"Wakeupwakeupwakeup!"

I cracked my eyes open, and saw that the sky was still pitch black and dotted with stars. Flamo was pecking my arm rapidly. "Five more minutes," I pleaded, pulling my jacket over my head.

"We're under attack!"

That woke me up. I jolted upright, head jerking around as I looked for the attackers. A few seconds later, I realized that there was no one around us. "Flamo," I said, slowly leaning back down. "It was probably a dream. Go back to sleep."

"No," she insisted. "It was a snack attack! And we don't have any food!"

Groaning, I rolled over and glared at her. "Yeah, I know. And it's three in the morning," I held up my wrist to so she could see my watch, "so I want to sleep. We'll see about food in the morning."

"But...I'm starving!" Flamo wailed throwing her head back and falling onto her back. "If I don't eat soon, I'll be forced to scavenge for...berries! Oh the horror!" She promptly burst into tears.

"Screw it," I said, standing up. "I'm already too awake to sleep. We'll try to find some night trainers to get some money. And, before you ask, yes, I'll get you some beef."

She instantly jumped up and stopped crying. "That's motivation. Let's do this."

I rolled my eyes as we set out to route 103. As we passed the Pokemon Center, I realized that I hadn't registered for the Hoenn Pokemon League yet. "Come on," I told Flamo. "This will only take a few minutes."

The inside was still crowded, but much more differently than last time. Trainers lay on the floor in sleeping bags, under blankets, on the couches, and one even brought an air matress.

The night shift nurse smiled and chuckled lightly when she saw my reaction to the scene. "It's like this every year," she said, as I approached the counter, careful to step over the bodies. Flamo just jumped over them.

"I didn't know you could sleep in here," I told her. "I need to sign up for the Pokemon League."

She nodded and reached under the counter, and a second later pulled out a clipboard. "Just fill this out and let me see your trainer card."

I removed the card from my pocket, and handed it to her. Then, I started on the paper work. It was mostly for making sure that I had parental permission, my age, my home region, I put Orre, since that's the only other place I remember being. After a few more pages of work, I clicked the pen, and handed the nurse the papers. She slid my card back to me.

"You're all set. The Ever Grande Conference is in a few months, so you should have plenty of time to get eight badges," the nurse informed me. "If not, then you'll have to wait until next year."

I nodded. "That shouldn't be a problem. I have a full confidence in myself and my Pokemon."

"Yeah," Flamo retorted. "But you and you Pokemon have empty bellies. Fight, get money, buy beef, let's go." She practically took off running to the door.

I shook my head sadly, but did so smiling. "I really wished I had know that I could sleep in here. Would've been better than sleeping on the ground."

The nurse shrugged. "It was more cramped here last year. And some how, the Hoenn Fire Marshall just so happened to waltz right in here. That was fun."

Chuckling, I followed Flamo out the door, "See ya around," I called to the nurse.

"Now, let's get some money to get beef!" Flamo exclaimed, and once again began running toward route 103.

"Geez, can't you take it easy?" I shouted, breaking into a run just to keep her in sight. "Walking works well."

Groaning, Flamo slowed down. "I'm starving. And we don't have food."

"We've been over this about six gazillion times," I reminded her, as we walked into route 103. It was almost exactly like route 101, but with different placements of the grass and the trees.

Kricketunes chirped, even though I was sure that they weren't native to Hoenn. Zubats flew over head, and the gentle splashing of the waves playing in the river. This was nature at its best.

"Stop," I ordered Flamo. "Listen."

She blinked, looking around for what she should be listening to. "I don't hear anything."

"Exactly," I said. "Nowadays, with all the cites and all that, just being able to hear nothing is a miracle."

Flamo scoffed. "If you like hearing nothing, then go inside of a Pokeball. That's always fun. Can't hear nothing, can't see nothing. Pure bliss."

I sighed. "Well, let's see about battling."

The route appeared to be empty, with only me and Flamo occupying it. In the middle of the night, that wouldn't be surprising. After a few minutes of wandering around, a human figure came into sight.

He was sitting around a campfire, writing something in a notebook. There was a Treeko asleep in a small tree nearby, making sure that it was well out of reach of the flames.

As I approached, I began to make out details of the figure. He was my age, white hair, with a green bandana running around his head. He had a red T-shirt on, and a pair of gym shorts, with his bag sitting just a few feet away, with other clothes poking out.

