Another update today! I bet you people are happy! Judging by the reviews I got, you should be! But keep in mind this probably won't be an everyday thing. There's that matter about my marks for the first term test…

Anyway~, your reviews made me super confident about the chapter I wrote, but not about the story. I honestly don't think I can live up to your expectations. Again, Pokémon battles might be kinda boring because…yeah, I don't have any strategies. At all. Maybe (this word will probably appear a lot). But I will do my best! BTW, please remember that Sylvia is a name and Sylvie/-chan is a nickname, okay? Don't get confused! To Skystar5, Sylvie-chan will possibly~ be a Sylveon! I don't want to spoil anything! As for Natsu, Soccergirl15, yes, he will. Also, for certain reasons, this story will have animals (food).

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN POKEMON AND FAIRY TAIL, OKAY? Good.

Sit back and enjoy the ride.

Chapter Three: The Route to Merry City

Lucy wiped her tears once she closed the door behind her.

"Are you okay, Lu-chan?" Sylvia asked carefully, nudging Lucy a little. She had a worried look on her small face.

Lucy smiled down at Sylvia and bent down to stroke her fur. Sylvia sighed from the touch and rolled over to let Lucy stroke her belly. Lucy grinned and started to tickle her. Sylvia squealed and rolled over once more, making Lucy laugh.

"Gotcha, Sylvie-chan!" Lucy laughed. "You thought I was going to stroke you!"

Sylvia groaned and pouted. She quickly moved ahead, graceful as usual and couldn't hold in her smile when she heard Lucy running behind her. The chase lasted until the gates, where Lucy stopped in front and she sighed, a longing look on her face. Sylvia stopped running away and ran back to Lucy. She jumped into her chest and Lucy panicked, trying to catch her. When she succeeded, she looked down to glare at Sylvia.

"SYLVIA, WHY DID YOU DO THAT, I WAS JUST THINKING!" Lucy shouted, shocking Sylvia.

Sylvia winced and jumped down, her ears flattening against her head. "Jeez, calm down, I was literally right in front of you, you know? My ears are very sensitive!"

Lucy continued glaring and ran ahead. Sylvia quickly caught up to her and began bounding beside her. She made silly faces up to Lucy but the little girl didn't crack a smile. Sylvia then pulled out her trump card: a pair of puppy-dog eyes. Lucy tried to glare at her but her heart melted instead. She bent down to scoop her into her arms.

"Why are you so cute?!" Lucy said, holding Sylvia by her forelegs. She then sighed and put her back in her arms. "I'm sorry, Sylvie-chan, it's just that you scared me while I was thinking about my precious family. They're really special to me, you know? I love them a lot. I've been with all of them since I was a baby, and I played with them since then. It really hurt to leave them, and it still hurts."

Sylvia frowned, looking down. Lucy began walking, and it wasn't until the forest that Sylvia started to speak up.

"I get it, Lu-chan," Sylvia whispered. "I miss my family too. My parents had to suffer the beatings of a couple of poachers over the years. They wanted me, but they didn't let the poachers get to me so the bad guys beat them until they were weak and unable to move. The poachers then made my parents watch a sick show of a couple of buff Pokémon beating up baby Pokémon. It lasted for a whole week, and it was horrible. Help came after that but…the memories are engraved inside their minds forever." She began to sob quietly.

Lucy hugged Sylvia tightly. "Don't cry, Sylvie-chan. They did that for you, and you should be happy that you have such great parents. It's all in the past now, and I'm sure that it won't happen again. I will do anything to make sure you are not hunted down by poachers so it won't happen to you either."

Sylvia stopped crying but was still sniffing a little. "Really, Lu-chan?"

Lucy smiled warmly. She held up her pinky. "Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye."

Sylvia laughed softly. She wrapped her paw around her trainer's pinky. "Thanks, Lu-chan. I'm honored to have a great friend that loves me so much that she would stick a needle in her eye. But seriously, Lu-chan, don't do that. I don't want that image in my mind, ever." She shivered slightly.

Lucy laughed. "No promises on that one."

Lucy and Sylvia now continued their journey with their heads held high. They walked as if they owned the road and they didn't care. Lucy caught a few Pokémon with some of her many Pokéballs that were given by Mira and sent them to the lab for Professor Makarov to possibly research. She didn't want to focus on many Pokémon at first; she had a plan to just train six Pokémon that can catch her eye.

