A/N: Hello all, and welcome to the second chapter. Thank you to all those who reviewed and took the time to point out what could be done better.

I suppose I should say this (even though I don't feel it's necessary), but becoming a master trainer isn't the end all be all for our protagonists. Each of them will have a goal in mind, and will work towards it while raising their pokémon.

Slow Burning Lights

Summary: Ever since she was a little girl listening to her father tell his stories, Alana dreamt of becoming a pokémon trainer. Now, alongside her two closest friends Syaoron and Alex, that dream of hers becomes reality.

*A Promise Kept*

April 6th, 2015

Route 1, 3:37 pm

Alex pointed to the city in the distance. "There she is. Viridian City. We're nearly there."

"About damn time," Syaoron said with a grunt, tugging the brim of his hat down over his face. "The sun's been brutal today."

"Told you. I bet you're already regretting your decision to only wear black now, aren't you?" Alana grinned, giving him a gentle nudge in the side with her elbow.

The three had been on the move for nearly three hours, taking a few breaks in between to check on their pokémon. Bulbasaur had a quick bite to eat, and Syaoron took the time to make sure his pidgey could fly around properly after its earlier injury.

"Not really," Syaoron answered, giving the blonde a nudge back. "I'm still comfortable. I just hate being blinded constantly." He unscrewed the cap from a water bottle and took a gulp, his cheeks slightly flushed from the heat.

A soft bird noise came from one of the trees above, and they looked up to see a small red and brown bird pokémon flying above them. It didn't look like it could do much harm to their pokémon, and Alex grinned before throwing a pokéball, letting his bag fall on the ground. "Bulbasaur, get it!"

Syaoron frowned and took a picture of the pokémon with his pokédex. "Spearow, the sparrow pokémon. It uses its agility to evade attacks and can inflict damage with its sharp beak."

"Alex, watch out!" he warned. "This one might be too much for Bulbasaur to handle. You're at a serious disadvantage." 'It can use Peck to really harm Bulbasaur. Better for me or Alana to handle it.'

In fact, given that charmanders typically were stronger with special attacks, it probably would've been ideal to let the blonde handle it. But, she had been wrapped into a battle with a pokémon of her own. 'Well, looks like I'm up.'

He stroked the brim of his hat and threw out a pokéball. "Let 'em have it, Squirtle!" The small turtle appeared in a red flash, and Syaoron gave Alex a nod. "I'll distract it for you. Once we get it down low, try and see if Bulbasaur can pin it down!"

"You got it." Alex grinned, and he pointed for Bulbasaur to take cover amongst the tall grass. "Hide in there, quick!"

Bulbasaur snorted and trotted in, crouching down. She gave the spearow a glare through narrowed eyes, and Syaoron cracked his neck. "Alright, let's get this over with. Bubble, now!"

Squirtle took in a deep breath and blew out a stream of bubbles. The spearow dodged under the first salvo, glaring at the brunet. 'Good. Now that I have its attention, we should be able to pull this off.'

"Again!" he instructed. Squirtle used Bubble again, and once more the attack missed thanks to the bird pokémon's agility. It raced towards his squirtle and bowled it over, using its beak to peck at it. Squirtle winced in pain, and Syaoron gave Alex a nod. "Now!"

Alex snapped his fingers, and Bulbasaur sprung. Two green vines shot out from her body and wrapped around the spearow, slamming it onto the ground twice. It cried out each time, and Squirtle got to his feet. It took a breath in as if to prepare for another Bubble attack, and Syaoron put a hand up, shaking his head. "That's enough, Squirtle. You did well. Return."

Squirtle didn't look thrilled, but he allowed himself to be returned to his pokéball without complaint.

'I'll make sure he gets a little extra food later tonight.' Syaoron turned to Alex, who had captured the spearow, and he gave him a fist bump. "There's your first capture. Feel free to thank me whenever you wish."

"Not going to bloody happen." Alex winked, patting Bulbasaur's head. "Good job on learning Vine Whip, girl." Bulbasaur affectionately butted her head against his hand with a happy grumble.

"Dammit!" Alana growled angrily, her features set in a scowl. "I lost it!"

