Hello! Bokkun here. I just thought I'd mention that this story A Stroll Though Kalos, used to be posted on one of my other accounts, Jon Slade. Why's it here? Because I started using this account again. Why am I mentioning it at all? Plausible deniability.

With nothing else to say, here's the story.

Chapter 1: Stir Crazy

It was a nice day. The sun was high in the sky, and Olivia couldn't feel better if she wanted to. She was still feeling adrenalin associated with starting one's very own pokémon adventure.

She walked through a forest, a spring in her step and her pokémon partner walking behind her.

Olivia glanced back at the pokémon and said, "It's a good day for walk, isn't it Zander?"

She wasn't expecting him to look so mad.

Zander's features were distorted into what could only be called a scowl. His eyes were cold and tinged with a look of betrayal.

"Why did you lose?" The pokémon's voice was soft as it spoke, and his lack of apparent anger disturbed her far more than any outburst could.

"I…It was a-" She stumbled over her words, maybe shocked that Zander was talking, maybe just guilty.

"I trusted you. You'd keep me safe, and I'd keep you safe." Olivia felt tears sting her eyes at his words, "That's what I always thought. Maybe I wasn't good enough? Or maybe you weren't good enough?"

At that point Olivia was crying, but she couldn't help but get mad at Zander's words, "I tried my best!"

"And your 'best' wasn't good enough!" Zander yelled.

Before either could say another word, a shadowy figure appeared behind Zander.

"No…"

Though she couldn't make out the shadow's important facial features, she could still see his smirk. His brilliant white teeth, as he knelt down and picked up Zander, who didn't even struggle.

"No! What are you doing, he's mine!"

"Not anymore." His voice was deep, and with that and a laugh he walked away.

Olivia moved to chase after him, but she couldn't manage to move her feet. She couldn't take a single step.

"No! Come back! Please…" Olivia fell to the cold hard ground. All she could do was sob.

Olivia's eyes snapped open and she sprang up right. She looked around, and calmed. She was back in her room, in Vaniville Town.

Tears once again found their way to her eyes. She pulled the quilt around her, hugged her knees to her chest and just sat there and cried for a while.

She didn't like that dream. She'd been having variations of it on and off for the last two years. Ever since...Zander.

She tried to calm her breathing. She hated the sound she made when she sobbed, and she'd do anything not to hear it now.

She turned her head to her night stand, and automatically pressed the button on top of her clock that would make it light up so she could read it. The purple flash of light stung her eyes slightly, but she could tell that it was 1:13AM.

'I wonder if Mom's still awake.' She left the comfort of her covers, and tip-toed to the door.

Olivia was a messy person, more so in recent years than before, and she didn't want to trip on something that might have been left between her bed and the door.

It also helped her not hurt herself on Lego playset she just stepped on. It still annoyed her, but she didn't yell out.

She made it to her door, and realised that now she had another problem.

This door creaked. If her mom was asleep, it wouldn't cause any major problems for her, but despite her mood she still felt mischievous, and wanted to sneak up on an unsuspecting parental unit.

With that in mind she placed her hand around the door handle, turned it, and slowly pulled it back. She didn't open it fully and passed through when it was barely halfway.

Olivia let out a breath of relief. The door had remained silent, and she could hear the sound of the television echoing up from the living room downstairs. She was fairly certain that this meant her mom was awake, as she was the kind of person that was obsessed with saving money, even if it was only pennies. She would've turned the television off.

She stepped lightly down the hallway, came to the stairs and swiftly glided down them without a single sound being made. She let herself smile for a moment, she'd been working on her sneaking for the last seven years.

She came to a stop on the bottom step. From the living room you couldn't see someone walking up or down the stairs, but you could see them when they stepped off the stairs. This was because the stairs were behind one of the living room's walls, but the start of the stairs weren't.

Regardless, Olivia glanced around the wall, holding onto the stairs' rail for support.

Her mom was sitting on the couch, from behind it looked like she was sitting on the far right side. Olivia grinned a Cheshire cat grin. Her mom's choice of seat made it easy for Olivia to sneak up on her.

Olivia repressed a giggle. She crouched down, till her hands touched the floor, and she crawled across the floor towards her mom.

The mom in question remained focused on her television. A movie was on, about talking pokémon being unbearably cute things. Like playing in a park, falling over each other into a pile of laughing fur, or simply smiling at the camera.

