Pidove flew through the crisp spring air, their feathers falling on the windowsill of a young girl's house with a flutter. She didn't mind though. Standing with her two best friends since birth she waved to the postman as he dropped off a box on the front door. Grabbing it she ran upstairs in a rush to her room, "Bianca! Cheren! It's here!" She set it down on the floor and got to work on styling her hair.

"Isn't this exciting!" The blonde haired bubbly girl bounced up and down giggling. "We get to have a Pokemon! We get to go on a journey!"

"Yes Bianca, we know." The more stoic male pushed his red glasses up to the bridge of his nose. "But remember this isn't all fun and games. We're doing this as a favor for Professor Juniper."

"Come on Cheren," she pouted turning on her heels full attention to her friend. "Be more enthusiastic."

"I am perfectly enthusiastic. There is being enthusiastic and then there is being too enthusiastic." Cheren didn't budge but anyone could see he was just as excited as his friend with the trembles his body gave off.

Back at her mirror Touko chuckled to herself as she worked with putting her long, wavy, thick brown hair into a ponytail. They'd had been like this for as long as she could remember. Like an old married couple.

"Well whatever!" She giggled and ran at the box containing the Pokémon. "I think that since it's Touko's house they were delivered to, she should get to pick first."

"Obviously."

"Uh guys. I'm right here you know." she sighed setting her brush down, the two would always get lost in their own little world, "You don't have to talk like I'm not."

"Oh Touko!" Bianca ran up ignoring her protests and pushed her to the neatly wrapped blue box, "Pick, pick!"

"Don't rush her Bianca." Cheren removed her hands from Touko's shoulders and gave her an apologetic look. "This is a very important decision. Touko. You know what your choices are correct?"

Nodding she listed them off, "Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott." She picked up all three balls and threw them with a small flick of the wrist. The three starter Pokemon appeared in a burst of blue light. A green snake like creature who seemed to be disinterested with everything, a cute little orange pig who looked at all three of them happily wagging its tail, and a little tiny otter who looked around nervously.

"They're all so cute!' Bianca squealed flailing her arms, "I can see how this is a hard decision…."

"Sha!" Bianca's loud voice scared the Oshawott as he ran forward hiding behind Touko's tiny desk and chair. His fur puffed out on all ends to make himself seem bigger as he tapped his shell.

Cheren frowned shaking his head, "Quiet down Bianca. You're scaring the Pokemon."

Touko felt sorry for the little otter and slowly walked over to her desk and knelt down on her knees as lightly as she could. "Hey it's okay." The brunette knelt down to the trembling Pokemon trying to calm him down, "I won't hurt you."

"Osha…" he looked up at her with wide eyes her face reflected in them. She held out her hand, this was the Pokemon she wanted, she had decided. Oshawott would be her partner.

Moving a little closer and smiling she whispered so she wouldn't startle him, "Would you like to go on a journey with me, Oshawott?"

"Osha?" He continued to stare at her as the whole room was silent. "Osha!" He had made his decision running to her and leaping into her arms, "Oshawo!"

Touko laughed and held him close petting him. She was glad that he seemed to be calmer as his fur fluffed down to its normal state, "I choose Oshawott." She walked over to her bed, grabbed her tote bag and slid her ponytail through her hat, making sure it was situated the way she liked it. "All right little guy, return." She held out her Pokeball but Oshawott slapped away with his shell.

"Osha!" He looked at his new trainer fearfully as the ball rolled across the floor stopping at Cheren's feet.

"Looks like he doesn't like the ball." Cheren picked up the fallen Pokeball from the ground and handed it to her. "It's very rare but I heard some Pokemon don't like being in them. Looks like your Oshawott is one of th-hey! Bianca!"

"Hmm?" All eyes were now on Bianca as she turned around hugging the Tepig its tail wagging back and forth happily, "What's wrong Cheren?"

"Who said you get to choose next-argh." He shook his head and picked up the ball off the grass type starter "Nevermind. I wanted Snivy anyway." The Snivy and he shared a mutual look as it returned it back to his Pokeball.

"Snivy is just like you Cheren!" Bianca giggled, "Hey Touko, we should have a Pokemon battle!"

