Thank you for the feedback, everyone! It really helped. I hope that this next chapter starts to address some of the issues with the first. And yes, there will be more explanations with later chapters. For now, enjoy.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Nintendo, Game Freak, Pokemon, etc. All characters (save myself) and locations are their property. I only own the nicknames.

Soul Searching

After leaving Fortree City on my bike (which, due to the really tall grass, was not the brightest of choices), I started thinking. Why did she just run off like that? From what I understand, when a woman finds out about a dude's inner thoughts, one of two things happen: 1. He gets what he wants, which is evidently also what she wants. 2. He gets yelled at and she refuses to talk to him. I mean, we've known each other for years. I didn't expect her to just throw herself on the bed and beg for me. But I sure as hell didn't think she'd try and leave me! In hindsight, I wish she'd just slapped me in the face.

As I passed the overgrown shrubbery on Route 120, my thoughts changed. Maybe she's not who I think she is. After all, have I ever asked her whether or not she was happy with me? Sure, she seemed happy, but what do I know? With the events that happened back at the house this morning, I'm beginning to question whether or not she actually 'agreed' to join me on my journey...

4 Years Previously

"C'mon, c'mon!" I rubbed the sticks together as fast as I could, but nothing happened. No fire. No smoke. I looked at the pile of dead grass and birch bark I was using as tinder. Because of the past few days of nonstop rain, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that it wasn't lighting. But I'm still allowed to be frustrated. I sat there, sopping wet, trying to come up with a plan.

Evidently, Route 102 was smaller on paper, considering I was nowhere near Oldale Town or Petalburg City. It was something I should have considered before I left home. Something else I should have considered was that I would need a Pokémon with me. After three days, I had all but given up the hope that I would catch one on the way.

One depressed sigh later, I decided it would be best if I got some sleep. So with all the dignity I could muster, I crawled up underneath a large tree and began to drift off. It was an uneasy rest, but it was enough to shield out the rain and the cold.

I must not have eaten for a while, seeing as when I woke up at what I judged to be about seven, my stomach growled enough to put a Mightyena to shame. I groggily went through my bag to see that I only had a few berries left. "Aww man! One Oran Berry, one Pecha Berry, and three Cheri Berries! What next? A starving Pokémon?"

As if on cue, I heard a rustling in the bushes. I jumped up, scared of what might be there. After an eternity of suspense, I saw a little Ralts fall out of the brush. I breathed a sigh of relief, but something was wrong. I walked over to the Pokémon and felt my heart sink.

It was covered in cuts, scrapes, and bruises, it seemed unable to stand on its own, and it looked as if it hadn't had sufficient food for days. Its breathing was labored, and it began to cough up small amounts of blood. Every need I had for myself vanished instantly, and I did what I felt I was obligated to do, given the state of the poor creature.

"Here you go." I held out the berries to the Ralts, but it was either unwilling or unable to accept them. "C'mon, you need to eat something. You look awful." I felt a small surge of negativity when I said this. I was wondering where it came from, but then I remembered that Ralts was a Feeling Pokémon. I was feeling the Ralts' dissatisfaction at my comment. "No, I didn't mean it like that! It just looks like you could use some help."

Every minute I was talking was a minute wasted that I could be taking the Ralts to a Pokémon Center. But it wasn't cooperating. It didn't seem to realize the situation it was in. So I decided on a different approach. "Okay, I understand. But if you change your mind, I'll be over here." I silently prayed that this would work.

After a moment or two, I watched as the Ralts creeped its way towards my rough shelter. It sat down and stared at me through bloodshot eyes. Dammit! How sick is this little guy? I felt another bit of displeasure and looked at the Ralts. It looked back. No, wait, she looked back. At this, the bad feeling went away. "So you're a little girl, are you not?" She looked at me, eerily at first, but then gave a slow nod. "Alrighty then, are you hungry?" When I held up the Oran Berry, her eyes grew wide. She reached for it, but then her hand jerked back.

"It's okay. I want you to have it." And in the blink of an eye, she grabbed the berry, sunk her teeth into it, and allowed the hunger to recede slightly. As she devoured the blue fruit, I readied the Pecha Berry. When she finished the Oran Berry, I hardly had time to give her the Pecha Berry before she started the process over again. By the time she got through my last Cheri Berry, her hunger seemed to have been satiated.

