

\n  

\n  

\n **********8**********

\n  

\n Yay, they're officially on the road now and already have found a bit of trouble. In all honesty, I think the first battle could've gone a lot better. It seems to be lacking in something that I can't figure out. Oh well. Time to start working on the next one.