"Now? In my room!?" Oshawott jumped onto her head and yawned. "I don't think he wants to…" She was relieved her Pokemon was too tired because truthfully she didn't want to battle right at this moment; she wanted to leave! Get out in the world and explore, she'd battle later but she was so antsy…

"Bianca the Pokemon would destroy the room. It's not a good idea."

Leave it to Cheren to come up with a logical reason not to do it. "I agree with Cheren so we should-"

"But they're still young. I think it would be fine." Bianca pouted clearly not pleased with being told no. "Hey Cheren, why don't you battle me?"

Cheren put a finger to his chin to ponder her suggestion.

Touko groaned she knew Cheren would never turn down a match, looks like she'd be here a little while longer.

"I guess you have a point. All right Bianca. Let's have a Pokemon battle."

Darnit. "Wait guys-"

"Go Tepig!" Bianca cheered. "We have the type advantage here. Use Ember!"

"Tepi?"

Cheren chuckled, "Tepig doesn't know ember yet. You need to raise him in order to do that." He smirked and adjusted his glasses, "But a beginner wouldn't know that. Snivy, show us your tackle."

"Cheren…" Touko sighed, he was too serious and harsh sometimes.

"Hey!" Bianca made a face, "That's mean Cheren…Dodge it Tepig!"

"Don't let it get away, tackle it!"

Snivy went after Tepig who ran out of the way his hooves sliding on the carpet. Snivy caught up and slammed his tail into Tepig who went flying into the large bookcase at the corner of the room. Touko gasped in horror as it wobbled back and forth. Please. Please don't fall.

"Tackle Tepig!"

"Dodge it!"

Tepig chased Snivy around ending up in front of the bookcase as it fell to the ground with a crash.

"Oh my gosh!"

"Snivy!"

"Tepig!"

The three leapt into action to remove the bookcase from the two. Oshawott even leapt off Touko's head and also attempted to push. When the bookcase was removed the two Pokemon lay unmoving with swirly eyes.

Cheren and Bianca both returned their Pokemon to their Pokeballs. It was a tie.

"Oh no no no…" Touko muttered to herself, "If mom finds out…"

"Touko!" The young girl's mother had entered the room. With hands on her hips she looked around at the mess a book shelf on the floor with scattered books, marks all over the walls and floor, and clothes scattered every which way. To put it bluntly it looked like a hurricane had run through the room. She tapped her foot and gave her daughter a disapproving glare. "What in the world happened in here?!"

"Mom! I…uh…" Words had failed her at this moment, she glared at her two friends it was their fault after all.

She noticed the tiny hoof prints on the ground. "Did you have a Pokemon battle in here?!"

"I-"

Cheren stepped in front of his friend ready to take the blame, "It was Bianca and I. Touko has nothing to do with it."

"Yes!" Bianca chipped in, "Please don't punish Touko, we were the one's battling…"

The elder women shook her head and sighed, "Then you two need to clean this place up before you can leave for your adventure." She noticed the Pokemon sitting atop Touko's head and turned her attention back to her. "Why isn't yours in its ball dear?"

"He doesn't like it." She looked up at her satisfied otter. "Cheren said some don't and I guess he's one of them."

"Ah yes. I have heard that. Never thought I'd actually see it." She smiled and handed her a watch-like object. "This is a Xtranciever. You can use it to make calls. I have one for Bianca and Cheren too." She handed two other Xtrancievers to the two friends and walked over to open the window. Sighing she looked out of it with a forlorn expression. "You all should get going then. You have a huge adventure ahead of you" She wiped at her eyes trying not to cry." But first go see Professor Juniper and thank her for all of this."

"Of course Mom." Touko ran down her stairs eyes shining in excitement, "Come on guys lets go to the lab!" And after the lab they would finally, finally be off!

Touko ran ahead giggling followed by Bianca and Cheren in the very back. It wasn't a long walk in the slightest and the trio reached the lab in no time.

Gasping in awe at the lab around her, Touko looked around in wonder at all the high tech gadgets and gizmos Bianca shook in place with excitement while Cheren called out for the professor.

"Oh!" One of the automatic doors opened revealing the professor herself, Professor Juniper. She smiled walking toward them, "You three made it."

"Thank you so much for the Pokemon, Professor!" Bianca threw her Pokeball and Tepig popped out. "We're all very happy! Cheren," she elbowed the boy, "Send out Snivy!"

