No reviews? Well, phooey. But someone fave'd/alerted on this story, and my muse was telling me to write, so I wrote another chapter anyway. The next chapter, everyone's gonna get their starters. ;D

Chapter 3

"Pokémon are, well, creatures," Felix tried to explain from where they sat on a white couch in the living room. Maureen stretched out beside him, her lanky body and legs easily taking up two of the three cushions. Felix, however, didn't seem to notice or care.

Lily and JJ were sitting on the matching adjacent loveseat, each one sitting nervously on the edge of the cushions.

"Pokémon are usually used for battling and companionship. A person who works with them in battles is called a Pokémon trainer. Every time someone turns ten, they're able to get their first Pokémon and go on a journey across the country, or even the world, to battle other trainers and earn badges," Felix continued to explain.

JJ gnawed his lower lip. So that was what everyone meant when they said "journey"... it was just some kind of weird coming-of-age travels? He looked over at Lily, and saw she was frowning. She was obviously trying to figure this out herself.

"You met Maeve, right? Well, she's a trainer. She beat the eighth gym leader-- which is the trainers who give badges out-- a couple years ago. She's been training ever since to be qualified to fight the Pokémon League," Felix added.

"The Pokémon League is much harder than fighting the gym leaders," Maureen added. "You gotta fight the Elite Four-- the people at the Pokémon League--, one right after the other, without getting to rest your Pokémon. Then after that, you have to fight the Champion, which is the most powerful trainer in all of Sinnoh. If you do that, you have beaten the Pokémon League and are the Champion yourself!"

"It proves your knowledge, battle skills, and stamina," Felix concluded. "Most people just stop after they beat Volkner-- he's the eighth gym leader. But Maeve wants to beat the whole Pokémon League, so she keeps training."

Lily and JJ exchanged looks. It was hard to keep all these facts straight. Maureen sighed. "It'll probably be easier to show you a battle, and then you'll understand," she said. Felix smirked.

"You just want to show them your precious Champion," he scoffed. Maureen flushed.

"Shuttup, Felix."With that, Maureen slid off the couch and moved over to the large television against the wall. Rows of DVDs lined the shelves, and Maureen seemed to know exactly where the one she wanted was kept.

"So, we turned ten about a month ago," Felix said. "Mom said that once Dad comes home, he'll have the Pokémon we requested, and then we can start our journey. Do you guys want to come with us?"

Before they could answer, however, Maeve pressed a button on the television, and the living room had erupted with loud music. The two cousins watched the television screen with interest as Maureen selected the "Play battles" button.

Immediately, the two young children that they saw earlier swooped into the room, with the girl sitting between Lily and JJ on the loveseat, and the boy stealing one of the cushions on the couch. "I love watching this!" the girl told Lily excitedly.

Maureen came back to her remaining cushion as loud music trumpeted once again. Both Lily and JJ were enraptured as the announcer's began their commentary.

"Well, trainer Billy Bright of Jubilife City has made it to the battle against the Sinnoh Champion, Musetta Vendetta," one said. "Could he possibly become the new Champion of Sinnoh?"

The boy in question looked like he was a little older than Maeve, with shaggy blonde hair pushed out of his gloved fingers toyed with a belt on his waist, where six red and white balls were kept.

"I've seen young Billy's skills as he fought the Elite Four. He definitely is strong, but Madame Vendetta indeed has the power of experience on her side," the other announcer said as a woman stepped onto the other side of the stadium. The woman was much older, but not quite old. Her hair was short and jet black, messily arranged around her pale features. A smug smirk was on her face, and her piercing blue eyes missed nothing. Her clothes were something extremely bizarre to look at-- she wore a black vest, unbuttoned, but nothing else was under it. Her flowy black pants seemed to be gauchos, with silver gladiator sandles laced up far into them. Like Billy, she had the stange balls at a belt around her waist, and it looked like it was deliberately done up to be too loose, for it hung on one side of her waist. Her gloved fingers held one of the balls.

"Mr. Bright has made it clear that he has researched Madame Vendetta's techniques and Pokémon, but will that be enough to defeat her?" one of the announcer's said.

