fanfiction Aura Sphere [CW: Adventure, Romance / Feedback by PM]

[Candy]

No longer am I in summer break, but I'll still try to update my first ever Pokemon story from time to time  <- edit (02/17/19): das a lie fam

 

It'll be loosely based on the events and characters of Black and White (later maybe Black and White 2).

The story will be updated on a random schedule, whether or not I have readers - so no default risk whatsoever haha <- edit(02/17/19): dis true fam but beware of hiatuses lul

Also, to keep the the threads clean, I'll post the chapters on this thread only.

 

Chapter links (saving you the need to scroll haha):

Spoiler

• Chapter 1
  • Spoiler

    Brenda, along with Cheren and Bianca go to Prof. Juniper's lab to get their starter pokemon.

     

• Chapter 2
  • Spoiler

    Brenda captures her starter, after a little mishap.

     

• Chapter 3
  • Spoiler

    The riolu Brenda caught is unhappy to have been captured. However, Brenda insists on keeping him, and gives him a name.

     

• Chapter 4
  • Spoiler

    Brenda, Cheren and Bianca walk, or rather run, through Route 1.

     

• Chapter 5
  • Spoiler

    Brenda and Ren explore Accumula Town, and then try battling but end up injured.

     

• Chapter 6
  • Spoiler

    Brenda and Ren enter a restaurant, but a problem with Brenda's childhood friend ends up in them being kicked out.

     

• Chapter 7
  • Spoiler

    After Ghetsis' presentation in Accumula Town, Brenda promises Ren that she will show how his life changed for the better, having her by his side.
    Brenda meets a mysterious character who goes by N.

     

• Chapter 8
  • Spoiler

    Cheren catches up to Brenda, and they reach Striaton City together. At the Pokemon Center, they are reunited with Bianca.

     

• Chapter 9
  • Spoiler

    Brenda and Cheren take on the Striaton Gym, but only Brenda fights a Gym Leader.

     

• Chapter 10
  • Spoiler

    Cheren takes on a Striaton Gym Leader, Chili. Brenda encounters a munna and a vulpix, but is unable to capture either.

     

• Chapter 11
  • Spoiler

    Brenda helps little boy Tom to keep his sewaddle at home.

     

• Chapter 12
  • Spoiler

    Brenda meets N in Nacrene City, and takes on Gym Leader Lenora.

     

• Chapter 13
  • Spoiler

    Brenda gets over her loss, and starts training vigorously.

     

• Chapter 14
  • Spoiler

    After a battle with her friend, Bianca, Brenda finds herself helping Lenora to recover a stolen fossil.

     

• Chapter 15
  • Spoiler

    Brenda fights Lenora for her badge again, and on her way out of Nacrene City, she meets N on the most unusual of circumstances.

     

• Chapter 16
  • Spoiler

    Deciding that she would help her friend N win his 2nd badge, Brenda accompanies him to Pinwheel Forest to catch a new pokemon.

     

• Chapter 17
  • Spoiler

    Brenda's efforts to train N's new team member by battling backfires terribly.

     

• Chapter 18
  • Spoiler

    After hours of careful thought, Brenda decides to leave Nacrene for the bustling heart of Unova, Castelia City.

     

• Chapter 19
  • Spoiler

    The path through Pinwheel Forest.

     

• Chapter 20
  • Spoiler

    Brenda finally makes it to Castelia City. God was that long.

     

• Chapter 21
  • Spoiler

    Brenda explores Castelia City and meets Annabelle Gladys, a lonely old woman.

     

• Chapter 22
  • Spoiler

    Brenda betting all her ca$h to get a vulpix, and celebrating her birthday the next day without a cent to her name but with friends.

     

• Chapter 23
  • Spoiler

    Brenda's 15th birthday continued ~ together with Cheren, and meant for Cheren fans.

     

• Chapter 24
  • Spoiler

    Brenda's 15th birthday continued ~ surprise party at Castelia Street Pokemon Center

     

 

 

Comments, criticism and questions are always welcome, but I would appreciate it if you could PM them to me instead of posting, so that I can keep the thread clear 

Without further a due, let's head on to chapter 1!

[Candy]

Chapter 1

 

6:00AM.

A woman was making breakfast downstairs, when she heard a familiar alarm go off. She braced herself, for the sound was usually accompanied by an even louder clatter - the sound of the poor alarm clock being flung down to the floor with utmost force.

However, to the woman’s surprise, the noise was never heard.

 

Upstairs, a mountain of blankets trembled once, twice, and suddenly flew away from the bed as though they had been caught in an explosion. Out of them jumped up a teenager in her pajamas.

She tapped the alarm clock, and her hand almost knocked down her graduation photo frame, which she caught before it hit the floor.

Putting the picture back, without bothering to make it stand upright, she slid over the floor. The socks complained on her feet, but she didn’t have time to apologize.

She then opened and slammed her bathroom’s door. She washed her face, inevitably getting some cold water into her smiling mouth. It was alright, since she would brush her teeth right after - if anything, it saved her time.

Brushing her coarse hair with tough strides, and putting on her favorite clothes, the ones she had avoided all summer so she could feel fresh wearing them that day, she ran out of her barely made-up room.

 

“Good morning!” the girl shouted, and her mother almost dropped the dishes.

“My goodness, Brenda. You scared me.”

“Why mother? I always shout good morning in the mornings.”

“Yes, but never at 6AM. I didn’t believe there was anything that could make you wake up this early.”

The teenager giggled, scratching the side of her face.

“Today is special,” she laughed with widened eyes glittering in anticipation. “Today, I become a pokemon master!”

Her mother smiled at her daughter, who stretched both of her arms for emphasis.

“You mean pokemon trainer, dear.”

“Pokemon master … in the making,” the girl stuck her tongue, and calmed enough to sit down to eat.

“Only two eggs, mother? And two pieces of bread?”

“What are you saying. You are the one who complains when there is too much breakfast.”

“Yes mother,” said Brenda with exaggerated desperation. “But today is different. Pokemon trainers needs to eat a lot, because they exert themselves in training and battling.”

She stood up, and showed her mother the punches and kicks she had been practicing for the occasion. Step, step, and jump kick!

“It’s your pokemon that will do the battling, dear,” her mother grinned with a hand on her mouth.

“They will battle, but if anyone messes with my pokemon, they’ll know who Brenda Hunter is.”

“Don’t send trainers to the hospital, please. We don’t have the funds to pay the fees.”

Brenda laughed. She loved her mother’s sense of humor, as much as she loved her own.

 

Once she was done with breakfast, and packed her bag with three potions and a Unova region map. As the final touch, she grabbed her worn-out white cap with pink designs, and passed her high ponytail through its reel hole.

Then, she ran down the stairs, almost skipping all the steps, to say her final goodbyes to her mother.

“You know you can come visit any time,” her mother said, with a hint of melancholy.

“I sure will, and will introduce you to my dear super-strong pokemon!”

“Thank you, and I will look forward to it.”

With that, Brenda gave her mother a long hug and a kiss, and ran all the way to Professor Juniper’s laboratory.

 

When she was close enough to the lab, Brenda realized waking up at 6AM was not early enough to be the first one on board. There were already five or six boys and girls standing in front of the entrance.

“Isn’t that Brenda? Good morning, Brenda,” greeted a girl who noticed her running.

“Good morning, everyone! How did you guys make it this early?”

“We could ask you the same,” said a boy wearing a navy blue shirt. “You were never this early to Pokeschool, that’s for sure.”

“Hush, Nick. Can’t you see that this is totally different to Pokeschool?” Brenda stuck her tongue to the boy.

She then looked around, but the individuals she was hoping to see were not there yet.

Just then, a familiar voice called her name.

A girl wearing a fluffy lime green hat waved at her, and she made haste to meet her friend.

“Bianca! Good morning, I thought you wouldn’t make it on time,” Brenda smiled, and extended her hands toward her friend, who grasped them tightly.

“You’re just unusually early, that is all,” Bianca said.

“What’s up with everyone,” Brenda rolled her eyes. “First my mother, then these cheeky kids and now you. Is it so incredible that I’m here ahead of time?”

“Yes, it is,” replied four of the six kids in unison.

“I didn’t ask you. Rude.”

Bianca just giggled inaudibly.

“Ah look, there’s Cheren running this way,” Brenda pointed a finger at her friend. “That guy is worse than me. Not even for this special occasion did he bother to wake up early.”

“Don’t you see how much stuff he’s carrying? He was probably awake until late, planning every step of our journey.”

“Our journey …”

There was something Brenda had to tell her friends. However, before she could break it to Bianca, her friend walked over to Cheren and helped him with some of his bags.

 

At that moment, the doors to the lab opened, and Professor Juniper showed up.

“Good morning, young ladies and gentlemen. Are you ready to choose your pokemon, and start your journey?”

The little audience of about fifteen youngsters replied with an energetic “yes”.

“Then wait no more,” the professor said. “Come in, and get your supplies.”

The children walked with fast strides, smiling and laughing among themselves.

“What are you waiting for, Brenda?” asked Bianca, when she saw that her friend was still standing, somewhat absent-minded.

“Oh yes, sorry. Bianca, Cheren, you should go quickly and choose your starter before everyone else does.”

“You too, Brenda,” Cheren said, pushing his glasses up his nose. “Why are you being this slow, when you woke up early for this moment?”

“Don’t mind about me. Go, go, go, it’s an order!”

Brenda pushed her friends toward the entrance, and passed by Professor Juniper.

“It doesn’t surprise me that you brought so much luggage, Cheren,” the lady smiled as they passed. “However, are you confident you can walk around Unova with this much weight?”

“I planned this trip for so long,” Cheren sighed. “I guess I forgot to consider the ease of travel.”

“If you want, I can deliver the bags you don’t need to your parents. Let me know when you have sorted your things.”

“Thank you, Professor.”

“Now, now, Cheren, move! Your pokemon await,” Brenda shouted, but herself stopped right in front of the professor.

When her friends were gone, albeit sometimes looking back at her, she asked Professor Juniper for a minute of her time.

 

As the sun peeked over the mountains, the boys and girls ran out into the front garden of the lab, and opened their pokeballs to show off their new companions to their human friends. Some of them even challenged others to their first ever pokemon battles.

“Where is Brenda?” asked Cheren, when he and Bianca walked out with less bags and more pokeballs.

“I’m here, blind dunsparces,” Brenda jumped out of nowhere, and startled them.

“Where were you? We’re just fifteen kids, and you disappeared all of a sudden.”

“No surprises. I was waiting out here,” Brenda giggled.

“What starter did you choose? I chose oshawott, the cute otter pokemon.”

“And I chose snivy, because he looks pretty intelligent,” Cheren said, and sent his partner out.

Encouraged, Bianca also opened her pokeball to release her oshawott. Upon touching the ground, the oshawott brushed his feet on the grass, and then looked up at the three kids.

“I’m going to call him Chris,” its owner said, lowering herself to pet him.

The oshawott looked at her with his round eyes, with a somewhat clueless face.

“Am I right in guessing that Chris is short for Christoph?” Brenda snickered, and Bianca colored her cheeks a little.

“It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan.”

“Anyone who’s been to Bianca's room would assume it upon entering,” laughed Cheren.

“What about you, Cheren. Aren’t you going to give your snivy a name?”

“Nah. I don’t have enough creativity to come up with names.”

“No fair,” Brenda pouted. “Snivy sure wants to be different from all the other snivys. What about calling him Green?”

Both of her friends batted their eyes.

“I guess naming them from their color is an easy alternative,” Cheren commented.

“No, silly. I’m talking about Green, the character from Pokemon Adventures. He’s so cool, like snivy is!”

“No way I’m calling my pokemon that,” Cheren curved his lips. “I like Red more than Green.”

“Then call him Red, if you will. But I won’t guarantee your snivy will grow to be cool.”

“It will. Red will be much cooler than your …”

Then, Cheren and Bianca realized that they had yet to see Brenda’s starter.

“What Brenda, aren’t you going to show us what starter you picked?”

“Did you choose Tepig? That would be a great coincidence, wouldn’t it?”

 

Brenda scratched the side of her face, and remained silent for a moment to heighten suspense, at least in her mind.

“Actually, I haven’t chosen my starter yet.”

Edited June 7, 2017 by Candy

[Candy]

Chapter 2

 

Brenda stuck her hand underneath Cheren’s jaw and moved it back up.

“Don’t be so surprised,” she said, raising both eyebrows and raising her face. “It would be more surprising if I chose a normal starter - that’s just too mainstream.”

“Wait, so what starter are you choosing?” Bianca asked, her face still bright from awe.

Hearing her cue, Brenda took out something out of her backpack’s side pocket. With deliberately dramatic gestures, she turned her hand to show them what she was holding.

“A pokeball? What’s inside it?”

“Silly friends. It’s empty,” Brenda grinned. “I’m on my way to catch my first partner.”

“C-catch your starter?”

“How will you do that? You don’t have a pokemon to fight any encounters.”

“And the tall grass is dangerous without a pokemon! Oh Brenda, do reconsider.”

“What’s with you? Did Cheren’s snivy worry-seed you?”

Brenda gave gentle taps on both of her friend’s cheeks.

“H-hm,” Cheren cleared his throat, slightly coloring his face. “Snivy doesn’t learn worry seed, but that is beside the point.”

“Come on, don’t worry about me,” Brenda stretched her arms, one hand still holding the pokeball. “If anyone can do it, that’s me.”

“I will have to agree with that,” said a voice that hadn’t been in their conversation.

“Professor Juniper!”

“I must say your request took me by surprise, because no one had ever asked me for a pokeball to catch a starter,” the professor said. “However, I have seen you in field work for many years, having taught you all some courses at the Pokeschool. Brenda has a natural ability to get along with pokemon.”

“See that, what did I tell you?”

Then, Bianca chuckled silently.

“What, Bianca? Still concerned about my abilities?”

“No, not at all. I’m still worried for you, but I just happened to remember that time with the bouffalant.”

“Aah, yeah! When we went on a field trip to Flocessy Ranch,” Cheren joined Bianca in laughing.

“Stop it, you two. It’s not that funny, you know,” said Brenda, pouting.

“Professor, you weren’t there, let me tell you. Two bouffalant escaped the enclosure, and came charging toward us,” Cheren started the anecdote, escaping Brenda’s hands which were directed to shut his mouth up. “Everyone started running away, but guess what this headstrong youngster did?”

“I don’t want to be called a headstrong youngster by a headstrong youngster,” Brenda pointed her lips at his remark.

“She stretched her arms like this,” Cheren lengthened his arms sideways, and made a wide gap between his feet. “And she said, ‘come at me, if you dare!’”

Professor Juniper gasped, and he told her that’s how everyone had reacted.

“Fearless, reckless,” Cheren continued. “When I saw you doing that, I thought I’d pass out from how fast my blood rushed down from my face.”

“What could I do? Running away is not my style.”

“Fortunately - and surprisingly - the bouffalant stopped just an inch from her. All of us stood there in shock, while Brenda stoked one of the pokemon’s fluffy mane.”

Cheren tried to keep a straight face while telling the story, but Bianca could not cooperate. She burst out laughing, but her laugh was reserved and barely audible.

“Then, all of a sudden, the bouffalant snuck their faces into Brenda’s pants front pockets, and ate all of her Mago berries in one bite!”

“Not funny! They didn’t even ask me if I wanted to share,” Brenda said with a louder voice than her friends’ combined laughter. At this point, Professor Juniper was also snickering.

“What was it that she shouted?” Asked Cheren to Bianca.

“‘Come back here, you thieves! Give me back my snacks, pair of ugly cows!’”

“The worst part was that one of the bouffalant didn’t like sweet berries, and got all confused, running in all directions. We had to run away from the bull while our bellies hurt from all the laughing.”

“Thanks, fake-friends,” Brenda turned away from them. “I’m going to catch my starter, and you’ll see how cool I’ll be. Just watch.”

 

The four of them ventured off to Route 1, where the other youngsters had already went ahead on their journey, and were almost invisible by now.

The trees lining the path were blooming in pink, flaunting the sweet perfume that its flowers released. The way to Accumula Town was covered in tall grass, which swayed in the breeze, and made rustling sounds in waves.

The three teenagers and their professor walked over to the nearest patch of tall grass.

“We have your back,” Bianca reassured her friend, as she readied herself to jump into the grass.

“If you run into trouble, we’ll step in with our pokemon,” Cheren joined.

“Thanks, but I won’t need your help. Just watch the professional,” Brenda replied with a smirk.

She stood in front of the patch of tall grass, and took a couple of deep breaths.

She noticed that the grass, as high in length as her waist, trembled from time to time.

Pokemon, here I go.

 

Two steps in, and nothing happened.

Brenda looked back at her friends who seemed more nervous than herself, and tried to comfort them with a confident smile. Then, she turned back to her business.

At that moment, a wild pidove flew out of the grass, almost crashing into her face in self-defense.

In an attempt to dodge the attack, Brenda moved to the side, but missed her step, and fell on her back.

Her friends came running over to check on her.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine.”

Indeed, she was fine. The fall had somehow not hurt as much as she expected.

She stood up, and in doing so, she was startled to find a blue-colored pokemon lying still on the ground.

“Oh no, I think I squashed the small guy when I fell,” Brenda told her friends.

She then lowered herself back again, and turned the pokemon to see its front side. Upon doing so, she realized it was a riolu, but he was not responding to his body’s movement. Brenda patted its cheek, to no avail.

“I think he’s dead!”

“Don’t be silly, Brenda,” Cheren shouted. “Pokemon don’t die from a mere body slam. It’s probably unconscious, that’s all.”

“Now’s your chance. Catch him before he wakes up,” Bianca urged.

“Right,” Brenda tightened her face, showing a serious side her friends had rarely seen. “Pokeball, do your work!”

The ball hit the stomach of the sleeping pokemon, and immediately closed with its target within.

 

One shake, two shakes.

All four of them were so concentrated on watching the ball sway, that they almost forgot to breathe. Brenda, especially, had her eyes widened so much that they could pop out of their sockets at any moment.

One last shake occurred in slow motion, and a little sound let her know the good news.

“I-I did it,” her voice came out at a high pitch, because her throat was dry. “I caught my first pokemon!”

[Candy]

Chapter 3

 

“Brenda, send him out. We have to treat him,” Bianca reminded Brenda, but the girl was still clenching her pokeball in a trance.

Bianca, Cheren and Professor Juniper ran closer to the patch of grass Brenda was standing in, and Cheren snapped his fingers in front of her face.

“Wake up, Brenda. Your partner is fainted.”

Brenda’s unfocused eyes suddenly widened, and the realization that she had caught her first pokemon sunk into her again.

“Yes, right away,” she said, and pressed the pokeball’s button.

It opened, and the riolu was sent out again, in the same position that it had been caught.

“Brenda, here,” Professor Juniper offered her a potion and a pink triangular berry.

“Your Riolu is not fainted, but it was hurt and looks like it is confused.”

Brenda sprayed the riolu’s body all over, and broke the persim berry into small pieces that could fit into his mouth.

The Pokémon reacted to the taste of the berry, and began chewing the pieces slowly.

“Riolu, are you alright?”

The riolu rubbed his right eye, and finally started to regain focus. However, he was visibly surprised to see that he was surrounded by four unfamiliar humans.

He jumped off, and raised both arms in a defensive stance.

“We're not going to hurt you,” said Bianca, but the riolu was still shaken.

“I'm your trainer now,” Brenda stepped forward, and showed him the pokeball that caught him.

The bipedal pokemon did not change his stand for a while, but then he approached the pokeball that had been held out with utmost precaution. He looked at it up close, sniffed at it and found his own smell, which made him hop away in surprise.

However, when he looked back at Brenda, she could tell that his eyes were by no means content with the realization.

“Brenda,” Professor Juniper finally spoke up. “It is very hard for new trainers to befriend their pokemon on first acquaintance. That is why each region has chosen three starters with basic characteristics, which are pokemon with more easygoing natures.”

The professor’s intent was perhaps vague, and Bianca could not tell whether Brenda had understood it or not, since she was looking down at the riolu, and her bangs were hiding her face from her position. There was some silence, though, so Bianca took the cue and added her opinion.

“Yes, forget about what we said earlier. There is nothing to be ashamed about, if you want to release your riolu, and get a starter like us.”

Brenda took a deep breath and raised her head.

Unlike what her friends expected, she was smiling even more brightly than her usual.

“Why are you all so gloomy? Cheer up,” she said, stretching her right arm upwards. “I don’t intend on giving up on my wild starter just yet. Not ever! His and my fate crossed roads, and I’m not willing to look back at this moment with regret, which is what I’ll definitely do if I give up today.”

Then, she lowered herself closer to the riolu, and looked at him at eye-level.

“Nice to meet you. You might not like me now, but you will,” she said and winked.

The riolu was puzzled, but then crossed his arms and looked to his side with contempt.

Brenda scratched the side of her face, and then snapped her fingers.

“You know what? I’ll give you a gift, right here and now. I shall give you a name.”

“Do you have a name in mind, or would you like to brainstorm?” asked Cheren.

“Sorry pals, of course I have a name in mind. I’ve planned everything since ages ago.”

“I bet you also planned your wild encounter too,” Cheren smirked.

“Funny,” Brenda squinted her eyes at him.

Looking back at the riolu, Brenda sensed that although he appeared to be ignoring her, his attention was still directed at her. Or at least, his left ear was.

“The best pokemon needs the best name,” she told him. “And what better name than one that takes part of the best trainer’s name?”

At this point, she paused as was customary for her when she wanted to build suspense. However, this time there was a secondary purpose. She wanted to prove to herself that her partner was indeed listening.

Half a minute passed, but she said no word. Cheren was about to ask her the name (more specifically, he was going to say “don’t keep us waiting so long, or we’ll grow old without knowing his name”), but when she heard him take a breath to speak, she immediately placed her index finger over her mouth for a split second, quickly enough so that she wouldn’t be caught in the act if the riolu happened to glance her way.

When a full minute had elapsed, when at last she saw the riolu take a sneak peak so subtle, that had Brenda not been paying full attention at his every move, she would have missed it entirely.

The riolu, realizing that he’d fallen into the trap, quickly looked away, but the damage had been done.

“You are curious about your name,” Brenda laughed, full of satisfaction. “Then we shall not delay this matter any longer.”

She took the riolu’s hand in both of hers.

“Ren, today you’ve caught a partner and made a friend.”

[Candy]

Chapter 4

 

Probably the one caught most off-guard was Cheren. So much so that his quick wit was surpassed by Bianca’s reaction.

“So you’re naming him Ren?” she asked. “You said you were taking it from part of the best trainer’s name. Could you mean Cheren’s?”

Hearing his thoughts out-loud, Cheren’s face instantly turned a bright pink. He looked away, as to conceal half of his face.

Without any notice of his mind, however, Brenda bursted out laughing.

“I didn’t realize that his name also contained a ‘Ren’,” she said.

The two other youngsters batted their eyes, and Professor Juniper only smiled.

“As much as I esteem you,” Brenda told Cheren. “You just aren’t the best trainer, and won’t be, as long as I, Brenda, live.”

She wiped off her tears, product of her laughter.

Cheren, turning even more red, snapped back, “You just see, I’ll become the best trainer, and I’ll make you take back your words.”

“That’s a challenge I’ll accept,” Brenda winked.

“Well then, now that we have sorted all the starter business out,” Bianca said. “I think it’s time for us to leave Nuvema Town. Thanks for everything, Professor.”

“Thank you too, for making me a proud teacher and professor. I hope your journey will be thrilling and nurturing for you and your pokemon.”

“I’m sure it’ll be, I’m going to force it to be so,” Brenda said, forming a fist on her right hand.

“Do please keep yourselves safe, though,” Professor Juniper chuckled.

Cheren stepped forward, with a hand on his chest.

“No worries, I’ll, erm, keep an eye on the rowdy child,” he replied, and pushed his glasses up his nose bridge.

“Stop treating me like a child! I’m already fourteen years old, you know.”

“Well, I’m fifteen, and therefore your senpai.”

“Only by a month,” she said, and bit her fist.

“Now, now,” Professor Juniper said. “And do expect a call from me on your birthday, Brenda.”

“Thank you.”

“If any of you need anything, don’t hesitate to call me. I’ll go back to the lab now.”

“Good bye, Professor.”

The trio then waved their hands to the professor, as she returned to Nuvema Town.

 

“Ok, let’s go then,” Cheren said, and Bianca followed.

“Wait guys,” Brenda called them back.

“What is it,” Bianca asked her, concerned because her friend looked uneasy.

“I- I won’t be going with you guys.”

Bianca widened her eyes, and Cheren, who is usually composed in any situation, looked as though he’d been hit on the head with a rock.

“What do you mean?” he whispered, but since none of his friends could hear him, Bianca asked the same question loudly.

“If I said it’s because I need to befriend Ren, and wouldn’t want to slow you guys down, that’d be a lie. The truth is, I want to learn to survive by myself. To make many mistakes, and always stand back up, with only my two legs to depend on.”

