The Dewford Town Hall was an imposing building, at least by the standards of Dewford Town . There was only one other building that exceeded its size in the town. It sat right at the centre of the town, where its open doors invite every Dewford inhabitant to come and share the newest gossip and information about one another.

But Ethan didn't know all that. Right now he just wanted a drink. He stepped into the Town Hall and headed towards a drinks stall at the far end of the hall. "I'll have…… two lemonades, please," he said to the stall keeper, paying him. He took the two cans of lemonade from the man, laying one on a counter, and opening the other one. Zubat flapped silently from his shoulder and landed on the can on the counter, and promptly began to sink his fangs into the can. Ethan too gulped down the sour-sweet drink with relief. It was a hot day. He had finished unpacking into his room, and had sneaked out to explore the town a bit.

A boy was nudging Ethan. "Hey, man, would you like to see my 'crazy recall' collection? I have a 'crazy recall' cap, 'crazy recall' booklets, a 'crazy recall' shirt, 'crazy recall' coins……" the boy listed, indicating the variety of themed paraphernalia he had on him.

Ethan was perplexed. "I'm sorry, crazy what?"

"Crazy recall," the boy repeated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You come from across the sea, right?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Then you must know about 'crazy recall'. Tell me, is 'crazy recall' more popular there than it is here?" the boy asked earnestly.

"Uh, no, not really, no," Ethan said apologetically.

"But that can't be right, unless… unless…" he jumped suddenly, pointing an accusing finger at him, "it's a ploy to get all my cool 'crazy recall' stuff! I'm not sharing anything with you!" He ran off in a flash, leaving Ethan gawping after him.

Ethan heard a ringing laugh beside him. "Don't worry, not all of us are like that. Hiram is just a little obsessed." It was a girl, about his age. She had short cropped hair, framing a warm-looking face. "You must be the new family moving in. I saw you with Brawly and his machokes."

"Yeah, I am. Um……" Ethan hovered awkwardly. Zubat lifted his head from his lemonade can to look, and cooed curiously.

The girl seemed to remember. "Oh, right, I'm Keira. I live just next door to your house."

Ethan shook her hand cautiously. "Ethan," he grunted. Noticing that she had two large, full paper bags in her hands, he said, "Do you need help with that?"

"I'm fine, I mean, they're not particularly heavy or anything. Besides, you just came to the Hall, aren't you planning on staying around longer?" Keira said.

"What? Nah, I was going home anyway. My mom's probably looking for me," Ethan said hurriedly. Actually, he had planned on checking out the rest of the town for a bit. Why the hell did I say that? Zubat was giving him a reproachful look that asked the same question.

Keira smiled. "Thanks, I guess. I wouldn't mind the company at all." Ethan took one of the bags from her, and they walked out of the Town Hall staggering a little, despite having divided the weight. "What are in those bags, anyway?" Ethan asked.

"Just some wood and carpenter tools, for a new shed. Our old one is falling apart," Keira said, "too heavy for you?"

Ethan shook his head casually. "My dad can't build a shed to save his life. Your dad must be a pretty good carpenter."

Keira hesitated for a while. "My dad isn't building the shed, I am," Keira said, looking away. "It's just my mom and me."

"I'm sor-" Ethan said.

"Don't be."

They were moving towards the outskirts of Dewford Town . The path, though lightly forested, was alive with many pokemon. There were beautiflies and dustoxes flitting in the air, and wurmples crawled in the underbrush, sharing the decomposing leaves with shroomishes. Once Ethan thought he even spotted an ill-concealed oddish.

More to break the awkward silence between them than anything, Ethan asked, "So what does your mom do?"

"She runs the town clinic. I help her sometimes, when I'm out of school. I really want to become a trainer, and I know I've got what it takes, but my mother still needs my help, so I can't leave her yet. She says I'll be able to leave next year, though."

"What's your pokemon?"

"I have two. A vulpix called, well, Vulpix, and a ralts called River."

"You don't have a nickname for him? The vulpix, I mean."

"Her. My father gave her to me."

"My zubat doesn't have a nickname either."

"How come?"

Ethan shrugged. "I don't know. When I got him from my dad he resisted every name I tried to give him, so I just-" He stopped talking when he heard a faint groan. It was a distinctly human sound. "Did you hear that?"

Keira nodded. They put down the bags, and went to see the source of the groan. True enough, there was a young boy, maybe ten years old, leaning against a copse, clutching his leg. A part of his calf was bruised and swollen. "Help! I was just walking through some tall grass, and I think a wurmple bit me," the boy said.

"Why didn't you wear long pants? Isn't walking in long grass in shorts a little stupid?" Ethan said.

"I like shorts! They're delightfully comfy and easy to wear," the boy muttered.

Keira examined the bruise. "It's nothing serious. A spray of antidote should cure it." She took out a bottle of purplish liquid from her pocket, and sprayed some on the boy's wound. True enough, the ugly bruise subsided, leaving only a pair of small puncture marks on the skin. The boy stood up, walking a few steps, flexing his leg.

Zubat clicked in relief. Hearing the sound, the boy noticed Zubat. "Hey, you have pokemon! Let's battle!" he said, reaching for his Pokeball. Ethan glanced at Keira, who shrugged.

The boy seemed to falter a bit. "Er, go easy on me, alright? I just started months ago," he said uncertainly. "Rocky, I choose you!" A tiny aron appeared on the forest floor.

"Yeah. Zubat, I choose you!" Ethan said, and Zubat flew from his shoulder, flapping around his head. "Zubat, Bite!"

"Rocky, Harden!" The aron's steel plates visibly hardened, and Zubat's attack merely glanced off it. "Use Tackle now, Rocky!" Rocky did a full-body tackle that hit Zubat before he had a chance to rise up higher. Zubat appeared dazed by the tackle. Rocky geared up for another tackle, and charged Zubat. At the last moment, Zubat flew up, and attached himself onto Rocky's face, astonishing it. Rocky flailed about like a headless torchic. "Rocky, Metal Claw!" the boy shouted. Rocky's sharp hard claws raked into Zubat's skin, drawing blood.

"Zubat!" Ethan rushed over, examining Zubat, who lay on the ground of the forest, beaten. "It's alright. A healing potion will revive him in no time," Keira said.

"Boy, you suck! Fork up the money!" Grumbling, Ethan handed over the change from buying the lemonade earlier. "Thanks, Keira," the boy said before going off, smirking to himself.

Ethan kept Zubat back into his Pokeball, where he can recuperate better. "You need more practice with your zubat, huh?" Keira said, laughing. It was a good-natured laugh, not a mocking laugh, but Ethan felt his face heating up. "Let's go."

They reached Keira's front door without further incident. "Thanks for the help, Ethan. It would have taken me a far longer time on my own."

"No problem at all. Bye."

"See you."

Kate's face appeared around the fence. "She's cute."

"She's our new neighbour."

"Do you like her?" Kate's face split into a mischievous grin.

"I've only just met her!" Ethan protested.

"That's not what I asked…" Kate laughed, ducking to dodge the empty lemonade can Ethan threw at her.


A/N: Well, not a lot of Pokemon action in the first two chapters, I'll admit, but bear with me. So, did you like it? Did it suck? Any and all reviews, whether constructive criticism or flames are very welcome, though I'd vastly prefer the former to the latter. Lastly, I'd like to thank Farla for beta-reading my fic.