Author's Note: The first five or six chapters are probably gonna be up today since I didn't wanna post this story as soon as I got done with the first one. So, it's a spontaneous update for ya! Also, for those of you a little confused about the character debuting in this chapter, see Ch. 20 of the first Ideals of Darkness. That should shed some light on them. Plus, how you feel about him might vary on the reader. Enjoy the second chapter!

After examining the boy with spiky black hair, dark blue pants, and a red jacket for a few seconds, I knew for a fact that it was definitely someone I knew. My very heart pounded with excitement at the sight of my old friend.

"Haley, what are you doing here?" I asked him.

"And how the hell do you know my name-" he was about to demand until he saw who he was talking to. "...No way…! Hynden, it's you! I've finally found you!"

Once he helped me off the ground, Haley pulled me into a tight hug. I hugged him back for a few seconds before trying to pull myself away, only for Haley to not let go. I tapped on his hand three times until he released me.

"Sorry," he chuckled, "you know how much I like long hugs with you."

"Naturally. So, when did you move to Aspertia? My roommate and I have been here for a couple of days."

"Last month. Things didn't go very well in Goldenrod, so Mom and Dad moved us here to the Unova region. I suggested it of course since I figured you'd still be here!"

"You really wanted to see me again that badly?"

"Of course! I've been miserable ever since you moved out of Johto!"

Just then, a little girl with hazel hair and teal eyes walked up to us holding a Purrloin doll. She looked at Haley with a cheeky smile, but when she saw me, she was curious.

"Big brother, is this your girlfriend?" she asked.

"G-Girlfriend?!" I yelped, surprised, "No, little girl, I-"

"Possibly," Haley answered with a mischievous smile and a blushing face. "Hynden, this is my little sister, Julia."

"Julia?! Oh my Arceus, I haven't seen you since you were two! You don't remember me, but I'm Hynden. I'm your brother's best friend."

"Hello, Hynden! You must be that girl Haley has a huuuuge crush on!"

"Julia!" Haley exclaimed, blushing deeper.

"But, it's true! You-"

"Okay, kiddo, that's enough. Shouldn't you be playing right now?"

"Yeah, I'll go home in a second, I came out here because I wanted to make sure you and Hynden are careful on your journeys." Julia's expression fell rather sullen as she looked at the Purrloin doll. "Make sure no one tries to take your friends, okay…?"

"Jules, I promise I'll make things right," Haley assured his sister, who was starting to cry. "I'm gonna find those thieves, and you'll be reunited with Minnie before you know it!"

"Minnie?" I asked, "Who's that?"

"It's a long story, Hynden. Right now, Julia needs to go back home. Mom and Dad are probably wondering where you are."

"Okay! Good luck, both of you! It was nice meeting you, Haley's girlfriend!"

As Julia walked back to her house, I found her statement to be both humorous and a little awkward. I always saw Haley as one of my best friends, so there was no way I'd wanna make things anymore complicated than they need to be, regardless of how he might still feel about me. My thoughts were interrupted by Haley pulling me close to him.

"So, what do you wanna do now?" Haley asked with a smile, not letting go of my hand.

"I need to find someone," I said to him. "When I do, I'm gonna start my journey so I can take my position as Champion back from Iris."

"You were the Champion?! Hynden, that's amazing! I'd bet you couldn't wait to get that, couldn't you?"

"Well, it was pretty exciting. But, I resigned when I realized I wasn't ready for the title yet. There was still lots I needed to get done, so I trained for two years and I just came back recently."

"Wow… lots can happen here, I guess."

I didn't say anything else to Haley, and instead started walking through the city. I searched and searched for Bianca, but I couldn't find her green hat or blonde hair anywhere. Just as I was continuing my fruitless search, Haley popped up behind me and surprised me.

"Don't do that!" I snapped.

"Sorry. You're clearly lost, so let me show you around," Haley insisted.

"Alright. If it'll help me find who I'm looking for, then go ahead."

Taking me gently by the hand, Haley guided me around the city. He showed me the Pokémon Center, the Gym, and some other buildings too. I looked up and saw a large lookout. The person who was on the lookout caught my eye; the blonde hair and green hat told me right away that's where I need to go.

"Haley, I found her!" I pointed out, taking him to the Aspertia Lookout.

"The Lookout?" Haley wondered. "Okay, let's go there, Hynden!"

My hand was still holding onto Haley's, which was starting to get rather sweaty. I looked at him with a raised eyebrow, but he gave me a nervous chuckle and a blushing face to tell me not to worry. Ignoring it for now, I climbed up the stairs and saw the same green hat looking out at the region. It was none other than Bianca, who was now wearing an orange jacket, spring green capris, and shoes of the same color as her jacket.

"Ah, Unova's so pretty," she sighed as I approached her, "I could stare at this spot for hours!"

"You'd get tired after sundown if you started now," I said to her humorously, looking out at the summer scenery.

"Gah!" Bianca yelped, jumping back before turning to me with increasing happiness in the pair of green eyes behind her red glasses. "H-Hynden…? You're back?!"

"That's right, Bee. Two years isn't forever, you know!"

"Oh Arceus, I missed you! I didn't think I'd ever see you again!"

Bianca placed the capsule on the bench and immediately hugged me. I returned the hug with no hesitation, elated about being reunited with my friend. I noticed Haley coming up the stairs, but his expression appeared rather shocked and dark when he saw me hugging Bianca. He quickly came over and disrupted the scene.

"Hello," he said in a strained tone before forcing a smile. "And who's this, Hynden? Why are you hugging this girl?"