Brenda scratched her neck, and let out an uncomfortable laugh.

“I feel I’ll end up depending on you guys too much, as I’ve done all my life up until now. That’s why, I want to go my separate way. Ren only gave me a reason to make up my mind.”

Her two friends were visibly disappointed, but in the end, they smiled.

“We understand,” Bianca said. “But I think I’ve depended on you more than you’ve depended on me. I think I would like to learn to be independent too.”

“Yeah, it wouldn’t be that different if we hung out with the same old friends,” Cheren laughed.

“Thanks guys, you’re the best! Now, let’s go. Our way is still the same until the end of Route 1.”

Cheren and Bianca started walking, and Brenda looked back at her Riolu, who had been watching them talk for a while.

“Ren, let’s go,” Brenda stretched her hand to him, but Ren looked away with a dissatisfied growl. “You know, you will look back to this day someday, and think ‘man, I was stupid for disliking my trainer, for she’s awesomeness all around’. I just know it!”

She scooped Ren up with both arms, and placed him on top of her shoulders.

“When my father visited me as a child, he’d pick me up like this and say, ‘Brenda, if you shift your view a little, look at how different your world seems, even though it’s the same old Nuvema Town you’ve known your whole life’.”

Ren growled and complained by flailing his legs and pulling Brenda’s hair, but rather delicately.

“My father can’t do this now, of course, since I’m a grown girl, but I can do it to you. Now, I don’t think I’ll be able to once you evolve into a Lucario, so take it as a limited-time offer.”

The pokemon still kept pulling on her hair, which wasn’t hurting, but was still annoying.

“Stop that, I won’t be letting you down, whatever you try,” Brenda laughed, and started running.

Midway to Accumula Town, Brenda ran past her two friends, who had paused to battle some wild pokemon.

“Slowpokes, I’m winning the race,” she said as she waved back at them.

“Since when is this a race?” Cheren shouted back, but Brenda couldn’t hear from her own laughter.

“Brenda, she’s a really amazing girl,” Bianca commented.

“Amazing and carefree, a toxic combination, if you ask me,” Cheren sighed.

“I… I don’t want to lose,” Bianca smiled, and began running after her childhood friend.

“Wait, Bianca, Brenda! Agh, these girls,” Cheren complained, but also smiled.

 

At the entrance of Accumula Town, Brenda, and then Bianca, stopped to wait for their last friend.

After a little pause, Brenda spoke up.

“Here’s where we part ways. Let’s try to cut all the cheesy stuff, and-”

She was cut short by Bianca’s sudden embrace, which surprised both Brenda and Ren alike.

“I’ll miss you Brenda, I don’t know how I’ll live without you.”

“Now, now. This is what I meant by-”

“Cheesy or not, I just can’t imagine myself without you. You’ve been a constant in my life.”

“I have been, haven’t I?” Brenda laughed. “But it’s not like we won’t be seeing each other often. After all, we’ll be taking on the same Unova League, at a similar pace.”

“I know but,” Bianca tightened her embrace. “It won’t be all the time. At least let me give you an extra long hug, so I may live without seeing you for a while.”

“Ok, ok, but don’t tighten anymore, I can’t breathe.”

“Oh sorry,” Bianca let go, and wiped her face. “I think I got carried away.”

“No worries. I’ll be missing you too, for a while.”

Once Brenda and Bianca had stopped their dramatic parting scene, Cheren stepped in, and placed a small bag on both of their hands.

“What’s this, Cheren?” Brenda asked, and then opened the bag to find two potions, a container of pecha, cheri and chesto berries, another container of pokemon food, and some human snack bars.

“All this for us?” Bianca exclaimed. “Thank you, Cheren.”

“Cheren, always the well-prepared senpai of the group,” Brenda laughed.

“Please don’t do anything stupid when I’m not around, or actually, also when I’m around,” Cheren scratched his head.

Brenda then gave him a quick hug, which caught him largely off-guard. Ren had to hold on tight to Brenda’s ponytail, in order to conserve balance.

“I will, I’m not stupid,” she stretched a thumbs up inches from his blank face.

“Now, I’m off to explore the world!”

Brenda raised her hand, and waved at her friends while running away in the direction of the Pokemon Center.

 

The two who stayed behind, watched in silence as Brenda, with Ren still on her shoulders, entered the Center, and were off their sight.

Bianca glanced at Cheren, who was still looking in that direction, his face’s redness just starting to fade.

“Your feelings are obvious,” Bianca commented, which woke Cheren from the trance.

“Huh? Ah, well. They don’t seem to be, though.”

“With Brenda… Let’s say you’ll need more than a subtle coloration of the face to get to her.”

Leaving that thought with him, Bianca also waved her hand, and went off her way.

Edited July 2, 2017 by Candy

[Candy]

Chapter 5

 

After making sure that Ren was in perfect condition at the Accumula Town Pokemon Center, Brenda figured that a little sightseeing of the first town she’d visited outside her own would be beneficial. She tried taking Ren by his hand, but he would just push hers away, so she gave up and only made sure that he was following where she went.

Just next to the Pokemon Center was a small park with two benches, where three kids of around six were playing catch with a lillipup.

“What do you say, Ren? Do you want to play catch?”

Ren turned away, and growled.

“I guessed so,” she shrugged, and stuck her tongue out.

They went around the town, looking at the small brick buildings without actually going in.

Brenda talked with some people passing by, however, who gave her advice on starting her journey. A kind old man even gave her a pokeball as a gift! Accumula Town’s people seemed to be kind, and Brenda felt as though she were just in an extension of her home town.

She also spotted a small cafe, which she promised Ren they would dine in for lunch.

When they were just about to complete their clockwise rotation of the town, which wasn’t as big as she had imagined, they found a staircase that led to a house. The view from there was fantastic. The rosy trees that spread across the land, and far away she thought she could see a river flowing. Here and there, the trees would tremble, though it was not from the breeze - it was due to small pokemon jumping from branch to branch, finding newborn fruit to eat.

The aroma, coupled with music someone was playing on the piano, made spring, Brenda’s favorite season, all the more splendid.

Brenda and Ren came down after a good twenty minutes observing the view, and completed their sightseeing.

“Now that we have our senses relaxed, let’s go back to Route 1 and train a little. What do you say?”

This time, Ren seemed to be invigorated by the proposal.

 

They ran all the way to the tall grass, and actively looked for a match.

Soon enough they ran into a pair of wild patrats.

“Easy, Ren is a fighting type, so we have this match in our hands,” Brenda whispered to herself. “Ren, use Vacuum Wave!”

However, when she thought he would attack, he instead received two tackles from his opponents. Then, gathering himself up from being pushed back, he plunged straight into one patrat and with the momentum, he also shoved the other. The two opponents fainted instantly.

“Huh?” Brenda needed a few seconds to understand what had happened. Meanwhile, Ren jumped up and down, celebrating his first victory.

“Oh, you must have used Counter. It’s also a fighting type move alright … but you could’ve avoided two tackles had you used priority move Vacuum Wave.”

Brenda pouted, and Ren giggled at her face.

“Come over, let me treat your wounds.”

As Ren walked towards Brenda, however, he heard a bush rustle nearby. More concerned with a possible foe, Ren changed directions and jumped into the bush.

“Ren, come back!”

Come back, he did immediately, but not without company. A startled pidove was pecking all over his head, and the little Riolu could do nothing but run in circles.

“Oh no, flying type attacks are super-effective against fighting types,” Brenda said. “Ren, come back! You can’t fight in your condition.”

Even then, Ren tried to punch the pigeon, missing each time and receiving pecks on his head instead.

Soon, Ren tripped over, and watched as the pidove retreated into the sky, only to come back at full force to deal its final blow. He closed his eyes, and braced himself for a shockwave of pain.

“Ren!” he only heard his name being called.

 

One second, two seconds passed, and yet the pain did not arrive.

Ren finally opened his eyes, and caught the pidove flying away with blood on its beak. In front of him, his trainer was sitting with a hand pressing the other arm, which was tainted in a spider web of blood.

“Don’t worry about me,” she said, as she noticed Ren gazing at her arm in shock. “We must get to the Pokemon Center to treat our wounds. I hope I don’t scare people looking like this.”

Brenda laughed, but the way her cheeks twitched gave away her pain.

Both of them stood up, and walked back to the center as fast as possible.

Nurse Joy was surprised to see them looking as though they’d gone to war. She had only seen them looking fresh a couple of hours ago.

“My my, come here young lady. Let’s stop your bleeding before anything,” she said, and lent Brenda her arms for support.

They walked over to a small consulting room, and Nurse Joy asked Brenda to sit down. With skills polished over years of experience, the nurse applied a white ointment which smelt like mint over the wound, and then put a large bandage over it.

“I’m covering it for now to avoid infection, but once the blood clots you should remove it to allow the skin to repair itself.”

Brenda nodded.

“You have to be more careful. Human skin is more delicate that a pokemon’s. Don’t over-exert yourself, alright?”

“Yes Nurse Joy, thanks for tending my wounds,” Brenda smiled.

 

In the meanwhile, Ren had been guided by Nurse Joy’s partner, an Audino, to a separate, larger room with many pokemon. Two other Audinos were tending pokemon’s wounds with potions, full restores and full heals.

Since this time, Ren’s wounds were not mere scratches from being pushed down to the ground by his trainer, the treatment stung much more. Ren complained, but the Audino persisted, and did not give up until she had covered all his head and legs with bandages.

Once they were done, they came out to the waiting hall, where they found Nurse Joy and Brenda standing. At the sight of his trainer, however, Ren looked down to his feet, and walked forcefully. The girl ran over, and kneeled in front of him, careful not to touch him, lest she may cause him pain.

“Oh Ren, look at those bandages! Do your wounds still hurt?”

Ren did not make a sound, and did not raise his head.

“Nurse Joy,” Brenda called the lady, who was still behind her. “I think Ren’s still in pain. He usually at least growls when I talk to him.”

Nurse Joy squatted down to check Ren, but could not find a reason for residual pain. She then asked him again, whether he was in pain.

Ren slowly moved his head sideways, but still stationed it looking down.

Nurse Joy contemplated the Riolu with a hand to her chin.

“I think he’s not in pain, but he is depressed.”

Brenda looked at her, surprised.

“Depressed? Why?” Then she thought again, and said, “Oh, because he lost the battle against the pidove?”

She looked back at Ren.

“Don’t worry, Ren. One has to lose, to become stronger and win the next time,” she giggled. “This was just practice. We’ll train hard, so we can win our first badge in Striaton City!”

Her cheerfulness still wasn’t infecting Ren.

“Perhaps Ren is sad that he caused his trainer to get hurt,” Nurse Joy commented.

As though he were affirming this, Ren let out a soft growl.

Brenda batted her eyes. For a minute or so, she also seemed to have turned into stone, much like her pokemon looked.

“Um, Miss Brenda?” even Nurse Joy had to call her.

Then, with no premonition whatsoever, she lunged at Ren and locked him into a tight embrace.

From where they stood, only Nurse Joy and Audino could see Ren’s blank expression over Brenda’s trembling shoulder.

“I’m so happy. Beyond happy,” she said with a clouded voice. “That you’re concerned about me. I’m glad we are starting to build our friendship.”

She then let go of Ren, and wiped her eyes with a quick, rough movement of her hand.

“I know this is only the beginning, but I’ll eventually convince you that having a trainer is the best thing ever!”

Nurse Joy and Audino smiled behind her, and Ren only looked at her with eyes that could be shining in admiration, but also seemed to be widened in disbelief.

 

From a corner of the Pokemon Center, a shadow only watched as the girl picked up her Riolu, and sat him over her shoulders.

[Candy]

Chapter 6

 

In the next hour of training, Ren obeyed Brenda about 50% of the time - a dramatic increase, compared to the initial, which was zero percent.

“Come on Ren,” Brenda would complain. “I studied Pokemon eight years of my life. I’m not kidding when I say I know quite a bit about Pokemon battling.”

Yet, Ren could not take her word for it. Not surprising, for how could a human know more about battling than a Pokemon who had until now battled in the wild?

 

At around midday, Brenda only realized it was perhaps time to have lunch when her stomach growled.

“Can’t go to war on an empty stomach. Ren, let’s go eat.”

Ren had finally won a battle against a pidgey just then, so he was in perfect mood to take a break. He ran after the youngster who skipped all the way to the restaurant they had found earlier.

The restaurant had a waiting list going, since midday was their peak hour, but Brenda did not wait standing for long, because there were some chairs in the entrance.

“Sit here,” Brenda tapped her tights, but Ren preferred to stay standing. “I guess winning your trust won’t be easy after all. Even then, don’t think I’ll give up. I’m as stubborn as you, or more.”

As she said that, one of Brenda’s old classmates happened to pass by, having finished lunch herself.

“Oh, isn’t this a surprise? Brenda isn’t it,” she said. “I heard your class graduated last weekend. How is the life of a trainer treating you?”

“Annie, what a coincidence. Haven’t seen you ever since you moved to Castelia City. I’ve just reached Accumula from Nuvema this morning, but what brings you to this place?”

“Well, when you live in the city, and eat too much specialty food, you kind of miss common people’s food. Fortunately, my family still owns a little condo here, so I can spend a few days in these nostalgic areas.”

Brenda could not hide the shock on her face, so much so that Annie had to her what was amiss.

“I- I hadn’t considered the food!” she exclaimed.

“What’s that all about?”

“I’d prepared myself to leave my mother and my town behind, but not the food!”

Brenda looked down at her knees.

“My my, Brenda. I’m actually surprised you forgot about food. It’s you, the girl who chased bouffalant because they stole her berries, we’re talking about.”

“How do you still remember such tiny details from the past?”

“It was a rather memorable event, to say the least.”

Annie then noticed something moving close to her legs, and was startled. However, she then realized that it was just a Riolu.

“I wonder if the waiters haven’t realized that there is a wild pokemon on the loose,” she commented.

Brenda raised her depressed face, and looked back down to what Annie was referring to.

“Oh, no Annie. This is my partner, Ren.”

Brenda patted Ren’s head.

“My bad,” apologized Annie. “I didn’t think you’d have caught another pokemon so early.”

Then Brenda explained in not much detail, how she had caught Ren, her starter pokemon.

“Interesting, and very like you Brenda. I gave up on becoming a trainer when I moved into the city, but I still have a pretty companion, Linda.”

She then threw a Luxury ball into the air, and released a delcatty, though it took Brenda a few seconds to recognize it.

“A shiny delcatty!” Brenda shouted with her eyes almost jumping out of their sockets. The people around her made shh sounds, so she contained her need to make another, not-so-classy remark.

The look on Brenda’s face was enough to feed Annie’s ego, however.

“Yes, I asked my uncle in Hoenn to bring me a shiny skitty about four years ago. When I felt I was too mature to carry around a skitty with me, I evolved her into a delcatty. We are definitely a match made in Heaven.”

“That’s so amazing,” Brenda shouted in whispers. “I had never seen a shiny in my life. Your uncle must be a magician or something.”

Annie giggled.

“He’s a shiny hunter. He has a lot of workers looking for shinies all over Hoenn.”

“I bet it’d cost a fortune to buy one, unless one was part of the family,” Brenda said, still looking at the Delcatty with nothing less than admiration. “May I pet her?”

“Why, go ahead. She loves to get attention.”

Brenda stretched a hand, and stroked Delcatty’s well-trimmed fur.

“Her fur is so soft, I-”

Before she could finish her sentence, however, the Delcatty was pushed away from her hand. In what felt like a second, the cat pokemon slid and bumped into a counter three seats away from her.

“Linda!” Annie ran to help her partner up.

Once the Delcatty was aware of what had happened, she quickly stood up, and charged towards the Riolu that had punched her on her side. Ren received the full on tackle, and they ran into a tall window, which they broke.

The battle that ensued next was nothing but chaos.

The two pokemon were battling each other, lending no ear to the commands of their companions. The people on the waiting list had to move out of the way, to dodge the pokemon that ran and jumped in all directions. Finally, the restaurant’s manager was called, and he became angry to see the broken window and the mess that the two uncontrolled pokemon were causing.

He demanded that Brenda pay for the window, but she was a child with no money, so the only thing he could do was to kick her out of the place.

A couple of Houndooms were brought out from the kitchen, and they took care of the wild pokemon. Annie screamed when she saw how the fire had burnt her Linda’s red fur. Brenda said nothing when a Houndoom pushed Ren to go out the door, and he frowned at the sight of her face.

“Brenda, I’m so disappointed,” Annie shouted, even though they were right next to each other. “Your ‘partner’ if you so call that beast, has no respect and no manners. I don’t ever want to see him close to my Linda again!”

Then, she returned her Delcatty to her ball, whipped her blond hair in front of Brenda’s nose, and ran away to her condo.

 

“Oh well, now we’ll have to eat Cheren’s snacks.”

Brenda stretched her body with both hands straightened up.

She started walking, and seeing that Ren was still pouting, she turned around.

“What are you waiting for, Ren? Aren’t you hungry?” she asked, and placed a hand over her stomach. “I sure am.”

Ren’s stomach seemed to agree. He walked after her, taking care not to look in her way.

“Let’s sit under those trees - the sun is not scorching, but I’m assuming you don’t want to burn your skin any more than that,” Brenda snickered. “But jokes aside, remind me to teach you basic manners and respect, I forgot to do that, and put you in a bad spot there.”

As they reached their picnic spot, Brenda looked at Ren in the eye.

“I’m sorry.”

At this, Ren barked. He shouted angrily, but Brenda was confused as to what could have caused such irritation in him.

All she did was apologize.

“Ah I understand. There’s no time to lose with apologies. Food awaits!”

She took out a plastic container which contained Pokemon food, and offered it to Ren.

However, Ren took one glance at the food, and slapped the container, which caused it to fall and roll, leaving a streak of food behind.

 

Ren must have known he made a mistake, for he instantly stopped shouting.

He took a quick look at his awfully silent trainer, but all he could see was her white cap, and hair that covered most of her face. Despite that, he clearly saw a tear form at the end of her chin, and drop onto her shirt.

Ren widened his eyes, and stood up quickly. He picked up the container, placed it upright, and started collecting the food that had fallen on the grass.

When he was done, he offered the container to Brenda, who had not shifted her position.

He made a low sound, like a cat’s purr, to call her attention, but Brenda would simply not raise her head.

Ren lowered his head, and was unhappy.

 

Half a minute later, Brenda laughed in an exaggerated loud voice. It had been so sudden, that the startled Riolu almost dropped the can of food it had put most effort in restoring.

“I knew you weren’t a lost cause,” Brenda said, with a bright smile.

Ren, understanding now that he had somehow fallen into a trap once again, faced his whole body away from Brenda.

“What now,” she asked from behind. “Don’t tell me you’re upset because you thought I was crying. I kind of was, in the beginning, not going to lie, but then I realized halfway through that there really wasn’t a need for tears.”

Ren still did not accede.

“Come on now, Ren. Gosh I didn’t know you were such a sensible guy.”

Her partner would still not bulge. Brenda began to be concerned that she had played a prank too harsh.

“Ren, sorry, I won’t do it again. So don’t be so mad at me, please?”

She placed a hand on his shoulder, and turned him around.

 

Should she call it “like father like son”?

Ren was making a face, sticking his tongue out and looking up. When she flinched in surprise, he laughed hysterically.

“You played the same trick on me, didn’t you, little snothead.”

She pouted, but the fact that he did also made her unable to contain her laugh.

She started tickling him in revenge, to the point that Ren could hardly breathe.

A little into their fight, and they had to take a pause. Grrr, their stomachs both complained at the same time, so they decided to take a break from war, to eat their snacks in peace.

 

They had no idea they were being watched again, this time from behind some other trees.

 

“... Why do you take interest in them?” A voice no one but him could hear, asked him. “To me, they just seem to be a pair of idiots.”

“Perhaps they are,” he answered. “But I am still curious. It is as if I were watching a clash of ideals right in front of me.”

His long hair wavered in the wind, together with the trees and grass.

“Perhaps it is a clash which will belong to us.”

[Paul25]

This story is really interesting!  

Keep it up!

[Candy]

4 hours ago, Paul25 said:

This story is really interesting!  

Keep it up!

Thanks 😆

Glad you like it so far

[Candy]

Chapter 7

 

Brenda and Ren exited the Pokemon Center, her bag filled with potions and status healers.

“Guess it’s time. We’re fully prepped to take on our first Gym match.”

Brenda punched her invisible enemy twice, and then did a roundhouse kick.

“What are you doing, Brenda?” she heard Cheren’s voice, and looked in his direction. “It doesn’t matter. Come here, it seems they’re doing some kind of presentation.”

He was pointing at a long row of uniformed people lined up in the park. One of them, the one in the middle, was wearing some old fashioned robes and large jewels, which made him stand out.

However, his ruby-colored eye patch was enough to send chills down Brenda’s spine.

Ren and her joined the crowd just as the old man with the robes started talking.

“Hello, people of Accumula Town. My name is Ghetsis, and I’m representing Team Plasma. As you must know, we are petitioning the government to consider our offer, and are going from town to town to recruit as many supporters as possible,” the man smiled, but it seemed like a cold smile to Brenda.

Ghetsis walked to the right, and raised his arms.

“What is our offer, you ask? That is, Pokemon Liberation.”

The crowd started murmuring among itself.

“Though pokemon are beings with infinite potential, with powers greater than any human’s, their fate is frozen as they’re sealed in pokeballs. They live a life of slaves, many times abused by their reckless trainers. Why must they deserve such treatment?”

Ghetsis turned around to walk to the left, and for a second, Brenda felt as though he had looked at her in the eye. If he did, his sight seemed to have frozen part of her soul.

“Pokemon and humans must be equals. Inhumane confinement of pokemon must end right now. The only way we can accomplish this is through liberation,” Ghetsis bowed as he reached the end of his discourse. “Please consider supporting us, and joining Team Plasma. The numbers matter, in order to convince the Unova government. Thank you.”

With that, Ghetsis flickered his hand, and the grunts with grey uniforms immediately took on a defensive stance around their robed superior.

In no time, and with careful orderliness, Ghetsis exited the park, and went out of Accumula Town.

 

“What do you think,” Cheren asked Brenda, when the crowd started to disperse.

She, however, took a moment to respond.

“Oh, I don’t know. I guess to each their own, but I don’t believe liberation will improve our relationship with pokemon.”

Cheren moved his glasses up his nose bridge.

“I don’t think so too,” he nodded.

“I know you don’t,” Brenda said, cheerfully. “Ever since I can remember, you’ve wanted to be a pokemon trainer. You were always looking up ways to train happy and strong monsters.”

“Yes, it’s true, but whenever our teachers brought pokemon into the classroom, they would end up making friends with you more than anyone else.”

“What can I do,” Brenda laughed and winked. “I’m just a natural.”

“I know, that’s why-”

Then Cheren cut his thought short, turned red, and waved his hands, “Oh nothing. Don’t mind me.”

“What’s gotten into you,” Brenda raised an eyebrow.

“Nothing of importance. I’ll go to the Pokemon Center now, and will leave for Striaton City soon.”

“I already finished my business at the PC. Maybe we’ll see each other along the way to the city.”

Cheren excused himself, and left Brenda and Ren alone in front of the park.

A little silence ensued, and then Brenda squatted next to Ren.

“What did you think of what that Ghetsis guy said?” she asked.

Ren looked up, in a pensive expression.

“I bet you kind of agree with what he said. You wish you were free, without me to bother you all the time, don’t you?”

Ren made no sound in agreement or disagreement.

“Well,” Brenda sighed. “I’m sorry to tell you that you are not getting what you want.”

Then, with a bright smile, she added, “I’ll show you how much better your life will be, with a trainer like me by your side.”

 

She took Ren’s hand, and was about to run all the way to Route 2, when she noticed that someone was still standing close to the park, watching them.

The person was tall and slender, with long green hair flowing out from a black cap. A pokemon with black fur, which Brenda had never seen before, rested on their shoulder.

When their eyes met, the person showed a glimpse of surprise and quickly looked away. However, it was hopeless.

“You, the lady in the black cap,” Brenda shouted. “With that attire and attitude, there’s no mistake. You are a pokemon trainer, aren’t you?”

Her future opponent knitted his eyebrows, and gently caressed his hair.

“A lady?” he answered in an almost inaudible voice. “I guess I really must cut it, if people mistake me for a girl.”

Brenda widened her eyes, and bit her fingernails.

“No, no, I’m sorry! Your hair is totally fine, young man. It suits you like a koban to a meowth, a pearl to a spoink!” Brenda blabbered, waving both of her hands. “It’s just me, a stupid countryside folk, who’d never seen a man with long hair. The longest I’ve seen is Cheren’s, but that’s because he’d have to cut it every week if he wanted to carry a short-haired head.”

The stranger was dumbstruck at how fast the girl talked.

