"Rylee, please come to the front desk." Nurse Joy's voice sounded over the intercom.

I stood up straight from my short snooze on the couch. My stomach grumbled, ready for dinner. I glanced out the window. The sun was beginning to set; Mom must be wondering where I am. Minccino and I headed to the front desk, where we were greeted by the cheerful smiles of Nurse Joy and Audino. Pikachu was fast asleep in Nurse Joy's arms.

"Pikachu is feeling a lot better." Nurse Joy said.

"Thanks, Joy." I said, scooping Pikachu into my arms.

I turned around and walked out of the Pokémon Center with Pikachu and Minccino.

"I wonder what happened to this little guy." I said. "His trainer must be so worried."

Minccino jumped on my shoulder and sniffed Pikachu, meeting his forehead with her nose. Her eyes widened. I noticed, but I didn't think any of it.

"We should print out some lost and found posters. If we put them around town, someone's bound to show up." I said.

"Pika...?" a voice whimpered.

I stopped and looked down as Pikachu began to stir. His eyes fluttered open, and when he saw us, he leaped from my arms and landed a few feet away. He crouched down in a fighting stance and electricity flickered from his red cheeks.

"It's okay, Pikachu." I said, raising my hands in a sign of surrender. "Minccino and I found you hurt and alone in the forest, so we brought you to the Pokémon Center."

Minccino jumped down from my shoulder and conversed with Pikachu, filling my ears with incoherent chattering.

"Where's your owner?" I said.

Pikachu's face fell and its ears drooped.

"Pika..." he said glumly.

"Don't worry, we'll help you find them." I said.

Pikachu's ears shot up and he looked around.

"What's wrong?" I said.

Pikachu turned around and took off down the path. Minccino and I chased after him into the forest.

"Pikachu! Where are you?" I heard a boy's voice echoing through the trees.

Could that be his owner?

We wriggled our way through a cluster of shrubbery. As I spit out leaves that found their way into my mouth, I looked up and saw a boy with his back turned to me. He wore black trousers, a white, long-sleeved button-up shirt, a black vest over it, and a green bow tie. His hair was green and styled in a way that reminded me of a tree.

"Pika!" Pikachu cried, rushing over to the boy.

The boy turned around and traced Pikachu with his grass-green eyes. He smiled.

"Pikachu, there you are!"

Pikachu jumped into the boy's arms. He looked up and our eyes were so locked together, I was afraid someone had buried the key. Before I could escape back into the trees, the boy approached me.

"Hello." he said. "You found Pikachu, right?"

"Yes." I said. "I found it hurt in a bush, so I took it to the Pokémon Center."

"Thank you." The boy extended his hand to me. "My name's Cilan, and I'm a Pokémon Connoisseur."

I stared at his hand for a few moments before reaching out and shaking it.

"I'm Rylee." I said. "Is Pikachu your Pokémon?"

Cilan shook his head. "No, Pikachu belongs to my friend, Ash."

Pikachu chattered excitedly at the sound of Ash's name. Minccino jumped on my shoulder and stared at Cilan.

"Wow, a Minccino." Cilan said.

"Yeah, she's my partner in crime." I said, stroking her head.

"Cilan!" a girl's voice called.

"Cilan, where are you?" a boy's voice echoed.

"That's my friends. Would you like to meet them?" Cilan said.

"Uh... sure."

I followed Cilan through the forest until we came across two kids. The boy had spiky black hair and brown eyes and he wore a blue and white jacket over a black shirt, black pants, and red shoes. The girl had big brown eyes and large purple hair and she wore a beige and pink blouse with matching beige capri pants. When the boy saw Pikachu, his eyes lit up.

"Pikachu!" he cried.

Pikachu jumped from Cilan's arms into the boy's arms. Cilan side-stepped next to me.

"Iris, Ash, this is Rylee." Cilan said. "She's the one who found Pikachu."

"Really?" Ash said. "Thanks so much!"

"No problem." I said. "Minccino and I took him to a Pokémon Center, so now he's all better."

The air was suddenly filled with a low grumble. Ash's face grew bright red and he clutched his stomach.

"Oops..." Ash said. "Guess it's dinner time."

Iris huffed a frustrated breath and crossed her arms. "Ash, you are like a bottomless pit!" she said.

"Why don't you all come to my house for dinner?" I said. "I'm sure my mom would be more than happy to make something for you."

"Really? All right!" Ash cried, taking off blindly down the forest path.

Iris shook her head. "Typical Ash. Whenever there's a chance for him to eat food, he jumps at the opportunity."


"Mom, I'm home!" I called as I opened the door.

"There you are, Rylee!" Mom said. She came out of the kitchen wiping her hands with a wash cloth, her forehead shiny and wet with sweat and her apron stained with unknown food ingredients. "Leavanny and I worried about you. Dinner is ready-"

Mom stopped and stared at Ash, Iris, and Cilan, who stood beside me at the front door.

"Oh, hello." she said. "Rylee, who are these people?"