He glanced up at us, somehow noticing us. Shrugging to Flamo, we walked over. "Hi," I said. "We didn't think that there be anyone else out here but us." I held my hand out. "I'm Trevor White."

With a half-hearted smile, he shook my hand. "Brendan. Brendan Birch," he said, and guestured to the fire. "You can stay here for a while of you want. I was having a hard time sleeping, so I was about to take Treeko and do some training."

Birch? "Are you Professor Birch's son?" I asked, remembering my promise to the Professor.

His smile faded quickly. "Yeah, why?"

"He wanted me to find you and to tell you that he wanted to talk to you," I said. "He said it would be important to him."

Brendan scoffed. "Then it probably had to do with research," he muttered, stuffing the notebook into his bag. "I don't want to talk to him ever again."

I decided to let the topic drop, since it was quite a personal matter. "Well, Flamo needs to get some training done too," I told him. "Maybe we can battle them against each other, kill two birds with one stone."

Brendan shrugged and nodded, glad to be off the topic of his dad. "I guess we could. Treeko," he called his Pokemon, who glared over at him with some slight anger of being woken up. "Get prepared for battling."

Treeko huffed and jumped out of the tree, landing gracefully on his feet. He walked over and stood next to Brendan.

"We should probably get a little bit farther from the fire," Brendan commented, "I don't want Treeko to catch on fire."

"Agreed." We walked a few yards away, and we were ready. "Let's do it. You take the first move," I said.

"Treeko use Pound!" The grass Pokemon ran at Flamo with his fist raised and ready to strike.

"Dodge it!" I ordered. Flamo jumped to the side and Treeko's punch went wide, but he nailed her in the head with a follow through. She flipped over a couple of times as she flew back, but Flamo stood up and shook it off.

"Ember!" Flamo let loose a weak wave of embers scattering them as they flew through the air, and a few struck Treeko, but not enough to cause any major damage.

Brendan seemed to know that he was at a type disadvantage, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. "Treeko, use Absorb!"

Small glowing green spheres flew from Flamo's body and into Treeko's restoring a little bit of health.

"Ember!" Once more, the Torchic shot burning embers at Treeko.

"Dodge!" Treeko jumped out of the way, and the flaming cinders landed harmlessly on the cold grass, "Follow with Pound!"

"Ember when Treeko gets close enough!" I knew that it would be hard to avoid the ember at close range, but would it be enough to win the match? Flamo spat out more flames as Treeko neared her, but he took them like a man, and powered through them, slamming his fist into Flamo's face again.

"Not cool, dude," Flamo exclaimed as she came running back into the battlefield.

Treeko was panting, with several scorch marks on his body. Flamo was also gasping for breath, with a small bruise on her face. It was going to be close, that I knew.

"Treeko use Absorb!" The little grass gecko drained energy from my Torchic again, and she toppled to the ground, struggling to stand. "Now, Pound!"

"Same as last time," I ordered as Flamo managed to stand up. "Use Ember when it gets close."

Flamo fired her fire into Treeko's face when it was barely six inches from her, and Treeko's fist smashed into her face, sending her once again flying backwards. Both Pokemon were on the ground, neither making any attempt to stand up.

"Is this a tie?" Brendan asked, looking back and forth between the two Pokemon. "I think they're both out."

I nodded. "Yeah, it looks that way." I returned Flamo to her ball, and Brendan did the same to Treeko. "Good battle."

Brendan flashed a quick smile. "Thanks. You did pretty good yourself." He tossed Treeko's Pokeball back over to his bag, where it landed a few inches away. "Well, I'm hitting the sack," he stated, walking back over to his camp and grabbing a sleeping bag. "Feel free to hang out here if you want. I ain't got nothing that's worth stealing, so I trust you."

"I'll probably catch up on my sleep," I admitted, somewhat glad that Flamo was out of the way. "My Torchic woke me up like a half-hour ago."

"That sucks," Brendan said, climbing into his sleeping bag. "Treeko's the quiet type. He really doesn't make much noise. Kinda like a ninja."

"Yeah," I muttered, laying down on the ground and shutting my eyes. Minutes passed by. I cracked my eyes open, and sighed. I couldn't sleep. Try as I might, all I did was toss and turn on the ground. The boat I taken to get to Hoenn had hammocks to sleep in, and I had planned to get a room at the Pokemon Center instead of sleeping on the grass.