“Anyway, my point is,” she finally concluded. “You’re a trainer, I’m a trainer, and our eyes met just moments ago. That can only mean one thing.”

She pointed straight at his face, and posed for dramatic effect.

“We must have a pokemon battle!”

The stranger would have been well-allowed to laugh, for Brenda’s act was nothing short of entertaining. However, he only tightened his lips.

“What, I don’t hear you answer, my lad,” Brenda said, placing a hand on her ear. “Or is it that you’re running away, because you’re scared to lose to a girl?”

She smirked, narrowing her eyes.

“No, but my zorua dislikes battling,” he said, again in a quiet voice.

Ren looked at the fox pokemon on his shoulder, and made faces and laughed.

“‘Rather than a fox, you are a chicken’, huh? What do you say, Zo. Do you want to make an exception?”

The zorua jumped off the young man’s shoulder, and stood prepared in front of the pair with shocked faces.

“Where did you get that from?” she asked, referring to the chicken joke.

Ren also said something, in a language she could not comprehend.

“What?” he answered. “Have you never met a person who could talk with pokemon?”

“Talk with pokemon?”

The question made the stranger twitch his eyes. It was a question that brought back vague but distasteful memories.

Contrary to what he expected, though, the girl looked at him with total admiration.

“That is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard. You must tell me what Ren says, for I think we fight each other due to my lack of understanding.”

She was full of glimmer, but then stopped herself, and remembered that they were about to start a battle.

“Excuse me,” she coughed. “I got side-tracked. If your zorua (By the way, I’d never seen one before. They must be quite rare, right?) is feeling like battling after my Ren’s joke, then let’s get this started.”

 

The battle was a 1-on-1 on a grassy field. The sun was out, but not strong enough to give them the effects of a sunny day. There was a little wind, just enough to sway the grass below Ren and Zo.

“Here we go,” Brenda shouted. “Ren, vacuum wave!”

“Zo, jump and dodge.”

The zorua jumped with a speed that made her almost invisible, and over to Ren’s back.

“Zo, bite.”

As her trainer ordered, she bit Ren’s tail, which made him jump in pain.

“Zo, extrasensory.”

“Ren, close your eyes and ears, now!”

If he allowed his senses to be taken up by the attack, Ren being a fighting type, he would have been definitely knocked out at once. Fortunately, this was one of the 50% chance when he actually listened to her.

“Great, Ren,” she threw a rock at his feet when the extrasensory attack was over.

Ren released his ears and opened his eyes, and saw a reassuring grin on his trainer.

“Now, Ren. Vacuum wave!”

“Again?” the young man commented. “Zo, dodge it.”

And jump she did once more, but Brenda was one step ahead.

“Ren, vacuum wave upwards!”

The quick fighting type attack finished off the zorua in one try. She managed to land on her four feet, but then she collapsed and fainted.

“We did it,” Brenda exclaimed, and ran to hug Ren.

Her opponent walked up to his zorua, and without a word, caressed her black fur.

“Your zorua’s jumping power was impressive,” Brenda told him. “If I didn’t have type advantage, I don’t know if we could’ve won.”

The young man shrugged, and offered 700 pokecoins to the winner.

“Thanks. May I ask your name? You were my first battle opponent, so at least I want to remember you. I’m Brenda, if you wanted to know.”

“I go by N,” he answered.

“N! Alright, I won’t ask what it stands for, though I’d love to know,” she hinted at him, but seeing that he had no intention of speaking, she carried on. “Anyway, I have to get going, if I want to reach Striaton City before sunset.”

N nodded.

“Hope we can have a rematch, if we ever see each other again,” Brenda said, as she waved her hand with her whole arm.

Then, she ran together with Ren, full of pleasure at having won their first battle, towards Route 2 and onto Striaton City.

Edited July 16, 2017 by Candy

[Candy]

Chapter 8

 

“Ready?” Brenda asked Ren, and then pointed her finger to the distance. “Striaton City waits for us.”

They took a couple of steps forward into Route 2, when a voice called for them.

She looked behind her, and she saw Cheren running through the gates.

“I thought you’d already left for Striaton City,” she said with surprise. “You surely spent a long time in the Pokemon Center.”

“I happened to meet a professional in berries. We talked, and at the end he gave me a variety of them.”

Then, Cheren reached for his backpack, and produced a few.

“Sitrus, pecha and cheri. Sitrus heals 25% of your pokemon’s HP when it cuts halfway. Pecha cures poisoning and cheri heals paralysis. The neatest thing about berries is that you can have your pokemon hold them, and they’ll know when to use them.”

Then Cheren offered them to Brenda.

“You know, you can plant them to obtain more as well - just remember where you planted them.”

“Thanks Cheren, and the berries connoisseur was very kind in giving them to you.”

“Yeah. He was actually in Accumula to learn about berries that only grow in this part of Unova. I’ve read a book written by him, actually.”

Brenda giggled.

“What book have you not read, Cheren?”

“I read all that our library had, but that’s a tiny amount compared to how many there are in all of Unova. I still have much to learn.”

“Well, I’m more of a hands-on learner. I just had my first battle against a trainer, and I surely learnt from it, though I did win,” Brenda winked. “If you hadn’t been busy talking to the berries guy, you’d have seen how cool Ren and I looked.”

“I’m sure of it. I bet it was full of posing and dramatic effects,” Cheren smiled.

“It can’t be Brenda’s pokemon battle, without excitement and dramatic effects, can it?” Brenda laughed, and manually (for Ren did not raise his hand on his own volition) high-fived Ren.

 

Cheren and Brenda started walking toward Striaton City.

“The guy I battled though,” Brenda commented, remembering her first battle. “He was a good battler but rather an oddball.”

“You calling someone an oddball?” replied Cheren, as he checked his town map.

“In all honesty, he surpassed my average oddball-ness,” she pressed her index finger on her cheek. “You see, he could communicate with pokemon.”

Cheren raised an eyebrow.

“As in speak to them?”

“Yup. He could understand them, and they could understand him,” as she said this, Brenda’s breathing became irregular, and her eyes brightened. “Isn’t that the most awesome thing you’ve ever heard?”

Cheren looked at her face, which was full of excitement, and also down at Ren, who shook his head with an expression close to fear.

“I don’t know,” he said, scratching his head. “That sounds more freaky than awesome.”

Brenda slapped her whole face with an exaggerated gesture.

“What to do with kids today,” she said, with her hand still plastered on her face. “They don’t know how to admire true genius.”

“Well, as far as I know, humans are taught to fear those who have abilities that surpass normality.”

“I don’t fear abnormality. I only fear scary things, and this guy wasn’t scary.”

Then, Brenda paused for a second, and thought.

“Actually, the only thing that was scary about him was his appearance,” she added.

“How so?”

“He had this slender figure, and gorgeous green hair that nearly reached his butt,” Brenda recalled.

“‘He was handsome’, is that what you’re trying to say?” Cheren asked, embarrassed at Brenda’s choice of language, and perhaps also feeling a little grumpy.

“Nope,” Brenda denied immediately, looking directly into Cheren’s eyes. “I wouldn’t call that handsome, though other people may think so. I don’t know. I thought he was, yeah, beautiful.”

Cheren’s tight expression softened around his eyes, and then he laughed.

“Poor guy,” he said.

“What? You don’t know either. I didn’t ask him if he’d be sad if someone described him as beautiful. Personally, I think it’s a compliment.”

“Is that so? Do you also think I’m beautiful, by any chance?” Cheren asked, but he regretted the question just as he had made it.

Brenda batted her eyes, but she was clearly oblivious to his inner thoughts.

“No, you’re handsome,” she smiled. “The lone fact that you’re my best friend makes you ten times handsomer than any other guy.”

Cheren smiled, as he watched the side of her face from a few steps in behind her.

What to do about this narcissist, he wondered, but he couldn’t counter the fact that her words had poured something warm inside his heart.

Indeed, even when the sky started pouring, it was not successful in cooling it down.

 

“Cheren, hurry! It’ll be pouring in a minute, I’m sure,” Brenda called him, as she picked up Ren. “Ren, get back into your pokeball. I don’t want you to catch a cold.”

Ren, as stubborn as usual, hit the pokeball with his paw. The ball fell to the ground, which fortunately hadn’t become muddy quite yet.

Brenda did not insist, but instead took out a towel from her bag, and placed over him.

As she had predicted, the rain intensified in a matter of minutes.

The other trainers, who had positioned themselves to challenge passersby to battle, had also begun to run. Some towards Striaton, and others toward Accumula.

It seemed as though no one was yet practiced enough to hold battles in rainy weather.

 

The two young trainers ran, their sneakers turning muddy and soaked.

“Brenda, you’ll catch a cold,” Cheren said, as he ran next to her. “We should wait for the rain to calm down under a tree or something.”

“I’m fine,” she replied, as she wiped the accumulated water from her eyes. “We’re close to the City. There we can take refuge in the Pokemon Center.”

“Stubborn as always,” Cheren sighed, and placed the towel he had been using over her head.

“No, I’m fine I tell you,” she said, and tried to return the towel, but Cheren had increased his running speed. “Wait, that’s unfair! I’m carrying the weight of a pokemon!”

Cheren did not reply, but waved his hand in the air.

“That guy,” Brenda murmured, then looked down in her arms to check on Ren. “Are you feeling cold? Hang on, we’re getting close to the Pokemon Center.”

Ren did not say anything either, but his eyes were not hostile.

 

When Brenda arrived to Striaton City’s Pokemon Center, Cheren was waiting for her at the entrance.

She pushed his towel onto his chest, and pouted.

“You could’ve waited inside,” she pointed out. “Don’t blame me if you catch a cold. You were the one who forced me to use your towel.”

“A little cold wouldn’t do anything to me, anyways,” he shrugged.

“Colds make your head all fuzzy. You don’t want a cold when you’re facing a gym leader soon. Besides, I’ve got immunity to colds, while you don’t.”

Cheren raised an eyebrow.

“How so?”

“They say that idiots don’t catch colds, and you’ve always been - unfortunately - the smartest student in Nuvema Pokeschool.”

Cheren laughed.

“Don’t believe in superstitions, and get inside. Even if you say you’ve got immunity, I think I’ve seen you sick more times than I’ve been myself.”

They walked together, and the doors automatically slid open.

There were a lot more people in the Pokemon Center, than they had been accustomed to.

“Hopefully there are still rooms available to pass the night,” Cheren told Brenda.

As they passed some people buying medicine, they spotted a familiar face.

“Bianca,” Brenda called. “Did the rain also catch you by surprise?”

Bianca squeezed herself through some people, and took both hands of her friend.

“I’m glad to see you,” she said with her bubbly smile. “Yes. My hat got soaked.”

Then she realized Cheren was behind Brenda, and made a face.

“Not fair. You said you weren’t going to travel with us, and yet you’re here with Cheren,” she complained. “If you didn’t want me in the group, you could’ve just said so.”

Brenda batted her eyes.

“What are you saying? That is not it at all. I happened to run into him as I was leaving Accumula Town, that is all.”

Bianca smiled, and said that she knew.

“People usually tease me for being oblivious to sarcasm,” Bianca giggled. “But you are worse than me, dear Brenda.”

Brenda knitted her eyebrows.

“When did you become so sly,” she protested, and proceeded to tickle Bianca.

“Stop that,” Bianca said, running away.

“It’s punishment for making a fool out of me, missy!”

Brenda chased Bianca, who ran in circles, and used Cheren as a shield.

“Stop the childish games, both of you,” Cheren said, as he struggled to keep his eyeglasses in their proper position.

“We’re still children, so we must play childish games,” Brenda laughed.

She then tickled Ren, who had been standing and looking at them as the uninvolved third party.

As was his disposition, he felt obliged to take revenge and join the childish game.

 

The laughter and tickling did not stop, until they were scolded by three people almost simultaneously.

The rain continued until the next crack of dawn.

[Candy]

Chapter 9

 

Brenda could hardly sleep that night, not because the rain made noise as it hit the Pokemon Center roof, but because she could not stop herself from thinking the strategy she would employ on her first Gym battle.

As the clock hit 7 o’clock, she jumped out of her bed.

She made an effort to keep silent for her sleeping friends, but she ended up bumping into more things that she planned. Even then, they only made vague complaints, evidently still asleep.

Brenda went out of the room, with her towel and change of clothes, hoping that there’d be a shower space open for her.

Fortunately, the shower room was empty at quarter past 7.

“No early risers, I suppose,” she whispered to herself, and hummed a tune as she took off her shirt.

When the changing room door opened unexpectedly, she let out a gasp.

However, the culprit was none other than Ren, her ill-tempered traveling companion.

“Come on, Ren,” she reproached him. “Didn’t you see the sign that says this is the girls’ changing room? You should knock at least.”

Ren pointed his nose upward, showing no concern.

“Oh well, it’s fine this time, since no one is here. We can enjoy the shower room all by ourselves.”

Brenda placed her towel around her torso, slid one of the shower curtains, and ushered Ren in.

She pumped some shampoo onto his head and body, and gently washed him clean.

It was not, by any means, an easy task. Though Ren had evidently come to splash water onto himself, he had not envisioned that his body would be covered with a foamy agent he had never seen before.

“Ren, calm down, it’s just soap,” Brenda said while trying to stop him from trying to run away.

At one point, Ren happened to touch some foam, and accidentally put it over his eyes, which stung him and made his aggression even worse.

“We can rinse it out, Ren stop!”

Elongating her arm to almost the point where she would’ve dislocated her shoulder, she turned the knob only to get both of them showered with cold water.

By the time Brenda somehow finished bathing Ren, her towel was so soaked that she wondered whether it would do its job as a towel anymore.

“Aaugh, I wasn’t planning on washing my hair today,” she said as she picked up one of her damp strands from her face. “But I guess I must change my plans now.”

She pulled Ren out into the changing room, to which women had started to come in. Changing her mind, she asked Ren to return to their room alone, as she could not go out in a towel, and wait with Cheren and Bianca.

When she stepped back into the shower room, she realized that three people were already occupying the three showers, and that she would have to wait after all.

 

When she was done with the shower room, she returned to her room while drying her hair with her towel.

Cheren and Bianca were up, but still drowsy, sitting on their beds.

“Rise and shine, everyone!” she greeted, and then looked left and right for her riolu.

She found him behind her bed, munching on the snacks that were in her backpack.

She gasped with both hands on her cheeks.

“Don’t tell me you ate all the food?” she checked the bag, and only a snack bar, which Cheren had given her the day before, fell out to the carpet. “Man, just this? A forced diet, I guess.”

Ren laughed at her disappointed face.

“You selfish brat,” she addressed him. “You think you’re smart, but now I have no money and no food. So we better win that Gym battle and get reward money. Not that we were going to lose, to begin with.”

Then Brenda took a huge bite off the snack bar.

 

The three of them left soon after Brenda finished eating, though it took quite a bit of nagging and hurrying on Brenda’s part.

“Are you guys also challenging the Gym now?”

Bianca said that she was not ready yet, so she was going to explore the city, which she wasn’t able to do the day before.

“You should visit the Dream Yard after your battle,” she invited. “I’ll be there once I’ve seen the city. It’s a famous tourist spot known for their dream-eating pokemon, Munna.”

Once she was assured that Cheren and Brenda would visit the Dream Yard, she waved her hand and walked away.

“What about you, Cheren? I bet you don’t want to miss my first Gym battle, given that you missed my first trainer battle,” Brenda teased.

“I’m headed to the Gym too, but not because of that,” he said, with slightly colored cheeks.

So they walked, with their eyes facing the city which they could barely see through the rain before.

“Look there,” Brenda pointed to the west of the city, where she could see a park with a fountain. “We must go there when we’re done collecting our badges.”

“Did you already forget we agreed to meet Bianca at the Dream Yard? It’s that way,” Cheren replied, pointing North East, close to where the Gym stood.

“No, I haven’t forgotten. It can be after we meet Bianca, and it wouldn’t contradict what I said, clever boy.”

“In any case, we’ll be walking through the park to go to Nacrene City.”

As he said this, they arrived at the footsteps of the Striaton City Gym.

“Ladies first,” Brenda winked, and cut in front of Cheren. “Come Ren, we’re going to kick the Gym Leader’s butt!”

 

Brenda entered, took a look inside, and then pushed Cheren back out, saying that they had mistaken the place.

“There’s no mistake,” Cheren reassured her. “The sign outside said this is the Gym.”

So he opened the door again, and they went back in together.

The front most part of the Gym had tables, which half of them were occupied by people having breakfast. Waiters and waitresses walked around taking orders, never bumping into tables, which gave them an air of natural elegance.

“This is a restaurant, though,” Brenda said, confused.

Ren remained close to his trainer, for seeing all these people talking at once made him a little scared.

“Welcome,” finally a waitress took notice of them and approached them. “Would you fancy a lovely breakfast, or a heated Gym battle?”

Brenda laughed, relieved.

“I’d like one Gym battle, please,” she said, and looked at Cheren. “What would you like?”

“Two Gym battles, that’ll be,” he said, following the joke all the way through.

“Two Gym battles. Come this way, please,” the waitress made way for them, and followed them to another room, which had another waiter reclining on the wall.

“Challengers? Let’s see if they can pass through,” he said, sending out a lillipup.

“Patrat, let’s go,” the waitress also sent out her pokemon.

“I guess it’s a double battle?” Brenda commented. “Ren, go destroy your opponents!”

“I won’t let you steal the whole spotlight,” Cheren laughed. “Red, let’s go!”

Brenda couldn’t help herself.

“It’s not just that the name ‘Red’ on a snivy doesn’t match,” she explained. “Now that I think about it, Red and Ren sound so similar. I should’ve called Ren ‘Bre’ or ‘Da’ instead.”

“Names are inconsequential,” Cheren laughed. “What’s important is the content. Red, show them what you can do!”

The fastest pokemon, Red, obeyed his trainer’s orders, and used tackle on the patrat.

“Don’t you have grass moves? They’d gain STAB on Snivy,” Brenda said, in hopes to impress Cheren with her knowledge.

“He knows Leaf Tornado, but that attack isn’t good for double-battles, since it hits your neighboring ally as well.”

“How thoughtful! But Ren isn’t so whimsy as to go down with that,” Brenda said, and then had to change her thought last minute. “Ren, use counter.”

Fortunately, Ren answered her request, and waited for the enemy to hit him.

She would have used vacuum wave to finish the patrat off, but it was, like leaf tornado, a move that would hit an ally as well.

I can’t use a move when Cheren was cautious not to hit Ren, she thought.

However, that meant that both patrat and the lillipup would be able to attack now. The two opponents both used tackle, the patrat on Red, and the lillipup on Ren.

At the end of the round, Ren used counter on the lillipup, which was, of course, not ideal.

“Oh, snivy is eating!” Brenda exclaimed.

“Yeah, I made him hold a sitrus berry, and now it has healed itself.”

“That’s a pretty neat tactic, but I’m not surprised since it comes from you,” Brenda smiled.

Now, in round two, Red was able to finish off the patrat with another tackle. Ren still had to use counter, so in the end, it wasn’t able to attack because the lillipup chose to attack Red instead.

“Double battles are a pain,” Brenda sighed. “They limit my move pool, and now Ren has been outshone by Red.”

“Don’t worry, the Gym Leader will battle you one-on-one,” Cheren reassured her, as the lillipup fainted with Red’s tackle.

 

The waiter and waitress gave them a little sum of pokecoins, and followed to show them the way to the Gym Leader.

Upon entering, however, Brenda was again surprised.

At the end of a large battle field were three Gym Leaders!

“Welcome, challengers,” the green-haired young man greeted. “We are the Gym Leaders of Striaton Gym. My name is Cilan.”

“I am Chili,” said the man with red hair that looked like flames.

“And I am Cress,” said the one with blue hair. “Which of you will be the first to battle?”

“Me, me,” Brenda waved her hand high.

Cheren patted her shoulder, wished her good luck, and walked towards a few chairs located against the wall.

“Which starter did you choose, young lady?” asked Chili.

Brenda’s movements halted, and she was lost as to what to reply.

“The truth is,” she said at last. “I didn’t choose a standard starter. My partner is Ren.”

She guided Ren to take his spot in front of her.

“Is it a new trend?” Cilan asked.

“Excuse me?”

“No, I wondered whether it was a trend among recent grads to choose non-standard pokemon as their starters.”

“Don’t mind him, lady,” followed Cress. “He is only impressed because we just had a battle before you, and the challenger also had a non-standard pokemon.”

Brenda widened her eyes, for she could only think of one person her age, who did not have one of the Unova starters beside herself.

“N was here?” she blurted out.

“N? Is that the name of that young trainer?”

“Did he have long green hair, and was he wearing dull-colored clothes?”

“Now that you mention,” Cilan laughed. “He could’ve gotten a little counseling from the fashion connoisseur.”

“Fashion connoisseur? Do you know someone like that?”

“You’re looking at one just now,” Cilan said, with a hand on his chest. “For I am a fashion connoisseur of top category.”

“I wouldn’t have guessed,” Brenda commented, looking at his waiter-like uniform. However, when Cilan asked her to repeat herself since he could not hear her remark, she said that it was nothing.

“So N was here,” she said to herself.

“N? Is that your ‘beautiful’ battling opponent?” Cheren asked.

Brenda pressed a finger on her lips and hushed him.

“What? Yesterday you said you meant it as a compliment.”

“But yesterday you took pity on him for being called so,” Brenda pouted. “Oh well. He said his Zorua didn’t enjoy battling, and yet he’s taking on the Unova League. I really don’t understand that guy.”

Brenda shrugged, and decided to focus on her Gym battle.

 

“I’m ready to start the battle,” she announced.

“Cress, you fight her,” Cilan said, leaving the battlefield to join Chili, who had already sat down on their waiting chairs.

“Leave it to me. Lillipup, let’s go!”

However, the first encounter finished rather quickly.

In the first round, Ren used counter, because Brenda was confident that he could take a hit from the lillipup. He did, and without the limit which Double battling placed, Ren was able to use Vacuum wave in the second round, which was super effective against the normal-type puppy.

“Hah, type advantage is sweet!” Brenda laughed.

“Not so easy,” Cress said. “Let’s show them, Panpour!”

“We’re almost there,” Brenda told Ren. “Just one more opponent, and we’ll have our first Gym badge.”

Ren growled, and took a stance of concentration.

“Ren, use vacuum wave!”

“Panpour, use play nice!”

Though the Panpour was faster, Ren’s attack landed first.

The monkey fell to the ground, but jumped back up and fulfilled its trainer’s request.

The panpour approached Ren, and hugged him.

Ren broke out of the monkey’s grasp, but it latched on him again and again. By the fourth attempt, he began to act strange, as though he were in a different dimension.

“What did you do to Ren?” Brenda shouted.

“Play nice is a move that decreases your pokemon’s attacking strength,” Cress explained. “He and panpour have become friends, at least until the end of this battle.”

Brenda looked at how Ren smiled at the Panpour.

“Snap out of it, Ren. You’re not the friendly type, remember?”

However, it was futile. Brenda would have to beat Cress with the effects of play nice.

It’s not a problem, however, she remembered.

Vacuum wave is a special attack, so it would not be affected by play nice.

“Ren, use counter!”

“Panpour, use lick!”

Fortunately, lick was a physical attack, but the amount of damage counter did was not quite enough to knock the monkey out. Additionally, Ren became paralyzed, and was unable to move the next turn, when Brenda thought she could finish the battle with a vacuum wave.

“Water gun, now,” Cress said.

The move was by no means strong, but it was still STAB, and did enough damage to push Ren into a dire situation. If he was not able to move the next turn due to paralysis, he would be finished with one more water gun.

“Please, Ren. I know it hurts and you can barely move,” Brenda begged, with her heart going at a hundred beats per minute. “It’s just one last chance. We’ve got to make it. I know you can do it, I know you hate losing!”

Brenda closed her eyes, and tried to calm herself as she made the final request.

“Ren, use vacuum wave!”

Ren stood up as quickly as he could, and forced his legs to run forward. He locked his opponent in his eyes, but every step he took, his paralysis threatened to make him fall.

With a jump, he straightened his fist just an inch from the Panpour’s face.

The vacuum took his opponent out.

When the monkey fell backwards to the ground, Brenda seemed to have contracted Ren’s paralysis.

However, that lasted for only a split second - after the initial shock, she ran over to Ren in the middle of the battle field, and embraced him tightly.

“We did it,” she murmured on his ear.

It seemed as though she wanted to cry, but she had never been one to allow herself to cry in public.

“We did it,” Brenda repeated in a loud voice, standing up.

 

Cheren applauded, as she ran together with Ren toward the three Gym Leaders.

“Yes you did,” Cress nodded when she reached them. “And as a proof of that, you can have the Trio Badge.”

Just as she accepted the badge, she crouched in front of Ren. She took his paw, and placed it on top of her hand, which held the badge.

“We have earned our first badge,” Brenda told him, looking him with a unusually serious expression. “The first of eight. We have done it together.”

Ren showed an honest smile, the first she had seen, as well.