"Go, Blaze!" the woman, Madame Vendetta?, yelled, throwing the ball in her hand to land a few feet in front of her. There was a burst of white light, and Lily and JJ watched in amazement as a large, white creature emerged. It had nine long tails flowing in back of it, and the creature hissed.

"Well, Madame Vendetta has unleashed Blaze the Ninetales, her signature Pokémon! She means business today!" one of the announcers said. Billy, on the other hand, seemed to smile with relief.

"Go, Empoleon!" he yelled, throwing forward on of his own balls. This time, what looked like an enormous penguin with a crown emerged from the light. It let out a loud battle cry, and stepped forward toward what the announcers said was a Ninetales.

"It seems that Mr. Bright has indeed researched Madame Vendetta's techniques," the announcer commented. "Will Madame Vendetta be able to withstand something that has the advantage?"

"Blaze, use Will-O-Wisp!" Madame Vendetta growled. Immediately, the Ninetales let out a jet of purple flames toward the Empoleon, who was too slow to dodge.

"It seems that Blaze has burned Billy's Empoleon!" the other announcer said. "Blaze's speed is much higher than that of the Empoleon.

"Empoleon, Swords Dance!"

The Empoleon began swinging its wings around, seemingly not worrying about the Ninetales at the moment.

"Is Mr. Bright planning on something? He's raising Empoleon's Attack!"

Suddenly, a white light absorbed the Ninetales, and Madame Vendetta held her pokéball in front of her, smirking. At that same moment, Empoleon let out a soft cry of pain; all the moving around had made the burn on its wings hurt even more.

"Go get 'em, Leafeon!"

JJ found himself enraptured as a dainty-looking creature stepped forward, away from the pokéball that released it. It looked like a cat or a dog, only one that was covered in leaves. For the first time, he felt a kind of longing for one of these odd creatures.

"Well, this is interesting! We have not yet seen a Leafeon in Madame Vendetta's party before! Let's take a look at this exclusive interview from earlier today!"

The screen flashed to Madame Vendetta, sitting in a plush chair. The Leafeon was sleeping at her feet. "Usually, Torterra is my Grass-type of choice," the woman explained, her voice deep and soothing. "However, Leafeon here began developing surprisingly strong. I thought that since I was using Torterra as more of my Ground-base Pokémon, I decided to add Leafeon to my party. I'm sure she'll prove herself to be just as strong as I train her as."

The screen flashed right back to the battle, where the Leafeon quietly said, "Leeee?" Billy frowned.

"Empoleon, use Drill Peck!"

The Leafeon wasn't quite so fast as the Ninetales, and it got caught up in Empoleon's beak. The little green creature yelped in pain, and JJ shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The Leafeon seemed much too innocent to be taking something like that.

"That's smart of young Mr. Bright not to use a Water-based move," one of the commentators remarked. "A move like Drill Peck is much more effective against Leafeon."

"Don't give up, Leafeon! Use Leaf Blade!" Madame Vendetta yelled out. JJ watched in amazement as the leaves it used for ears and a tail seemed to harden, and lashed out at Empoleon's face. The larger creature hissed, and dropped Leafeon. It let out another cry as the burns from the Ninetales' earlier attack pained him again. "Quick, Giga Drain!"

"Hydro Pump!"

Two attacks were happening at once, and JJ strained to figure out what was happening under the massive jets of water from Empoleon. But somewhere amidst all the chaos, he heard Madame Vendetta yell, "Just one more, come on! Use Grass Knot!"

A few moments later, the Empoleon tripped over some kind of leafy snare. It landed with a harsh thud on the ground.

"Leafeon has defeated the Empoleon!" the announcer yelled as Billy returned it to his pokéball. JJ's eyes once again returned to Madame Vendetta, whose eyes looked straight at the camera, and she smirked, almost at JJ himself, before the camera moved back to Billy. The battle continued.

The rest of the afternoon was spent watching the battle take place. Even though Leafeon didn't fight for long after Empoleon, JJ had silently chosen that dainty green creature as his favorite. How could something so small, so cute, triumph over the massive thing that was Empoleon? Despite himself, he smiled. All his troubles about not returning home were lost amidst the battle on the television screen, with Madame Vendetta as his idol.