He shook his head and sent out his Snivy. Touko put the hand that wasn't holding her bag to her mouth to shield her laughter, both Cheren and Snivy stood in the exact same pose with their arms crossed looking disinterested. Bianca was right Snivy was the perfect Pokemon for Cheren.

"I see that all of you seem very close to them already. That's great." She turned to Touko, "I'm glad you're okay with Oshawott, as you can see he's not too fond of his ball."

She grinned and waved her hand, "It's fine. At first I found it strange, but if that's what he likes I'm not going to put him in a place he's uncomfortable in." She sighed, "No one wants to be in a situation that makes them uncomfortable so I completely understand."

She nodded, "It's great that he has such an considerate trainer. I made the right choice giving them to all of you. Oh! Wait here please." She walked over to the desk and returned with three computer systems "These are Pokedexs. If you three could scan Pokemon you encounter on your journey, that would really help with my research."

The three of them nodded and each took one of the dexs. Touko set it in her handbag.

"Thank you for entrusting us with this task." Cheren returned Snivy to the Pokeball and placed both the dex and the ball into his bag. "We won't let you down Professor."

She laughed, "I know you three will be wonderful. Before I forget, take these too!" Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a bunch of tiny red and white spherical objects. "Use these Pokeballs to capture any wild Pokemon you find." Juniper laughed, "But I'm sure you knew that already. The three of you are very smart trainers after all."

"Thank you Professor…" Touko blushed at the compliment, she wasn't used to praise.

"Well if that's it, I'll let you three go. Remember to take care of yourselves and enjoy your adventure. Best wishes you three!"

Finally! The wind blew through Touko's hair as she ran toward the first route. She was so excited, a Pokemon journey an actual Pokemon journey! There were so many things she could choose from too, should she go for gyms? Pokemon musicals? Something else all together?

"Touko! Wait!"

Interrupting her train of thought she turned to her friend confused, "What's wrong Bianca?"

"I know we plan to go our separate ways but we should all take our first step together! The start of our journey." She grinned, "What do you think?"

Bianca was always so thoughtful and sweet, trying to include all of them in everything. When she first found out that her and Cheren planned to travel separately she was sad at first but bounced right back, agreeing it was the best thing for all of them. "I'm okay with it if Cheren is."

Cheren smiled slightly, "I think that's a great idea, a wonderful way to mark the beginning of our journey."

"Let's join hands!" Bianca reached over and grabbed Touko's hand, "Cheren take Touko's hand too."

He nodded and gripped his friend's hand, "On the count of three."

"One!" Bianca squeaked.

"Two." Cheren counted.

"THREE!" Touko cried as all three of them took their first step. Leaves flew through the air and the sweet scent of flowers carried with the wind. "Let's go!"

In no time at all, Touko had arrived in Accumula town. The walk through the route was short, she didn't see any wild Pokemon, and no one challenged her to a battle. Cheren and Bianca were already probably long gone she took her time enjoying the scenery as the two ran ahead. She was surprised however when she saw her male friend standing in front of the Pokemon Center.

"Cheren?" She ran over to him perplexed, "What are you doing here? I thought you and Bianca would have moved on by now…is she here too?"

"No. Bianca went on ahead." He explained, "I was waiting for you."

"Me? Why?"

"I want to battle you, Touko. To test our skills." He smirked, "How about it?"

Of course it was only fair to give him one since he was waiting for who knew how long. "I'm okay with it but…" She giggled nervously, "I haven't had a battle yet. This would be my first one. That all right?"

"Of course. Everyone has to have his or her first battle at some point, or you won't get stronger. Do you plan to go for the Pokemon League?"

"I don't know…I haven't decided on what I want to do yet. But-" She snapped her fingers, "I know that's what you want to do, right?"

He laughed, "Guilty."

Ever since they heard they would be receiving Pokemon, Cheren was adamant about becoming the Pokemon Champion. If she decided to go for the league Cheren would end up being her toughest rival.

"In that case," she grinned, eyes narrowed in determination, "I accept your challenge."

"Excellent. Snivy!"

He sent out his starter who looked a bit tougher from last time. Cheren must have already started training that's just like him, Touko mussed.