[Candy]

Chapter 10

 

After Brenda, it was Cheren’s turn to take on a Gym Leader.

The trio waited for Cheren to send out his Snivy.

“A Snivy, it is then. I’ll battle him,” Chili said, stepping forward.

He sent out a lillipup, which seemed to be the common pokemon among all three Leaders.

“Red, use leaf tornado,” Cheren said calmly.

“Lillipup, tackle!”

Red acted first, and managed to lower the lillipup’s accuracy, which in turn caused its tackle to miss. The lillipup seemed confused as to how its move could have missed the target.

“That’s lucky,” Brenda told Ren, who was sitting next to her. “Now a second leaf tornado should do the trick. Cheren won’t even have to heal up to face the next opponent.”

However, Red winded up missing its second leaf tornado, because the lillipup happened to change its course of movement. The dog pokemon managed to hit the tackle this time around.

Red did knock out the lillipup on the third round, but Cheren would be forced to use a potion sometime in the next two rounds.

“Good, good,” Chili said, as he withdrew the fainted lillipup. “However, don’t think you’ll win that easily.”

From the ball Chili threw came out a pansear.

“Oh no,” Brenda gasped. “Now Cheren has a serious disadvantage, not only from how tired Red must be, but also from the typing.”

Contrary to what Brenda thought Cheren’s move would be, he commanded Red to use leech seed.

“Pansear, use flame burst,” ordered Chili, with a confident smirk.

Of course, the fire type attack hit super-effectively on the grass type Snivy, but it was not strong enough to knock it unconscious.

Now, Cheren used a potion on Red - actually, he used two, which was the maximum number he was allowed to use, back to back. That was because each time he healed, the opponent used the same attack, which brought down Red’s stamina to nearly the same level.

“What’s the point of healing up, if he’s going to end up at the same position?” Brenda was at a loss.

“Now, Red,” Cheren raised his voice. “Use nature gift!”

Red procured a chesto berry, and the berry glowed until it disappeared. A purple aura enveloped Red, and then he lunged forward with speed to headbutt the monkey.

The pansear still stood after the attack, but not for long. It kneeled, and finally lay down without consciousness.

How things turned out took both Brenda and Chili by surprise, so much so that they were speechless for a moment.

At last, Cilan broke the silence.

“Pansear is unable to battle,” he said. “Red, the Snivy, is the winner!”

“Cheren, you did it!” Brenda came running, and Ren followed her.

“What, did you expect me to lose?” Cheren grinned. “I can’t fail when my friend has won a badge right before me.”

“Of course not,” Brenda admitted. “All those books had to come in useful at some point.”

Both Cheren and Brenda laughed.

Then, Cheren walked over to the other side of the field, his fingers already feeling the sensation of his badge. In the middle of the way, he caught up to Red, and he took him in his arms.

When he stood in front of the three Gym Leaders, they each congratulated him.

Chili put his hand in his pocket, to get a badge for Cheren.

“Uh?” he checked the other pocket. “It’s weird, I was sure I had brought a bunch of badges.”

“Here, have this,” Cress stretched his arm, holding a badge.

Out of nowhere, a Minccino fell down on top of Cress’ hand, and robbed the badge.

“That won’t be necessary,” said a girl, lowering herself from the upper floor of the Gym, skillfully using some ropes. The girl was covered in black clothes - even her hair and face was covered, except for her eyes.

“I should’ve guessed it was you, Carol,” Chili scratched his head. “I’ll never know in what moment you took my badges.”

“That wasn’t me,” she said, walking toward them. “It was my partner here.”

Suddenly, a pokemon appeared close to Chili, and he was startled.

“A Kecleon,” Cheren commented.

“Exactly, for what other pokemon would go well with a ninja like me, other than my Unseen?”

“Unseen?”

Carol ignored his question, for she had more important things to say.

She took off her head covering, revealing long, orange twin tails.

“You should be proud, challenger,” she said, pointing at him. “For not many have the fortune to be noticed by my eyes.”

Cheren looked at the three Gym Leaders. Cilan moved his mouth sneakily, saying “Just roll with it.”

“The way you told your Snivy to use leech seed, and then healed twice to exhaust your opponent’s stamina without making a move, was impressive. Moreover, how your Snivy used a water-type natural gift with the Chesto berry to finish pansear off, was plain stylish. I can’t believe you are a beginner who’s just started his journey,” she carried on. “For that reason, I invite you to join my ninja gang, The Invisibles. We will fight the forces of evil, together!”

Cheren showed a forced smile.

“Thanks for the offer, but I don’t think I have the qualities to make a good ninja.”

“You are wrong, challenger. The skills of a ninja can be learnt, if you have a good teacher like myself.”

In his mind, Cheren wondered why the girls around him, save Bianca perhaps, had to be such overconfident nut cases.

“Well I-”

“Well, he’s not interested,” Brenda had come over to Cheren’s aid. “Besides, I don’t know if Cheren’s klutz is curable, though he impressed me yesterday when he ran faster than me.”

“Excuse me, but who are you?” the ninja girl raised an eyebrow.

“I’m Brenda. Cheren’s best friend, aside from Bianca,” Brenda stretched her arm with her hand shaped into a peace sign. “And what about you? You haven’t even introduced yourself.”

The girl hair-flipped one of her twin tails.

“I’m Carol, the ninja cousin of these three,” she said, referring to the Gym Leaders. “And if you wanted to know, you are not invited to join The Invisibles. The offer is only for the cute guy in the glasses.”

Carol winked at Cheren, which made him terribly embarrassed.

“Cut it out, Carol. You’re scaring our guests,” Chili said.

Carol clicked her tongue, and crossed her arms.

“Fine, but you’ll regret it, pretty-boy,” she spat out, and stormed off with her Minccino and Kecleon. However, midway, she turned and returned with light feet.

“Don’t forget your badge, and keep up your cool battle style,” she smirked as she grabbed Cheren’s hand and placed a trio badge in it.

When she was really out of sight this time, Cress sighed.

“I guarantee you,” she told Cheren and Brenda. “She’s the only weird one in our family.”

 

After a little small talk with the Gym Leaders, the two badge holders exited the Striaton Gym.

“A unique character she was, was she not?” Cheren commented, scratching his head.

“Unique, but so annoying!” Brenda said, and Cheren looked at her in surprise, for it was not often that he spotted her complaining about someone.

However, the reason was not what Cheren hoped it was.

Brenda flickered a strand of her high ponytail, and imitated Carol.

“‘You are not invited to join The Invisibles,’ she says. Like I’d want to join a cult like that!”

She stepped on the floor frantically, as though a miniature Carol was standing there.

“Easy there, Brenda,” Cheren tried to pacify her.

Brenda took a deep breath, and fell silent.

“Ok, I’m calm. Now, we must go meet Bianca at the Dreamyard.”

 

Bianca was talking with an unfamiliar woman when Cheren and Brenda walked into the Dreamyard.

“Hey, Brenda, Cheren,” Bianca called them. “Come here. Especially you, Cheren, for I’m sure you’ll be interested in what Ms. Fennel has to say.”

“Nice to meet you,” Ms. Fennel greeted as the two approached. “I’m a dream researcher based in Striaton. This Dreamyard is really an extension to my lab.”

Cheren placed a hand on his chin, and nodded.

“I’ve heard of dream research, which is more advanced in Unova than all other regions.”

“What’s so special about the Dreamyard, if I may ask?” Brenda asked with anticipation.

“Let me show you,” Ms. Fennel said, and she walked over to the closest tall grass.

She moved the grass softly, as though she were looking for something. On the third try, she managed to find what she was looking for.

From the tall grass emerged a pink pokemon, and it remained floating midair.

“Wow, what’s that pokemon, Cheren?” Brenda asked.

Before Cheren could answer, however, Ms. Fennel introduced them to her target of research.

“This is Munna, the dream-eater pokemon. I have been researching her evolutionary line for years now, and thanks to her breed I have been able to contribute much to dream research.”

“But she is still a wild pokemon, isn’t she?” Brenda asked, grinning. “May I capture her?”

Ms. Fennel chuckled.

“But of course, trainer. I don’t wish to monopolize the Munnas and Musharnas.”

However, Cheren had a piece of warning to offer.

“Munna is a psychic type,” he said. “Be careful, since your Ren is a fighting type, and thus vulnerable to her.”

“Ok, thanks for the heads up,” Brenda said, and then sent Ren forward. “Ren, you must come back if you can’t handle this fight, ok? This is our first battle with real type disadvantage.”

Ren nodded, but he was determined to win. He took his stance, and awaited for command.

“Ren, use quick attack!”

The attack hit the Munna, but she immediately countered with a hypnosis attack.

“This is not good,” Cheren told Bianca. “If Ren doesn’t wake up in the next round, it might be best to forfeit.”

Ren did not get lucky, and did not wake up in the next round.

The Munna used psybeam on him, and he complained, but did not wake up.

“It’s fine, Ren. We tried,” Brenda said as she took the pokeball that hadn’t been used in a while. “Come back now.”

However, when the pokeball’s withdrawing light almost touched Ren, he woke up and rotated his body to avoid it.

“Ren, we can’t weaken Munna enough to catch her. Return,” she pressed the pokeball’s button once again, but Ren would just not accede.

Instead, it used bullet punch on the Munna, and received another psybeam in return.

That second attack caused Ren to faint.

“Stubborn Riolu,” Brenda sighed as she kneeled to scoop Ren into her arms. “We’ll have to work on how to read your limits, little guy.”

Brenda’s friends ran over to check on Ren’s status.

“He's fine, I’ll take him to the Pokemon Center now,” Brenda smiled. “Sorry I showed you an uncool performance.”

“No worries, we know wild pokemon are hard to bond with,” Bianca cheered her up. “I’ll take on the Striaton Gym in a little bit, so I guess we’ll be seeing each other in Nacrene City next.”

Brenda nodded, and waved at her friends.

 

Just as she was exiting the Dreamyard, however, she happened to spot a red fox looking at her from a patch of grass.

“Oh, it’s a Vulpix!” Brenda exclaimed, and became sad that she didn’t have pokemon to fight and capture her. “Guys, look! Anyone want to capture a Vulpix?”

Unfortunately, just as her friends reacted at her remarks, the Vulpix disappeared into the tall grass.

“Never mind, she’s out of sight now.”

“Don’t worry, Brenda,” Bianca told her from where she stood. “I’m sure you’ll encounter another one, and you’ll be the one to capture her!”

“If I remember correctly, it was your favorite pokemon, wasn’t it?” Cheren commented, more to himself than to the girls.

“Yes, it’ll be that way,” Brenda replied to Bianca, totally cured of her unhappiness, and was off her way to the Pokemon Center.

Edited July 15, 2017 by Candy

[Candy]

Chapter 11

 

“... So that’s why you should listen to me when we need to forfeit the battle,” Brenda was explaining to Ren how he should avoid getting knocked out, when a preschooler bumped into her legs.

The preschooler, who hadn’t been paying attention, fell backwards and started crying.

“Oh easy there,” Brenda said, lowering herself, and offering a hand to the child. “You were just startled, but fortunately you only hit your butt.”

As he took Brenda’s hand, another preschooler approached.

“Sam don’t be silly. You shouldn’t cry just because you fell,” the child said.

“It’s ok,” Brenda told both children. “Sam is just learning, and besides there’s no reason to be ashamed about crying when something hurts.”

Sam gave her thanks, and both boys were on their way back to what seemed to be a small kindergarten. Next to that house, was another with a large enclosure and quite a number of pokemon, including rare and foreign ones.

 

Curious, Brenda decided to take a look inside.

“Welcome,” an old lady said as she entered. “This is the Unova Daycare, Route 3 branch. How may I help you?”

“Thank you, but nothing in particular,” Brenda smiled. “I only have one pokemon, so I can’t deposit him, even if I wanted to.”

The old lady bowed, and sat down on a chair behind the counter.

Two children, of similar age as the prior two or a little older, were in the daycare with their pokemon. One of them was a mothim, and the other was a sewaddle.

“Wow, your pokemon has already evolved to its final form,” Brenda couldn’t help noticing.

The two children looked at Brenda, with round eyes.

“That’s because bug pokemon evolve fast, and I’ve taken care of Mothy with all my heart,” said the girl.

“My Doodle hasn’t evolved yet because I just caught her yesterday,” the boy said, but he wasn’t in a cheerful mood.

“My Ren hasn’t evolved either,” Brenda told the boy, with hopes of comforting him. “But I think that increases the surprise-factor, doesn’t it?”

“Surprise-factor? What’s that?”

“It’s when you don’t expect something, and yet it happens. Surprises are fun, and more if it’s concerning pokemon.”

The children remained thoughtful for a moment, and then the girl smiled, while the boy just shrugged.

“I won’t have a surprise-factor,” he said, pointing his mouth. “Because my parents want me to release Doodle.”

“Why is that?”

“They say I’m not big enough to take care of a pokemon. Even though I told them Sasha is the same age as me, and she already has a mothim.”

Brenda knitted her brows in empathy, since her mother had also not allowed her to have pokemon in the house until she graduated pokeschool.

“That’s a pity,” she said. “I don’t really understand adults who don’t want children to get a headstart taking care of pokemon. I only see benefits, and no cons.”

”I don’t know what a con is, but I think so too,” the boy said.

“Yeah, even if Tom wasn’t paying attention to Doodle, I’d make him,” Sasha agreed.

“Sis, would you please talk to my parents? Maybe they need to talk to an adult, because we’re just kids,” Tom pleaded, raising his sewaddle. “Please help, please please?”

“Wait you guys,” Brenda stood up. “I’m not an adult yet myself. I’d like to help, but I don’t think I can change your parents’ mind.”

However, the children echoed each other with please-s, that in the end she was forced to see Tom’s parents.

 

Brenda stayed at the kindergarten and its little park, playing with the preschoolers, until the time came when parents would pick up their children.

Having grown up an only child, and with two friends who had older siblings, Brenda had had little experience taking care of little children. That is why at first, she was uncomfortable standing among all the children, even when Tom and Sasha were kind enough to invite her over to play.

However, she did end up making friends with the other children, thanks to Ren. The children approached her, curious about her partner. Many of them had never seen a Riolu before, and the few that did, boasted about knowing of them.

Unexpectedly, Ren did not seem to have trouble mingling with the children. He was roughly the same size as them, so he was able to play with the same toys, swings and slides as the children. From Brenda’s perspective, she was rather glad that she had been convinced to stay, if only to be able to see Ren laugh happily like he was while playing.

While Ren played, Brenda chose to help out the caregivers by tending to injured children and cleaning the kindergarten.

 

Finally, as the sky started to turn orange, Tom’s parents showed up.

They were well-dressed in formal suits. The father was a tall man, who seemed to maintain a smile on his face, while the mother, though good-natured, seemed to be more strict.

“Mom, Dad, this is my friend Brenda,” Tom introduced her to them. “I met her today, and she is a trainer, and she has a Riolu.”

Ren was standing just behind Brenda, peeking at Tom’s parents.

The two adults offered their hand, and Brenda locked each in a handshake.

“She’s going to tell you why I should keep Doodle,” Tom said, and then ran off to where Sasha was waiting for him.

His parents were left confused.

“Doodle? That little boy, whatever could he have meant by that?” the mother asked.

“Doodle is the name of his Sewaddle, madam.”

The lady sighed.

“Oh, so he still hasn’t released that pokemon.”

“No, he hasn’t. He carries her everywhere, and every so often releases her out of her pokeball to play with her. Doodle also seems quite happy to play with Sasha’s Mothy, too.”

Tom’s mother looked at Brenda in something close to awe, but this time the father spoke.

“I take it you have spent your day looking after Tom,” he said. “Thank you for that, but if you might be implying that we should keep the sewaddle, I’m afraid we may waste your time unnecessarily.”

“I already told Tom that I wasn’t sure I could change your minds,” Brenda replied. “But at least hear me out. May I ask, have either of you been a pokemon trainer?”

Both adults shook their heads sideways.

“Do you know that Tom wants to eventually become a pokemon trainer after he finishes pokeschool?”

“Yes, we know. However, he is still young, and his mind is bound to change,” the father said.

“Whether or not he becomes a pokemon trainer,” Brenda continued. “Only fate will decide. However, I’m a firm believer that growing up with pokemon will only nurture his innocent soul.”

Brenda scratched her nose, a little embarrassed at what she would say next.

“The truth is, I’m only now realizing that there is something neither pokeschool or your parents can teach you, unless you spend time with pokemon.”

“What is that, if we may ask?”

“The difficulty of building a strong bond with pokemon,” she said. “As a child, I tended to be liked by wild pokemon I’d just met, so I imagined that earning the trust of my partner when I became a trainer would be the easiest part of my journey. I have to - I must admit I was wrong. Ren and I still have a long way to go, and he reminds me of that in the way he battles.”

Brenda laughed, and petted Ren’s head.

“‘A strong bond between trainer and pokemon can make the impossible to become possible’, Professor Juniper always said. However, it takes time, and most importantly, determination and effort to build. I’ve only been with Ren a few days. I’ve gotten injured because of him. I’ve bought the wrath of a friend because of him. Even then, he’s my partner, and I want to dedicate every moment of my career to build that trust between us. That’s why I support your son’s willingness to make friends with Doodle. He will learn that Doodle is not just a doll, which does things the way he wants, but an individual with her own mind. Why not start to build a bond now that he’s young? If he becomes a trainer in the future, their bond which was fermented over the years may open doors that would have otherwise remained shut.”

 

The three of them did not speak much following this, and Brenda felt sorry for Tom that she was unable to draw in his parents a change in mind.

With polite farewells, Brenda parted ways with Tom’s parents, and asked them to give him her regards.

 

Just as she was reaching the point where Wellspring Cave’s entrance was visible, Ren and her were stopped by a voice shouting Brenda’s name repeatedly.

Upon turning around, they were surprised to see Tom running and panting.

“What is it, Tom?” Brenda asked, lowering herself to match Tom’s height.

“You forgot your reward,” he replied in between puffs of air.

“Reward?” Brenda batted her eyes, and then wondered whether it was a gift from the caregivers for helping them in the day. “It’s fine. Go back, and tell the caregivers that I volunteered my time, and so they don’t have to give me anything in return, will you, Tom?”

Tom shook his head frantically.

“No, it’s not from them,” he said, taking something out of his pocket. “It’s for talking to my parents. They’ll let me keep Doodle now!”

Brenda’s face lit up instantly.

“I’m so happy, Tom. I don’t need a reward, you’ve given me one already, by taking away my sadness.”

Though she said this, Tom insisted that she have her reward.

It seems I’m weak to demands from kids, she thought and chuckled, as she opened her palm to receive said reward.

“What’s this, a pokeball?”

It was something she was definitely not expecting.

“See what’s inside,” Tom encouraged her.

Brenda nodded, and pressed the button on the pokeball. Together with the familiar opening sound, a sewaddle appeared.

“What, but Tom,” Brenda started. “You just told me your parents allowed you to keep Doodle.”

“Yes, they did,” he replied, giggling. “This is not Doodle. She’s Doodle and Mothy’s daughter.”

The recollection that she had met Tom and Sasha at the Daycare flashed in the back of her head.

“Granny had told us that if you put a female and a male pokemon in the same Daycare, sometimes they’d find your female pokemon holding an egg. So Sasha and I tried it out, and it was true! When it hatched this morning, this little girl came out of the egg.”

“If you don’t become a trainer, Tom, you should become a pokemon researcher. You’re already doing wonderful experiments!”

Brenda laughed, and Tom giggled again.

“I want to be a trainer, just like you, Brenda.”

“Thank you, and thank you for the gift too. I’ll treasure my Sewaddle just like you do your Doodle, remember that.”

 

Brenda gave Tom a little hug, and waved her hand until he was out of sight.

“What do you think, Ren?” Brenda asked, as she petted the Sewaddle. “Do you think you can make friends with her?”

Ren looked at the green larva, who looked back at him with drowsy eyes.

Then, he looked away, and crossed his arms.

“You say that now,” Brenda snickered. “But I’m sure you’ll become good friends.”

Brenda picked up the Sewaddle, but it did not struggle to set herself free. Rather, she seemed wholly unconcerned about what was happening in her surroundings.

“I guess her nature is quiet, calm or relaxed,” Brenda noted. “I’ll name her Leaf, for she has one large leaf on her head, even larger than Doodle’s, I think.”

Leaf returned to her pokeball composedly, much like Ren had never done, and the three of them carried on with their walk to Nacrene City.

[Candy]

Chapter 12

 

After a few battles along Route 2, Brenda and her partners made it to Nacrene City, just in time for dinner.

Thanks to winning against the Gym Leaders and the trainers, Brenda had accumulated enough money to buy a nice banquet - however, to avoid a mishap like in Accumula Town, she decided not to eat in, but take out the food, and eat inside their room at the Pokemon Center.

She greeted the other two girls who were sharing the room with her, and she and her pokemon ate happily, after a day of excitement and change.

 

The next morning, she was up and ready to go.

“Gym Leader Lenora uses normal type pokemon. This should be an easy fight for us, Ren.”

Yes, last night before sleeping, she had checked the Unova League manual, to make sure she was not mistaken.

Brenda lifted Ren’s empty pokeball, and the other which contained Leaf inside. She gave Leaf’s pokeball a little kiss, and promised to train her for her debut in Castelia City.

 

“Look at this place,” Brenda said as the Pokemon Center doors closed behind her. “I don’t know why it’s called a city. It has a nice town-feel to it.”

Indeed, the small wooden houses and the remains of an old railroad, all surrounded by pine trees, made her feel as though she were visiting an extension to Nuvema Town. In her mind, Nacrene City was less city-like than Accumula Town, even though it did house more people.

Brenda and Ren walked north of the Pokemon Center, where the supposed Gym was located.

They passed by the restaurant they ordered food from the day before, and noticed that a couple of guitarists were playing some peaceful tunes in the terrace.

The Gym was not located far from there, but she would have missed it entirely, had the League manual not given her a heads up that it was inside a museum.

“Ready? Ren, let’s go,” she said as she walked forward. “I hope there are few challengers this morning.”

As she talked to Ren, she forgot to watch where she was going, and bumped into someone.

“Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention,” she apologized.

Then she raised her head, to see at whom she was talking to.

“Oh but isn’t it N!” she exclaimed, happy to see a familiar face. “Remember me? We met two days ago.”

N was also surprised, but he pushed his black cap down, and just replied with a “yes”.

“Do you want to see a new addition to my team?” Brenda offered, but since she did not receive a reply, she went ahead and released her Leaf.

The little larva turned its neck sideways, and then looked up to see the green-haired man.

“Don’t you think she’s cute? Her name is Leaf, and I got her as a present by one most adorable preschooler.”

N nodded, but refrained from commenting.

Brenda pressed the pokeball, and made Leaf to return.

“You know, when I heard you had battled at the Striaton Gym, I couldn’t believe it. That’s because you said your Zorua disliked battling, and I assumed you wouldn’t be interested in taking on the Unova League,” Brenda carried on with the slightly one-sided conversation.

“I realized that for me to accomplish my ideals,” N said. “Sitting around would amount to nothing. Zo also agrees, so we are battling Gym Leaders to gain strength.”

“That’s great! Then now we’re officially friends with similar interests, and rivals who aim to be the very best!”

“No,” N replied. “We do not have similar interests.”

“Really? I think we do. We both are taking on the Unova League. We both love our pokemon. We both are young, with hopes and dreams awaiting for us. Isn’t that like, 90% of what constitutes you and I? Cheren, Bianca, you, me, and all other fresh trainers are similar, I’d say.”

Brenda stretched her arms wide, to emphasize the dimensions of what she spoke of.

The way she looked so happy arguing for their similarities may have caught N off-guard, but if he was awed by it, his stance did not show it.

Instead, he kept silent for a moment, and then closed his eyes.

“Sometimes the 10% difference is what truly matters,” he said, and walked past Brenda.

“Hey,” Brenda turned. “Did you already battle Lenora? Were there many trainers waiting in line?”

N stopped, and looked back at her.

“I battled her, and lost. She should be free to battle you now.”

With that, N disappeared in the direction of Route 4, leaving a wide-eyed girl behind.

 

“It’s ok,” Brenda reminded Ren. “We’ve got type advantage, while he didn’t.”

They entered the museum, and asked one of the ladies at the counter whether she would have to pay an entrance fee, though she was only there to battle the Gym Leader. To tell the truth, she had bought too many expensive dishes the day before, so she was rather running low on cash.

Fortunately, that was not the case for anyone, since the museum was subsidized by the government and some sponsors to open its doors to the public at no cost.

“The Gym is at the end of the museum,” the lady said. “Just go straight down from here.”

Brenda thanked her, and walked with quick footsteps in that direction.

In front of the stairs that led to the Gym entrance, a rock of roughly the size of her two fists combined caught her eye. The rock was a perfect orb, which despite being pitch black, was made of a material that reflected the light well.