"Lost what?" Syaoron asked, jogging over to where the annoyed blonde was. "Don't tell me you lost the car keys again. I'm not running over to Stacy's house to get them."

"Haha." Alana let out a sarcastic laugh. "No, I lost the pokémon I was battling in the bushes. It ran off on me."

"Do you know what it looked like?" Alex asked.

"Only managed to see a little bit," Alana admitted. "Purple, and with sharp horns. Might have been a poison type of some kind."

"Poison?" Syaoron thought carefully. "It might be a nidoran. A male, to be specific. Do you want to go after it?"

"Hell no." Alana shook her head, picking up Charmander and letting him rest on her shoulder. "I'm not a fan of running into things with spikes."

"The time you ran into a thorn bush after a soccer ball when we were kids begs to differ." Syaoron let out a snort of disbelief. "As does the cactus incident. I know you remember that one."

"Oh, shut up." Alana's cheeks were red with embarrassment. "I refuse to acknowledge that part of our childhood."

"Well, what do you acknowledge, your mightiness?" Alex asked. He picked up the bag he had dropped earlier, swinging it over his shoulder.

"I acknowledge you two always being pains in the asses."

Her dry remark was met with two laughs, and Syaoron put his hands up innocently. "I never actually participated in any of his dumb antics. Don't rope me in with that alien." 'Well, it's mostly true.'

Alana rolled her eyes and took the lead again, walking ahead of the two. "Oh, please. I haven't forgotten the good old butter on the floor prank you pulled two years ago."

In Syaoron's defense, it was April Fool's Day, and it was payback for a prank Alex did to him earlier in the week. The blond had decided it would be funny to swap his shampoo with pink hair dye, and even though it came out fairly easily, it did produce a lot of awkward questions. Mainly from his mother.

"Whatever." He gave a shrug, wiping a bit of sweat from his face. "Let's just hurry up to Viridian."

6:56 pm

They stopped at the entrance to Viridian City to catch their breath, and Alex couldn't help but feel a little bit happier now that he had managed to catch his first pokémon. True, Syaoron did help him out, but he felt proud nonetheless. 'Makes me feel like a real trainer. Can't wait to really see what a spearow can do.'

"Should we go over to the pokémon center first?" Alana asked.

"Yeah." Syaoron nodded. "After that, we should probably reserve a few rooms and hit the Poké Mart; there won't always be a center for us to rest our pokémon."

"What about the little bet we have?" Alex asked. He started to grin mischievously. "Don't tell me you two are ready to toss in the towel already?" 'It is fun messing with him. He gets so awkward when he's riled up.'

Syaoron let out a sigh of exasperation, shaking his head. "I'm half tempted to do so, just to spare us the possibility of having to suffer your cooking."

Alana nudged the blond. "Come on; while Mr. Broody McBrood is busy playing Chef Ramsay, you and I can continue trying to catch as many as we can. What do you say?"

"You don't have to ask me twice." Alex chuckled. "You're on."

Syaoron rolled his eyes, jogging over to the pokémon center. "I'll go book us some rooms. Don't take too long."

"Hey, you know me." Alana put her hands in the air in mock surrender.

The two went to go back out to catch some more pokémon, and they ran into a young man wearing green and red pants. He waved over to them to get their attention, lifting the brim of his wide hat up. "Hey, you two! Are you pokémon trainers?"

"Yeah. Why?" Alex's curiosity was piqued. He hadn't expected anyone to think twice about it, seeing as a lot of people raised, bred, or trained pokémon.

The man scratched his stubble. "The name's Ryan. I'm a ranger; we like to help catch pokémon that run off into places they're not supposed to be in and protect the wilds. We've received word from the Viridian authorities that a pokémon not native to this part of Kanto is running amok in the fields south of the city. Have you two perchance stumbled upon it?"

"What does it look like?" Alana asked.

"Small and purple," Ryan answered. "A nidoran. Male, by the sound of it."

Alana nodded. "I did. Put up a nasty fight before it ran off."

