Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except Kaitlyn – she's my only character. In terms of other characters, Jacob belongs to Spidey108, Oliver – howponderous, Aimee – StormMoonRabbit, Jasmine – TreblePlayer67, Ashton – Apathetic Nonsense

A/N – Thank you for reviewing, favouriting and following this story, I hope you enjoy the next chapter

I'm surprised no one noticed that I labelled the first chapter – Chapter 01 – Littleroot Town yet it occurs nowhere near there! So at least this one is more realistic!

Chapter 02 – Route 102

Last we saw of Kaitlyn, she had come across a glowing light – which she originally hoped and thought that it would be a small town that she would be able to stay the night at.

The new explorer of the Hoenn region found herself looking at a small canvas tent that had been pitched under the shelter of the tall trees off the beaten path. In front of the tent was a campfire that a metal pot hung over. However, what was in the pot was the slightly charcoaled around the rim with a burnt meal and the fire was no more than embers.

"You have got to be kidding me," she muttered when she saw a particular Pokémon sitting guard in front of the tent.

A Zigzagoon – one that Kaitlyn knew as Row – her scruffy fur gave it away.

"Zig-za-goon!" Row growled at Kaitlyn and continued to call out to her trainer, like a guard dog alerting their owner of an intruder.

There was a rustling from inside the tent, Kaitlyn turned to walk away into the cold winds of the forest, but a voice caused her to stop.

"I knew it – I knew you would come back!" Ashton laughed upon realising that it was Kaitlyn – the girl he had practically fished out of the ocean, or that Row had. He looked bleary eyed as he peered out of the flap of the tent, grabbing his glasses and taking a while to adjust.

"No!" she said stubbornly as she turned to face him. "I did not! I came across your campfire and had to see who it was because I thought that you might be the girl I was supposed to meet in Rustboro City. But you're not, so I'll go."

"Don't be silly. You can't go wandering off in search of Littleroot Town when you are so far from Oldale Town – a place in between there and Petalburg City according to the guidebook. Besides, there are gangs and bandits out in these parts."

"Well, I'm braver than you think…" Kaitlyn replied weakly and began to feel the chill of the open forest air.

"Kaitlyn, don't be- er, I guess you can sleep in the tent…"

Her mouth could have caused an earthquake for hitting the floor. "No – no, I couldn't do that, it's your tent."

The next thing that happened was a woven blanket was thrown at Kaitlyn.

"You can take this blanket if you won't sleep in the tent…" Ashton disappeared back inside the tent, leaving the girl standing in the cold on her own with nothing but the clothes on her back and the blanket in her arms. It was like he didn't want to argue with her, or question her decision.

"Goon," Row sat up straight as a rustling could be heard in the near distance.

Out of the bushes, Row and Kaitlyn saw a Wurmple slide out and crawl along the dirt ridden floor. Kaitlyn completely lost her cool and staggered backwards, falling over a wood log that had been placed beside the campfire. A squeal passed her lips as the Wurmple's glowing yellow eyes walked towards, and then straight past her. Out of the corner of her eyes, she was sure that she noticed Row almost laughing – if it were possible for a Zigzagoon to laugh.

Bundling herself up in the blanket, Kaitlyn tried to make herself comfortable by the log making sure that no skin was left exposed to the ground of Route 102.

Early in the morning, Kaitlyn awoke to the smell of, something cooking. Originally, she hoped it had been bacon, but she opened her eyes and saw two sunny side up eggs sizzling on a black frying pan.

"Morning," Kaitlyn mumbled, neatly folding up Ashton's blanket in her arms. "Sorry about how dirty the blanket is…"

"Don't worry about it… I'll be able to clean it in the next river we come across. Come on, we better get going to Oldale Town – because I want to get to the Professor now. I want to get on over Littleroot Town as soon as possible. Oldale Town is the best place for you to wait for this girl from Rustboro City." Ashton noticed her blink rapidly, making him feel like he had overstepped the line.

"Oh… I was thinking that- that we would go to Littleroot Town together. We're both going that way so it makes sense that we go together." Kaitlyn stifled a sigh and tried weakly to hide it. "Doesn't it?"

"Fine – why not? But we'll be doing it my way, okay?" Ashton handed a plate of eggs over to her. "I'm only saying that because I've got a Pokémon partner whereas you, have nothing…"

"I will!" Kaitlyn snapped. "Well I would have had Spheal if you hadn't gone and caught it."

Ashton rubbed the top of his head, releasing some rogue hairs. "Hang on a little. I didn't catch Spheal – I was just playing with you, you know…"

Kaitlyn held back the first thing that came to mind.

A chilling wind rustled through the canvas of the tent making it flap uncontrollably. With Kaitlyn's help, Ashton was able to pack away the tent a lot quicker than he would have done on a normal day. For that, he was thankful, but maybe not so much that he had to share his food with her.

"Thanks for your help by the way." Ashton put his rucksack strap over his head and one arm. "That saved quite a bit of time."

A raucous squawk filled the air, alerting the pair of some other trainer's presence.

"We better get moving – you need to be careful, things have become dangerous after the storm. You of all people should know that."

"How did you know about last night?" Kaitlyn asked, sitting up straight, alert with curiousity. "You can't have known…"

Ashton raised an eyebrow at her, as if to ask 'what about last night?' "Can't have known what?"

Before Kaitlyn could answer, a small Taillow emerged from the bushes and delivered a swift peck at Row who lunged to the side. The Taillow shot up into the air, disappearing above the tree line and out of sight. Kaitlyn stared at the spot the Pokémon had disappeared through, when the bird dived down through another spot, ready to attack her. With a giant leap, Ashton pushed her to the ground where he landed beside her.