It wasn't too late to go back to the Pokemon Center. But, it would be better to get a headstart to Petalburg so I could get a room there, and hopefully some food. I groaned as my mind turned to the mere thought of something to eat. I hadn't had a bite since I landed in Hoenn.

Standing up, I headed back to Oldale Town, and got Torchic healed at the Center, and headed to route 102. It was traveled west of Oldale, and there were a couple of small ponds along the way. Tall grass stood clumped together in large patches all across the route. Fortunately, a few trainers were out, getting an early start this morning.

"I'm sure that we can beat at least one of them," I mused, reaching for Flamo's ball. "Then we can finally eat." Seconds later, the Tochic appeared at my side in a flash of red light.

She looked up at me, and blinked. "Please tell me that we'll be eating some food soon. I'm sick of hearing my stomach growl."

I shrugged. "All we have to do is win a battle or two, and we'll have some money," I told her, pointing at some of the trainers on route 102, who were storming through the tall grass searching for any wild Pokemon that would make a good team member. "Some look like those idiotic Bug-Type worshippers."

"Hey you!" a voice called out from behind us. "I want to battle!"

I turned around, and saw that it was one of those Bug-Type worshipers. He had a bug net in one hand, and a Pokeball in another. "Allright," I said. "Flamo front and center!" My Torchic jumped into position.

"Go Wurmple!" The kid sent out a Bug-Type, as expected. "Use String Shot!" he ordered his worm, not really caring about seeing who was to have the first move of the battle.

"Ember!" Flamo launched the flaming coals out at the Wurmple, incinerating the worm's fiber String Shot. The embers connected with the bug, and the power of the super-effective attack knocked it flat on its back, KO'd with a single hit.

"What!" the kid cried out, looking at his fallen Pokemon. "That's not possible! I just caught that thing!" Angrily, he tossed some money and stomped off.

Flamo began dashing around, gathering the bills in her beak. "Moneymoneymoneymoneymoney! Foodfoodfoodfoodfood!" She dumped them into a pile at my feet. "Letsgoletsgoletsgoletsgo!"

I spilt the money in half, saving some for supplies later. "There's a diner back in Oldale," I said, "I think they're open." By now, it was 5am, so some people were already up and at it, heading to work or something like that.

Flamo and I dashed back into town, heading for the building. It was a small, 50's style diner with a jukebox and checkered tiles.

I plopped down on a red barstool and propped my arms up on the counter. Flamo just climbed up me and jumped onto the countertop.

A waitress came over to me, fake smile crossing her face. "What can I get ya?" she asked, with an equally fake enthusiasm.

"Well, two plates of waffles," I said. "Is that good for you, Flamo?"

She nodded, and waitress went to get the order in. "Are these things that you call waffles made with beef?"

"Nope."

"Awww..."

"You'll still like them," I told her. "Just put alot of syrup on them."

"Well, okay. Does this syrup have beef in it?"

A person sat in on the stool to my right, and I looked up to see none other than Bella. "What's up?" she asked, once again her idiotic grin plastered to her face. "I never thought to see you here!" Another girl sat down beside her. "Meet May," Bella said, introducing her friend.

May had brown hair with blue eyes, a red jacket and biking shorts. "Hi," she greeted, giving a slight wave. "I've heard about you."

"Really?" I asked, as the waitress set down mine and Flamo's plates. The Torchic's eyes bulged in shock at the sight of the waffles, mainly since they were food, and she, literally, dove right in.

"Uh...yeah," May continued, staring at my Torchic's eating habits. Personally, I didn't want to look. "Bella hasn't shut up about that nice guy that gave her money."

"That's not true!" Bella protested. "I haven't said a word about him at all today!"

I smirked. "Well, it is only 5:15 in the morning."

Before any more could be said, Flamo burped loudly. "Them was good. But not as good as beef."

I blinked in surprised. "Wow, that was fast." I hadn't even touched my food yet. Shrugging, I cut into my waffles, shoving a forkfull into my mouth.

"Well, anyway," Bella continued, "May and I are traveling all across Hoenn together. We'll make an unstoppable team."

May laughed. "I doubt it. I'm really not that much into battling and all that. I've considered coordinating, though."

"Oh..." Bella's smile faded, but in a split second, she was back to her usual cheery self. "Well, then I can be the Hoenn Champion, and you can be the Top Coordinator, and we'll reach the top together!"

I another bite of my waffles, leaving me with half left. "So, either of you know any place to catch a good Pokemon?" I asked. "I'll need to get another if I want to beat Roxanne, since Flamo would be at a disadvantage." I paused. "Roxanne uses Rock-Types, right?"

