A/N: Meh~! I take forever to update. I am terrible. =3= Anyway, there is only one slot left on Nire team that's still open, so send that last one in~! Thanks for reading!

They almost had to send Cheren to go fetch Nire since she was taking so long, but she rounded the bend pretty much right when they were about to, scratching behind Monk's ears as though she hadn't kept them waiting. Relieved that she could final get on with it, Professor Juniper pulled out a Pokéball and turned to the tall grass. "Now that everyone's here, I'll explain. The Pokédex's pages update automatically when you meet a new Pokémon. You get even more info when you catch the Pokémon. Therefore, I'm going to demonstrate how to catch a Pokémon!" She walked into the grass a ways, and stopped when a light brown prairie dog-like Pokémon jumped out in front of her. Professor Juniper smiled. "Alright, here's a Patrat now. Go, Minccino!" She threw her Pokéball, and out popped a gray colored chinchilla.

"Minccino, Pound!" Minccino scampered forward, delivering a punch with its tiny hands to the wild Patrat. The Patrat fell backwards a bit, before rolling and getting back up again. "Alright, now let's try and catch it!" Professor Juniper pulled out a second Pokéball, presumably empty, and threw it at the Patrat. The Patrat did not put up that much of a fight, going down with only that one ball. Smiling triumphantly, Professor Juniper plucked the ball off the ground. "And that's how it's done!"

Bianca seemed really into it, watching Professor Juniper intently. Cheren already knew how to, so didn't pay attention that much. Nire…who knows. "Now, everyone, here are 5 Pokéballs for each of you. I'll see you in Accumula Town, so I can show you around!" And with that, Professor Juniper walked off through the tall grass without looking back. Bianca turned to the others with a smile on her face. "Hey, we should have a Pokémon catching contest! The one who can catch the most Pokémon before reacting Accumula Town wins! Alright, let's go!" Bianca took off into the grass before getting a reply. Cheren sighed. "We might as well go along with it." Nire didn't reply.

Nire waited until Cheren had left to begin. The first thing she came across was a small puppy-like Pokémon. She had no intention of using it on her team, but she would catch it for the sole sake of this little contest.

It had only taken a couple of blows from Monk and a well-timed Pokéball to bring the Lillipup under her jurisdiction. Placing the now full Pokéball into one of the many pockets of her jean jacket, she set off in search of the other Pokémon she knew to be on this route, Patrat.

Showing up a half an hour after the others at the entrance to Accumula Town, Nire now held three Pokémon in her possession. Lillipup after Lillipup had jumped out at her, and she had almost given up on her search for a Patrat until she had caught one off guard and caught it before it had a chance to fight back. Bianca rushed up to her, willing to forgive the brunette's lateness. "How many Pokémon did you catch, Nire?" Nire let out her two new Pokémon, letting Monk down to join them. "Wow, three? That means you won!" Had the others not bothered to catch both Pokémon on the route? She supposed they probably had no luck finding a Patrat as well, and left it alone.

Right as she thought that, all of their Xtransceivers began to ring at once. Nire had to fumble through her pockets a bit before finding hers, and they silently seemed to agree on answering at the same time. Turns out that the Professor was calling all of them, and they were automatically put into a conference call. "Hello! How is everybody doing? You and your Pokémon are getting along well now, right?"

Bianca was the first to respond. "Oh, hi, Professor!"

Professor Juniper didn't bother answering. "Right now, I'm in front of the Accumula Town Pokémon Center! I'd like to show you around, so hurry on over, everyone!" And with that, the Xtransceivers all disconnected at the same time.

Bianca and Cheren both headed off before Nire, mostly because they knew Nire loved to take her sweet time with everything. She casually recalled her Pokémon besides Monk and began strolling along her path, humming a random melody to herself. While she liked being alone, she hated silence.

When she arrived at the Pokémon Center, neither Bianca or Cheren were anywhere in sight, but Juniper was waiting patiently outside the doors for her. Nire assumed that the others were already inside, and tried to pass by Juniper without hearing what she had to say. Juniper did not see this coming, probably because she hadn't known Nire for that long, and had to move to stop her from going the whole way in. "Whoa, whoa, wait a sec! What's rushing you so much? Anyway, this is the Pokémon Center. You can always tell it by the bright red roof! Let's go on in!" She tried to lead Nire in by the wrist, but nearly received a kick in the abdomen for her trouble. Nire really did not like being touched.