"Do you feel better now?" I got a small burp as an answer. I chuckled slightly, but then I decided that enough time had been wasted. "How about we get you fixed up so you'll be at peak condition?" She perked up at this, but it was the last thing she did before she passed out. "Oh SHIT!"

Without a second thought, I scooped her up, grabbed my bag, and sprinted for the direction of Petalburg City. At the rate I had been moving previously, it would have taken me over a day to get there. But with a dying Ralts in my arms and andrenaline flushing my system, I somehow managed the journey in an hour and a half. Before I had time to take in my surroundings, I rushed for the building with the red roof – the universal sign of the Pokémon Center.

Before anybody could register that I had even entered the door, I was at the counter. "Nurse Joy, Nurse Joy! I need your help!"

She appeared before me with a look on her face that said she was prepared. "What is it?"

"It's this Ralts! She's hurt bad. I found her out on 102. She seemed pretty beat up at first, but then she was okay. After that she went out cold. Please help her!"

"Chansey!" At once, a small parade of Chanseys in nurses' hats rushed into the waiting room with a stretcher. Before I knew it, the little Ralts was taken from my arms, placed on the stretcher, and rushed into the ER.

"What is taking them so long! Shouldn't they be done by now?" I had been pacing the Pokémon Center for over an hour. The elevator style music in the waiting room would have normally given me a migraine, but that wasn't at the top of my list. Right now, I was busy worrying about that Ralts.

No sooner had I thought of asking Joy – again – how things were going, than the doors of the ER opened. I stood staring as I watched a Chansey walk out and look at me. "Chansey. Chan."

"Uhh… is she gonna be okay?" I was not fluent in the language of Pokémon, so I had no clue whether or not the Ralts was in the clear. The Chansey stepped to the side to reveal a small Ralts, fully healed and bouncing up on what I assumed were her heels. "You're alright!" Despite her only being conscious in my presence for roughly ten minutes, she seemed like she couldn't wait to see me again.

The two of us ran towards each other and she jumped into my arms. I felt someone tapping on my shoulder, so I turned around. "Excuse me, Mister…?" Nurse Joy hadn't gotten my personal information because of the recent events.

"Forget that 'mister' jazz. Call me Mo." I had gone by the name Mo for as long as I could remember, despite the fact that it wasn't my real one.

"Er… Mo, is this Ralts yours?" Nurse Joy waited while I explained about seeing the Ralts in the bushes, giving her the berries, and then the trek to the Pokémon Center. "If that's the case, then you need to make a decision: Keep the Ralts, or release her back into the wild." I looked down at the Ralts, and she looked up at me.

"Well, I suppose it's as much your decision as it is mine." The Ralts smiled happily before she pulled me into a hug. "Nurse Joy, I think that we'll stick together."

"In that case, you'll need this." She handed me a Pokéball. I held it out to the Ralts, who promptly tapped the button, sucking her inside in a flash of red light. I heard the telltale sound of a caught Pokémon, then released my newest partner.

"Are you ready for an adventure –" I got cut short as a thought occurred to me. "Do you have a name?" She shook her head. "Would you like one?" Judging by the fact that she was bouncing up and down like a jackhammer, I took it she wanted a name. "Alright, alright, relax. Now let's see… Aha! How about Grace?" Ralts – I mean Grace – was brimming with joy. "Grace it is then."

Present

I stopped for a minute on my long ride to Lilycove and admired the greenery on Route 121. After thinking about when we met, I was wondering if Grace still saw the same person in me today as she did back then. Probably taking the idea too literally, I walked over to a small pond and looked down. I saw a face staring back at me. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary with it. There were still the same muddy eyes, the same brown hair, the same partially vacant expression. I don't remember it being any different than when we first met.

I figured that had to count for something, but I didn't know what. All I knew was… yeah, I wasn't any closer to getting Grace back on my side than I was four miles ago. And I was almost at Lilycove. Checking my watch, I saw that there was only fifteen minutes left until the competition started. No doubt Grace would be competing anyway. And I still need to come up with a really good argument for what went on in my head. Well, I guess I'll know how she really feels in fifteen minutes' time.