A Ralts appeared before Stuart as he was sitting beneath a tree by the roadside. Its yellow eyes, which peeked beneath its bowl cut hair as it looks up at him, felt like they were conveying a sense of urgency as they stare at him. Its mouth made several attempts at vocalization but failed as it had apparently already run out of breath.

Stuart sat motionless, confused on why a Ralts—some of the most shyest Pokemons—would approach him as he was rummaging through his bag. He looked around his surroundings, then noticed two girls running towards him coming from Route 102.

"Hey!" one of them, a pink hair girl, called out as she saw him. She waves her hands to get his attention, and shouted, "did you see a-"

Her sentence cut off as the other girl closed her friend's mouth, stopping her in her track.

Stuart scratched his head, then noticed the Ralts had disappeared. He checked his surroundings, but there was no trace of it anywhere. Thinking the girls might at spooked it away, he shrugged and turned his attention back towards the girls who now walked towards him in a brisker pace.

"Hello!" the pink hair girl greeted while the girl beside her nodded her head once. Both of them were sweating and covered in bits of dirt and twigs and leaves. Like the Ralts, they were out of breath but tried their best to not make it seem that way. "You wouldn't happen to see anything pass by around here, did cha?"

Stuart shook his head. The pink hair girl frowned at his answer and scratch her head. "Really?" she said, "I was extra sure it headed this way…"

"Come on, let's go," the other girl urged. She pushed her glasses up, and said in a low tone, "our success rate of catching it is higher if fewer people know about its existence."

The pink hair girl didn't budge and eyed Stuart for suspicious of his quick answer. The glass wearing girl clicked her tongue then grab the pink hair girl by the arm. The girl with glasses bid farewell and brought along her friend to a running pace in search of the Ralts, growing in distance away from him.

As the two disappeared off from sight, Stuart could hear the rustling of leaves above him. A moment later, the Ralts fell and landed on top of his bag.

"Well, you're safe now," he told it as he picks it up. It squirms in his grasp at being caught off guard but eventually settled down as its feet touched the ground. Stuart let the little bugger go and patted it on the head. "You better move along. Those two might come back."

"Ra?" it spoke. It sounded like a "huh?" to Stuart's ear, but he knows better than to make assumptions. He doesn't understand Pokemon.

"I gotta go. I have a delivery to make," he told it. He was about to zip his bag and continue his errand, but at the slightest sign that he was about to leave, the Ralts panic and stopped him from closing his bag by diving into it.

"Hey! What are you doing? Get yourself out of there!"

Stuart took hold of the Ralts body and pulled it out from his bag. He frown at it, but as soon as the Ralts showed him what it took out of his bag curiosity replaced any trace of anger in him. The Ralts showed him a Pokeball, the one he got from his parent when he was sent out on his, supposedly, important errand.

"Ralts!" it yelled, then bonked its head on the devise's switch.

Stuart out of reflex released his hand as the Ralts began to glow. It dematerialized into particles of red light in mid-fall and got sucked into the Pokeball. The once empty capturing device shook as it landed on the ground, and without so much as a struggled it ding as it successfully captured the Ralts.

"What…? But why?" he said to himself as he picked up the, now slightly heavier, Pokeball. He looked at it for a brief moment, contemplating on the Ralts' decision to get captured, before pushing the switch and letting it go.

Once the Ralts materialized, it looked up at him as if waiting for the result of its action.

"I thought you were trying not to get captured," he said to it, frowning as he did. Though, the scrunching of his brow was mostly because he couldn't figure out what the Ralts was up to. He doubted he was going to get an answer even if he asked. So, what came next came as a surprise.

Ralts used Telepathy.

[They will… make me fight,] it said. Its mouth was close, but its words were clear in his head. [You… good person, I sensed. You… no?]

"I… no?" he repeated the question, but instead of interpreting that as him being confused and repeating what it said, the Ralts smiled and thought he answered its question as a resounding "I no... make you fight," or something along those lines.

[I stay!] it said, pointing at itself with both of its stubby little hands, [I… I useful. I smart, Mother said. But… not strong.]

Stuart look around as it mentions its mother. It, sensing what he was looking for, said sadly in his head. [Mother… is gone. I alone, some time.]

Stuart, shook by her words, breathed in a short breath and stood still. "I-I see," he said, then after a moment of reflecting what he had just heard, nodded as if to affirm his understanding of the situation it was in. He relaxed his shoulder and said, "well, I guess I have a partner now, a smart one at that… even though I told my parents I wasn't going to be a trainer, but you know, these things happen."

He petted the Ralts on the head, which it accepted and nudge him for more. "That said, I guess I don't really mind. I promise to take good care of you, so don't you worry about a thing."

[Ili…] the Ralts said.

"Mmh?"

[Ilia… name. My name.]

"Oh," Stuart uttered, "Ilia, huh? Well, Stuart F. Jonson. My name."

Ilia smiled and nodded, then hugged him. [Stuart… new friend. Family.]

Stuart laugh light-heartily, then coughs in his hand all embarrassed-like."We… better get a move on. I gotta deliver some stuff to my Aunt. We'll be moving in a few days so we got to be back before then."

He zipped his bag and stood up, Ilia's Pokeball held in his hand. He clipped it on to his belt, the one his parents said he should wear 'just in case'. One last time, he sighs, "go catch some pokemon while you're at it, they said. Didn't think I actually do it… then again, it seems that it caught me."

He look at Ilia as it walk beside him. It wasn't a bad feeling having one, he though, and wonder what he's been missing all this time.

Had the urge to write again after failing last time. Not sure how this turn out but I try to keep it simple. Anyways, good or bad, I guess I just don't want to stop writing is what I'm saying. Here's to those who read this through, cheers. - BoredMimikyu

p/s: If you are the owner of the cover art I used in this image, please let me know if you want to take it down or credit you. I had it saved in my computer for sometime and can't remember where it's from.