"Just because we're best friends, doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on you, Touko." Cheren's expression mirrored his Pokemon's slick smug grin.

"I don't expect you to." She looked up at her Pokemon sitting atop her head and pointed forward, "Oshawott, you're up!"

"Osha." He leapt off her head hand at his shell ready for his trainer's command.

"Tackle!"

As soon as the words left her mouth her vision blurred into something else all together. Touko swallowed, her mouth felt dry. The only thing should could call the scene was indescribable horror. She felt sick and started shaking. W-what is? Voices in her head coming out of nowhere. A scene of smoke and destruction.

In their field Oshawott ran forward but the grass snake was too fast and dodged it. His ears twitched and he looked back at his trainer concerned.

Dizziness started to take hold of her and her chest felt tight. She had a massive headache beginning to form. What was wrong with her?

"Touko?" Cheren looked at his friend concerned, "Are you okay?"

She was unresponsive and started coughing it was getting hard to breathe. Her knees felt weak as they buckled and she fell to the floor gasping for air. Fire. There was fire everywhere. She squeezed her eyes shut and wrapped her arms around her body, teeth clenched and eyes watering.

"Touko!" Cheren ran over to his friend. "Touko breathe! What's wrong?!"

"She's having a panic attack it seems."

Cheren turned his head to the new arrival; a male Pokemon trainer, "P-panic attack? What do I-"

"Don't panic yourself, that'll make it worse." He knelt down next to the female as Cheren watched intently. "Miss. You're okay. The battle is over." He gingerly placed a hand on her shoulder, "Your friend is here with you, everything is normal."

She continued shaking lost in the vision. Someone was talking to her. She tried opening her teary eyes to see the source. It was another trainer. Cheren sat next to him and Oshawott had his paws on her knee.

"How are you feeling?"

"I-I" She stuttered as reality came back to her, that's right she was in a battle and then…she remembered something but now she didn't know what it was. "I think I'm okay." She took another breath and smiled a tiny shaky smile, "Yeah. I'm okay."

"If I could make a suggestion, take off your hat and let your hair down, it'll get rid of any tightness you feel."

She nodded reaching up to take off her hat and ran her hands through her hair letting it fall over her shoulders. At least that made her headache go away.

Cheren breathed a sigh of relief. "Are you doing okay?"

"I'm r-really sorry Cheren." She moaned still trembling, "I don't know what happened but once I feel better we can finish our battle. Can we move it to somewhere else though?" She swallowed, her stomach still churned; she never had felt so sick.

"We can hold it off as long as you need." He sighed, "I'm relieved Bianca wasn't here for that. She would have made things worse. You know how she tends to overreact."

She nodded still nauseated; "Yeah…that's Bianca for you."

"I don't mean to intrude but I don't believe moving your battle to a different location is going to help." The other trainer gracefully cut into the conversation as Touko laid her head in her lap trying to make the spinning go away.

"Oh?" Cheren looked at him, "What do you mean?"

"The battle was what caused the problem in the first place, I believe."

"Really?" Cheren looked bewildered, "How can a battle cause all of that?" He crossed his arms, "And just who are you?"

"Oh my, how rude. I never introduced myself." He bowed, "My name is Dento and I'm a Pokemon Sommelier. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Pokemon Sommelier? I guess you do know what you're talking about then. I'm Cheren. And over there is Touko."

"Nice to meet both of you~" He smiled graciously and knelt back down to the pale girl. "Touko correct?"

She looked up getting a good look for the first time. He had slight spikey hair of a shade of light green in contrast with his emerald eyes that almost matched his bowtie. He looked like a waiter of some sort. Oh no not food…She leaned forward with a hand on her stomach feeling another wave of nausea. "Y-yes?"

"If you can you should move to a place more comfortable for you, like a center. I doubt this is very comfortable for you."

She nodded and shakily stood up trying to catch her breath, thanking the dragons this happened in front of the Pokemon Center less than a couple steps away.

The three sat in the Pokemon Center as Touko sipped on a cup of tea still shivering slightly. "It's good."

"The tea is made from Pansage's leaves." He explained as his partner Pokemon sat on his shoulder. "It should calm you down. It should also get rid of how sick you feel if the reason you're feeling ill is due to fear like I suspect."