May nodded. "Yeah. I'm beginning to think that the League chooses Gym Leaders based off of names nowadays, rather than skill."

Bella agreed. "I mean, we've got Brawly, Wattson, Roxanne, and Norman. Care to guess what types they use?"

I didn't care to guess. It was obvious.

"As for Pokemon," May went on, "I wouldn't know. Bella, maybe."

Shaking her head, Bella stood up. "Nope. This is all new to me. I just came here from Johto." She walked over to the jukebox and began flipping through the music. I went back to my breakfast, only to discover that I had a fourth left.

"Flamo..."

"I didn't *burp* eat it."

Sighing, I scarfed down the last of the food and paid the waitress. "Let's go," I said, and Flamo jumped off the counter, landing face first on the ground. She bounded back up.

"Where are you going?" Bella called out as she ran over. "I wanted to talk some more."

I was going to point out that if you wanted to talk with someone, you don't get up in the middle of the conversation and go to the jukebox. "I figured I'd get a headstart towards Petalburg," I said, pointing at the clock. "It's 5: 23, and I wanted to be there yesterday."

"Hey, that's where May and I are going," she said. "Maybe you could use some company?" She made one of those faces that your really couldn't say no to.

All I want to know, is why she wants to come with me.

"Sure, but we're leaving now," I told her, holding the door open for her. "As in, right this very moment."

"That's fine with me." She Bella turned to May, who was still sitting at the counter. "Come on, May. We're leaving for Petalburg City!"

"But we haven't even eaten yet!" May protested. "And I'm starving!"

Bella folded her arms across her chest and stood her ground. "So? we can get food when we get there."

May groaned and rolled her eyes, cursing under her breath. A few minutes later, the three of us were on route 102, making steady progress to Petalburg City, and hopefully my first Gym Badge in Hoenn.

Bella was leading the way with her Poochyena, Sora, at her heels. May and I were hanging back, with her Mudkip chatting away friendly with Flamo.

"So, why is she so..." I started, trying to think of a word.

"In to you?" May finished. "Personally, from the constant talking that she did about you yesterday, and now this, I think she likes you."

I smiled. "Wouldn't surprise me. I quite a charming person."

May giggled. "Yeah right. Just keep telling yourself that." After that, we began walking in silence. I evesdropped in on the Pokemon's conversation.

"...and that's why beef is awesome," Flamo concluded.

"But...that's a rather violent way to get food," May's Mudkip said. "Meat is murder. Why don't you eat berries?"

Flamo stared blankly at him. "Berries suck!" she yelled right into his face. "Have you have had beef?" He shook his head. "Then you'll never know the true food of kings!"

May smiled as she looked at the two Pokemon. "They're getting along nicely, aren't they?"

I shook my head, smiling. "If you only knew."

"Hey, what's that?" May asked, pointing to another Pokemon plodding along on the side of the path. She pulled out a device, and a screen slid out of the main red body. pressing a button, a picture of the Pokemon appeared on the screen. "It's a Lotad," May explained, reading the information.

"Aren't Pokedexes supposed to read the entries out loud?" I asked, noting that the dex hadn't made a single sound.

"Well, about that," May shrugged. "I messed with some of the settings, and now it's silent. I don't know how to fix it."

"It shouldn't be too hard to fix," I said. "Got a Pokeball with you I can have?"

Nodding, May reached into a pouch, and produced the one of the red and white spheres. "You gonna catch it?"

I nodded. "I'll try. Okay, Flamo, use Scratch on that Lotad!"

My Torchic rushed at the unsuspecting Lotad, and slashed him with her beak.

The Lotad's eyes widened in shock as he realized what was going on. "Whoa, bro! That's not cool! At least give me a heads up!" he complained. He stood around, waiting for the next attack.

I threw the Pokeball, hoping that the Lotad was weaker than I thought it was. The ball shook once. Bella, suddenly aware of what was going on, ran over to watch. The Pokeball shook again. Everyone held their breath. The ball shook a third time. We all crossed our fingers. And the ball clicked shut.

There was a simultaneous sigh of relief, and I went over to retrieve the new caught Pokemon. "I think I'll call him..." This was the hard part of being a trainer. You had to pick a name that would stick. "...this is hard."

I released the new caught Lotad from his ball, and he blinked as he looked around. "What happened? Where am I? Who are you?"