“Somehow this rock doesn’t look old enough to be in a museum. Don’t you think so?” she asked Ren, but he had paid no attention to the rock, and was already waiting for her at the top of the stairs.

She soon joined him, and found herself inside a small library that smelt like old books all around.

“Hello,” a middle-aged gentleman spoke to her. “Challengers to the Nacrene City Gym, I suppose?”

“Yes, we are,” Brenda said, stretching her arm to pose with a peace sign.

“In this Gym, we will present you with two questions. Each question is an excerpt from a book, and has two possible answers. Depending on your choice, you shall battle two of the four Gym trainers.”

The gentleman led her through the many bookshelves, to an area where four trainers were reading books.

“Oh, another challenger?”

“I guess it’s the season of pokeschool graduations, so we’ll be getting many one after another.”

Two of the trainers placed bookmarks on their books, and stood up from the table, holding them so their titles were visible to Brenda. One of the books was titled The Biology of Meowth while the other was Dissertation On the Diet of Aipom in Unova.

“Here is your first question,” the gentleman said, taking out a piece of paper from his pocket. “This pokemon shows a strong preference for Nanab berries; however, these berries are not native in Unova, and therefore scarce. As such, this pokemon shows signs of adaptation to eat other varieties.”

“Well, it’s certainly about diet, so I believe it’s an excerpt from the Dissertation.”

“Correct,” answered the young girl, putting the book on the table. “So I shall battle you now.”

The gentleman pressed a button close to the window, and slowly but steadily the bookshelves started turning and moving apart, so to make space for a pokemon battle.

The girl threw her pokeball, and it released an Aipom.

“This is an interesting set up for a Gym,” Brenda admired. “I bet if I’d chosen the wrong book, I’d have battled a Meowth.”

“Yes, that’s right. Lenora wants to encourage the building of knowledge from books, so she thought of this little game.”

When Ren took his place, the battle began.

“Aipoms are fast, but not enough for Ren,” Brenda talked to herself. “Ren, use vacuum wave!”

The target was hit, but somehow it seemed to do less damage than what Brenda expected.

Why? It’s a super-effective STAB attack, Brenda was confused.

“Aipom, use fury swipes,” the girl ordered.

Ren was scratched three times, but managed to dodge the fourth one.

Both trainers repeated the same moves twice, though fury swipes hit only twice on the third round, resulting in Ren’s victory due to a matter of speed.

Seeing how tired Ren had been left after a one-on-one match against a normal type left Brenda puzzled. However, she hoped that perhaps chances were the Aipom had been born with unusually excellent battling genes.

Her suspicions were confirmed when she battled a Sentret after answering correctly to the question, ‘it’s balance is so great, it can balance its whole body on its tail’.

Ren was able to take out the opponent in a few minutes. This calmed Brenda a little.

Once their battling was concluded, the gentleman guided her to a hidden staircase beneath a bookcase, which he again activated by pressing a button on the shelf itself.

“Good luck, young one,” he said, and bowed.

“Thank you,” Brenda replied as Ren and her went down the stairs.

The smell of old books intensified the more steps she took, but finally she touched the underground floor.

“Welcome, challenger,” Lenora greeted, raising her eyes from a thick book she was holding. “I am Lenora of the Nacrene City Gym. I hope you have prepared yourself with extensive reading.”

Lenora’s teal colored ponytail, which matched the color of her eyes, bobbed as she walked over to a table to leave her book and come back to face Brenda.

The seasoned Gym Leader sent out a Herdier, and Brenda hurried Ren to take his position.

The battle started with Ren’s priority move, vacuum wave.

His move hit the Herdier’s face, and he was blown away a good number of steps back, but otherwise the attack seemed not to have cut his stamina a lot. Instead, just as soon as he was able to, he charged forward and hit Ren with full force.

The attack injured both parties, but Ren seemed to have received a stronger damage.

“Ren, use counter!” Brenda commanded, crossing her fingers that another take down attack would not knock him out.

Ren braced himself for another attack, which did come.

Fortunately, Ren barely made it this round, and was able to take out the Herdier with counter.

“Good, Ren,” Brenda said, wiping a little sweat from her forehead. “I’ll heal you this coming round.”

Lenora let out a Watchog.

As promised, Brenda healed Ren fully, and he was refreshed, ready for the last battle till a new badge.

“Ok Ren, let’s use counter again,” Brenda said, and Ren obeyed.

“Finish him,” Lenora commanded. “Use retaliate!”

The Watchog ran with incredible speed, and stopped in front of Ren, only to punch him a couple of times, and deal a final kick that sent him flying to the wall.

“Ren!” Brenda ran towards him, but upon reaching him, she realized that he had been knocked out.

The blood drained from her face, as she returned Ren to his pokeball.

Her instinct was to forfeit, and leave the place as soon as possible, but as per battling rules, leaving the battle midway was not permitted.

“Sorry, Leaf. I didn’t want your debut to be this dull,” Brenda whispered at Leaf’s pokeball.

Then, she hesitantly released her onto the battlefield.

As expected, a crunch from the Watchog was all Leaf needed to be knocked out.

Brenda fell to her knees, with a blank expression.

“Watchog, return,” Lenora said.

She walked across the field, gently scooped the fainted newborn larva, and approached the teenager.

“Don’t be so sad,” Lenora sighed. “Here, you should bring your pokemon to the PC. I will be awaiting for a rematch.”

Lenora placed Brenda’s Leaf on her arms, and helped her stand back up.

“Sometimes type matchup is not all that defines a pokemon battle,” Lenora advised, and returned back to her study.

Brenda turned her back to Lenora, and stepped toward the exit.

A little tear fell onto Leaf’s face, but Brenda wiped her cheek as soon as she felt it caress her face.

Edited July 16, 2017 by Candy

[Candy]

Chapter 13

 

Just as she was exiting the Nacrene Museum, Brenda saw Cheren walking this way.

“Oh hey,” Cheren greeted. “Did you battle Lenora already?”

Brenda scratched her neck, and looked just below Cheren’s eyes, as she denied it.

“Actually, I just checked out the museum,” she said. “I think Ren escaped midway, so I’m going to look for him at the Pokemon Center now.”

“I thought it unusual that Ren wasn’t with you,” Cheren commented. “I’m on my way to battle Lenora.”

Brenda wished her friend good luck, and Cheren thanked her.

Before stepping away from her, however, Cheren remembered something curious.

“By the way, I thought I’d find you here yesterday, but it seems you arrived later than I did.”

It was indeed odd that Brenda, who left Striaton City earlier than her friends, was the last one to arrive at Nacrene City.

Therefore, she had to briefly explain her situation with the preschoolers the day before.

“So now you have a Sewaddle,” Cheren smiled. “You should train her. I believe her evolution, Swadloon has good defense, so the combination between Ren and her should give you an edge for your upcoming Gym battle.”

Saying this, Cheren waved his hand, and excused himself.

 

Brenda lowered the hand that waved goodbye, and internally scolded herself for being dishonest.

“Why couldn’t I just say that I’d lost,” she said, and punched her own forehead. “When I asked N, he said he lost with not even a shrug.”

Brenda sighed.

“I guess I’m that much childish.”

She kicked a rock, and ran all the way to the Pokemon Center.

 

After healing her pokemon, Brenda sandwich-slapped both of her cheeks twice.

Ren looked at her with questioning eyes, wondering what had gotten into her.

“Ren, I’m sorry that I caused you to lose that battle. That I wasn’t able to make good use of the type-advantage,” she said quickly. “But this is no time to be gloomy about our loss. We’ll win next time for sure.”

Ren did not smile, but nodded.

They headed over to the outskirts of Nacrene City, where a few other trainers were battling each other and wild pokemon, most in preparation to enter Pinwheel Forest.

Brenda sent out Leaf as well. The larva, as usual, looked at her with drowsy eyes.

“Ok team,” she spoke. “We’re going to train hard. Hopefully, that’ll increase our agility and defense enough to avoid getting knocked out by that pesky retaliate attack.”

Henceforth, Brenda took the entire day, and a little bit of the next to nurture her pokemon.

Given that she was dealing with a Riolu that did not know where his limits were, the training caused her also to get injured, especially due to flying-types pecking her head and arms.

However, she felt each one of her bruises was worth it, because by the next day, Ren had perfected how to use force palm, which hit stronger, instead of vacuum wave.

Leaf also made good progress.

Through her training, Brenda realized that Tom and Sasha’s experiment had resulted in a Sewaddle that knew a nifty trick - camouflage.

When Brenda looked excited at her discovery, Ren looked at her in confusion.

“Camouflage is a special move, which you don’t encounter often among Sewaddles in the wild,” she explained to him. “I’m guessing Sasha’s Mothy knew camouflage, and that’s how Leaf inherited that trait.”

Talking about egg moves aloud, reminded her that Ren’s vacuum wave and bullet punch were also products of his past generations.

“Isn’t it amazing? From the fact that you knew how to use these moves, I know that you most likely had a Hitmonchan as an ancestor,” Brenda was full of snickers.

In exchange, Ren did not seem to find this discovery as exciting as Brenda seemed to find it.

Instead, he kept using force palm on wild pokemon in order to improve his art.

Though Brenda found Ren’s lack of interest upsetting, she also decided to carry on mainly helping Leaf become a better battler - which also resulted in her getting an extra handful of injuries.

 

At around noon on the day after she had lost against Lenora, Brenda thought she finally witnessed the real magic of pokemon.

Ren was battling against an audino, but right before he could deal the final blow, a Timburr appeared out of nowhere, and finished it for him. The audino left in a hurry, while the Timburr and Ren looked at each other with hostility.

The staring contest did not last long - at last, Ren broke the tension, and force palmed the Timburr, which easily dodged it. In return, the Timburr used wake-up slap, which did hit Ren in the face.

Furious, Ren used bullet punch, dodged its opponent’s next attack, and used quick attack.

This angered the Timburr also, who then used his hand to whistle loudly. Ren thought it was an attack, like screech, so it braced himself for an attack with increased damage.

However, the whistling was not done against him, but instead was a means to call his comrades.

A Throh and a Sawk appeared from the tall grass, and heard the Timburr’s complaints about this blue outsider.

At this moment, Brenda, who was busy looking after Leaf’s battle against a Timpole, looked back to see how Ren was faring.

“Ren! Whatever is going on?” she exclaimed. “Whatever you do, don’t think you can take on three fighting types at the same time!”

Even saying this, her mind was not convinced: he’s going to do it.

And so he did. He bullet punched the Throh, and was about to get a handful of vital throws and karate chops, when Brenda hugged Ren in hopes to protect him.

This is the end, she thought, for she did not feel strong enough to withstand any more damage.

However, this time around, she ended up being protected instead.

She felt a cold, soft entity touch her back, and for an instant thought it might be her soul leaving her body.

When she took a glance at her back, she saw a bluish white something glowing. On further inspection, she concluded it was not her soul, but Leaf, who was currently evolving. The glow faded, and Leaf had turned into Swadloon.

How she managed to block the enemy’s attacks was a mystery for only a couple of seconds, before she demonstrated it again.

When the trio pack attacked again, Leaf cut them off by creating a glittery, transparent barrier in between the foe and her.

“She’s using protect,” Brenda whispered.

Ren, looking at Leaf taking his spotlight, struggled free from Brenda’s grasp, and used force palm on the Throh, who was confused as to what had stopper his punches.

The third time, however, Leaf could not produce a barrier successfully, and both pokemon received a nice beating, in exchange for Ren taking out the Throh with another force palm.

“Let’s go the safe route,” Brenda said, standing up. “Leaf, use protect, and Ren use force palm.”

Leaf answered and put up the barrier once again, but Ren changed her plans and used screech.

“Screech? When did you even learn that?” she was at a loss, but shrugged. “That’ll work. Now our opponents are both vulnerable to our next attack!”

Neither the Sawk nor the Timburr could do anything, since they were blocked by protect.

“Now, let’s finish this. Leaf, use razor leaf! Ren, use force palm!”

Both pokemon obeyed her this time, and the remaining foes were taken out in that round.

“We did it,” Brenda jumped. “Good work, team!”

 

From behind her, she heard someone clapping.

“Amazing showcase of skill, Brenda.”

Turning around, Brenda saw her friend Bianca standing.

“Oh Bianca,” she smiled. “Since when were you there?”

“I watched your encounter with Timburr and his friends,” Bianca replied. “I was about to jump in to help, when I saw you protecting Ren with your body. You can be so reckless - that’s why you’re covered in wounds.”

“Ah, these?” Brenda scratched her face. “I guess you can’t be a trainer without a scratch or two. I’m sure you know, since I can see you scratched your upper arm.”

“One scratch can’t compare to the hundreds you have all over your skin,” Bianca scolded a little. “I’m glad that Leaf was jumped in to help you out, for I don’t know if I could’ve made it in time.”

“Yeah, she was the real MVP. I didn’t expect her to evolve right then too - now she knows a lovely new move, protect.”

Brenda said this, and then batted her eyes.

“Now that I think about it, this new move will come in handy in my battle against Lenora,” she smirked.

“You’re ready to take her on? I’ve just come from battling her,” Bianca commented.

Then, she showed Brenda her Basic Badge to prove her victory.

“Don’t think you’ll be a step ahead of me always,” Brenda said.

“If you’d like,” Bianca suggested, with a little embarrassment. “We could have a little match, since we haven’t had one yet.”

Bianca pushed her green hat down with both arms. She had yet to get used to challenging people to battle.

“Let’s do it!” Brenda raised her fist in the air.

Edited July 19, 2017 by Candy

[Candy]

Chapter 14

 

With the entrance to Pinwheel Forest to her back, Brenda faced her friend and rival, Bianca.

“Go, Chris! Show Brenda what we’re about,” Bianca said, as she threw her pokeball.

Her Dewott, Chris, was visibly anxious to battle, as he demonstrated in a little leg and arm stretching routine.

“So your Oshawott evolved into Dewott,” Brenda commented. “But we won’t lose.”

She sent Ren to the field, and the little guy was as ready as ever to win.

“Ren, use screech!”

“Chris, razor shell!”

Ren managed to dodge the two shells that aimed at him with noises of cutting air, and made a sound that neither pokemon nor trainers were happy to hear.

“Nice job there,” Brenda praised. “Now, use what you’ve been practicing. Force palm!”

“Don’t let him get you, and use razor shell again,” Bianca commanded.

Ren managed to use force palm on the otter, but in return, got hit by a shell on the stomach.

“You okay, Ren? Do you want to switch out?”

Ren shook his head sideways, and with effort stood up again.

“Alright, but don’t push yourself too hard,” she pleaded. “Now, use force palm again.”

“Finish him with another razor shell,” Bianca ordered.

Had the shells struck first, Ren would have indeed been finished off. However, Ren was a little bit more speedy than the Dewott, which allowed him to use force palm first.

The Dewott fainted, and his shells fell to the ground with him.

“Great, Ren!” Brenda clapped.

“I still have one more pokemon,” Bianca said with a smile. “Go, Moon!”

The pokemon she sent out was a Munna.

“So you managed to capture one in the Dreamyard,” Brenda said, remembering her own encounter with one.

“She appeared right after you left,” her friend replied.

“Not a problem though, now that I have Leaf. Ren, return.”

However, as it was usually the case, Ren did not listen to her orders when it came to running away from a battle.

“Come on Ren,” Brenda insisted. “You don’t have to fight until you literally can’t move.”

Even then, Ren did not bulge.

Brenda sighed.

“Alright. Use bullet punch, then.”

The attack did not miss, but so did Moon’s psybeam.

One hit was enough to make Ren faint.

“Come back, silly boy,” Brenda said, as she pressed Ren’s pokeball’s button for once.

Ren disappeared into the pokeball, for a well-deserved rest.

“It’s your turn, Leaf,” she said, and Leaf appeared onto the little battlefield.

“Your lifesaver,” Bianca smiled. “She must be a physical attacker, so Moon, use barrier!”

“Nice move, but I’m sure we’re faster. Leaf, use bug bite.”

As she expected, Moon did not finish making her barrier when Leaf’s bug bite struck.

However, the strength was not enough to knock the opponent out.

“Your Moon should’ve been holding a berry, so Leaf could’ve eaten it,” Brenda stuck her tongue playfully.

“I always forget to stock on berries,” Bianca sighed. “I guess that’s why I haven’t been able to win against Cheren.”

“I haven’t battled him yet, but his Red has this nifty move ‘natural gift’. He can pretty much use a strong move with any typing he wants.”

“Yeah, luckily he couldn’t use any super-effective moves against my Moon, because ghost, dark and bug moves seem to require rare berries.”

“On the other hand, I don’t think I’d have the same luck with Leaf, since she’s susceptible to fire and flying type attacks. At least I’ll be able to trick him with camouflage, but don’t you dare tell him my strategy!”

“You know I can keep a secret,” Bianca winked.

They finished their match with Leaf coming in victorious, though the boost in defense helped Moon to postpone her inevitable demise.

“I’ll be seeing you in Castelia City then,” Bianca said. “I believe Cheren must have already reached there, since he departed yesterday.”

“What? I didn’t even see him pass by Pinwheel Forest.”

“I’d guess you were too focused on your training to notice,” Bianca laughed.

“But that Cheren,” Brenda pouted. “He could’ve at least say hi or bye, like you did.”

“He probably didn’t want to disturb your training. I wouldn’t have, either, if it weren’t because you were in danger.”

Brenda shrugged, and scratched the back of her head.

“Don’t do anymore reckless stuff, okay?” Bianca said, deliberately turning serious.

“Ay aye, captain,” Brenda joked with her hand to her forehead.

The two friends said their farewells, and parted ways after that.

 

Entering the Pokemon Center looking like she did, was another story entirely.

“I don’t have to ask your name,” Nurse Joy sighed. “To know you are the girl my sister in Accumula Town warned me about.”

Brenda only laughed awkwardly, and waited for her pokemon and her to be attended to.

When she exited with Ren out of his pokeball again, she was one step away from looking like a mummy.

“Now I’ll have to remember to put this ointment all over my skin,” Brenda commented to Ren, taking out a sizeable brown pot.

She put it back into the plastic bag, and took out a smaller tube.

“Nurse Joy was so kind as to give this to me. It’s for stopping the bleeding when I get injured, which she said is invariably going to happen.”

She chuckled, and also put the tube back into the plastic bag.

“It’s too bad I had to throw away a set of clothes,” Brenda sighed. “We can’t lose this Gym battle, mainly because our pride hangs on it, but also because I need money to afford new clothes!”

Ren giggled, and led the way toward the Nacrene Gym.

 

However, just when they were about to enter the museum, a group of four individuals almost stampeded over her.

“Watch where you walk,” one of them said to her, as they ran away.

“They were the ones who almost ran me over,” she mumbled, and wrinkled her nose at them.

Then, as she passed the counter, she saw Lenora and a man running her way

“Oh, if it isn’t the girl from yesterday,” Lenora noted. “If you’re here for a rematch, I’m sorry but it’ll have to wait. Some thieves just stole a valuable item in our collection.”

“A skull from a dragon fossil! The whole set was found only this year,” the man whimpered. “They must be stopped at any cost. Not a moment to waste!”

The man did not wait for Lenora, and was off in the direction the thieves ran.

Almost exchanging spots, another, younger man entered the museum.

“Lenora, I happened to pass your husband, and he was most certainly crying,” he commented.

“Hello, Burgh. I’m sorry, but I don’t have much time to talk with you today,” Lenora apologized, but her feet’s movements showed she was ready to leave any second. “I must go with my husband to capture a bunch of thieves.”

“Thieves! That is horrific. You must allow me to help you,” Burgh offered. “Indeed I also witnessed a few men and women dressed in gray - and may I add, cheaply made - clothes, running away hastily. They were off in the direction of Pinwheel Forest.”

“They must be headed to Castelia City,” Brenda ventured a thought. “Castelia City is a port, so perhaps they plan to escape by boat! We must stop them before they get there.”

Burgh nodded.

“I will be looking around Pinwheel Forest,” he let them know, before leaving at once.

Now, leaving Lenora and Brenda alone, the seasoned Gym Leader had a concern to voice.

“I appreciate your wish to help,” she said. “But won’t this task be too demanding on a teenager like yourself?”

Brenda shook her head sideways with such speed that her cap came loose from her head.

“No, please let me help,” she replied, fixing her cap. “I’ve gotten stronger since last time we battled. I trust my pokemon and I can offer a hand.”

Lenora was still worried, but acceded.

“Fine, let’s go then.”

 

Pinwheel forest was so densely packed with tall trees, that although it was a perfect sunny day out, it was dark inside the forest. It was nothing uncomfortable, however; it provided a cool shade for the people running after the thieves.

In autumn, the fallen leaves must make satisfying noises under one’s feet, Brenda imagined, but dared not to voice her thoughts. Lenora might mistake them for a lack of concentration, which was not the case.

Ren, though smaller in size than her, somehow was running faster than either Lenora or her.

Eventually, they came to a cross road, so Lenora suggested splitting up.

“Shout if you encounter trouble. I’ll come help you as soon as possible,” she said, and ran towards the path of the left.

Ren and her, therefore, ran on the other path.

Ahead, she saw some pokemon rangers standing.

“Hey you,” one of them said to her. “Let’s have a pokemon battle.”

“Sorry, I don’t have time right now. I’m looking for thieves. Have they come this way?”

The rangers talked to each other for a moment.

“We don’t know if they were thieves,” the rangers scratched his chin. “But we did see a group of people running. They also didn’t answer to our challenge.”

“That must be them,” Brenda said, taking a deep breath.

The rangers pointed in the direction that the supposed thieves went.

Brenda thanked them, and resumed running.

Finally, she managed to find the thieves, because they had decided to take a little break.

“This is why I said to push through it, and not take a break,” one of the grey-clothed individuals spoke. “Look, we’ve been discovered.”

“What are you talking about? We were the ones carrying this heavy thing, you know,” another one, who was sitting next to a lying comrade. On his other side was a giant skull, perhaps of size three times larger than a human’s.

“Besides, it’s just a little girl,” the fourth thief said, as she took another breath of her cigarette.

“First things first,” Brenda snapped. “I’m not a little girl. Second, that cigarette is a fire hazard inside a forest, and third, you thieves are going to return that skull you robbed!”

“Like we care,” she replied, and let a puff of smoke out of her nostrils.

“I recollect seeing those grey clothes somewhere before,” Brenda pondered aloud.

“We are Team Plasma grunts. We would’ve been surprised if you haven’t seen three or four of our election rallies.”

“You might not get to see any more of them, once we take you out.”

The Team Plasma grunts all let out one pokemon each. Two of them were Liepards, and the other two Herdiers.

“Ren, Leaf. We can do this,” Brenda said, and let out Leaf from her pokeball.

The four thieves commanded the four pokemon to attack, though Brenda could not hear what each was told to do. However, one thing was clear to her.

“Hey, that’s no fair. Double battles should be done with two pokemon on each side,” she said, pointing at the foe’s herd.

“We’re thieves, remember? We have no morals.”

“So, screw the rules then,” Brenda spat, switching into angry mode. “Leaf, use protect on both you and Ren. Ren, force palm the Liepard nearest you!”

Their four pokemon were prevented from hitting a single target, but Ren’s force palm managed to critical hit, and took out one of the opponents.

“Next up, force palm and bug bite on the last Liepard - we must take her up, and don’t miss!”

Brenda’s team took out the liepard successfully, but the two Herdiers used take down on both Ren and Leaf.

“Use protect on both of you, and use force palm on a Herdier,” Brenda ordered.

“Again?” The thieves grumbled.

The fighting type attack was not enough to cause the Herdier to faint.

What to do, Brenda bit her lips. She had to heal up, but who?

If they gang on Leaf, who’s slower, or if they hit Ren with one more take-down we’re done for …

She found a way out by choosing to take a pass on Leaf’s turn, and healing Ren, who then struck another force palm, effectively knocking out one of the Herdiers before the foe attacked. Ren received another take-down, as she had predicted, but it failed to knock him out thanks to the healing session.

“Good work, team,” she praised. “Now, let’s finish the Herdier off with another force palm, and a bug bite from Leaf!”

The Herdier went down, but not before he used another take-down on Ren.

Ren fainted, but Brenda won the no-rules match.

“Now, what do you say? Will you give me the skull fossil, or do you want to turn into sticky web mummies?”

“You’re unreal!” One of them shouted.

“We can’t give it back, even if we’re converted into mummies,” the smoker said, and extinguished her cigarette with her foot. “Team Plasma needs it more than that cheap museum would ever need it.”

“Whose museum are you calling cheap?” A voice called out, and the bushes trembled as they revealed Lenora’s husband. “Bunch of thieves, return the skull this instant!”

“Indeed, you had better,” Burgh said, catching up to him.

The Team Plasma grunts shook from anger, but eventually gave up their mission, for with no pokemon, there was no chance for them to win against a Gym Leader.

“This won’t be the end,” the smoker spat, as they retreated out of the forest, leaving the skull behind.