She was breezing through the forest very fast. The forest seemed relatively harmless so far. There were no violent Pokémon or animals; everything was mostly Caterpie, Sewaddle and the like. There were a couple of trainers that she had battled and because of that Sylvia seemed to be growing quite well. They were of course interested in the different coloring but most of them didn't ask why.

Lucy had a lot of containers of Poké Puffs in her special bottomless duffel bag made by Mira, which she was thankful for because Sylvia demanded a lot. They were going through the supply very slowly, but once she had more and more Pokémon in her team she would have to ask for more. It seemed like Sylvia was obsessed with the puffs. She didn't blame the Eevee. The puffs looked delicious but not tempting enough for her to try.

Suddenly a scarlet-haired girl walked up to her. She had a serious look on her face. "Hello, I am Erza Scarlet. Is that a shiny Pokémon?"

Lucy was surprised by the sudden introduction. "Hi, I'm Lucy Fate. Yes, this is a shiny Pokémon. Do you know what a shiny Pokémon is?" She was confused because Pokémon schools weren't often attended and not many people knew about shiny Pokémon as a result. Then again Levy attended school and Lucy did too.

"I attended trainers' school," Erza replied. She had a small smile on her face. "Are you a new trainer? I have just left Luckerwick City, actually. I am a trainer from Merry City, but I went to Luckerwick City and now I'm backtracking to Merry City."

Lucy returned the smile. "Yes, I'm new. Want to have a battle?"

"Sure," Erza replied, taking out her Pokéball from her belt. "I'm excited to see your Pokémon's power."

Erza looked around. "Hm, I have a partner in this forest somewhere. He can be the referee. GRAY!"

A boy came rushing through the trees with his shirt off and a Pokéball in his hand. "Yes, Erza?"

"I need a referee," Erza said and Gray took the hint easily. "Before you do your job though, I think you may need to put your shirt on."

Gray looked down and yelped, "I-I'll be right back, ma'am!"

He ran back to where he came from and returned a couple of seconds later with his shirt on. "Ready, Erza!" He then looked at Lucy and smiled at her. "Hey, what's your name? I'm Gray Fullbuster, trainer of Merry City."

Lucy smiled. "I'm Lucy Heartfilia, trainer of Luckerwick City."

Gray then stood in the middle. "This will be a one-on-one battle between Erza Scarlet of Merry City and Lucy Heartfilia of Luckerwick City! Begin!"

Erza began. "Honedge, heed my orders!"

A steel sword came out of its Pokéball and slashed everywhere as an entrance.

"Surprise them all, Sylvie-chan!" Sylvia moved in front of Lucy gracefully. Gray gasped at the different coloring as he had never noticed it before. "You may begin, Erza."

Erza smiled. "Thank you, Lucy. Honedge, Swords Dance!"

Honedge did a frenetic dance and it seemed like it became stronger.

Lucy recognized the move and said calmly, "Sylvie-chan, Tail Whip!"

Sylvia wagged her tail adorably and Honedge seemed to be less defensive.

Erza was interested by her choice but didn't waste any time. "Honedge, Tackle Attack!"

Honedge swung itself at Sylvia but she managed to dodge by doing a backflip and she landed gracefully on the ground.

"Tackle Attack, Sylvie-chan!"

Sylvia charged at Honedge but the sword Pokémon simply turned so that the sharp part of its blade was facing her so she stopped charging and warily stepped back. She looked back at Lucy and seeing her smiling at her made her charge again. This time she twirled in the air and smashed Honedge with an Iron Tail.

"Great job, Sylvie-chan!" Lucy called from her side of the makeshift arena. She felt glad that Evergreen had given her the TM for her birthday.

"Thanks!" Sylvia said quickly before she tackled Honedge again. "What now?"

Lucy took a brief look at Honedge. "It looks like this battle is far from over, so give him a good Sand-Attack so it can't damage you much!"

Sylvia nodded and hurled some sand into Honedge's eye. She then stood back as she saw that the Pokémon was getting up and grinned when she saw that Honedge was looking around, lost.

"Honedge, try and shake it off!" Honedge did as his trainer asked but it didn't do much. Some of the sand was still clouding its vision. "Swords Dance!" Honedge obeyed and it stood, looking strong.

