"Alexa, you shouldn't have run off on me like that! Those Poochyena could have had an infection and no one would know until it was too late! What if they had seriously hurt you?"

"Dad..."

"Even if that Treecko didn't listen to you, you should have let Professor Birch handle the situation rather than going and doing something idiotic like that!"

"Dad..."

"Yes, you did help Professor Birch with his situation, but what if those pokémon had been fire or electrical types?! You could have been-"

"Toilet paper tail, Dad."

I watched as the girl's father blinked and looked at his behind, right before becoming as red as a Cherri Berry. An uncontrolled smirk tugged at my lips as I saw the newly dubbed 'Idiot' ripping away the white sheets and slamming them into the shit can (hey, garbage is shit; it's faster to say than garbage pail).

And then, when Idiot came back he started going on about how Alexa could have hurt herself again, Alexa looking like she was getting more and more bored with the lecture. Couldn't blame her either, it was pretty boring to listen to after a while with Idiot just repeating himself over and over again. I decided to go and entertain myself by going upstairs and seeing what was up there; this chat wasn't any of my business anyway. Unfortunately, when I got up there, I had one of those moments where I actually wished I was human.

There was a whole bunch of cool stuff in the room that actually looked entertaining, not to mention damned comfortable to lie on as I flopped onto what I assumed was her bed. Just why would anyone want to leave this comfortable haven? Of course, the girl was probably adventurous; staying in one place too long wasn't my style either so I couldn't really blame her. What took my thoughts off of such things though was a glass pane to my left; I blinked at it before looking at what it was covering. Humans were in it, Trunk said it was called a picture so I didn't do anything stupid like trying to break out the little humans inside. They apparently were just images of the real thing anyway. It was framed nicely but the picture was what really got my attention; it was showing Idiot exactly how he was now (even the same clothes, maybe his name should have been lame ass), a younger Alexa and... Someone I didn't recognize. Probably someone I hadn't met yet. Who was it...

From what I could tell, it was probably Alexa's mother. They looked kind of the same, eyes and other details I probably wouldn't be able to pick out. I saw Idiot around there but why haven't I see Alexa's mother?

"Glad to see you're enjoying looking at my family from eight years ago."

I blinked when I turned to see Alexa at the door, approaching me before sitting down beside me and taking the picture into her hands while talking to me, "You're my partner now so I guess you can know. You see, we lived in a small house in the Kanto region eight years ago. What happened is that Mom and Dad got into a fight one day. Mom left the house..." What was going on with her? Her face looked... well, she wasn't happy, but she wasn't angry or bored either. Later I'd come to know the emotion on her face as sadness but back then I didn't know what was wrong (or more importantly why I cared), "A wild Ursaring was going on a rampage because its cub had been hunted and killed. Mom just happened to be in the area when a Hyper Beam struck her from the Ursaring. Dad got there as soon as he heard the attack but he didn't make it in time to save her..."

Why would she open up to me like that? At this point she was still a virtual stranger to me, it really confused me about how she could be so open about a thing like her parents dying. Then again, I never got to meet my parents; when I was young I was captured by Trunk. I only remembered about that day was my cousin running after me, he was probably the only Treecko there who actually enjoyed my company and gave a damn about me... everyone else thought I was too secluded and aloof. I still had nightmares over it that day, losing him...

"Treecko, you okay there?"

I blinked when I heard her voice again before sighing to myself and jumping off of the bed. It wasn't important now; what was important was being entertained until something (or maybe someone) better came along. I felt her eyes on my back before her feet touched the ground as well and she started to head for the door. However, Alexa paused and turned back to me before blinking, "Do you really want to be called Treecko all of the time or would you rather think of an appropriate nickname with me?"

I had to wonder where that came from. She wanted to give me a nickname? Whether it would be easier for her to identify me with it or whether it was because she wanted me to keep some individuality were things I wasn't entirely sure of but I didn't really see the harm. With that in mind I nodded to the girl before she smiled and crouched down in front of me, "Hm... now just what would be a good name for you?"

"Well my first name for you was Twig Girl so I guess my suggestions are trashed," I ended up rolling my eyes a little with the sarcastic comment, what caught me off guard was that she laughed. Okay, did Alexa actually understand what I had said or simply the fact that it was a sarcastic comment? I decided not to give myself a head ache and went with the second hypothesis before I shook my head and shrugged, "Okay, you pick some names and I decide whether or not I like them. Nothing baby-like either or I'll have to tear out your throat."