“Good job, Brenda,” Burgh congratulated her, once the enemy was off sight. “You must be quite talented, to have taken out all those thieves by yourself.”

“It’s my pokemon who deserve the credit,” she said, as she called Leaf back, and scooped Ren off the ground.

“Here, use this,” Burgh said, offering a little piece of yellow rock.

Perplexed, Brenda placed it on top of Ren, and watched how the rock disintegrated into light. The light went into Ren’s chest, and soon enough he opened his eyes.

“You should still go to a Pokemon Center, but that revive should keep him healthy meanwhile.”

Brenda bowed her thank-yous.

“How are you feeling, Ren?” she asked the friend who was drowsy in her arms. “You were great out there. We beat the thieves as a team!”

It looked to Brenda as though Ren curved his lips up slightly.

“Rest well,” she told him.

Burgh only saw the girl and the riolu, with something like warm admiration.

 

“Oh, am I late for the action?” Lenora asked, running towards them.

“I am afraid you are,” Burgh told her. “For Brenda had already taken care of the thieves, when we arrived.”

Her husband pointed at the skull, and told her that he would need her help carrying it back.

“Thanks Brenda, and Burgh, for your help,” she said, while carrying the heavy skull back to the museum. “Brenda, do come to the museum for a rematch, once you’ve healed your pokemon, that is.”

“I will,” Brenda said, with a thumbs up.

“When you have won against Lenora,” Burgh smiled. “I hope you will pay me a visit in Castelia.”

Brenda laughed, and guaranteed him she would be there soon.

[Candy]

Chapter 15

 

Brenda went back to the Pokémon Center to heal her friends, but Nurse Joy did not let her go without a change of bandages. She hesitantly accepted, and on their way out, they passed by the minishop to buy some quick snacks and medicine, which used up all of her money.

When they stepped outside, a droplet of rain hit Ren on the top of his nose.

“Let's hurry before it pours,” Brenda told him. “And remind me to buy us rain coats.”

They ran all the way to the museum, and she dried her face and Ren’s with a hand towel.

The dragon skull they had helped to recover was back up on the exhibit, but there were less visitors, probably from fear of another theft.

 

The gentleman from the day before led them directly to the sliding bookshelf, for returning challengers didn't need to battle Gym trainers again.

The pleasant smell of old books and wood filled Brenda’s nostrils once more, as she went down the narrow stairs. Lenora was waiting for her downstairs.

“Welcome, our museum’s heroine,” she smiled. “If it were up to me, I would grant you the Nacrene Gym badge for the bravery you exhibited moments ago; however it is the League’s rule that you must defeat the Gym Leader before you can receive your reward.”

“No worries, I also wouldn't be satisfied unless I defeated you first,” Brenda punched the air.

“That's the spirit,” Lenora placed a hand close to her mouth as she snickered.

 

Both parties sent out their first Pokémon onto the field.

Ren displayed focus on his stance, but Brenda could tell he was still intimidated by the opponent Herdier.

“Ren, use force palm!” Brenda commanded, and her Pokémon’s palm hit the Herdier on its cheek - more than force palm, it looked like a forced slap.

The Herdier also heeded its owner’s advice, and used take down on Ren, which had it hit him on a critical spot, he would have been knocked out.

Brenda chose not to risk it, for a missed attack would've meant her demise. Ren had to win this opening match no matter what. She called Ren back, used a potion on him, and hoped the Herdier would miss its next attack. Unfortunately for her, it used crunch, which didn't miss. She had to use another potion, but this time, Ren slid to the side and dodged the opponent.

“Good Ren,” she took a deep breath. “Finish him with another force palm!”

As she hoped against hope, Ren managed to land his attack on a Herdier that attempted to dodge it.

“Yes, great job,” Brenda jumped from joy, as Lenora called her Pokémon back.

The Gym Leader sent out her Watchog, but Brenda already had a plan.

She ordered Ren to return - or rather she begged and bribed him, for he would not listen until she promised him a dinner of his preference (she expected Lenora to be generous in her monetary reward, even more than Cress had been) - and sent Leaf out of her pokeball with a little twirl.

“So your Sewaddle evolved into a Swadloon. She seems quite healthy,” Lenora commented.

“She is. Healthy and strong, as I've trained her with all my might.”

“I could tell, from all those bandages.”

Brenda scratched her chin, and smiled a little awkwardly.

“I'm sure a scratch or two will prove to be worth it,” Brenda said, as she quickly raised both her arms in a defensive pose. “Leaf, use protect!”

This caught Lenora off-guard, since she had ordered her Watchog to retaliate, and she expected her attack to hit before the genetically sluggish Swadloon.

“Can't use the same trick on me twice,” Brenda chuckled. “Now, Leaf. Use bug bite.”

“Watchog, retaliate again.”

The retaliation hit this time, but the doubling effect was absent. The bug bite, however, restored Leaf’s health by stealing the opponent’s sitrus berry.

“It seems you have read all my moves this time around,” Lenora laughed. “I'm pleased. You're on the path of becoming a great trainer.”

Brenda expressed her gratitude, but did not lose concentration until two razor leafs finished the Watchog off.

The moment she confirmed that the rodent Pokémon could not stand back up, she swiftly scooped Ren, and subsequently Leaf, and hugged both of them tightly.

“We did it! We've earned another badge,” she exclaimed with tears on her eyes, but which were, this time, joyful tears.

Lenora clapped, as her victorious challenger approached her.

“You have completely earned this badge,” she said, and offered Brenda the Nacrene badge. “I hope we shall meet again. I look forward to seeing your progress as a trainer.”

“Thank you. We'll surely be tougher.”

With Leaf on her shoulder, and Ren’s hand on hers, Brenda exited the museum with nothing but elated feelings.

That is, until she had to lose most of her earnings in buying a three-course meal for Ren alone.

 

That evening, Brenda decided she should be on the move toward Castelia city, because she didn't want to be too behind her other friends.

“I wonder if Cheren already defeated Burgh,” she wondered aloud. Since Cheren’s ace was a grass type, she estimated it would be a difficult match for him, but given Cheren’s intellect when it came to Pokémon training, it wouldn't surprise her if he were already on the way to Nimbasa city.

Ren and she entered deeper into Pinwheel Forest, roughly following the path they'd taken to capture the villains in the afternoon. Since it had rained a short time while they were in the Nacrene Gym, the ground was soft and muddy, and the air was full of that humid soil smell. Brenda was happy, for the aroma reminded her of her rural hometown, where rainy days were a constant in spring and autumn.

“Maybe we should try capturing a new team member,” Brenda said.

Just as she said this, she happened to find a wild Vulpix looking their way. When the red fox and Brenda’s eyes met, Brenda felt the Pokémon looked familiar. On the other hand, once the fox realized it had been discovered, it widened its eyes in alarm, and ran away at once. Brenda ran after the Vulpix, Ren following her at an equal pace, but rather unpleasantly.

 

In a place a little further into the forest, a trainer was resting under a tree, waiting for news. Suddenly he heard grass shaking near by, so he pushed his cap upward to see.

We're in trouble, Lord N. We must flee right away, the source of the ruckus advised. Brenda and her pesky Riolu are headed this way.

N jumped right up, and started running together with his Vulpix-looking Zo.

“How? Why? I told you to watch her training from afar.”

That's what I aimed to do, but it seems that my illusion wasn't dull enough, Zo explained. It's really tricky to only be able to transform into fox Pokémon.

“We’ll have to work on your illusions,” N told her while panting. He wasn't used to aerobic exercises.

Why not just talk to her, and ask her for training advice? Zo asked.

N was silent for a moment, as he concentrated on dodging the bushes and tree branches in the dim light. He looked for the correct words to use, but he could not articulate his feelings very well.

“She’s just a difficult one to deal with,” he admitted.

Zo said no more, but the seconds he spoke were enough for N to lose balance. He tried to reach a stop when he saw a cliff in the dim sunlight, but his feet got tangled in the tall grass, and he fell forwards. The slippery mud from the rain earlier did not help his hands halt his momentum either.

He screamed as he rolled down the cliff, Zo watching in horror.

 

Brenda and Ren had lost track of the Vulpix, and were actively looking for her, when they heard someone screaming nearby.

“What was that?” She asked Ren, who looked back at her without a clue.

They ran in the approximate direction of the sound, calling the stranger without response. The sun was quickly setting, and Brenda ran into trees more often.

Finally, her foot touched the edge of a cliff, and she retreated in fear. Had she been careless, she could have fallen down.

“Ren, be careful. There's a cliff here,” she warned.

 

Zo heard their voices, and howled in grief from down below.

“Someone there?” Brenda shouted toward the bottom. Zo did not stop howling.

Ren pulled on Brenda’s shirt, and gestured for them to go down. She nodded, and sent Leaf out of her pokeball.

“Leaf, I need you to use your whips to reach the bottom,” Brenda said, and Leaf eagerly wrapped her tentacle-like whips around her trainer’s waist.

Brenda slid down the cliff carefully, for she could feel the moist soil under her palms. Ren followed right after, and finally Leaf, who anchored her whips to a rock as she descended.

Just as Brenda touched ground, which wasn't that far from the top of the cliff as she had imagined, Zo, already turned back into a zorua, ran to her and wrapped her body around her right leg. The sensation scared Brenda, for the dark furry creature was difficult to make out in the dark, but the fact that the Pokémon was trembling allowed her to know that it was not a dangerous fiend. She grabbed her lantern from her backpack to get a better look at the furry thing.

“Zo, is that you?” She asked, as she petted her.

Zo quickly left her leg, and motioned for Brenda and her gang to follow her.

Close by, lay the body of her trainer, resting on his back.

“Zo,” he muttered as he was blinded by the lantern’s light. “I told you not to call them.”

Brenda gasped.

“N! What happened to you?” She said as she ran over to kneel next to him.

N had apparently hit his head, and scratched various parts of his arms and legs, for they were all bleeding.

“I'm fine. I'll get better if you let me rest here.”

“Hello? You're covered in blood, and let me guess, you fell down a cliff! That's not fine,” Brenda scolded. “It’s your lucky day, for I've got the perfect stuff to help you while we get to the Pokémon Center.”

“I already checked my Xtranceiver. We can’t call the PC from here.”

“We’ll take of that later. Now, first thing first,” Brenda said.

N sighed, for he had the impression she wasn't the type to let anyone alone once she set her mind to it. He watched Brenda take out a small tube from her backpack.

“Look, Nurse Joy gave me this magical ointment, which somehow stops bleeding. I haven't tried it though, so pray to Lord Arceus that it really works.”

She squeezed out an exaggerated amount of the creamy substance onto her hand, and began applying it over N’s forehead.

“You should use your medicine on yourself,” he mumbled, noticing the bandaged wounds on her arm and face.

“I've got a separate one for these,” she said, pointing at her healing wounds. “This ointment is only for stopping bleeding.”

N’s consciousness started slipping, as the burning pain of his forehead was soothed by the medicine. He heard Brenda complain some more about the number of open wounds, and her concern for wounds that may not be visible, such as any behind his head, before falling unconscious.

 

How much time had passed, he could not know, but he was awoken by a sharp pain on his right shoulder and ankle.

“What is it? What hurts?” Brenda asked. Only then, he realized he was being hauled onto her back, in position to get to a decent piggy back ride.

“What are you doing?” He exclaimed, his head still fuzzy and hurting.

“I'm taking you to the PC, of course.”

“You can't carry my weight,” he said desperately, trying to break free. “You'll hurt your back. Auch!”

“I'll hurt my back if you don't stop squirming like a Weedle! Don't overestimate my strength young lad. Now tell me - where is it you hurt?”

N calmed himself, and slowly raised his right leg. She pulled back the end of his pants, placing care on not touching his likely irritated skin. The lantern’s light revealed that his ankle was inflamed to about twice its original size.

“My my, but your ankle is swollen like a tomato. I don't carry any medicine for that,” Brenda commented.

At that moment, Ren picked up the concern on his trainer’s voice, and realized he could help by looking for plants that he knew from experience had anti-inflammatory function. He searched around, using his sharp sense of smell rather than his eyesight. In no time, he had gathered some herbs, but he had been out-paced.

Brenda, worried that the swelling may be due to a broken ankle, decided it was best to somehow keep N’s foot from moving and being strained. In light of this, she asked Leaf to use her sticky web to create a cast, which though not as sturdy as a real one, helped to minimize movement in the joint.

Ren said nothing, but let go of his herbs.

Brenda managed to walk slowly under N’s weight, but the Pokémon that walked alongside her could observe how her cheeks turned red, and soon how her face and shirt showed signs of excessive sweating. Ren, Leaf and Zo did not just walk around her, but helped by asking wild Pokémon the closest exit toward Nacrene city.

 

When they reached the PC, Brenda took a few seconds to compose herself (mainly the redness on her cheeks) before helping N off her back and onto a seat.

“Dear me,” Nurse Joy exclaimed. “Audino, come help me with this patient.”

An Audino quickly came over with a bedded cart, and the three of them helped him up on it. N moaned from pain, and was quickly sent into the emergency room, leaving Brenda, her Pokémon, and Zo behind.

Zo was visibly depressed, and no matter what Brenda said to comfort her, she sat still with droopy ears.

Brenda thanked Leaf for her cooperation, and called her back into her pokeball to avoid congestion at the PC.

All of them sat there for about a half hour, when Nurse Joy exited the emergency room.

 

“Thanks for waiting,” she smiled, and that alone reassured the group. “Your friend is now doing better. I saw you used the ointment I gave you. It helped him greatly.”

“No problem, I'm glad I helped,” Brenda said with a bright face.

“You came from Pinwheel forest, right? The old government had plans to increase Xtranceiver coverage there, but the current one cancelled it for lack of funds. You don't know how many have complications due to being unable to call us for an ambulance,” Nurse Joy mumbled more to herself than to Brenda.

Nurse Joy left her and went to take care of other patients, but Audino peaked out of the emergency room, and waved for Brenda and her peers to come. Together with Ren and Zo, she followed Audino and entered the room with curtains and a white bed, where N was lying awake and looking at the ceiling. He was now bandaged properly on the head and arms, even on the right shoulder, but she couldn't tell the status of his foot, for he had blankets over his legs.

“Hello, how’s it going?” She asked, as Zo jumped onto the bed and into her trainer’s arms.

“Better,” N shrugged.

Audino picked up a sheet of paper which hung from the side of the bed, ignored N’s straightened hand, and handed it over to Brenda. On it, N’s diagnoses were written, along with some recommendations.

“It seems you dislocated your right ankle and shoulder, so you'll need to use a wheelchair for about two weeks, until your shoulder gets healthy enough to use crutches.”

N told the Audino something inaudible, but she just shook her head sideways.

“What’s that?” Brenda asked, but N shrugged and said nothing.

Brenda looked back at the sheet of paper, and was unusually silent for a few minutes. Then, she gave the sheet back to Audino, and took a deep breath.

“I guess I'll have to postpone my trip to Castelia,” she smiled and stuck her tongue playfully, while N widened his eyes and looked at her.

“Don't even think about it. I'm fine, and can look after myself,” he said, in all seriousness.

“I don't doubt it,” Brenda smiled. “But doing that with injured limbs is different. I can't just go on to the next city, knowing my friend is here struggling.”

“You've done enough, and I thank you,” N said, changing his approach. “But I'd feel more at ease if you'd just go to Castelia.”

“Too bad, I'm selfish and only care about my being at ease knowing you're not being reckless with your healing body,” she replied.

“What if I gave you ten thousand pokecoins to have you on your way?”

To this, Brenda had to think a little, for it was nothing short of true that she was always broke. However, in the end, she pushed her desires down and declined the offer. No matter what he tried, he soon confirmed that once Brenda set her mind on something, her determination (or her head) was as solid as a rock.

 

In the end, N had to leave the emergency room on a wheelchair, which Brenda pushed for him. Brenda talked with Nurse Joy, and reserved a bed for him in the male-only floor, and one for her in another floor. Then, she bought some easy food at the Pokemart, and moved N’s wheelchair toward the elevator.

“We can eat together in the common room, then we can go brush our teeth, and I'll leave you in your room,” she told him her plan, but N remained silent and in deep thought.

They did as she planned, and it helped that N did not injure his left arm as much, since being a lefty, it would have been much more difficult to eat or brush his teeth with his right hand. When N came out of the bathroom in the male-only floor, Brenda and Ren were out waiting for him. She went around him to push his wheelchair, while Ren followed just behind.

“Thanks,” N said when they arrived at his room, which had two people already tucked in bed. “How much should I pay you for your help?”

Brenda batted her eyes.

“Pay me? Why should you? I think I should be paying you for forcefully helping you.”

“Forceful or not, a service is a service, and the receiver must make a payment.”

Brenda thought for a moment.

“What about a hundred thousand pokecoins?”

“Deal,” N replied without even taking a moment to think.

“What? No, no,” Brenda waved her hands. “That was a joke, dummy. You were supposed to act all shocked! This is why rich kids are a pain. Value your cash, young master.”

“Then what do you want?” N asked, frowning.

“What about a smile? I've only seen that smug face of yours,” Brenda said while pulling her cheeks down like a bulldog. “It makes me want to punch it into shape.”

“I won't accept that as payment.”

“Then it'll be part of it. Now, smile!”

N looked at her with knitted brows, and they glared at each other in silence, until he gave in and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he slowly curved the ends of his lips into a smile.

“That's it,” Brenda clapped. “Was it so hard? Your beau- handsome face will get premature wrinkles if you keep that sour face all the time.”

N’s lips became a straight line again.

“What's the other part of the deal?”

“What if we postpone it?”

“What?”

“If you ever find me in a situation like this, needing someone's help, maybe you could lend me a hand,” Brenda said and then chuckled. “Not that I believe I'd fall off a cliff. Really, I didn't think you were the type to make such a mistake.”

“You misunderstand, but the details are meaningless now,” N coughed. “I’m not satisfied with our deal, and would much rather settle it with the hundred thousand pokecoins, but I'm not in the position to make that decision. Anyway, thanks for everything, and good night.”

“G’night!” Brenda waved her hand close to her forehead. “Thank Lord Arceus for saving your life, and see you tomorrow.”

 

When the stubborn girl and her blue partner were out of sight, N closed the door behind him, and tucked himself into bed with some effort. Nurse Joy was not exaggerating when she warned that his shoulder and ankle had to remain at rest - a mere vibration sent waves of pain that paralyzed his thoughts. Zo supported his back as he reclined, so he could avoid harming his comparatively healthy arm.

“Zo, this situation could not get worse.”

[Candy]

Chapter 16

 

Worse, it didn't get, but N imagined the next day was going to be just as bad when he found Brenda fresh and ready outside of his room, as he was on his way to take a shower.

“Rise and shine, little Snorlax and Zo,” she said, with a loud voice that almost gave him a headache. “How are you feeling after a good night’s rest?”

The truth was, his back started hurting during the night, while he saw no improvement in any of his wounds in the morning. On top of that, he could barely sleep, due to pretty much every corner of his body hurting or stinging, especially his shoulder and ankle.

“I’m better, I think,” he replied.

“Good to hear that. Rest assured I'll make this day great and enjoyable, even if you have to be glued to a wheelchair,” she informed him, showing him both hands with thumbs up.

Brenda’s partner, however, did not show as much enthusiasm as his trainer. Ren, with glowing fur from having taken a bath as relaxing as a hot spring this morning, wasn’t looking as fresh in his expression. He looked at the young man in the wheelchair with contempt, but when N asked him what the matter was, he moved his gaze away, and replied that he was fine.

To Brenda’s inquiry, he also dismissed her questioning look saying it was nothing.

“Well then, I'm assuming you were on your way to shower,” she said, noticing he was clenching his towel and a bathrobe. “Do you think you'll need help?”

N’s face colored, and he looked at her with disbelief.

“Even if I needed help, I couldn't bring in a girl into the boys’ shower room.”

Brenda was dumbstruck for a second, before bursting into muffled laughter.

“Of course I wasn't going to do that, dummy,” she wiped her tears. “The PC has helpers for that. Thanks for the laugh, though.”

N looked away, and regretted saying things without careful examination.

“Do you know the way to the showers?”

N affirmed, though he really did not know. However, his priority was to leave her presence immediately, less his half-asleep self might make a fool of him again. Besides, he felt capable of following the single path that likely led to his destination.

 

Bathing with a foot and shoulder out of service was an ordeal. Every time he forgot about his injuries and accidentally moved, it sent a sharp sting of pain that almost knocked him out. As a result, it took him over an hour to wash himself, wash Zo, and put on his bathrobe.

When he returned from bathing, Brenda was unfortunately still in front of his room, engaged in what seemed to be leg stretches. She said hello to one stranger who left the room just as he wheeled himself towards her.

“If you want, you can wait downstairs,” he said, now embarrassed at being seen in a bathrobe.

“I’m fine, no rush. We have a lovely long day to come,” she raised her fist high.

N sighed, and went into the room, closing the door behind him.

Zo helped him like she had done the day before, to gently pull his shirt’s sleeves as close as possible to the arm he could not lift. Putting on underwear and pants was a little easier, since he could raise his legs one by one, and use his healthy arm to pull them up, while he leaned against a wall.

The moment he opened the door, Brenda bulged in, and went around him to push his wheelchair.

“Guess what we’re doing today?” she asked, but she had meant it as a rhetorical question. “We’re going to catch and train new pokemon!”

N was not impressed.

“What for?”

“You’re still in these lands because you can’t get past the Skyarrow Bridge checkpoint without the Basic Badge, am I wrong?”

N was rather surprised that Brenda turned out to be somewhat witty, but could not think of anything to say.

“Of course I’m not wrong,” Brenda winked. “So I’ll help you destroy Lenora and her retaliation team.”

Just as everybody else, N had struggled and lost due to the gym leader’s Watchog using retaliate the turn after he took down the Herdier.

“So you believe Zo can’t take on Lenora on her own?” he commented. Zo glared at Brenda, and revealed her sharp teeth, but N petted her fur to calm her down.

“I won’t deny that Zo is strong,” Brenda replied, scratching her neck. “But Lenora tests your pokemon’s ability to cooperate with others, and your ability as a trainer to balance your team. That’s why, unless your Zo had rock-hard defenses, she can’t survive a double-power retaliate.”

N wanted to say something in favor of Zo’s defenses, but having lost the battle against Lenora in the exact same way Brenda described, he was left with no arguments to provide. Instead, he tightened his lips, and nodded.

“You don’t have to feel ashamed. In fact - and I haven’t told anyone else - I also lost against her the first time,” Brenda told him not to be ashamed, but she tried to hide her bright peach-colored cheeks with her hair, though N could not see her from where he sat. “I went in all confident, because Ren is a fighting type. Yet, in the end I needed Leaf’s help. Their team play was great, I assure you.”

They reached the elevators, and pressed the button. Soon after, the bell rang and the steel doors opened for them.

“What Pokémon are you planning to catch?” N asked, to avoid awkward silences inside the elevator.

“Whatever comes,” she smiled, and softly placed a hand over Ren’s head. “I don't pick Pokémon, because my father taught me that a trainer's greatness is measured by how well he can draw out the potential in his Pokémon.”

“Your father sounds like a wise man,” N remarked as the doors opened again.

“Yes,” Brenda said, pushing him out into the lobby. “He's the wisest. But my priority is to get you a new Pokémon, so give me a minute to stop by the shop, and buy some pokeballs and our breakfast snacks.”

Brenda pushed his wheelchair to the counter. After attending to an old woman with her granddaughter, the salesman asked them what they wished to buy.

“5 pokeballs, 4 pokesnacks Cheri, Rawst, Aspear and,” Before finishing her order, she asked N what flavor Zo preferred. “... another Cheri flavored, and two energy bars.”

“That will be 4500 pokecoins.”

Brenda opened her wallet, but gasped at the sight. The wallet contained nothing but one coin of 50.

She closed her wallet, and slowly turned to face N with a particularly sweet, kitten-like face.

“Oh dear, you don't happen to have pitiable 4500 pokecoins lying around with no one’s hands to feel, do you?”

N batted his eyes at being called ‘dear’ before taking a bundle of cash out of his pocket. He stroked his thumb through the many blue bills.

“I only have increments of 10,000 pokecoins. Will that work?”

He peeled one bill from the bundle, and held it to Brenda. She lowered her head in gratitude as she accepted his charity with both of her hands.

“Of course, Lord N. I promise I'll pay its entirety when cash flows into my peasant wallet.”

The salesperson could not avoid chortling, after the pair of oddballs left the PC.

 

“You wear shabby, dull clothes, and yet you’re a spoilt, wealthy boy, aren’t you?” Brenda sighed after the PC doors closed behind them. “Yesterday I thought you were joking, but today, you’ve proven it. There’s no denying it.”

“If you say so,” N said. “I never had anyone to compare myself with, to know I was spoilt.”

Brenda facepalmed.

“All your childhood friends were as rich as you, then. Am I the first broke friend you’ve had?”