Ryan pursed his lips, and he reached into his pocket to pull out a small camera and some bait. "Well, how would you like to earn a few extra bucks by getting some pictures of it for me? We can always use the help of trainers, and I'm more than happy to pay you for your time. All you need to do is take a few good shots of it. I'm sure that won't be too much of a problem."

Alex and Alana shared a glance, and the blond nodded. "We'll do it, mate. What do you want us to do with the pictures once we have them?"

"I'll be waiting for you here, outside the city gates," Ryan replied. "Once it's properly identified, I'll go to see if I can catch it and bring it back to its native lands by Mount Moon."

Alex could see the mountain in the distance, reaching up into the sky. "How the bloody hell did it even get here?" 'That's a rather long way for it to go.'

"Must have chased some prey from the mountain through the forest until it ended up here." The ranger shrugged. "You best be off now. Good luck."

The two trainers headed out of the city and back into the fields, and Alex hummed out a gentle tune while he planted the bait next to a nearby oak tree. 'The tree's perfect for cover. Just need to climb it is all.'

"Do you think it'll come out?" Alana whispered. "I think it might recognize our smell."

"Relax, Blondie." Alex chuckled, climbing up the tree until he was a solid twelve feet above the bait. "It'll be more interested in the food than us. Now come up here, will you? We don't want it scared off by your worrying."

"Who say I'm worried?" Alana muttered, reaching up and climbing next to the blond. The two began to watch quietly, looking for any signs of movement in the tall grass.

The minutes passed by, and Alana let out a quiet sigh of boredom. "This is taking far longer than I would've liked. Syao's probably worrying about where the hell we went off to."

"Nah. He's busy cooking, I bet. I'll bet you a chocolate bar that he made a beeline for the marketplace the first chance he got," Alex returned equally as quietly.

Alana then pointed to a slight hint of movement in the grass. "There! Look!"

A small pokémon nervously crept out of the grass, its eyes darting around. It was the nidoran, and it was spooked.

Alex reached for the camera Ryan gave them, raising it to his eye and snapping a few quick pictures of it. 'That's three. But we'll need more than that.'

The poison type pokémon hesitantly sniffed at the bait, and it looked around before beginning to eat it. It let out a happy noise before munching away, and the blond took a few extra photos. "Alright, I think we have enough. Should we head back?"

Alana opened her mouth to answer when a loud crack alarmed both of them, and the blonde let out a surprised scream as the branch she was on snapped clean off.

"Alana!" Alex lunged over and grabbed her by the wrist, preventing her from falling. The nidoran had disappeared in fright, and he grimaced as he felt his grip on his own position slowly starting to slip. "Dammit!"

Alana had her eyes squeezed shut, and she blinked them open to see him struggling to keep his handhold. "Alex, let me go. It isn't that far of a drop; I'll be fine."

His shoulder was beginning to hurt him and Alex gritted his teeth, refusing to let go. 'I need to find a way to get her down safely.'

'Wait a minute, Bulbasaur's Vine Whip! Perfect!'

He wrapped his legs tightly around his branch and drew out the pokéball, throwing it. "Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip to catch her!"

The grass-poison type appeared in a red flash and Alex dropped Alana into the pokémon's waiting tendrils. Just in time, too, as the branch Alex was on also gave way. He shielded the camera and shifted himself to land on his shoulder instead of his face, and he heard a loud pop followed by sudden pain.

"Alex!" Alana ran over to him, helping him up. "Are you okay!? Let me see it!"

"Anyone get the number of that bus?" he asked weakly, trying to joke. His right arm dangled loosely, and he clutched it in agony. "Bloody hell, that really hurts." 'Dislocated, or possibly broken. Real good start to this adventure.'

Alana carefully rolled up his shirt to get a better look at it. "It's dislocated, not broken. Once we get it fixed, you should be fine after a few weeks."

She let out a sniffle, looking away. "Why did you do that for me? You could've injured yourself even worse!"

Alex winced and gave her a weak smile. "You're one of my best friends, Alana. I'd always help you. Yeah, I took a pretty nasty fall just now. But I'd do it again if it meant helping you or Syao. I know he'd say the same thing. It's what good friends are for."

"Still…" Alana's dark blue gaze was on the ground.