"That's right, Pansage leaves have the ability to calm Pokemon and people. I remember reading something about that." Cheren nodded, "I shouldn't be surprised you did say you were a Pokemon Sommelier after all."

"I actually feel a little better, thanks." She smiled her color starting to return. She felt calmer and less nauseated but she didn't understand how being scared of something could make her so queasy. "Can you cook too?"

"Touko! He's dressed like that because he's a Sommelier. They have a dress code I think." Cheren sighed, "Sorry about her."

"Don't apologize for me Cheren!" Touko crossed her arms and pouted, finally starting to feel like herself again, "Thanks for helping me back there, I can't tell you how much I appreciate it."

He smiled looking just as relieved as Cheren she was feeling better. "It's my pleasure."

There were so many things on her mind; what just happened to her? How did he know how to deal with it so well? Did she almost die, it almost felt that way. And, "If you don't mind me asking, what is a Pokemon Sommelier?"

Dento opened his mouth to explain but Cheren took over, "They evaluate the relationship between trainers and their Pokemon. Classes are brutal I heard and consists of linguistics, psychology on both trainers and Pokemon, bonding, presentation and more. You know you should really read more Touko."

"Not everyone is a nerd like you Cheren," she growled. "Besides I wanted to hear about Dento's profession from Dento." Sighing she shook her head, "Back there you said the battle was the problem right? But then that means-"

"Touko that can't be the issue." Cheren adjusted his glasses "I've never heard of anything like that before. Something frightened you and it's unrelated to the match."

"Nor have I." Dento explained, "But my theory is the location isn't the ingredient creating the unfavorable dish, the battle is."

"It doesn't make sense! Why would a battle cause her, or anyone to react like that?" Cheren exclaimed bewildered, "Is it like stage fright?

"Sort of." Dento waved his finger. "An unhealthy marriage is created by putting the wrong spice on a dish, similar to an unhealthy reaction created by a someone with severe trauma participating in Pokemon battles."

"Trauma?" Touko blinked and looked down at her knees, a little scraped from falling forward earlier. Any trauma she had would have come from what just happened not before it.

"Touko doesn't have any trauma though." Cheren tapped his foot. "Do you?"

"No!" She squeaked, "I've had a great life, nothing traumatic has ever happened to me." Unless she counted her parents divorce when she was younger, but she could barely remember anything about that. She doubted the two subjects were even related.

"Odd." Dento put a finger to his chin lost in thought, "What happened back there was definitely the taste of post traumatic stress. It is possible it's a repressed memory however… "

"Touko doesn't have PTSD." Cheren chuckled, "But…I do see what you are getting at. What reason would she have to panic like that just over a Pokemon battle of all things?

"It was my first battle, everyone gets frightened during their first match right?"

"That wasn't normal nervousness, he has a point."

She knew that of course, but she wanted to try to justify it for as long as she could. Accepting it would mean there was something seriously wrong with her.

"It looked like a flashback. Did you see anything during your battle that stood out, Touko?"

See anything? She felt like she did see something but whatever it was had left no trace in her mind. She shook her head, "No…I don't even know if I saw something or not."

"How can you not know!?"

"I just don't Cheren!"

Dento nodded continuing his slight interrogation "How about sound? Did you hear anything when you zoned out?"

"I can't remember…" she looked down sadly, "It's weird it's like it never happened."

"But you looked like you were lost in thought." Cheren argued, "Like you were remembering something…"

Something red or was it orange? And then voice of something but…"I wasn't!" She scratched at her head in frustration, "Or was I? I don't know!" He wasn't helping!

"Relax, relax Touko. It isn't worth stressing yourself out over."

"But-"

"He's right." Cheren sat up and adjusted his bag.

Like he was one to talk, she scoffed, he was the one stressing her out in the first place!

"But if it is some sort of trauma hidden or not, you need to try to face it. I think you should keep trying to battle. There's a gym in Striaton City. Why don't you head there?"

Cheren. Never be a psychologist. She almost fainted from a battle and now he was telling her to go battle.

"I don't think a gym is a good idea, going into a gym battle cold has a very chilling flavor as it is. If there is something going on, taking a risk such as that would magnify the effect." The other trainer countered.