“My childhood friends,” N commented, but paused before continuing his thought. “Were mostly pokemon. There were two girls older than me, but I consider them more my caregivers than friends.”

This made his companion widen her eyes and gasp.

“No human friends then?” she asked. “No wonder you smell different to the rest of us.”

N looked at her with a raised eyebrow, and wrapped his left arm across his face to smell it.

“I hope it’s not an unpleasant smell.”

“Dummy, it’s a figure of speech,” Brenda stuck her tongue out. “Albeit created by me. What I mean is that you seem different to my friends and prior classmates.”

“I’m probably older than them, and thus more mature.”

“How old are you?”

“Sixteen.”

“Grr. I’m fourteen, but hey, I’m turning fifteen next week. Don’t try using the I’m-older claim, for I guarantee you I’m not allowing it!”

At this point, Ren who was getting bored of their conversation pulled on Brenda's shirt.

“Oh right, we should get going. Let's have breakfast once we capture the lucky one, shall we?”

Brenda jumped behind him, and pushed his wheelchair with considerable speed toward Pinwheel Forest.

“One year is not an excuse enough to act like a bitter middle-aged man, by the by,” she told him. “Relax a little, and smile more. You know, I could get used to seeing you smile like yesterday.”

N said nothing, and did not even twitch his lips to give birth to a smile.

 

They entered Pinwheel Forest once again, and they were momentarily blinded by the change from sunlight to shade provided by the trees. Though it had not rained since the day before, the forest was still humid, yet pleasantly cool.

“Wait here, I’ll go rustle those tall grasses,” Brenda pointed at the patches of grass, and hopped into them.

She flung both her arms around in the grass. Pokemon cries were heard, but they all ran quickly and away from her.

“Hey, wait for me,” she called, but to no avail.

Brenda continued from patch of grass to patch of grass, hoping to meet a pokemon that wasn’t afraid of humans. The process was long and unfruitful, for they were in a forest, where wild pokemon were not used to humans.

At one point, however, she finally managed to find a pokemon that was wary of her, but stood still in a defensive stance. Brenda laughed merrily, and picked up the wine-red larva.

“I got one,” she said, raising it high up so N could see. “You can battle him and catch him, N.”

N looked at the Venipede in alarm, and he was about to say something, when Brenda let go of the pokemon because of her hands. The Venipede did not lose a second to scurry away.

“Ouch, my hands hurt.”

Ren ran towards her, and looked at her hands, which had bloody bruises, and were starting to swell. He acted shocked, and disappeared into the forest with such speed that Brenda did not have time to call him back.

N wheeled himself with some difficulty, as he was not used to physical exertion, and using a wheelchair with only one arm was quite challenging.

“The Venipede had poison point. You shouldn’t have touched it with bare hands.”

“I forgot, I was careless,” she replied with knitted brows. “This is bad. I can’t move my fingers.”

“Go to the Pokemon Center. I’ll be here for when Ren returns.”

Brenda hesitated, looking at the forest’s exit and N back and forth. However, in the end she carried herself in the direction of the PC.

She was looked at by Nurse Joy, who sighed at the sight of her hands. She asked Audino to take care of her poisoning, and left to treat an old man who’d fallen down a flight of stairs.

Looking at Audino, Brenda was reminded of something much more important than her hands. The night before, Audino had visited her shared room to bring her a note from Nurse Joy saying that it was imperative that N came to the PC to tend to his wounds once a day.

“I hadn’t forgotten, you know,” Brenda grinned, but the Audino had no idea what she was talking about.

Instead, the pokemon took out a white pot from a drawer, and dunk her hand into the peach-colored cream. She applied it over Brenda’s bruised hands, ignoring her patient’s complaints of a stinging sensation.

Once the cream was dry, Audino wrapped her hands with a silky gauze, leaving it a little loose for mobility. Brenda noticed that her hands had recovered most of their mobility by the time both her hands were wrapped.

“Thank you, Audino. I promise I’ll be more careful.”

Audino smiled and waved her hand as Brenda ran back to the forest.

 

“I’m back,” Brenda said, panting.

She found N sitting next to Ren, who was holding some pecha berries.

“It turned out that Ren had gone to pick up some pecha berries to cure your poisoning,” N explained.

Ren shot an angry look at N, and seemed to tell him something in between growls.

“That I don’t need to explain things on your behalf? It seems I’ve somehow bought your distrust,” N sighed. He wasn’t accustomed to being disliked by pokemon.

Ren looked down at his berries, when suddenly he was scooped up in an embrace, so tight that his berries fell to the ground.

“Oh Ren, you thought of me, thank you! If I’d known, I’d have waited for your natural medicine,” Brenda exclaimed, and twirled still holding him.

N watched as how Ren’s face turned red from either being embarrassed or choked.

Brenda let go of Ren, and picked up his berries, which she then stored into her backpack.

“If Audino’s ointment doesn’t work, I shall try the pecha berries,” she reassured Ren, and then turned to N. “I was so scared about my hands being paralyzed. How could I call myself your helper if I couldn’t even push your wheelchair!”

“That’s the least of your concerns. You should,” N paused, and scratched his head. “Be more gentle with yourself.”

He said this, not only referring to her poisoned hands, but also her many wounds and bruises that decorated her face and arms.

“No worries, I’m made of steel,” Brenda flexed her biceps to back up her claim, but unfortunately very little protruded.

She coughed once, before she told him that she’d be more careful.

It seems today’s the day I have to apologize to everyone for my recklessness, she sighed.

Just when she was about to resume her task of finding N a new pokemon, something soft brushed her ankle. She was startled, thinking it might be another poison-type pokemon.

However, the culprit happened to be fluffy ball of cotton, the grass-fairy dual type Cottonee.

“Look N, she is the most adorable thing,” she commented, as she picked up the pokemon, knowing fully well that it was not going to harm her skin again.

The Cottonee seemed delighted at being described as ‘the most adorable thing’, but Ren was displeased and pulled Brenda’s shirt.

“My bad, you’re lovely too, Ren,” she corrected herself, and caressed his head. “What about it, N? You should catch this girl.”

N looked at the Cottonee, but then shook his head sideways.

“I don’t really like grass types,” he said.

“What, even though you have nice green hair that looks like grass?”

N shot her a look, and Brenda pounded her mouth a couple of times. She waved the hand that wasn’t holding Cottonee, and smiled awkwardly.

“I meant it as a compliment. I like grass, you know,” she cleared herself. “Come on, N. It’s not a pure grass type anyway. The fairy typing will come in handy, even when fighting against Ren.”

N sighed, glanced at the fluffy creature, and sighed again. However, he took out a pokeball to show his intention.

“Zo, let's capture her,” he said, as Zo’s pokeball opened.

The battle was quick, for N didn't need to knock her out to capture her, and she was rather good-natured and willing to be captured. Regardless, she used fairy wind against Zo, which was super effective, and thus she almost won her over instead.

When N saw his newly-bought pokeball tremble thrice, he had to accept that his capturing her was meant to be.

“Yay N, Zo, congratulations,” Brenda jumped and clapped her hands. “You've earned another team member!”

Ren approached Zo with a frivolous smile, and murmured something to her, which made her attack him in spite. The two pokemon got entangled and rolled about, until their trainers yanked them apart.

“What's with you, Ren. Leave battling for later, since there'll be plenty of time for that.”

N looked up toward Brenda.

“Battling?”

“Of course,” she replied with round eyes. “Did I forget to tell you? We're going to do intensive training until you win against Lenora. Get ready!”

She posed with her index finger pointing towards her opponent, and was just seconds from starting a battle, but surprisingly, Ren stopped her.

However, examining his dissatisfied look, she concluded there was nothing surprising about it. That look could only mean one thing.

“Aha, I guess breakfast comes first,” she said, scratching her head.

Zo narrowed her eyes and sighed, murmuring something to N, who only shrugged. Despite her disappointment, she did not refuse her pokesnack when Brenda offered it to her.

Brenda sent out Leaf, and they all sat down to eat. Since they had not bought a pokesnack for the new Cottonee, she asked Leaf to share hers, which she gladly did. Brenda knew better than to ask Ren, for even before she finished breaking Leaf’s bar in half, he had already finished chomping his.

Leaf, however, remained hungry even after eating, given that she had to share her Aspear-flavored pokesnack with her new friend. She looked at the humid and somewhat muddied grass under her, and tightened her lips.

Then, she saw a fresh bush of long leaves, and extended a vine to pull them; however, her vine was intercepted by none other than her trainer. Brenda was making a terrified face, and Leaf was perplexed until she understood the root of her trainer’s anxiety.

For, on better inspection, Leaf realized that what she thought was a green bush of grass, was in fact attached to N’s head.

Edited September 16, 2017 by Candy

[Candy]

Chapter 17

 

“So, N,” Brenda cleared her throat.

N was a rather slow eater, and had been nibbling on his energy bar for around 15 minutes already. Yet, Brenda had waited hopelessly for him to start a conversation, for unlike her, he did not need to talk to fill in the awkward silence.

To the mention of his name, N slightly jerked his head upward, but did not move his gaze away from observing how Zo took interest in the composition of the Cottonee’s fluffy body.

“What are you going to name your Cottonee?” Brenda said, realizing he was looking at his pokemon.

“Coco,” he replied, and took a bite on his bar again.

“It seems you have a naming pattern going here,” she commented. “Calling your pokemon by the first two letters of their names.”

N nodded.

“Ah, I hadn’t thought of that. It makes it more team-like, having a common theme in their names.”

“Is that so,” N replied, and looked at her, resigned.

“Yep. I mean, if I think really really into it, I can sort of argue that I named my pokemon by a plant theme. Leaf is obvious, and Ren … it means lotus flower in Japanese. Pushing it, perhaps, but all’s well that ends well, right?”

N let out a snort, and softened his forehead, though his lips were fixed and far from a smile. Nonetheless, Brenda counted it as a win, and felt encouraged to keep speaking. Not that she would have stopped had she not received encouragement.

“Cottonee, cottonee,” she called, and on the third try, the pokemon turned around to see her. The cotton ball quickly approached her, when she saw Brenda waving her hand.

“Cutie, your trainer is going to give you a name,” Brenda said, caressing the pokemon. “Everyone else keep silent and brace yourselves!”

Leaf and Zo looked at N and Brenda, but Ren only glanced once before directing his back to them.

“Ok, drumroll, and announce Cottonee’s name!”

N tried to ignore Brenda’s face, which was beaming in anticipation. In his mind, he vowed to never catch a pokemon in her presence ever again.

“Coco,” he sighed.

Brenda clapped her hands, pulled N’s heavy arm, and placed his hand over Coco.

“Don't be shy, pet her and show some love,” Brenda smiled.

N did as was told, but for whatever reason, Coco moved away from his hand and instead buried her face in Brenda’s chest.

“Oh she's so shy and adorable,” Brenda said, taking a quick look at N.

He had his eyebrows knitted again, but otherwise showed nothing like disappointment or contempt. Instead, he silently took the final bite of his energy bar, and neatly folded the wrap into a small square before slipping it into his chest pocket.

“Right, now we should have a practice battle,” Brenda said, raising an arm. She lowered Coco onto the floor, and sprang off onto her two legs.

 

Since there were too many trees and slopes where they were, Brenda suggested they move outside Pinwheel forest, to the place she had recently battled against Bianca.

“Ready? I'll go easy on you, just so Coco can get the hang of battling,” Brenda said to N, who was standing opposite to her across the field.

N looked at Coco, spoke some words in pokemon language, and pointed a finger to the field. Whether Coco misunderstood the message, or simply ignored it, they could not know, but Coco ran across the field straight into Brenda's arms.

“Easy there,” she said to Coco. “You have to stand on the field, dummy.”

So she released Coco, who finally obeyed and stayed on the field, jumping and floating, visibly ecstatic.

“Please go gentle on her,” she told Ren, but he had already started running toward the field.

The way that Ren had seemingly ignored her gave her a bad feeling about the battle, but she didn't want to possibly aggravate Ren’s mood by switching him with Leaf. Yet, recalling the battle itself would paint her as an indecisive loser.

She had no choice but to trust that her premonitions were just an illusion.

“Alright, Ren. Use force palm, gently,” she said, repeating herself.

“Coco, fairy wind,” said N, hoping to exploit the type advantage.

Ren, being more experienced, ran in a half circle to Coco’s back, and used bullet punch instead. The sharp fists sent Coco flying, and had she not been composed of light material, she would have received additional damage upon impact with the ground.

“Ren, that's not what I said,” Brenda shouted.

To finish her turn, Coco blew a little fairy wind, but it was not strong enough to go the distance and reach Ren. He had waited for his opponent’s turn to end, since he had good sportsmanship, but once it was over, he did not wait for his trainer’s orders to finish his opponent with a second bullet punch.

“No,” Brenda let out a gasp in agony, as she saw Coco fall to the ground, fainted.

Without thinking, she ran over and scooped Coco from the ground, as though she had been the one to lose the battle. The small fluffy pokemon opened her eyes and cooed, an act Brenda took as Coco’s attempt to cheer her up.

After watching the whole scene, N seemed taken aback. At first, he thought Ren acted this way because of his unfounded hatred of him, but on closer inspection - the way that Ren remained agitated while his trainer was borderline crying with Coco in her arms, made him change his mind.

The realization allowed to snap back to his usual composure.

“Coco, return and rest,” he said as he pressed the pokeball’s button. Coco instantly disappeared from Brenda’s arm, and was taken into the ball.

Zo stepped on the field, feeling that this was her cue to fight. Brenda watched the sparks of rivalry fly between Ren and Zo, and became even more anxious.

“I think we have to stop,” Brenda shouted to N. “Or at least, Ren, come back and change with Leaf!”

However, neither Zo nor Ren seemed interested in calling off the match nor being replaced.

“The battle will not end until one of those two faints,” N replied. “Besides, our current situation won’t be solved until Ren is knocked unconscious.”

Something in the way he said that - perhaps the way his eyebrows furrowed more than usual, or plainly because he spoke longer than one sentence at a time - made Brenda uneasy.

She decided to comply, but that didn’t make it easier for her to figure out what to do. Should she command Ren to use weak moves, so that Zo could knock him out faster? She doubted Ren would even listen to her instructions either way.

“Zo, double team,” N commanded, but Brenda remained silent, still thinking what to say.

Ren, as she had expected, started attacking without waiting for her. He used bullet punch and force palm one after the other, while Zo continued to make hundreds of copies of herself. He landed none of his attacks, and at that point, it was virtually impossible to tell where Zo was at any point in time.

“Zo, use fury swipes.”

Each attack was inconsequential, but as Ren could not prevent them from landing repeatedly from every direction, the battle was already decided.

With one last scratch, Ren fell to his knees and then unable to support his own weight any longer, lost consciousness on the ground.

 

Brenda bit her lips, and walked what felt like miles to retrieve her fallen partner.

“What happened today?” Brenda sighed to a sleeping Ren. “If only I could hear your thoughts.”

“You don’t need to know his language to know how he feels,” N told her as he lowered an arm to let Zo climb over to his shoulder. He wheeled himself closer to Brenda, who apologized profusely once he was within conversation distance from her.

“What good do apologies do, if you’re not going to learn from your mistakes?” N said. “I didn’t want to believe that you were the same as all the other irresponsible trainers that inhabit this world.”

“I’m not an irresponsible trainer,” Brenda could not help but arguing. “I take care of my pokemon with all my heart. We just need time to get to know each other.”

“It’s been almost a week since we met. Do you need months? Years? Of suffering and enslaving, to finally realize you were mistaken from the start?”

Brenda widened her eyes like he had never seen her do before. He could tell her whole body was trembling.

“What authority do you have, to know I am mistaken?” she snapped, but tears fell off her eyes. “I promised. I promised Ren that I would show him the wonders of having a trainer. I am not a liar.”

“You cannot promise something you’re uncertain about. You will regret it.”

“I am certain.”

They each looked at the other in the eye, with so much intensity that Leaf and Zo feared for their trainer’s welfare.

N finally broke eye contact. He pinched his nose bridge between his fingers and sighed.

“I’m only saying this for Ren’s sake. If you value him, as you say you do, set him free,” he said, and added, “You are not supplying him with what he wishes for.”

With this phrase, which sunk onto Brenda’s stomach as though she had swallowed lead, he turned his wheelchair around to the direction of the Pokemon Center.

Edited November 5, 2017 by Candy

[Candy]

Chapter 18

 

Ever since he met Brenda, N was confident his dislike for her was rooted in that she was easily excitable and overly talkative. He wasn’t used to such type of people, and would much rather spend time with those who didn’t disturb his mental peace every three minutes.

However, now he was starting to believe that his conjecture was ill-founded.

Following their little quarrel, Brenda came with him to the PC to heal their pokemon. While Nurse Joy, muttering some complaints to herself, took care of the three pokemon who had battled, Brenda, with Leaf on her lap, sat close to him on a seat in the lobby.

Yet, for the twenty or thirty minutes that elapsed, Brenda said not a word. He sometimes sent her hidden glances, but every time she had the same cloudy face, solid as though she were made of concrete.

The silence made him anxious. Her lifeless face made him desperate.

It was so daunting waiting there, that he even contemplated starting a conversation to fill the silence. However, what would he talk about? It had always been her who started talking.

The best thing to do is to keep silent, he thought. If I say something, I might make the situation even worse.

He looked at Brenda again, but the only movement he could observe was her blinking.

Ironic. Now that I have obtained some quiet, I want her to talk.

In the end, they just sat for almost half an hour without any form of conversation, until Nurse Joy escorted their healed pokemon to them.

Coco, enthusiastic about seeing her favorite trainer, jumped high and landed on Brenda’s chest, using Leaf’s head as support.

N watched their interaction from the very corner of his eye.

“Feeling better?” Brenda asked, forcefully curving the ends of her lips into a half-smile.

Coco noticed that the hand that caressed her cotton fur wasn’t as lively as it usually was, and cooed in hopes to cheer Brenda up. She then jumped up and down a few times, to show she was completely healed.

“I’m glad to see that,” Brenda laughed a little. She then handed Coco over to N, without so much as a glance toward his face.

Brenda then looked at Ren, who was looking diagonally down, away from her direction.

“Ren, come here,” she said, and Ren complied, albeit slowly.

When he was within touching distance, Brenda stretched her arm and patted Ren’s head.

“How are you feeling now?” she asked. “You had me worried, with all those tiny wounds.”

I’m okay, N heard Ren murmur. Still, his face was facing the ground.

“Don’t feel sad. We’ll do better next time,” Brenda encouraged, pushing Ren’s chin upward.

Zo looked at them, and then jumped onto N’s lap.

I have a feeling the girl is still angry… or sad. I don’t know much about human emotions, Zo whispered as she licked her fur. Either way, I think you destroyed her hopes too soon and too abruptly.

N did not say a word, but Ren heard what she said. He instantly turned to the direction of Zo, and without warning gave her a slap on the face.

“Stop that, Ren,” Brenda clenched Ren’s arms tightly. “I know you’re mad you lost, but what happened in a battle remains in the battle.”

She then apologized to Zo by softly caressing where Ren had slapped her.

What do you mean I destroyed her hopes, stinky fox? Ren barked without trying to break free from Brenda’s grasp.

You misunderstand me. This is why dog pokemon are a pain. You just jump to conclusions without thinking through, Zo sighed. I was talking to my trainer. It concerns you not.

Ren then looked up at the emotionless face adorned by grass-like hair.

What did you do to Brenda? I knew she was too careless in trusting a stranger like you.

“I only said the truth,” N replied.

“Enough,” Brenda said, extrapolating on the content of the conversation. “It doesn't bother me anymore.”

However, she right away followed her statement by finally directing some words to N.

“I hope you don’t mind if I stay in my room until supper,” she made an effort to look nonchalant. “I’ll meet you in front of your room at seven.”

She lifted Leaf from her lap, and left N, Coco and Zo alone in the lobby.

I never thought she could ever be depressed, Zo observed. But this was beyond what I imagined. She even forgot we haven't had lunch yet.

“Let us return to our room as well. I have to think of what to say at supper.”

N purposefully waited for Brenda and her team to enter the elevator and disappear, before wheeling himself to the elevator.

 

Brenda entered her room, took her cap and undid her ponytail in record speed. She then jumped onto her bed, and squirmed a little to find a comfortable position. Finally she settled with placing the pillow under her calves, and letting her wavy hair form a half-circle from her head.

Ren also lay on his side on an unoccupied bed, because somehow he felt awkward sharing the bed with his trainer at this precise moment.

Five hours passed in silence, with Brenda drifting in and out of sleep.

Finally making up her mind, she woke up and sat on her bed, facing Ren.

“I like you Ren,” she started, with a respectful grin. “And I’ve enjoyed our companionship until now, even though it had its ups and downs.”

Ren also sat on the edge of his bed, and Leaf looked at them with concern from the top of the desk.

“Although I had the best intentions, it is as N says - I might be committing a selfish act by forcing you to stay by my side,” Brenda sighed. “I don’t want to make you suffer, just to feed my own ego. If you want to leave, tell me, and you’re free to go.”

Ren watched as Brenda blinked three times the usual rate and explained her will to give up. Yet, he was at a loss as to how to act. He shuddered at the idea of jumping on top of her in the hopes of being embraced, as Coco had done. It was just not something he had the ability to do.

Thus, Ren did the only thing he knew how to do. He crossed his arms, and sat on the bed with his legs also crossed. He looked to the side, and pouted.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Brenda asked a few seconds after Ren stopped moving.

Ren made a deep noise, coming from the back of his throat.

“Let me phrase it differently,” Brenda scratched her head. “Are you going to stay with me?”

Ren turned his head to face her but not actually to look at her, and paused a little before nodding once. His action allowed Leaf to relax, and Brenda to jump off her bed.

“That makes me so happy, Ren!” she took both of Ren’s arms, and took a couple of twirls, as though she were the pillar of a merry-go-round.

She then released him back onto the bed, and lowered herself so she could show him a bright smile inches from his nose.

“That means I’m on the right track. Now in addition to Bianca, Cheren and you, Ren, I’ll also prove my abilities to N. We’ll see who’ll laugh last!”

Leaf chuckled, for it just hit her that all her trainer needed was a little pat on her pride, in order to make it boost over the skies. On the other hand, Ren was just taken aback by Brenda’s sudden cheerfulness, and slightly felt made a fool of, for even worrying about her at all.

However, both of Brenda’s partners were surprised by what she had to announce next.

“Shall we be on our way to Castelia City, then?”

 

At 7PM, N’s heart jumped at the sound of someone knocking on his door, though he had been preparing himself for it since 30 minutes ago.

His roommate groaned, and turned his body to change positions on his bed. Wishing he could exchange places with the peaceful napper, he moved his wheelchair forward to open the door.

However, the person standing outside his room was not Brenda.

“Good evening,” said Nurse Joy, who was accompanied by an Audino. “I’m afraid Ms. Brenda left a few hours ago, and therefore one of my Audino assistants will auxiliate you from now until your recovery.”

“Is that so?” N said, a little embarrassed that his voice came out raspy. “Where did she go?”

“She said she was joining her friends in Castelia City.”

“Right,” he nodded. He wanted to ask whether Brenda continued on with her ill mood, but he didn’t have the courage to do it to Nurse Joy.

“Ah, she left you a note,” Nurse Joy took out the almost-forgotten envelope from her apron pocket. “Here. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must take a leave.”

Nurse Joy said goodbye to Audino, and returned to her post.

N felt disoriented at the sudden change of plans. He was holding Brenda’s letter, but did not feel like reading it while Audino stood in front of him, watching him.

“Audino,” N called. “I’d like to have dinner now. Would you like to come with us?”

The Audino batted her eyes and grinned.

That is not a question. I’m a nurse, and hence required to go wherever you go, she replied.

“Right. Will you push my wheelchair?”

Yes, she said as she came to his back. Where do you want to eat?

“I believe there was a seafood place close by. What about there?”

Out of question, said Audino. Seafood has too much cholesterol. It’s not suited for patients.

“I see. Alternatively, there was a barbeque place near the connection to Route 3,” ventured N.

No no, Audino repeated. Do you know how many carcinogens are in meat? Besides, it’s not recommended to have such heavy meals when you’re sick.

N was out of ideas.

“Where do we go eat then?”

There’s a vegetarian restaurant just behind the Pokemon Center. Aren’t you familiar with it?

“I’m not really fond of vegetarian cuisine,” N scratched his head.

Well, you shall be fond of it, once you realize how good vegetables are for your health!

Audino started pushing his wheelchair while humming a little melody.

N wondered why Audino bothered to ask him for his dining preference at all, but opted not to ask. Instead, he exchanged looks with Zo as she climbed up his shoulder, and dropped his gaze upon the envelope, which had his name written with messy penmanship.

Edited November 5, 2017 by Candy

[Candy]

Chapter 19

 

N, his pokemon and Audino reached the vegetarian restaurant, and though they had no appointment, they were allowed in right away.

