Thunder can be heard for miles, and lightning can be seen tearing the sky and trees. Clouds hang high above, dark as ever. The weather in Unova had never been this bad before. It was as if the mighty Legendary Pokemon were at rage, but no other destruction can be seen . . .

Going up a path in the middle of the thunderstorm, was a young male Lillipup. He had been travelling across Unova for nearly a week now. He had managed to evade many trainers due to his sense of smell and hearing, along with his facial fur as radar, though he always said "There are other pokemon that have better senses than me." Not only trainers, he had also evaded any sort of contact with other pokemon. But that was about to change . . .

I thought to myself, I have been travelling across this region for days now, and for one reason only . . . But then I heard a twig snap ahead of me. I stopped walking. I saw the shadow of a figure coming out of the rain. It didn't matter, friend or foe, it was a small pokemon, I can tell. And sure enough, it got close enough to me to recognize it as a Snivy. We looked at each other. "Hi there" the Snivy greeted me, "What are you doing out here in the rain? Shouldn't you seek shelter?" I didn't answer, and neither did the Snivy persuade. It was a female, I can tell from the pitch of her voice. "Sorry, did I startle you?" she asked me, "Anyway, I'm Shelvina,". "And you are?" Shelvina asked me.

I could not stay silent forever, so I took a deep breath and answered her, "If you are asking for a name, then sorry, I don't have one." She seemed taken aback by my answer.

"You don't have one?" Shelvina asked me. I nodded. Thunder can be heard in the background while we were talking. She asked me again,"And you're a . . . sorry for asking . . . a female?". Female? I was even more surprised than her when I told her I had no name. She quickly caught on to her mistake and apologized, "Sorry! I'm so sorry for mistaking your gender. Your voice was . . .". She seemed embarrassed, a lot! I never really considered my voice as high as a female pokemon's, but maybe she does.

"It's not a big deal" I told her, but she doesn't look any less guilty.

"You know . . ." she began, "I feel sorry for you not having a name . . . how about I give you one? Like a nickname or something?". The thought of a nickname seemed to not agree with me, but I'd rather have someone call me something other than 'Mr. No-Name'.

She tells me that she'll need to know some stuff about me first before creating the perfect nickname because sometimes nicknames are based of habits or personalities or body build. I didn't really tell her much. I told her that I was crossing across Unova, evading every trainer or pokemon nearby, and that I prefer to trail the most remote places in my journey. But then she suddenly said "Ooh! Ooh! I have the perfect nickname for you!". I raised an eyebrow at her. "How about . . . Loner?"

Loner? That does seem to fit me, a loner, and it's a good nickname as well.

"Okay then" I told Shelvina. She was delighted that I accepted.

"So can I call Loner from now on?"

"Yes." She was rather pleased with herself. We continued talking as we went down the path in the rain.

Some twenty minutes later, Shelvina asked me something, "You're quite young to be travelling alone . . ." she said, "Where are your parents?"

She couldn't see it, but a sparkle appeared in the corner of my right eye for just a second. "Ah ... Don't worry about that..." I told her, "I had to leave earlier than I expected due to... certain reasons ..."

Shelvina didn't seem to buy it, so she kept on persuading me to tell me what the real reason was. I kept on telling her the same thing again and again and again. Around 5 minutes later, she gave up, and decided not to push me on that subject any further.

We settled at the edge of a lake at the forest's edge. It was still raining quite violently. There was a comfy spot where some logs were arranged in a square and some sticks in the center, clearly the remains of an old camping spot. Shelvina drank some water before coming over to where I was at the logs. "Loner, you said you were travelling across Unova, right?" she asked. I nodded. "What for?" she asked, "Are you looking for someone? Or trying to travel to another region?". I thought about my answer. I do want to go to Kalos . . . but there was another reason for all this . . .

"I want to go to to Nuvema Town Port" I told Shelvina, "to catch a boat to the Kalos region."

"Actually, I was also going to the port," Shelvina told me, "but I think it's in a different city than yours . . . Hey! Why I don't come along with you to Nuvema Town?" I didn't want anyone to be with me on my trip, but I couldn't just say 'no', so I agreed. "Great!" she said, "The closest city is Nimbasa City, so we'll go there first!".

She skipped and hopped down the path without waiting for me. I sighed. "Wait for me okay!?" I shouted at her, "I've got something to do!". I heard her shouting back 'yes' from afar.

Now I was alone, in the rain . . . All of my fur is soaked, and the sound of thunder was crashing my eardrums. I walked over to the edge of the crystal-clear lake. Even though water droplets shattered the surface of the lake, I can see the reflection the trees behind me and myself. One more droplet that did not come from the rain, but from me, fell into the lake and broke my face's reflection. Maybe once I get to Kalos all of this will be over . . . . .

I chased after Shelvina, but only after a short 5 minute run I found her fast asleep inside a hole in a tree. I was tired as well. Before I went to sleep as well, I wanted to made sure that we were the only ones here, or at least nothing dangerous nearby. But all my ears can hear is rain, all I can smell is water and my surroundings, and my facial fur detects no movements at all other than high-speed winds. The tree opposite of Shelvina's had a hole at the bottom, like a burrow, so I had no problem getting inside. I got comfortable quite quickly in there; being a loner forces you to get into uncomfortable places where no one else would go to avoid people. I fell fast asleep.

I woke up the next day really early. I crawled out of my little burrow. Shelvina was still sleeping, and the sun had just risen. I faced the rising sun, the sky still reddish-orange, flowers blooming, and the shadows of trees cast upon the ground. I sniffed the air, there was something I never smelled before... other than the trees, fresh air, flowers, there was something else... I don't know what to call it.

I guess it was the smell of new adventure...

And perhaps... a new life...