At least someone was making sense. Wait worse?! "It could be worse?!" She shivered feeling slightly ill thinking about what had just occurred, "I don't want to go through that again."

"I didn't mean go to the gym first, that's suicide." Cheren glared at the sommelier almost offended he would think something like that, "Battle with Pokemon and trainers if you can. Take it slow. Then Touko, you should try the gym. I think that is the best path for you."

He didn't understand, no one could. "But now I'm scared, what if it happens again?! Maybe I should just go back home…" She couldn't remember anything that happened but she certainly remembered how she felt and she knew she never wanted to feel it ever again. It was like she just shut down.

"Don't give up! You'll get through it. I believe in you." He held out a hand, "I know you can do it and I bet Bianca feels the same way."

"You aren't going to tell Bianca about this are you?"

"Don't worry." Cheren grinned, "I promise I won't say a word."

Maybe he was right; maybe she would end up okay. A tiny smile made its way onto her face, "Thanks Cheren." She stood up and shoved him lightly on his shoulder, "You should get going though, you're wasting time sitting here with me. You have a dream to obtain right?"

"Yes but-"

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine on my own!"

"Are you sure?" Cheren looked at his friend warily, "You're not just saying that are you?"

"Of course not! Go go!" She laughed winking, "Stop worrying okay?"

"All right." He reached for his handbag and slung it over his shoulder. "Good luck then. Call me when you feel up to battling. Or if you ever want to talk or need advice, I'll be here. I'll see you around."

Once he was gone Touko collapsed in the booth, laid her head on the table, and groaned. That was close he had almost seen through her lie.

"Any reason why you lied to your friend who was clearly concerned?"

She sat up in a flash, her hair bouncing back and forth "I didn't lie!

With a raised eyebrow his expression showed he wasn't convinced in the slightest. But he let it go moving onto another topic of conversation, "What do you plan to do from here Touko?"

She thought for sure he'd try to figure out why she was lying but the fact he let it go so fast was refreshing. "I wanted to travel, Striaton City sounds nice. But if I'm like this, where battling is really important and necessary for survival wouldn't it just be better for me to go back home?" She took another sip of her tea, the mug warm on her shaky hands.

Nodding he seemed to agree with her, "But is that what you want?"

No. No it wasn't. She wanted to travel, to see the region! And just a couple of hours ago she would stop at nothing to make that happen. Would she really let fear get in the way of that? "Well. I want to go to Striaton City, I want to continue my journey but…" She sighed. She wished she were traveling with her friends. They agreed it was for the best that they split up but now the last thing she wanted was to travel alone. Actually…

"Then travel to Striaton."

He was a good listener she thought, and kind. Not to mention he was able to deal with her anxiety better than Cheren did. Maybe she could convince him to travel with her for a little while, he certainty seemed nice enough.

"If that's what you want to do, don't let what just happened stop you. I was just heading there actually."

"Really?!" Before she could stop herself she reached over, grabbed his hands and exclaimed, "Can I come with you, please? I'm still a little- "

"Shaken?" Smiling he nodded, "I was going to ask if you would like to accompany me."

"Yes!" She let go and let out a sigh of relief; that was easier than she thought it would be. At least she had a partner to travel with for a little bit now, what if she was challenged to a battle and broke down again? With someone else with her she'd be able to get through it. "How far is it from here?"

"Not far at all, only a couple hours at the most." He pulled a blue handheld electronic map, "See?" Pulling up the screen he pointed to various locations. "Striaton City is right here, just past the Battle Club."

"Battle Club? Doesn't sound like something I could ever do…it has battle in the title." She ran her hands through her hair and groaned, "This wasn't supposed to happen! I've watched battles my whole life and have always been excited to try one myself, why would I react like that?"

"It could be something to do with you participating in them instead of watching them. It may not seem like it but there is a major difference."

"I guess…I just feel so pathetic and weak." Everyone was ahead of her in skill now. She doubted she could ever catch up.

"Maybe you should try the Battle Club then." He suggested, "The owner there is the expertise when it comes to anything about the art of Pokemon battling. Perhaps he could suggest some tips for dealing with something like this."

"I don't know, you're being nice enough to let me travel with you as it is. I don't want to delay you getting to your destination." She looked down sadly and gripped at her jean shorts in frustration, "I don't want to cause you to arrive later than intended."

