"Okay, if you go a litter further this way, we should be at the town…" Roma commented from his perch on Rose's shoulder. She nodded and followed his directions, squinting as she left the darkness or the forest and entered the open plain of a small village.
"This is Nuvema Town. There aren't very many people here, but maybe you know one of them? Maybe being around people will jump start your memory?" He suggested. She nodded again and began to approach large building with its doors open.
"HEY!" A voice shouted from behind her. Rose spun on her heels and turned towards the yell to see a woman with light brown hair and a lab coat running towards her. "Did you steal that Snivy?"
"Wh-what? Steal? No! Roma found me!" Rose stuttered. The other woman reached her and leered down at her, anger and disbelief plain on her features.
"Don't even try to weasel your way out of this! Snivy are extremely rare in the wild, and mine just happens to be missing! How convenient that you would show up with one here!" She accused, pointing a finger into Rose's chest. The girl backed up, holding her hands up.
"You misunderstand, I have never been here before. I met Roma in that forest over there, I didn't know there were any Snivys over here!" She mumbled, beginning to feel faint.
"Give her back to me before I call the police!" The woman threatened, not seeming to hear the other at all. She reached out to snatch Roma from Rose's shoulder, but the younger girl ducked and ran behind the older woman before she could.
"R-Roma! What do I do?" She yelled, panicking.
"Do you really need to ask me? Run!" He yelled back. "Over there! Towards that tall grass, go!"
She ran as fast as her legs could take her, adrenaline pumping through her veins. From behind her, she could hear a faint shout.
"Cheren! Bianca! Just in time! I need you to catch that thief! She's stolen my Snivy!"
Knowing she was being pursued, she pushed herself to move faster.
"I don't want to lose you already, Roma!" She cried out, feeling her lungs and muscles start to burn.
"You won't! Over there! See that rock? Go behind it. It has a large indentation in the back you should be able to hide in." Roma replied, pointing to a large stone a few meters ahead. Rose did as he said, scrambling behind the rock and finding the indent he was talking about. She pressed herself inside as best she could, covering her mouth so her breathing wouldn't give her away. After a few restless moments she heard pounding footsteps.
"She went this way, there's nowhere else for her to have gone, come ON Bianca, can't you hurry up for once?" A male voice snapped.
"Sooooooory!" A female voice responded. "It's not easy to run in a skirt!"
"She's probably made it to Accumula Town by now, let's go and warn them at the Pokecenter."
"Right!" The girl responded as their voices started fading away. Rose let out the breath she had been holding and slumped to the ground.
"That was close…" Roma commented, sliding off of her shoulder and into her lap. "Are you okay? Not the ideal first encounter with humans…"
"I'm fine…just startled…" She breathed. "But…one thing is bothering me." He looked up at her with his large chocolate eyes and waited patiently. "Did…did I really steal you from that woman?"
Roma laughed at her and shook his head.
"No. Didn't you hear her? She called me a 'she', the Snivy she has lost must be female, and I, I can assure you, am no female."
"Then should we go back and explain the situation to her? I don't want her to be mad at me…"
"No. It's best we just keep pressing on. She was in such a state of panic that I doubt she would listen to reason right now anyways. Humans can become irrational when emotions overtake them." He shook his head sadly.
"Okay. So…what do we do now?" She asked, picking him up and placing him back on her shoulder as she stood.
"Now we should get to the next town. I've been to it a few times. It's a bit larger than Nuvema, and has a clothing store. You will need to get a new outfit if those two trainers are going to have people looking for you."
She began to walk in the direction the other two had run, keeping to the trees mostly. After walking for a few minutes a thought occurred to her.
"How am I going to get new clothes? I don't have any money…"
"Hey you! Trainer!" A voice called. Rose and Roma both stiffened, ready for another escape. They turned to see a young teen staring at them, Pokeball in hand. "Come and battle with me! My Lillipup is the strongest!"
"Battle?" Rose asked, cautiously stepping towards the boy.
"Yes! This is perfect." Roma hissed, rubbing his hands together. "This solves all our problems. Remember how I told you we were going to become strong together? This is how." He climbed down from her shoulder and approached the boy, a determined look on his face.
"A Snivy? Cool! But it's no match for my Lillipup!" The teen grinned, throwing his Pokeball. A small brown Pokemon appeared, barking excitedly at Roma.
"Alright! This shouldn't be too difficult. You need to help me though, Rose!" Roma shouted, glancing back at his Trainer, who looked dumbfounded.
"What do I do, Roma?" She asked, a worried look coming over her face. Roma opened his mouth to respond when the teen they were battling interrupted.
"Lillipup! Use tackle!" The brown Pokemon obliged, rushing towards Roma.
"Roma! Look out!" Rose cried. The Snivy grinned and jumped out of the way, causing the Lillipup to crash into the ground.
"Good! Good job Rose! Now command me to attack while its down. How about tackle?" Roma suggested, preparing himself.
"Okay! Roma, tackle!" She encouraged, starting to have fun. Roma obeyed, running forward and throwing his full weight at his opponent before it could get its balance back. The Lillipup went flying, tumbling a few times and landing at Rose's feet. It tried to stand on shaky legs, but collapsed.
"We did it!" Roma cheered, running back to his Trainer. But Rose wasn't as joyful as her Pokemon was.
"Is…is it okay? We hurt it!" She wailed, falling to her knees and picking up the small, brown Pokemon. The Lillipup opened its eyes slowly and looked up at the girl holding it, before wagging its tail slowly.
"Hey! That was a good battle! Your Snivy is strong!" The teen boy commented, walking over to Rose. She held out his Pokemon to him and he accepted it, cradling the Lillipup in his arms. "You did good boy! We just need to train a little harder is all." He cooed. The Lillipup barked once and closed its eyes, resting peacefully.
"Don't be sad, Rose. That was a battle! If that Lillipup hadn't have wanted to fight me, I'm sure it would have said so. It's something we Pokemon do for fun, just like you humans have boxing. No one gets really hurt." Roma explained, placing a hand on her leg. She smiled down at him and picked him up, placing him back on her shoulder.
"Here, here's your winnings. You earned it." Her opponent smiled, holding out a small handful of money. Rose took it bashfully, slightly confused.
"When Trainers battle, the winner gets money from the loser. That's why I said this would solve our problems. We can go buy you some clothes now." Roma told her, smiling widely and exposing his pointed teeth. "Plus, I feel stronger already."
Sorry, I reposted this chapter. Just did a few tweaks, nothing major. Should have another chapter or two up in an hour or so. Thanks so much for reading!
-Vayel