When they went inside, Nire noticed that Cheren was still nowhere to be found, but Bianca was peering curiously over the back counter, apparently trying to examine the healing apparatus behind the pink-haired nurse. "Don't you feel better the instant you walk through the door?" Not particularly. Juniper walked up to the counter, Nire lagging behind as she always did. Bianca noticed them and ran over to Juniper's side, insisting that she didn't want to be left out. Juniper explained how the people here would heal your Pokémon up fully for free, but Nire wasn't paying that much attention. She was more staring at the T.V. screen across the room, more specifically at the Pokémon being displayed. She couldn't find the words to describe it, but she wanted that thing for herself. She wouldn't stop until she found it.

Anyway, she was snapped out of it by Bianca calling her over to another counter, this one blue and along a different wall."This is the Pokémart, where you can buy and sell items. You can get a lot of useful items from here!" She already knew all of this, but she didn't feel rude enough to just walk off when Juniper was on a roll.

"Well, that's all I have to teach you. I'm going back to the lab now. Also, do me a favor. When you get to Striaton City, go and see an inventor named Fennel. She's a good friend of mine. See you both later!" And with that, Juniper took her leave. Bianca became preoccupied with the Pokémart's wares, and Nire was just left wondering what to do. Monk wasn't in bad shape at all, so she saw no need in healing him. She could go deposit her Patrat and Lillipup into the PC, but she had spaced off when Juniper had been explaining it. That left only heading on outside.

Heading only right out the Pokémon Center's doors, she immediately heard a little of two people's conversation. "Sounds like something is going on in the plaza!" Nire wasn't exactly sure where this plaza was, but she could always follow the crowd. She really did not like crowds, but that was beside the point.

Nire made sure to stick a ways behind the two men she'd overheard as she trailed them to the plaza, which turned out not to be too far away. When she got there, she found a good-sized crowd had already built up. Bother. She made certain to stay to the outside of the crowd, for lack of a better word too afraid to go into the crowd itself. She soon caught sight of Cheren and chose to stick near him when he called her over. Looking up to the stage, she found that there were a group of people in the wonkiest uniforms she had ever seen, standing in a straight line facing the crowd with banners waving in the wind on either side of them. One of the many moved out of the way, and a man in a large billowing cape stepped out from behind the row. She immediately didn't like him. His expression unnerved her, and that right there is an accomplishment. "My name is Ghetsis. I am here to represent Team Plasma." What kind of name is that? "Today, ladies and gentlemen," She internally shuddered when she saw him ghost his eyes in her direction, "I would like to talk to you about Pokémon liberation." The crowd started chatting to each other confusedly over what he had just said. Cheren just gave a brief look of confusion in her direction, which she did not reciprocate.

'Ghetsis' began to pace back and forth across the stage. "I'm sure most of you believe that Pokémon and humans are partners, working for mutual benefit. However…is that really the truth? Have you ever considered that humans only assume this to be true?" He paced some more. "Pokémon are forced to follow the commands of selfish Trainers…They get pushed around when they are supposed 'partners' in our work… Can anyone say with confidence that there is no truth in what I'm saying?" The crowd had a bit of a tizzy, most refusing to believe and a few looking what she believed to be unsure of themselves. Nire was notoriously bad at reading people.

"Now, Pokémon are different than humans. They have a power with unknown amounts of potential. They are living creatures that humans have much to learn from. Tell me, what is our responsibility to the wonderful beings called Pokémon?" One brave member of the crowd tried to answer. "Liberation?"

"That's right! We must liberate the Pokémon! Then and only then will humans and Pokémon be truly equal. People of Accumula, I end my speech here today by imploring you to reconsider the relationship between humans and Pokémon, and the correct way to proceed. We thank you for your time." The uniformed people marched precisely into a box pattern around Ghetsis, folding up the banners and filing away in the direction of Route 2. The crowd mulled over his words, wondering if he was right or not, but dispersing before trying to find a solution in a group. The only ones left in the plaza were Nire, Cheren, and a strange young man with conspicuous green hair.

The green-haired man walked over to Nire casually, looking down at Monk, whom she was holding in her arms. "Your Pokémon…Just now, it was saying…" He was speaking in an incredibly fast pace, even Nire had to actually focus in on him to understand.

Cheren looked somewhat annoyed. "Slow down, you talk too fast. And what's this about Pokémon talking? That's an odd thing to say."

The man nodded. "Yes, they're talking. Oh…then you two can't hear it, either…How sad." The man pepped up a bit, looking straight at Nire, who nearly flinched. Nire didn't like strangers. At all. If he got any closer, she'd probably shank him or something. "My name is N."

Cheren, even though he knew that this N was only addressing Nire by the looks of it, answered for both of them. "My name is Cheren, and this is Nire. We were asked to work on the Pokédex, but my main goal is to become the Champion."