"Hi," I said. "I'm you're new trainer. Do you have a name?"

My Lotad nodded. "So I was captured in one of those human ball things? Cool beans. Beats sitting around here all day, watching my older brother bang all of the females."

I sighed. This was a reason understanding Pokemon was not always a good thing. You heard things you didn't really want to hear. "Yeah, Zen would've loved that story, what's your name?"

"Phillip. But just call me Phil."

I blinked. "Okay then, Phil. Let's go." I turned to go back to walking, but May and Bella were staring at me. "What?"

"Were you talking to your Lotad?" May asked, sharing her WTF look with Bella.

I shrugged. "Maybe. Sorta. Kinda...yeah."

"You can understand Pokemon?" Bella questioned, increduously. "That's awesome! How do you do it? Can you teach me?"

"Um...not right now. There's a complication," I said, slightly uncomfortable that one of my secrets had gotten out. And another was hanging in the balance.

"And that would be...?"

"I don't remember."

May blinked. "So, you pull off something that's nearly impossible, and you can't remember how you did it?"

"Pretty much. There's also a long story that goes along with that.

Bella stepped in. "Give him a break, May. He's special, you know."

"I'm just saying, something like that's got to have an explanation," she said. "Or he's hiding something."

I sighed. Might as well get it over with. "I have amneisa. There, I said it."

"I like beef," Flamo interjected. "There, I said that."

Once again, May and Bella shot each other the WFT looks. "And you were going to tell us this when?" Bella asked.

I thought about it. "Well, that depended. If we were going to stick with each other for longer than this short trip to Petalburg, which I suspect that we will, then...a week from next Septembuary."

"That's not a month," Bella stated.

May elbowed her. "That's the point." She turned back to me. "Well, at least we know now. If we can help, don't be afraid to ask."

"I won't." Phil was carrying Flamo and Mudkip on his water lily head, which reminded me a lot of Bark, my Herdier, who would always carry my Pokemon around from place to place.

"Well," I said. "I looks like we're here."

Petalburg City was far larger than Odale Town and Littleroot Town put together. There were large masses of buildings here and there, and the Pokemon Gym sat right in the middle of it all.

"Bella and I are heading to the Pokemon Center to get rooms," May informed me. "Are you coming?"

I shook my head. "I'm going to the Pokemon Mart to get some supplies. Either of you need anything?"

Bella nodded and reached into her bag, pulling out several dollar bills. "My mangas are starting to get old. I need some new ones. Sailor Moon and Bleach, please." I nodded and took the money.

"And Code Geass and Yu-Gi-Oh," May dded. I nodded again and walked off.

The PokeMart was relatively empty, save for a few clerks and one or two trainers stocking up on their stuff. I grabbed a few potions off a shelf, and then some full heals. Next came a couple of packages of Pokeballs.

Turning a corner into the book section, I began scanning for the manga section. I will say this, they had quite the multitude of mangas. Main problem, they had too many.

After thirteen and a half minutes (I really timed it), I managed to find a few copies of what Bella and May requested. My Pokemon, and May's Mudkip, were following along casually, actually remaining silent.

I paid for the stuff, using all of the money Bella had provided and saving my own. I walked out of the mart just as Bella and May exited the Center across the street. "Here." I handed them the bags with all of their books, and they dove into it, not literally, pouring over the ones I got them.

"Did you get any of the good ones?" Bella asked. "You know, the dirty ones?"

I stared at them. "You gonna have to get those yourself," I stated, plainly. "I will not be caught dead in an isle full of those."

May and Bella giggled. "I was only kidding," she assured me. "What you got was good enough."

"Well, then," I said. "With that outta the way, it's time for the first Gym Battle!"

"Now it's my turn to ask questions. Why must you insist that he be alive? And, have you gone against my orders and looked for him?"

"That's why I believe he's alive. If you don't want me looking for him, then you don't want me to find him, meaning that he's out there somewhere."

"That is an insufficent amount of evidence. I don't want you looking for him because I don't want you wasting time, and I don't want you to end up disappointed."

"...I'm looking because I care about him."

"...You're almost acting human. I can't not tolerate that."

"It was your order that made me into a human, so you would only have yourself to blame."

"That order is non-exsistant, since the timeline that it was decreed in was destroyed. Gone forever."

"I've learned a lot from being trapped in this human body. And now I would rather remain human, than have to put up with you."

"Well, Mespirit, I believe that that can be arranged."