"Nate! Get Rosa out of bed and come downstairs!" Nate's mother called to her son. Nate crawled out of bed, sighing. He had been having such a wonderful dream. He wandered over to Rosa, and shook her awake.

"Oh, um… what is it?" Rosa said.

"Mom wants you up. Don't know why, just roll with it," Nate said.

"Do I have to?" she continued, before reluctantly slipping into her daywear. Once she had done so, Nate took her hand, and led her downstairs.

"OK, Nate… Professor Juniper has asked if you can go on an adventure to fill in the Pokédex," Nate's mother said.

"Really?" Nate asked.

"An adventure? You mean… with Nate?" Rosa added.

"Yes, really. Now… when Professor Juniper gets an idea, she tends to not be easily dissuaded. You guys might get forced along…"

"We don't mind," Nate said.

"You worry too much, Nate's mom," Rosa added.

"I knew you'd say that, Nate. But be careful. You know what happens out there…" Nate's mother finished, sparing a glance at Rosa.

"We'll be fine. Now where do we start?" Nate asked.

"Hi! I've been looking all over town for a Nate and a Rosa. You wouldn't happen to know them? Rosa's been said to be unintelligible…" the woman Nate and Rosa were looking for, Bianca, told them as they found her.

"Of course you guys think I'm unintelligible. Fact is, Nate's too thick to take a hint," Rosa said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, you two are Nate and Rosa? Thank goodness… I was told to give you one of these three Pokémon each," Bianca said, revealing a plastic case holding three Poké Balls.

"Nate… could… could you pick first? I… I couldn't…" Rosa said. She pointed between Nate and the canister, making it obvious she wanted Nate to have the first pick. Nate took the middle Pokémon, a Tepig. Rosa looked between her now two options, and decided on the Oshawott.

"Great! Now that you have your Pokémon, I wish you the best of luck on your adventure. Oh… almost forgot… take these Pokédex," Bianca finished, giving Nate and Rosa a Pokédex each. At that moment, Hugh, Nate's childhood friend, ran up to the trio.

"Hey, Nate! Hello, Rosa. Oh, and would you be Bianca?" he said.

"That I would be."

"…Can I have a Pokédex? Please?" Hugh asked. Bianca nodded, and gave Hugh her remaining Pokédex.

"Thanks… I've been wanting to take an adventure for a while… Nate! Can me and you have a battle? Please?" Hugh asked.

"…Sure," Nate said. Bianca slapped her forehead, and reached into her satchel yet again.

"Sorry about this… again. I forgot to hand you your Battle Rings. These will allow you to do battle without the need to shout commands," Bianca stated. Nate, Rosa and Hugh all nodded, and took a Ring each. Lucky there was a spare.

Nate is challenged by PKMN Trainer Hugh!

PKMN Trainer Hugh sent out Snivy!

Go! Tepig!

Snivy pulled twin vines out from seemingly hammer space, and swung at Tepig. Tepig jumped out of the way, and snorted flames. He charged his way at Snivy, and collided. Snivy charged at Tepig as Tepig did the same: they collided mid-way, smashing their heads together. Snivy growled. Tepig snorted. The addition of flames sent Snivy reeling back.

Nate defeated PKMN Trainer Hugh!

"Excellent tactics, Nate. You clearly have experience… oh," Hugh said, his eyes landing on Rosa.

"Well, excuse me for not having your language."

"Did she just insult me?" Hugh asked.

"Wha- How dare you? I'm not talking to you!" Rosa said, folding her arms and turning away.

"I think you insulted her," Nate said, chuckling. He could understand most of Rosa's expressions. Mostly thanks to experience.

"Yes, yes he did. But you don't. That's why I like to talk to you!" Rosa said, wrapping her arms around Nate. "Now, how about that adventure?" she asked, spinning around and pointing in the general direction of Route 19. She started to run off, with Nate hot on her heels.

"Hello there, young trainers!" a voice called from atop a tall mountain, as Nate and Rosa passed it by. From atop it jumped a man with an explosively -coloured and -styled hairstyle, and a very traditionally based outfit.

"Hello…" Nate started.

"The name is Alder. I was once Champion of Unova. But now, I wander the world, looking to enlighten others who may one day rise to be great Trainers."

"Wonderful life goal," Nate said.

"Quite. Say… you look like you have what it takes, but don't have as much in the way of experience. Under normal circumstances, I would invite you to my home for tea and a practice battle, but something has come up. Go to Floccesy Ranch, and see for yourself."

Nate and Rosa ran up to the ranch in a hurry, worried as to the extent of the chaos. There, they bumped into Hugh, who had caught up to them at long last.

"Ah, hello there, dearies… um… could you please help us with a wee bit of a crisis?" the owner of the ranch's wife asked.

"That doesn't sound good…" Rosa muttered, eyes widened.

"What's the crisis?" Nate prompted.

"We lost our Herdier. It's been missing for a while now. Normally, after this long, the Herdier come back, but…" the owner said.

"A wee crisis? Are you SERIOUS? Rosa! Use your powers! Now!" Hugh roared. Rosa ruffled herself, and poked her head in the nearest patch of tall grass. She came out with a Mareep. Hugh blinked at the sight.

"…Fine. I'll look for it myself!" Hugh said adamantly. He tore off.

"…Rosa, we should help him," Nate suggested.

"Fine. I just want to catch this Mareep. So cute… and fluffy!" Rosa said, nuzzling in its wool.

Nate found the Herdier in the far back of the Floccesy Ranch. It barked gratefully, and ran up to him. However, this was mostly because someone else was standing right there.

"Tch. Who do you think you are, interrupting some random guy in the middle of an attempted heist? I am one of many in a group that strikes fear into the hearts of Trainer and Pokémon alike… Neo Team Plasma! Heard of it?" the grunt asked.

"Yes, once," Nate said.

"I have!" Rosa called, walking up from behind Nate.

"Rosa!" Nate called out.

"I have seen what your leader is capable of doing! Surprised that, after five years, you're still as lowly as stealing Pokémon behind Trainer's backs, but I will not stand for this!" Rosa called out. The drama of the speech was somewhat leeched by the fact no one could hear her. But the Neo Team Plasma member got the gist.

"Seek to foil me? Take this!" The Grunt threw a small metal object in Rosa's general direction, using that to make his escape. Hugh walked up, followed by the ranch owners.

"Nate, you found it! Well done! I feared the worst…" Hugh congratulated.

"How bad?" Nate asked.

"Someone like Team Plasma stealing it."

"Well, Hugh… I'm ashamed to admit it, but you're right about that. Team Plasma is up to no good. Or, as they now call themselves, Neo Team Plasma," Rosa said solemnly.

"Nate? Your girlfriend? Sounds like this time it's important." Hugh prompted.

"Hugh, you know I can't understand her any better than you. And she is not my girlfriend!" Nate said adamantly.

"Nate… don't say that…" Rosa said, holding back tears. She looked away to wipe them off.

"This is a friendly reminder that, when speech is written in italics, only select people can understand it in-universe."

Finally. After so long, I finally get to start using Rosa! Most of the real thought-inducing points to the story were me trying to figure out how best to write Rosa. Her character's fine, it was more how much of it to reveal, and how much to hide.

And did you notice? I tried to write this story to establish these versions of Nate, Rosa and Hugh's characterization. Not all of it is immediately apparent, but the missing pieces tend to involve characters who have yet to appear.

And this is a friendly reminder that I was looking forward to this story.