"Don't." Alex shook his head firmly. "Don't say it was your fault. It wasn't. Come on, let's head back into town."

Alana nodded quietly and she kept a firm grip on him as they made their way back through the fields and into the city.

Ryan was waiting for them outside, and the ranger frowned in concern when he saw the state of them. "Hey, what in the name of the Winged Mirages happened?"

"Fell out of a tree," Alex answered with a wince. He held up the camera, still in good condition. "We got the pictures though."

"Thank you. Let me see what I can do about your arm." Ryan pulled out a length of red wrappings, and he offered it to the blond trainer. "Here; bite down on this. This will hurt."

He gripped Alex's arm and snapped it back into place. The bolt of pain made him let out a muffled yell, and he was thankful for the cloth in his mouth. He spat it out and looked at his arm, now back in its proper position. "Thanks mate. I owe you one."

"Not at all." Ryan waved his hand dismissively and helped make a sling for him. "You should take it easy for the next two weeks; it'll still be painful."

He scrolled through the camera to see what kind of pictures Alex had taken, and he nodded approvingly. "You got some good shots too. You have a good talent for this. Say, why don't you keep the camera? Use it whenever you like to make memories of your journey."

"Really? Thanks!" Alex grinned in appreciation. Despite having messed up his shoulder for the next two weeks, he was in a rather good mood now.

"No problem. And here; your payment for a job well done." Ryan handed him and Alana each a small stack of money before jogging towards the pokémon center. "Catch you kids later!"

Alex watched him go, though not before counting the money he had received. "Hmm…a pretty good amount, wouldn't you agree?" Fifty each, huh? Not a bad start.'

Alana nodded quietly. The guilty look remained on her face, and Alex put an arm around her shoulder to try and cheer her up. "Hey, don't worry so much. How about we go and see what Syao has cooked up for us? I could use a bite to eat."

"Right…"

Alex sighed. So much for telling her not to worry.

8:32 pm

Syaoron studied the recipe in front of him carefully, his amber eyes unblinking as he gently stirred the pot. The only room the pokémon center had left was one of the bigger rooms usually rented out by two people and it came with a kitchen. It wasn't by any means the size he was used to, but it was more than sufficient for him to cook up today's dinner, French onion soup.

"Hmm, I never thought I'd ever have to use thyme," he murmured. The smell wafting up his nostrils made his stomach growl in desire, and he scratched his nose before adding it to the broth he had simmering on the stove. 'Well, only one way to find out if it's actually good.'

Next to him on the counter was a cutting board with several slices of French bread on it and three bowls he had packed. He rinsed off the knife he used earlier and dried it off with a small black towel, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead.

While Alex and Alana were out, he had taken a quick stroll to the marketplace after he booked them a room. The stalls held all sorts of fresh ingredients such as breads, cheeses, fruits, and vegetables, all of them grown and made in Kanto.

He closed the recipe book and set a timer for thirty minutes; it would need to simmer for that long before he could do anything else to it. 'Damn. If only it were ready by now.'

He heard the door to the room open, and he turned to greet Alex and Alana. "Hey. Dinner's being made."

He frowned when he saw Alex's arm in a sling. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Fell out of a bloody tree trying to get pictures of a nidoran," Alex replied with a wince. "Dislocated the damn thing and had it put back in."

Syaoron sighed and gave him a rap on the head. "By the Mirages, be more careful. You're lucky you didn't crack your damn skull open. I'm not holding your hand while you scream yourself to death."

"Gee, what a way to make me feel loved." Alex rolled his eyes and pulled out a camera. "Hey, the bloke who we had to take pictures for gave us this. Not bad, eh?"

"I swear, if you start taking selfies…"

"I won't. Calm down." Alex winked. "I'll only do scenery shots or group photos."

"Good." Syaoron noticed Alana seemed a little down, and he motioned with his head for her to follow him into the kitchen while Alex sat down on the bed.

Out of earshot, he put a hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Are you alright? You look depressed."

Alana let out a sigh, shaking her head. "Alex fell because he helped me after the branch snapped. I know it wasn't my fault, but I still feel guilty about him getting hurt because of me. I don't know what to say."