She enjoyed cute things like that, and Olivia knew that it had her mom's full attention.

As soon as Olivia was behind her mom, she got up from all fours and tip-toed once more and when Olivia was right behind her…

She slowly placed a hand on her mom's shoulder and squeezed whilst saying, "What'cha watching?"

She screamed. Olivia found herself finally letting out her fiendish giggles. Her mom turned around, calmed down enough to notice that it was her daughter that was doing the giggling, and gave her the sharpest glare a parent could give.

This didn't stop Olivia's giggles, however.

"Didn't I ever teach you that it's rude to give your elders heart attacks?" She said sternly. Olivia looked up in mock thought, then let a playful smile find its way to her features.

"Nope!"

The mom rolled her eyes. She glanced down at her wristwatch, turned her head in confusion, and then looked back at her child.

"Didn't you go to bed a couple of hours ago?"

That destroyed Olivia's mood. Just like that her mom went from scolding to nurturing as she paused her movie and got Olivia to sit down on the couch.

Olivia sat on the left side, her mom sat on the right facing her. Her mom let out a sigh before making eye-contact with her daughter.

"Was it that dream?"

Olivia nodded.

"Which one?"

"The one where Zander says I failed him. We get into an argument, then he gets stolen."

Her mom nodded, then looked up in thought.

"It wasn't your fault though. You couldn't have known that someone would be waiting at the exit of that forest."

"But I should have been able to handle it! I was supposed to be his trainer." Olivia looked down, dejected.

Her mom was silent for a moment. Olivia eventually looked up at her and noticed the expression on her face. Her mom was thinking. That just left Olivia waiting for whatever her mom had come up with.

"Maybe…you should try being a trainer again."

Olivia stared at her mom with wide-eyed horror, "After I let Zander get stolen?!"

Olivia looked away, dejected.

"I don't deserve to be a trainer."

Olivia felt her mom put her hands on her shoulders. Olivia looked into her brown eyes, and they were visibly annoyed.

"Stop that. You're not a pro. You're not a pokémon master. I'm sure if Zander were here he'd want you to know that he doesn't blame you. Now, you've wanted to be a trainer ever since you were three. I know it still hurts, but you're never going to get better if you stay here hiding from the world."

Olivia stared at her for a while before nodding. She didn't smile, though.

"You might be right. So I'll try." Olivia got up from the couch and quickly walked towards the kitchen. Her mom was a little surprised by this, but just watched for the moment.

Olivia opened the fridge and pulled out a carton of pecha berries. Her features scrunched up in thought, before nodding that this was the right item.

She turned around and absently picked up a small knife, and placed it on top of the carton. Finally she came across the final item she would need. She hadn't touch that item in two years.

Her hand bag. She placed that strap around her shoulder, and opened the bag. As she suspected, the pokéballs that she had bought two year previous were still here now. She placed the carton and the knife in her bag.

She finally had everything. She thought about whether or not she should go change out of her pyjamas, but decided that she didn't care at the moment.

She did put some boots on however.

She was about to step out of the door, but her mom felt that she should say something first.

"Don't you think it's a little late?"

Olivia glanced back with a small smile on her face, "If I wait into tomorrow I won't feel the drive I have now."

Her mom shrugged, and turned back to the television, "Be careful then."

Olivia nodded then stepped outside.

The closest place to Vaniville that had wild pokémon was up past Aquacorde, which was a bit of a jog away.

It was a manageable distance, in fact you could probably make the trip around four times in an hour.

First Oliva ran through Route 1, a place that had a stone pathway going from start to finish, and no pokémon at all hiding in the trees or grass. This was slightly annoying to Olivia, but she pressed on. The problem with Route 1 was pure distance.

Aquacorde was a bit more time consuming, for different reasons.

Aquacorde was a pretty place, with its stone floors, its fountains, the street lamps that allowed her to see how pretty it was, even at night. Even the buildings had their own style that was a pleasant change from Vaniville.

Except that everything looked the same.

She took a left, she ended up back in the centre of town. She took a right, she ended up back in the centre of town. She kept walking straight, only changing direction when absolutely needed… she ended up back in Route 1.

Eventually, she had to ask someone that happened to be out. She would have wondered just why he had been out so late if she weren't so embarrassed that someone had seen her in her nightwear.

His teasing didn't help much, if at all.

"Right, what you want to do is turn around, walk back through Route 1, then go to beddy byes."