N looked away from Nire and over to Cheren. "The Pokédex, eh? So you're going to confine many, many Pokémon into Pokéballs for just that, then. I'm a Trainer too, but I can't help but wonder…Are Pokémon really happy that way?" He took a couple of steps towards Nire, making her almost instinctively reach into one of her pockets and grasp the handle of one of the butcher knives. She really didn't want to have to hurt anyone, especially in the middle of town, but he was invading her personal space. That is something you simply do not do. "Well, Nire, is it? Let me hear your Pokémon's voice again!"

Nire found this to be a good enough excuse to run backwards a couple of feet, letting Monk down as she went. If this wackjob wanted to hear Monk talk that bad, then so be it. N sent out a purplish cat to meet Monk. A Purrloin, huh? Let's see how long this would take.

Purrloin came out swinging with Scratch, though Monk already knew what Nire would want from him. A swift dodge, and a Tackle in retribution. Monk had already deduced that his Trainer's strategy was an all-out offensive. "More! Let me hear the voice of your Pokémon!" Nire inwardly shuttered. She did not like this man. The sooner he was away from her, the better.

A couple of smacks to the hand and Tackles to the Purrloin later, and Purrloin went down. N stared in confusion at Monk, seemingly not caring too much about his Purrloin, which he simply recalled. "I've never heard Pokémon say things like that before…" Monk had not uttered a peep the entire battle, what was he talking about?

N looked at Nire again as she cautiously went forward to pick up Monk, acting as though he would attack her if she got too close. "…As long as Pokémon are confined to Pokéballs, Pokémon will never be perfect beings. I have to change the world for Pokémon, because they're my friends." And with that, he turned and left without another word. Not that Nire wasn't thankful to have such a space-invading stranger away from her.

Cheren had been standing on the sidelines watching the battle, knowing full well Nire could hold her own in a battle. Around strangers, not so much. He remembered the one time their families, including Bianca's, had gone to Castelia City on vacation. Nire had looked utterly terrified the entire time, sticking as far away from the rushing crowds as possible and clinging to her father, who had still been around then.

Either way, he stepped up to speak with her. "Strange guy. Not gonna let him bother me, though. Pokémon and Trainers depends on one another, it's perfectly fair!" Nire turned to look at him; well, less look at him and more in his general direction. Another of her habits; she will never look you directly in the eyes, ever. "Listen, I'm going ahead to Striation City, where the first Gym Leader is. If you can beat Gym Leader after Gym Leader, you can challenge the Pokémon League." Cheren then left in the same direction as N had, feeling Nire's eyes burning holes into his back.

Left nearly all alone again (Monk always counted) Nire briefly thought out her next course of action. Monk was only a little worse for wear, a couple of scratches where that Purrloin had landed a blow. Either way, she should learn how to use the Pokémon Center's facilities, for future reference.

Heading back inside the Pokémon this time was actually a little refreshing, if mostly because there wasn't as many people. She walked forward the slightest bit stiffly and deposited Monk onto the counter with the nurse behind it. The nurse perked to life, as though she was activated by a switch in front of the counter (Nire tapped her foot on the floor panels, just to make sure) and began her rehearsed-sounding speech. "Hello, and welcome to the Pokémon Center! We can return your Pokémon to full health! Would you like to-" When the nurse cracked her eyes open a bit, she caught the glare of a demonic-looking teenager; hair in a mess, dark bags under her eyes, eyes themselves gray green and devoid of emotion. The instant her gaze was met, Nire flicked her eyes away to stare at the wall. The nurse did her best to dismiss the feeling of fear that slightly coursed through her at the sight of the creepy teen, and picked up the Oshawott on the counter. "A-Ah, yes, I'll heal your Oshawott back up to full health for you." No response.

Monk back at her side only a few short moments later, Nire wandered over to the PC somewhat warily. She honestly had no clue how it worked, and she did not want to appear stupid to any passerby. Booting it up was easy enough; simply hitting the large switch labeled "POWER". Afterwards, she examined the options it gave her; Someone's PC, Nire's PC- that was probably what she was looking for. Hitting the "Nire's PC" button only led to a page listing Mail Storage. How did that make any sense? Either way, she hit the back button and hit the only other viable option, Someone's PC. Whoever Someone was.

"Pokémon Storage System accessed" flashed on the screen, and Nire felt just a little proud. She hadn't made a complete fool out of herself. Quickly storing away her unneeded Lillipup and Patrat, she shut down the system the best she knew how and left. She felt no need for a visit to the Pokémart.

Nire looked about the scenery after leaving, trying to remember the way that Cheren and N had left in. She glanced down to Monk, as though asking for directions. Monk didn't quite know, either, leaving Nire to sigh and resign herself to wandering around town until she found the way to Route 2.

Meh~, my God, I finally got this done~! I am far too lazy. =3= I swear I will update faster next time~! Anyway, thanks for reading~!