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Well, it looked like the pokémon I got landed with had a sense of humour at least. It was then that an attack of Treecko's I had read about in the technique book Professor Birch gave me came to mind; it seemed masculine enough, I already knew that this grass pokémon was male from our first encounter after all, "Okay, how about Bullet? It seems like a guy name-"

Treecko cut me off by shaking his head and giving me a flat look; okay, so Bullet was definitely out. It might not have felt right to him, and when I thought about it the name didn't seem right to me either; I guessed that was fair enough seeing as it was going to be his new name after all, he had every single right to have a say in it.

"Okay... maybe Blade?"

I got a no again, that made me sigh. That one I actually kind of liked but again it was Treecko's name we were deciding. Overall he had the final word; I could easily make it something he didn't like but it'd be cruel to call him something he hated. That definitely eliminated anything really cute. Maybe instead of attack names though, I should have gone with something more human, his personality was definitely diverse enough for it to make sense...

"Why not call him Fervo?"

I ended up jumping from the surprise Dad gave us when he entered the room, smiling and normal-coloured again (after having calmed down from earlier). However, what made me grin was the angered reaction Treecko gave Dad; apparently Fervo was out of the question right off of the bat. Whether it was because Dad suggested it or it was because of the name itself I didn't know, but I had the distinct impression that Treecko didn't like him all that much. He'd warm up to Dad eventually though, right?

"Dad, Treecko's my pokémon! You chose not to nickname your Vigoroth; this isn't your missed opportunity!" I pointed that out playfully before he left the room; at least he wasn't mad at me anymore. But now it was back to the task at hand, deciding a name for Treecko. I sighed after a while before shaking my head, just throwing out an ideal name that had been in the back of my head, "Why don't I just call you Jack then?"

What I didn't expect was to see Treecko actually pondering for more than five seconds over this name. Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have a winner. It was a while before Treecko finally nodded at me, a smirk on his face while he did so. I ended up grinning as well before giving 'Jack' a thumbs up and nodding towards him, "Jack it is then. Shall we get going now that all the important junk is out of the way?"

When I got confirmation from the pokémon I got to my feet and grabbed my backpack before heading downstairs and beginning to fill it up with stuff I thought I'd need: food, water, a flashlight, stuff to start a campfire, a sleeping bag, potions, antidotes, and of course five pokéballs on my belt to get me started. I also remembered the pokédex Professor Birch gave me and pocketed that, right before looking around. My heart fell a little at what I saw, or rather who I didn't see.

Dad must have already gone to Petalburg City without saying goodbye. Was he really that mad at me...?

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Idiot wasn't around. And it really seemed to be bothering Alexa, something that annoyed me a little. Ah well, it wouldn't be important in a few minutes; we'd be out of Littleroot soon, traveling at night. When we finally left her house and started on the path away from the town, I couldn't help but notice how much more majestic the stars were at night; all I normally saw at night was the simulated environment of my pokéball. What was different was that there were so many more stars here, and in different patterns... they were free-formed and unrestrained, kind of how he liked things. However, in about an hour (after passing through an even smaller town called 'Oldale'... honestly, where do Humans come up with these names?), Alexa ended up starting to set up camp while I climbed a tree to simply look up at the sky.

Truth be told, I was jealous of the stars. And of any flying pokémon for that matter. But, there was nothing I could do about it other than enjoy what I had for the time being. One of the good things about being out here, I didn't have to listen to humans or pokémon bickering amongst themselves anymore. It was a nice silence, even if I wasn't alone I could enjoy it. Apparently Alexa was comfortable with it too as she finally got everything set up, a fire now blazing below in an enclosed area with her sleeping bag rolled out.

"Oiy, Jack! You wanna sleep outside or would you rather go back into your pokéball for the night?" Alexa yelled up at me before I looked down at her, thinking things over. I had never slept outside before (that I can remember), it might be interesting. It seemed warm out after all, so why not? I nodded in response before Alexa crawled into her sleeping bag, letting out a wide yawn and putting out the fire with a bucket of water she had filled from a pond in the area, "G'night then..."

Soon enough Alexa had drifted off to sleep, leaving me alone with my thoughts while I sat on the tree branch I had climbed up to. This was actually really comfortable... and a lot different than my pokéball. But, there was something strange I didn't really think of (at the time) when I went to sleep that night; a voice that drifted through my mind, it was familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Rest well, Jack. Your fated adventure begins here."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

All right, second chapter up. And I have to say this now; Read Tales of Flame by Buwaro and Anomaly by Dark Magician Girl Aeris! They are both Pokémon fan fictions, they are both really good, and later in my own story you'll see why I told you to read them. DO NOT BE PUT OFF BY THE LENGTH OF TALES OF FLAME; Trust me, the read is SO worth it.

And now advertising is over, I do not own Pokémon and you might run into other characters in this fan fiction of whom I do not own. I will mention who they are whenever they show up (other than the generic Pokémon characters of course, those characters go without saying).