A young girl walks down a crowded street, clutching a package in her arms. She keeps looking over her shoulder as she walks. Something catches her eye and she turns. Seeing whatever it is, she runs away from it. The girl runs into a lot of people and one of them knocks her down. The package falls out of her hands as she falls. She follows it with her eyes and crawls after it. A giant boot connects with her ribs and she rolls away. The boot's owner reaches for the package. A gun appears in front of the man's face.

"You touch that, or the girl, you get a bullet in your brain," says a big guy in a suit and sunglasses, despite the cloudy day.

The man looks shaken and backs up. The man in the suit signals to the girl. She comes and he points to the package. She picks it up and they walk off. As they walk, the girl looks over her shoulder. The man is being told off by someone else. The someone else looks at her and moves his finger across his throat. She shivers and continues walking.

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"Willow!"

The girl called groans and buries her head under her pillow.

"Willow!"

The call comes sharper now. She mumbles something and lifts her head.

"Coming!"

Willow gets out of bed and grabs her robe. She slides her feet into her slippers and stands up. Rubbing her head, she groans again. She walks to the door and opens it, and screams.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine, Alfred," Willow says. "Thanks for waking me up."

The butler nods and moves out of her way. She walks down the hall and down the stairs. She walks into the dining room and nods at the person sitting at the table.

"Didn't think you'd make it," she says, sitting down.

The boy smiles. "I'd never miss a chance to visit you."

"Yeah, sure, whatever," she replies. To the maid standing next to her, she says, "Toast with butter and eggs on them. Orange juice too."

The maid nods and walks off. The boy looks amused. She returns her gaze to him.

"So how are things going with you?" she asks.

"Fine," the boy answers. "What about you?"

Willow shrugs and picks up the orange juice the maid brought her. "Can't complain." She takes a drink. "A lot."

The boy looks amused once more. "How so?" He questions, hands folded and chin resting on them.

Willow sighs. "Well, business hasn't been going well since Daddy disappeared. The grunts are threatening to strike unless I start delivering the mula."

The boy nods understandingly. "You know that if you ever needed help…"

"Yes," she interrupts. "And I don't. He should be back any day now." She accepts the plate brought to her.

"Who?" he asks, confused.

Willow takes a bite of her toast and eggs. Chews, swallows. "Giovanni."

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"Vulpix, Quick Attack!"

A Vulpix speeds towards a target. It connects and the target breaks.

"Good job!" the girl says petting the Vulpix. "Today's been a great training day! We'll work more tomorrow."

The girl takes out a pokeball and Vulpix returns. She puts the ball back on her belt and stands up. She throws her head back and the sun catches her features.

She's young, no more then fourteen. Blonde hair, brilliant blue eyes and a beautiful face. Her bodily features are enhanced by the sky blue tank top and white skirt. On her feet, white socks and light blue, almost white, sneakers.

She feels a tap on her shoulder and she turns.

"Willow!" she says excitedly, hugging her.

"Nice to see you, Tanya," Willow says, lightly hugging her back.

For the first time, we get a good look at Willow. She is everything Tanya is not. Dark purple hair, eyes as black as night. Her clothes accent her face; dark purple t-shirt with a black trim and dark blue jeans. Black boots with red bottoms cover her small feet.

Despite her looks, she wears a genuine smile on her face at greeting her friend.

"How have you been?" Tanya asks, pulling back to face her friend.

"Not too bad," Willow replies. "You've changed."

Tanya giggles. "You've changed more then I have. Where have you been?"

"I've been busy," Willow says. "But I have more time on my hands now."

Tanya smiles, not knowing what her friend has been busy with. "Well I'm glad you're here. I want to battle you!"

At this, Willow hesitates. "I don't uh…"

Tanya looks at her quizzically. "Don't what?"

Willow looks away. "I don't really battle anymore."

Tanya's eyes grow wide. "What…"

Willow sighs. "I have a Pokemon on me, but it's really…"

"Great!" Tanya squeals, interrupting her friend. "Then let's go! There's a stadium just down the road!"

At that, Tanya grabs her Willow's hand and starts running.

They reach the stadium in a few minutes and register.

"You're the next ones up," the man at the counter says. "Good luck!"

"Thank you!" Tanya says, and pulls her friend into the stadium waiting room.

"Isn't this exciting?" Tanya asks. "If you enter a competition, you win money, but this is just for fun."

"I know," Willow says.

Tanya looks at her friend. "I thought you said you didn't…"

"I entered some competitions a while ago, when I was big on battling," Willow explains. "It's how I got some extra money."

Looking at the screen, she says, "Looks like we're up."

They both stand and make their way to the separate doors where they'll enter the field.

"Good luck!" Tanya says, disappearing behind the door.

"Same to you, my friend," Willow says to the closed door. "You're going to need it."