A/N: Written for Nike Slash as a (belated) Birthday Present. Happy birthday! Sorry I'm so late!

Also for the Indigo League Challenge, Route 1 task with Squirtle as the Starter.

And this is also my 400th fic. :) Another milestone covered.


Beating the Bush

I really should think things through.

I mean, I do try, but somehow it never works out that way. Grandad gave me a few Pokemon; Purlloin liked my sister better, so I handed her over. All wrapped up in a box – but I'd forgotten the holes, so I got some furious scratches after Mum fed her an Oran berry. The Purlloin I mean, not my sister. She's never eaten an Oran berry before…or at least I don't think she has. I have though, and I'll tell you: they may be delicious to Pokemon, but there as bitter as hell to us humans.

Anyway, so I gave Purlloin to my sister. They were both happy enough; that Purlloin may have a rotten attitude, but she liked my sister and my sister liked her. And I had my hands full with Tynamo and Trapinch – so much so I wondered if Grandad had planned it all from the beginning…and I'd just walked straight into his little joke and come out with only scratches to show for it.

But then we went to Castelia for a little trip, and those guys showed up. Saw we were two kids with Pokemon, beat the stuffing out of me and took my sister's Purlloin. I memorised their outfits, wrote every word of their speech in my mind, vowing that day I'd put an end to their little organisation no matter what it took.

But Rosa was the one who really finished them. Instead of supporting me, it was me who wound up being stuck in the background, because I just wasn't good enough. Rosa was nice about it though; she was like a big sister to the both of us, always looking out for us and digging us out of jams. So she took care of them. Gave them some good thrashings while she was at it.

But now I'm just dawdling, because I was never interested in getting that Champion's title. Not my sort of thing – and besides, I don't fancy having a crown for half a day only to lose it to my childhood friend/older sister figure. No thanks; I'll keep that part of my pride intact.

But then what? I'm kind of stuck now. Maybe in a runt, you could say. Team Plasma's gone, and so's that driving force. Battling doesn't have the same passion anymore.

Rosa had a bit of a sad smile on her face when I told her this. 'You'd better still be waiting for me on Victory Road like you promised,' she said. And I plan to keep that promise, but in the meantime…I need something else. Another enemy. Or a rival maybe – because Rosa and me, we're not really rivals. She looks out for me too much for that. And I drag her into too many things. A real rival would be good, someone I could battle day in and day out without ever losing that passion – because, in the end, I'd much rather fight behind or beside Rosa than against her – and not just because I don't want to get whipped by her Serperior.

Here's where a plan would have come in handy. I haven't even decided on my next training spot yet. And I could've done something by now. Accomplished something.

Ah, who am I kidding? I'm the guy who lost his first Gym Battle after yelling at the leader for being weak. Not that it matters; I trained and went back after all and wiped the floor with the guy.

There's an idea; I could finish the Gym challenge anyway, and all those trainers at Victory Road as well. It'll give me a bit more time to work out what to do afterwards anyway.

Maybe go on a new adventure. To somewhere. With someone, seeing as Rosa will probably have her hands full being Champion…unless she skips off like our previous Champion did.

I doubt it; Hilda sounds more like me than like Rosa.

There's another idea; I could go and find her and see what she's made of. I think Rosa's Serperior's toughened my Pokemons' skin enough for that encounter…but maybe not mine.