"Haley, this is my good friend, Bianca," I introduced, pulling apart from Bianca and gesturing to her. "We've been tight ever since I moved to Unova!"

"Hi there! Hynden said your name is Haley?" Bianca asked, offering a hand for Haley to shake.

Haley stared at her hand for a few seconds with an obvious glare in his eyes, but he still accepted the handshake civilly. It didn't last long before Haley pulled his hand away and started hugging my arm.

"My name is Haley," he introduced. "And I've been Hynden's best friend in the entire world since we were little. So, remember that we're very close to each other, and we have been longer than she's known you. Now, didn't you have something you wanted to give to her?"

"Oh, well that's nice! And yes, I did." Bianca picked up the capsule, and out came three PokéBalls, each with a symbol to their assigned type (a water bubble, a leaf, and a flame). "Professor Juniper told me to give this to someone special in Aspertia City," she explained. "I didn't realize she was talking about you! Go on, choose a Pokémon, Hynden."

I pulled my arm away from Haley and looked at the choices. I thought and thought, my eyes skimming the PokéBalls. Soon, I made a choice and picked up the PokéBall with the leaf symbol on it. Pressing the center button, out came a male Snivy, who looked at me once before turning away.

"Hey, you're my partner now!" I told him. "I'm Hynden!"

"Salutations," he greeted in an English accent, facing me and shaking my finger with his tiny hand. "I'm Tidus. I'm very pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Hynden."

"There's no need to be so formal with me. We're partners now!"

"Aww! I think your Snivy likes you already, Hynden! You're already pretending to talk to it!"

I remembered how Bianca couldn't linguistically understand Pokémon like I could, so I pretended to agree with her. Haley walked over to Tidus and looked down at him. They were both locked in a stare-off for a good minute before they refused each other eye contact afterwards.

"Hynden, you'd better take good care of this Snivy like Julia said, okay?" Haley asked me.

"I promise! I'm not gonna let anything bad happen to my Pokémon!"

"Great! That's the Hynden I know and love!"

"Oh, wait! Hynden, you also need a new PokéDex," Bianca pointed out, handing me a black PokéDex decorated with a red and bright blue PokéBall. "It's a new and improved version of the ones they had two years ago!"

"Thanks, Bee! This'll do nicely!"

I gave my blonde friend another hug, but it was cut short by Haley pulling me off of Bianca with another annoyed look. I shot him a glare that also had hints of confusion, so he stood straight up again.

"Something wrong, Haley?" I asked him.

"No no! Nothing at all…" he responded through gritted teeth as he shot Bianca a nasty glare. "I just… I need to find a PokéDex myself is all. Ya got a spare or something, Bianca?"

"As a matter of fact, I do! Oh, how lucky you are, Haley!" Bianca chirped, handing Haley the black PokéDex decorated with a blood red PokéBall.

"Thanks," he hissed before turning to me. "Hynden! Now that we've both got Pokémon of our own, what's say we have a little battle?"

"Sounds great! But, where's your Pokémon? I didn't see you take one from Bianca."

"That's because I've got my own partner! I raised it myself from an Egg!"

Standing across from me, Haley threw a PokéBall into the air, and out came a little Tepig, all ready to fight. Tidus walked forth without my command, still looking extremely calm despite his opponent's determination.

"Ready?" Haley asked me.

"Uhh, one second," I said. "Are you ready, Tidus?"

"That I am, Miss Hynden," Tidus answered. "Commence battle."

"You can scan your Pokémon for their current moves using your PokéDex!" Bianca hinted. "Isn't technology great?"

"Thanks, Bianca! Okay, Tidus, use… Tackle!" I read from my PokéDex.

Tidus charged in and used his tail to strike Tepig in the face. Tepig retaliated by using the same move on Tidus, only this one dealt more damage. Tidus fell to the ground, rubbing his sore cheek.

"Tepig, use Tackle again!" Haley commanded.

"Dodge it, Tidus!" I exclaimed.

My new Snivy swiftly jumped out of the way of the attack, leaving Tepig open for another Tackle attack. When it happened, the Fire-type fainted in defeat.

"I lost," Haley sighed, recalling Tepig to its PokéBall. "Well, I should have expected this the moment I challenged the ex-Champion. At least I know you haven't been shirking all this time, Hynden!"

"Hey, you're not so bad yourself, Hales," I commented, giving Haley our personal handshake of partially intertwining fingers and wiggling them around before pulling apart. "Now, I gotta stop at the Pokémon Center and pronto. Then after I train a little, I'm gonna find the first Gym. ...Wherever that is."

"Look no further!" Bianca assured me. "It's here in Aspertia City!"

"It is? Wow, that's conveniency at its finest! Who's the Gym Leader?"

"Oh, you'll see. And when you do, you'll like the answer!"

"Got it. Ya coming, Haley?" I asked him.

"In a bit, Hynden. I just wanna have a little word with Bianca first," Haley insisted.

"Okay! See you soon, man!"

I walked down the lookout stairs, glancing back to see Haley's expression turn dark again as he approached Bianca with the same expression. Although I was a little worried for both of them, I had an important task to take care of, so I kept walking with hopes that things would go well.

Pokémon obtained: Tidus the Snivy, Male, Quiet nature, Sturdy body.

Boxed/Unboxed: None.

Author's Note: For Tidus' voice, I like to use Estelle (voice of Garnet on Steven Universe) since Tidus speaks with an English accent and he has that type of demeanor to him. I don't know if his voice will change when he evolves, but we'll see what happens. Stay tuned for Chapter 3, which is coming real soon!