"Dig!" Lucy didn't know if this attack would even work but it was worth testing it out in battle. This was once again another gift from Evergreen.

Sylvia dug until she felt something poke her head. She yelped and burrowed out of the hole into fresh air.

"That was not smart, Lucy," Erza said, frowning. She then offered a tiny smile. "But being a new trainer compels you to try new things, right? I too have a new move to show you. Honedge, Brick Break."

"Sylvie-chan, dodge!" Lucy cried out quickly. Luckily Sylvie managed to do so on time. "Great job, now, Shadow Ball!"

Sylvia generated a shadowy blob and hurled it at Honedge. It traveled so fast that he was unable to dodge it, making the ball crash into Honedge. The Pokémon was unable to take it anymore so it fainted. Sylvia looked at Lucy with a triumphant smile and she returned it with her own.

Gray was impressed. "The winner of the battle is Lucy!" Lucy went to hug Sylvia and the Evolution Pokémon returned it happily.

Erza had a slightly surprised look on her face but it was quickly replaced by a smile. Lucy turned to Erza and they shook hands, and in that moment they shared a mutual respect. "Congratulations, Lucy. I have never lost a battle before so this is my first loss. I am glad it is with you. You seem quite mature. You're growing well and learning quickly, and I admire that."

Lucy smiled warmly. "Thanks, Erza. You were great too. If that Brick Break had hit, Sylvie-chan would have fainted and I would have lost. You seem pretty experienced too. Your school must be a good place."

Erza replied, "Truthfully, I don't think it did much. I only learned a little bit about shiny Pokémon and a couple of battling experience. But I guess I owe the school thanks because of that. Did you know that in one out of hundreds of shiny Pokémon that one of them is a natural? I suspect your Eevee is that shiny Pokémon."

"Really? Wow, your school must be good," Lucy said, smiling sweetly. "I didn't learn that at my school. So, Gray, did you go to school?" She asked, turning to Gray.

Gray sheepishly smiled. "Um, no. I never had any interest in going. I learned at home though."

"Don't be embarrassed about it," Lucy reassured. "Not many people go to school anyway. I have a childhood friend that never went to school. He said that it was boring. Maybe if you two meet you would click. Anyway, what Pokémon do you have?"

"Spheal, I got him from a zoo at a city somewhere when I was seven. I believe it was Glacier City. I'm not so sure about the name, but it was a Winter Wonderland there," Gray said, smiling. "My family had always admired ice. My older sister is a gym leader at Glacier City. She's pretty powerful. My dream is to be an Ice Pokémon Master, though."

"Good luck then," Lucy said, smiling. "My dream is to be a Pokémon Master. I don't want to focus on one type only. Erza, do you have a dream?"

"My dream is to become a Fighting Pokémon Master," Erza replied, smiling cutely. "My family is one of the best when it comes to fighting, in Pokémon terms and human terms. I have trained since I was five."

"Wow," Lucy said in awe. "That's pretty young."

"Yes, and now I can smash boulders into two," Erza answered simply. "That's no big deal though; my dad can smash boulders twice as big as that into two."

Lucy gaped. Gray gave her an 'I-know-how-you-feel' look. Lucy smiled at him.

"So, Lucy," Erza said, "do you want to be our traveling companion?"

Lucy looked down at Sylvia. "Do you want to, Sylvie-chan?"

"Yeah, sure!" Sylvia said enthusiastically.

Lucy looked at Erza and Gray with a grin. "We do!"

"Great!" Gray said, almost as if in relief. "I'm glad to have you on the team, Luce. I know we'll be great partners." He said, shaking her hand.

"Yeah, same here," Lucy agreed. She turned to Erza. "You too, Erza." They shook hands. "Now, let's go ahead to Merry City!"

And that's it for today! This has probably been short, and again, unnecessarily long, but, I introduced two familiar characters: Erza and Gray! Yay! Soon they will be meeting Levy and Natsu, so drama is not too far ahead! Erza and Gray might seem OOC, but it's kind of hard to capture people's personalities for me…so I hope it was alright! Was the battle adequate?

Anyway, I want to ask some questions. I'm curious about how you people write. What is your writing style? Lastly, are my author notes too long?

Adios~, mon amie!