"Row – use Quick Attack!" he ordered, rolling over onto his back to see his Pokémon dart towards the Taillow that was gliding along the surface of the footpath.

There was a smack that made him grit his teeth – not because Row had landed an attack, but because Taillow had evaded the attack and led Row straight into the trunk of a large tree.

"You okay, Row?" Ashton called out, waiting for a response.

She leapt back up onto her feet and looked about for the feisty Taillow, nodding at Ashton.

"Maybe it's gone…" Kaitlyn suggested naively, standing up and cowering beside a tree.

She didn't want to personally feel the force of Taillow's Peck and knew that that Pokémon was not the one she wanted to raise herself. A whimper under the bush beside her caused her to crouch down on the floor.

"Oh no!" she squealed, undercovering a weak and defenceless Pokémon. "Ashton, this Pokémon's hurt! We need to get it to a PokéCentre right away. It's cold out here and I don't know how long it's been outside." Slowly reaching out for the Pokémon, she was scared when it growled at her. "It's okay, I'm here to help you. I promise. My name's Kate." Even though the growling continued, Kaitlyn placed her hands carefully on its fur whilst Ashton put Row back in her Pokéball. "See – I'm not going to hurt you," Kaitlyn said calmly, stroking the Pokémon's fur. "I'm going to pick you up now, but don't worry, it's all okay…"

As she picked up the Pokémon, she realised it was too weak to fight back and it gave in nearly automatically. "Ashton – which way to the nearest PokéCentre?" Kaitlyn asked directly.

"The quickest way would be to cut through the trees and completely avoid the path, hopefully that way we can stay out of trouble and we can avoid the ruins I've heard some Team Magma agents have been hiding out in." Ashton led the way, weaving amongst the trees as he flicked through the pages of a pocket map he kept in his back trouser pocket. "What's wrong with it?" He didn't want to admit it, Ashton had no idea whatsoever what the Pokémon was.

"I don't know," Kaitlyn snapped. "If I knew that, do you think I would be demanding to go to a PokéCentre?"

"Alright, alright," Ashton replied, speeding up so that he could get some distance between them. "Hurry up, you want to save that Pokémon, right?" he yelled over his shoulder, hoping she would run faster.

"I'm coming, hang in there little guy." She shook the Pokémon, hoping it would respond, but it didn't. "Quickly, Ashton!"

There was no one that wanted to get this Pokémon to safety more than Kaitlyn. She was a kind and caring girl who did whatever it could to make sure that each and every wild Pokémon she came across was safe and healthy. That's why this Pokémon was far more important to her than ever before.

"Te-ey…" the Pokémon mumbled, gnawing on the exposed flesh of Kaitlyn's arm, as if to say it wanted to be left alone.

Kaitlyn looked up to see Ashton running up a hill where the trees grew sparse. She felt her chest tighten the more that she ran, but she couldn't stop running when the need to get to the Pokémon Centre was so big. Deep down, she was desperate to get there, but there was also this niggling feeling that she might not make it.

"Ashton," Kaitlyn panted, feeling dry in her mouth as she struggled to keep up. "Do you have anything in your bag that could help?"

He turned and shook his head. "Nothing that will be remotely powerful enough in this situation. Only Nurse Joy will know what to do. The injuries look far too serious for any revive or potion to do any good."

By now, Kaitlyn had just about managed to catch up to Ashton, who had stopped at the top of the hill.

"It's going cold… It won't be able to last much longer," she replied, echoed by a whimper from the Pokémon. "Ashton – give me your jacket."

He folded his arms a little defensively, trying to say it wasn't going to help.

"Please…" Kaitlyn added dramatically, grinning when he finally shrugged his jacket off his shoulders and let her wrap up the poor injured Pokémon. "I'm sorry."

"What for?" Ashton asked, turning to carry on walking. "You don't really have anything to be sorry about."

"I thought you might think I was being a nuisance," Kaitlyn said, struggling to keep up with Ashton. She thought it would be polite to apologise, because she wasn't much use without a Pokémon by her side, and she was very reliant on him due to her own lack of a Pokémon partner.

The grass was wet with dew and possibly the rain from the previous thunderstorm, having only been out on a rescue mission, Ashton saw the true scale of the thunderstorm on the environment. It was beautiful to him and yet it was devastating to know the scale of the storm.

He reached the top of the hill quickly which allowed him to discover the quickest path to Oldale Town and the PokéCentre.

"This way, Kaitlyn!" Ashton called out over his shoulder, speeding down the hill and weaving amongst the bushes that were growing on the hill. "Come on!" He started to laugh, feeling the thrill of the race. The excitement was getting to him and he could feel his heart pumping in his ears. "We're nearly there!"

There it was. Oldale Town. It was a small, pretty and quaint little town that had the minimalistic and only the necessary amenities. Small clusters of houses surrounded a slightly bigger building with a flat red roof.

"It's the Pokémon Centre!" he exclaimed, pleased that he had managed to lead the way.

But when Kaitlyn caught up and the pair entered the Pokémon Centre, they realised that things weren't quite as they were before.

As a result of the storm and natural disaster, the centre had been out of power ever since, and there was only candlelight to work by.

"You've got to be kidding me," muttered Ashton, feeling that it was less than hopeless that the injured Pokémon would get the treatment it needed. He never thought that the storm could have had such an adverse effect on everything.

Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = Hiya! There's another chapter done – I've also set up a forum topic where you can keep updated with the story and ask me any questions – but keep the reviews coming in!