Olivia gritted her teeth, but didn't lose her temper. He wasn't worth it, "Thanks for the advice, but I'd really rather know the way to Route 2."

He smirked, and pointed across the street.

"Follow that road, love. Leads straight to Route 2. Watch yourself now." He winked, and walked away laughing deeply. Olivia wasn't sure how much she could trust a man that walked away laughing after giving someone advice, but she didn't have much choice.

She followed the road, and after five minutes of taking in the sights, walking straight past the odd amount of people that were out so late and crossing a bright over a river, she found herself in front of Route 2's sign.

She smiled and walked in till she was deep enough that the pokémon would find her, but not so deep that she couldn't see Aquacorde.

She kneeled down on the ground, ignoring how wet the grass was, and sat crossed legged. She opened her bag and pulled out the knife, the carton of pecha berries and a torch that had been in there since her first adventure.

She didn't know if its batteries had drained or not and she wished she had checked before she left home.

She flicked the switch on the torch and amazingly it still worked. She placed the torch between her interlocked legs, and now she could see a tiny bit around her.

She opened the carton, and pulled out two pecha berries. She then grabbed the knife and proceeded to chop one of the berries into bite sized pieces.

She placed a piece in her mouth as she waited. She didn't like pecha berries, but she didn't hate them either.

She liked pecha berry cakes, though. Marvellous invention of modern cooking right there.

She also knew that several pokémon enjoyed the taste of something sweet, some more than others.

She was also desperate. If this didn't work, and she couldn't attract a pokémon, how else was she going to get one?

Buy it? Pay someone else to catch it? Hope and pray? Her options were limited.

This train of thought eventually caused her to wonder how primitive man first tamed wild pokémon without the aid of a pokéball and another pokémon to combat it.

Well lost in her thoughts, a pokémon had smelled the scent of the carved pecha berry. He slowly crept closer, till he realised that the berry was next to a human.

He considered giving up, but in the past he had managed to get free food from humans because they thought he was cute. At least, that's what he told himself. They might have felt bad for him, to which he would happy take their food, and leave.

He took a chance, walking towards the human.

Olivia was dragged out of her mind when she heard the grass rustle. She turned to look and saw a Zigzagoon. They made eye contact, and Olivia was worried that that might make it run away from her.

To her surprise and delight it continued towards her, looked her up and down, then turned its head to the sliced up pecha berry. It proceeded to nod its head towards the berry, almost as if it were asking.

That was till Olivia realised that it was asking. 'I should really do some research into how smart pokémon are.'

"You have some manners, there. Here you go." She held out her hand with a piece of pecha berry. The Zigzagoon was hesitant for about three seconds before it took the piece into its mouth.

Afterwards it did the Zigzagoon equivalent of a smile.

"Want some more?" Zigzagoon nodded its head. Olivia was surprised by this. She just sat there, staring for a moment.

Zigzagoon, for its part, sat there patiently, simply waiting for the human to do something.

"Can you…understand me?" Zigzagoon stared at the human for a moment, blinked its eyes, and then sighed.

Then it nodded.

Olivia's mouth fell at that. She absently held her hand out again, and Zigzagoon took its prize.

"Are you a boy or a girl? Nod once for boy and twice for girl." Olivia just wanted to test this now. She found it interesting.

Zigzagoon nodded once. It, or rather he, found this human puzzling. Then again he couldn't tell the human's gender either.

"Wow. Okay then, this might make this easier. I was wondering if you'd like to join me on my journey?"

Zigzagoon looked up at the human, as he thought about the question. If he went with this human, they'd make him powerful. More powerful than he could be on his own. That also might mean more pecha berries.

It almost nodded at that thought. But then it wondered if it could trust the human or not.

'I can always run if things go south.'

He smiled and nodded once more for the human.

Olivia gave a cheer. She honestly couldn't believe that her plan had worked. She reached into her bag and pulled out a pokéball.

"Do you understand what I'm about to do?" Zigzagoon nodded, but walked away. He didn't walk far, he just decided to eat another pecha berry before he was caught.

Olivia laughed softly at this as she pressed the pokéball lightly to Zigzagoon's head. He turned into a bright crimson light, and entered the pokéball.

The ding of capture followed shortly.

Despite how happy she was, she didn't have time to celebrate as she stuffed all her stuff back into her hand bag.

She got up and let out a sigh as she turned back to Aquacorde. Now she had to find her back through.

She wouldn't let that spoil her mood, though.