AN: Long time no update, huh. As always, I in no way own Pokemon or its trademark. Special Thanks to my friend Ally who typed and editted my ideas for you guys. Read, review or PM me if you have anything you want to tell me.

Chapter 2

"Um, that's fine, but he's not sleeping on the furniture, and that includes the bed. And please rethink the school thing. You shouldn't need to always have to fight for a living," he said, watching Shade walking in front of us.

Shade turned and jogged towards me. I faltered for a second, realizing that he was going to jump up on me. He hit me harder than I thought and made me fall backwards. "Shade, how did you get so heavy? Oh, now I remember. You really have to battle soon, I want you to get in better condition before we leave again," I softly muttered to my Umbreon.

He gave me a face that was a cross between 'you are a freaking moron', 'how can you survive', and 'leaping on you kind of hurt'. I pulled him into my arms as I stood up.

"Does he do that often? The whole jump and knock you over thing?" My father asked, suddenly worried.

"Only to me, Dustin, and my cousin Angela. Why? Do you have any little kids? Kids generally don't like Shade and vice versa. On another note, do you have a video phone? I have to call Dustin and Angela soon," I said, remembering plans I had made a while ago, meanwhile forgetting that I had a laptop.

"I'll tell you more when you finish unpacking. Your room is upstairs, third door on the left." With that, he left me at the front path and continued down the road. My dad always confused me. Heck, he probably always will.

"Well Shade, let's go unpack. I'll let you sleep on the bed. What he doesn't know won't hurt him, in this case," I told the Umbreon by my side. I opened the door to be greeted by this adorable little red haired boy. He appeared to be around eight or nine and he was holding a Houndoom by the collar.

The boy had a similar color of hair really close to that of my brother and I shared. His was a more strawberry blonde color while Dustin and I had a rusty metal shade of hair. The feature that stuck out most was the stormy gray eyes that were my dad's influence.

"Hi, um . . . Hello . . ." I muttered quietly. Shade started barking with laughter at my confusion.

"Hi, I'm Bryce." With that, I felt arms wrapping tightly around me. "You must be Blake. I've wanted to meet you ever since I heard you were coming. I saw the video of you battling Johto's Elite Four. My I pet your Umbreon?" Even though I just met the kid, I liked him.

"Ask Shade. My opinion doesn't matter to him," I said throwing a joking smile to Bryce and Shade. "I don't care if you paint his nails; just don't do anything that will maim him. Do you have a video phone I could use? I have to call my brother and my cousin." Shade's ears perked up when I said cousin. I think he wanted to see her Espeon.

"Yeah, but wouldn't it make sense to put your bags in your room? Unless you like carrying your bags around everywhere," said Bryce.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about them. I had other things on my mind." I looked down at my ankle, missing the weight and feeling of my Johto team. I miss the warmth of Rex's pokeball, the slight static shocks from both of my Ampharoses, a feathery soft feel from Nox, and the silky feel of Twitch's pokeball. Now the anklet was bare, waiting to be used again.

Bryce must have been doing something that I should've paid attention to, because when I looked up he was looking at my anklet too. It had pokeballs on it, but they were empty. There was no way to know that by looking at it. A bright expression crossed his face.

"Blake, can I see your pokemon team? I've always wanted to see a shiny pokemon up close. Please Blake? Please?" Bryce asked. I felt so bad that I didn't have them on me.

"Well, I don't have them with me," as I said this, Bryce's face fell, "but when I call my brother I'll see if he'll let my team see me. Dustin co-owns a breeding facility and farm back in Johto. If you ever want a Mareep, just ask. I will take you there and you can have one of the eggs." I at least tried to make Bryce feel better.

Shade then came over after searching the house with the Houndoom following him. Shade went over to Bryce and rubbed his head against Bryce's legs, trying to cheer him up. Then the Umbreon sat down and looked up at Bryce.

I left Shade in the hallway with Bryce so I could set the bags down. I put the bag containing valuables on the bed and the bag of clothes near the closet. I explored the room, finding a door to a private bathroom. There was a large wooden desk tucked away in a corner. I went to my duffle of valuables and pulled out my laptop, setting it on my desk. I went back to the bag on the bed and fought myself if I was going to pull out the photo album. I let my fingers graze it a few times before zipping it back up.

I heard laughing in the hallway and felt compelled to investigate. I poked my head through the doorframe to see Shade, in Bryce's arms, licking the daylights out of the boy. I found myself laughing along with them. I heard my computer telling me that someone was requesting a video conference. I went over to check and saw it was Dustin. I sent him a quick message asking if he could assemble my Johto team for the chat. After getting a 'yes, but wait a moment', I accepted the video web-chat.

"Hey Bryce, can you come in here? But close your eyes. Shade, you make sure he does." I heard a response of 'coming' and 'Bree eon'. I smiled, knowing how faithful my Umbreon was. I waited until they were in the room. Dustin was nearly done wrangling my pokemon. "Just one more minute Bryce, then you can see a surprise I just got." Nox had finally joined us and decided to perch on Twitch. I knew that wouldn't end well.

"Blakey, Blakey, Blakey, how've you been? Oh and who's next to you? And why is he covering his face? Hey Shade." I groaned loudly at my older brother as Shade pushed his face to the computer screen.

"Bryce you can look now," I whispered to the boy next to me. "Shade, get down. Dustin, I'm just really worn down. And Bryce here, not my boyfriend. He lives here I think. I think I'll guess he's a half brother. Nox stop picking fights with Twitch! Hey, can I visit my team for a bit?" I asked. I felt bad for yelling at those two pokemon, but they know better.

"Whatever. Just hurry because the Mareep flock is going crazy without its leaders. What should I do with all the Mareep anyways? You have like, thirty, not including Flaafy. What's your plan for them?" asked Dustin.

I made a gesture with the meaning of 'save it for later'. He turned to leave. Phalanx came straight up to the computer and started to question me. Shade jumped up as a greeting. "All right, Phalanx, I really miss you too. I'll visit when I have the time, bud. I'm also sorry to say Shade won't be joining you guys. Um, guys and Jewel, this is Bryce. He's family now." Dustin, in the background, was pointing to his watch. "I'm sorry guys. Dustin says it's time to go. Rex, you evolve when you're ready. Don't let them bully you into it. Bye my lovelies."

"Well Bryce, what do you think of my Johto team and brother? I have another video conference I need to start. This one's private. Please don't eavesdrop. Trust me, you wouldn't like this person. Most of the time I don't even like her, but she's my family and waiting for me to call.