"I met them in the forest. This is Ash, Iris, and Cilan." I said. "Guy, this is my mom."

"Nice to meet you." the three said.

"It's quite a surprise to see Rylee bring home friends. Unusual, in fact. Rylee is just so shy..." Mom said.

"Mom!" I said. "I have tons of friends!"

Mom walked over and shook the hands of Ash, Iris, and Cilan.

"Of course, dear." she said. She lingered on Cilan. "But they weren't as handsome as this young man."

Cilan chuckled. "Thank you, ma'am."

"MOM!" I said. "I'm so sorry, guys. She's inhaled too much flour. It'd be best to just ignore her."

Mom rolled her eyes and disappeared into the living room. I led the three into the kitchen. I dumped the berries from my overflowing bag into a fruit bowl on the marble counter next to the sink. My mom made some pasta and Cilan used his cooking powers to make the meal super delicious. We sat around the table, Ash and Cilan on one side and Iris and I on the other. Pikachu, Iris's partner, Axew, and Minccino chowed down on Pokémon food at the ends of the table.

"So, what brings you to this area?" I said.

"We're on our way to Nacrene City so I can challenge the Gym." Ash said.

"I'm guessing you want to enter the Unova League, right?"

"Yeah. I want to become a Pokémon Master! I already have one Gym badge from challenging the Striaton City gym leaders."

"Leaders? You mean there were more than one?"

"Yeah. In fact, the gym leaders were Cilan and his brothers. I battled against all of them and won two out of three."

"Wow, all three?" I said. "That's quite impressive."

"Sure, it was fun to watch, but at least you didn't have to deal with the crazy fangirls swooning over every word they said." Iris said, earning a chuckle from Cilan.

"A Pokémon Master with only one badge? Do you know how long that will take?" I said, turning my attention back to Ash.

"Of course I do, but that's not gonna stop me! I've already come this far, and I'm gonna work super hard to reach my dream!" Ash said.

I watched his face and eyes light up with determination.

This kid sure is serious. I thought. With an attitude like that, there's no way he'll let someone like me make him doubt. I wish I was that spunky.

I turned to Iris and Cilan. "So what about you two? What are you aspiring for?"

"I wanna become a Dragon Master!" Iris said. Axew let out an encouraging cry.

"I wish to become the greatest connoisseur in the world." Cilan said, casually adjusting his bow tie.

I looked at the three one by one. They all radiated with confidence in themselves and each other.

"Those all sound like amazing goals." I said.

"What about you, Rylee?" Iris said. "What's your dream?"

"My dream?"

I held my hands together in my lap. I recalled the dreams I've had for the past few weeks: the cities I traveled to, the countless sights I saw and the special memories that accompanied them, the people and Pokémon I crossed paths with, and the mysterious boy who eventually became my innocent lover, along the way writing the most breathtakingly beautiful love story in the Unova region. Maybe even the world.

Maybe that could become possible.

"My dream is..." I said. My hand rested on the PokéBall charm dangling around my neck. "To go on the greatest adventure ever. I want to see the world, meet many new people, and make lifelong friends. Maybe you guys showing up has guaranteed that I'll be able to do that. I have many questions that I'd like answers to. I want to know what my purpose is here; I want to find out who I am."

My friends "ooh"'ed and "aah"'ed with intrigue.

"That sounds exciting!" Iris said. "What have you done so far?"

"Well... nothing. I've been here my entire life. The forest is the closest I've come to something adventurous, but I crave so much more. Maybe one day I'll go on a journey of my own, but for now, it's just me, my mom, and our Pokémon family..."

I cleared my throat as an uncomfortable weight settled down on my heart.


Nighttime fell on the forest. After dinner, Ash found his way to my living room couch and he and Pikachu fell asleep on it. Iris, Cilan, and I hovered over him.

"You think we should wake him?" Iris said.

"No, it's late anyway. You should all spend the night here." I said.

"But you've already done so much for us." Cilan said. "We couldn't possibly..."

"I insist." I said.

Iris and Cilan set up their sleeping bags on the living room floor. I wished them a good night and went to my room. I changed into my pajamas. I approached my jewelry holder and unclipped my PokéBall necklace. As it hung on its lonesome hook, I watched it slowly swing side to side. Minccino jumped on the window sill. I joined her and together we watched the stars and moon dance together in the blackened sky.

"They all have such exciting dreams." I said. Minccino turned her attention to me with perked ears. "And they're on a journey to fulfill them. I wonder if I'll ever have the courage to do the same."

Minccino watched me with her chestnut eyes. I smiled at her and patted her head.

"I know he would want me to do what's best for me." I whispered, the advice once caring turned bitter in my mouth. "But who knew he was just a huge hypocrite?"

"Cino?" Minccino said. Her eyes grew sad, as if she understood the meaning behind my words.

I stood up and went over to my bed.

"It's time for bed." I said. "I've got a new day of old routine tomorrow."

I turned off the lights and crawled underneath my bed covers. Minccino climbed onto my bed and curled up next to me.