I woke up sluggishly the next morning. Had yesterday been a dream? No, I was certainly at the foot of Marina's bed. What HAD been a dream was that I was a fully evolved Infernape, while Piplup was still a Piplup, and I kicked his pathetic little butt.

Hey, it could happen.

Marina gradually sat up, stretching and yawning. She didn't look nearly as presentable as she did before in the morning. Her hair reminded me of a Zigzagoon.

She smiled at me tiredly, patting my head. "Morning Chimchar. Time to start the day." While she went to get a shower (whatever that meant), I caught up on some Z's, this time curling up on her pillow. It smelled strongly of her scent, which filled me with a strong feeling of security and comfort. I closed my eyes with a peaceful smile on my face.

I blinked awake again when I heard the door creak open. Marina was soaking wet with a towel wrapped around her. I wondered if she had been attacked by a water type Pokémon- as if I don't hate them enough already- but could feel a wave of warmth emanating from her.

My eyes bulged and my jaw dropped at what happened next. She dropped her towel, RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME! As she got dressed, she just talked to me casually as if she WASN'T half naked. She didn't seem like the type to think Pokémon didn't have human-like ways of thinking, but maybe she was raised that way.

After she had some disgusting-looking mush she called oatmeal and I had some more poffins, we set out to start our journey. "We're going to catch some new friends today," she told me. Seated on her shoulder with one hand behind her head, I nodded.

We headed out into a forest, both of us alert. My heart started thudding rapidly. Battling was probably going to be a lot more intense than the scraps me and Piplup got in. Hopefully Marina wouldn't let anything happen to me though…

"Ah, look! There's a Bidoof!" Marina whispered excitedly. I frowned. I could tell from one look this Bidoof was very young, and had probably left her mother's care no more than a month ago. I was very hesitant to leave Marina's shoulder. To be taken away from nature as a little one would be horrible. Well, not that I would know. I had been taken from my parents and sent to the lab as an egg.

"What's the matter? Don't wanna fight? Oh, wait… That Bidoof does look kinda young huh? Alright, we'll find an older Pokémon." I sighed in relief, smiling a little. I knew Marina would understand.

It took us a while, but we finally came across a Pokémon Marina wanted to capture. She was a Shinx, probably the same age as me. "Okay, Chimchar, here's your moment! Let's go!" Marina exclaimed. I gave a determined nod, then pounced toward the Shinx. She looked up casually.

"Hello there," she said almost apathetically.

"Hi! C'mon, let's battle!" Wow, did I sound hasty or what?

A small, sly smile formed on the Shinx's face. "Ah, alright. I guess I wouldn't mind being with some human. Though there's no way you're gonna beat me." This girl reminded me WAY too much of Piplup. The resemblance caused the adrenaline in my veins to rapidly increase.

"Alright, Chimchar! Start it off with Ember!" Marina shouted.

Here we go.

I jumped a couple feet into the air and shot burning hot embers at the Shinx. She was quick to dodge, but not quick enough. A few embers brushed past her thigh, causing her to flinch. She shot after me with a Tackle, but Marina had be intercept it with a Scratch. One Ember later, Shinx was already too weak to attack.

"Alright! Go, poké ball!" Marina shouted, throwing a red and white ball at Shinx. It wobbled a good 4 times before it finally made a much anticipates CLICK. Marina jumped in victory, hugging me tightly. She quickly retrieved the ball and let Shinx out.

"Hey there! My name is Marina," she said in a peppy tone, a kind smile on her face. She gently ran a hand across Shinx's head, and the blue and black Pokémon closed her eyes happily. "I won't be too rash, so I'll stick with you two for now," Marina told us. We both nodded, then smiled at each other.

"Looky here, I see you've got another Pokémon," a rather obnoxious male voice said. I looked up and frowned. Barry was standing in the clearing, Piplup clinging to his shoulder. Marina stood up, me in one arm and Shinx in the other.

"Indeed I have. What about you?"

Barry waved a poké ball braggingly. "I caught a Starly yesterday. He's already really strong."

Marina rolled her eyes, but I could tell she wasn't as uninterested as she led on.

Barry pointed at her overdramatically. "I challenge you to a battle! One on one! Piplup versus Chimchar!" he declared. My eyes widened. Anything but that…

Marina's eyes narrowed. "Chimchar's weak against Piplup." I saw Piplup snicker. WEAK. I hated that word. What I'd give to be an electric or grass type now… I'd settle for ANY type, just so long as it wasn't WEAK against Piplup.

"If your Chimchar is strong, types shouldn't matter."

Marina bit her lip and started to debate, but decided against it. There was something about Barry's stare, I could tell, that had a strong effect on her.

It wasn't 10 seconds later that Piplup and I were battling. Marina kept repeating "Ember!" and "Scratch!" while Barry mostly said "Bubble!" with a couple "Pound!"s. Ugh, how I hated Bubble… It seemed to suck the life out of me.

I could tell my energy was at an all time low. I was going to cave soon. I was actually pretty shocked I hadn't caved a lot earlier. I could barely move… But I had to. I had to make Marina happy. I had to do what she wanted…

"Enough!" I suddenly heard Marina shout. I started to use Ember with the little life I had left, but realized she hadn't said that.

"What, giving up so easily? What a wimp you two are," taunted Barry. For a moment, Marina looked as if she'd change her mind and call out another attack for me. But instead, she said, "Easily? You're DESTROYING my poor Chimchar! Don't you dare call him a WIMP, you KNOW he's at a type disadvantage. And I'm sure you guys have been training a lot more than we have. I'd rather not treat my Pokémon like a slave or a soldier, but like a companion, a PARTNER, thank you very much."

Barry was speechless. Honestly, I was too. I felt Marina scoop me into her arms and caress the back of my head. "C'mon buddy. Let's go get you all fixed up," she murmured sweetly. I snuggled into her, ignoring the insults Piplup was spitting at me. I started to close my eyes, but then opened them wide. I had heard about this feeling I was getting. Some of the scientists, and Rowan's assistants, and the people on the Glow Box had discussed it. I came to a conclusion that I knew Piplup would get a kick out of and hold against me forever:

I had fallen in love with my human.