So, what did Brenda write in her letter? Zo asked, for she could not read the human handwriting on the paper N was holding.

N glanced to the paper again, folded it neatly and placed it back into the envelope.

“She only apologized for leaving abruptly,” he said. “And that she hopes to see me again.”

That’s a rather short letter, for a person who tends to talk more than a hyperactive Chatot, Zo chuckled at her own joke.

The members of the party looked at the menu for quite sometime, before making their order. To N, every menu item was practically the same Buneary food, but finally he opted for a mixed vegetable omelette.

It is a shame though, Zo murmured and caught N’s attention. Here I was, thinking my trainer was finally freeing his antisocial self, and yet his first friendship lasted no more than a day.

Audino laughed in short bursts of sound, but N was not as amused.

“I have had many friends growing up,” N replied, with indifferent composure.

Yes, a lot of pokemon befriended you, as I did. It is no wonder you feel uneasy around those of your kind.

“I don't feel uneasy around Anthea and Concordia,” stated N.

Well, they must be referred to as Godesses for a reason. They achieved the impossible with their powers.

“Zo, where are you getting at?”

Nowhere. I just would have enjoyed watching more of your stand up comedy.

Zo smirked, and licked her paws. The food was just about to arrive.

Don't misunderstand me. The fact I won't have to see that annoying little puppy of hers makes me feel relieved. I only think I might miss that girl and her energetic foolishness.

Coco whispered that she would too.

The food arrived, served by a Bellossom. Quickly, everyone started chomping into their plates.

N felt emotionally drained, but it wasn't because of the grassy texture of his omelette. He remembered the last line of Brenda’s letter, which he had omitted from his quick summary earlier.

P.S. Be prepared to be proven wrong!

N shook his head slowly. The thought did not make him feel better.

 

Meanwhile, Brenda was lost in Pinwheel forest, and would have to pass the night with a make-do tent.

Brenda was quickly realizing how encouraging it was to have Leaf in her team, for without her sticky webs, making a tent out of plain leaves would have been physically impossible. Trying not to lose to Leaf, Ren also joined the tent making party, even if he almost got trapped in the webs a couple of times.

After about two or three hours, their hard work bore fruit. They felt the tent was smaller than expected, but Leaf volunteered to return to her pokeball when it was time for sleep, which solved the problem.

At night, they ate sandwiches they bought by selling some potions and pokeballs, though Brenda saved a couple, including the pokeball she received as a present in Accumula Town.

Before going to bed, they all sat down on the grass outside, and looked up at the stars, which were visible from the space between trees. It was, in fact, something she had planned on doing together with N and his pokemon friends, but even if she was no longer with them, she figured it was too beautiful a night to waste it going to sleep early.

“Isn’t it great? I can already smell summer right around the corner,” she said, but just as she spoke, a strong breeze pushed her ponytail on top of her face. “Perhaps not too close, but at least it’s warm for a spring night.”

Ren and Leaf laughed a little.

“It’s been quite a while since I last camped out like this,” Brenda smiled. “It’s something I always did when my father visited. We’d go to mountains and forests, flying on top of his Hydreigon.

Brenda closed her eyes. She could vividly see the many memories of her as a child, playing together with her father. The one time she knocked a beehive over, and a Vespiquen together with her minions angrily ran after her, her father called on his Hydreigon, Axew and Druddigon to appease the bee pokemon. Another time, she slipped and fell into the river, but her father successfully surfed on his Druddigon to catch her.

“It’s been six years since my father last visited home. I wonder if he’s already at the Pokemon League. Maybe he’s already beaten the Elite Four!”

She looked at the sky, and wondered if her father was doing the same.

“It’s too bad I won’t be home for my birthday this year,” she said, rather talking to herself. “Every year, he sends me little presents. For my twelfth, he gave me this cap.”

She took the cap off her head, and placed it on top of Ren.

“For my thirteenth, he gave me this handkerchief,” she said, opening her cherry-blossom-colored handkerchief, and placing it on top of Leaf. Looking at Leaf’s naturally smug face all confused at the texture of her head cover made Brenda laugh.

“Maybe, if we are very lucky, we’ll run into my father sometime. Who knows? Maybe he’ll be the Unovan Champion by the time we make it there!”

With that, Brenda leaned back and lay down on the grass. The three of them remained silent looking at the stars for some time. They eventually fell asleep, forgetting all about the tent.

 

The next day, and the day after the next, Brenda and her team worked hard to find an exit to Pinwheel Forest. On their way, they found a few other trainers who were either lost like them or just looking for battles.

Brenda lost no opportunity to polish her battling skills, and won four out of five matches. The match she lost was against a veteran, who had just happened to come to Pinwheel forest with his wife and two children to have a picnic. The kind gentleman gave her potions to heal her pokemon.

Since Brenda really wanted to spend her birthday, which was now two days away, outside of Pinwheel Forest, she decided to work her way through the forest even after it turned dark. She told her two pokemon to pay close attention, for she didn’t want to end up making the same mistake as N had.

“If I fall off a cliff after laughing at N for it,” she sighed. “I’d be the bigger idiot, wouldn’t I?”

So they went, passing sleeping pokemon and beasts who were out on the hunt for defenseless prey. The nocturne pokemon’s eyes glared with the moonlight, but they seemed uninterested in attacking an awake human with two trained pokemon.

Their trip through the forest was going better than expected, until they happened to walk into a group of three office workers.

“Walking alone at this hour of the night, lady?” One of them asked.

“I’m fine,” Brenda smiled. “My pokemon protect me, and I just want to reach Castelia City as soon as possible.”

“How ironic,” another one said. “We just came here to escape the noise of Castelia.”

Brenda’s face brightened.

“Does that mean I’m almost there? Castelia City is close by?” she then jumped off the floor, energized by the information.

“Yeah, just cross the Skyarrow Bridge, and you’ll be on the outskirts of the city.”

“Yes! Thanks for telling me,” Brenda clapped her hands. “I’ll be on my way then. See you!”

Then she took some steps forward, but the three men blocked her way.

“Oh, what is it?”

“Why are you on a hurry?” the first man asked and approached her. “We could have fun together. What do you say?”

The man’s breath was impregnated with alcoholic smell.

“Ugh, sorry. I’m fifteen and don’t drink,” she said, approximating her age.

“We’re not policemen,” the third person said. “You’re missing out if at fifteen you haven’t had even a sip of the best drink on the planet.”

Two men grabbed her wrists. Ren and Leaf immediately attacked the men, but they also sent out their pokemon, and it turned into a nasty fight. Clearly, Brenda’s pokemon were not strong enough to be match for the Liepard and Herdier.

The man who wasn’t involved in the pokemon battle pushed her over, and pinned her to the ground.

“Get off me, you don’t know how strong I am!” Brenda shouted, but the reality was that the man was too heavy for her muscles.

Brenda’s blood receded out of her face as the man’s face approached hers.

“Cut it out,” she screamed off the top of her lungs.

At that moment, a shadow appeared with invisible velocity, and tackled the side of the man’s head. The man flew away and was knocked over with the impact.

Once the shadow stopped moving, Brenda realized that its identity was just a Minccino.

On the other side, where Ren and Leaf were already in their last stages of consciousness, being beaten repeatedly by the men’s pokemon, something weird was also happening. It started with the Liepard - one time it was pounding on Ren’s head, and the next, it was choking without being choked. At least, that is how it looked to Brenda, for the pokemon was struggling for air without being attacked. Once the Liepard lost consciousness, the illness passed onto the Herdier, who ended with the same fate.

“Liepard, Herdier! What has happened to you two?” The drunk men exclaimed as they retrieved their pokemon.

“You should know better than to bully amateur trainers,” a voice, which Brenda had heard before even if she couldn’t tell where, said somehow without revealing its owner. “If you don’t want to lose your jobs, leave here immediately. I won’t hesitate in making your lives a misery, stinky pieces of scum!”

The three men collected their belongings with trembling hands, and ran after each other with faces so white they were observable in the darkness of the night.

 

“Are you alright?” the same voice asked, but now a person was suddenly standing next to Brenda. The person, who was wearing clothes so dark she blended into the night, stretched a gloved hand toward her.

Brenda took the hand and stood up. Being pushed to the ground had left wounds on her elbows and a dull ache on her back.

“Thank you, Miss,” Brenda said, shyly. “You rescued me from a tight spot back there.”

The woman took her head covering, revealing her orange hair, which had somehow been tucked in. The sight shocked Brenda.

“The Striaton Gym Leaders’ cousin?”

“Carol,” the woman corrected. “And you owe me no thanks. I just happened to hear your cries during a meeting with The Invisibles.”

“Even then, I really would like to do something to express my thanks,” Brenda insisted, though she knew fully well that the amount of money she had on her was miserable compared to the favor she had received.

“Then, do me a favor,” Carol said, with a stern expression. “Become stronger, so you can kick people’s ass. We have to teach that bunch of scum some manners, don’t you think?”

Carol smirked.

“Now if you will. I have to return to the others.”

The female ninja explained, and pressed a button on her right wrist, which expelled a hooked rope towards a tree branch.

“Smoke, Unseen. We’re going,” Carol called, and the Minccino and the Kecleon, who finally revealed himself to be the cause of the choking, jumped onto both of her shoulders. “This is goodbye, Lil' Azurill.”

Brenda batted her eyes, as she waved at Carol, who jumped from branch to branch with incredible agility.

“My name is Brenda,” she reminded her, but Carol was already out of sight.

Edited November 5, 2017 by Candy

[Candy]

Chapter 20

 

Walking silently, Brenda noticed the number of trees decreasing gradually. Eventually, her team reached the border of the forest, where the grassy ground turned hard and grey.

“Look at that,” Brenda let out a sigh of admiration. “The buildings that reach the skies. The heart of Unova, Castelia City.”

The sight of all the glitter seemed to cheer her up, despite the incident with the office workers. The fact that Brenda was now smiling again also brought a sense of relief to her pokemon.

“I hope the city isn't full of thugs like the ones we met,” Brenda laughed.

She quickly checked the map to see how she could cross the roads and wide river in front of them. It turned out that Skyarrow bridge was a 5-minute walking distance from the exit of the forest.

The three of them climbed up the white stairs, which were illuminated by streetlights. At the checkpoint, she showed her Basic badge to prove she was authorized to pass through, and then she stepped on the southeastern end of the long bridge.

Skyarrow bridge, so named because of how straight it seems to cross the sky when looked at from below, had two lanes for cars to go to and from Castelia City and Striaton City. There were also two lanes for bicycles, on which bikers seemed to race the cars at top speed. On the outermost space, left for regular pedestrians, groups of students, office workers and tourists were standing, watching and taking pictures of the magnificent nighttime scenery. Brenda, too, forgot about her haste, and stood for a long time, bewitched by the lights. They reminded her of Winter Solstice Festival, which was an yearly event at her town, when everyone decorated their houses with as many light bulbs as they could fit on their walls.

“I wonder if Bianca and Cheren are still here,” she suddenly thought. It felt like an eternity since she had seen them, though it actually hadn't been a week since then quite yet.

She called both of them with her Xtranceiver, and both picked soon enough.

“Brenda!” Bianca, who was already wearing her pajamas, exclaimed. Cheren didn't greet aloud, but raised his palm instead.

“How are you two? Look,” here she rotated her Xtranceiver to show them the scenery. “I'm just about to arrive at Castelia. Do you happen to still be around?”

“We're both still here, actually,” replied Cheren.

“You too, Cheren? I somehow thought you'd already be long gone to Driftveil or Mistralton.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm actually having a hard time beating Burgh’s

Leavanny with type disadvantage.”

“Same here,” Bianca sighed. “Both Chris and Moon are struggling against her.”

“I guess I won't have an easy time either,” Brenda pouted, recalling that Leaf’s dual typing makes her susceptible to bug type attacks, and Ren’s fighting type attacks aren't very effective against bugs. “But we'll do our best!”

“That's the spirit,” Bianca snickered.

“We should meet up tomorrow. What do you say?” Cheren asked.

Brenda scratched her chin, and shook her head sideways.

“Why not the day after tomorrow? Seeing you two would be the greatest birthday present,” she smiled shyly.

“Why not meet both days?”

“Don't be impatient, Cheren. If we meet tomorrow, then the dramatic reunion wouldn't happen on my birthday!”

Cheren smirked. He knew Brenda’s obsession with drama well enough not to insist.

“Ok,” said Cheren. “We shall meet at the central fountain in Castelia National Park. Does 12PM sound good with everyone?”

The two girls replied in affirmation, and thus their plans were set.

With an enthusiastic good-bye, Brenda hung up on her friends.

“I can barely wait for the day after next,” Brenda exclaimed. “I guess both of you know Bianca, but Leaf doesn't know Cheren. They have cute pokemon too, so be prepared for a full day of fun!”

So Brenda and her pokemon carried on their way through Skyarrow Bridge, to hopefully find a Pokémon Center and rest.

[Candy]

Chapter 21

 

A good rest in a comfortable bed, after a couple days of sleeping over webs and leaves, was just the exact thing Brenda needed. She was so happy snuggled in her blankets, that she didn't wake up as early as she started doing when she became a trainer.

“Oh well,” she scratched her head as she checked the time. “A late start, I guess.”

She took a warm shower, and wore one of the two outfits she had left.

Given that she now had enough money from winning some battles in Pinwheel forest to make a decent living, she bought brunch and promised herself she would buy a new set of clothes to replace the ones she had to dispose of.

After all, I'm in Unova’s fashion central, she thought as she bit into her egg salad sandwich.

“Let's go. We're going to explore the city!”

 

It was hard to decide where to begin. Castelia City was so large, a day was too little time to explore in its entirety. However, Brenda was determined to take no rest all day long, to get familiarized before meeting her friends the next day.

The first place they walked to was Castelia National Park, to check the meeting location beforehand, but since they were there and the weather was perfectly sunny, she decided to spend some time at this location. They passed some joggers with two dog pokemon: one which looked foreign, perhaps from Alola. Just minutes after seeing them, they happened to reach a picnic spot, where many trainers were laughing and playing with their pokemon, some of which, again, she wasn't very familiar with.

“Look Ren. Castelia City is full of trainers from other regions. This is so exciting!”

Yet, Ren’s interest was not quite directed to pokemon diversity, but on a pastel pink and baby blue car which was making soothe bell jingle sounds.

Brenda didn't need N’s language abilities to read Ren’s face, which had “ice cream!” written all over it.

“Shouldn't you feel sorry that you are the reason I'm perpetually low on cash?” Brenda pouted, but in good spirit.

They walked over to the ice cream stand, and joined the queue of about 20 people.

“Must be good ice cream, if there's this many people lined up,” she pondered aloud.

“It's not just ordinarily good ice cream, my dear,” said the old woman standing in front of her. “Castelia cones are internationally recognized to be the best ice cream in the world.”

The Panpour she was holding in her arms raised her arm, likely in support of what the grandma said.

“Really?” Brenda said, feeling the saliva starting to fill her mouth. “I'm looking forward to trying it.”

Ren, in unusually great humor, jumped in excitement.

After what felt like an eternity, it became their turn to order their cones.

“Sorry, we just ran out of Castelia cones,” was the welcome Ren and she received at the stand.

“No! Can't you please scrap the deepest depths of your ice cream dispenser?”

“Unfortunately there is no-”

“Just one! Just one cone is enough!”

“I'm sorry, we really don't have anymore,” said the shop attendant, who seemed indecisive about what to do with the girl, who was now resting both arms and face on top of the counter. Next to her, Ren had fallen back and was lying on his back on the sandy ground.

“Now, now. Come child, don't trouble the cashier,” Brenda heard the old woman she had spoken with earlier say, while gently patting her back.

Without any choice, Brenda slid her upper body on the counter, and slowly stood back upright. The old woman smiled at her.

“You know what,” she said. “I live here and can get these anytime. Would you accept them?”

Brenda widened her eyes, but declined politely. However, Ren, with almost invisible speed, jumped up from the ground and grabbed the cone the Panpour was offering.

“Ren! You're not supposed to do that!” Brenda shook her head. Now she knew she should've disciplined him after the incident with Annie and her Delcatty.

“It's alright. Have this one also,” the old woman took Brenda’s hand, and placed the cone in her grip.

“Thank you so much,” Brenda thanked, as she sent Leaf out of her pokeball. “Here Leaf, you can have this.”

Leaf smiled and wrapped her vines around the cone, but realizing that her trainer had none for herself, raised the cone to Brenda’s mouth. Brenda thanked Leaf for her kindness, and took a bite off the soft cream and cone.

“Mmm!” She exclaimed without words. “There is no doubt in my mind. I've never had anything more sweetly tasteful than this ice cream.”

The old woman, who watched as Ren gorged on his dessert and as Brenda made unnatural faces in response to the savour, chuckled.

“Are you a tourist or a trainer, young lady?”

Brenda took out her badges collection from her backpack’s side pocket, and showed the old woman her two glistening badges.

“I'm a trainer, soon-to-be pokemon master,” she replied. “I've come from Nuvema town to take on Burgh’s gym.”

“Nuvema! From that far away,” the woman commented.

Brenda nodded with confidence.

The lady was silent for a moment, before brightening her face.

“Say, do you happen to have some spare time today?”

“Well, I just have sight-seeing and some shopping planned. All the training is taking a toll on my clothes, so I need to buy new ones,” Brenda scratched her head.

“What a coincidence,” the woman replied, but explained further that she wanted to send some clothes as a gift to her granddaughter, who had finished the year with top grades.

“My granddaughter is a student of the Castelia School of Fashion Design. Like my daughter, she wants to become a great designer and open her own boutique,” the woman said. “I want to buy her clothes, but you know how youngsters are. They have a different fashion sense compared to us, grandparents. I would be grateful if you could help me, just for an hour or two.”

Brenda replied that it was not a hassle. Besides she internally felt relieved she could return the favor for the ice cream.

The old woman was visibly pleased.

“That is wonderful,” she said. “We may as well introduce ourselves then. My name is Annabelle Gladys, and you can call me Annabelle or Anna. What is yours?”

“I'm Brenda, nice to meet you.”

“Shall we be on our way?”

By the time Annabelle suggested this, Ren and Leaf had already finished eating.

 

The first place they went to, was about 20 minutes by subway, a method of transportation much slower than flying but convenient for those without flying pokemon.

“I can't believe where we are now,” was the first thing Brenda said as she ascended the stairs.

They were standing in the middle of Mode Street, a wide street with lots of traffic both motorized and pedestrian. Brenda walked side by side with Annabelle, talking all the way until their destination. Annabelle told her about how she has been lonely after her husband’s death 2 years ago, since both her only daughter and her husband work a normal 8 hour schedule during the week, and her only granddaughter is also away in school during the same hours.

“Only Rainy keeps me company,” she said and petted her Panpour’s head.

“I'm sorry to hear that,” Brenda replied. “What about your friends? Wouldn't they hang out with you?”

Annabelle smiled.

“It so happens that all my friends have moved to less noisy places like Driftveil and Nacrene,” she explained. “I suppose I should do the same, but oh. What would I do in an unfamiliar place without my beloved daughter and granddaughter?”

“Hmm, then what you should do is befriend people in the city. Like you did today, with me.”

Brenda stretched her arms, and laughed with such a playful expression as to turn out contagious.

“That is true. I'm happy to make acquaintance with you, lovely child.”

At long last, Annabelle pointed at the shop they were going to enter.

The impeccably transparent glass doors had thick golden frames, and led to a room with wooden floor, which was perhaps composed of one eighth clothes and the rest empty space. Unlike to what Brenda was used to, the store was practically empty, save for a number of customers she could count with a single hand.

Both the customers and store workers seemed to recognize Annabelle, for they greeted her by her name.

“Madam Annabelle,” welcomed one store attendant. “What may we help you with today.”

“Good afternoon, Lucia. I'm looking for a dress to give my granddaughter as a present.”

“Oh the young Miss Annabelle? I have a selection of dresses I'm sure she would be delighted to wear.”

The attendant led them to another room, equally empty but also equally elegantly arranged, where there were dresses of multiple colors and lengths.

“Miss,” the attendant spoke to Brenda. “Do you happen to require assistance with your shopping?”

Brenda was puzzled by the question, but Annabelle responded for her.

“She is Brenda, and is accompanying me with my shopping.”

“Oh, my sincere apologies, madam. Welcome to our boutique, Miss Brenda.”

Then the attendant followed to ask Annabelle what color, length and cut she was hoping to find.

“If you are looking for a smart casual dress,” she commented. “We have excellent dresses in our new arrival collection. They are perfect for the coming summer, with their vibrant but elegant floral patterns.”

The old woman inspected the dress by touching its material.

“What do you think about the style, Brenda?” Annabelle asked.

Brenda scratched her neck.

“I honestly don't know much about dresses. I've always been one to wear pants, so I don't think I can be helpful here.”

Annabelle smiled.

“Then, there's only one way to find out.”

The four of them walked over with five candidates of dresses to the fitting room.

“Here, try this,” Annabelle handed Brenda a white dress with red and orange flowers.

“Wait, I'm going to wear them?” Brenda asked, though it should have been obvious from the moment they came to the fitting room.

“Indeed. We won't know if they look well unless they are worn.”

“But, I'm not sure what goes well with me will fit your granddaughter.”

“Do not worry, Brenda. My granddaughter and you share stature and facial shape. She has perhaps more bust and her hair is golden, but I believe you will be a better model than, say, I would make,” Annabelle chuckled at the thought.

Without giving Brenda a chance to argue back, the store helper pushed Brenda to enter the changing room, and then pulled Ren’s hand to remain with Annabelle while his trainer changed.

Inside the changing room, Brenda sighed and unzipped the dress. When she did, she happened to catch a glimpse of the price tag.

“500,000 pokecoins?!” she gasped quietly, as to avoid being heard by the others outside. “No wonder people avoid this shop like the plague.”

However, as she stroked the silky texture of the floral dress, she wondered how anything could be created that was so soft and comfortable to the touch.

Deciding against further thought, she slid the dress on her, and came out for everyone to see.

“It’s a gorgeous dress,” Annabelle pondered. “However, I don’t believe it would suit my granddaughter. She is not a fan of excessive colors.”

The next dress Brenda was given was a striking blue dress with white flowers.

“Um, I don’t feel comfortable being seen in this dress,” she commented from inside the changing room.

“What is the matter?”

“The cut shows too much of my chest and back.”

For someone who had worn shirts with cuts no more than 2 inches from the base of her neck, wearing a strapless dress was a culture shock.

“It is fine, just let us see you for a second,” Annabelle told her. “Then you can take off the terrible dress.”

“It’s not terrible. It’s actually very pretty, just that the cut doesn’t go with me.”

However, Brenda acceded to exit the changing room.

“Really elegant and beautiful,” Annabelle said. “That one might be it, but let’s see the other dresses.”

Brenda wore the other two dresses, a yellow one which was discarded because it would match Miss Annabelle’s hair color, and a pink one with lilac flowers which Annabelle liked but decided against it because she guessed her granddaughter would classify it as childish.

Ren watched Brenda come out with different dresses each time, but was bored and almost falling asleep by the time they were finished.

“Alright, the blue one shall be it,” Annabelle said, and then told the store attendant to find her the dress with her granddaughter size.

As the attendant collected the other dresses to be put back on the hangers, Annabelle stopped her from retrieving the dress with red and orange flowers.

“Brenda, I believe the first dress you tried suited you very well,” Annabelle smiled. “Would you receive it as a token of my gratitude?”

“Me? A 500,000 pokecoin dress?” Brenda jerked her head back, as though she had received a punch on the chin. “No no, I doubt there would be any reason for me to wear something like that.”

“Please, it is a gift. I’m sure you will find good use for it.”

“Wait,” Brenda pleaded, but Annabelle had already told the attendant to charge both dresses to her account.

“You meant to buy new clothes, am I wrong?” the old lady teased.

“But Mrs Anna…”

Annabelle looked at the child who had her eyebrows wrinkled.

“I barely ever have an opportunity to go shopping with my granddaughter anymore,” Annabelle sighed. “Today, I feel as though you revived a lovely memory which had been buried in the past.”

After the check-out, Brenda was given a fancy bag which contained her brand-new dress, of quality she would probably never afford in all her lifetime.

“Thank you for a lovely afternoon,” Annabelle said. “I hope your stay in Castelia will be enjoyable, and I wish you luck in your challenge of the Unova League.”

“I had a great time, thanks for everything,” Brenda laughed, as she waved at the old lady who headed home.

 

Once they were on their own again, Brenda looked at the fancy bag and sighed.

“Guess I shall wear this tomorrow,” Brenda stuck out her tongue.

[Candy]

Yoo guys, it's Candy here with not a new chapter (nw, working on it) but a literally-1-minute survey that will help me grasp my readers' demographics.

If you're feeling charitable and can help a sista out, follow this link (which should work): 

https://www.quotev.com/quiz/10225757/To-Aura-Sphere-Readers