Syaoron took a deep breath. "As much as I would love to reprimand him for that stunt, I'd do the same thing in a heartbeat for either of you."

"He said you'd say that."

"Well, he's not wrong." Syaoron patted her on the back. "Don't worry too much about him, alright? He maybe a bit of a twit at times, but he always keeps a promise. Remember the ones we made two years ago? How we'd always help each other?"

Alana nodded. "I do."

"Well, he's just keeping that promise." Syaoron gave her a small smile. "We'll take it easy for a week, just so his arm can heal up, and then we'll head north through Viridian Forest to Pewter City. If the forest is as big as the map says, we might be in there for a day. And I don't know anyone who likes camping out in the woods."

Alana perked up at the mention of camping and she smiled. "Considering I'm the only one who knows how to properly make a tent and a fire out of any of you, you can bet I'm looking forward to it."

"That's the spirit." The brunet winked. "Now why don't you have a seat? Dinner should be ready in about twenty minutes."

"What are you making?" the blonde asked. "It smells delicious."

"French onion soup," Syaoron replied, stirring the pot's contents slowly. "Figured we could use something like this to end our first day on the road together."

Alana took a slow sniff, and she groaned longingly. "It smells so good…I'm glad you're the one doing the cooking. I'd be afraid I would mess it up."

"It's not too difficult to learn. Next chance I get, I'll show you how, okay?"

"You got it."

Twenty five minutes later, Syaoron had pulled their bowls out of the oven, each of them steaming hot and with melted provolone cheese on top. "Alright, dinner is served! Come and get it while it's nice and hot."

Alex and Alana sat down at the table, and the three friends began to eat. With Alex's right arm being in a sling, he was forced to use his left hand, which did make for a few awkward slip ups.

"Bloody hell, I wish I was ambidextrous," he groaned as he spilled a few drops on his pants. "I wouldn't be doing this."

The soup came out just as good as Syaoron had hoped it would, but if he was honest with himself, he wanted to spend a little more time on the onions to really get them crispy before adding them to the broth.

The last bite was punctuated by the sound of silver scraping the bottom of the bowl, and Syaoron stood up to carry their dishes away and clean them. "So, how was it?"

"Epic."

"Amazing. Too bad there's not an infinite supply of it."

"Glad to hear it." Syaoron smiled. Seeing how happy his friends were after a meal was always a confidence boost and he scribbled down a reminder to make it again sometime in the future. 'I'm definitely making that again.'

With dinner now over, it was time for them to figure out the sleeping arrangements. "Alright, I have some news for you. There's only one bedroom. Alana, that's all yours."

"Why?" she asked curiously. The brunet raised an eyebrow and the realization sank in ten seconds later, her cheeks turning a faint hue of pink. "Oh…right."

"Smooth." Alex let out a snort of laughter.

Syaoron rolled his eyes. "Alex, you can have the couch. I don't mind having the floor."

"Any reason why you insist on sleeping on the floor?" he asked.

"Yeah. It's so I don't have to hear you complaining in the morning about you having back issues as well as a shoulder problem," Syaoron answered dryly. "All joking aside, take the couch. You need it more than I do. Besides, I can sleep anywhere if I put my mind to it."

"That's for damn sure," Alana muttered. She let out a yawn, making her way into the bedroom. "Night."

"Night."

"See you in the morning." Alex awkwardly clambered onto the couch, and not even a minute later he was snoring away.

Syaoron shook his head and pulled out the guidebook from his bag. The next city on the way was Pewter and he wasn't interested just for the gym alone. He was more intrigued by the museum in the city that held artifacts from Kanto's history. He had a strange fascination with archaeology ever since he was young. Going to a place like this would be like finding a gold mine.

He looked at Alex's sleeping form. They weren't going anywhere until Alex's shoulder stopped acting up, and even then they'd take it easy.

The brunet rested his head on his pillow and closed his eyes.

The museum could wait.

A/N: Admittedly, this fic fell behind in the update schedule due to my many fanfics currently active. But, I have managed to complete a shit ton of them this year, so I'm a little more open now XD

Thanks for reading!

Discord: C. Strife #5371