"I'm not on any time frame, take as long as you need. Striaton is my home."

"Oh?" She looked at him in confusion, "Why did you leave?"

He rubbed the back of his head with his hand, "My brother is pretty hot headed. He got in a fight with my other brother and left. I went after him."

"He ran all the way to a different town?!" Her eyes widened with shock. Sure it was only a couple of hours away but that's still traveling a couple of hours away from home unplanned!

"That's Pod for you. When he's upset he's able to travel quite far."

Touko sat up slamming her hands on the table, "Then what are you doing talking here with me, shouldn't you go find him?! "

He laughed, "Don't worry I did find him. We were on our way back when I saw your battle, told him to go ahead and ran over to help."

Her face reddened in embarrassment from her outburst, "Oh. Sorry."

"No need to apologize."

"Well I still think we should get going." The brunette finished her last sips of tea, put her hair back into a ponytail and reached for her hat. But her hat wasn't where she thought it was, "That's weird…" She rummaged through her bag and still couldn't find it, "Where did it go?" She paused looking around the center, "And now that I think about it…where is Oshawott?"

"Pansage!" The grass monkey leapt off his trainer's shoulder and motioned to the area behind the booth Touko currently sat in. Oshawott peaked out behind the cap holding it in front of him for protection.

"Oshawott," She stood up and walked over to him, "What are you doing, come here."

"Sha!" He shook his head trembling still clutching the hat.

"Os-ha-wott. Look I'm okay now, 100%~" She put her hands on her hips leaned forward, "Now. What is wrong with you?"

The sommelier snapped his fingers, "He's very shy and timid; it must take him a while to warm up to others. He's a perfect match for you."

She crossed her arms, "He's afraid of other people yet he refuses to be in his own Pokeball." She rolled her eyes, her tone laced with sarcasm, "Oh yeah, that makes sense."

"Well, he seems to be quite fond of you, I can tell even though the two of you just became partners you have a very close bond." He sat down on the ground and pulled something out of his backpack. "Here give him this. Try to coax him out gently."

He handed her what looked to be a container of homemade Pokemon food.

"To answer your question from earlier yes I do cook." He put a hand on his chest, grinned and boasted, "I'm a chef sommelier~"

"Chef sommelier?" Was that different from a Pokemon sommelier? Nevermind she couldn't dwell on that now; there was enough on her mind already. "Oshawoooot~" She chirped kneeling down on the floor, "Come here little guy." Placing some of the food in the palm of her hand, she held it out hoping the food would entice him.

He sniffed the air, dropped the hat and ran forward stuffing his face with the food. He was hungrier than she thought.

"Sha~" He looked up at her chirping happily.

"Thank him." She motioned to Dento with her head as she grabbed her hat. "It's his not mine."

"Osha?" He sniffed cautiously and approached the other trainer. Once he decided it was safe he nuzzled his hand.

"He's very healthy. His coat is extraordinarily soft, silky and shiny. You've taken good care of him."

She placed the hat on her head and blushed, "Well uh…I got him from Professor Juniper. You should give the credit to her not me."

Oshawott ran over to her and leapt onto her shoulder happily.

"What did you mean about us being good match?" She stood up picking up her bag. "I'm curious."

"Well." He stood back up and dusted off his pants, "With your clear fear of battling mixed with his shyness both of you have it rougher than most trainers in your position. The two similar flavors create a disastrous marriage. But-" He snapped his fingers as the tone of his voice rose in pitch and fervor almost like a song. "Once you grow and overcome it, your ability will fully ripen allowing your true self to shine!~"

Touko giggled to herself, he was silly. But he had a point. "All right!" She clenched her fists in determination. And turned toward him, "In that case, I do want to go to the Battle Club. Maybe there is something there that can help me." She looked toward her Pokémon, "What do you think?"

"Osha!" He chirped in determination and agreement.

"In that case, we'll head out when you're rea-"

"Now!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him along, "We're leaving now!"

Dragging along her new friend with blazing blue eyes, she ran into the next route ignoring everything around her. Her journey certainty wasn't like she thought it would be, but she'd do whatever it took to overcome this battle thing. She hoped this Battle Club would have an easy solution to her problem.